Chapter 65: Consumed by a Curse
That was all the information on undead.
It was fairly condensed, but even just this much was a huge help. Walfred then scrolled through the long string of comments below the post.
[If SSS-rankProfessor wrote it, it’s legit.]
[Upvoting for straight facts lololol]
[Always learning from you. Thank you.]
[Reading this alone will boost your survival rate]
Judging by the earliest comments, this SSS-rankProfessor seemed to be quite the celebrity on the Info/Strategy Board.
Then came a comment that mentioned Walfred.
[So does that mean Walfred is a light attribute Hunter?]
[Has to be. Either that or life.]
[If any other attribute soloed a Bone Drake, then that’s something beyond S-rank already.]
Most of the comments assumed Walfred was a light or life attribute Hunter. Walfred chuckled and kept reading.
And then.
[Professor, may I ask you a question?]
Someone had politely requested to ask a question.
And that comment was more than enough to grab Walfred’s attention. It was because of the commenter’s nickname.
[Nickname: MorningStarTeacher]
’This person is definitely...’
The one who kept posting on the Q&A Board looking for Walfred. They posted so often, practically by the hour, that he remembered them.
Curiosity piqued, Walfred focused on the comments MorningStarTeacher had written.
[A gate has broken open. A creature we believe to be a Corpse Lord came out of it. Is there any way to know what rank the gate might be?]
A broken gate. A Corpse Lord.
As he was zeroing in on those two terms.
He saw that SSS-rankProfessor had left a reply.
[Author]: B-rank at minimum.
[Whoa! Really?]
[Then could you also tell me how much firepower we’d need to take down the gate boss and clear the broken gate?]
SSS-rankProfessor answered immediately.
[Author]: Three B-rank light attribute Hunters.
[Author]: Or one A-rank light attribute with other attributes supporting. That should be enough to clear it.
[Um, what about with C-rank Hunters...]
[Author]: Absolutely impossible.
[Author]: Or you could try asking Hunter Walfred, the guy at the center of all the buzz lately, for help.
[What? Hunter Walfred?]
[Author]: He’s the madman who soloed the Bone Drake that showed up in New York. He’s obviously an S-rank light attribute Hunter, so give it a shot.
No, I’m not. I’m frost attribute.
Walfred wanted to fire back with exactly that. At the same time, he finally understood why MorningStarTeacher had been searching for him so desperately.
’They want me to kill the gate boss.’
SSS-rankProfessor had name-dropped him, after all.
A moment later, Walfred found the post MorningStarTeacher had written on the Q&A Board.
[Title]: Hunter Walfred. If you see this, please, just once, read what’s inside. I’m begging you.
[Author]: MorningStarTeacher
A title soaked in desperation.
Walfred stared at it in silence.
Setting aside whether he’d help or not, maybe he should at least see what it said? After a moment’s hesitation, Walfred tapped on MorningStarTeacher’s post.
-----
Hello, Hunter Walfred.
My name is Sienna, a C-rank light attribute Hunter from the Trenton Station underground arcade shelter.
I’m writing this because there’s something I desperately need to ask of you.
Our shelter’s situation is currently dire.
One week ago, a gate of unknown rank appeared near the arcade’s underground drainage tunnels.
We tried to exterminate it quickly, but we failed, and the gate has now broken open.
Undead are pouring out of the gate.
To make matters worse, a curse we believe to be the gate boss’s skill has rendered our core fighters unable to battle.
We lost many of our forces trying to hold them back, and the number of people hovering between life and death from the curse keeps growing.
We can’t abandon the shelter either, because we have many young children with us. Long-distance travel is realistically impossible.
We have nowhere left to retreat.
I believe that you, Hunter Walfred, who brought down a Bone Drake alone, can surely clear this gate as well.
If you help us, all spoils from clearing the gate will of course be yours, and I promise generous compensation on top of that.
Please, help us.
I’ll be waiting for your comment. Thank you.
-----
The post Sienna had written.
In short, it was an SOS, just as expected.
What surprised him more was the fact that the shelter Sienna spoke of was directly beneath where Walfred was standing right now.
He’d never imagined undead were pouring out somewhere below this very station. With a look of fascination, Walfred scanned the comments.
[A gate of unknown rank? That’s grim ;-;]
[Could a Hunter other than Walfred do it?]
[Dude, seriously, don’t go.]
[For real, if you’re not light attribute, an undead horde battle is hopeless. I recommend looking up ’SSS-rankProfessor’ on the Info/Strategy Board and reading his post.]
Mostly negative reactions.
And Walfred’s name came up here too.
[But if it’s Walfred, maybe it’s possible?]
[Fr lol. The madman beat an A-rank Elite undead to death solo, so he could definitely pull it off.]
[Another vote for possible.]
As he was reading through the comments.
The author, Sienna, left a reply.
[Author]: I have the reward fully prepared!
[Author]: If you help us, I’ll cast ’Blessing of Light’ on you, Hunter Walfred!
’Blessing of Light?’
What’s that?
While Walfred tilted his head, the comments below poured out ridicule.
[Blessing of LMAOOO Light LOLLL]
[?? How is that a reward?]
[OP. Blessing of Light is a buff that any random D-rank can use.]
[LOL you’re trying to pay him in a buff skill?]
[Funniest thing I’ve heard since the Antarctica Gate broke open. LMAOOO]
Stung by the relentless mockery, Sienna fired back in the replies.
[Author]: This isn’t an ordinary blessing!
[Author]: My blessing is a single-use skill, and its effect lasts permanently!
[Permanent blessing, sure lol]
[Yeah right.]
[Where in the world does a skill like that exist?]
[I’ve never even heard of a ’single-use skill’ in the first place.]
[So it was just a bait post. Have a nice day.]
[Author]: I’m not lying! It’s true!
[Author]: So Hunter Walfred! If you see this, please, please leave a comment ;-;
The comments went on and on after that, but Walfred backed out of the post without reading further.
To cut to the chase, he had no intention of helping.
The reason was simple.
’I don’t want to put Elsa in danger.’
The reward was a little tempting, but not enough to go looking for trouble. As he settled on that decision, Elma suddenly came to mind.
’I guess that makes us even, in a way.’
Just as Walfred wasn’t answering MorningStarTeacher’s plea for help, there was a good chance Elma wouldn’t give Walfred’s request a second glance either.
She might even ignore the friend request entirely, wanting nothing to do with anything troublesome. The thought drew a bitter smile from Walfred.
’I’d better let go of my expectations too.’
Don’t obsess over hearing back from Elma.
Just as he finished sorting out his thoughts.
"...Mmm, Daddy..."
Elsa mumbled, almost whining.
As if talking in her sleep.
Walfred logged out of the community and gently patted Elsa’s back.
’Time to sleep.’
And tomorrow morning, we leave Trenton Station.
Feeling the fatigue wash over him.
Walfred closed his eyes.
---
The next morning.
Walfred woke up.
Maybe thanks to sleeping soundly through the night, the fatigue built up in his body felt considerably lifted.
But just then.
Ding!
An unfamiliar notification appeared.
A message dyed deep red.
What’s this? Walfred reflexively looked at the message, and this is what it said.
[Curse defense successful.]
[Defense success time]: 03:17:59
[Curse defense successful.]
[Defense success time]: 04:39:14
"...A curse?"
Walfred tilted his head.
While he was asleep last night, someone had cast a curse on him, and he’d blocked it?
Given the circumstances, that seemed like the reasonable conclusion.
"What kind of bastard..."
His expression turned grim.
Then suddenly, Sienna’s post from the community last night flashed through his mind.
’Ah, right. It said a curse believed to be the gate boss’s skill was spreading, didn’t it?’
His best guess was that the curse had seeped beyond the underground arcade and reached all the way up to him.
Not that it had done anything, of course.
Still.
’We’d better leave soon.’
Even if he’d blocked the curse, he had no intention of lingering in such an unsettling place. Having finished his preparations to depart, Walfred turned to Elsa and said.
"Elsa. Time to get up."
They had a long way to go today too.
He called Elsa’s name again and again, but no answer came. No, forget answering, she wasn’t moving so much as an inch.
"...Elsa?"
A wave of dread hit him.
Sensing something was wrong, Walfred hurriedly shook Elsa’s body. And in that moment, his eyes flew wide open.
Elsa’s body felt as hard and stiff as stone. Not as a figure of speech, her entire body was rigid, like touching actual rock.
And at that very moment.
Ding!
[Target has been consumed by a curse.]
[Curse: Petrification (C-rank)] Activated
[Curse: Eternal Sleep (B-rank)] Activated
[Time remaining until removal]: Unknown
"...!"
Along with the sudden notification.
Walfred’s face froze as hard as steel.