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chapter 373
“… Hey, Elena.”
“Yes?”
“I just wanted to check—did you intentionally show me a different photo than yesterday?”
“… Huh?”
Elena looked like she didn’t understand what I meant. Realizing this, I decided to ask her in another way.
“Of the photos on your smartphone, is that the only one with all the dolls in it?”
“Oh, no. I have lots of photos of individual dolls, but that’s the only one that has all the dolls I own together.”
That means the photo I saw yesterday—with every doll facing the camera—is indeed that one.
‘… Another curse, huh?’
And this one is probably the type of curse someone casts to hex others. Thinking about the nightmare I had after seeing the photo yesterday, there’s no doubt about it.
‘Lately, I’ve been getting involved with a lot of curse-related stuff…’
There’s the doppelgänger curse using a doppelgänger, the voodoo doll curses, and even the curse that caused the Oracle’s doppelgänger to die. And now this too.
‘And I have no idea what kind of curse this is.’
It could be the photo itself that’s the problem. Or the dolls in the photo. Or maybe their arrangement. But…
‘Elena took the photo, Grandma Alice made the dolls, and Elena arranged them.’
It’s unlikely Grandma Alice would tamper with the dolls she gives as souvenirs to visitors, and Elena wouldn’t have a reason to manipulate her dolls or the photo either. Someone else might have interfered in between, but…
“Hmm…”
My instincts tell me no one meddled. Clearly, the photo itself is the problem, yet no one intentionally did anything.
‘Could it really be that the curse manifested by pure coincidence?’
It’s not entirely impossible. Curses existed even before the appearance of black mist and awakened beings. Feng Shui would be a prime example. Whether Feng Shui counts as a type of curse is another matter entirely.
“Elena, when arranging the dolls, did you ever get advice from someone else?”
“Advice? Hmm… not exactly advice, but among collectors, there are recommended arrangements. I used those as a reference.”
“Among collectors?”
Ah… that must be the cause. Collectors are generally wealthy, and they’ve likely heard a lot about curses. Combining their recommended arrangements could accidentally create an arrangement that’s magically harmful.
Even a slight misplacement can turn a setup intended for happiness into one that brings misfortune.
‘For example, a triangle symbolizes men, mountains, or fire, but an inverted triangle symbolizes women, caves, or water. A cross represents God’s love and grace, while an inverted cross can symbolize both Saint Peter and the Antichrist.’
Simply reversing a direction can completely change the meaning. That’s why those unfamiliar with curses shouldn’t meddle, but…
“Sigh…”
“?”
I sighed, and Elena looked at me as if she didn’t understand why. She had inadvertently cast a curse.
‘Well… if these were ordinary dolls, the curse probably wouldn’t be that strong. It wouldn’t pierce an awakened person’s mental barriers, and even unawakened people might only dream of being chased by creepy dolls at night.’
The problem is that Elena’s dolls are all handmade by Alice, the world’s best doll maker. A single one of her dolls could rival a powerful talisman. Recently, there’s been high demand for Alice’s dolls as talisman substitutes.
Placing such powerful dolls in magically harmful positions… and in huge numbers…
“Ugh… no wonder it pierced my mental barriers.”
“Huh?”
“Elena, when you go back, change the arrangement of the dolls. Just placing them at reasonable distances in display cases will gradually neutralize the effect.”
“… Neutralize the effect? What effect?”
Ah. She still doesn’t understand why all the kids in our class fell asleep at their desks as soon as they came to school. Time to explain it simply.
“Hey, you guys. Did any of you have dreams of being chased or killed by dolls last night?”
“… You too? You had them too?”
“… You?”
“… Me too.”
Most of the kids were asleep at their desks, but a few who hadn’t fully fallen asleep answered.
“Dreams of being chased by dolls?”
“Yes, everyone had nightmares because of the photo you showed yesterday.”
“… Just because of a photo?”
“It wasn’t just any photo—it was effectively cursed.”
I explained what I deduced. It took a little time for Elena to understand because she had no knowledge about curses.
“So… you’re saying everyone had doll nightmares because of how I arranged the dolls?”
“That’s right.”
“….”
Elena paused, then clapped her hands.
“So that’s why dolls kept appearing in my dreams all this time!”
“You had nightmares too?!”
Of course she did. She’s the one most affected by the curse. The kids and I, having seen the photo briefly yesterday, were affected less. But she hadn’t noticed all this time?
“Haha… I didn’t know they were nightmares. I just thought of them as training grounds full of monsters like dolls.”
“……”
I could partially understand her reasoning; nightmares can serve as mental training.
“… Anyway, it’s a relief it’s not serious.”
It wasn’t malice—it was just an accident. Changing the doll arrangements won’t immediately lift the curse, though. Kids will continue to have nightmares until the curse fully ends. I could handle that, but what about the others?
“Cough…”
“Mm…”
Next week is midterms. If nightmares prevent proper sleep…
“This… could be bad.”
Because our class had progressed too quickly, the teachers allowed self-study time. Seven kids from our class used that time to sleep.
I, Elena, and Kang Garam, who didn’t see the photo yesterday, studied instead.
“……”
The teacher looked bewildered, but when I explained, they returned to their work. After all, the nightmares were beyond anyone’s control.
“Ugh… ack…”
Some kids were still having nightmares while lying at their desks.
Smack!
“Ah?!”
I struck them lightly with my internal energy to wake them, temporarily freeing them from the nightmare.
‘I don’t know how long these nightmares will last…’
The good news is that, depending on the person, the first 30 minutes of sleep seem free from nightmares. After that, they keep dreaming, so I wake them. This can’t continue indefinitely. That’s why I called a dream expert to the school during lunch.
“Wow… an elf…”
“I heard you know Geonwoo. Can’t believe you’d come to our school…”
“Should we ask for an autograph?”
Chloe Greenwood. A woman who channels Merlin’s soul to control nightmare powers. She came to our school after receiving my call.
“(Hmm… nightmares of being killed by dolls…)”
After hearing the full story, she whispered to me:
“(Geonwoo, you know a lot about dreams, right? Did you notice anything in the dreams?)”
“(I can manipulate my own dreams, but I can’t do that for the others.)”
I can’t enter others’ dreams. Even if I did temporarily remove the nightmare, the kids would continue having nightmares every time they slept until the curse ended.
“(I see…)”
Chloe said the situation isn’t too bad.
“(I can manipulate the kids’ dreams. Since I’m a nightmare manipulator, that’s easy. But….)”
That would only be temporary. It’s not what we want.
“(Of course. The kids need to sleep safely until the curse is completely lifted.)”
“(I don’t know much about curses, but…)”
She asked to confirm some things about the curse.
“(Could the curse on the kids be transferred to someone else?)”
“(… Yes.)”
I still don’t fully know the type of curse Elena accidentally cast, but I know this: it wasn’t targeted at anyone in particular. That could be changed to target someone.
“(Then we could make the target me.)”
“(… Really? You’re serious?)”
I naturally asked Chloe if she meant for the curse to target herself.
“(Heh. Geonwoo, you have no idea how many people’s dreams I’ve entered since becoming a nightmare manipulator.)”
“(… I know. Even though it’s only been six months.)”
But I can roughly guess how many dreams she has entered.
[While previous mental magicians had around a 50% success rate treating PTSD, Chloe Greenwood surpassed 70%. And more patients are still undergoing treatment.]
[Since her abilities became known, she’s been helping PTSD sufferers from dungeons and wars.]
[She treats them by entering their dreams.]
Given that, I can estimate how many people’s dreams she’s entered.
“(At least tens of thousands, right?)”
“(You’re well-informed.)”
