Witch of Darkness
Witch of Darkness
In the morning, Ha-yoon went missing.
"Ha-yoon... where on earth did you go...?"
Unni was collapsed on the floor, crying. Her emotions were so intense that she went berserk, losing her mind, and it drained me to calm her down.
I hadn't anticipated this situation at all.
"...Unni, I'll head to school for now."
I intend to meet Im Yu-na.
" ... "
Unni didn't answer.
She didn't say anything, but I felt anxious, wondering if she resented me inwardly. ...I found myself utterly disgusting for worrying about such things in this situation.
'Ha-yoon...'
Thinking of Ha-yoon crying all alone, my heart felt like it was crumbling.
* * *
School was the same as usual. The floors were clean, the facilities were splendid, and the students were beautiful.
At the same time, everything had changed. The floor felt unstable, as if it would collapse, the facilities isolated the space, and I felt gazes watching me from among the students.
'...Fuck.'
I stood in front of the folding door, number 7, which was the classroom's main entrance. I tried to ignore my trembling hands and pushed it aside. When I opened the door, Cho-yul, Park Tae-i, and Shim Chae-a glanced at me. They weren't the important ones.
'It's Im Yu-na.'
She was drinking tea, from which steam was rising. I approached her without a word.
"..Yu-na-nim, could we talk somewhere quiet for a moment?"
"...Lead the way."
I took Im Yu-na to the deserted school rooftop.
"...Do you happen to know a girl named So Ha-yoon, who was with me last time?"
"I do."
"Then, perhaps..."
"I 'have' her."
She was defiant.
Im Yu-na glared into my eyes and waved her arm. The space, about 1M higher than the rooftop, warped. Soon, tearing through the space, Ha-yoon appeared, bound like a pig just before slaughter.
I don't understand. I don't know why she's doing this to me. It felt like I was facing the malice of the world.
"Swear it."
Black tendrils climbed from the floor like growing vines. Above them, a thick gray paper floated up.
"One, you shall never leave my side for the rest of your life."
As Im Yu-na spoke, strange hieroglyphs were etched onto the paper.
"Two, you shall never dare to defy me."
The paper caught fire, and the characters became clearer.
"Three, you shall sever all ties you've formed in the past."
With a crackling sound, the skin on my right thumb peeled off. Red blood dripped onto the floor.
"Stamp it."
"...Understood."
A contract is not to be made carelessly. I knew it would be irreversible. But I couldn't possibly ignore Ha-yoon, who was suffering while bound.
I raised my hand and pressed my thumb firmly onto the contract. The blood spread across the contract and then burned away into the darkness.
As the contract disappeared, I felt the choker around my neck thicken. A deep black covered my entire neck. Im Yu-na saw this and smiled with satisfaction.
- [You have entered into a binding contract. Please be careful with your actions.]
"Kneel."
I felt my heart tremble as I knelt. The contract didn't physically compel my actions. However, I felt a strong sense of anxiety and defiance at the thought of not obeying Im Yu-na's words.
"Stand up."
A jolt, and I felt Im Yu-na's true intention. Following her intention, I stood up using only my leg strength, without placing my hands on the floor. My weak legs trembled.
As I precisely carried out Im Yu-na's instructions, the anxiety in my heart disappeared. Im Yu-na nodded and gestured. The space shimmered, and the bound Ha-yoon descended to the floor.
"Take it."
Smoke formed above my hand, and a cold, heavy object appeared.
[Victor's Curved Sword]
A curved sword gifted by Victor, the blacksmith of Belyum, to the hero's daughter.
- It is imbued with the power of cutting.
"Sever all ties you've formed in the past; fulfill the contract."
"..That's not possible. Why such a cruel command..."
As I resisted, goosebumps rose all over my body, and a strong aversion surged.
"I made this contract on the condition that Ha-yoon wouldn't be harmed!"
"Ha, what foolish talk..."
The sky darkened.
"When did I ever make such a trivial promise?"
A strong malice was felt.
"H-but..."
...She threatened me with Ha-yoon, so I jumped to conclusions and made the contract. At the very least, I should have gotten confirmation before signing.
Driven by my body's strong aversion, I unconsciously grabbed the curved sword and approached Ha-yoon.
"Please... not this..."
I bit down on the curved sword entirely.
"I will live my entire life in absolute obedience, like a slave."
I looked at Im Yu-na, my voice choked with tears.
"The only things of value in this world are heroes. Everything else is just a chaotic mess of livestock... You said that yourself."
My throat stung.
"Kill the livestock."
I bit the curved sword so hard that my teeth bled. But my body could no longer resist Im Yu-na's command. I pulled out the curved sword and stabbed the bound Ha-yoon. Tears fell from Ha-yoon's eyes. I pulled the inserted sword downwards. Flesh was torn away.
Ha-yoon's breath hadn't yet ceased. To save Ha-yoon, even belatedly, I pulled out the sword with hands trembling as if from an earthquake.
"Please..."
-[Dark Hand]
A giant hand made of darkness was summoned. Two hands interlocked around Ha-yoon.
Crunch. Crack.
The human body was torn into hundreds, thousands of pieces.
I had to watch blankly as Ha-yoon was torn apart. Even an animal wouldn't die like that.
"Blood splattered on your chest... Wipe it off."
"..Ah."
Piercing through the mind consumed by fear, a furious rage erupted from the top of my head.
"You fucking bitch, there's a limit to your bullshit, you goddamn cunt, I'll cut off your pussy and feed it to dogs, you fucking whore, I'll smash your idiotic head and shove you into a cesspool to live your life in filth, I'll hack your whole body with a knife and throw you into the food waste bin."
"???"
Im Yu-na's pupils quaked at the explicit and vulgar profanity she was hearing for the first time in her life.
The temperature of my blood rose with anger. I could hear my heart pounding. I wanted to swing the curved sword right away, but there was a limit to my defiance.
I stared at Ha-yoon's mangled flesh. Guilt brought on suicidal impulses.
Leaving the bewildered Im Yu-na behind, I fled with the curved sword still in my hand.
Coming out onto the rooftop, I ran aimlessly. Every student I encountered screamed. Once outside, I fled across the tree-lined street. Shopkeepers, both men and women, cried out in startled surprise.
I ran and ran. I ran endlessly, not even knowing what I was running from. Then I soon realized. I had been feeling Im Yu-na's gaze for a long time.
My reflection appeared in the building's glass window. The deep black covering my neck. I realized its true nature belatedly.
"...I haven't escaped at all until now."
I grasped the curved sword in reverse.
Just like that, I stabbed it into my neck.
""Kyaaaaaaaah!!!""
It wasn't my scream. It was the choker on my neck screaming.
I pulled out the curved sword and stabbed it in again. Ignoring my eardrums bursting, I stabbed my neck a total of 7 times.
Zzzzt.. Zzzzzzt!
The choker shattered, and black spiderwebs spread across my entire body.
- Danger Warning! Danger Warning!
[Mental Corruption Stage 7]
- Cataclysmic mental corruption has occurred. Recovery appears urgent.
- Due to severe corruption, pain signals are weakening.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
The moment the choker shattered, I felt Im Yu-na's emotions. I felt her rage at the broken oath and her absurdity at the defiance of a weak existence.
A deep darkness spread into the sky from the Queen Valtz Academy building. A city-sized magic circle, filling my vision, completely obscured the sky.
- How dare you... break the contract?
The earth shook. The voice echoed as if speaking directly into my brain.
-[Blood Moon]
A blood-red moon rose in the sky. Its deep crimson color was so potent that merely looking at it would deplete one's spirit.
"Kuaaaah!!"
"Keugh... Keuuugh..."
People on the street screamed in agony.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
-[Death Rule]
The screaming people began to bleed from every orifice—eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and so on.
Anyone who fell twisted like a pretzel, then rose with lifeless eyes.
Only I stood unharmed.
'Is it because I'm already consumed by darkness?'
The city is no longer safe.
'...Let's escape to the mountain I saw before.'
I headed towards the mountain next to the public restroom where I had previously met the prostitute.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
Ignoring my shoes coming off, I ran like mad. The soles of my feet stung as if they were burning.
People on the street vomited. It wasn't typical vomiting of pizza, but rather they spewed out crimson organs. Human intestines covered the roads.
Those who finished vomiting twisted like pretzels, as if it were natural. I ignored them and kept running.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
I saw the public restroom, and next to it, wooden stairs leading up the mountain. Ignoring the thorns piercing the soles of my feet, I climbed the mountain.
I had lost too much blood, and my mind was hazy.
-[Blood Explosion]
Bang! Bang! Kwaaaang!!
Giant explosions began to erupt in the city. These were no ordinary explosions. With each blast, entire buildings shook. Densely populated buildings were completely half-destroyed, toppling like dominoes.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
It felt like the downfall of the world had arrived. Every part of the city was stained with red blood. The disgusting smell of blood stung my nose. Even ordinary menstrual blood would smell more fragrant than this.
This time, I too seemed affected by the magic; the spiderwebs spread across my body protruded like veins.
Listening to the sounds of the city's collapse, I climbed the mountain. My feet hurt, so I walked where many fallen leaves had accumulated. I pushed through dense trees, not following a naturally formed mountain path.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
I saw a wooden shack, hidden from people's eyes. This place, which seemed to be a logging site, had an electric saw for cutting wood and a thick axe that appeared to be for splitting firewood.
I sat on a felled tree, presumably cut by the electric saw. In that state, I watched the city being destroyed.
I felt hollow. I thought I was adapting to this new world, but I acted like an idiot and ended up on the verge of death.
"Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
Nothing can save me. Even God would click his tongue if he saw the city being destroyed.
As I blankly watched the city, I felt a gaze from the red moon in the sky that I shouldn't have felt.
- So you were there!
Im Yu-na's hand appeared, tearing through space.
"Hahaha... I can't even die peacefully, you fucking bitch. / Life is #pain and %hardship, and at the same time, a @curse."
I pulled hard on the electric saw's cord next to me.
Drrrk Drrrk.. Wiiiiiing!!
"What a fucked-up world... At least death, and only death, is mine."
I dived onto the rotating electric saw blade. My neck, already a rag, was ground by the saw blade.
Wiiiiing!!
It was ground and ground.
After the flesh was cut, my neck spun.
Wiiing!!
My neck rotated like a top.
The world spun round and round.
[You have died!]
[...Loading the last recorded save point.]
- [Calculating current Hoicha score... Im Yu-na Stage 5, Park Tae-i Stage 4, Cho-yul...]
- [You have acquired a total of 190 Eunhwa as a Hoicha reward!]
* * *
"...W-what on earth did you do?"
Lee Ji-yoon's suicide was something even Im Yu-na hadn't anticipated. She stammered and embraced Lee Ji-yoon's corpse.
-[Death Rising]
Lee Ji-yoon, now a corpse, rose with a lifeless appearance.
"...Now we'll be together forever."
As she embraced Lee Ji-yoon, the sound of fighter jets could be heard nearby.
...It didn't take long for the world to turn into a land of death.