IGTL Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – The Curse of the Yandere Girl (1)

“Now then, adventurers, please line up at the counter and receive your new ‘Adventurer’s Emblem’ and ‘Rank Certificate.’”

Once the Guildmaster’s Q&A time ended, the adventurers all filed toward the reception counter, every one of them wearing a gloomy expression.

Most of the ones looking that depressed were players whose levels had been reset by Odin.

I joined the line at the counter, following the others.

“Kakeru… I’m done for.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve always known you were useless.”

“Are you some kind of demon… ? You could at least try to console me a little…”

“Quit saying creepy things. If you want comforting that badly, have that hostess Mami-chan do it.”

Well, he probably was not going to set foot in a cabaret club for a good while, though.

Trading jabs like that, I waited in line until my turn finally came.

“Thank you very much for your patience. First, please return your ‘Adventurer’s Emblem’ and ‘Rank Certificate.’ After that, place your hand on this crystal orb.”

“Sure.”

I handed over my Adventurer’s Emblem and Rank Certificate, then set my palm on the crystal orb.

At once, the orb began to blink with little lights, and a new Adventurer’s Emblem and Rank Certificate were produced.

“Data registration is complete. Please take your Adventurer’s Emblem and Rank Certificate.”

“Thank you very much.”

I stowed the new Adventurer’s Emblem in my item storage and hung the Rank Certificate around my neck.

My rank was S. No change from last time.

Still, something felt off.

Back when DW had been “just a game,” you did not join the S-rank crowd until you were past level 250. So why…

As I tilted my head, fiddling with my Rank Certificate, a scream from the counter split the air.

“Gyaaaah! I really did get dropped to F-rank!”

Unbelievable, that guy.

There was still a long line of adventurers behind him, yet he was bawling his eyes out right in front of the counter.

After watching Kyle slink out of the Adventurers’ Guild, completely crushed, I got back in line again.

I had originally come here to find adventurers willing to guard my inn.

Now that all the low-level, pretend adventurers had been dumped into F-rank across the board, the ones left at higher ranks should be adventurers whose strength actually matched their rank.

With screams about demotions echoing through the guild hall, I waited for my turn a second time until I finally reached the counter again.

“Thank you very much for your patience. Oh? You are the gentleman from earlier…”

“Yes. I have already finished re-registering. Actually, I have a request I’d like to file with the Adventurers’ Guild.”

I said that and handed over a request form. The receptionist began to read through it.

“I see you are requesting an adventurer of C-rank or higher. What duration and budget did you have in mind?”

“Duration and budget… right. I’d like to have someone guard the inn for as long as possible, but how much would I need to offer in terms of payment?”

“Let me think… If you wish to hire a C-rank, you would need at least 100,000 Col per day. For B-rank, 500,000 Col. For A-rank, around 1,000,000 Col.”

“Th-that much!?”

I-I had no idea.

I had never imagined it would be that expensive.

“Yes. A C-rank or better can earn about that much just by going into a dungeon for the day. If you are willing to hire retired former C-rank-or-higher adventurers, we could find someone for considerably less. How does that sound?”

“Retired adventurers, huh… and roughly how much would that cost?”

“In that case, the daily rate would be about half of what we just discussed.”

Half. That was cheap.

Might as well go that route.

“In that case, please send me a retired former C-rank-or-higher adventurer.”

“Understood. We will send someone at a later date.”

“Great. I’m counting on you.”

I left one month’s worth of payment with the receptionist as the request fee, then took my leave of the Adventurers’ Guild.

◇◆◇

“Kakeru-kun. Kakeru-kun. Just a little is fine, so could you lend me some money?”

The person I was currently looking at as if he were literal trash.

That would be Kyle, the jet-black mage who had just been demoted to F-rank at the Adventurers’ Guild and screamed his lungs out about it.

For the moment, I ignored him and kept walking, but he was unbelievably persistent.

“Kakeru-kun. Kakeru-kun. I really only need a little. Just ten thousand Col… no, even five thousand Col is fine, so lend it to me, pleeease.”

When I shot him another cold, trash-level stare, Kyle flinched a bit. Then he dropped to all fours and started pounding the ground while bawling.

“Y-You don’t have to look at me like I’m garbageaaah! I’m desperate here, you know! I’ve got debts, I’m broke, and I’m totally done for, I’m ruuuuiiined!”

So he even had debts now…

He had blown his entire fortune on casinos and hostesses, and on top of that managed to build up “debt” as a negative asset. This guy really was hopeless.

“Sigh…”

I let out a deep sigh and came to a stop, and for some reason hope lit up in Kyle’s eyes.

No, I’m not lending you anything, okay?

What’s with that “So, how much will you lend me?” face?

Without a word, I grabbed Kyle by the scruff of the neck and dragged him toward the Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil.”

“H-Hey. Kakeru-kun? Where are you taking me!? I’ve got plans, you know… I’ve gotta borrow money from you and go buy a bag for Mami-chan…!”

“Wait, you were seriously planning to use the money you borrowed from me for something that stupid!?”

She would absolutely pawn it the very next day.

There was no question she’d turn it straight into cash.

I forcibly formed a party with Kyle, then opened the menu bar in front of the Transfer Gate “Yggdrasil” and picked a dungeon.

“Transfer: Sleeping Forest.”

When I called that out in front of the gate, blue light wrapped around our bodies, and we warped to the expansive forest dungeon, “Sleeping Forest.”

By the time the blue light faded from our bodies, the transfer had already finished. The city bustle from moments before had vanished, replaced by the sound of wind rustling the leaves and birdsong.

“W-Wait a second!? I sold off all my cash-shop gear, so I’m literally not wearing any equipment right now!?”

“Good grief… you really are something else… It’ll be fine…”

I pulled a certain cash-shop set out of my item storage and laid it out in front of Kyle.

“T-This is… could it be…?”

“Yeah. Exactly.”

What I had just taken from my item storage was the Black Series set, the chuunibyou gear Kyle adored so much. All-black, of course.

However, that gear was cursed.

For some reason, Kyle started tearing up, then equipped the Black Series, wiped his eyes with the sleeve, and turned back to me.

“…With this, I’m as strong as a hundred men! All right, Kakeru, let’s clear this dungeon!”

“Yeah, sure. Since we’re here anyway, I’ll let you have every item that drops in this dungeon.”

“K-Kakeru… Thanks. I swear I’ll pay off my debts!”

With that, Kyle leveled his staff and charged straight at the monsters.

Watching him rush in, I muttered to myself:

“Man… I’m glad he’s so simple…”

That cash-shop set I’d given Kyle was something that had somehow ended up in my My Room storage.

And it was cursed.

The curse could only be lifted by making a hefty donation at the church, and once you equipped it, you were done: the curse’s allure made it impossible to ever sell the gear.

And the curse on that gear was the “Yandere Girl’s Curse.”

That curse was seriously nasty. First, while it was equipped, you couldn’t lay a finger on any other woman.

If you so much as tried to physically touch an Adventurers’ Guild receptionist with even a single finger, a pain like being stabbed in the gut with a razor-sharp knife would shoot through your abdomen (or so it was said).

The girl behind this was probably the clingy, possessive type when she was alive.

And there was one more troublesome curse layered on top.

The curse of thrift.

If you tried to buy something the yandere girl judged “unnecessary,” that same piercing gut pain would hit (apparently).

In Kyle’s case, just trying to buy a gift to impress a hostess, or dumping money into a casino, would trigger that knife-to-the-stomach pain.

However, in exchange, this gear hid an absurdly powerful effect.

“Yandere Girl’s Blessing.”

Her sentiment of “I’ll do anything for the one I love. I’ll protect him and devote myself to him” turned into power and granted the wearer overwhelming strength.

To be specific, whenever he attacked, countless knives would materialize and assault the monsters.

And the result of that was…

“Monsters in a beginner dungeon are easy pickings for a guy like me!”

A heap of blood-soaked monsters lay piled up at Kyle’s feet.

Right. Even a level-one adventurer could draw out around ten times their normal stats while wearing this set.

Of course, it wasn’t all beneficial.

Naturally, there was yet another drawback.

“All right, let’s head to the next floor! Huh? A mail… Wait, who!?”

“What’s wrong?”

I asked, feigning ignorance, and Kyle gave me a baffled look.

“Uh, I just got this weird email from some girl…”

“An email? What does it say?”

“Y-Yeah, there’s this girl calling herself Merry, and she sent me this…”

He made his menu bar visible so I could see it, and held the mail screen up for me.

“‘Hi, Kyle-kun. How are you? I’m doing great! I’m always right by your side, watching over all your hard work♪ And hey, Kyle-kun, do you like me? I love you sooo much!’

‘…Aaah, but but but but, why are you showing our precious private emails to someone else? Why are you exposing them? Why are you making that face?’”

That’s terrifying!?

I didn’t really get it, but that was just plain scary.

New messages were coming in at ridiculous speed too; this was probably bad…

As I stared at the mail screen, cold sweat running down my back, I noticed that the text of the email was gradually turning red.