Shac finished the class for the day, and without any delay he went straight home. His plan, the one that he thought of earlier this afternoon, he can’t help but think about it. After all, the thought of exterminating the ducklings is something he wouldn’t even think of doing in his life.

He knew that this is not a normal life, those ducks aren’t normal, they are curses, and they are the exact reason why he is suffering right now.

“quack!” The duckling greeted as Shac arrived home.

But, although I said that, it is still somewhat hard for me to kill them.

He approached the duckling in the box, and patted its head softly. “It’s for the best right?” He laughed awkwardly. “Who knows if I can really do it.”

His mind tells him to do it, but his heart is still wavering, because if he did start killing ducklings, he won’t be able to go back anymore.

It shouldn’t be that hard right? But, why am I still hesitating? These ducklings cursed not only me, but also Ivan, and many more!

He sighed deeply, confused. As he was tired from thinking too much, he stood up and started walking inside the home to take a breather.

“Phewww… Now what to do…” He sat down on a sofa.

There are six more days before she lays an egg. Counting the first one last night, there are six more nights before the egg. And considering the danger of the duckling, I shouldn’t do anything before it lays an egg. Or else, I will surely die.

But… I truly hope that this is for the best…

With his plan to feed the duckling for a week before it laid an egg, Shac began the first stage of the curse, feeding the duckling.

× × × × × × × × × ×

Yawn. Shac stretched as he woke up for the day. With a determined look on his face, he immediately got out of bed. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, stepping outside into the backyard early in the morning.

“This is it.” He muttered as he looked at the box in the backyard. He approached it slowly, the sight of the duck becoming clearer with each step. A wave of sadness washed over him as the familiar image of his dead pet came into view once again. It wasn’t pleasant, wasn’t fun, and definitely wasn’t something he ever wanted to see again.

He grabbed the body of the duck, not expecting what he would find. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw not one, but two eggs beneath the duck’s body. “So… Is this the one you left for me this time?” He whispered to the lifeless form of the duck, but this time, the duck didn’t respond.

For the third time in his life, he dug a small hole just big enough to bury the duck. He grabbed the same shovel he had used in the past, preparing to repeat the same burial ritual. Gently, he placed the lifeless body of the duck into the hole and slowly covered it with the remaining dirt.

As he finished burying the duck, he turned back to the box and looked at the two eggs remaining inside.

“Doesn’t seem to be different from each other.” He muttered as he approached the box closer to look at it. “It looks identical.”

He reached out for both eggs at the same time, holding one in each hand. “Oh, I guess I was wrong.” He said, noticing the difference between the two eggs.

It felt like a difference in temperature. He glanced at the two eggs in his hands, trying to look for the difference on the outside, but there’s nothing different about the outside appearance.

The egg in his left hand was at a normal temperature, while the one in his right hand seemed much colder.

“I never thought I would be seeing the two eggs within my eyes…” He whispered as he remembered what Ivan told him that there are two eggs.

Without wasting any more time he immediately walked inside the house and placed the egg on the pillow.

“Now.” He paused and took a deep breath. “It’s time for school.”

× × × × × × × × × ×

Morning classes had just ended, and as usual, both Ivan and Shac headed straight to the canteen to grab lunch.

“So…” Ivan paused and took a bite of the chicken. “What happened to the egg?”

Before answering him, Shac also took a bite of the chicken. “Something unexpected happened.”

Ivan eyebrows raised. “What exactly?”

Shac looked at him with a serious expression and didn’t respond.

“Huh…” Ivan looked at him, disgusted. “What are you trying to play at right now?” He laughed, then continued, “So what is it, really?”

“Well, for some reason, she laid two eggs.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Ivan's eyes widened in surprise. “I see.” He ate the rest of the chicken as fast as he could after hearing that. “You should’ve told me earlier.”

“I mean, this is the best time to talk about it.”

“Right. So… did you eat the egg already?”

Shac shook his head slowly. “Not yet, but later tonight for sure. But first, let’s talk about what I should do.”

“That goes without saying, you should eat the second egg.”

“The second egg, huh… So, the right one?”

“Yes. But I’m not too sure. Is it easy to distinguish the two eggs?” Ivan asked, curious about the difference.

“Not by appearance. They look identical, perfectly the same. But…”

“But?”

“I can’t say the same about their temperature. The first egg feels normal, but the second is much colder. They differ in temperature, so I’m sure the right egg is the cold one.” Shac explained.

Because I don’t remember the first egg being a cold one, it has a normal temperature. So having two eggs, one with a normal temperature, and the other one with a colder temperature, I can only think that the other one is the ‘right egg’.

“Oh… That was unexpected, I was sure that the second egg would have a different appearance.” Ivan chuckled then continued with a serious expression, “As I said last week, I’m not too sure of the effects of the ‘right egg’ so I’m not exactly that sure of this situation.”

“I know.” Shac nodded slowly. “I don’t have a choice, do I?”

Ivan scratched his head upon hearing that. But Shac was right, he didn’t have any choice, it’s either he will die tomorrow, or eat at least one of the eggs.

“Hahaha…” Ivan laughed awkwardly. “She said that eating the ‘right egg’ will end the curse, but we’re not too sure about that. Not a clue, we don’t know what she meant by ‘ending the curse’.”

Zoyi, the one who told Ivan about the existence of the two eggs, said that the other egg was supposed to end the curse.

That’s what bothers me, because neither Ivan nor I know anything about the second egg. It’s totally unexplored, and there’s too much risk from trying it.

Then suddenly Shac laughed. Risk? Everything has a risk. Doing something different isn’t much better, I’m sure it’ll end up having its own risks, because that’s how this curse works.

It’s not here to satisfy me, it’s here to make me suffer.

Shac, deeply lost in thought, didn’t notice that Ivan was looking at him, confused as to why he laughed out of nowhere.

“You good? Don’t tell me you’ve gone crazy.” Ivan asked.

“That’s an odd question. I’ve always been crazy.” Shac replied with a faint smile.

“Uh…” Ivan shrugged. “I guess?”

I should do it. It’s the only way to move forward after all this. As Shac came to terms with his decision, he was finally set on to eat the egg.

“I’ve decided to eat the second egg tonight.” Shac revealed, determined.

Ivan grinned upon hearing Shac and said, “Glad to hear that. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow?”

“Of course. Unless something unexpected happens. After all, we’re totally clueless about this egg.”

Ivan nodded slowly, and suddenly got lost in thought. “What do you think will happen to the other egg?”

“What do you mean? The first egg? What about it?”

“Did you forget that it rots away after a day?”

Shac stared at him, his eyes widened in shock. He scratched his head as the realization hit him. “Oh, shit… How could I forget about that?”

Stretching his arms out on the table, he let out a deep sigh. “Ahhh… This is stressing me out.” He continued.

“Well, you still have a whole half-day before you die. You told me you died after classes, so you should be fine until tomorrow afternoon.” Ivan reassured.

“Are we sure that’s what’s going to happen tomorrow?” Shac asked.

“Of course not. We don’t know for sure, as it could have a different effect than what we expect. Since it’s supposed to ‘end the curse’, I can only hope it has a positive effect.”

Shac laughed. “I guess being optimistic is the better choice today.” He let out a deep sigh and continued, “I can’t wait to cook the egg. How do you think it’ll taste?”

“I don’t know. Maybe like a normal egg? Aren’t you the one who already tried eating one?”

“It tasted normal, nothing different.”

“Then the second egg should probably taste the same. But if it’s different, let me know. I’m curious.” Ivan replied.

“Just hope I’m still alive to tell you how it tastes.”

“And where’s that optimism you were talking about earlier, huh?”

“Ah, right.”

They both laughed at the situation. Once they finished their lunch, they headed straight to their next class for the afternoon.

× × × × × × × × × ×

As the sun began to set, Shac arrived home and headed straight for the two eggs, not wasting a moment. He stared at them, it felt like a dream. It was hard to believe that the cursed duck had laid two different eggs.

Reaching out, he picked up each one, immediately noticing the difference, the first egg felt normal, while the second was unnaturally cold.

“This second egg… it feels like it was drenched in cold water.” He muttered to himself.

It didn’t make any sense for the egg to be this cold. Then again, nothing about the curse made sense. It was only natural for something tied to it to defy logic entirely, there’s nothing natural about it.

Shac stared at the egg in his right hand. “I wonder what would happen if I boiled you... Would you still be cold? Or turn hot?”

Well, only one way to find out. Without hesitation, he headed straight to the kitchen and set a pot of water to boil. He carefully placed the egg into the bubbling water and waited.

After nine minutes of boiling, he removed the egg and placed it into a bowl of water to cool it down slightly. As he grabbed it, he immediately noticed something about it.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “It’s still cold? What in the world?”

Despite boiling for a full nine minutes, the egg still felt like it had been iced. Shac didn’t waste any time and cracked it open. To his surprise, the egg inside was fully cooked.

“But it’s still cold… How does that even make sense?” As he peeled away the shell, he saw that the yolk was completely set, the egg was hard-boiled. “I guess the only thing left to do is test the taste.”

Shac took a bite. “Heh… Nothing different.” He sighed in disappointment, it tasted just like a regular boiled egg.

So, this was just a refrigerated boiled egg. He finished the rest without a second thought.

After finishing his meal, Shac cleaned up the kitchen and brushed his teeth before heading to his bedroom. Though it was still early in the night, he climbed into bed and lay there, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought.

I’m hoping for the best this time. Just make me suffer less, please.

It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep after a few minutes of lying down.

× × × × × × × × × ×

Uh… Where am I? Where is this? Huh?

Is this heaven? No way…

But everything’s so white here…

Ah, I see. This must be a dream.

But all I can see is white, there’s nothing in here.

“There’s something in here.”

Huh? Is that… a duck?

“I see… you’ve eaten the other egg this time.”

How can this duck talk? Or is it speaking directly to my mind?

“No, I can really talk. See?”

Wait, what? You can read my mind?

“Of course. We are one, I am you, and you are me.”

I don’t understand…

“This is not the first time we’ve met. You’ve taken care of me, remember?”