The blue screen hung in the air, harmless, as though it hadn't just issued a threat. Evan spun around, braced for something to appear behind him, but nothing did.
"What's wrong?" Yuyan asked.
"I think... we should leave," Evan said.
"Leave? What are you talking about? Did something spook you?"
"No. I..." Evan stopped. He couldn't tell Yuyan the truth. "I need to use the toilet."
Every part of him wanted distance from this spot. He didn't know what the curse would do once it triggered, and he had no wish to find out. A meteor might streak down from the sky, or monsters might clear the walls and pour into the training field.
He had barely taken a step when his foot caught a loose rock and he went down. "Ouch!"
"Evan!" Yuyan grabbed his arm to pull him up. Marcus, who had been returning from his spar with Harlan, broke into a run toward his two friends.
"Are you okay?" Marcus asked.
"I'm fi—" Evan said.
Krrsssk!
Evan froze.
The three teens turned toward the sound. Above them hung a distortion in the air, like cracked glass held in place by nothing. Its edges rippled and pulsed, bulging outward as if something on the other side pressed against the boundary.
"It's a Rift!"
"Get away!"
"Kids, move out of there right now!" Harlan shouted, flinging his wooden weapon aside and sprinting toward them.
Yuyan and Marcus hauled Evan to his feet, and the three of them stumbled backward. They had managed barely a step when the Rift stretched wider and a gust pulled at everything around it, dragging it all toward its center.
"Save me!" Yuyan shouted as the Rift wrenched the three of them off their feet and into the air.
Harlan lunged for the portal just before it closed around them. "No!"
Evan had never imagined what passing through a portal would feel like. He couldn't remember his own birth, but he suspected it might have felt similar. Pressure closed in from every direction until he thought he might burst like a balloon filled with blood and entrails. Then the sensation ended as suddenly as it had begun, and he was falling.
Crash!
Evan landed on his back with a yelp and clutched the sore spot. He got to his feet and found himself alone in an unfamiliar forest. Yuyan and Marcus were nowhere in sight, which meant the portal must have spat them out in different places.
"You bastard System!" Evan shouted, jabbing a middle finger at the air. "This has to be your fault, right? And that damned curse too! How else would a Rift open right behind me?!"
In response, the System said: [(๑˃ڡ˂๑)]
Evan raised another middle finger at the floating screen and drew a few slow, deep breaths to calm himself. As a transmigrator, he really should have expected something like this. But wasn't this a little too blatant? Bad luck that followed protagonists was usually subtler, like stumbling into a scheme the villain had prepared, not a Rift opening behind him and dragging him into a dungeon.
Who the heck had cursed him, and why was this person out to get him? Evan was sure he hadn't crossed anyone with that kind of power. He was a poor guy scraping by on minimum-wage jobs, with no time to offend an all-powerful being. Did this guy spend his days on NovelBin forums? Had Evan somehow pissed him off with his insults? That couldn't be it, could it?
He set those questions aside and turned his attention to the forest. At first it looked ordinary, but when he stepped up to one of the trees, its bark changed color as he watched, shifting from dark green to ash gray and then to bruised purple. Yeah, this definitely wasn't Earth.
Evan listened for monsters, but the forest stayed eerily silent. He recalled the emergency procedures he'd read about. When stranded in an unknown area, the safest course was to stay put and wait for rescuers.
He picked a spot away from the trees and sat down on a patch of grass. The blades at least looked mostly normal, though each one coiled into a tight corkscrew. Next to the bizarre vegetation around him, that was good enough. He wasn't about to start touching anything.
Evan hugged his knees to his chest and wondered whether Reid had been told he'd vanished. Would his brother come looking? Unlikely. Even if Reid was Reuel, he was still an unawakened civilian, and the authorities would never let him charge into a Rift. All Evan could do was hope the government sent capable Awakeners to rescue them.
A few minutes later, another system window popped up. Evan stiffened and read: [The Curse of ■■■■■■ stirs.]
"Are you threatening me?" Evan asked.
Did the System resent him sitting around doing nothing? Too bad, because he had no desire to play the hero. He knew his limits, and clearing a dungeon like this was far beyond them. He didn't even know the Rift's rank, and he couldn't have cleared a D-rank dungeon either. No way. Let the professionals handle it.
The System seemed to sense his refusal, because it displayed another screen.
[New Quest!]
[Objective: Clear the B-rank Irregular Rift]
[Time Limit: 24:00:00]
[Reward: ■■■■■■]
An Irregular Rift? A B-rank was dangerous enough, but that word made it far worse, because such dungeons were notorious for anomalies and threats well beyond their assigned rank.
"And what's with that reward?" Evan asked, jabbing a finger at the blacked-out boxes. First the name of the guy who cursed him had been censored, and now even the reward was hidden. "Are you messing with me?"
[(￢3￢)]
A vein throbbed at Evan's temple. Oh, how he would love to smack the System in the face. Unfortunately, he doubted the damned thing even had a body.
"No thanks. Not interested," Evan said, folding his arms. "I'm just a useless, no-good NovelBin reader. I'm not cut out to be a hero. And don't you already have one? Reid. That guy's a reincarnator. Why don't you stick to him?"
Evan couldn't understand why the System had picked him when this world already had a perfect candidate. If Reid was truly Reuel, then that man would easily save the world, defeating every enemy with his endless talent and drawing countless people to his side as comrades. He was the classic protagonist through and through, upright and brimming with potential. Earth would be in safe hands if Reid became the protagonist.
If it were Evan in his place, though? Best case, he would die quickly. Worst case, he would become the reason the world ended.
The System flashed the warning once more.
[The Curse of ■■■■■■ stirs.]
"I don't care. I'm not moving from this spot," Evan growled, and he squeezed his eyes shut. It was probably a bad idea in the middle of a dungeon, but at least the System was out of sight.
A minute passed in silence. Several times Evan was tempted to peek, certain a monster would spring from the shadows and maul him, but stubbornness kept his eyelids closed. If he died, then so be it.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
The scream jolted him upright. He sprang to his feet and faced the sound.
Far off, Yuyan was sprinting toward him with a wolf close on her heels. The beast was broad and heavy, nothing like the lean frame of an ordinary wolf. Matted fur grew in uneven clumps along its flanks, six yellow eyes glared from beneath a heavy brow, and jagged teeth crowded its muzzle in rows.
"Evaaaaan! Save meeeee!" Yuyan shouted.
Evan froze for a heartbeat, then spun around and bolted the other way.
"Why are you running from me?!" Yuyan screamed.
"Why are you following me? What do you expect me to do?! I can't beat that thing!" Evan shouted back.
"You are a guy! You should help a damsel in distress!"
"Damn you, I'm in distress right now because of you!"
"I thought we were friends!"
"You know how when you're running from a bear, you don't have to outrun the bear? You just have to be faster than the slowest person!"
"You heartless bastard!"
Behind her, the wolf snarled and swiped at her heels. Yuyan shrieked, and panic lent her a fresh burst of speed. To Evan's horror, she began pulling ahead of him.
"You asshole!" Evan yelled as the monster's growl closed in at his back.
"It's your turn to deal with it!" Yuyan shouted back.
Evan pumped his legs harder and pulled ahead. A heartbeat later Yuyan flashed past him again. They traded the lead back and forth, each desperate not to be the one nearest the wolf, while snarls and the clack of its jaws chased them through the trees.
Skrrt!
Yuyan's foot caught on a slick root jutting from the ground.
"Ugh!" she yelped as she went down hard.
Evan skidded to a stop and looked back in horror as the monster closed in. For all its size, it was surprisingly slow, but it was still gaining. If they kept running, they might put enough distance between themselves and the monster to hide, but Yuyan was on the ground.
Run.
This was his chance. If he ran now, the monster would turn on Yuyan. In a dungeon like this, a death wouldn't be unusual. No one would blame him, and no one would know he had abandoned her. She had gotten herself chased, and he had been perfectly fine sitting alone.
Run, you moron!
Yet his feet stayed rooted, heavy as lead.
"I do not fear being wounded. Even if my body is pierced by countless blades, I will endure it. If my sacrifice allows another person to live, then it will have been worth everything."
It was what Reuel had said back then, standing before the Demon King. Idealistic words from a typical protagonist, the kind Evan used to scoff at while reading. It was stupid. Only an idiot or a fictional character would say something like that. Everyone was selfish and cared only about themselves, and risking your life for others was the height of foolishness. So why was it echoing in his head now?
Are you stupid? You're just a civilian. You're not an Awakener. You can't beat that thing!
Evan moved, snatching up a nearby branch and snapping it free.
Stop.
He rushed toward the wolf.
Stop it!
Evan had heard stories about mothers lifting cars to save their children and soldiers pushing on with grievous wounds, and he had never known how much of it was true. Now, with his heart hammering and adrenaline scalding his veins, he understood. Instinct had taken over and carried him forward while his thoughts scrambled to catch up.
The moment the monster lunged at Yuyan, Evan cut into its path and jabbed his branch at its mouth.
"Aaaargh!" Evan screamed as the beast snapped at him.
His strike landed, but the branch only skidded along its fangs and the impact jolted his arms to the shoulders. Before he could pull back, the monster clamped onto the wood and yanked, wrenching him off balance.
Evan stumbled into its shoulder, and the wolf bowled him onto his back. Pain burst between his shoulder blades as he hit the dirt, and the branch ripped free of his grip. He rolled aside just in time, and the claws raked his shoulder instead of his throat.
He scrambled backward, but it closed the gap in a heartbeat, pouncing and pinning him. Hot breath washed over his face, and its jaws snapped inches from his throat. Evan shoved both hands against its muzzle and fought to keep the fangs off his neck.
His arms trembled. The weight on his ribs forced the air from his lungs, and claws dug into his sides, shredding his shirt and the skin beneath. His elbows began to fold while the jaws crept closer.
Shit! I'm going to die!
Adrenaline jolted him into motion. He wedged his left forearm under the wolf's jaw to hold it off his throat and sent his right hand searching the dirt for the branch. The beast strained closer and its fangs grazed his cheek. His fingers found only stones and roots, then closed on a splintered length of wood. He snatched it up and stabbed upward with everything he had.
It jerked its head aside and the point scored its muzzle, but Evan did not let up. He locked both hands around the stake, and when the jaws opened for another snap, he rammed it between them.
The monster thrashed, and its claws gouged his forearms. Blood ran to his elbows, and the slick wood bucked in his hands and nearly slipped free. Evan gritted his teeth and shoved harder.
The stake pierced beneath the tongue. A strangled snarl rattled out of the wolf as it reared back, but Evan hung on, grinding the tip deeper. Then he put everything left in his arms behind it, and the stake split the palate and sank into the brain.
Shnk!
The creature's body stiffened and went slack.
For a moment, Evan could only stare at the monster sprawled over him, chest heaving, hands trembling around the bloodied wood. Then his strength gave out. His grip opened, and he shoved the carcass aside.
He pushed himself onto his hands and knees, gasping for air.
"Evan! I knew you would save me!" Yuyan cried, wiping the tears and snot from her face.
Evan pressed a palm to his forehead. "Yeah, whatever. Just shut up. If you make too much noise, you're going to draw more monsters and we really can't..."
A buzzing came from above. Evan looked up and found several winged creatures hovering overhead, small and delicate until he looked closer. Their thin limbs held up translucent bodies that glowed faintly in the dim light, and their faces were almost human, with glassy eyes and wide, fixed smiles like creepy dolls.
"Oh shit."