16 September 2021

18:30, No Good Apartment

 

 

Today is another day for a Q&A session.

Two weeks have passed since LittleSnow dropped in on my stream.

After that, she came to my stream every day, no matter what stream it was about. She is probably the most dedicated viewer I ever have.

She tunes in every stream, be it morning, afternoon, night or late night.

...

Wait! Aren’t you a student?

How come you have time to watch every one of my streams?

Don’t forget your study!

What surprised me was that LittleSnow actually did not know what a game is. She seemed as if she had not played any game before.

She seemed really confused when she dropped in on my gaming stream.

She also expressed that she would love to play some game too.

Wait! Aren’t you rich?

Ask your dad to buy it for you, will you!?

Talking about rich...

It really seems that LittleSnow and her dad don’t have any intention of refund the money at all.

In fact, she even wanted to donate more.

I politely refused her, of course, but somehow that motivated her even more. She said that she would donate with her own money next time.

Is this what they call ...simping[1]?

I suddenly have someone who simp for me...

Somehow the image of a little girl simping for an avatar of an old guy seems really bad though...

Well, there is nothing I can do now.

LittleSnow still asked me occasionally about her magic stuff, such as which magic spells she should learn, which artifact she should buy, etc.

I did try to help her the best I can as always but, to be honest, I don’t really know what she was saying most of the time. So, I just chose one that has the coolest name of all of them. She seemed really happy afterward though, so it was probably a correct answer.

Anyway!

Today, my stream is going well as per usual.

And in usual I mean that there are only less than 10 viewers.

Yeah...

Although I do get my first donation, the viewer number doesn’t really go up at all.

It is kind of sad.

But with LittleSnow in, the stream is somehow livelier. This naivety of this girl really helps lighten the atmosphere in the stream.

While not really on the right track, it seems like my Vtuber career is flourishing.

“I will accept one last question from you. Those that already asked please refrain from doing again if possible.”

As per usual, I reserve the last question for those who didn’t ask before. This way, there would be no one gets left out.

After I say that, everyone in the stream go silent for about thirty seconds. Before I start to think that no one would ask a question anymore, a sound of notification come.

Ding!

I am a little surprised when I see that the message is exceptionally long.

Wait, this pattern reminds me of something.

Somehow I have an ominous feeling about this...

Still, I have to read it. It could just be a letter from my passionate fan, after all.

[Greetings, great sage Khun.

Today is my first day being here, sir. Your wisdom really has opened my eyes to the new height of this world, so that I couldn’t help but felt amazed. I also would like to receive some guidance from you, great sage, only if you are feeling generous to answer of course.

So here is my question, sage.

Starting from this year, I suddenly feel like I have contracted some strange curse. My right hand had turned black from the finger to the wrist of mine. I could still move it as per normal but something didn’t feel right.

I felt like it was trying to control me, sage. After my arm had turned back, I felt as if someone would always whisper beside me, urging me to kill someone. It wants me to kill someone, anyone. The urge was so bad that I feel like I would slowly but surely lose my mind!

I am scared of my right hand so much that I want to cut it off.

No one in my family knows any solution to this. I have tried the library and the royal physician, but all solutions resulted in a failure. So, I have left with no choice but to seek help from you, great sage. Do you perhaps have any idea what this curse is and if you do know, is there any way to counteract it, great sage?

For now, I have sealed my right hand using the magic artifact, black bandage of suppression, from my family. This solution worked fine in the beginning, but the urge to kill is still building up and starting to consume me again. I feel like I would soon lose myself if this continues.

Please help me, great sage.]

...

......

Sealing right arm with a black bandage...

Yeah...

I knew it!

It is a Chuunibyou question again!

Sigh...

Is it too late to change my career now?

“Okay, child. First, how about... you start from the beginning?”

I say the words that I used with LittleSnow last time. It was working before, so it should also work this time, right?

Right?

 

 

---

15, Month Fall-Quatre, Year Elizabeth 402

06:00, Elizabeth Magic Academy

 

Inside Elizabeth Magic Academy, the most prestigious magic school of the Sorcera Kingdom, was like a country of its own. Every facility one could ever imagine, there would be—at least—one in the academy. Training field was also not an exception. As a magic academy, there would always be mages that had to train their spell or their body. This was why there were multiple, if not hundreds, of these places to train. These places would always remain free to use as long as one enrolled in the school.

Early morning never stopped a hardworking person to train. Today also, even when the sky was still dark, few activities could be seen from various training spots.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The sound of wooden sword splitting air could be heard from inside one of those training fields. This field was located on the north most of the school. Despite looking old, it was exceptionally clean, as there would always be thousands of maids cleaning every place inside the school every day.

Currently, a young boy, swinging his wooden sword, could be seen in the training field. He looked around 11 years old, but his body was as if forged with steel. Despite the cold weather, he was actually bare-chest, wearing only a pair of black pants, exposing his rather well-defined chest muscle. He looked young but at the same time, with the help of his imposing aura, mature. His slight tan color skin made him looked a bit rough but his well-defined face soften it slightly. All in all, he was a rather handsome boy.

This should be enough.

After swinging for the hundredth times, Wilson Myles stopped. He put the wooden sword back in the rack and use a towel to wipe his sweat-filled face and his soaked black hair. He just finished his morning practice, which lasted two hours each day, which he routinely followed for at least 2 years. A knight’s body was the most important thing, after all.

Knight.

While the name sounded different, knight was actually a subset of mage archetypes. There were millions of spells in the world, after all. How could one learn every single one of them?

That was why mage archetype existed. For example, knight, they usually focused on learning physical enhancement spell and closed combat spell. There were other archetypes, of course, such as rouge, priest, etc. The most popular type though was a traditional mage style followed by a knight.

While Wilson was still a triangle level late phase mage, his body was much stronger than those trained in the traditional path.

It should be alright now, right?

He asked himself again and then looked at his right hand, which was actually covered in a black bandage. It shrouded his hand and all the way to his right shoulder.

He gulped once. It was unconsciously done, a natural reaction as he was scared of what would happen next. He then slowly reached his other hand toward the end of the bandage—locating in his shoulder. His fingers actually trembled slightly .

It is alright, right?

The same word appeared in his head again. He did not know if he was supposed to psych himself up or he was actually praying to something.

He then slowly undone the bandage from the right shoulder. The process was slow as if the one doing it was not actually want to do it at all.

A gulping sound could be heard, again. This time louder than before. The bandage was almost undone and he could finally see a bit of color on his hand. It was black. It was dark. Just seeing what his hand had turned into made him scared of himself.

But he still didn’t feel anything—yet. The boy smiled to himself slightly. While his hand was still black, the thing that scared him, even more, was now gone.

“It is alright—Ugh!”

KILL.

A voice rang in his mind.

Wilson did not know who the voice owner was. The voice was high yet low at the same time. It sounded both feminine and masculine, both young and old, both far and yet near. It sounded as if spoke by one person and at the same time many. It sounded foreign yet familiar.

KILL.

His right ear rang. KILL. His left ear rang. KILL. His mind rang. KILL. Everywhere rang. KILL. The voice seemed to come from everywhere. KILL. It consumed his mind. KILL. His vision turned red. KILL. It filled his consciousness with darkness. KILL. RED. KILL. BLACK. KILL.

KILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL—

Everything stopped.

Before he completely lost his mind, Wilson put his black bandage against his right hand.

After that, the sound was gone and the morning was silent again.

Wilson sighed in relief then warped the bandage around his hand once more, this time tighter than before. He quickly continued the warping to his forearm and all the way to his shoulder. His right arm was then completely gotten covered by the black bandage again. Only now that the boy could finally relax.

He slumped down on the floor on the spot.

What’s happening to me?

He no longer appeared imposing or dignified as before.

He looked small and broken.

Like a single leaf that could be blown away just by a little bit of wind.

 

 

 

[1] Simp is an internet slang that describes a person (usually male) that is very attentive and submissive toward another person, hoping to win some attention from them.