Chapter 97

<096. Pillow Talk>

After the church service ended, I returned to the convenience store.

Although Ayla advertised it right away, nothing particularly significant happened to me.

She said countless orders flooded in, but I couldn't produce that much.

"Then what can't you make!" Ayla laughed it off. She doesn't seem to be too concerned.

Someday, I want to establish mass production, but the item replication furniture won't be available for quite a while.

I must get it eventually.

Anyway, I'm focusing more on making fortune cookies rather than buff snacks right now.

I didn't really plan to make more after giving some to the kids, but the experience points are surprisingly good.

【Handy Worker's proficiency has increased.】

【Accessory Making proficiency has increased.】

【Shining Patisserie proficiency has increased.】

Because three proficiencies increase with one skill, I usually just make fortune cookies when the mana recovery field is active.

During that time, I had a few critical successes. Since there's no one to give them to, I just put them on the convenience store shelves.

"Take it. Milmy, it's a blessed snack."

"Thank you."

Milmy bowed her head, but her eyes showed more confusion than gratitude.

Does she not like it? When I asked, ...

"No, I'm really happy. But behind you, sir..."

"Oh, this thing."

Behind me, there's a mountain of fortune cookies.

I thought giving her one of them would diminish the meaning of the gift.

"This is a particularly well-made item."

"Ah, ah. I understand! I'll treasure it, sir."

Milmy nodded a few times.

Actually, even if it's not a critical success, it still carries a blessing.

I just wanted to alleviate her slight unease.

Fortune cookies are both 'snacks' and 'talismans,' so even after the expiration date, they still work as talismans. I don't know what options they might trigger if eaten, though. It's better not to eat them.

"Actually, I can't really feel the blessing."

"Is that so."

Milmy is sensitive to mana but, conversely, seems insensitive to holy power.

"Is there anything I can help with? I received a gift, after all."

Milmy has become very close since becoming the top student in her grade.

She seems to think I'm her benefactor who helped her break out of her shell.

What a good junior.

"Nothing in particular. You can go back."

"Ah."

After sending Milmy away, I fell into thought.

Now, only Nefte is left.

"I should give it to Nefte too. Should I wait until she comes?"

***

"Can I eat it?"

"No. Keep it safe as a talisman."

"Okay, I understand! But why did you make it?"

"Do you remember the last time we went to the Black Market?"

When I handed the fortune cookie to Nefte, who had come to visit, her first question was whether she could eat it.

After briefly explaining the situation, I also mentioned why I made this item.

Since she was with me when we toured the Black Market, I could explain it more seriously.

Of course, not in great detail.

"Curse. A curse aimed at a celebrity might be activated."

"Yes. Is there no sign of it?"

"No. It's a very subtle method. Also, a rather dirty one."

By showing false dreams, it can accumulate negative emotions.

Then, with those accumulated emotions, many things can be done.

Especially if the curse is cast on oneself, it has a strong effect.

For example, Eve.

Among the countless emotions of 'wanting to be Eve,' there are some that are truly indescribable.

For instance, imagine a 32-year-old knight department graduate named 'William Yum' who should have graduated 8 years ago and lives in the Black Market.

If his dream of not graduating from the knight department is to stand at the pinnacle of the academy, he would dream of becoming Eve.

In other words, the dream of 32-year-old unemployed Black Market resident William is to become Eve von Loewengrim, the second-year student council president of the academy. It's a legend, really.

Anyway, it resolves dirty desires in dreams.

He becomes Eve in his dreams,

and the emotions are taken by the middleman, the boss of Act 2.

He then casts the curse spell on Eve.

According to the original story.

That desire transforms into the corpse of Wolfram von Loewengrim and appears before Eve.

"Eve, you killed me."

"You, you, youuuuuuuuuu!!"

"I couldn't even become a corpse. I, I'm still wandering this world as a ghost!!"

A trashy attack that turns dirty desires into her trauma.

A shockwave so unpleasant it shakes her entire life, causing Eve to collapse and cry on the spot. If you can't stop it within the time limit, the kid will be slightly off.

Moreover, the Act 2 boss is impossible to defeat.

It's an incredibly disgusting story. The boss only casts curses from a distance, and we are left to be swung around one-sidedly, trying to defend ourselves.

We know who the boss is, but he always hides his face and lives deep in the Black Market.

Using a fake face makes him even harder to find.

Of course, due to the curse's peculiarity, he might end up cursing himself, so we can trace back and eventually approach the boss. And then, kaboom! It's solved.

Anyway, I skipped all the game content and told Nefte about the 'knowledge found in the royal archives.'

Nefte, hmm, pressed her index finger to her forehead.

"That means I could also be cursed."

"Take it with you."

"Yes, I'll take it gratefully. ...But are you okay, sir?"

Nefte asked me this.

Is she worried that Wolfram von Loewengrim is safe from curses?

"Who would imitate me?"

"It might be more common than you think. I'm worried about that."

"Nefte, if you're going to joke around..."

"It's not a joke."

Nefte's eyes were incredibly serious.

No, really, there isn't anyone.

"Any basis for that?"

"None. But as someone aspiring to be a Royal Guard, even a little bit..."

"Did you forget? This curse turns admiration into delusion. There's no one who admires me."

"There is."

"Any basis for that?"

"I am the basis."

Saying that, Nefte placed her right hand on her chest and looked at me with serious eyes.

Seeing her eyes filled with conviction, a sense of familiarity arose.

The Knight of Conviction, Nefertian.

A senior who has been with me since the first round.

She always had such eyes, standing at the forefront, holding a shield for everyone.

"Alright. I'll be careful."

"Yes, that's a relief."

***

The tricky part of Act 2 is that "you can't tell when the boss battle will start in the story."

There's no trigger to enter the boss battle. The initiative is entirely on their side.

At best, you can check who is the most popular in the sleep room early in the Black Market or somehow prepare blessing items.

The boss randomly appears in front of the heroines and wreaks havoc. It's so exhausting.

And this is one of the trashy methods in D/Z SAGA.

Surprisingly, such bosses aren't limited to Act 2.

So, if you just defend yourself one-sidedly, it's ambiguous.

The developers have provided a system.

"If you completely defend yourself, either through blessing items or Kelters arriving at the right time,

your defense, health, and mental strength will be reduced when you meet the enemy later.

This is a characteristic of curses in D/Z SAGA.

Curses consume the opponent's mana. Of course, this is a huge advantage.

However, while you can use various CC and damage, if the curse fails, you take damage too.

It's a skill with no follow-up if it fails, and there's a probability.

This applies to holy power as well, so you have to be very careful when including rare characters who use curses or holy power in your party.

Curse users must take responsibility if they fail.

"You might be targeted too."

At first, I thought Nefte was lying.

But from the boss's perspective, it's possible.

Hmm.

Targeting me.

A regular citizen who runs a convenience store in a remote area, with no customers, and spends every day developing new items.

Thinking about it, it's really...

"I'm getting angry."

If that happens...

Really, I don't know what I'll do.

I spread the fortune cookies around the convenience store, leaving only the door open.

Then I placed an item I had found earlier in the center and lay down.

I told the others to use the fortune cookies to block it roughly.

Yeah, come on.

You think you can deal damage from a distance? Just come on.

I'll show you what I can do.

***

That night.

I woke up quietly.

But my body wouldn't move.

Ah, this is it.

It's a nightmare.

My body really isn't moving.

No doubt about it. I'm under a nightmare.

My breath is stifled, and my whole body feels bound by chains.

And when I slightly turn my eyes, I see a black mass far away looking at me.

Is it a machine? A liquid? Or a solid? The mass, shaped like a person, felt like it was staring at me even though it had no eyes. And even though it had no mouth, I started to hear sounds.

"I wanted to be you."

"Despite being incompetent. Despite being incompetent. Despite being incompetent."

"Because I was betrayed. I was expelled. You. I will kill you."

"Die. Die. Wolfram von Loewengrim. Die. I will kill you."

Voices echoed in my ears. Numerous curses, all from women, poured out.

Ah.

This is it.

Really, it's here.

This is the curse of the Act 2 boss.

"Die. I will kill you. Die."

"You caused my family to go bankrupt. My family to fall apart."

"Why did you abandon me? I swore my loyalty to you!"

"Wolfram. Wolfram von Loewengrim. If I can kill you, I'd be happy to die right now."

Hmm. I see. You guys really hate Wolfram. I can understand that. I hate her too.

This trashy body. With only 2 HP, is that really human? And there's nothing a diligent taxpayer and small business owner can't do. Really.

I agree with your hatred to some extent, but sorry, I'm Wolfram now.

Wolfram, who decided to become, will accept it. But I don't want to accept it just like that.

What can I do? I have a dirty personality.

Especially if I'm blamed for something I didn't do?

I'll give up the inheritance. See you in court.

Snap.

The way to break a nightmare is to focus as much as possible on moving your pinky finger.

Immediately, sensation returned to my entire body, and I sat up.

Such a curse.

Wolfram von Loewengrim has an absolute defense.

I switched the skill from passive to active,

"Royal Bloodline."

【Royal Bloodline is activated.】

【All bloodlines around you are bloodlines are bloodlines are bloo】

?

What are you doing.

【The opponent is not a bloodline.】

【All surrounding trash ignore the user's bloodline.】

【Auto Counter is activated.】

What is this?

Ah, because this isn't a bloodline but a curse, the skill doesn't know how to respond?

I see. It's more human than I thought.

Or maybe it's just a buggy game.

Personally, I'd bet 500 rin on the latter.

The Royal Bloodline fell silent.

...Probably because of a bug, the skill didn't fully activate.

Thinking about Eve, who rolled on the ground and groaned when hit by this, it seems to deal true damage.

"Die. Die. Die."

"Die, Wolfram. Die. Die. I will kill you."

I fell into thought while listening to the curse.

I'm not afraid of the curse. It deals no damage.

More importantly, something interesting happened now that the bloodline is off.

I can respond, but I can't.

I need to defend, but I can't.

"So, this is a trigger error or a malfunction, huh?"

I'm not sure how it happened, but what's clear is that

Wolfram von Loewengrim is now in a state where the constraint of 'always acting in a manner befitting her bloodline' is lifted. In other words,

"Shut your mouth. You're making a lot of noise."

For the first time in a long while, I could speak in Lee Youngjin's tone.

Wow. What a free time.

"Die."

"Die, Wolfram."

"Your tone is so simple. You woke me up at two in the morning, came here like a curse, and tried to scare me with a nightmare. At least use some sophisticated vocabulary."

"Die."

"Die...!"

With 40,000 cafe members.

The founder who has been running it for 10 years through all kinds of drama and killings.

Do you think I've ever lost in a showdown with countless troublemakers?

"Really, my motto is to block curses with a single curse and report them. But even that would be a waste on you. So..."

I picked up a fortune cookie from the floor and threw it at the mass.

It let out a long, wailing sound.

Of course. What I threw was clearly a 'blessing.'

"You will regret waking me up at two in the morning."

I threw another fortune cookie at the mass.

"As I've told you many times... Wolfram is the best. To her, this is the most familiar scenario. Come closer! Defend yourself!"

"Kyaahhhhhh!"

"Kueeeeeeek!"

I threw another fortune cookie, and it twisted its body, pleading for mercy.

"·I will kill you."

"·I will kill you someday."

The curse's repertoire changed. Seeing it slowly retreat, it seems to be preparing to run.

The curse user must have taken some damage. If I let it go, it won't bother me for a while.

But where do you think you're going?

I'm not that nice a person to let you go just because you apologize.

"Gallery wars are for losers. I'll show you what I can do."

I took a health potion and smiled at the curse, then wound up again.

"Want to play pillow talk? I'll start with you."