Chapter 29: Cursed Memory

First of all, I had learned that it was extremely difficult.

The backlash if you failed was terrifying—not to mention that if you messed up, the god you served might even punish you.

That was why, as far as I knew, only shamans who were utterly blinded by money would even attempt it.

In fact, my mother had received several such requests, but she turned them all down. She said that messing with someone else’s life would bring divine punishment.

And she always strictly warned me never to pick up anything that had fallen on the ground. Especially objects that vaguely resembled human shapes: dolls, mirrors, combs, wooden furniture—never.

‘At least it’s certain she died from a curse. The only question is the method the shaman used…’

Did they summon bad luck to cause her murder? Or did they release an evil spirit to kill her directly? Given that the case was closed unsolved because no trace of the killer was found, the latter seemed more likely.

The woman must have been chased by formless things that night, trembling in fear until she was killed. It was the typical vile way evil spirits toyed with humans.

‘And that woman… she said she wanted a living body.’

She had tried to possess me and even showed me her memories on purpose. Probably, she wanted to know the clear cause of her death, so she hadn’t ascended. She thought that if she got a body, she could escape the school and investigate her death.

I didn’t know why such a setting was suddenly added, making the story go off the rails, but this was my deduction. Really, the progress had gotten horribly twisted.

Back with the ghoul, they abruptly locked the cafeteria door, and this time they made clearing the round itself difficult. I couldn’t help but curse.

Just then, the bastard I thought had completely glitched out popped up a notification window.

[Your valid reasoning has greatly increased your insight! Insight +5. Current insight: 20]

[You have collected all available insight for the current round. Would you like to exchange it for a hint?]

…What was this now? Exchange insight for a hint? Was there such a setting? Then the system flashed noisily, as if boasting about its achievement.

[New setting established! From now on, if you collect all available insight in a round, you can consume it all and exchange it for one hint!]

Was it because he was in the process of building a new setting that he’d been appearing so rarely lately? I was grateful, but consuming all 20 insight for just one hint—the reward was too stingy.

‘No, wait.’

I hadn’t collected all the insight in the first boss fight anyway, so even if I continued to gather 20 insight per round, I wouldn’t be able to use it in the final boss fight.

So wouldn’t it be more beneficial to collect all insight each round and use it for hints?

The effect of revealing just one weakness at the end versus getting one hint per boss fight—clearly the latter was better. Thinking that way, I suddenly felt grateful to the system that had been silent all this time.

‘So you actually do useful things sometimes?’

[^^]

Now that annoying smirking emoji wasn’t so irritating.

When I enthusiastically agreed to the question ‘Would you like to exchange for a hint?’, a window appeared with a settlement message and a prompt to enter the desired hint. Without hesitation, I asked.

‘What should I do from now on?’

[Such a broad and vague question is not accepted.]

Damn. As always, this bastard made good feelings last less than a minute. A specific and clear question. Specific…

‘Tell me where to explore next. Specifically.’

Whether this question fell within the acceptable range, the answer came immediately.

[Hint consumed. Find an item related to the deceased’s death on a bench near the schoolyard.]

[Current insight: 0. You cannot gain insight until the end of this round.]

Adding the word ‘specifically’ at the end seemed to have worked; it even told me what I needed to find, which I hadn’t expected. If only the system always acted like this.

But as if to say ‘don’t get your hopes up,’ a message immediately appeared: [Hints can only be used once per round.] I swallowed a curse.

They didn’t need to emphasize it twice. That system bastard definitely thought of me as a total moron, an idiot, a fool.

“If the family photo doesn’t work, what do we do now?”

While I was wrestling with the system, the kids were each holding their own discussions. It was natural they’d be serious—they had trusted me the most, and I, who had been leading the actions, almost got possessed right in front of them and collapsed.

“Lee Jae-yoon…”

“Look at him!”

Yoon Soo-ah shouted at Kim Ji-ho, who called my name with a face like he was dying.

“I’m fine now. More importantly, let’s gather and talk.”

I needed to explain the memories I saw when I almost got possessed and the curse. From now on, both I and the kids were equally in the dark, so we needed to actively exchange information and share opinions.

At my instruction, the kids sat down in a circle around me. On my left, as always, Seo Yi-han stuck close and sat down.

Moreover, he kept urging me to lie on his lap and talk if I was tired, so I freaked out and hit his right thigh. This guy was really overdoing it.

“What happened to when you were begging me to rub your leg because it hurt?”

“I’m fine now.”

Who came up with the saying ‘you can’t spit on a smiling face’? The inventor of that proverb must have had the same experience as me. And the person who showed that ‘smiling face’ to the inventor was definitely good-looking.

No matter how much a smile evokes positive emotions, if the face itself isn’t likable, it’s useless. If Kim Ji-ho had said the same thing with a big grin, I would have spat without hesitation.

“Haah…”

Engaging in a pointless standoff with Seo Yi-han here was just a waste of time. Thinking that, I pushed his grinning face away. Of course, Seo Yi-han, who never got intimidated in any situation, stiffened his neck and stubbornly held his ground.

Yoon Soo-ah saw this and yelled, “Stop messing around.” That ended our power struggle. Finally, I could talk about what I originally intended to explain.

“When that woman overlapped with me earlier, I saw her memories. More distant ones than what we all saw on the bench.”

“Is that possible?”

“I think the ghost intended it. Anyway, in that memory, the woman picked up a strange hand mirror…”

I calmly explained that it was a bait for a curse, and that the woman seemed to have died because she received a curse meant for her father. So I suggested we explore the place where she died again.

After I finished, the kids’ expressions varied.

Seo Yi-han’s smooth face, unreadable as always; Han Bo-bae and Kim Ji-ho’s pale faces; and Yoon Soo-ah, eyes wide as if trying to understand what I said.

One commonality: they all wore a realistic doubt about whether such things were really possible. They had no knowledge or interest in such matters. It must have been hard to believe that someone could die from something intangible like a curse.

“It’s not a common occurrence. As you think… it’s almost impossible, but if a shaman served a great god, it might be possible… That’s what I heard from my mother too.”

I added the last part hastily, afraid they’d ask me if such a thing was possible. Then Kim Ji-ho asked.

“So… was she killed by a ghost?”

“Probably. Or maybe the bad luck attached to her led to her murder. But it’s more likely the work of an evil spirit. They said the case was closed unsolved because they couldn’t find any trace of a killer.”

There’s no rule saying ghosts can’t cause physical harm. Just now, Yoon Soo-ah almost had her leg torn off by that ghoul.

“So curses really exist. I only knew about things like holding a shaman ritual for election victory and passing apple boxes under the table.”

“How do you know about that?”

“My dad.”

Yoon Soo-ah bashed her father with a completely nonchalant attitude.

Was that okay? The ritual was one thing, but passing apple boxes… that was bribery. Unless she dreamed of putting her father in prison, that wasn’t something to casually reveal to anyone.

Seeing my shaken pupils, Yoon Soo-ah burst out laughing again and waved her hand.

“I heard it from my dad too. He said he never even held a shaman ritual. He just goes to get his fortune told every New Year. Didn’t you know?”

“How could I know all the guests who come to my mother?”

And before entering this game, the person named Yoon Soo-ah didn’t exist in my life. Not just Yoon Soo-ah, but also Seo Yi-han, Han Bo-bae, and Kim Ji-ho.

So naturally, their parents weren’t on my mother’s guest list either.

“Ah…”

Maybe it was because I was thinking too hard. Suddenly my head throbbed again. When I massaged my temples, the kids around me all opened their eyes wide and crowded around, murmuring if my head still hurt.

Even Kim Ji-ho, who usually stayed away out of fear, hesitantly approached. It seemed that seeing me almost possessed and collapse right before their eyes had left a considerable shock.

“Want to go to the nurse’s office and take some medicine?”

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