I found myself in quite the dilemma.
I always loved roguelike games and the concept of 'cursed' choices was always interesting to me. Getting offered a massive advantage for an equally massive disadvantage was always interesting. It made things fresh and added a level of variability that made games more fun.
At least that's how I felt when it was happening behind a screen. When actually faced with it it lost a lot of it's charm. Now my life even depended on my choice. My actual life, not some game character who could respawn for another run, so the stakes were on a completely different scale.
Everyone dreams of being transmigrated into a game and going on adventures. So when I initially woke up possessing the body of someone in a familiar game I dreamt of using my knowledge to my advantage and rising to the top of the world.
I possessed someone named Raleigh Reynolds who was not a character I remembered in the slightest. Maybe as a courtesy for my transmigration my memory of things related to the game were perfect but even with that I couldn't recall this person at all.
To make matters worse before I could leave the bedroom I woke up in a prompt appeared.
[Choose a curse:
-Curse of the Frail: Your body is cursed to be weak, however you are a genius in all combat forms.
-Curse of the Mad: You are exceptionally brilliant but are prone to bouts of madness causing you to act out randomly.
-Curse of the Blind: You cannot see the physical world, but you are able to peer into the spiritual world. You will also be haunted by specters made of negative emotions around you.]
"..."
I sighed and rubbed my temples.
"This is ridiculous... Instead of a golden finger I get a shit covered one instead..."
However even though I was grumbling the choices were tempting. Being a genius fighter was incredibly tempting. If I was really good I wouldn't have to worry about getting hit because I would be skilled enough to defend myself.
Then the option for being smart was interesting because it would help me with a lot of social situations and maybe even be a boon when it came to using magic. As for the downside I could find someone who I could trust to control me during my outbursts.
As for the third curse...
Don't even think about it.
There were world class beauties in this game and a whole new world to explore. Being blind was something I couldn't accept no matter the reward.
As I went to click on the Curse of the Frail I suddenly had to sneeze. I tried resisting but it felt like the biggest sneeze of both my lives.
"ACHOO!"
[Ding.]
I hurriedly opened my eyes.
[Curse of the Blind has been selected.]
"Wait-NO!"
Then my world abruptly was snuffed out.
There was just an endless expanse of black. I collapsed to my knees. I could slowly feel the panic rising in my heart and my thoughts began to spiral into despair.
I ended up crying out of frustration and an overwhelming feeling of helplessness. At one point I ended up fumbling around on the ground until I found my bed and climbed into it.
I decided to just sleep since my life would slowly come to an end anyways.
But when I woke up I felt strangely calm.
"If I'm stuck here anyways maybe I can still live a decent life... Maybe I can still sell information or invest in companies that will become incredibly successful in the future. I still have knowledge of the future so I might as well use it."
I stayed laying on my bed while "staring" at the ceiling.
"But not having my sight anymore is a huge loss... I will have to try to get used to it and if I didn't know what I was missing out on maybe it wouldn't be so bad."
As I was lamenting quietly to myself a strange change started to occur.
Small specks began to form in my vision. They looked like small wavering spots but they began to take form. They were small balls of fire!
I looked closer and noticed they were popping up at regular intervals. I sat up abruptly and looked around.
They were everywhere!
None were close to me but I could definitely see them.
"These balls... What are they?"
I carefully stood up from my bed and "looked" around.
The balls closest to me weren't moving, but there were ones further away that were.
After watching for a dozen minutes I finally realize what I was looking at.
"Spirit world... These fires are the spirits of living people. At least I can see people. I wonder how this can help me."
Suddenly a screen popped up.
[Hidden Class: King of Ghosts requirements met!]
[Change class?]
[Y/N]
...
My breath hitched for a moment.
"Hidden Class... I was curious when I would unlock a class but settling for a normal one wouldn't get me far in this world. But I remember all the classes. I've never heard of this one."
I tried clicking on the words "King of Ghosts" for more information but it only gave me a vague description.
[King of Ghosts]
[Desc: A summoner based class with limited attack options and a wide variety of support choices.]
"Mmm... It doesn't sound bad considering trying to fight while blind is nearly impossible for me. But a summoner isn't very interesting... Well. Beggars can't be choosers. What do I have to lose?"
With that final sentiment I clicked on the "Y".
A brilliant rush of energy filled me. I knew in my mind it must have been the phenomenon of "levelling up" but experiencing it myself made me unable to think for a moment. I was overwhelmed by the refreshing feeling that came with levelling up.
"Rejuvenated is a perfect description for what that was."
I turned my attention back to the floating screen in my vision.
Speaking of, it was incredibly interesting that I was able to "see" this screen, I figured it must be in my mind and that was why I could see it even without being able to really see.
[Level 1 reached.]
[New: Lv. 1 - Contract Spirit (Skill)]
[New: Lv. 1 - Vengeful Spirit (Skill)]
[New: Lv. 1 - Sixth Sense (Skill)]
[New: Unique - Spirit Walking Stick (Item)]
I took a moment to read over the notifications. [Contract Spirit] was my starting summoner skill. It allowed me to contract with a spirit I encounter. It would be able to level up and I could even choose it's progression path. There were also benefits for the spirit I contracted with. It would be able to experience sensations I did and even one day manifest a physical body on it's own.
However I looked around and there currently weren't any spirits from what I could tell.
Spirits would most likely have a full appearance in my new "vision".
Since there were only the spirit flames of living people I couldn't test out my new skill.
Since that was the case I went back to reading the others.
[Vengeful Spirit] was a useful attack skill, but it was reliant on having already killed something. When something died around me I could use the skill to make their spirit attack an enemy nearby. It would be most useful on large scale skirmishes where a lot of creatures were dying.
[Sixth Sense] seemed less relevant to my ghost class and more relevant to me being blind. Apparently a part of the requirements for the class was being blind. It improved my instincts. It was a slightly vague idea but I had a feeling it would be really helpful.
The final notification wasn't a skill but an item. Unique grade items were not very common in the game but each one was definitely useful in their own way. This walking stick acted like a pacifier for spirits.
Not all spirits were calm. Many stayed around because they had a deep seated and unresolved grudge. Most spirits were only powerful enough to influence peoples' moods but the really strong ones could manifest briefly to attack the spirits of the living. This walking stick, when it tapped the ground, would send a wave of calming energy that helped placate the anger of spirits temporarily.
It could definitely help because it would calm spirits down enough that I could contract with them.
"Since I have a class now wouldn't that be an option? I wish I could see the date..."
[New Quest: Prepare for the Academy entrance exam.]
[Time: 3 Months | 00 Days | 00 Hours]
[New Objective: 100 Push Ups (Daily)]
[New Objective: 100 Squats (Daily)]
[New Objective: Identify 250 Sounds (Daily)]
"100 push ups? What is a summoner going to get by getting stronger physically? Also no reward... Sigh. I shouldn't have expected anything good from a system that made me choose a curse right from the start. How do I live like this though? I don't have any money and I don't know how to live as a blind person... This difficulty is insane."
I figured I would try the physical exercise but I needed to check on something first. This wasn't a game anymore. I needed to actually consider my well being before jumping into things. The first thing I checked was my fridge.
I used the walking stick like I had seen before in my old world. I tapped slowly around until I felt it hit something and used that to slowly map out my surroundings. Eventually finding a door I opened it and walked through.
"Shit... Bathroom. Nothing to eat in here."
I back tracked to the bedroom I was in. Another door. This time it led to the rest of my apartment. I slowly maneuvered around it until I found the fridge. I felt around inside and was pleased that there was a silver lining.
[New: Common - Eggs x 12 (Item)]
[New: Common - Gallon of Milk x 1 (Item)]
[New: Common - Slice of Bread x 28 (Item)]
A small way for me to identify things easily. Since I had some food I figured I wouldn't starve at least for today so I went to the living room and found a large enough open space where I could exercise.
Taking a deep breath I placed my walking stick next to me on the ground as I got into a push up position. I immediately realized that I wasn't strong enough to do a regular push up so instead I started to do push ups on my knees.
After the first 20 I started to feel my arms seizing up. The muscles began to cramp and after I tried forcing another push up my arms gave out on me. I began to feel like this quest might be insurmountable.
*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*
I struggled to breathe regularly but I knew it was going to get easier as time went on. Exercise is always the hard until you get strong enough. My only problem was I wasn't strong enough.
Yet.
After a short break I did another 20 before I knew I couldn't do any more and got up to do squats.
These turned out to be more difficult than the push ups.
Something about finding my equilibrium and sense of balance without my sight. I didn't notice it earlier when I was moving but when I tried to simply stand up straight I found I wasn't good at it without my vision. The squats turned out to be a whole different challenge.
Eventually I made my way to a wall and used that as a guide. I knew that being blind was hard. I never thought it was easy but I didn't know in how many ways it was going to be hard.
[40/100 Push Ups]
[54/100 Squats]
Covered in sweat I decided to stop there for now. I wasn't sure what time it was but I figured it wasn't too late to go out for the day. If it was night time out I would just hang out for a bit and then head home quickly to finish the rest of my exercise.
Taking a quick shower, although 30 minutes for a shower isn't considered quick, I struggled to get dressed and finally found some keys after a long search.
[New: Common - Apartment 216 Key x 1(Item)]
I opened my apartment door and traced my fingers over the surface.
"Two... One.. Six. Yeah that's my apartment number. I guess at least I know what apartment I live in. Although I don't know the name of the building... Whatever. I'll just sit outside."
I locked the door and made my way around the floor until I found the stairs.
Stepping out onto the street was a whole new experience.
Sounds. So many different sounds that I felt overwhelmed for a long time. I stood in the door way for a long time until someone yelled at me.
"Hey, idiot, move!"
It sounded like a girl's voice. I grabbed my walking stick and was about to move when they spoke again.
"Uh... Are-are you blind?"
I smiled lightly.
"Newly blind so I got a little overwhelmed with all the noise outside."
I saw their spirit flame turn a shade of yellow.
'Is their spirit flame color a reflection of their inner emotions? Interesting.'
"I'm so sorry for being rude... What uh, what apartment do you live in? I don't think I've ever seen you before."
'Well yeah. I spawned in today.'
I kept my expression casual though.
"I live in apartment 216."
"Eh?! You live right next to me! How come I've never seen you before??"
"I don't get out much. Its ironic that the only time I decided to start going outside was when I had already lost my sight."
There was a slight shade of purple that tinted the girl's spirit.
"My mother lost her sight when a demon tore her eyes out. So I saw her experience something similar."
I nodded but I was a little antsy to get somewhere to start listening to noises.
"Is there somewhere nearby I can sit and just listen to the world around me? I don't want to go too far because I am afraid I might get lost trying to get back."
"There is a park behind the building actually. Um... If you want I could come with you? That way I can make sure you get back to your apartment okay."
I was surprised. Someone who was genuinely kind hearted was a rare find in this world.
"I don't want to take up your time but I wouldn't turn down free help."
Before the girl responded I felt her hands grab my arm gently and started pulling me in a different direction.
"Woah!"
I couldn't help but shout from surprise.
"Hahaha just use me as support to keep your balance. As long as you keep strength in your legs and move them like you're walking you'll be fine. It's a lot easier if you just trust your body to be able to remember what it was like to walk without thinking about it."
I followed her advice and found myself regaining my sense of balance little by little.
After a short walk I was guided to a bench where a soft breeze was blowing.
"Take a seat. Slowly-SLOWLY!"
I slipped from the edge trying to sit down but the girl caught me. I was instantly surprised by her strength.
'I'm not heavy but I'm not exactly light enough a teenage girl can hold me up with a single hand.'
"You're really strong. I was surprised."
"Haha well I hope I am. I'm a Hero trainee. I'm actually going to be attending Ravenmoore in a few months."
Ravenmoore.
The Academy.
"I don't think you ever told me your name?"
A moment went by before I heard her proud voice.
"Katherine Weiss."
Her image in my mind completely changed from the naive stranger who I happened to run into. Instead memories of the game started to fill my head.
The Sword Empress. One With The Sword. Demon's Bane.
She went under the radar during her first year but after a tragic loss of most of the first years at the final exam she changed. Her fury towards the demons rose to a new height. It fueled her to train harder. To train until she collapsed.
It 'completed' her.
However I thought differently. She became heartless. Looking at lives as a numerical exchange. She numbed herself to her comrades' deaths after that. She only looked at how many demons died during a fight, not the losses, and that made me grow to dislike her character.
But the girl in front of me now was nothing like what I saw in the game. No she was still innocent and caring.
It was in that moment that I looked closely at her spirit and a goal formed in my mind.
These children... Their spirits could be saved.
And I could do it.
'I will do it.'