The King of Curses, Plain as Day
Behind the Hanbit Orphanage in Seoul, in a secluded spot beside the warehouse in the back yard, I looked down at a boy sprawled on the ground, moaning in pain, and spoke in the most menacing voice I could muster.
“I don't know how things work elsewhere, but if I catch you pulling this stunt here again, that time you'll really die.”
“…Ugh, o-okay. I got it.”
Whether or not the warning had sunk in, the boy gave a weak nod, and I left him behind. As I went, I brushed the dust off my rumpled clothes and clicked my tongue.
It was a shirt I'd been rather fond of, and now the hem was stained with blood from the scuffle just now. Blood never comes out cleanly, either. Sigh. As I let out a long breath, I found myself recalling how on earth I'd ended up like this.
I wasn't originally an orphan. Nor was I a little girl. To be precise, I hadn't been those in my previous life.
Before I was reborn into this godforsaken world, I had been a twenty-five-year-old office worker scraping out a living in a cold capitalist society. Then a drunk driver came barreling down the road home with the pedal floored, ran me over, and by the time I came to, I had already been reincarnated.
In this world, my name is Ha Yuryeong — a harmless-looking little girl, at least on the surface. As for my distinguishing features, I'm the hidden mastermind of Hanbit Orphanage… no, wait, I'm more like the resident etiquette-enforcement officer for the kids.
When I first reincarnated, my plan had been simple: graduate from the orphanage like a normal kid, strike it rich with crypto and stocks, and then laze around living the good life. But the world never goes according to plan — and this particular world was so much of a dumpster fire that it could go up in flames at any moment, making that whole crypto-and-stocks windfall a bit of a long shot.
Roughly twenty years ago, mysterious structures known as Towers had suddenly appeared in the heart of every major city, along with something called the Awakening.
No physical attack could so much as scratch the Towers, and they selected certain people, granting them a status window and the right to climb. Seen like that, the Towers might sound like a blessing — but whenever you gain something, there's always a price to pay.
In exchange for bestowing power on humanity, the Tower handed down a game of Russian roulette: climb at fixed intervals, or an unimaginable calamity would befall whichever nation the Tower occupied. Thanks to that, several countries were wiped out in the early days before they even had a chance to try anything, and now the people called Climbers ascend the Tower with their lives on the line.
If I'd known the world would be like this, it would've been better to fall into some fantasy world instead.
Or would it? That side would be just as dangerous either way, so maybe Earth was still the better option. The moment I realized that here and there alike, everything was equally bleak, a deep sigh escaped me.
If it weren't for that damn drunk driver…
Right about now I'd be tearing into a bucket of fried chicken in a peaceful world with no Tower in it. Pointlessly irritated, I kicked at a pebble by the roadside as I walked, and yesterday's events came back to me.
Yesterday afternoon, I'd been sprawled out in a corner of the yard as usual, photosynthesizing in the warm sunlight between lazy yawns, when suddenly a cheerful ding♪ chimed in my head and a blue system window filled my vision.
I, too, had been chosen by the Tower. I had Awakened.
King of Curses.
A terrifying class just from the name alone. The kind of job that sounds like it would bury enemies under every curse imaginable, leave them helpless, and obliterate them with overwhelming force. And the rank was EX — a grade I'd never even heard of in my life.
This has to be a monster of a class that'll make S-rank look like a joke, right? That expectation went ice-cold the instant I saw the skill.
Curse Absorption
Absorbs curses through physical contact. Absorbed curses can be decomposed to gain experience and level up.
Huh? That's it?
That was my honest reaction. Looking at the other S-rank classes floating around on Neutube, people who Awakened with them were immediately hurling sword auras and casting spells left and right — while my entire ability set consisted of one thing and one thing only: absorbing curses.
Fine, I was only level 1, but was this seriously the whole package?
It's not that I don't know anything about curses. From what the Climbers say, curses pop up day in and day out in the mid-tier floors and above — and piles upon piles of rankers have died because they couldn't dispel them in time.
The problem is that you never encounter a single curse before reaching the mid-tiers. A class and a skill with nowhere to be used until at least floor fifteen. That was the true nature of what I had Awakened into.
Even if I somehow managed to get into the Tower, with this level-1 body of a ten-year-old girl I wouldn't trust myself to clear floor one. Which meant: even if I entered the Tower, I could never reach the mid-tiers.
A King of Curses who can't reach the mid-tiers = trash.
“Haahh.”
With my head a mess and my face bleak, I trudged back into the orphanage — and found the Director bustling around, busily preparing something.
“…Director?”
“Ah, Yuryeong. I was just wondering where you'd gotten to. Here, change into something clean — you need to get ready too.”
“Ready for what?”
“Hm? Didn't I tell you yesterday? We're having guests today.”
“Ah.”
Now that she mentioned it, I did vaguely remember hearing something like that. But I'd just Awakened yesterday and it had completely slipped my mind. I'd only half-listened at the time and couldn't remember who was coming, so I almost asked — but the Director looked so busy that I let it go.
Guests, huh. Probably some sponsors coming by with a volunteer group, I figured. With that rough guess, I went back to my room and changed into a clean outfit. Then I stepped outside, waited a little, and the guests I'd been waiting for arrived.
Vroom—
Rolling up to the front of the orphanage with a deep, powerful engine note came a black sedan that looked too expensive to be seen anywhere on the streets — followed by a line of several more vehicles. So the guests turned out to be sponsors after all.
They'll probably snap a few photos and head out.
Just as I was thinking that, the car door opened and a woman stepped out — tall and strikingly beautiful, a radiance no sunglasses could hide. The moment I saw her, I knew exactly who she was.
Well, of course I did — she'd been on the morning news today.
Seo Arin: a core executive of Hanshin Guild, one of Korea's major guilds, and a high-ranking Climber currently raiding the forties of the Tower. And she had arrived trailed by a pack of reporters from every broadcasting station.
When Seo Arin stepped out of the car, the Director applauded and the children erupted into cheers. A natural reaction — how often did anyone get to see a high-ranker in the flesh?
Unlike the other kids, I didn't quite cheer, but I clapped along in welcome. Normally I should have been delighted: a visit from a high-ranker in itself, plus the flood of donations sure to follow in her wake.
But right now, I had no spare attention for any of that.
The moment my eyes landed on Seo Arin, a system window appeared.
High-Grade Curse, Purgatory (S)
And there it was, advertising itself as if to say this is a curse: a dark reddish haze radiating out from around Seo Arin's body.
So that's a curse… and a high-grade one at that.
Seo Arin happened to be walking toward where we stood beside the Director. And the closer she came, the more an indescribably delicious scent seemed to ripple through the air.
Grrrumble—
It wasn't even noon yet, but one whiff of that scent and a hunger rose up in me that was almost impossible to bear. The morning news came back to me. The content had definitely been…
They said she had to pull back from the raid on floor 43 due to a problem.
So that was what they'd been talking about. And thanks to it, I'd made a wonderful discovery: a way to grow without ever setting foot in the Tower. Namely — absorbing the curses of cursed Climbers.
“I'm looking forward to today. Thank you for having me.”
“Oh no, the pleasure is all ours — having you visit at all is an honor.”
“Not at all. Kids! Your big sister brought a whole bunch of delicious things, so feel free to get excited.”
“““WAAAAH!”””
At the words delicious things, the kids erupted into cheers — and beside them, so did I, licking my lips.
Delicious things, huh… yeah, I can definitely see that.
The gaze I fixed on the curse wreathing her body gleamed with naked greed.
Contrary to my prediction that she'd take a few photos and leave, Seo Arin genuinely played with the kids, cheerfully took on the dirty work, and even showed off her superhuman strength as if to demonstrate why she was a ranker. I was glad she didn't just snap pictures and go — the problem was the reporters who dogged her every step.
Thanks to those bastards, I couldn't find a single opening to absorb the curse.
But even if the sky falls, there's a hole to crawl out through, and fortune favors those who wait. About two hours into the volunteer activity, a slightly awkward-looking Seo Arin spoke up carefully.
“The children certainly have a lot of energy. Would it be all right if I rested for a little while?”
“Haha, of course. Rest as long as you like.”
“Then I'll step away for just a bit.”
Having said she'd take a short break, Seo Arin shook off the reporters trailing her and moved at a speed no camera could catch. I lost sight of her too — but then, I had my ways.
Me? I can see everything, you see.
Well, to be precise, it wasn't so much that I saw her — the scent of that delicious curse simply led me straight to wherever Seo Arin was. Following the intoxicating aroma, I found she had gone to a secluded spot I knew very well: beside the warehouse behind the orphanage, where people almost never came.
In that hidden little corner, Seo Arin sat slumped against a tree, sunk to the ground. And then—
“Nngh… aagh!”
I found her, breath held, letting out a moan thick with pain.