Dark Fantasy’s Extra – Chapter 136

Author: Dawn

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the hospital ceiling again.

And just like last time when I almost received Bari’s Mark, Maia was standing beside me.

“You idiot!”

As soon as she saw me wake up, Maia immediately smacked my head.

“I was waiting to do exactly this when you woke up!”

“Sorry…”

My throat was quite hoarse.

Seems I was asleep for quite a while this time too.

“Five days.”

“Huh?”

“You were out for five whole days.”

Last time it was three days, so it increased by two days?

“Your body and soul already received Bari’s curse, and now you’ve added another witch’s curse on top? Are you really trying to die, no, are you determined to become a monster that can neither live nor die?!”

“No, that’s…”

“What exactly is this?!”

Maia was furious.

I had nothing to say even if I had ten mouths.

While sacrificing yourself might sound righteous, considering the pain it leaves behind for others, it can’t be called purely good.

“I’m sorry. I…”

“If you’re going to be like this…!”

Maia grabbed my hand.

“I’ll give you my Mark too!”

“…What?”

What is she saying?

“You kept refusing when I offered, so why do you accept it so easily when other witches do it?!”

“Wait, what are you…”

“Am I not your friend?”

Is it just my imagination?

Right now Maia’s eyes look like the old Thumbelina…

“W-wait! It’s not a Mark! Not a Mark yet, I tell you!”

“…”

Maia stopped.

“…Fine. I’ll let it go this time.”

I was just bewildered by such an extreme emotional change from someone I considered a friend right after waking up.

What exactly happened?

“But if something like this happens one more time, I’ll leave mine too.”

“Ah, okay. Okay, so please calm down.”

Did something happen while she was visiting Swamp Island?

“Come to think of it… you said you visited Swamp Island? Was everything alright?”

“Yes. Everyone’s safe. No, more than safe – they’re all better than before.”

“Better?”

“Like their condition, both body and mind… ah…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ah, wait. I was just… acting a bit strange, wasn’t I?”

“…Yeah. You were.”

“Sigh… I’m sorry. It’s just… I couldn’t help it. We, those who deal with cursed power, all sometimes become… a bit strange like that.”

“Become strange? Suddenly?”

“It’s probably because the seals of witches are breaking.”

“Ah…”

Could it be…

“I don’t know the exact details either, but this world itself is kind of… changing. Those of us closer to curses are easily affected by it. That’s what I wanted to check by visiting Swamp Island.”

It’s certain now.

The sorcerers’ frenzy.

The precursor symptoms that occur right before the seals of witches break.

The world after the seals break becomes completely different from before.

In Blue Paper Moon, most fields and NPCs related to curses underwent changes both big and small.

Most just occasionally lose control of their emotions, but some completely go berserk and change into different people.

The setting materials collectively called all of this the ‘magical phenomenon’.

“Anyway, I confirmed the situation isn’t good. So I need to prepare in my own way too.”

“Prepare?”

“To prevent my head from temporarily going crazy like earlier.”

When the magical phenomenon occurred in Blue Paper Moon, Maia wasn’t particularly affected.

Just one line of dialogue was added about having headaches lately.

But now isn’t exactly the same as then.

Having already become Thumbelina once and returned with weakened power, she might have become more vulnerable to the magical phenomenon.

“Though I’m not sure if it will be perfect. So…”

“It’s okay. Even if you suddenly start saying strange things, I’ll try to handle it well.”

“Thanks…”

Maia lowered her head gloomily.

“…You can honestly tell me if you’re scared.”

Even I felt an irrational terror right before being caught by Margarete in Hameln, at the thought of becoming something other than myself.

Though it wasn’t a long time, I nearly broke down mentally several times…

“Yeah… I’m scared. I’m scared of becoming strange again.”

Maia hugged her shoulders.

She made the same gesture when I first met her at the Donua ruins, but now is so different compared to then.

That proud and strong great sorcerer’s appearance is gone.

“Isn’t it strange? Living for hundreds of years already… yet still being scared of something. They say normal people become calmer as they age…”

“That’s nonsense. Everyone gets scared of scary things.”

“Yeah… That’s why lately, you seem amazing.”

“What?”

“How can you be so brave while being so weak?”

“Brave? Me?”

Me, who trembled before Margarete?

Me, who lay awake countless nights worrying about the apocalyptic future the witches would bring?

“Yes. You’re incredible. Without any talent and being so weak, yet you never back down. Now that I think about it again, it really makes no sense. You weren’t even afraid when facing me after I became Thumbelina.”

“That’s because I had something I could rely on.”

I just tried placing my last hope on the Mad Hatter’s clock.

“Still, just attempting it is amazing. Back then I could have torn you in half in the blink of an eye. You were just lucky, that’s all.”

“Well, that’s true but…”

I was lucky.

Though no luck followed me in terms of the environment I was born into or talent, I had good fortune several times in life-or-death situations.

Thanks to that, I’ve been able to survive until now.

“Rather than brave, that should be called reckless.”

“You know it too.”

Maia grinned.

I found myself smiling too as some of the tension eased.

“Anyway, about that new… almost-Mark you got.”

“Ah, yes.”

“I examined it while you were unconscious, and it seemed to be from the Winter Witch.”

“Winter Witch…”

What effects did Snow White’s Mark have again?

It dramatically increased cold resistance, granted immunity to frostbite, and added various cold damage skills?

And Margarete’s clones in the field became non-hostile while Order hunters became enemies instead.

Of course, since mine is an incomplete Mark, it probably won’t go that far.

“You’ve probably become a tiny bit… more resistant to cold now.”

“Yeah, probably about that much.”

“But don’t rely too much on the effect. It’s so minimal that only I could barely notice it. You’ve only gotten a little stronger, really. You’d still freeze to death if you tried sleeping naked in the snow.”

I don’t expect that much anyway.

I’m just an extra after all.

Extraordinary abilities don’t suit me.

“Hmm… since it’s come to this, why not try collecting all the other witches’ Marks too?”

Maia said playfully.

“Of course. If I complete the collection, maybe there will be some set effect?”

I joked back.

Set effect, what’s that?

Even if I collected all the witches’ Marks… hmm…

If I collected them all…

“…Eugene?”

“Ah, I was just lost in thought for a moment. Anyway, don’t worry – I have no intention of doing something that crazy. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

“Obviously… Well, get some more rest then. A doctor will come check your condition later. I only know about curses, not medicine.”

“Okay.”

“See you later then.”

Maia left and I was alone in the hospital room.

“…If I collected them all.”

The one and only way to see the true happy ending in Blue Paper Moon.

That was receiving the Marks of all witches, including Belle of the Order.

“That’s impossible.”

The protagonist clearly grows stronger with each Mark.

But the penalties grow even worse – first, the witches become suspicious of the protagonist’s intentions and make their trials increasingly difficult.

Not only that, but factions whose Marks you already received consider you a traitor, becoming hostile instead of non-hostile and attacking even more aggressively.

Having the Order constantly send judges and extermination teams after you and being extremely limited in which shops you can use is just the cherry on top.

As Marks accumulate, the difficulty of obtaining the next Mark increases insanely. Even after hundreds of playthroughs, I only succeeded once.

It was so frustratingly difficult that even though I was obsessed with Blue Paper Moon, I got fed up and never tried again.

Moreover, while the achievement that appears after completion is clearly called ‘True Happy Ending’, when you actually see the ending description, the protagonist gradually becomes strange from the side effects of obtaining all Marks, and there are hints that the world’s future isn’t entirely bright, leaving a bitter aftertaste.

“…”

I looked at the back of my hand.

Though no visible Mark is engraved there, something must be present to an extremely minute degree.

If… just hypothetically, I were to form relationships with all the witches?

Could I handle something like that?

The first time I was out for three days, but this time it was five days.

Does the duration keep increasing with each one?

No, will I even be able to wake up later?

Will I be able to remain human?

“…That won’t happen.”

I clenched my fist as if reassuring myself.

Right, something like that is impossible for me in the first place.

Because I’m not the protagonist or anything.

I don’t even have any guarantee of surviving after the magical phenomenon.

“Hah…”

Have I become too sensitive?

I guess that’s understandable.

There have been a lot of difficult things lately.

Just worrying about useless things.

Let’s calm down first.

Calm down and think about what needs to be done next.

“…”

Margarete gave me a bit more time.

Telling me to witness firsthand whether Belle could defeat her or not.

Though the hero I mentioned wasn’t Belle but Hilde, Margarete still seems unaware of Hilde’s existence.

It’s not strange since Hilde hasn’t done anything particularly notable yet.

Of course, there’s a fuss about her being a special talent even now, but that’s just among Order insiders who know the circumstances.

Even if she somehow has good intelligence about the Order and knows about Hilde, she probably just thinks of her as a promising candidate to become a higher-ranked hunter.

Hilde won’t become truly famous until after the seals break and the magical phenomenon occurs, turning the world into chaos.

That’s how it was in Blue Paper Moon too.

“Hmm…”

No, rather than Hilde, maybe I’m more famous among the witches…

“Ah… damn it.”

Useless worries keep coming up.

I’ve already met Margarete, Rusalka, and Bari.

Originally Hilde, the protagonist of this world, should have met them instead.

Why did it turn out like this?

No, more than that, does Noah, the protagonist I originally knew, even exist in this world?

“Excuse me.”

While I was lost in all sorts of idle thoughts with my head spinning, someone opened the door and came in.