Chapter 27

Gidehme knew that look—the one people had when monsters were killing others outside.

Technically, weapons weren’t allowed in the training hall for pope candidates.

So all guardians entered carrying only wooden swords.

Even though a wooden sword couldn’t kill anyone, Gidehme clenched his teeth at the sight of the staff embedded in the stone table, dust swirling in the air.

“You dare attack a pope candidate?!”

For the first time, Gidehme’s guardian, who had remained quiet, stepped forward furiously.

“Seems like you’ve forgotten basic manners after being holed up in the underground prayer room all this time, Sir Derek.”

Still holding Nemesia in his arms, Derek didn’t even spare him a glance as he replied.

“If I had really attacked… would he still be breathing?”

Even the kids who had been secretly laughing stifled their smiles at Derek’s words.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

“So? You want to fight, Sir Garrick?”

Gidehme’s guardian—now revealed to be Garrick—gritted his teeth and backed off.

“…Well, this is something.”

One of the other guardians let out a low whistle.

‘Now this is getting interesting.’

Derek—once a hero of the Order—had lost both his fame and pride, and was said to have changed after being imprisoned.

They said he’d returned a corrupted holy knight, having lost his entire squad to a Taumiel-class monster of the evil god.

But now…

‘That’s the Derek from the old days, isn’t it?’

The observer watched, intrigued.

Meanwhile, Nemesia sniffled as she clung to him, eyes glistening with tears.

To anyone looking, she was just a frightened little girl.

And that strange atmosphere hovered thick in the room.

* * *

‘They’re probably all thinking: “What kind of ability did she use to get through the labyrinth?”’

Curled up in Daddy’s arms, I quietly wiped my tears—well, pretended to—and thought blandly to myself.

‘I’ve given them just enough of a glimpse, I think.’

No matter how many times you play, there’s always some dumb troll like that Gidehme picking a fight.

Problem is, overreacting to it backfires, and if you try to play the mysterious powerful type, they just walk all over you.

‘This level of scared-but-still-sassy is just right.’

Still, it caught me off guard.

I hadn’t expected Daddy to step in so perfectly like that.

‘And for things to end without even turning into a fight…’

I’d braced myself for a battle between guardians, but…

He really was a former hero, huh?

‘He must’ve seen more than his fair share of punks.’

I quietly gave Daddy a thumbs-up only he could see.

He glanced at it, then muttered just loud enough for me to hear.

“…I was scared.”

I was stunned.

‘…For someone who was scared, you sure fought well, Father.’

[Let’s show some love to ‘Daddy’ for all his hard work!]

[Sing for him!]

…What the hell is wrong with this system?

Sing? Here?

If I actually succeed and trigger the purification ability, it’d be an instant bad ending.

Still in Daddy’s arms, I looked around like I was only now regaining my composure.

Huh. My eyes had teared up so much from holding them open that now they were just freely streaming.

Thanks to that, the kids making eye contact with me had expressions ranging from curious to confused to outright horrified.

Then… my gaze landed on someone. Or rather, a pair.

The pope candidate and their guardian—basically, one and the same team.

Lavender hair, sharp eyes that didn’t quite match their otherwise delicate appearance.
About eight years old, maybe?

And the biggest feature…

[Faction: Royal Spy]

‘Well, well, what do we have here?’

A major antagonist faction in this game—the Royal Spies.
Looks like they’d finally sunk their claws into the pope candidate lineup, pushing their own kid in.

Which meant their guardian had to be…

‘Ugh.’

The moment I saw the guardian, I had to stop myself from scrunching my face.

Standing behind the kid was a slender man with bandages wrapped around his eyes and his hands folded behind his back.

Priest robes. So, a cleric then.

Of course…

[Faction: Royal Spy]

Another spy.

‘Let’s not get involved with that bunch.’

He seemed to notice me looking but I quickly turned away.

Besides them, there was a strange girl with jet-black hair, and another candidate who looked like an angel with a guardian holy knight who kept his eyes closed in a shady way.

Basically, plenty of people who set off red flags.

But I couldn’t focus.

‘…What the hell?’

Because starting a moment ago, something I couldn’t ignore had entered the scene.

“Everyone seems so lively today. Isn’t that right, my dear candidate?”

“Uh? Uh, y-yes?”

A very familiar voice.

“…Ah, y-yes! Yes!”

The pope candidate looked ordinary… but their guardian, very much not.

“You know,” the guardian said, chuckling, “You’re only supposed to answer once.”

Silver hair. Glowing eyes.

“This is going to be fun!”

It was Usher.

‘…Why the hell is that bastard here?’

I couldn’t close my mouth.

Of course, outwardly I just clung tightly to Daddy’s robes, like a scared kid.

Truthfully, I was gripping them out of pure rage.

…There’s a player legend, you know.

Game Category [Post] [Casual Chat]

Title: (Edited) The Curse of “Tosher”… FML

Is this a bug???

Even after the first trial! Even in the secret base! EVEN IN CHAPTER 3!!

Usher keeps showing up I’m losing my mind ffs

❤️ Likes: 119

Comments

👤 Savior 1
The Curse of Tosher strikes again…
└ Sayver 2: Welcome, new victim…

👤 Original Poster
What the hell is this, is this not a bug??
└ Sayver 1: Nah… he just loves you.
└ Sayver 2: My hidden feelings…

👤 Original Poster
I’m being serious, stop joking!!
└ Sayver 3: Speedrun Spoiler) It happens sometimes. If you dig into the code, it’s probably because you raised his favorability too much. You either reset or accept your fate. Devs said it’s not a bug.
└ Sayver 2: Yep, he’s that clingy. That’s why it’s called “Tosher’s Curse.”

👤 Savior 4
You who are loved by the evil god…!
└ Sayver 2: Evil God! Evil God! Evil God!!

‘Don’t tell me I’ve been hit with Tosher’s Curse?!’

The realization made my head throb.

‘Yeah… It was weird when he randomly showed up in my room.’

That must’ve been the sign.

Like the devs said, it’s not a bug.

‘Apparently even characters you don’t choose as guardians still have hidden favorability stats.’

Such a useless mechanic.

Usher caught my eye and waved like he was actually happy to see me.

I ignored him.

No doubt that bastard had forced his way into a guardian slot.

Which candidate and guardian combos appear each playthrough is usually randomized…

But there’s always some recurring patterns.

And the kid assigned to Usher?

They looked downright frail and timid—just how he likes them.

‘Shit.’

I could already see that child’s tragic future unfolding. My head started to hurt.

“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked.

“N-nothing… I’ll tell you later…”

Even though I didn’t say anything specific, it seemed Daddy had followed my gaze.

‘Whoa. That look.’

His face darkened, and I hiccupped from the sheer pressure. Guess I didn’t need to fake the tears anymore.

‘Father, please don’t cause any trouble here…’

Smack.

“…Yes, Nemesia?”

I cupped Daddy’s cheeks in both hands and gently tugged them toward me.

“I’m scared… let’s go sit somewhere.”

“A-ah… s-sorry!”

Daddy hurried to comfort me, flustered. The nearby guardians looked at us like we were aliens, but whatever.

All I had to do was protect my image.

‘Still… this is a mess.’

Most of these kids will die before the trials are over.

Just thinking about that made me dizzy.

‘But more importantly… why is he staring at us like that?’

That burly knight—the guardian of that trolling brat Gidehme—was glaring daggers at us.

More specifically, at Daddy.

With the kind of hatred that looked like he wanted to kill him.

“Daddy…”

Did you borrow money from that guy or something?
 

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Translator: Japchae