An Extra's Quest for a Gift
I hadn't even reached the entrance yet, but a chilling energy already filled the air. Is this what they call dense negative energy? Most of the people living here probably suffered from depression; that was just how gloomy the atmosphere of this village was.
The village chief frowned and asked me, "Looking at your youthful face, you seem quite young. Are you really going to the Mountains of Howling?"
"Yes, I have a reason I must go there."
The chief clicked his tongue and turned his head. "Tsk. The energy up there is terribly foul."
A village near the Mountains of Howling. Right now, I was looking for a carriage to take me there.
But there was a problem. No one wanted to go to the Mountains of Howling. It wasn't even like I was asking them to go all the way to the top—just to the entrance...
Well, it wasn't completely incomprehensible. There had been far too many victims claimed by the Mountains of Howling.
Left with no choice, I had to head toward the mountains alone. It wasn't that far, though the path was a bit rugged.
Normally, magical beasts stayed deep within the mountain ranges, but the energy of the Mandragora emanating from the Mountains of Howling drew them all the way down to the base. That was why traveling without a carriage was no easy feat.
"Sigh..."
The further I walked along the path, the more my energy drained. My motivation evaporated, leaving me with no desire to do anything at all.
Slap! I slapped both of my cheeks to snap myself out of it. Now I understood why people refused to come here. It was already this bad? I had only read about what the protagonist felt when he arrived, but experiencing it in person was entirely different. There couldn't possibly be a more unpleasant sensation than this.
To keep my sanity, I forced my eyes wide open, clenched my fists, and marched forward along the path.
As I walked endlessly along the path, a low growl echoed. Grrr! A goblin appeared.
What is the most iconic magical beast that comes to mind when you think of a fantasy world? For me, it's the goblin. They always appear as basic monsters in almost every fantasy novel or game. Seeing one in real life, though... it looked incredibly ugly.
Screech. I drew my sword.
"G-Grrr?!" The goblin, which had strutted out so confidently, flinched in shock the moment my blade cleared its scabbard and bolted.
What the?
Now that I had reached the 5-Star realm, did I automatically emit some kind of passive bloodlust? Well, it worked out great for me.
After walking for a long time, just as my legs were starting to ache, I finally arrived at the entrance of the Mountains of Howling.
The atmosphere at the entrance alone... was so eerie it felt like a ghost from a horror story would pop out at any second. I knew nothing was actually there, but the sheer creepiness of the place gave me goosebumps. Seriously... I wanted to turn back right this instant. I suddenly missed Mycaris.
But I had to go in. After all, Lady Linet is also one of those pitiful villainesses.
With heavy steps, I set foot into the Mountains of Howling. The Mandragora was located at the very peak of the mountain. It was sitting right out in the open, so why had no one ever found it? The reason was simple. The closer you got to the summit, the denser and more corrupt the negative energy became, to the point where no ordinary human could endure it.
In the original novel, Lady Linet had endured that negative energy solely out of her passion for alchemy and managed to reach the summit. Who could have known back then? That harvesting the Mandragora would curse her, splitting her personality into three.
Well, I was going to the Spring of Life afterward, so I didn't need to worry.
As I struggled to hold onto my slipping sanity and kept climbing toward the summit, auditory hallucinations began to whisper in my ears.
"You can never save them."
"Mycaris's execution, Ronia's suicide, Linet's death by poisoning! Do you really think you can change the outcome? Fate cannot be altered."
"..."
I tried to ignore it, but actually hearing those words was incredibly unpleasant. Even as I struggled to maintain my composure, my hands trembled and my brow furrowed. If anyone saw my face right now, wouldn't they be horrified? In these Mountains of Howling, my ruthlessly distorted expression probably made me look like a demon.
I covered my ears with both hands and shut my eyes tight. Relying entirely on my Aura, I kept pushing forward into the unseen darkness.
The higher I climbed, the stronger the negative energy became. Now, even visual hallucinations began to manifest. I saw Mycaris, who had just been eating a meal with me the other day, being executed; dark, stagnant blood trickling down Ronia's cheeks; and Lady Linet's pale, blue lips immediately after her assassination by poison.
"Are you still refusing to face reality? The ending of this world is already set. But you haven't even seen the end of this world, have you?"
"Stop it, please!"
How on earth did Lady Linet endure these hallucinations and whispers? Even with my eyes closed and ears covered, they kept flashing and echoing. I finally understood why people who came here lost their minds.
I bit my lip until it bled. My fingernails dug deep into my clenched fists, drawing blood. The sharp pain snapped my mind back to reality.
"I should have done this from the start."
It didn't make the hallucinations and whispers vanish completely, but... relying on the pain to keep me grounded, I dashed toward the mountain peak.
After running all night without a single moment of rest, I finally reached the summit.
The negative energy was so overwhelming that dizziness washed over me, and everything in my vision split into three. I drew my sword and slashed my own arm. Drip, drip. Blood trickled down my arm and onto the ground. But this was enough to clear my head. Only pain could remind me of who I was.
Thud. I collapsed onto my knees in front of the Mandragora.
"Please, just don't let me get hit with some weird curse."
Summoning every ounce of my strength, I yanked the Mandragora out of the ground.
It felt like my eardrums were going to burst. True to its reputation as a fantasy staple, the Mandragora boasted an incredibly robust set of lungs.
"Shut up already!"
Slash! I severed the Mandragora's roots with my sword. Once the roots were cut, the ear-splitting shriek finally ceased.
At that moment, a dark mist billowed out from the Mandragora in my hand and enveloped me.
Is this the curse?
But... I felt completely fine. What kind of curse was this? Was there some sort of trigger condition? Since I didn't know the exact moment Lady Linet's curse had manifested in the original story, I had no way of telling.
I stuffed the Mandragora into my bag.
"It was awful meeting you, and let's never see each other again."
As I slung the bag over my shoulder and prepared to head down, I felt the corrupt negative energy slowly dissipating from the mountain.
"Whew..."
A sigh of relief escaped my lips. If I had to deal with that same madness on the way down, my mind really would have snapped. A sudden wave of respect for Lady Linet welled up in my heart.
She really was an incredible woman.
Unlike the grueling climb up, my steps were light on the way down. Thanks to that, I made it back in no time.
As soon as I stepped out of the mountain range, the village chief I had met earlier stopped me.
"Young man, did you really just go to the Mountains of Howling?"
"It won't be called the Mountains of Howling anymore—just a regular mountain range. You should go take a look later."
"Are you perhaps from the Church? We requested help from the kingdom and the guild, but no one would listen..."
"I'm just an adventurer."
Leaving only those words behind, I departed from the village. Honestly, I wanted to act a bit cool. An adventurer who solves a crisis without asking for any reward. The chief was probably deeply moved right about now, wasn't he? Well, it was a pointless gesture, but still.
Now, I had to head to the Fairy Forest. The Fairy Forest was a place that couldn't be easily entered unless one was a spirit summoner or a chosen one. As long as a spirit summoner or a chosen one was in the forest, they could enter it anytime, from anywhere. But I was neither. So how was I supposed to get in?
Of course, there is always a way.
Around the midpoint of the original novel, when the protagonist was fleeing from the male leads, she had stumbled into the fairies' territory in a certain forest. That specific spot was the only place without a barrier, allowing her to hide. That was also the exact point where the male leads' obsession grew toxic, and the story began to turn dark and angsty.
Why did it have to go down that road when it was doing so well?
Thinking about it now, it was just ridiculous. Wasn't it supposed to be a survival genre? Then it suddenly turned into a dark, angsty romance. But that wasn't what was important right now. The location of that forest...
It was a dense, unmanaged forest near the Imperial Capital that nobody ever visited. Surprisingly, it was quite close.
Even though the curse didn't seem to have any effect yet, I still had to go to the Spring of Life. There was nothing more terrifying than the unknown. If Mycaris, Ronia, or Lady Linet were to get hurt because of this... I didn't even want to imagine it.
And so, I looked for a carriage heading to the Imperial Capital.
"Are you going to the Imperial Capital?"
"Yes, I am."
"Will we be traveling non-stop? Or will there be rest stops along the way?"
"If we go non-stop, it will cost you extra."
Ah, I was running low on funds.
"How much?"
"Three silver coins."
Fortunately, I had five silver coins left. This would do.
"Let's go to the Imperial Capital."
The moment I boarded, the coachman immediately set off toward the Imperial Capital.
"Hyah!"
Rattle!
"..."
This incredibly familiar sensation... This coachman must be using a cheap carriage too. Couldn't they invest in a decent one? I was already exhausted, but there was no way I could fall asleep on this bumpy ride to the Imperial Capital.
"Sigh..."
I felt like I had been sighing a lot more lately. Well, it couldn't be helped. Everyone had their own circumstances. I decided to close my eyes and meditate to gather some Aura.
But that only lasted for a brief moment.
"Customer? Excuse me, customer?"
"Yes, yes?!"
"We've arrived."
"Ah, thank you for your hard work."
When I stepped out of the carriage, the sky was pitch black. It felt like barely ten minutes had passed since I closed my eyes to meditate... I must have fallen fast asleep without realizing it. Well, having stayed up all night, it was only natural that I passed out. I was still incredibly exhausted. Even as I tried to shake it off, my eyelids felt like lead.
However, I decided against resting. Just in case the curse decided to kick in. Forcing my bone-tired body to move, I dragged myself toward the Fairy Forest.
"Seriously, where on earth is it?"
I was currently lost in the woods. I was certain this was the right direction. I was already dead tired, yet the Fairy Forest was nowhere to be found.
Did the fairies intentionally lure the protagonist in back then?
If that was the case, I was in deep trouble... Just as my mental state was about to crumble, I spotted a patch of space that was shimmering strangely.
That's it!
I bolted toward the shimmering space and threw myself into it.
Just as I thought.
It was a fairy sanctuary.
The Spring of Life should be located around...
It was a spring the protagonist had stumbled upon while wandering through the Fairy Forest, located near the fairy village. How was I going to find it? First, I blindly unleashed my Aura. I even projected a thick wave of bloodlust, openly displaying hostility toward the fairies.
Instantly, red lines began to materialize from countless directions. I quickly reined in my Aura and tried to initiate a conversation.
"I'm sorry for calling you out like this. Excuse me, but I've been cursed. Would it be possible for me to visit the Spring of Life?"
"I don't like you. You aren't from this world."
What? Did they know I was a possessor? Putting on a fake smile like a desperate salesman, I bowed politely to the fairy.
"Please, I beg of you. I've been afflicted by the Mandragora's curse."
"Tsk. You think we'd guide an outsider?"
Hearing the fairy click its tongue triggered an inexplicable surge of rage inside me. Suddenly, everything about this situation irritated me. Unable to suppress the anger, I ended up snapping at the fairy.
"You little gnat, guide me right now!"
Huh? I hadn't intended to be this violent...
"Y-You... Are you threatening a fairy right now?!"
"Yeah, you little bug. Even if I die from this curse, I can easily take your head with me first!"
The moment I yelled at the fairy, the raging anger instantly evaporated, and a laugh bubbled up from my throat.
"Haha, hahaha! Oh, dear Fairy, of course I wouldn't do that! Hahaha!"
What is wrong with me? This isn't like me at all. Is this the effect of the curse?
"You... you're crazy, aren't you?"
"Haha, hahaha! I'm not crazy at all! *Hic!*"
As time passed, my mood swings grew increasingly severe. I could feel the energy within my body turning chaotic.
"Me, crazy? I'll kill you right now!"
Aura erupted from my body. I tried to stop it, but my limbs refused to listen. I was no longer in control of myself. It felt as though I was watching my own actions from a third-person perspective. Was this really the same curse that Lady Linet had suffered from?
"W-Wait! Stop!"
Just as my body was about to swing the Aura-infused sword, my consciousness suddenly snapped back. It was finally my turn.
"Dear Fairy, you see now, right? This is the effect of the curse. Please, guide me to the Spring of Life."
"I... I suppose I must... If that curse continues, you'll end up destroying this entire forest."
I had thought the curse had no effect on me, but that was a close call.
"This way."
Fortunately, with the fairy's cooperation, I was able to make my way to the Spring of Life.