When I finally woke again, it felt as though the world had crushed me beneath a car and left me there overnight.
Every muscle in my body screamed the moment I tried to move. A suffocating weight pressed me into the damp stone floor, as if gravity itself had decided I no longer deserved to stand.
Even breathing hurt.
Each shallow inhale dragged sharp lines of pain through my chest and down into my arms, reminding me of something I could no longer ignore.
That power…
It hadn't healed anything.
It had only moved the damage.
Whatever had been taken from the girl last night now existed inside me.
I forced myself to move anyway.
Slowly.
Painfully.
My fingers scraped against the rough stone wall as I dragged my body forward, inch by inch. Several times, my arms trembled so violently that I nearly collapsed before reaching the place called my room and a thin layer of straw that passed for a bed.
By the time I touched it, my vision had already begun to blur.
But I didn't get the chance to rest.
The door burst open with a deafening crash.
Ian stood there.
He looked down at me with an expression caught somewhere between irritation and reluctant pity, as if he had expected this but still found it inconvenient.
"Get up," he said flatly.
"The King has sent for you."
A bitter laugh slipped out of my throat.
"Really?" I muttered, forcing myself upright as pain flared through my body. "Did the King suddenly discover he has a heart?"
Ian didn't react.
"The heroes are leaving for field training near the Cursed Lands," he said.
"Since you came from the same world… you're going with them."
I stared at him.
"…So I'm bait now?"
No answer.
Just a small gesture.
The guards stepped forward.
They grabbed me without hesitation, hauling me to my feet like I weighed nothing. Pain shot through my chest, but I clenched my teeth and swallowed it.
No one could know.
Not about what I did to that girl.
And definitely not about the power.
Because that ability…
It wasn't healing; it was something else.
By the time they dragged me into the courtyard, everything became clear.
I wasn't there as a hero.
A wooden carrying frame was strapped onto my back before I could speak. Weapons, supplies, and tools were piled onto it without pause until the weight forced my knees to buckle.
I barely stayed upright.
"Wow," Liam's voice rang out across the courtyard.
I looked up.
He was smiling.
Not kindly.
"Well, look at that. The King finally found a use for the 'Mistake.'"
Laughter followed.
Collen didn't even try to hide it.
"Careful," Liam added mockingly. "Try not to collapse before we even start."
Even some of the soldiers smirked.
To them
This was entertainment.
My legs trembled as I forced myself forward.
Clara stood apart from them.
She wasn't laughing.
But she didn't defend me either.
She just looked away.
And somehow…
That felt worse.
The journey turned into a slow march through pain.
Every step drove the weight deeper into my shoulders, as if it was trying to break me from the inside. My vision blurred more than once, and several times I nearly fell.
But each time
Something pulsed.
Cold and dark.
It didn't ease the pain.
It didn't help.
It only kept me from collapsing completely.
Like something inside me refused to let me stop.
By the time we reached the edge of the Cursed Lands, my body barely felt like my own.
The forest ahead looked dead.
Not empty but dead.
Trees twisted like skeletal hands, and the air itself felt thick, as though something unseen was pressing against everything.
Even from the back of the group, I could feel it.
Malice and something else I couldn't make out.
But the others didn't seem to care.
They laughed.
They compared stats.
They showed off their growing power as if this place wasn't dangerous at all.
Then
Everything changed.
Clara screamed.
A vine made of shadow burst from the ground and wrapped around her leg. Dark veins spread instantly across her skin.
The mages rushed forward.
Light flared.
Spells activated.
But nothing worked.
"It's not working!" one shouted. "The curse is rooted too deeply!"
Panic spread.
They stabilised her, but barely.
Before they could journey back to the palace for further treatment, they were attacked by bandits.
Chaos erupted.
Steel clashed.
And in the confusion
Clara was pushed aside.
The corruption spread faster.
Closer towards her chest from her leg.
I didn't think.
I moved to help her, at least she was the only one who didn't mind that I'm useless.
Dragging my body forward.
Until my hand reached hers.
Reverse, I said.
It activated at that moment.
Dark energy surged from my body.
It wrapped around her leg.
The corruption resisted
Then broke.
Pulled out and entered my body.
Suddenly it's gone
Her breathing steadied.
Colour returned to her body, and she was safe.
And then
Pain exploded through my skull.
The curse slammed into me like something alive, spreading violently through my body.
My strength vanished instantly.
I collapsed.
The weight on my back crushed me into the dirt.
By the time the battle ended, I could barely hear them.
"Look at him," Collen's voice came faintly. "He fainted without even fighting."
"Useless."
"Dead weight."
Liam's voice followed.
"Throw him in the cart."
I wanted to laugh.
Or scream.
Or tell them the truth.
But I couldn't because I couldn't move, and I feared what might happen when they knew of my abilities.
Darkness was already closing in.
Colder than before.
Deeper.
And this time
It felt like something inside it…was watching me.
When I woke again, the cart was already moving.
The world felt distant.
Hollow.
The curse that had once been inside Clara now existed inside me, burning quietly beneath my skin.
It hadn't disappeared.
It had only changed hosts.
"So that's how it works…"
Reversal didn't heal.
It transferred.
The heroes mocked me.
The servants mocked me as well.
And the world kept moving as if nothing had happened.
My fingers tightened weakly.
Maybe kindness didn't matter.
Maybe survival did.
If I could absorb curses…
If I could take damage and endure it…
Then maybe
That was my path.
"I'll still save people," I whispered.
But not because they deserved it.
Because every curse I take…
Every wound I carry…
Every pain I survive…
Will make me stronger.
And somewhere deep within the darkness of my mind, something stirred.
As if it approved.