Chapter 16 — Cursed Item – Perfect Perfume
Those bizarre black hairs seemed to be extremely afraid of fire—or perhaps they were naturally highly flammable.
Although they struggled wildly, thrashing as if possessed, trying to extinguish the flames, the bigger the fire, the more violently they struggled, and the faster they burned!
"Cough… cough… did we get rid of that thing?"
Hidan stumbled out of the fire, utterly disheveled—his entire body charred, even his hair and eyebrows burned away.
The good news was, he hadn't been eaten as food.
As for Shinji—well, the bastard who had almost burned him alive—Hidan didn't even see anything wrong with it. After all, the biggest advantage of having the "Immortal Body" was that he didn't need to worry about accidental self-harm. In fact, he could just as easily kill the enemy along with himself!
If the roles were reversed, Hidan would have done the same without hesitation, taking both Shinji and the enemy down together.
"Not completely sure yet. But after this fire, even if that thing isn't dead, it's definitely messed up. Wait for me up there; I'll go down and check. If something happens, just set it on fire like I did earlier. Don't worry about me."
Shinji prepared to go down and finish the job, hoping to either secure the kill or grab whatever spoils might have appeared. Hidan was left outside as a backup, a failsafe.
"Suit yourself. I won't hold back anyway." Hidan flopped onto the ground, breathing heavily, giving no thought to dignity.
Shinji trusted that Hidan wouldn't hesitate to retaliate if the chance arose, so he felt at ease.
Plus, with his earlier move—pretending to escape, only to return like a divine savior to rescue Hidan—their bond value had just increased by 50 points, reaching 251 points.
Only half the points away from the next 500-point milestone. That was another piece of good news.
Lighting a torch, Shinji didn't hesitate to jump back into the well, which was now littered with burn marks.
At the bottom, the desperate final counterattacks didn't appear, nor were there any shadows of black hair.
Only a glass bottle, about the size of a palm, lay intact on the ground.
Shinji's eyes lit up. He was certain that there had been nothing in the well when he first went down.
This meant the glass bottle was very likely either the item from the treasure chest or something that had been released after killing that bizarre creature.
Either way, it was definitely not an ordinary item.
Carefully, Shinji picked it up. The moment he touched it, the strange system that had almost killed him earlier activated again.
[Acquired Cursed Item – Perfect Perfume]
"A cursed item?!"
Surprised, Shinji immediately examined it.
Cursed Item: Perfect Perfume
Origin: Extracted from the body scent of ninety-nine girls, condensed into a perfect fragrance.
Ability 1: Emits a scent that most flesh-and-blood creatures cannot resist.
Ability 2: Catalyzes the growth of vast amounts of black hair, which can digest and absorb flesh to enhance itself.
Ability 3: Regeneration
Weakness: Fire
P.S.: Can you guess how the body scent was preserved?
…
Shinji's eyes widened. He hadn't realized that the creature he and Hidan had been fighting so desperately was actually this bottle of Perfect Perfume in his hand.
If he had chosen to leave earlier instead of fighting to the bitter end, this cursed item would have been forever out of his reach.
As for the item's description… Shinji hoped it wasn't exactly what he feared.
Even if it was, he would use it when the time came. No questions asked.
Silently storing it away, he scanned the area one last time. Finding nothing else, he left.
"Looks like good news?"
Hidan asked from above, clearly relieved. He didn't want to face that endless, attacking creature ever again.
Shinji nodded with a relaxed expression. "Completely dealt with. Burned to nothing."
"That's good… but what the hell was that thing? Never seen or heard of anything like it before."
Perhaps because he had just been rescued, Hidan's words lacked the usual aggression. Or maybe he was just drained… After all, he had fought the creature the whole time, almost got eaten, and had been burned!
After all that, even his aggression had no energy left.
As for Hidan's question, Shinji already knew the answer—but he couldn't explain it, so he just shook his head.
Hidan rolled his eyes but didn't bother asking further.
"Can we leave now?"
"What do you think?"
"You stay here, then. I'm going back to sleep."
"You bastard! Shinji, you're heartless!"
"Good, good, full of spirit! Keep it up!"
Shinji yawned and left.
The fire had burned all the animal corpses around the well completely. It flared and died out quickly, and after consuming all the black hair, it extinguished on its own.
No villagers or houses were affected, saving a lot of trouble.
"Hey! You're seriously just leaving? ×&%￥#@…"
Hidan cursed for a while, eventually pausing, panting heavily.
Suddenly, a flash of red appeared before his eyes, binding him tightly. While he was stunned, he was swiftly dragged away.
Hidan looked up—who else could it be but Shinji, the bastard?
"Hey! Can't you be gentler? And do you have to be so rough… ugh ugh!"
Using a rope formed from Shinji's Blood Manipulation technique, Hidan's mouth was immediately sealed, layer upon layer.
"Finally… some peace, phew~"
Shinji smiled in satisfaction, dragging Hidan along.
Bound and gagged, Hidan made muffled sounds, trying to curse, but obviously no one could understand this special language…
Once back, they discovered the old man was gone.
Shinji didn't care—whether he had escaped or didn't trust them was none of his business.
A while later, screams echoed through the village.
Apparently, those unlucky ones who had been lured by the scent and knocked unconscious by Shinji had woken up.
Having been asleep soundly, they woke up outside, with headaches, a charred landscape before them—if they weren't scared sick, it was a miracle.
As for the missing livestock, they were probably gone for good. Bad luck, nothing could be done.
Thus, in the middle of the night, the village was suddenly bustling—all because of a collective sleepwalking incident.