Chapter 85: The Hunter’s Prisoner

[Obtain 650 Shared Experience points after killing a Bronze Rank enemy in the battle.]

“The experience gained is a little bit less.”

Annan sighed and put the bloody kitchen knife back into the waist bag without rubbing it.

Brother Hammer, try to fit yourself in here.

I hope it will not think that the blood of this kitchen knife is part of the sacrifice.

Otherwise, it may wait for a week with its head up and its mouth open, and it won’t be able to consume a single bone.

Who knows who owns the blood? Whose bones would match the blood?

It was just that after Justin died, Annan didn’t want to absorb the many curses he left behind.

Because their price was too heavy for Annan:

“Overload Hunger (Persistent Type): No matter how much food is stored in the abdomen, as long as you are injured once, you will inevitably fall into a state of extreme hunger an hour later.

“Pain Loss (Persistent Type): Pain is reduced by 95%.”

“Break Free Taboo Type: Not losing consciousness while being restrained.”

“Death Is A Dream (Taboo Type): You can’t dream after being seriously injured.”

Except for the “Pain Loss” that seemed not to have severe drawbacks, Annan didn’t want to accept the other curses.

“Break Free” was harsh. Worse still, it was possible that it could be triggered in an unintended situation. “Death Is A Dream” was suitable for Transcended with self-healing ability or dream-controlling ability.

The cost of “Overload Hunger” was not severe for Annan, but the curse could be brought into a nightmare.

Its side effects in the nightmare dungeon instance immediately became serious——

The curse’s drawback referred to “resupplying (food) must be carried out after one hour of fighting.” However, the environment in the nightmare dungeon instance was unique. There might have been no supply after being injured.

Compared with this price, the positive effect the curse brought to Annan could only be regarded as icing on the cake.

“Then, it’s you.”

Annan made his decision.

Annan took off the slender lady’s ring from Justin’s hand and took off his curse bearer – the bronze bracelet.

Annan mimicked Salvatore’s procedure, resting his left hand on his bronze bracelet, and his right hand on the ring. Then, he whispered,

“I’m here to establish a curse.

“I will inherit the vow you made and bear the curse you carried.”

At this moment, Annan was in a trance.

He suddenly felt his field of vision stretched a lot higher as if he was contained in another body. It was just like watching a cutscene CG, and he couldn’t move.

Annan lowered his head slightly, noticing that this appeared to be an adult female body.

Her left arm seemed to be fractured, but Annan felt no pain at all. She was panting desperately and slowly backed away.

The one who slowly approached in front of him was Justin.

He moved his wrist, his face showed an ambiguous smile, but his right hand gradually clenched into a fist.

“It won’t hurt, Mrs. Netti. I think it will be feel good.”

Justin smiled. His face about a dozen years younger than now was full of cruelty, “Also, if I guess correctly, you can’t feel the pain, right?”

Then, Justin took a sudden step forward and hit “Annan” with a punch on the chin.

Annan felt a numb sensation in his chin, and then darkness overwhelmed his sight. He fell softly and lost consciousness.

But before he lost consciousness, his right thumb exerted the last bit of strength and broke his right index finger.

Then, an extraordinarily blazing and devastating heat rose from his right arm, covering his surroundings completely.

The scene faded into darkness afterward.

This should be the memory of the female wizard named “Netti” when she died.

Annan made an inference.

At the next moment, another scene appeared in front of Annan’s eyes.

His perspective rose and became a bird’s-eye view similar to that of God.

A 26 years old female wizard with brown curly hair stood alone in the wilderness.

Her hair was tied up and draped over her chest from the left; her expression a little nervous.

In front of her was an altar with three platforms and three boxes on the altar. Annan’s perspective was above the altar.

She reached out to one of the boxes. On that box, there was an image of a woman with a peaceful and calm face.

In the next moment, as if she had understood something, she whispered,

“From now on, I will bear [Pain Loss].”

Annan followed her, chanting simultaneously.

The next moment, the scene in front of him shattered.

When Annan recovered his senses, it was just in time to see the ring in his hand cracking. A red radiance rose. After coiling a few times in the air, it flew out to the southwest.

Annan vaguely heard a grateful voice.

“Thank you.”

After hearing that voice, Annan was stunned.

What’s this?

Soul?

Seeing this scene, Annan suddenly recalled-

Previously, after Salvatore absorbed the curse and the remaining curse transformed into a nightmare, changes took place on Gerald’s dead body.

So, what happens to the corpse when the curse bearer is taken away from them?

Doesn’t it mean that those Transcended killed by hunters will never rest in peace? They didn’t die but were imprisoned in the ring. Their souls were used as hunter’s “fingerprint” in utilizing the curse.

This thought suddenly popped into Annan’s mind.

Before his eyes, the belated system prompts gradually appeared.

But Annan did not get the new curse prompt.

It was a line of blood-red, scribbled characters:

[The curse has been severed—The Hunter’s Prisoner]

The next moment, the remaining two rings also burst.

But perhaps it was because the curse hadn’t been sucked up; what was vacated from the ring was not red light but black smoke similar to Gerald’s.

They also circled the room and then left.

Strange hearing invaded Annan’s ears as if they were creepy auditory hallucinations. But they did not thank Annan but seemed to have a particular obsession,

“I’m going to kill him, Justin. I’m going to kill him.”

“Mr. Nottdamm, I’m sorry.”

Then, Annan finally got the new curse prompt:

[Curse: Pain Loss (Persistent Type). Pain is weakened by 95%.]

The one-line description was straightforward and clean.

The cost and function were combined. For Annan, this cost was almost non-existent.

Ordinary humans needed pain as an alert to danger. For example, they felt pain when they were close to a fire or when a knife cut them. That was to remind the body’s owner to “keep away from danger.”

But Annan was different.

He had lost negative emotions, but he could still live, fight, and study normally, relying on his “common sense.”

He was more like a machine driven by common sense and experience.

There was no need for the pain medium to alert Annan. He believed that his understanding and judgment as a human being were keener and better than that.

He, of course, still could be regarded as a human being.