"Hey, Mike, where are you going? Lend us your money. I'll give it back to you later." A fatty senior extended his hand with an open palm, expecting something to be put there.
Mike flinched at the sound of the approaching person. He turned to the three senior bullies. "It's umpteenth time you've said the same thing, but you never returned my money."
For some inexplicable reason, he chose to retaliate since it was his last moment at Ataraxia Temple.
"Huh? You dare to speak to us with disrespect even though you are just a useless kid?" A lanky senior gave his retort with disdain.
"Are you looking for a beating?" A burly senior clenched his fists to threaten.
"All right, my fellow brother. Looks like we need to teach our junior a little manner to respect the seniors. Let's beat him up." The fatty senior came forward and was immediately followed by his friends.
A boy at the peak stage Elementary Spirit Realm against three seniors at the initial stage Profound Spirit Realm. It was easy to predict the result. Mike was battered even though he tried to fight back desperately.
At that moment, several other disciples who happened to pass by were just watching from the side or ignoring the one-sided fight as if it was an ordinary thing.
"Damn, he has no money. He's useless, talentless, and poor. You'd better just die on the edge of a cliff." The fatty senior threw down Mike's empty wallet.
"Heh, probably it's because you took this brat's money too often, Brother Taro." The senior burly smirked.
"In the past, you may have been labeled a talented disciple, but Elementary Spirit Realm is your limit. Next time be respectful toward your seniors, boy." The lanky senior spat out and kicked the boy who was lying on the ground.
After that, they walked away. Mike tried to stare at the three bullies, but that was all. He couldn't do anything, and nobody cared either.
'Why am I still here just to suffer? Maybe leaving this sect is the best path for someone like me.' Mike propelled his body to his feet, even though his body ached everywhere. He looked at the surrounding disciples, then went to his hut.
Mike immediately packed all his belongings into a bag. Then, he took off the white robe of his sect.
It was already dirty from the fight earlier. Mike simply threw the robe on his straw bed and changed into his casual clothes.
After putting on his white jacket, he went to a corner of the room and dug out a little. Inside the shallow hole was an old box, and he took a pouch to count the contents.
'82,800 Yen. All right.' Mike immediately secured his personal savings into his hidden shirt pocket. It was the emergency money he had accumulated over the last four years.
He looked at his room once again, the place where he had lived for four years. But he just closed his eyes and came out of his hut. He immediately headed off from his sect without lingering any longer.
*Kaboom*
When Mike just came out of the temple gate, a loud explosion was heard, and smoke billowed in the western quarter.
Mike looked back because the sound of the explosion startled him. He wondered in mind. 'Huh, that smoke comes from Master Ryoichi's quarter. Did something happen there? Does that have anything to do with that red cauldron?'
He recalled yesterday's event. A senior bully dragged him into doing an assignment that actually belonged to the former.
When he cleaned the Medicine Hall's quarter, he saw a red cauldron that could explode at any time. Thus, he put it outside the room to prevent an explosion that could endanger the storage area for herbs and medicinal plants.
'It exploded according to my concern. Forget it. I've been kicked out of this sect because I'm useless. I am no longer the Ataraxia Temple's disciple. At the very least, I'm doing the sect a favor.' Mike shook his head and walked down the stairs.
At that moment, there was panic in the western quarter. The explosion was quite violent, and the flames began to swallow up the Medicine Hall building. Many masters and disciple were trying their best to extinguish the fierce red rooster.
"Taro! What are you doing with my treasured cauldron and my Medicine Hall!? You really put my treasure outside the room when I asked you to guard it!?" An old man with a long beard shouted loudly. He dashed over and immediately used his Spirit Art Techniques to extinguish the flames.
After the fire was extinguished, several parts of the building were completely engulfed in flames and turned into charcoal. Some of the stored qualities of herbs and medicinal plants deteriorated due to the smoke.
The old master gritted his teeth and went out to find a fatty disciple. When the target was found, he sped away and slapped his disciple down. "You fool! What have you been doing!? Is keeping my quarter overnight a hard thing for you? Look what happened."
"B-but, master-"
"Shut up!" The old master was too angry to listen to any reason. He just wanted to vent it to the source of the problem.
The fatty disciple could do nothing but accept his master's wrath. He was beaten black and blue without being able to say anything in defense. His two friends didn't even escape from that predicament.
The three disciples blamed Mike in their minds and planned to take their pain out on the boy later. Unfortunately, they had no idea that their target was no longer in the sect.
A little further to the north, a boy was rolling down the stairs. He was hugging his bag to protect its contents as he descended the mountain in an unusual manner. While descending the stairs, Mike stumbled and helplessly rolled down the stairs.
*Bam* *Bam*
The stairs finally met a turn, and Mike was thrown onto a flat path. He looked at the sky with a dizzy head. The world seemed to spin by itself.
After a few moments, Mike sat down and lamented his fate. He still had no idea where he was going, but bad luck still welcomed him? "Hahh, that's ridiculous. Even a misfortune comes when I'm feeling down?"
He looked left and right, but he didn't know where he was. Ataraxia Mountain was so big and wide, he only knew how to go down the mountain through one path. He was lost in the middle of the forest.
When he decided to return to find the right path, he noticed a mini shrine with a Goddess statue. The mini statue was similar to the big one in the sect.
According to legend, Ataraxia Mountain was once inhabited by a Goddess, known as the Goddess of Fate and Fortune, the divine figure revered at Ataraxia Temple as the Patron Goddess.
Mike's eyes lit up instantly. He drew closer to it and crouched down. He almost forgot to ask for the blessing and said goodbye to Ataraxia Mountain's Patron Goddess.
"Oh, Almighty Goddess, the protector of this mountain. This boy will go on a far and long journey to explore the big wide world. This boy will no longer be able to attend and burn incense to you every morning because this boy is no longer the disciple of the Ataraxia Temple. However, please bless my journey--" Mike continued his prayer for the next few minutes.
After that, he put some offerings and plucked some flowers around him. He put them in front of the Goddess statue. Done with it, he walked away to find the path down the mountain.
[You have unlocked the unknown system. Find a Miss Fortune within a month or die of your misfortune.]
"Huh?" Mike stopped in his tracks. He saw a mini black screen before his eyes and a girl's voice in his mind. When he looked around, there was no one around but himself.
"Uhh... Is there an evil spirit trying to bother me? I heard a girl's voice, but no one was around. Hmm... Is this just my hallucination?" Mike rubbed the back of his neck and tried to get rid of the black screen in front of him, but to no avail.
'System? Miss Fortune? What kind of girl does this evil spirit want me to find? She even threatened me with a death threat.' Mike read the warning on the black screen and thought for a moment.
[Fortune Point is in the red zone, misfortune will befall you.]
Another notification appeared, followed by a girl's voice.
'I have to find a Miss Fortune, but misfortune comes to me instead!?' Mike exclaimed in his mind. At that moment, he could no longer see any color other than black and white, as if the world had lost its colorful nature.
"What's this, what happened all of a sudden? Oh, no, I've become all white. Am I a ghost now?" Mike stared at his hands. Confusion and panic, that was what he felt at that moment.
*Kaboom*
[You obtained temporary color blindness.]
"Temp- Temporary color blindness?" Mike stuttered upon hearing and seeing the notification. He looked at his hands once again. It was only white and black for shading.
'Did I suffer temporary eye trauma because I fell off the stone stairs and got bounced all the way here?' Mike wondered in mind, then turned around. Strangely, the mini shrine was no longer there.
"Huh? Disappeared? I'm sure that a few seconds ago, the mini shrine was here. My offerings also disappeared... What's going on?" Mike walked over and crouched down. There was no trace of anything as if the mini shrine had never been there before.
'This girl's voice and text appeared after I asked for a blessing from the Patron Goddess. Is this unknown system a gift from her?' Mike thought for a few moments while looking at the text in the upper corner of his vision.
'Find a Miss Fortune within a month or die of your misfortune, huh... So, my occasional curse has gotten worse and will kill me?' Mike went into deep thought to digest what had just happened.
He no longer considered the girl's voice earlier as an evil spirit. Instead, he believed that the Almighty Goddess was merciful to him and allowed him to be free from the misfortune curse. 'But who do I need to find? There are so many women in this world...'
When Mike glanced over to the red text in the left corner of his vision, a girl happened to be around and walked over to him with suspicion.
"Excuse me, what are you doing here?"
A soft, pleasant voice came to Mike's ears, but it was also what surprised him. He gasped and turned to the source of the voice.
"Ah, ghost!" Mike fell on his butt.
A girl in front of him was beautiful, but she was no other color than black and white. It almost looked creepy as she appeared near him all of a sudden.
The girl grasped the dagger at her waist as if ready to attack. It was just a cheap trick used to distract her attention for a surprise attack. She wouldn't eat that shit.
"How rude. Tell me, what are you doing here? This is the Ataraxia Temple's territory. How did you get here?" The girl put her pouch on the ground. She was ready to draw her dagger to attack the intruder.
Mike quickly understood his predicament. The girl in front of him was not a ghost, but he was the one who could only see black and white. Also, this female disciple was suspicious of him. Thus, he immediately stood up to reconcile the misunderstanding.
"Ahem, please forgive my rudeness, Senior Sister. Your arrival really surprised me. My name is Mike, one of the outer disciples under Master Luke's tutelage. I was going down the mountain. However, I got lost and ended up here." Mike clasped his fist to pay his respects.
"I see... If you want to go to the foot of the mountain, you just have to go that way. Don't turn or take another path. Just go straight ahead." The girl pointed to the north. Her suspicion towards this boy dropped a little as she got a clear and eloquent explanation.
"Thank you for showing me directions, Senior Sister. Before I excuse myself, may I know your noble name?" Mike assessed the female disciple in front of him.
When viewed from the shape of her robes and equipment, he was sure that this girl was not an outer disciple. It was a shame. He couldn't see her robe's color to recognize her status.
The girl raised her eyebrow slightly. It was the first time for someone to ask her name directly. Nevertheless, she was not so stingy as not to leave her name. "My name is Miyuki."
"Then, I excused myself, Miyuki-san." Mike bowed slightly in respect, then headed north.
Miyuki stared at Mike's back for a moment. When the latter was out of sight, she grabbed a small mirror from her robe.
'Do I look like a ghost to him? Hum, that's impossible, right?' Miyuki looked at every corner of her pretty face, but she didn't find anything different.
'Never mind.' Miyuki just shook her head and took her herb pouch.
Meanwhile, Mike tried to remember any female disciple named Miyuki. He never saw her in the outer circle or inner circle. He was often in the inner circle because some senior bullies came from there and forced him to do their assignment.
Yet, he didn't know any female disciple named Miyuki even though he had been in the sect for four years. Ataraxia Temple didn't have many disciples, so who was that girl?
'Or maybe, she is one of the treasured disciples in the core circle? Core disciple? Miyuki, Miyuki, Miyuki, hmm... I seem to have heard her name from the senior bullies.' Mike put his hand on his chin, thinking hard to remember.
'O, I remember! Is she the prettiest girl in the sect that rotten seniors have talked about? If I'm not mistaken, her full name is Miyazaki Miyuki. Ah, sigh... I got the opportunity to meet her in person, but I couldn't appreciate her beauty.' Mike could only sigh because it was difficult to enjoy the beauty of the world without color.
<| FP : 10/1000 |>
Mike glanced at the eye-catching red text in the left corner of his vision. 'Wow, this is so red even though I have temporary color blindness? FP stands for Fortune Point? It's so low. How can I raise this to avoid misfortune?'
[You can earn Fortune Points by collecting good karma. Fortune Points will decrease if it's the other way around.]
The girl's melodious voice sounded in Mike's mind, and a text in a black box popped out in front of him.
Mike just fell into contemplation and stopped in his tracks. After five seconds, the notification disappeared by itself. He stared deeply into the right corner of his vision.
<| Find a Miss Fortune |>
<| Main Quest: Find a Miss Fortune | Time Remaining: 719:57:21 | Penalty: Death | Reward: Unknown |>
When Mike was trying to find a solution, the quest expanded and displayed more details. 'Oh Goodness... Is there no clue about Miss Fortune in question?'
He hoped there would be a response from the system like before. But he didn't get anything even after waiting for a few minutes.
'Wait, I met Miyazaki Miyuki-san earlier, but this quest doesn't count her as one? She possessed beauty, wealth, strength, talent, and all things related to fortunes. However, she's not a Miss Fortune?' Mike pondered about the conditions for avoiding his death.
The word 'Miss' could be interpreted for a few things, but it was prone to honorific.
'I need to think about this later. Let's get out of this mountain first.' Mike shook his head and continued on his way again.
It took about half a day for Mike to leave the forest and reach the foot of the mountain. Without waiting for anything else, he headed to a small ancient village.
Mike went there not to stop by or ask directions but to visit the cemetery in the village. He bought some incense and immediately went to his destination.
It was late afternoon, but Mike felt it was getting dark. He put various beautiful flowers that he picked when he descended the mountain to two adjacent tombs.
'Father, mother... Your child has come for a pilgrimage. May peace be poured out on you in the afterlife. May God bless those who precede us, and those who come later with the assurance of heaven upon us--'
Mike put his hands together, delivering his greetings and prayers to his parents.
After that, he doused the two tombs with water and burned some incense in the two tombs for fragrance.
Mike pondered for a moment, recalling the moment with his family that had become vague as time passed. It was already five years since his parents died in this foreign country.
He and his parents were just ordinary tourists who came to visit the land of the rising sun. It was their first tour in the country, but it was also their last. His father was an admirer of Japanese culture, and they went to that country when Mike was 11 years old.
Unfortunately, tragedy came to his parents. He didn't know what happened in his parents' room that night, but his parents had already been declared dead when morning came. The policemen were all around the inn, but he could only cry his heart out above his parent's dead bodies, regardless of the blood around the chaotic room.
After the tragedy, Mike was admitted to a small hospital due to mental trauma. Still, it only took him a month before he was kicked out to the street, empty-handed and all alone.
All the inheritance and money belonging to his parents had gone somewhere. He didn't understand the complicated things, but he understood that the insurance money and all his parents' money had been embezzled by someone in that small hospital.
After eleven months of suffering from living on the streets, Mike struggled to survive until the day Ataraxia Temple, one of the hidden prominent sects in Japan, opened up disciple recruitment.
Based on the rumors, Mike struggled desperately to go to the top of the sacred mountain for it. In the end, he was accepted as a disciple because of luck.
Unfortunately, his four years as a disciple were no better than before. After he reached the limit at the peak stage Elementary Spirit Realm, his master no longer paid attention to him. He needed to struggle to feed himself and was forced as everyone's lackey.
To make things worse, he got a curse that got more and more worrisome as time went on until the threat of death came from that misfortune's curse.
Mike wiped the tears that fell down to his cheeks. Then, closed his eyes and stood up. He walked away to struggle a little more. He refused to submit, not before trying. If he failed, at least, he would only suffer for one more month before catching up with his parents in the afterlife.
TT^TT
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