I Can Copy Curses

Just then, he touched something. Orion didn't know what it was, but he could tell it was soft and fluffy.

He held on tightly to whatever he had touched and slowly opened his eyes.

"Huh? Nothing?"

Orion's brows furrowed in disbelief as he stared at his seemingly empty hand. The sensation of holding something soft and fluffy was unmistakable, yet his eyes told him otherwise. It was as if he had grasped air, but the tactile feedback was undeniable.

"What... is this?" he whispered to himself, perplexed by the strange contradiction. His fingers tightened, and the sensation remained, soft and light, yet unseeable.

His mind whirled with questions, but no answers came.

Was this an illusion? Or something beyond his understanding? Either way, he wasn't about to let go. Something about this invisible presence felt important—mysterious yet strangely familiar.

'I can't see it, but I can feel it when I close my eyes. When I open them, it's just darkness.'

He thought for a moment, uncertain if he had established the connection Catherine had mentioned.

'It's just darkness here and nothing else.'

Suddenly, Orion found himself looking at the green plain again. He could once more sense the wind blowing and the grasses swaying.

"I'm back!" Orion was surprised at how swiftly he had returned from that strange place.

Thinking about it, he turned toward Catherine. "Did I do it?" he asked.

"Did you?" Catherine responded instead of answering directly. "Did you do it?"

"I think I did something," Orion replied, explaining further. "I caught something—something I can't see, but I can easily feel it in my hands."

"That's your Divine Soul," Catherine said, puffing out another wave of smoke. "It seems you haven't fully summoned your Divine Soul in Dreamshore yet, or you would have been able to gauge its shape more easily."

Orion nodded. Stay updated through empire

"Now, close your eyes and try to feel the connection again. This time, I won't help you," Catherine instructed.

"I'll try," Orion agreed, closing his eyes and calming himself. He recalled the pitch-black darkness and the fluffy sensation he had caught, focusing on it.

A moment later, he once again found himself in that dark world, where he could see nothing and feel nothing but the darkness.

"Huh?"

To his surprise, his hand was still holding the fluffy, soft thing.

"I see, so this is the connection Catherine was talking about," Orion nodded in understanding.

"Gshdjshsb!"

Just then, he heard the gibberish words again, but this time, he was certain the words came from the fluffy thing he was holding.

He felt it vibrate slightly as the gibberish echoed in his ears.

"What is it saying? I don't understand any of this."

Orion frowned, confused by the incomprehensible words.

"Could this be the true name of my Divine Soul?"

He wondered, thinking it might be the case. After all, this entire ordeal with Catherine was to help him comprehend the true name of his Divine Soul. Now, hearing these strange words seemed like an obvious step toward that goal.

At that moment, he was pulled back from the world of darkness.

'I can't control how long I stay in the dark world,' Orion realized, noting that he had been ejected without his permission, spending only a few minutes there.

"How was it?" Catherine asked.

"I could still feel the fluffy thing, and I heard those gibberish words a few times while I was there. Are those the true name of my Divine Soul?" he asked.

Catherine's eyes widened slightly as she nodded. "Usually, it takes a lot of time to hear those words after establishing a connection with your Divine Soul, but it seems you're quite talented."

Orion nodded lightly. He was indeed a bit more talented—perhaps even a complete monster in terms of strength—but he wasn't sure about his potential.

He recalled a girl he hadn't seen in a long time, who had an even more astonishing talent than anyone he had ever encountered.

"Alright, you're done here. You can go now," Catherine said, pointing toward a door that had appeared in front of him.

Orion didn't leave immediately. Instead, he asked, "Why am I the only one here? I heard there are many trials scattered throughout Dreamshore, so there should be many participants coming here, right?"

Catherine smiled. "There are many instructors like me stationed at various trial sites. You just happened to be at the trial site I'm responsible for."

Orion nodded lightly, then asked, "I see. And about comprehending the true name—do I just need to gradually understand those gibberish words until they form coherent words?"

"That's right," Catherine replied. "That's one way to do it. There is another method. In rare cases, some individuals manage to comprehend the entire true name of their Divine Soul on their very first attempt, but that's an extremely rare occurrence. I've only seen it happen once in my life."

Orion nodded in understanding and was about to head toward the door when he recalled something. "Does the Three Divine Ways have anything to do with the Divine Soul?" he asked curiously.

Catherine smiled mysteriously. "Why don't you figure that out yourself?" With those words, she pushed Orion toward the door, which opened automatically, and Orion passed through it.

***

"Damn, she pushed me out!" Orion cursed lightly as he found himself in the middle of a desert.

"Where should I go now?" he muttered, scanning his surroundings.

[The number of participants has decreased significantly. As a result, the available areas where participants can move are also shrinking.]

[Participants will be randomly teleported to new locations within the same map, but the overall area will be much smaller than the original.]

[Random teleportation will begin in 10, 9, 8...]

Orion smiled upon hearing that. He had wondered what would happen when the number of participants dwindled to the point where they couldn't find each other in the vast Dreamshore, but this solved that issue.

"I wonder if that bug is still around me," Orion muttered to himself.

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