The Cursed Objects Class
The Cursed Objects Class.
Those bastards had dared try to dismantle my Sex Class. Other minor majors were involved, sure, but the Cursed Objects Class had taken the lead. Boiling with rage, I headed straight for their building.
The Cursed Objects Class occupied the first basement level of an academy annex—exactly as damp and oppressive as the name suggested. On the ground floor above sat some incomprehensible major called Demon Sound, or whatever it was.
“Yu-jin. Calm down. You’re not planning to start a fight in the Cursed Objects Class, are you? That I absolutely cannot allow.”
Callas caught my shoulder at the top of the stairs leading down, her voice firm.
“Teacher. I’m perfectly calm. I won’t do anything that would get me expelled, so don’t worry.”
She studied my eyes for a long moment, then gave a small nod.
“…Just don’t go too far. The Cursed Objects Class may be small, but its history stands shoulder to shoulder with the Sword Dance Class. The teacher who first founded it and took the representative seat was someone very famous.”
“Is that so. Shame I’m terrible at history.”
I started down the stairs. Halfway, the temperature plummeted and a chill settled over everything.
A barrier. Not to keep outsiders out… but to protect the people outside from whatever’s inside.
A steel door waited at the bottom. I didn’t bother knocking. I simply opened it and walked in. The Cursed Objects Class should have been grateful I hadn’t kicked the thing down.
“……”
Eight pairs of eyes locked onto me the instant I entered. Seven students. One teacher.
I took a quiet look around. Fluorescent lights were on, yet the place still felt dim. Bizarre objects hung from the walls; dried-out corpses of humans or monsters sat atop the bookshelves.
“Even gloomier than I expected. Classic Cursed Objects Class.”
“…Barging in unannounced and spouting nonsense. What business does the Spirit Class have here?”
A man lounging on a sofa spoke with open irritation.
Black hair hung like seaweed all the way to his waist. His upper body was lean but solid. The face was handsome enough, yet the deep dark circles under his eyes ruined the impression.
Kim Je-o, representative instructor of the Cursed Objects Class.
I walked over without hesitation and sat across from him.
He glared as if he wanted me dead, then shifted his gaze to Callas. A sharp voice cut from his lips.
“…Callas-sensei. What is the meaning of this complete lack of manners? Did you find my remarks at the meeting so amusing that you decided to drop by like this? And putting a student out in front, no less…. I had believed you to be an eminently sensible person, but it seems I misjudged you.”
“Yu-jin said he had something to tell you. I only came along in case of an emergency.”
“…An emergency? Do you think I’m going to hit this student?”
His neurotic voice climbed higher. Callas didn’t so much as flinch. Instead she narrowed her eyes slightly and let a smile touch her lips. She was not a woman who flinched just because the other party turned vicious.
“That isn’t what I meant. This is the Cursed Objects Class. It’s full of cursed items. Yu-jin is the only student in the Spirit Class—he could easily be cursed by something here.”
“So even with me present, you still don’t trust me.”
“I heard there was an accident in the Cursed Objects Class last year.”
“…….”
Kim Je-o’s mouth snapped shut. He glared at Callas once more, then turned his eyes back to me.
“State your business.”
“You don’t even offer a cup of coffee around here?”
“No eating or drinking is permitted in the Cursed Objects Class. Not even water. If you want coffee, go outside and drink it.”
It wasn’t an empty rule. It was because of the cursed objects.
Cursed objects were items that had been cursed—different from the tools used to cast curses. Yet there were ability users in this world who wielded such things, and the Cursed Objects Class was where they gathered. With cursed objects everywhere, caution around food and drink was only natural.
“I hear you want our Spirit Class dismantled, Teacher.”
“You’re the only student in the Spirit Class. It was created solely to give you special treatment. Neither I nor anyone else accepts that.”
I turned my head and addressed a first-year boy in blue sleeves.
“Hey. You don’t accept it either?”
“Uh, uh…? I-I….”
The boy stumbled backward in panic. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
At the academy, ranking was rank and power. I had entered fifth. Most people didn’t dare act up in front of me.
“I’m asking you.”
“Th-that’s….”
His pupils shook. He shot desperate signals toward Kim Je-o.
Kim Je-o’s brow furrowed.
“Stop the threats.”
“Threats? I was simply asking a question.”
“…What you want is the continued existence of the Spirit Class, I take it.”
“Yes. It’s not that the single student of the Spirit Class is receiving special treatment—the academy simply looks after even the one in the minority. Once I graduate the Spirit Class will disappear on its own anyway. Is there any need to force it shut now?”
“Even if you persuade me, the situation won’t change. More than twenty instructors want the Spirit Class dismantled. Do you think you can persuade every last one of them?”
“Well… from where I’m standing, persuading just you should be enough.”
“I will never give up. Stop wasting time and look into another major.”
“If the Spirit Class renounces its budget, would you drop the dismantling?”
“What meaning does a major without a budget even have? As far as I’m concerned the Spirit Class is of no use whatsoever to the academy’s students. That building is just sitting on valuable land. The Spirit Class deserves to vanish.”
“Truth is, the budget talk was just a feeler. Callas-sensei and I have no intention of giving up the Spirit Class budget. Naturally, dismantling it is out of the question.”
“…….”
No compromise. Kim Je-o’s eyes said as much.
“Let’s put the dismantling of the Spirit Class on the line in a bet. If your side wins, I’ll accept the dismantling cleanly.”
“Ridiculous. The next meeting will decide the Spirit Class’s fate. Public opinion is already there—the headmaster will have no choice but to accept it.”
“Which is why, if we win the bet, I’d like you to help keep the Spirit Class alive.”
“I already told you there’s no reason to make a bet.”
“Is there really none?”
I looked around the room.
Three first-years. One second-year. Three third-years. Seven students total. The first-years met my eyes and their faces stiffened.
“Do you know who my mother is?”
“…It would be stranger not to know. What, are you going to run to her, cry, and beg her to keep the Spirit Class open?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’ll do. I’ll ask her to get rid of the Cursed Objects Class.”
“Ha. Pointless. You think the academy will bow to outside pressure?”
“My mother’s the head of the parent association. She’s not an outsider. And… with my mother’s power… someone like you—”
I deliberately cut myself off and twisted the corner of my mouth. Kim Je-o had already guessed the rest, yet he didn’t snap back. His lips pressed tight. What flickered through his eyes was fear.
“Curious how clingy I can get, Teacher? I’ll tell you in advance. I’m confident I can cling all the way to hell.”
“……”
Kim Je-o’s jaw twitched. He was grinding his molars.
“Can a bet really settle this cleanly?”
“I’ll request notarization from the headmaster and vice-headmaster.”
“And the terms?”
“A match between the Spirit Class and the Cursed Objects Class. Simple enough, right? You can even decide the content of the match. My recommendation is a direct confrontation. Ends quickly—isn’t that better?”
“The Spirit Class is just you and Callas-sensei. Two people. Do you truly believe you can beat us?”
“Even if the entire Cursed Objects Class piles on, you still can’t beat me. Why? Because that’s a fact.”
Grind.
The sound of Kim Je-o’s teeth was crystal clear.
“…Fine. I’ll report the bet to the headmaster and vice-headmaster and get approval. A fine opportunity to show the academy just how incompetent the Spirit Class is….”
“Then I’ll take that as settled and be on my way.”
I stood.
“Though for a Cursed Objects Class, you’ve got some pretty interesting items lying around.”
“…Don’t touch anything. Leave. Those are not objects you can handle.”
“Just looking. Only looking.”
A spoon beaded with blood, a portrait whose eyes moved, spirit photographs of ghosts, a notebook scrawled with red names, a withered leg—plenty of strange things. Yet nothing in the room interested me more than the girl standing in the corner.
The ace of the Cursed Objects Class. The decisive reason Kim Je-o accepted the bet.
She was short. A year older than me, yet her appearance looked a full five years younger—childlike. Pale white hair fell to her waist; her eyes were dull and red like a dead fish’s. White bandages wrapped her entire body beneath the academy uniform, covering her neck and part of her face as well.
Shin Na-ri. Academy second-year, Class 3. Rank 65.
Her grades put her at sixty-fifth, but her actual skill sat at the very top of the second year.
“……??”
When I stared openly, Shin Na-ri tilted her head.
I activated Spirit Eye. My pupils flared gold. At the same time the presence clinging to her back became visible.
A female ghost. More precisely, an evil spirit of higher grade than a mere ghost.
Long black hair, crimson skin, hollowed-out eyes, black nails longer than ten centimeters. The evil spirit embraced Shin Na-ri from behind and stared straight at me.
Looks even worse in person than it did in the game.
Shin Na-ri followed the direction of my gaze and spoke.
“You can see it.”
“My eyes are a little special, so I see it clearly. Senpai, want me to help?”
“…Of all the people who said they’d help me, only one ever actually did.”
The person she meant was Kim Je-o. I shrugged. Her reaction was exactly what I’d expected. A few words wouldn’t make her trust me and follow. With Shin Na-ri, showing results through action was the sure way.
I deactivated Spirit Eye and left the Cursed Objects Class with Callas.
“Yu-jin. Did you plan to make a bet with the Cursed Objects Class from the start?”
“Yes.”
Anywhere else I could have settled things nicely by contacting the Jinryeong Seong Family or Seong Ha-ri. But this was the academy. The names of the Jinryeong Seong Family and Seong Ha-ri didn’t carry the same weight here.
If I went at it properly I could handle Kim Je-o alone without trouble…. But if I want to sleep with Shin Na-ri, this approach is better.
Shin Na-ri wasn’t really my type.
Still, I can’t just hand a beauty of her caliber over to someone else.
I also intended to claim a few other things from the Cursed Objects Class.
“…Just because the Cursed Objects Class is small doesn’t mean you can take it lightly. Some people fear curses more than magic. Do you have a way to deal with curses?”
“I’ll tell only you, Callas-sensei. No curse can bind me.”
I spoke with complete confidence, yet Callas still looked worried as she simply rubbed my shoulder.