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“… Haa… She was really gorgeous… I wish I could say that I don’t regret being in bed with her… But I can’t. That woman was the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

“How did you realize you were cursed? And… what did you do when you found out?” I say as I try to imagine what I would do in such a situation.

‘The first thing that comes to my mind is that I would look for the person who put the curse on me and then…

I would force him or her to take the curse off of me…

Using whatever level of violence necessary to do so…

At the end of the day, a curse is an attack on me and anyone who attacks me is my enemy.’

“It was simple to realize that I was cursed. I discovered something strange was going on within days of leaving town…” says the old man sourly with a defeated expression.

“… One of the effects of the curse I have is that it makes me much more sensitive to pain. Really sensitive. And that’s easy to notice with the kind of job I had. It’s really unpleasant. The slightest scratch hurts like a mortal wound…”

‘I guess that’s because he has his physical resistance stat in negative numbers…

Or perhaps I’m just jumping to conclusions…

I’m not entirely sure about how his curse works.’

“… The tricky part was finding the woman, as the crazy woman committed suicide after putting the curse on me. When I said goodbye to her, I had no way of knowing that her ‘I can’t live without you’ had such a literal meaning. Women said that to me all the time when it was time for us to part.”

‘I don’t understand people like that…

How can a person be dependent on another person in such an unhealthy way?…

It’s unfair because it puts terrible pressure on the target person on whom you depend…

Haa…

And the worst part is that my Alessia seems to have just that sort of mentality…

What am I going to do with her?’

“What did you do then?” I ask, shocked at the ridiculous and absurd end to the witch’s life.

“The only thing I could do, boy. Find ways to free myself from the evil that bitch had cast upon me. I couldn’t work as a mercenary anymore, so I started traveling and learning other ways of life. But nothing I tried to get rid of the curse was working. Not even the high-level healers of the Solus Temple could do anything…” says the old man with a bitter smile.

‘That’s weird…

The curse is not that high-level…

No, wait…

It’s true that the curse is merely level 14, but surely all the people the old man saw had Remove Curse at a very low level…

At the end of the day, skills level up as you use them. And considering that there are almost no witches thanks to the Solus Temple…

Haa…

With its discrimination the Solus Temple has probably made witches much more dangerous than they normally should be.’

“… I spent years and years traveling, learning, and meeting many people and places. Until finally the time came when I realized that I was too old to continue and decided to make this city my home.”

While Gerald has been telling me his story, Arya has been standing completely still in one of the corners of the room, almost as if she were pretending to be just another piece of furniture.

“I see… It really was a long story. Well… I think I can cure you, old man. But I’m not completely sure. Do you want to try anyway?” I say, suddenly hesitant about what I plan to do, as I’m not sure what effect it might have on the old man.

Having heard the old man’s story, I find it hard not to empathize with him.

After all, who wouldn’t have become bitter and cantankerous after so many years of living the way he did?

It’s impressive that he’s still alive.

With his Resistances and Luck in negative numbers, anything could have killed him.

And on top of that he has [Impotent] as an altered state.

I don’t think I could have lived for so long under those conditions.

“Yes. I figure my quality of life can’t get much worse than it already is, so I don’t see why I shouldn’t try…” says the old man, stretching his arms out over the counter of his store, as if preparing to take a hit.

“… You can start whenever you want.”

‘Agh… Who cares?…

I’m just going to alter his stats a bit…

That shouldn’t have any permanent negative effect on him.’

“Take this. It’s an anti-curse magic item…” I say, handing the old man the lucky talisman Delia made me from a rabbit’s foot after removing it from the necklace I wore around my neck, where I also wear my perception inhibitor and union necklace.

I want to trust Gerald, but not to the point of showing him that I can edit his status simply by being on a team with him.

That would scare anyone.

Besides, finding that out would probably raise a lot more questions.

So, as we walked back to the old man’s house, I came up with this lie.

“… You just have to hold it tightly with both hands for a few seconds.”

“Really? Just that?…” asks the old man with an incredulous grimace, looking at the amulet with distrust.

“… I don’t sense anything magical coming from this thing… I swear to you, brat, if this is all a joke-“

“It’s no joke, Gerald…” I say with absolute seriousness.

“… As long as you’re holding it, don’t panic if you notice that you suddenly feel faint, for it’s merely a passing sensation. That means it’s working.”

“You don’t need to explain that to me. I know it can’t be anything harmful, since you were wearing it,” he says and takes the amulet in his hands.

As soon as the old man takes the lucky talisman in his hands, I start editing his status, moving as many stat points as possible towards the Curse resistance stat.

Until I reach the ridiculous amount of 205 points in that resistance stat.

Quite a substantial amount, considering that for safety’s sake I haven’t used many of the old man’s available points.

‘I’m almost certain that I’m right…

And that’s why I won’t risk lowering to less than 15 points his HP…

If I did I’d probably be killing the old man.’

My interface does not allow me to drop HP to less than 1, so it suggests that a person needs to have 1 HP to be alive.

However, if Gerald’s curse works as I believe it does and I reduce his HP to 1, I would be leaving the old man with -13 HP points.

And the same can be said for Strength, Agility and Intelligence.

[Do you want to save the changes in this status?]

‘Yes’

As soon as I finish editing his status, Gerald collapses on the counter as he feels the absurd weakness in his arms and legs.

“W-wh-at-?” the old man asks, barely able to articulate the question as he looks at me like a wounded, helpless animal would.

‘I guess having 1 point in Intelligence must be a pretty unsettling feeling…

But you’ll just have to endure it for a few more seconds.’

[Curse of impotence Lvl 14]

[Curse of impotence Lvl 13]

[Curse of impotence Lvl 12]

Overpowered by the old man’s new overwhelming curse resistance, the curse quickly begins to lose levels after a few seconds.

Until it completely disappears.

Now only the altered state [Impotent] remains in his status.

‘Hmm, we’ve been waiting for a minute already and the altered state still hasn’t disappeared…

I may have been wrong; the altered state may not have been related to the curse…

Haa…

At least now he’ll be able to live a little better than before…

No point in waiting any longer’

In a few seconds I restore the old man’s stats as they were before my edit.

With the difference that now there is no longer any negative number next to them.

[Do you want to save the changes in this status?]

‘Yes’

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?” asks the old man in an angry shout as he throws away the lucky talisman and moves at full speed to grab one of the ‘for sale’ swords on display in his shop.

“Calm down, old man. I warned you that you were going to feel weak, remember? …” I say as I raise my hands in the air with a smile on my face.

‘I knew I was right!’

As soon as I finished resetting the old man’s stats to their original values, the altered state [Impotent] disappeared from his status.

“… It worked. You are healed. Completely healed.”

Hearing my words, a lot of emotions flash past Gerald’s face as he keeps pointing the tip of the sword at me.

Still irate and looking at me suspiciously, he slowly moves his free hand and lightly pinches one of his cheeks.

Then his eyes widen in surprise as the sword he was holding falls out of his hand and makes a metallic noise as it clatters to the ground.

“H-how can this be?…” asks the old man in a breathy voice, his eyes slightly moist with emotion.

“… I’m not dreaming, am I?”

After those words, the old man pinches his cheek much harder.

“You’re not dreaming, Gerald. Besides, why would I appear in your dreams?” I say, with a half-smirk.

“Good point!…” says the old man, after which he lets out a long laugh of the purest mirth.

As he laughs, the old man’s features momentarily seem to begin to change slightly due to the excitement, discounting at least 20 years of age from his face.

When he finally finishes laughing, he says, “… I want to… check certain things out, my boy. Could you go with Melisa, or anywhere else, and leave me alone for a few hours?”

“Yes. I can already imagine what you want to test…” I say, picking up the lucky talisman from the floor and reattaching it to the chain around my neck.

“… You’re welcome, by the way.”

“Don’t worry, my boy. Even if I didn’t say anything, I’m deeply grateful to you. If I am indeed cured… I will be eternally indebted to you,” says the old man with absolute seriousness, looking at me as if he had never really seen me before.

In fact, I find the old man’s reverential gaze a bit disturbing.

So, heeding his request, I quickly leave the premises while Arya follows me closely behind in silence.

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