Chapter 2444: Chapter 2445: The Birth of Mystery
"This kind of good luck seems even greater than Reynaudâs situation." Angel said in surprise.
"No need to compare, my story isnât finished yet." The Observer, perhaps having gone a long time without normal social interactions, was eager to continue now that he found someone to talk to.
"When you hear the story up to this point, does it sound like a perfect story of turning oneâs life around?"
Angel nodded; transforming from destitute to a wealthy tycoon family could indeed be called a reversal of fortune.
"But, this story isnât truly perfect."
"Oh?"
"The only perfection belonged to Charlesâ family, but Charles himself was the single blemish."
The Observer continued, revealing more truths about the story to Angel.
As the Observer mentioned, luck did exist but it did not extend to Charles. He was not fortunate; from the moment of his birth, misfortune started to follow him.
Even in swaddling clothes, Charles suffered from parental negligence, either falling off the bed or being scalded by boiling water.
These were mere minor misfortunes. Yet, as Charles grew, more misfortune befell him.
His wickedly venomous elder sister, married out of the family, would often steal food from him when Charlesâ parents were farming. To prevent Charles from speaking out, she even forced him to drink juices of a paralytic herb. When their parents returned, thinking Charles had eaten, they wouldnât give him more. Over time, Charles lost his ability to speak clearly, reduced to skin and bones from starvation.
Later, when the second sister learned of these deeds, she not only did not assist Charles but joined in cahoots. As Charles became emaciated, they maliciously accused him, saying he was cursed by the Divine, an unwanted outcast.
During this period, social stratification intensified, elite classes manipulated from behind the scenes, leading to pervasive illiteracy and anti-intellectual sentiment among the poor, with religion as the only authority outside the royal family. Charlesâ parents, victims themselves of anti-intellectualism, easily believed the daughtersâ words, estranging their own son Charles ever more.
Due to encountering several strokes of luck, the elder and second sisters further spread rumors that this divine favor came from disowning Charles.
Charles remained in his family as the despised one, while others grew ever luckier by freely tormenting him.
The humiliation piled upon Charles, paired with his deeply ingrained inferiority, meant he couldnât resist nor even understand the term "dignity."
And thus a longer vicious cycle began.
Over a decade of abuse rendered his familyâs luck utterly overwhelming.
The elder sister, vicious and cunning, noticed many details over the years. For instance, whenever she traveled far, her luck vanished, even at home if Charles wasnât nearby, her luck returned to normal levels.
Though the elder sister didnât know of the Transcendent, she realized vaguely that their good fortune was likely linked to Charles.
Yet, even understanding some truths indirectly, she did not treat Charles better, instead worsened the situation, treating him as livestock and imprisoning him.
While claiming âdivine graceâ, she manipulated their parents into utterly revering her. Despite initial disbelief, with time she convinced even herself, growing ever harsher towards Charles.
The Observer paused here, asking Angel, "At this point, what do you think the ending is?"
"If following a scriptâs template, Charlesâ family surely faces a backlash, ending tragically." Angel smirked, adding, "Yet my first Mentor taught me fairy tales need only their first half read; usually the authorâs first-hand experiences shared, with later developments woven dreams patching realityâs regrets. Scripts akin to fairy tales merely please readersâ preferences; the true ending lies beneath the facade of... tragedy."
The Observer nodded, "Your Mentor was right, but whether tragic or fairy-like, it depends on your perspective. If experienced as Charlesâ family, it is clearly a fairy tale. If as Charles, then the opposite."
"Because Charlesâ ultimate ending, as you mentioned, isnât pleasant."
In the elder sisterâs scheming, Charles ended up isolated, dying from an infected whipping wound unnoticed, in a corner of their lush householdâs dog cage.
As for Charlesâ family, they did not face severe retribution.
Only shortly after Charlesâ death did a cloud of misfortune briefly linger. Eventually, after discarding his body in the cemetery pit beyond town, the misfortune naturally dissipated.
However, with Charles gone, their absurd good luck also vanished, leaving them with normal fortune, which mattered little since their wealth deepened, even buying nobility titles; provided they donât sabotage themselves, their legacy shall endure.
"Is this the storyâs end? Quite a truthful one," Angel remarked, "but surely thereâs more to it?"
The Observer smiled, nodding, "Indeed, Charlesâ tale has ended, yet his influence profoundly affected, even leading to a Legendary Wizardâs encirclement, compelled to adapt hopelessly to an item of chaos and losing his life."
"Guess why that happened?"
Angel pondered deeply.
His thoughts not on the question, but the story reminded him of another matter.
Lucasâ Lies.
Lucas wove numerous falsities into a journal, depicting absurd tales like tears forming a Sea of Flowers, eternal clear waters in Devilâs Sea, towering terrifying Island Spirits, glowing Wish Tree... all initially untrue and non-existent.
Yet after Lucasâ death, these lies materialized one by one. Although some barely manifested, they are still astonishing.
After thorough investigations, Angel confirmed the truth.
Lies remained lies, but through Lucasâ lips became reality. And Lucasâ lips bore not any "prophetic" talent, but... a Mysterious Object.
Lucasâ case and Charlesâ story, while unsubstantial, shared hidden parallels.
Pondering these disparate events, an answer quietly surfaced in Angelâs mind: "Is it a Mysterious Object?"
The Observer raised an eyebrow: "Your intuition is sharp. Yes, it is a Mysterious Object."
The Observer continued with Charlesâ story, though this one no longer concerned him, rather after his death.
After Charles died, his body quickly decayed, and suppressed misfortune began to dwell in the cemetery.
Anyone who entered the cemetery area found themselves afflicted with misfortune upon leaving, ranging from minor losses of wealth to severe instances of death.
The locals thus called it the "Misfortune Cemetery."
The cemeteryâs reputation grew; a Wizard Family went to investigate but failed to retrieve any Apprentice sent therein. Reporting to nearby Wizard Organizations, they assumed any relation of misfortune to Cursed Wizards, dispatching a branch to handle it.
Thereby, a Cursed Wizard was sent to the Misfortune Cemetery for examination.
Cursed Wizards are a special category of wizard in the West Continent Wizard World. They are barely considered part of the prophecy system, but they are not Prophet Wizards and do not explore fate. Instead, they hide behind fate, manipulating misfortune.
Everything related to misfortune and curses is their forte.
Yet, a Cursed Wizard who has long been accompanied by misfortune and curses could not withstand the misfortunes of the Misfortune Cemetery and ultimately ended in death.
This caused an uproar among the Cursed Wizards. Many went to investigate.
Then they discovered that no Cursed Wizard could ward off the misfortunes of the Misfortune Cemetery. This misfortune even exceeded the limitations of the rules, akin to an unreasonable fundamental logic flaw where mere contact inevitably brings bad luck.
The more powerful the Cursed Wizard, the easier they find death in the Misfortune Cemetery.
Later, this matter reached the Origin World, and after a large number of Legendary Wizards went to investigate, it was eventually confirmed that the cemeteryâs shroud of misfortune was caused by a mysterious object.
Due to the misfortune, the mysterious power was concealed, hence it wasnât discovered immediately.
A Mystic Hunter from the Orderly Guild unearthed the mysterious object from the soil and finally confirmed its presence.
"And this mysterious object, you probably already guessed, comes from Charles. Itâs a small circular bone fragment that fell after his skull cracked."
"The emergence of this circular bone fragment led many Legendary Wizards to act. Previously mentioned was a Legendary Wizard forced into a disordered rhythm because he obtained the fragment and was besieged. Helplessly, he decided to go all out and entered the disordered rhythm of other chaotic objects with the fragment."
"Unfortunately, he was captured by the disordered rhythm, but the fragment remained."
"Later, this bone fragment was acquired by a Level 5 Cursed Wizard. This wizard is on good terms with the Orderly Guild and is also a registered Mystic Hunter. He handed the fragment over to our Orderly Guild for a period of study."
At this point, the Observer mentioned an off-topic comment.
ââThe Orderly Guild can analyze the effects of mysterious objects at a minimal cost. If you acquire a mysterious object and are unclear about its effect, you can hand it to the Orderly Guild for analysis.
The Observer also kindly suggested to Angel that if he acquires a mysterious object in the future, he could seek help from the Orderly Guildâs technical personnel for analysis. Mentioning his name would lower the cost significantly.
Angel used a smile to replace his response.
He believed the Observer might mean well, but once he handed a mysterious object to the Orderly Guild for analysis, he would inevitably bear the corresponding cost. For instance, the analyzed mysterious object would certainly be recorded by the Orderly Guild; also, his own background would be uncovered by the Guild.
No matter how objective and fair the Orderly Guild is, one cannot withstand the change of human thoughts. If someone harbors malicious intentions and his background is known, it would place him in a very perilous situation.
Skipping this topic, the Observer continued.
"After the Orderly Guildâs research, Charlesâs bone fragment was ultimately named: Misfortune Coin."
"As for the effect of the Misfortune Coin, it remains consistent with the situation encountered by Charles initially."
Angel: "The holder will cause misfortune?"
The Observer nodded: "Yes, the Misfortune Coin can only be held by humans, and whoever holds the Misfortune Coin will continue to be unlucky, and this misfortune increases over time."
"Correspondingly, once someone holds the Misfortune Coin, the luck of other people around them will improve. The better your luck, the worse the luck of the coin holder."
This means that the degree of misfortune increases in two ways: first, the longer the holding time, the deeper the misfortune; second, the greater the fortune gained by other people nearby, the stronger the misfortune of the holder.
At first glance, this appears to be a mysterious object that sacrifices oneself to benefit the masses. Used properly, it seems rather admirable.
But in reality, one must consider many factors, such as the holderâs strength.
The outcome of misfortune backlash will ultimately be death. If the holderâs strength is insufficient, they may die within seconds.
Itâs even more impossible to allow ordinary people to hold the Misfortune Coin while transcendent beings enjoy the fortune.
For a transcendent to gain fortune, it must be a being of the same level receiving the misfortuneâs punishment.
This restriction significantly reduces the value of the Misfortune Coin. After all, many users of the Misfortune Coin are Legendary Wizards, and to enjoy the blessings of luck, another Legendary Wizard must hold it. No Legendary Wizard would willingly hold the Misfortune Coin...
"Furthermore, once the Misfortune Coin isnât held, itâll form a thousand-meter range of misfortune field."
"This misfortune field, similar to the situation at the Misfortune Cemetery, afflicts anyone who enters it with bad luck, the stronger the person, the worse their luck."
Overall, while the Misfortune Coin has good effects, it has many restrictions and can rarely be put to use.
Currently, the Misfortune Coin is housed by the Orderly Guild. Of course, the Orderly Guild only possesses containment rights and partial usage rightsâthe actual ownership still belongs to that Level 5 Cursed Wizard.
...
After listening to the Observerâs story, Angel seemed to vaguely understand the Observerâs intended message.
"Are you suggesting Reynaudâs situation might be similar to Charles?"
Observer: "Iâm just speculating, purely personal intuition, without evidence."
"So now, if Reynaud were to die, would a mysterious object be born from his corpse?" Angel mumbled in a low voice.
The Observer waved his hand: "Itâs not as simple as you think. Although Reynaud appears to have a Luck Talent, itâs actually not very apparent and is somewhat different from Charlesâs situation."
Reynaudâs luck isnât particularly strong, just within a reasonable range of luck.
If it were truly strong, Reynaud wouldnât have been quickly defeated in the New Star Competition, but rather wouldâve triumphed, reaching the top directly.
Moreover, over a decade ago, Reynaud escaped from the laboratory, and if he were really lucky, he wouldnât have been captured back.
Evidently, his luck isnât as powerful as imagined.
"If his luck were really as apparent as Charlesâs, then it would be easy to confirm. Right now, itâs still difficult to say, perhaps heâs just lucky?"
"Furthermore, if Reynaud were killed, it doesnât necessarily result in the birth of a mysterious object. After all, Iâve never heard of anyone creating a mysterious object by killing a being with a special talent."
"What Iâm telling you is merely a direction for thinking, a possibility. Itâs not an absolute answer."
"As for mysterious objects, aside from those refined by humans, let them naturally come into being."
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