World's Last Hope

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[The Cursed One]

Description: You made a fool of the Grim Reaper twice… You will soon pay the price.

Positive:

Not unfamiliar with death, ERROR creatures will see you as one of their own.

You made a fool of the Grim Reaper twice, ERROR has recognized you.

Negative:

Should the host fail, hell will follow.

Some creatures will feel repulsed by your cursed soul.

Your eyes are crimson, making it impossible to hide that you are a curse-bearer.

Creatures will do anything to devour your soul.

A creature of unfathomable strength has been unleashed with the sole purpose of hunting you. It always knows your location… You cannot hide… You cannot run.

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"Hey Eric, everything alright?" Olivia asked, her voice tinged with concern as she noticed Eric's pale expression.

Eric shifted his gaze toward her but hesitated to answer. 'How can I be alright? A being of unfathomable strength is hunting me… and it always knows my location.'

"Did something happen?" Aria asked, stepping closer. Eric looked like he was about to collapse.

"I…" He placed a trembling hand over his face, trying to mask his fear. With a deep sigh, he said, "Yeah… I guess I feel a bit weird after that fiasco where I almost went to hell. But don't worry about it—I'll manage."

"If you say so," Aria replied, though her expression made it clear she wasn't convinced. She decided to drop the subject for now.

'I can't tell them something like this. We already have enough problems to deal with—it's better if I don't add more pressure on them,' Eric thought, following behind the group. He bit his lip so hard in frustration that a small drop of blood fell.

'Besides, the description said its sole purpose is to hunt me… So they should be safe. This is my burden to bear alone.'

After descending the ominous mountain, they got closer to the floating eyeballs.

"Do we know anything about them?" Eric asked cautiously.

"You can see how their gaze casts that unnatural light, right?" Aria whispered.

He nodded, and she continued, "No matter what, stay away from their gaze. Otherwise, you'll turn into a statue in an instant."

"Is there—"

"No," Olivia interrupted him, already guessing his question. "There's no known way to kill them, so don't even try. But on the bright side, they don't hunt humans. As long as you stay quiet, they won't focus their gaze on you."

"What about the plants with the faces?" he asked, crouching low and whispering in an attempt to make as little noise as humanly possible.

"It's simple—if they stare at you, do… not… stare… back. Am I clear?" Aria deliberately slowed down her words, emphasizing the gravity of the warning. These plants seemed far more terrifying than Eric had expected.

"And if they stare at you, do not move," Olivia added grimly.

"What about the giant glowing mushrooms?"

"Some of them release glowing spores into the air. If you see them, get away immediately and avoid breathing them in," Aria responded.

"So one stops you from moving, one freezes you in place, and one poisons the air?" Eric summarized.

"Pretty much," Olivia confirmed, summoning her black sword just in case.

"This sounds like hell to me," Eric muttered, furrowing his brows.

"Look on the bright side," Aria said, turning to him with a faint smile.

"There is one?"

"Yeah—because the nature here is so dangerous, there's nothing else around to attack us besides these three threats."

Eric forced an awkward smile, pretending to agree. 'That doesn't make it any better!'

Navigating through the eerie forest—jungle?—was a grueling experience. Everyone had to move slowly, carefully watching where they stepped to avoid making any noise that might alert the floating eyeballs.

To make matters worse, they stayed crouched to make it harder for the plants with faces to spot them.

Eric had never known the pain of moving in a crouched position while wearing armor until now. His legs burned, and he felt like they might give out, but he didn't dare increase his breathing for fear of making too much noise.

'These last 10 kilometers will be pure torture,' he thought grimly.

Aria, a few steps ahead, suddenly stopped. Following her lead, Eric froze as well. Curious about what had halted her, he shifted his gaze—and immediately regretted it.

To their side, slightly higher than them, was a plant with a human face. Dried blood surrounded the face, which was twisted into an expression of horror. The only thing that seemed alive were the eyes of the plant.

As if feeling his gaze, the plant shifted its eyes toward Eric, who hurriedly looked away in panic.

*****

The night came faster than expected. Even though the mushrooms glowed in the dark, illuminating the surroundings, it was still dangerous as they had a harder time spotting the floating eyeballs and the plants with faces. Once they found a large hole in a tree, they decided to spend the night there.

Eric had a hard time sleeping, but unlike the first night, it wasn't because his armor was uncomfortable to wear—he had gotten somewhat used to that.

Nor was it because Aria and Olivia had again dismissed their armor, revealing their surprisingly revealing clothing underneath.

It was because Eric was scared… but not because he was facing an enemy in front of him. He was afraid of the unknown.

Knowing there was a powerful creature somewhere out there, existing solely to kill him, and that it always knew his location…

Even though Olivia had summoned her reminisce that would alert should danger approach them, Eric didn't feel safe.

His heartbeat was irregular, and his eyes kept darting back and forth to potential places where an enemy could appear.

'How far is that cursed thing? How fast is it moving? Does it rest, or does it move indefinitely?'

Questions like these plagued his mind, denying him the rest he desperately needed.

Suddenly, The Cursed One didn't seem like such a ridiculous name as before…