Curse Return: Swordsmith Start

So-called curses are nothing more than human malice.

"Friendly reminder, Mr. Yue, your rental of the workshop in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, has expired. If you wish to continue using it, please renew the rental before the 25th of this month. Based on your previous annual rental amount, the fee will be 420,000 yen... If you no longer wish to continue the rental, please go to the corresponding location to complete the formalities before the 25th of this month. We apologize for any inconvenience caused..."

"..."

The last message seemed like another scam, but when I saw that familiar address, I couldn't help but frown.

Troublesome things just kept piling up, so Kawasaki Koshito simply turned off his phone, choosing to temporarily avoid seeing or hearing about it.

The May wind, carrying a hint of summer heat, blows in from the north. The cherry blossom trees lining both sides of the street sway in the wind, and the cherry blossoms drift in the wind, dazzling the eyes.

Tourists passing by occasionally exclaimed in various languages, sometimes stopping to admire the beautiful scenery.

Kawasaki Koshito, sitting quietly on a park bench, gently closed the book in his hands. As he gazed at the sea of ​​flowers with them, his spirit was being tossed about between two completely different feelings, leaving him mentally exhausted. However, this environment was indeed suitable for calming his mind, proving that his choice to sit here and find peace was correct.

"Sixteen years have passed in this new life, and suddenly I'm recalling memories of my past life... Could it be that I accidentally spilled the Meng Po soup when I was reincarnated?"

A vibrant sea of ​​flowers against a clear blue sky adds a precious touch of tranquility to this bustling city.

This is the Higashishin Shinjuku Onsen Garden, not far from the place mentioned in the previous text message, where the world-famous double cherry blossoms bloom.

Therefore, there is never a shortage of tourists from all over the world. They come here in groups or in twos and threes to enjoy the cherry blossoms in this pleasant time. The space is large enough that the sound of their conversations can hardly be heard.

Kawasaki Koshito liked the atmosphere. His social instincts gave him a sense of comfort in his loneliness, especially the warm smiles that came from time to time, which filled his heart, which still had some lingering fear, with warmth.

A month ago, he was in a car accident. He didn't know if something went wrong, but when he regained consciousness and saw the white ceiling of the hospital, he had many memories that did not belong to "Kawasaki Koshito".

The man's name was Li Xunhang. He was a memory belonging to someone from a large country next to this nation. He was older than himself, in his twenties, and died from a hereditary disease that left him bedridden for many years.

He had been unable to bear it for a long time, but the love from those around him kept him hopeful. Finally, after secretly obtaining absolute evidence that his condition would only continue to worsen and that he could not recover, he chose to end his life voluntarily after signing an organ donation agreement without telling his family, for the sake of the family that he was dragging down.

The reason why he was considered to be from a previous life rather than being suddenly stuffed with someone else's memories was because of the feelings that were surging in his mind at that moment.

He had the feeling that these things had happened just yesterday, and everything in his memory was a choice that he would make.

After about a month, he recovered from the memory of death and the pain of the car accident, and reconciled the two completely different feelings about his past life and this life. This place that brought him peace played an indispensable role in this process.

Up until now, everything is normal except for a slight sense of incongruity when observing certain things.

This sudden event disrupted our ordinary lives, but it wasn't to the point of no return. It simply meant the addition of a new language that allowed for seamless communication and some changes in values, with no other significant impact.

He was still that student who had just emerged from the pain of losing his loved ones and was preparing to go to high school.

His future goal is to see if the University of Tokyo, which everyone aspires to attend, will open its doors to him. If so, he can find a decent job; if not, he can inherit his late father's craft and workshop and live a peaceful, ordinary life.

Having finally obtained the health he had longed for in his past life, he had absolutely no reason to squander this hard-won freedom.

Realizing all this, I looked up at the cherry blossoms drifting in the air. I should have felt relieved, but I was stunned.

"drop......"

"Mental fluctuations have stabilized; matching with a suitable system is in progress..."

"The Swordsmith System has been activated. Account registration..."

Please enter your name: —

Telecommunications fraud?

"..."

After a moment's hesitation, Kawasaki Koshito rejected the idea.

Could it be a cheat code? The reason for awakening memories?

Aside from this explanation, Kawasaki Koshito couldn't think of any other way to project these words directly onto his retina, not to mention that the era hadn't progressed to the time of his previous life, and he wasn't wearing any VR equipment.

The peaceful life he longed for seemed to have come to an abrupt end just like that...

Kawasaki showed no particular delight at the semi-transparent Chinese characters that moved with his gaze; his expression remained indifferent.

Having lived a second life, it would be a lie to say I didn't want a cheat code to start a life of extraordinary success. I do fantasize about it in my spare time, and now it's just that my dream has come true, so it's not unacceptable.

Staring at the semi-transparent text, Yue Ren subconsciously touched his chin, and his relaxed brain began to work efficiently.

system......

A thing whose structure, principles, and motivations are completely unknown...

My mind started to contemplate the possible consequences of entering the name.

For example, like in novels and movies, one might be suddenly and uncontrollably transported to another world, beginning a life of unparalleled power; or, after activating a system, one's peaceful life is shattered, and all sorts of demons and monsters appear in reality...

Just thinking about it makes me feel...so troublesome!

He quickly shook his head, banishing all these random thoughts, and refocused his attention on the underline.

Should I fill in my name or not?

Ordinary life and the possible unknown were placed on opposite ends of a scale in his mind.

My gaze unconsciously fell upon a few words... "Swordsmith".

"..."

After thinking for a moment, he still entered his name.

"Entry successful"

"Name: Kawasaki Etsuto"

"Identity verification successful. Generating and starting the task, please wait..."

I have to complete a task just to start a system? Thumbs down!

"..."

"Task generation complete"

Difficulty: Beginner

"Task objective: Recognize the truth of reality"

Time Limit: One Hour

"Timer begins"

"......"

The air froze for a moment.

The countdown in the upper left corner of my retina began to tick, allowing my thoughts to continue flowing.

"Recognize the truth of reality"... What does this mean?

The view changed again, with a faint band of light appearing before my eyes, leading to the road beside me and stretching into the distance, giving me the feeling of a quest map guide in a game.

This seems to be getting interesting...

He grinned, closed the book in his hands, and the title "General Principles of Forging" immediately caught his eye.

Gently straightening the slightly curled pages, Kawasaki Etsuto carefully tucked the precious book, which had been passed down for who knows how many generations, inside his clothes. He stood up to leave. Although the price of one thousand yen made him feel a pang of regret at leaving so early, his curiosity about the mission made up for it.

Now that he has made the decision, there is no reason to give up halfway. For him, who has now finished his recovery period, it is a very simple thing to let his consciousness control his body.

Walk along the path adorned with lush green shrubs and bluestone, past verdant young grass.

On one side is a lush lake, and in front is a bustling road leading to the gate.

The branches of the lush trees swayed in the wind, and the shimmering lake water, touched by the birds, rippled.

Standing there and looking towards the lake, there's a climbing trellis half-submerged in the water. It's old-fashioned and simple, yet surprisingly popular.

Normally, people his age wouldn't pay much attention to him, but he had a vague sense of familiarity in his mind. Memories from his past life gave him a strange sense of déjà vu.

I shook my head slightly to banish the feeling, and with the countdown urging me on, I took another step. The light strip remained, pointing me right out of the park.

Time always leaves no trace. The Yue people who walked out of the imperial garden felt as if they had entered another world, a noisy and not very clean world.

The various noises unique to big cities once again dominated his ears. If he had just woken up from a car accident, hearing these noises might have made him dizzy, tinnitus, or nauseous. But now, they just gave him a sense of familiarity.

Walking alone on the street, the bustling crowds beneath the steel forest prevented him from feeling lonely. The heads-down, hurried pace of most people around him served as the best evidence of this stereotype; no one paid attention to what a strange young man was doing.

Of course, Yue Ren himself didn't care. Although the old man passed away suddenly and left behind a lot of mess, which caused him to be hit by a car while he was in a depressed state, it didn't matter now.

After a month of recovery (cooling off), besides getting used to the memories and feelings, he also figured things out. Problems can be solved little by little, and life goes on. He had survived the worst of times, so there was no reason for him to be held back at the start of a new life.

Moreover, this is truly a new beginning—

The light trail beneath my feet turned a corner. Looking up, I saw that I was now walking on a main road with relatively few people. The place where the light trail turned was a quiet alleyway between tall buildings, only about two meters wide.

He raised his arm and glanced at his digital watch.

——16:24

It wasn't sunset yet, but the darkness lingered in that area was almost too much, giving the impression that light couldn't penetrate it.

Looking at the task again, countless thoughts rushed through my mind, and scenes from countless movies and novels flashed by one by one. I steadied my slightly trembling right hand, took out my phone from my pocket, switched to the alarm screen, and put it back in my pocket, making sure that I could send the message with just a light press.

Taking a deep breath, Yue Ren took another step, slowly moving towards the path.

There may be danger, but there is no point in running away now. "The truth of the world"—if the system's wording is correct, then it doesn't matter whether you bury your head in the sand like an ostrich. The truth is there. If it is some hidden danger, it will not disappear just because you don't see it. He can't do the kind of thing where he knows there is a problem and deceives himself into thinking everything is normal.

However, he was on high alert and placed the folding fruit knife he had brought from the hospital in his right sleeve so he could take it out immediately.

And so, he walked step by step into the path where the sun did not shine.

The sides were piled with garbage and disgusting filth, the air was filled with a nauseating sour smell, rusty water pipes, and a cold, damp atmosphere. Compared to the cherry blossom park, it was like going from one extreme to the other.

If the place we just visited was an alluring beauty displayed under civilization, then the place we are in now is an equally hidden ugliness that should not exist.

The dark place isolated him from the noise of the outside world, and Yue Ren could only hear his own footsteps and his quickened heartbeat without realizing it.

He knew that tension and fear were growing inside him, but they did not break his will. Appropriate negative emotions stimulated his senses and made him more focused than usual.

Finally, he reached the depths of the path.

There seemed to be nothing unusual, except for the carcass of a crow in front of us.

It was about four or five meters away from him, but he could clearly see the horrific scene through his eyes. The head was slumped to one side, as if the neck had been broken by something during flight. This was not surprising, as this was Tokyo, a city with a complex architectural layout. Occasionally, such phenomena would occur in secluded corners. This puzzled him. Was this the so-called "truth"... a corpse?

"Target location reached, mission partially successful, reward issued..."

"System startup—"

"World power system adaptation... successful... helped host awaken spell power... opened spell power vision... issued basic spell power usage methods!"

"Starting the second phase of the beginner quests..."

"Mission objective: Slay the cursed spirit in front of you, or escape!"

Difficulty: Beginner

Time Limit: None

In an instant, Yue Ren's eyes widened, his pupils contracted sharply, and his body tensed to the extreme.

There are two reasons for this change. One is that some memories suddenly surfaced in his mind, similar to the awakening of memories from a previous life. It was like suddenly remembering something he had done a few days ago, except that it was a work-related memory without any additional feelings, similar to solving a difficult math problem.

The content is a basic method for calling upon an energy called "Curse Power," which transcends common sense.

Another change was that there were more things around him in his field of vision. Besides the scattered, disgusting energy spots around him, what he stared at was the figure that shouldn't have been there, lying on the crow's corpse.

"So...delicious...eat..."

Resembling a hybrid of a fly and a toad, about the size of a basketball, it immediately evokes the image of a bio-engineered creature. Its disgusting, filthy appearance, a yellowish-green coloration, and the act of it devouring a corpse...