Seojin finally had the whole afternoon to himself. His own private dismissal. The special time he had been waiting for.
From the memories, he knew this was not rare. Seven Hart never left his room until dinner.
It was no wonder why his body was frail! Drinking only herbal tea in the morning and barely eating a proper meal by evening? No matter which perspective one looked at it, that scenario sounded really fudged up.
"All right," he muttered, staring at his palm. "I believe it is the right time to figure out how not to die three days from now."
That meant the first step: understanding [Zi].
Mages drew their power from [Zi Star].
Swordsmen from [Zi Ring].
Opening one, of course, was no easy feat as making a baby.
Everyone have [Zi] flowing through their veins, laying dormant. However, rerouting it required creating a highway in one's bloodstream, and that meant going against the natural flow of blood.
Worse, one wrong move and the veins would rupture. Even worse, it could even make one explode from the inside whom even the greatest healers of the continent may not be able to heal.
Death was definite and absolute.
That explains why majority of the population does not even dare to attempt it. Humans loved risk, just... not that much risk where one mistake could cost them their lives.
Still, that does not mean one should remain stagnant forever.
This was only revealed in the later stages of the novel, but one is able to receive help from those who have already opened their [Zi Star] or [Zi Ring]. They are the ones responsible to guide the flow of [Zi] and circulate it towards the heart.
However, again, if things go south, then both the guide and the one being guided would pay the ultimate price, which is obviously their life!
"Anyway, I take back my words," Seojin flexed his fingers, smiling. "Seven Hart, you're not a complete loser. Just… half a loser."
That, at least, was true.
Seven Hart had never touched a sword in his life, albeit he had studied [Zi] and sword techniques endlessly. Every scribbled doodle on the desk wasn't just there for display. He had been mapping patterns of circulation and theorizing why each step led to the next.
If one understood that, they could follow the [Zi] pathways from heart to finger without disaster.
Seojin leaned over a book, frowning at the diagrams. "Flow this way, guide that…" It looked like nonsense at first. But closing his eyes, he felt it faintly.
The [Zi] in his veins.
Seven Hart's diligence hadn't gone to waste at all!
Though it was already basic knowledge for Seojin after reading the novel. Still, the experience the body had accumulated was far more advantageous than just pure knowledge by reading the novel.
"This isn't so bad," he muttered, flexing his fingers again. "If I do this right… maybe I won't die after all."
With years of Seven Hart's trials and errors guiding him, Seojin finally had a chance to succeed. He walked to the center of the room, sat cross-legged, and closed his eyes. It was literally like those cultivation poses as described in other stories.
'Focus,' he whispered to himself. 'Focus. Focus… Fo…'
At that moment, his mind and body were one.
He began seeing a sight of himself sitting there in that exact spot like he was watching a figure in a black-and-white recording, with white representing himself and black for the rest of the world.
Slowly, the view zoomed inward, diving through his skin, muscles, and veins.
Inside, he saw red blood flowing smoothly, intertwined with a shimmering blue [Zi]. He traced every pathway and every branch where each one was connected to a different function of his body.
Carefully, he guided the blue flow against the current of the red blood. Again, blood always moved one way; [Zi] had to swim upstream.
In his chest, a brilliant white flame ignited. His heart. Pure. Burning like hellfire.
He tried to push the [Zi] toward it, but something stopped him. The red blood near the heart suddenly changed into green, forming a solid wall. Blue [Zi] slammed against it but could not pass no matter how many times it tried.
"Cough!"
He coughed violently. Blood spurted from his mouth. More pressure means more [Zi], but every attempt to pass through the green wall made blood pour from his nose, ears, and even from his closed eyes.
Strangely, he felt no pain. His body felt… like it was purging itself, removing toxins.
He stopped.
'Poison…?' he had finally realized what the substance was. It was poison, mixed into his bloodstream. 'This is crazy, damn it. How do I get past this?'
After a few more strikes, the wall of green crumbled yet it still didn't let the blue pass. It clung to the blue [Zi] instead like a second skin.
Seojin felt the pain. Immense pain. He cried out and shouted but no sound escaped his mouth. This was all happening in his inner world.
Outside, only the blood betrayed his struggle, flowing freely as his skin turned pale.
'Focus,' he forced himself, again.
This action was only in his inner world where he could bend reality, so he imagined the blue [Zi] as a snake shedding its skin to peel away the green, which is poison.
Agonizingly, it worked.
The blue [Zi] advanced, inch by inch. He groaned, sweat pouring down continuously on his face but he never stopped.
'Just a little more. You can do it, Seojin. Ganbatte!'
Finally, the green vanished. The red blood flowed smoothly again, and the hemorrhaging stopped.
'Just a little…'
The blue snake of [Zi] hovered a single centimeter from the pure, white heart. And yet, just as it had touched the brilliant energy, the heart's white light erupted into black fire that was visible even in the void of his inner world.
Chains then suddenly appeared, wrapping the blue snake of [Zi] tightly and immobilizing it.
"AAaAAaaaAAaaa!!!"
His eyes fluttered open with diluted pupils and ragged breathing, as if he had just seen a ghost!
"What…." he stuttered. "C-Chains? Those were really chains, right?! Damn. This is serious. This only means, I... I am cursed?!"
He clutched his chest so tightly even though it didn't hurt, making his clothes that were now tainted with blood wrinkled under his grip.
"Really?! No way!" he gasped. "So the reason the useless, irredeemable youngest Hart in the novel couldn't open a Zi point… wasn't because he was incapable, but because of this?!"
Only one being in the world could wield such a power. The one who had lived for thousands of years.
"Nevidia," he said the name, genuinely flabbergasted. "The Sin of Envy."
He chuckled weakly, taking shaky breaths.
"Wait… calm down. That shouldn't be possible. She only curses those she envies or those with excessive fortune. How… how could I have been cursed?"
In the novel, Nevidia's Sin of Envy was overpowered that the author had nerfed her, placing exaggerated limits: she needed to touch her target directly in order to curse them!
"Did it happen before I was sent here… like before I even turned one?"
That was the only possible explanation.
Still, now that he had a rough understanding of the situation, perhaps it was finally time to accept his new reality. He was no longer Yoon Seojin VII. He was now Seven. This cursed Seven Hart!
But before he could process any further, his vision blurred. He finally noticed the blood covering the floor, the frothy red foam drowning his heels, and staining his face and shirt.
"Is this… all my blood?"
Blood makes up about 7% of body weight of a human body, and losing this much should have been fatal.
In the end, Seven blacked out.