I stood near the store, keeping my eyes fixed on it.
"I don't know," I said.
She blinked. "What?"
"The winner… just disappears. Like I said, these things aren't real aliens. They can't take people anywhere. No one knows where the winner goes."
"So they just vanish?"
"Yes."
Carlotta exhaled sharply.
"Holy damn. That's messed up."
I shrugged. "That's not even the worst part."
The Victory Platform was so well hidden that no one had found it until now.
People would find it in the future, but that wouldn't happen until much later.
Carlotta frowned. "Then what's the real danger of this Cursed Spirit?"
"This," I said, tilting my head slightly.
A dagger whistled past where my head had been a moment ago.
I moved my elbow backward, slamming into Carlotta's abdomen.
She gasped and dropped the dagger she used to attack me.
She fell to her knees and clutching her stomach. She looked terrified.
"W-wait," she managed to say between sharp breaths. "I didn't mean to! I didn't want to kill you! For some reason, I just—"
"That's the real danger," I said quietly. "It corrupts your mind. The longer you stay here, the more bloodthirsty you will become.
"Since you're not an exorcist, your mental defenses are weak. That's why you're already being affected."
Carlotta's breathing slowed as the fear sank in.
"You should leave within an hour. Or else…"
I didn't finish the sentence. I didn't have to.
She swallowed hard.
"Does the mental corruption stay even if we return to the real world?"
"Yes. If it gets too bad, the Exorcists will find you."
"And then they'll kill me?" Her voice trembled slightly.
I nodded once.
She looked down at her shaking hands, then at the dagger lying beside her.
The fear in her eyes said enough.
The corruption here was what worried me the most.
Especially for my father.
He had been trapped in this Cursed Spirit's domain for over a week.
By now, his mental corruption should be…
'No, don't think like that.'
'Dad's mental defenses must be strong. He was once a Rank 5 Exorcist.'
'His mind should still be fine.'
I took a breath and looked back at Carlotta.
"Now, I'm leaving. Don't forget, you can't kill yourself. You'll need someone else to do it if you want to leave this Cursed Spirit's domain."
She didn't answer, only nodded weakly.
With that, I turned and walked into the convenience store again.
"Welcome," the clerk greeted me as soon as I entered.
I approached the counter.
"Show me the catalogue of items you're selling."
"Please wait a moment, sir," the clerk said with a polite smile.
His smile was too perfect. It looked artificial.
He bent down, rummaged through a drawer, and pulled out a catalogue.
"Here you go, sir."
"Thanks," I said, taking it.
I flipped through the pages quickly.
'Be here... be here...'
Items in this shop changed every game. There was no guarantee the thing I wanted would appear.
Of course, everything sold here was cursed. Buying anything could lead to disaster.
Then I saw it.
'It's here!'
A sigh of relief left my lips. This had to be Yuna's blessing, the one that boosted my luck.
'I really lucked out with this.'
I checked the price.
[63 Hearts]
'That's expensive.'
The clerk noticed my expression and explained, "Dear customer, you get one heart for killing one person."
I nodded.
"If I kill someone who already has thirteen hearts, how many do I get?"
"One. You only receive their original heart, not the ones they took from others."
"I see."
I handed back the catalogue and stepped outside.
"I need sixty-three hearts. That means I have to kill sixty-three people out of the hundred here. This is going to be tough."
I opened a portal and appeared high above the forest, scanning the area below.
"Found one."
A man wandered through the jungle, confused and unaware.
A portal appeared behind him, and a Magic Bullet pierced his head before he could react.
He fell and dissolved into glowing pixels.
[+1 Heart]
A small notification flashed at the edge of my vision.
'Next target.'
Farther ahead, a woman knelt beside a river, drinking water.
Another bullet shot through her neck before she noticed.
[+1 Heart]
I kept moving, killing targets one after another.
My range and speed made finding people easy.
Most were normal humans, not Exorcists, and they couldn't fight back.
'They won't die for real. So I don't need to hold back.'
Staying here would only corrupt their minds more.
Dying early was a mercy.
When I spotted Exorcists, I didn't attack.
I watched for a while, then left.
Yuna nodded when she noticed what I was doing.
"That's a smart move, Lord of Shadows. You shouldn't fight Exorcists here. While most of them are Rank 1 like you, you almost no combat experience when compared to them. Winning would be hard for you."
"…?"
What was she talking about?
I wasn't fighting Exorcists because I didn't want to waste energy before the real fight began, not because I couldn't win.
If we fought, I was confident I would win within a few seconds.
…
Nisha's POV
"Damn it."
Her voice cracked as she spoke.
Oliver and Lily's bodies broke apart into pixels, fading into nothing.
They were dead.
Killed by the man standing in front of her.
"Damn it! Damn it!"
The three of them had found Adrian together after hours of searching.
Lily had been the first to spot him.
They'd been so relieved.
But the moment they approached, everything went wrong.
Adrian stood there, bleeding and half broken.
One of his arms was gone.
His eyes were wild, and bloodshot.
He had killed Oliver and Lily, tearing through them with a mercilessness that made her doubt if he was a human anymore.
If this had been any other day, Nisha might've celebrated.
Adrian had managed to defeat two Rank 2 Exorcists while fighting her, a Rank 3 Exorcist.
But now, all she felt was despair.
Her hands trembled as she looked at him.
"Damn you, Adrian! You're always, always showing off, always saying you're the strongest!"
Adrian didn't reply.
His expression was blank, and empty.
"Why are you acting like this now? It's only been a week! Why are you already corrupted!?"