Just as the words escaped his lips, he felt his shadow smiling back at him. The world tilted apart. It was like slipping out of his own skin, leaving his body and stepping into an another world.
'Huh?'
The darkness enveloped him—the true darkness.
And at that critical juncture, he felt invisible gazes coming from countless empty eyes, all filled with malicious intent. It was as if they came from infinity and yet were only a few metres away.
His heart burned as though it would explode any moment.
Then a voice shrieked directly inside his mind—so intense that he felt he'd cease to exist just by hearing it.
"@$$@&-w.a…@$#####."
"@&$&@@St..y_@-(/@+"
He couldn't think. Couldn't open his mouth. It felt like his lips were stitched together.
But then, his head started aching, his heart burned even more, and his eyes slowly closed.
…
His eyes closed—and then opened again.
The pain hadn't gone. It grew worse — like his whole body was twisting, bending like rubber.
Lub-dub. Lub-dub.
He could hear his own heartbeat pounding faster and faster, filling his ears.
'Damn it, damn it.'
'It hurts like hell!'
The pain in the head didn't stop just started growong wirh each seconds which felt like eternity.
"Argh!"
His vision was blurry.
'It hurts. It hurts. My head…'
...
Slowly, the pain began to fade.
He was drenched in sweat, his shirt clinging to his skin. His breaths came shallow.
Ibaan found himself back in his room. Everything looked normal—but his chest still felt tight, his heart still beating too fast.
It must have been those countless eyes. That voice. Whatever message they carried didn't seem to hurt him—but the voice itself… the voice had weight, like claws scraping at his soul.
'He had malicious intent… or maybe not. Maybe nature didn't recognise what was happening. Or maybe… maybe it did. Thank God I ordered nature…'
He forced his breathing to slow, wiped the sweat off his face with a towel, and sat on the bed.
'Relic Open'
The relic flickered into view as he called for it, checking if the seal had finally lifted.
…
Unfortunately, there were no new runes—which meant the seal hadn't lifted.
He felt overwhelmed.
'Damn it! It really is a piece of work. Terrifying! I wonder how Selpe even managed to contact her… Just how powerful is she?'
Why didn't she tell Ibaan how to contact the being?
From Ibaan's unclear memories, it seemed that before Shon entered his body, he had tried to contact the Dead Eye. But after that… there was nothing. No more memories. Which could only mean—he had died.
And from his theory, anyone who contacts that being dies. 'That must be the curse, right? Then why isn't Selpe dead, even after contacting it?'
There were only two possibilities:
First—this wasn't the curse.
Second—it was the curse, but Selpe was far more powerful before meeting him… though that wouldn't make sense. Which meant she was just an outsider, like him.
'I have to be careful.'
In the original story, it was never explained why the curse lasted for centuries—why no one could break it before the clan went extinct.
Anyways calming himself for now, he stood up and took out a green coat, a crisp white shirt, and a pair of pants from the wardrobe.
The growing unknown feeling in his heart still didn't vanish.
Standing in front of the mirror, he removed his casual white t-shirt.
On his average-looking chest, two tattoo-like branch marks extended from a single dark point—one divine, faintly glowing, and the other multicolored, belonging to the Relic.
Noticing the divinity branch, he frowned
'It's grown a bit… Is it because I confronted the Dead Eye? It must be. I'll try again after the gang thing.'
He put on the shirt and tie, swung the coat over his shoulders, and adjusted it neatly. Then he grabbed the communicator from the table and slipped it into his pocket— just as Selpe entered the room.
"You're already ready!" she said in surprise, then chuckled. "I don't know how many surprises I still have left to see… Okay, I'll get ready too!"
He nodded while leaving. "Alright. I'll be outside."
He took out the communicator and opened it.
Yesterday, when he had first used it, he was amazed. It was far more fascinating than it seemed. He had spent a few hours just exploring it.
…
Opening the browser, he checked today's article.
Heaven Times
Date: 12th of October, 1910
Day: Tuesday
[Fresh News]
"The famous private detective, Dewd Almond, has gone missing. It is said that he was last seen on the Singing Street!"
'Huh? Private detective? Could that be the man who was our mission target? But wait — why would a detective be our target?
Maybe he was also on a mission to find the organization behind Mr. Shepard… Could he be part of The Attainers?
I have to find that out.'
He scrolled down and continued reading.
"It's also said that Dewd belonged to a hidden organization. He was on the Singing Street for a mission. Yesterday, he was about to return to Bugam City, but he never came back.
According to his rival detectives, he may have been targeted by another organization. The group backing him seems to have faced severe internal pressure."
Excitement rushed through his chest.
'See? I was right!'
Just then, Selpe came out of the room.
Although he wasn't the original Ibaan and had no romantic feelings for her, he still felt his heart melt a little.
She seemed to grow prettier every hour.
Noticing the communicator and the opened page, she looked at him. "Are you reading the news too?"
Widening his eyes, he replied, "Yeah!"
'She read it too?'
She walked forward. "I guess that detective was our mission target."
'She thinks so too?'
Selpe paused briefly, then said, "Anyways, let's go."
***
In the underground metro station of Sri City, locals, students, and officers waited for the metro bound for Raj District—where the School of Thoughts and Perseverance was located.
A HUD above the tunnel entrance glowed with new text in green:
"Metro to Raj will arrive in one minute."
Ibaan's heart thumped with excitement. He was about to see a metro —an advanced mode of travel he had only ever read about in the original story.
'Soon, my unachievable dream will come true.'
A sharp screech of steel cut through the silence as the metro approached.
The headlights pierced the tunnel first—two glowing circles in the dark— followed by a long, silver body sliding into view.
Ibaan's eyes gleamed.
Although his old world had steam trains, they were nowhere near as advanced as this. Even back then, engineers had declared such technology impossible for centuries to come.
'It's… really amazing!'
Selpe glanced at him and gently tugged him inside as the doors opened with a whoosh!
Stepping in felt like entering another world—bright, humming, and alive with strangers.
They spotted a pair of empty seats a few metres away and sat down.
His heart still raced with excitement.
'Amazing… absolutely amazing!'
With a sudden jolt, the metro lurched forward. He grabbed the seat tightly as the floor vibrated beneath his shoes and the carriage came alive with motion.
'Oh my god!'
Outside, the tunnel blurred into streaks of darkness, broken by flashes of light.
And within a few minutes—the metro stopped.
He frowned.
'That fast? God… this is incredible!'
They exited the station along with other students heading for the school, which stood just above the underground.
...
Reaching at the entrance large gate of the school, Ibaan stopped.
'Today, I'm finally going to meet the protagonist.'