Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Episode 13
EP6 - The Witch of the Graveyard (2)
3.
0 ?
A potential of [3.0].
It was an incomprehensible figure.
Even the ‘Hidden Dragon Society,’ designed to kill a [Hell Difficulty] professor, didn't even have [2.8]. But how could a figure like [3.0] even exist?
Is that why it's an [Error Space]?
‘Even [2.8] should be the final stat in this world…….’
This character called ‘Eve’ was no simple character.
There was definitely something more to her.
Something that affected the entire world.
But, what was important right now wasn't that.
“……”
Eve quietly rose to her feet.
I sensed it.
She was about to lose interest in me and leave.
But, well. Following her didn't seem like a good idea. Didn't she hate others approaching or even touching her?
I also slowly stood up.
“Eve.”
Everyone thought of her as a monster, so what if I called her name?
That was the thought that led me to call out.
“……”
Still no answer, no 【Script】.
However, Eve saw my movement and slightly lifted her hood to meet my eyes.
“Can I talk to you for a moment?”
“……”
Eve tilted her head slightly and turned her body.
But that was all.
After that, she started walking away again.
‘This won't be easy.’
Watching Eve climb back onto the large tomb and sit down, I decided to head down for now.
A potential of [3.0]…….
I want it.
I absolutely have to have it.
If I had to guess, it was a potential that only one or two people in this entire massive world with a population of over 500 million would have.
The fact that I found it in the mountains near the academy was an unbelievable stroke of luck.
‘Have I forgotten?’
Meanwhile, as I descended, I kept being mindful.
In case I was hit by the 『Curse of Oblivion』 and forgot.
But then, an interesting log popped up.
< ♠ 『Curse of Oblivion』 is applied. Direct memories and records of the person you just encountered are erased or distorted. >
< ⧉ 『Game System』 resists. >
< ♠ 『Curse of Oblivion』 is applied. Direct memories and records of the person you just encountered are erased or distorted. >
< ⧉ 『Game System』 resists. >
⋮
As if they were fighting, the two status windows kept popping up alternately.
< ⧉ 『Game System』 wins! >
That seemed to settle it.
I was living in this reality, but unlike other humans, it was as if I was standing one step behind. I was immune to mental curses or status ailments.
As a result.
‘I haven't forgotten.’
I remember clearly. Her face. Her eyes. And even her name.
So, what should I do? How could I make Eve into something for me?
As I left the [Error Space] and descended Star Gazing Mountain.
I was deep in thought.
“Hey, you there, young man!”
An old man called out to me.
● Allmount, Caretaker of Star Gazing Mountain
A resident, huh.
He managed to survive in this Ghoul-infested place.
I came down a different way than I went up, to check the terrain.
There was a mountain lodge on this path. And the old man seemed to be the owner of the lodge.
“What is it?”
“Are you coming down from the summit?”
“Yes.”
“You met the Witch of the Graveyard, didn't you?”
“I did. Do you happen to know anything about her?”
“Ha! Many people have come to hunt that witch, but you're the first I've seen come without any weapons……. I'm the caretaker of Star Gazing Mountain. If you don't mind, would you like to talk for a bit?”
I hesitated for a moment before following him.
Entering the lodge, there were small chairs and a table. And a large statue of the Holy Mother Goddess.
“Are you using this to avoid the Ghouls?”
“That's right! I bought it with all my savings! Damn it.”
He gave me water and asked.
“Would you mind telling me who you are?”
“I'm a professor at the academy.”
“I knew you were a professor! So, you've come to subjugate the witch, have you?”
“I haven't made up my mind yet.”
“You should subjugate her if you can. I'll tell you her weakness.”
“Weakness?”
He crossed his arms and said confidently.
“You'd better listen to my advice. First of all, she can't hear.”
“You mean she has a hearing problem?”
“That's what I think. She's never reacted to any sound.”
So that's why she couldn't hear me.
“She didn't even react to sounds she should be interested in.”
“What kind of sounds are those?”
“That's her real weakness……. She's weak to death.”
Death.
That was unexpected. Weak to death?
“Did you think I was just a lowly caretaker? The old professors who came before and the Disciplinary Department guys all ignored me, but my eyes are sharp! She's weak to death. She doesn't know what to do in the face of something dying.”
“……”
Come to think of it, they did say there were no casualties.
Was she avoiding killing?
“What! Are you doubting me too?”
“……No, not at all. Could you tell me more?”
“Alright! The truth is, I've encountered that witch ten times, but I can't remember her appearance or anything about her. But I can guarantee her weakness. I've experimented myself.”
Then he began to tell his story.
“I was a boy who loved to look at the stars.”
“When was this?”
“About 70 years ago, damn it!”
……A caretaker who had been attached to Star Gazing Mountain since long ago.
One day, as he was living in harmony with the mountain in his old age, the intruder witch (Eve) appeared.
The caretaker tried to drive the witch away.
Usually, she was indifferent even if he approached her. But later, she would run away as soon as she saw him, making it difficult to even encounter her.
Then one day, he accidentally hunted a bird with a shotgun, and he was carrying the dying bird down the mountain…….
“The witch followed me, I tell you!”
“……”
“So I experimented with other animals. She doesn't react to healthy animals. Only to dying ones! And the bigger the animal, the more sensitive she was. That's how I found out she had weak hearing. She couldn't recognize the sound of something dying.”
“Interesting.”
“Isn't it?! You have a good eye! I think if a human were dying, she'd freeze up completely. Use that to make the monster follow you from a distance!”
Then he seemed to have seriously thought about how to capture the witch and began to lay out his plan.
“You need two things. A dying person. And restraints! She won't be able to leave the moment a person is about to die, so you can use the restraints to capture her!”
Well, since I wasn't trying to hunt her, I let it go in one ear and out the other.
It was time to leave.
“Thank you for the information. Take care.”
“If you're going to do it, get rid of that witch quickly. Or I, 87-year-old Allmount, will attempt one last fight of my life!”
I left the lodge.
I came down the mountain and contacted Adele with the 「crystal ball」, and she had returned.
“You're back safe? I was so surprised when I was suddenly chased by Ghouls.”
“What happened to the Ghouls?”
“They all hid after a while.”
As I drove home, I thought deeply.
Eve was a character that didn't exist before the update, so I had no information about her.
‘Then?’
Hearing impairment. 『Curse of Oblivion』. A personality that hates death…… I know that much.
So what was I going to do with Eve?
Become friends?
Kidnap and raise her?
Make her a Student?
I didn't even know how to become friends, and even if I did, I didn't know what to do.
Nevertheless, there was enough reason to worry.
Because her potential was [3.0].
‘First, I need to become friends slowly.’
Without getting too close.
At a moderate distance.
Getting closer very slowly.
The conditions were good. Because I could remember.
What I was worried about was Eve leaving Star Gazing Mountain.
Or disappearing when the [Update] was implemented.
I hoped to become friends as quickly as possible.
‘Come to think of it, why is Eve on Star Gazing Mountain?’
It was ironic that she hated death but lived in a graveyard. In the meantime, her identity and whereabouts were unknown. Communication was also difficult.
Was there a reason why a person with [3.0] potential should be here?
Was that why it's an [Error Space]?
Or was the graveyard her purpose? To commemorate someone?
But she was a specialist in desecrating graves by sitting on them…….
‘ I was a boy who loved to look at the stars. ’
What suddenly came to mind was the old caretaker's words. Even the name was ‘Star Gazing Mountain.’
So, did she come to see the stars?
⋮
The next day was Saturday.
I visited Star Gazing Mountain once again.
And this time too, Eve was sitting on that large tomb.
Remembering that she couldn't hear, I turned around and started walking from behind. As a result, she didn't notice me.
But before long, Eve's head turned.
She seemed to have sensed me with a sense other than hearing.
She must be vulnerable to assassination.
“……”
“……”
I raised my hand and showed her my palm.
I was just greeting her, but Eve didn't show any particular reaction.
So I cautiously approached her.
It felt like approaching a stray cat.
Then, when I thought I was getting too close, Eve turned her head back to me.
Her eyes staring intently. As if telling me to stop.
Looking at the [Minimap], the distance was about 19m. About 1m closer than yesterday.
“Are you looking at the stars?”
“……”
Eve didn't answer.
She just tilted her head.
“Can't you hear?”
“……”
As expected, there was no answer.
She only tilted her head in response to my lip movements.
I took something out of my [Inventory].
It was the equipment 「Scope」 that I borrowed from the assassination tool room.
A scope that could be attached to a gun to show distant places.
Of course, it would show the stars better.
『 World Fabrication : Shape Fabrication [Puppy] 』
I handed the scope to the fabricated country mutt.
The puppy approached Eve according to the [Activity Variables] I had entered in advance. Wagging its tail.
Fortunately, Eve didn't avoid the puppy. She accepted the 「Scope」 and looked at me with a blank expression.
As if saying, ‘What?’
『 World Fabrication : Shape Fabrication [Scope] 』
So I made one too, and pretended to look at the sky with it.
My 「Scope」 had a terrible lens model and couldn't see anything.
Eve's was clearly different.
If you put it to your eyes and looked through it, you could see all the beautiful stars in the sky and the ring of the Earth at a glance…….
“Hey, what are you doing?”
“……”
“Why are you turning it? Why are you taking it apart?”
“……?”
Her hand kept turning while tilting her head.
“Hey. You shouldn't turn that…”
Snap!
Finally, the 「Sco」 and 「pe」 were separated.
“No……”
Eve tilted her head.
I'm going crazy.
But it's okay.
I'll get closer to her little by little in the future.
* * *
The most disgusting memories linger and eat away at a person's emotions and daily life.
“……”
Joaquin's jaw tightened.
He was blankly reminiscing about the past while being hit by hot water when someone's voice landed in his ear.
‘ Student, withdraw from the course. ’
“…Shit.”
He felt like his eyes were turning over.
To insult Joaquin of the Moon Shadow Scholar, an assassin of the Black Blade Society who had been wielding a sword since he was 5 years old and had assassinated countless targets, like that?
After that, rumors seemed to have spread.
‘ Joaquin. I heard you got humiliated in front of everyone? ’
Kendrake, a respected senior of the Black Blade Society and a member of the Hidden Dragon Society, suddenly scratched at his insides.
‘ You piece of trash. I thought your Stealth was useful…. ’
Kendrake was trying to find out the professor's weakness by using Joaquin's temper.
His prediction was correct.
A fist flew.
Clang!!
The mirror shattered into pieces.
Joaquin breathed roughly and came outside.
“Huh? Joaquin, your hand is…….”
“Hey. Call all the kids.”
“Huh?”
“Go and call all the kids we've been managing. I'm too pissed off to stay like this.”
“You're not going to go after that professor, are you?”
Joaquin calmly thought about it even in his anger.
Acting on emotions when angry was clumsy.
He had to assassinate more ‘smartly.’
“No? Why would I? Shit. Do I need to do it myself?”
Assassination was an information war.
But almost nothing was known about Professor Dante.
So he decided to find out his ‘weakness.’
By borrowing someone else's hands.
“But will anything happen if we just send those bug-like guys?”
He was right. There was a high probability that sending clumsy guys wouldn't even touch the professor. So.
“We need to attach at least one Moon Shadow Scholar-level guy.”
That way, even if they couldn't kill Professor Dante, they could find out his weakness.
And who knows?
Maybe a blind arrow would hit his head.
‘I'll kill you soon, Professor Dante.’
Joaquin imagined it and felt much better.
EP6
Eve : The Witch of the Graveyard
END