NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1044
<1044 – Super Weak and Pitiful Mode (2)>
Professor Red Mountain couldn’t help but smirk while looking at Oknodie’s wounds.
“Wow, that’s really unfortunate. There’s no curse scarier than a long-matured curse. This one has been brewing for at least five hundred years—it’s a living curse. If you don’t get admitted to the Academy’s treatment facility right away, you’ll be suffering for at least a hundred years.”
“A hundred years!!”
Jiang was more startled than Oknodie and jumped up.
“If a human lives that long, they’ll be a grandmother!”
“Well, not dying is still a win, right? If you get treatment even a little late, you’ll only have to suffer for fifty years.”
“Fifty years!!”
“You’ll feel the pain of the curse spreading through the mana circuit, gnawing at your flesh and contaminating your mana—yep, but at least your resilience will improve.”
“…Professor.”
Jiang grabbed Professor Red Mountain’s hand tightly.
“Please, send Oknodie to the Academy quickly!”
“By mouth only?”
With a face of pure amusement, Professor Red Mountain shrugged Jiang off and crossed his arms, whistling.
“Ninety percent of all your possessions. You already heard, right? It’s the fee for using the safe route through Cheonryeong Mountain for anyone hoping to escape the Eastern Empire to the Western world.”
“I’ll pay ninety percent of my share. With that, I can…”
“No way.”
The Professor was resolute.
“Property is relative to everyone. Ninety percent of a poor person’s entire fortune is just a potato or two, but ninety percent of a wealthy person’s means enough food to fill nine castles.”
“I have a lot of money I’ve earned since I was seven, working hard as an assassin. I’ve saved up, invested in stocks, and I can cash out from my investments in businesses and redevelopment projects—I’ve got at least ten million gold coins!”
“What kind of assassin has so much money? Did you assassinate the king or something?”
Jiang dumped his cherished collection of assassination tools onto the floor.
Staring at the towering pile of assassination tools, Professor Red Mountain couldn’t hide his disbelief.
“What kind of assassination tools can stack up taller than you?”
“I can give you all my equipment items if needed.”
As he tried to take off his shoes and gloves, along with his hood and cloak, Professor Red Mountain clicked his tongue.
━━━
<Professor Red Mountain>
<Cursed Action of Reversal>
━━━
Jiang felt his body moving against his will.
He hastily put on his half-undone shirt again, donning the cloak, hood, shoes, and gloves.
He stored tools in the corresponding spaces for each body part and hid extra tools in the pockets of his purple cape.
“I… I don’t want to. I don’t want to put them away.”
“But you will. I never force anyone to take things they don’t want. I can dodge anything I don’t want to deal with—insurance contracts, multi-level marketing scams, requests for attendance at academic meetings, or summons to Imperial court; I can avoid them all if I want.”
“I’ll give you something better, so please just accept it. If it’s necessary… even this.”
Jiang loosened his belt, exposing the hem of his shirt.
Beyond his bound chest, the pocket he added inside the shirt revealed itself.
“This pocket was a keepsake from Oknodie that Mob, who was Oknodie’s boyfriend, left behind for Oknodie to help him out.”
“Not bad! Still, it won’t do. Oknodie’s backpack is far superior to that keepsake.”
“Why do you care so much about a student’s possessions? You have plenty yourself, Professor. Are you hoping to rob Oknodie like the wicked kids from the Eastern Empire?”
Despite Jiang almost tearing up and using honorifics he never bothered with, Professor Red Mountain didn’t budge.
“Are you really talking about wickedness in front of the Heir of the Foundation and the new top dog of the underworld? Even with friend privilege, you’ve really got a deluded view.”
“Oknodie has saved many people. She committed the sin of killing her father to prevent the Foundation’s evil from further disrupting the world. It’s unfair to talk about her father’s misdeeds.”
“If that were all, I’d agree. But there are even more wicked steps, aren’t there? The wicked deeds that can only be blamed on that child, and that child alone.”
“…!”
“Sin always comes knocking at crucial moments. It’s easy to commit sins, but repaying them requires a heavy price. Ninety percent of all your possessions is a steal.”
The Okashii-ne Jibsa Jang next to Professor Red Mountain nodded along, adding commentary.
“Some people lose their lives, lose all their relationships, and their souls are twisted into mere monsters. Indeed, ninety percent of all your possessions is a merciful condition. Haha!”
“Right. But who even are you?”
The mockery of Okashii-ne, as if it knows the ultimate end of those who suffered such extreme fates!
Just as always, an ambiguous smile flickering, Okashii-ne was about to disappear when its form momentarily became hazy, caught by Professor Red Mountain’s hand.
“?!”
“Wait, this power…!”
The function of <Folding> that crosses dimensions.
Just as the potent power was about to project into the other side of the dimension like two sides of folded paper touching, Professor Red Mountain became linked with Okashii-ne.
As the touching dimensions began to separate, just like falling apart from the paper, Okashii-ne vanished unexpectedly.
But this time, it didn’t disappear alone.
Professor Red Mountain, who was linked to it, also jumped through dimensions together.
“No, no…!”
What are you going to do taking the professor away?
How will Oknodie get back now!!
Ziang stood stunned, a lost puppy out of confusion and rage.
Not missing that opportunity, Sadi quietly slipped her hand into Jiang’s chest to reach for his pocket without him noticing, he was completely out of it.
“Mini, bite!”
“Chomp!”
The Mini Hydra that was dangling from Oknodie’s clothing snapped its jaws at Sadi’s finger.
Unfortunately, the natural thievery attempt while Sadi was distracted ended in failure.
“Why are you trying to do something bad while Jiang is hurt?”
“Can’t you get hurt too? You’re the affected party here, after all.”
“Who cares? We’ll just walk!”
Even though she sounded brave, Oknodie’s boisterous voice made one feel a profound pity.
“Oknodie… what now? You mean I have to live with this injured body, suffering for fifty years, no, a hundred years… in pain for the rest of my life?”
Oknodie grasped the hem of her clothes, pulling it up to her chest.
The hole in her pure white abdomen and the cursed symbols made of twisting flesh and gnawing words instantly planted trauma in Jiang’s mind.
“This?!”
“Stop! I get it, so stop showing me!!”
“It’s fine because you have insensitivity, right? If you block the pain, you don’t feel anything!”
A revelation flickered through Jiang’s panicking expression.
“Oh, that’s right.”
“In return for blocking the curse while also being insensate, you’ll lack the mana to grow, but that’s not a huge deal, right?”
“Oknodie can’t grow?! No way! You’ve always been working hard to get stronger; how can you hold back your desire to grow? That’s impossible!”
“It’s not like it’ll take forever; can’t you endure a little?”
Talking about “a little” when it’s a whole hundred years!
Even Sadi, who had gained undead immortality, showed a meaningful smile at that remark.
“Fufu. Looks like you’re trying to hide something from Jiang now. It took you a long time to realize that for a best friend. Or maybe it just took long because you are best friends?”
“What are you talking about…?”
“Oknodie is the Avatar of the Outsider. This means she’s not bound by human concepts or lifespans. Even if her growth is frozen for a hundred years, she still has thousands, maybe even tens of thousands, or more years ahead of her.”
For Jiang, who only saw Oknodie as a fellow assassin, this revelation was extremely disorienting.
“Is that true, Oknodie?”
“Hmm, it’s a bit different, but it’s too bothersome to explain!”
It’s not even a hundred years but just “one hundred hours.”
Hearing this, Sadi gasped and covered her mouth in surprise.
Of course, for Oknodie, that hundred hours was as precious as a hundred years.
“Still, it’s reassuring to have Jiang by my side. You’ll be on alert to ensure my injuries don’t worsen, right?”
“…Yeah. That’s what best friends do. It’s okay if Oknodie can’t grow any more. I will protect you until the end. You don’t need to do anything anymore; I’ll take care of everything, I’ll rely on you from now on.”
With Jiang muttering hollowly with lifeless eyes seeming a bit dangerous, Oknodie felt a bit exhilarated by the idea of someone caring for her.
The rookie, having fun carrying others on a bus, now boldly declares it will treat its friends.
Finding a more spirited nuance than that from a veteran player is hard to come by.
‘This is totally joyous!’
As Jiang beamed at Oknodie, he felt an immense guilt.
‘You’re pretending everything’s fine so I won’t suffer, right? If my weakness makes you smile, then… I’ll get stronger. Even for your sake.’
Seeing Jiang wrapped in mission-driven determination, Sadi pondered whether to disclose Oknodie’s true feelings but decided to remain quiet, entertained by the spectacle.
“I, I’ll help too… With the professor gone somewhere… please don’t leave me behind!”
Sadi nodded at Jiang, who was almost forgotten in everyone’s minds.
Two suffering individuals.
Two joyful individuals.
With a party of 2 to 2, the balance was just right for the journey back to the Academy.