I Became A System

Chapter 179 - The Village

In a village near a certain city, people were diligently doing their jobs. Some people were doing their laundry, cleaning their surroundings, and plucking some wild weeds from their backyards.

Life in a village like this was easy for them. They could safely wander around, and also live lightly on the taxes of the city. However, it all changed when the village chief's wife gave birth to a child with black hair.

Because of it, they were all terrified. It is commonly known that black-haired children are cursed and will bring misfortune to their surroundings.

It wasn't just like that. They attract witches, which are creatures that have black hair and have dreadful, evil powers.

They all took it lightly at first. It was the first child of the village chief and his wife.. How could they not accept it and try things normally? It wasn't that strong a belief, actually, and they don't discriminate.

But all of a sudden, when the child turned 5, curses and misfortunes started to surface. Monsters started to wander in the nearby woods. There were deaths and missing reported from that time, and without any choice or power to protect themselves, they requested assistance from the city.

However, at that time, their timing wasn't great. Apparently, the landlord of the city has changed. The new landlord was a tyrant. Everything will be played and everything will be in his palm. He got everything he wanted, literally, without thinking of his people.

Because of it, they finally started to believe the cursed child belief. Little by little, people were starting to look at the chief's family with disdain and also with disgust. They all held a grudge and looked at the child with hatred in their hearts.

Feeling not comfortable with it, the village chief proposed a deal. If he couldn't survive in the woods without bringing a weapon for his protection, then the curse was real. And the opposite result will be that, in exchange, they all apologize to the kid.

All of them accepted it and wanted to finish it immediately. They sent the chief to the woods and waited for a few days for him to return.

But that day didn't come. They only saw the chief, dead with his body already opened and atrociously damaged.

"The curse is real. Everyone, drive that bad luck away from us!"

But before they could, his mother pleaded to the villagers to at least wait for his 15th year before casting out. And to persuade them, she used the Cursed Child Retribution belief, threatening them.

They all agreed, and things came back to normal, but lesser than what it was before. They all still had misfortunes. Even small tasks resulted in ugly outcomes.

All of them endured it. They are afraid of the retribution that might come to them if they insist on casting the Cursed Child without having him attain adulthood.

But... everything must be called misfortune for a reason. Just after 2 years, the mother became ill and eventually died from a disease.

And without her stopping, they drove the kid away. They even beat him up to express their rage.

After that, they threw him into the deepest part of the forest and waited for him to die.

But where did their courage come from? It wasn't courage, actually. They just ignored the belief since it was absurd. How could an unfortunate and powerless kid do something after his death?

"Now that the Cursed Child was gone, we can all now live in peace!"

Bang! Grakh! Growl!

Different sounds of cries and explosions of sounds echoed throughout the whole village. All of them were alarmed, terrified, and saddened by what had suddenly happened.

Just after they drove out the Cursed Child the village was attacked by an A-rank monster called the Dark Dreadful Spider.

They all realized that it was wrong to direct all their hate towards the kid. And if they just endure for another few years before driving him out, they wouldn't receive the 'retribution'.

All of them were captured, pulled to the base of the monster, and also used as reserve food.

"This is all because of that Cursed Child. If he just wasn't born, the village would live in peaceful days as it originally was."

Gritting their teeth, they could only waste their breath being alive, looking at the deeper part of the forest, stuck in the webs of the Spider Monster.

They cried, agonized, and contempt the kid for all of their misfortunes.

And after a week, they all didn't realize what happened next.

***

"What happened here?"

A question could be only heard from Gero's mouth as he saw the ugly appearance the village has. It was the scene of a massacre, to be precise, and no living thing could be seen except for the plants.

Even the plants weren't spared. They were all damaged for some unknown reason. Although it seems to be less intimidating, it still shocked Gero.

"What happened here?"

For the second time, it was still the same question. However, this time it was filled with trembling and worry. He looked as if he was going to break down at any moment.

He rushed to climb down and check every house, running in different directions and calling out everyone's name. However, his efforts were futile, and it was as if no one could hear him.

Everyone that he can see was brutally injured to death. And the blood that was also scattered on the ground was all dried, which means that it all happened just a few days ago.

"What happened here?"

And for the third time, he broke down in tears. He couldn't hold the urge to vent out his emotions. He cried and cried until his voice started to become hoarse.

'Why is he crying? Didn't the villagers do some bad things to him? Or was he also sentimental like Ellena?'

Aaron just didn't bother looking at Gero and just faced Ellena, who was checking the surroundings intently for some hints that could help them understand what happened.

"These webs and inorganized wounds. It was an attack by monsters, " she mumbled, then counted the houses she could see.

After it, she looked at the body and counted them. She realized something from just counting the bodies. The number of dead bodies was less than what the houses could accommodate.

"That means the other villagers aren't here," she mumbled.

"Gero! Are you done? Let's go to the city! Maybe the villagers were still alive."

And Aaron slapped his forehead once again.

'How could this happen once again? Can you at least please focus on the goal of our travel!' he cried inwardly, not even leaking anything to let Ellena know what he felt.