novelraw Chapter 48 : Chapter 48
Chapter 48 : Chapter 48
Chapter 48: Black Fang (2)
“......That’s what happened.”
I placed the Black Fang on the table and briefly explained yesterday's events.
Do Haru, who had been holding a straw in her mouth, stared at me with wide eyes.
The distracting noise of the arcade once again assaulted my ears.
“Wow, so Kang Mooseong gave you an armament that he can only give to one first-year cadet? Amazing. But a sword you didn't even choose ended up in your hand?”
Her jaw dropped, and in her shock, she dropped her straw onto the table with a plop-.
“It sounds really creepy, but at the same time, it feels like a total steal? It looks incredibly expensive, that thing.”
Her gaze, staring fixedly at the Black Fang while propping her chin up, seemed to think of money before the weapon.
Should I call her a hyena that smelled prey?
“......”
On the other hand, Seol Hayun’s expression, having listened to my story, was heavily set.
Ever since I started the explanation, she seemed to know something already.
“It's dangerous.”
Seol Hayun narrowed her brows and said in a low voice.
“Dangerous? Well, it's a bit unsettling if it's called the Cursed Sword.”
“It's not just at that level.”
Suddenly, magic power extended from her fingertip.
A pulse of blue light shimmered in the air, and a notebook the size of a palm appeared as if dropping from the void and settled in her hand.
It was Seol Hayun's unique 'Memo Note.'
Tap. The notebook was placed on the table.
Seol Hayun swiftly flipped through the pages with familiar dexterity.
And at one point, her fingertips stopped.
“Here.”
A bold title was engraved on the notebook.
-The Cursed Sword. Black Fang.
‘Ah, right. She was this kind of person.’
A memo fanatic.
A character who recorded everything she learned and memorized all of it.
She probably had dozens, if not hundreds, of these notebooks, and she conjured them up like magic when needed.
It was a unique talent to immediately recall and pull out the exact right page like this.
But the real problem now was the content of that memo.
-The four previous owners of the Black Fang. All met a tragic end. Refer to Hanjin Ilbo Issue 785.
-Jason Lee, died in an accident only 3 weeks after acquiring the Black Fang. The true cause of the accident is still unknown.
-Stories circulating that the house where the Black Fang was hung was completely destroyed by fire.
There were definitive sentences, and there were also rumors at the level of hearsay.
The core point was one:
All the owners of the Black Fang had met bad ends.
‘Damn it.’
When I heard it from Kang Mooseong, it was merely 'This kind of thing happened.'
Seeing it organized in print like this sent chills down my spine.
The word "curse" no longer felt like a mere metaphor.
“Is this real? Is this confirmed? He gave Ryu Jinwoo something like this?”
Do Haru asked incredulously.
“That's why I can't believe it. It's not an item to be given to a cadet.”
Seol Hayun shook her head and asserted.
However, Seol Hayun was clearly misunderstanding something crucial.
‘Who said he gave it to me? This crazy sword grew legs and stuck to me!’
That was right. The problem was that I couldn't detach the sword no matter how hard I tried.
“Or, how about selling it? Even if it's a dangerous item, collectors might like it even more, right? I can practically smell the money.”
Do Haru, who was unaware of the situation, said with sparkling eyes.
She might not be entirely wrong.
There was just a fundamental problem.
“There is one thing I didn't tell you.”
“What is it?”
“It's faster if you check for yourself. Take this.”
I held the Black Fang and handed it to Do Haru.
She looked confused, then pulled the Black Fang.
“Huh? What the heck. You said to take it, why are you holding on tight?”
“I’m not holding it.”
“What?”
Do Haru planted her feet firmly on the ground and strained with all her might, grunting, but the Black Fang didn't budge.
It was as if a super-strength adhesive had been concentrated and stuck to my hand.
What was even stranger was that I didn't feel any sensation of being pulled at all.
The Black Fang was neutralizing all the pulling force by itself.
As if the sword itself had a will.
Just as we were struggling for a long time.
Crack—!
Suddenly, black current grazed the scabbard that Do Haru was holding.
“Kyaat!”
Do Haru screamed and snatched her hand away.
“What was that! What was that just now! It hurts! Electricity?”
“Just now, a dark current flowed.”
As Do Haru exclaimed, Seol Hayun replied with a serious expression.
I also looked down at the Black Fang.
‘Damn it.’
Going beyond mere binding, it even had a self-defense function?
This sword was a much more monstrous thing than I had thought.
And the incident didn't end there.
“If I didn't see wrong, the current flowed toward Haru’s stomach area.”
Seol Hayun muttered ominously.
Grrrgle-
“......Huh?”
Do Haru clutched her stomach.
Her face rapidly turned pale, and sweat began to stream down.
As Seol Hayun stood up in surprise, Do Haru held out her palm.
“Haru, are you okay?”
“I feel fine...... but I'm not fine! My stomach, my stomach is tingling! I need the bathroom, the bathroom!”
Seol Hayun, catching the staggering Do Haru's arm, spoke briefly.
“Let’s go together. I’ll help you.”
Seol Hayun momentarily looked my way.
She was making an 'I can't believe it' expression, alternating glances between me and the Black Fang.
And her disbelief was not unfounded.
[The ‘Black Fang’ has emitted a ‘Minor Curse’.]
A message window popped up next to the Black Fang the moment the black current erupted.
About 10 minutes later.
Seol Hayun and Do Haru hadn't returned.
‘I’m screwed.’
The Black Fang had clearly inflicted a curse on Do Haru.
And a very embarrassing kind of curse at that.
Do Haru was, for now, not okay, but seemed to be okay.
She had just sent me a bear emoticon expressing anger via HeroTalk.
[DoDay (Do Haru): You have insulted me...]
[Ryu Jinwoo: I’m sorry]
[DoDay (Do Haru): I'm going to kill you ㅠㅠㅠㅠ It's you die and I die, just try to come out]
[Ryu Jinwoo: I apologize]
[Seol Hayun: For now, the symptoms seem to have improved quite a bit. The noise has decreased significantly.]
[DoDay (Do Haru): Don't describe it that way!!!!!]
‘I’m screwed.’
No matter how many times I thought about it, the conclusion was the same.
I should probably practice the dogeza and the grand bow.
How much time had passed?
I heard footsteps approaching me.
‘Do Haru?’
Unconsciously turning my head, I encountered an unexpected person.
Roughly groomed dark brown hair.
Narrow, upturned eyes and a somewhat twisted expression gave off an arrogant vibe.
The casually rolled-up sleeves of his shirt exuded a slightly unruly aura, and the gang members lounging behind him added to the delinquent feeling.
It was a familiar, if somewhat unwelcome, face.
Seo Seungbeom.
The guy who always bragged and moved around with his gang.
He had some lineage, being from a well-known swordsmanship family.
“You, you're from Zero Academy, right? Swordsmanship specialty.”
He acknowledged me first.
“Fancy meeting you here? What are you doing alone? You must have come with someone else.”
He glanced at the table where three drinks and desserts were left, and he smiled.
“Don't you get bored being alone? Let’s hang out together. I’ve wanted to get close to you for a while.”
A smooth tone and expression.
But my eyes couldn't be fooled.
[Seo Seungbeom]
[Jealousy, Envy, Contempt]
The Eye of Deception exposed his true thoughts completely.
‘Did I do something to get on his bad side?’
I didn't know exactly what, but this guy wasn't looking at me kindly right now.
I debated how to respond.
Since I had to wait for Do Haru anyway, the thought that I didn't need to associate with him crossed my mind, just at that moment.
Vibrate-
My smartphone vibrated.
It was a HeroTalk message from Seol Hayun.
[Seol Hayun: I'm about to come out, could you stay somewhere else for a bit? I'll calm Haru down by buying her a pie and a drink. If she runs into you like this, she'll be furious.]
I turned my head toward Seo Seungbeom.
‘......It might not be bad to just go along with them for a while.’
***
The place I followed Seo Seungbeom’s gang to was the upstairs game zone.
As the door opened, the distinct electronic sounds and colorful neon lights poured out.
A space no different from an actual, real-world arcade.
The clattering sound of buttons and the clicking- sound of levers mixed, tickling my ears.
Even in this world where VR and virtual reality games had advanced, surprisingly, retro games were still overwhelmingly popular.
They were still cheap to enjoy without high-tech equipment, and they had a simple yet intuitive fun.
Even the tacky colors emitted by the flashing, old pixel screens were appealing in their own right.
For me, who had consistently played these kinds of games in childhood, I was rather pleased.
Since this was near the academy, cadets of a fresh age were gathered in small groups.
I even spotted some guys immersed in games while wearing their Zero Academy uniforms.
Seo Seungbeom stopped in front of one machine.
[Rooftop Fighters]
When he inserted a coin, the screen flashed, and a giant sign appeared.
[ROOFTOP FIGHTERS!]
The images of fighters throwing each other over the rooftop railing beneath the dazzling neon lights.
Characters striking exaggerated poses rampaged across the screen above the city's night view.
“Do you know this game? Have you played it before?”
Seo Seungbeom settled on one side, put his hand on the joystick and buttons, and asked.
“No. It’s my first time.”
I sat down next to Seo Seungbeom and shook my head.
I had played Street Fighter until I was sick of it in reality, but this was ‘Rooftop Fighters.’
Although the controls seemed roughly similar, the characters, techniques, and presentation were entirely different.
“Really? That's unusual.”
Seo Seungbeom gave me a surprised look.
“This is really popular, you know. Almost everyone has played it. And you haven't played it?”
The gang members standing behind him chuckled.
“Well, then it wouldn’t hurt to learn it this time, would it? I'll teach you, man. Getting close through games is the national rule, isn't it?”
I simply accepted his offer by nodding my head.
And so, the first game began.
[Aaaagh!]
The character I was controlling screamed and collapsed.
The first match ended in an instant.
A perfect defeat without landing a single effective hit.
As for me, I was just getting a feel for the controls: this button is for punches, that button for kicks, and this is how you input a technique......
Usually, in this situation, one would wait a bit, but Seo Seungbeom pushed the attack unilaterally, as if he didn't care about such things.
It was slightly inconsiderate.
“I've played this quite a bit, you know. Not a lot, but I got the hang of it.”
As Seo Seungbeom said this nonchalantly, laughter erupted from behind him.
I wasn't particularly annoyed.
Rather, it was fun to play an arcade game after a long time.
Of course, if I kept losing, the story would be different.
“But it feels a bit bland to just play, doesn’t it?”
Seo Seungbeom suddenly brought up the subject.
“How about a simple drinks-based wager?”
Seo Seungbeom propped up his chin and continued.
“The first one to win 5 matches wins.”
Then, one of the gang members behind him laughed and said.
“Hey, Seungbeom. Even so, are you making a bet with a guy who’s this bad?”
“Nah, why not. It's just a simple drink, how much could it cost?”
Seo Seungbeom turned his head toward me.
“What do you think? Is it okay?”
I shrugged.
“Sure.”
Since Seo Seungbeom paid for the game anyway, it didn't matter much to me.
Just a drink, that's all.
“Great, the bet is on!”
As Seo Seungbeom clapped his hands, boisterous voices erupted from behind.
“Hey, 11 drinks isn't simple, is it?”
“I’m going to get the expensive stuff, so do well, both of you~.”
“......11 drinks?”
At my unintentional question, Seo Seungbeom glanced back at me.
“When we bet, we usually treat everyone. It makes it more fun, you know.”
He said it casually, but a faint feeling of uneasiness swept over me.
I wondered what his true intention was.
Click—
The moment the lever was pulled and the button was pressed, the screen flashed.
“Let’s both do our best. There’s no fun in going easy on someone.”
Seo Seungbeom grinned and said.
[ROOFTOP FIGHTERS!]
A cheerful voice reverberated throughout the arcade.