SHAMAN PROTOCOL-Chapter 118: An Interesting Curse

Mikel watched as his anima disappeared, and the gymnasium slowly reappeared. But unlike before, cracks crawled across the walls, dust sprinkling on him from the roof, while the ground trembled.

[Master.]

He snapped his eyes to the screen before him, staring at Doom’s next message.

[System Notice: Curse Anomaly Detected.]

[Curse Status: Unstable.]

[Curse Obtainable. Available only to the Protocol Warden II.]

Deep lines appeared between Mikel’s brows as he tilted his head slightly. He barely understood what that meant, but knowing Doom, it was surely referring to some other burden—like a power-up.

"Give me the coordinates," he said, watching one side of the gymnasium collapse. "Let’s go get it."

[System analyzing... Curse location detected!]

Without another second’s hesitation, Mikel jumped into action and fled. He bumped into some people on his way to the curse’s location, but none of them reacted to the crumbling world. Everyone he ran into just continued on their way, rushing to the burning building in the opposite direction from where he was headed.

The Curse, after all, was located there—right in the heart of the Old Academy Building.

The same one where all of this began.

****

Meanwhile...

Mister Nocty huffed heavily as he and Jake jumped out of the burning building. They barely made it out, rolling on the grass as he did one last push for both of them.

"Ugh..." Jake grunted, his teeth clenched in pain. They had made it out of the building, but his condition didn’t seem survivable.

Coughing, Mister Nocty quickly snapped out of the daze and turned to Jake.

"Jake!" he shouted, sliding toward him despite the burns he had inflicted while escaping.

"Hey!" he shook Jake by the chest, his complexion pale as he watched Jake open his eyes weakly.

"Nat..." Jake let out a shallow breath, looking up at the blurry face hovering over him. A short smile tugged at his lips, and he nodded at him.

No words were spoken between them, but Mister Nocty clutched his friend’s chest. In his peripheral vision, he could see figures running toward them. But that didn’t matter right now.

A lump formed in his throat as he stared at Jake, regret in his eyes. He had known all along that even if he saved Jake, there was nothing that could change the present. This was just an illusion, a trick to relive a nightmare that could break him again.

Yet, he threw reason out the window and ditched his student just to save a friend who had died a long time ago.

"Thank you," Jake forced out a breath, trying to stay conscious. "... Nat."

Bitterness twisted on Mister Nocty’s face. His mouth parted, but no words came out. Slowly, he saw the mist pouring from the tips of Jake’s fingertips and his body’s surface.

There were so many things Mister Nocty wanted to say, or maybe he wanted to apologize, thank Jake for being a good friend, or simply bid him farewell. Sadly, none of those words could escape his throat.

All he could do was watch as Jake faded, along with the world around them.

But before Jake completely disappeared from his hands, Mister Nocty lowered his head and closed his eyes.

"I..."

*

* 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

*

A single tear trickled down Mister Nocty’s cheek. He swallowed hard before reopening his eyes. As soon as he did, everything around him was bright. The scent of smoke and the heat wave that had touched his skin were gone.

All that was left was nothing.

Slowly, Mister Nocty looked around, finding himself in the same spot where he had disappeared—right outside the Old Building.

The illusion’s gone, he thought, flinching as he thought of Mikel. "Mike—"

Mister Nocty stopped as he twisted his body to the other side, spotting Mikel lying flat on the grass. Seeing him just lie there made Mister Nocty sigh in relief. But that relief was short-lived as guilt quickly rose to his heart.

"Mikel, I..." he trailed off, biting his tongue as shame crept into his heart. He stared at his student, trying to find the right words, but then he noticed Mikel was just staring at the sky.

"Mikel?" he called, but Mikel didn’t budge.

Worried, Mister Nocty pushed himself off the ground, where he had been kneeling. His knees wobbled—a sign that being in that spiritual zone alone had drained his energy. He crawled to Mikel, until he was right beside him.

"Mikel, are you... alright?"

To his surprise, Mikel was indeed staring at the sky, but he didn’t seem hurt. Nor did he seem disoriented.

He was just... staring at the sky.

Unconcerned by his homeroom teacher, Mikel stared at the screen hovering over his face as he read Doom’s notes regarding the curse he had obtained before the entire zone collapsed. The notes didn’t seem important, though, compared to the memory assault after letting the Book of the Dead consume all the curse imprints Everest had unleashed.

There were plenty of memories. That was why Mikel wasn’t moving—he was trying to separate his own memories from all of them. But one thing stood out among the echoes of those who had perished in the Old Building and its zone.

Everest’s echoes.

Slowly, Mikel blinked and finally moved his gaze to Mister Nocty. The latter was talking, his mouth moving, but right now, Mikel couldn’t hear him.

Doom... if Everest’s memories are true... does that mean something changed in the present?

[It was an interesting curse, even I, Doom, the Butler of the Protocol, was surprised. If he did it right, the possibility is high.]

I need your own opinion, Doom.

[... Yes.]

Mikel’s jaw tightened a little as he tried to wrap his head around what he had just found out.

"Mikel? Mikel!" Finally, Mister Nocty’s panicked voice reached Mikel’s ears. "Mikel, can you hear me? Blink once if you—"

"Nat."

Mister Nocty abruptly stopped when he suddenly heard a familiar voice ahead. His brows furrowed as he lifted his eyes to look at the approaching person. The second he met the man’s eyes, his breath hitched, and his mouth parted slightly.

"... Jake?"