"Wait... I think he’s dead? Did we really just kill a child?"
That trembling voice—Tom’s voice—felt distant, like it was coming from the bottom of a well, and even through the haze swallowing my consciousness I could sense the way tears clung desperately to the corners of his eyes.
Because he hadn’t meant to go this far, hadn’t planned to kill anyone at all, only to vent his bottled-up fear and anger, maybe teach me a lesson or two to make himself feel righteous for once, yet things had spiraled so violently and so fast that even he couldn’t keep up anymore.
"Stop panicking, Tom!" another boy snapped, his tone sharp and forcefully calm, as if sheer confidence could erase what they’d done.
"So what if he’s dead? We should be celebrating! We finally took care of the horrifying cursed child!"
His voice carried a warped sense of pride, the kind born from borrowed faith and shallow convictions.
"We did a heroic deed—for our village, for the Holy Shrine! Do you even know what kind of disaster he would’ve become for our families if we let him live?"
And then—
"Huh...? Where am I?"
The words slipped out of my mouth weakly as I struggled to open my eyes, my eyelids fluttering uselessly before finally parting, and the first thing I noticed was how wrong everything felt—there was no pain, no crushing pressure from the ground beneath me, no kicking, no shouting, no silhouettes of boys looming overhead—nothing.
Only silence.
No, not silence... a sound.
A single, constant drip—as if a droplet of water was endlessly falling and striking something far below.
I slowly pushed myself upright, my movements cautious and unsteady, my expression stiff with confusion as my mind struggled to make sense of the disconnect between what I remembered and what I was experiencing.
"Huh... I’m not even bleeding anymore?"
My voice cracked with disbelief as I touched my body, half-expecting to feel torn skin and broken bones, yet there was nothing—no wounds, no pain, not even soreness.
When I looked around, I realized I was inside some kind of confined space, a room-like structure barely larger than my bedroom back home, no wider than ten meters, its boundaries unclear yet unmistakably closed in, with no doors, no windows, and yet—strangely enough—I could breathe just fine.
I stood there for a moment, forcing myself to calm down, then activated my perception to scan the area, but no matter how thoroughly I searched, the result remained the same.
I was alone.
Even my Cursed Eyes were nearly useless here—night vision felt dulled, mana perception completely absent, as if the entire space had been drained dry, leaving nothing for my abilities to latch onto, making X-ray vision and mana sight utterly meaningless in this desolate environment.
With no better option, I began to explore.
And then I noticed it.
Below me—stretching endlessly—was an ocean-blue pool of water, its surface glowing faintly like a halo, and when I looked down at myself, my breath caught in my throat as I realized my body had become something else entirely, half black and half white, a wispy, floating form that looked more like a spirit than flesh.
I examined myself closely and understood that I was semi-transparent, existing in some strange in-between state, and when I turned toward the wall beside me, my unease deepened—the walls were pitch black, absorbing light rather than reflecting it, making the soft blue glow beneath me feel eerie and unnatural.
’Where the hell am I?’
"Where the hell am I...?!"
My own voice echoed violently in response, bouncing endlessly off the dark walls, and before I could process my rising panic, the blue pool beneath me began to recede rapidly, as if something unseen had pulled the plug on reality itself.
My balance vanished.
A powerful force yanked me downward.
Agony exploded through my body.
I screamed—and opened my eyes.
Roughly a minute later, everything returned to normal.
I was back.
But the suffocating silence and the prickling sensation crawling across my skin made my instincts flare, forcing my gaze upward toward the source of that discomfort.
The boys.
They were staring at me.
Frozen.
Around their pupils, I noticed a faint blue glow, shimmering faintly like dawn trapped inside their eyes, and although I found it strange, I didn’t yet realize that my own six eyes were currently ringed with the same glowing blue halos.
I widened my eyes as their stiff figures hovered over me, then forced myself to my feet, staggering backward into a fighting stance out of pure reflex—yet the moment I truly looked at them, I realized something was wrong.
They looked... weak.
Fragile.
As if they couldn’t hurt a fly.
Ding.
A light, mechanical sound rang inside my head, and a translucent screen materialized before my eyes.
[Host has completed a System Quest: Unlock Mental Fortitude]
"Huh?"
I stared at the notification, genuinely stunned.
’A System Quest?’
Since the day I obtained the system, it had never once mentioned anything like this.
[Quest Reward: New Skill Unlocked]
[Cursed Charm]
"Cursed Charm...?" I muttered internally. "Was that what dragged my consciousness into that strange place?"
My eyes narrowed as I thought it through.
’Charm... does that mean it activated subconsciously when my mind was under extreme stress?’
Still pondering, I opened the system panel.
{Host Attributes}
» Level (Rank-): 8
» Name: RAGNA Ringwood
» Titles: Cursed Child
» Race: Unknown
» EXP: 5000/ 32,000
» HP: 100 / 100
[Attributes]
› Mana: 30
› Strength: 30
› Perception: 30
› Vitality: 30
› Agility: 30
› Mana Sensitivity:30
› Mental Fortitude: 10
{Attribute Points: 260}
"...It added ten points instantly?"
My expression darkened.
Not gave—deducted.
The system hadn’t rewarded Mental Fortitude with free points; it had taken them straight from my hard-earned attribute pool, points I had spent years grinding through meditation and hidden conditions after the daily tasks stopped giving rewards.
"So this is how it works now..."
I exhaled slowly, my thoughts heavy.
I had always planned to raise my attributes evenly, carefully balancing my growth—but now the system had begun distributing them on its own, without my consent.
And that left me with one unsettling question:
If I unlock another attribute... will the system steal my points again?