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(Tn: The story of Lori is years prior the start of Chapter 1)

(Lori)

How long has it been...?

Since the awakening of my power as the [Demon King of Ruin], how long has this world been plagued by my curse?

I've asked myself this question many times.

How much longer? How long until the next "swap"? How can I imprison myself when that happens?

...Why did the evil voice inside me create someone who should never have been born?

These unanswerable questions have never left my mind.

In the deep mountains of the night, various low roars echo, as I return to my hiding place after visiting Angelina.

Due to my constitution, I've been living alone for a long, long time... This way, I won't hurt anyone, and it's better for everyone.

After all... if I get injured, the black, death-tainted blood will corrode everything it touches.

Just a few drops of blood, if they fall on the ground, tiny drops, can render an area of ten meters in radius infertile for farming.

If the injury is more severe...

...I remember when I was thirteen, the first time I experienced a "swap," I wake up in a place I didn't recognize.

...The lush forest that was supposed to be full of vitality had turned into a foul-smelling swampy forest... After desperately escaping from there... I realized I had ended up hundreds of kilometers away from home, in a place called Nakula.

At that time, the still-healing cut on my neck told me I had been hurt. I knew my body had been taken over by that white-eyed person, the one who often forced me to do cruel things in my dreams.

...It was terrifying.

Waking up without any knowledge of what happened, not knowing where I was... forests, unfamiliar giant islands, and the most recent one was a labyrinth filled with water... everything around me turned into foul-smelling swamps or strange styled buildings... and there were crazed roaring creatures.

The dates displayed in the [Book of Mela] would jump days, weeks, or even months.

"Destruction... Light..." the chaotic voice resounds in my mind, causing intense pain in my head. The surroundings distort, turning into hallucinations that have haunted me countless times in my dreams.

Brown hair, a blue shirt, brown trousers... and pale white eyes.

So painful, so painful, so painful.

The pain is so unbearable that I can't stand. I kneel on the ground, holding my head, curling up on the roadside as if the dark night were swallowing me.

"...Annoying... so annoying..." I groan with anger still lingering in my mouth.

...

...

"Crack... crack..."

"Thud, thud."

Only when I feel two spherical objects gently pressing against me do I realize that the nightmarish scene has receded.

Opening my eyes, I see two irregularly-shaped objects wrapped in bandages floating in the air, faint points of light representing eyes shining through the gaps in the bandages.

They look like wind spirits summoned by magic, but if anyone were to see them without the bandages, they might be immediately attacked... After all, they contain two charred skulls.

Little Skele and Little Skull were born when I awakened as the [Demon King of Ruin] and have been with me ever since... Although they look frightening, they are actually very docile... very docile towards me.

"Thank you," I took the oil lamp handed over by Little Skull.

It's already extinguished, and the day has just dawned... Have I been unconscious for a while?

Taking out the [Book of Mela] from my bag, I glanced at, [Spiritual Exhaustion Countdown], the countdown spell I set to keep track of when I would most likely "swap"..

After the recent turmoil, there are still three weeks left... After coming out from the "Water Labyrinth"... that's what I'll call it for now, I casually picked up a special magic tool I discovered through the [Appraisal] skill.

It can create a magic barrier to seal the entrance, keeping things you want to keep locked away... like myself.

With three weeks left... three weeks... I should still have enough time.

...Just like a bird living in a huge cage, able to spread its wings but unable to truly be free... Ha.

Thinking like this, I put the [Book of Mela] back in my bag... It's really funny how I, with this rare [Curse Book User] class, ended up inheriting this book from Angelina.

A truly miraculous book, almost capable of granting any wish... when I was on that strange island, I wouldn't have been able to return home without it.

...If sacrificing the class of a [Dual Swordmaster] and a [Curse Book User] together could free me from this terrifying curse, I would undoubtedly give up those classes without hesitation.

I lowered my eyelids and chanted a very special dark magic - [Soul Space]

In simple terms, it uses my soul to store items. Although the amount of storage is limited, the advantage is that I don't have to worry about losing things.

I took out a ring and used [Appraisal] to it.

[Ring of Mana Drain]

[Cursed item that causes continuous mana drain when worn]

After confirming that there were no issues, I put it on the ring finger of my left hand.

During that time on the strange island... with the roaring dragon-people in pain and agony... I found this unwanted cursed item in one of the houses there.

Wearing this ring will reduce the damage caused by the "swap"... no one knows what terrifying things the white-eyed person might do with my body.

Sighing, I continued on to the house I built deep in the Palm Forest.

...If only I could live in the village, I could be with Angelina... instead of in this desolate wilderness, surrounded by ferocious monsters... although, in a certain sense, I'm even more ferocious than any beast or monster.

...Oh well, I've already grown accustomed to loneliness and solitude.

Thinking like this, I passed by the swampy area I always crossed on my way home...

"Crack, crack, crack!" Little Skele seemed to notice something and made a sound.

Following his gaze, I noticed a strange commotion ahead.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!" "Squeak, squeak!" "Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

Sensing my arrival, the leech-like monsters inhabiting this swampy area abandoned their prey and scattered, leaving behind a barely alive body.

It's a man, whose body is covered in mud and torn clothes...

"[Appraisal]"

[White_HP 21/132]

"...He's still alive...?"