“The same memories!?” Shac exclaimed, surprised about what ×××× revealed.

“Yes, to be more exact, I knew everything that happened to you.”

“Oh.” Shac was at a loss for words.

×××× seeing Shac’s shocked face made her laughed uncontrollably.

Shac glared at her. “I don’t think there's something funny about it.”

“You’re right, there was nothing funny about it, but I can’t help but laugh.”

Shac gave a disgusted look at the sight of a white duck who was laughing uncontrollably in front of him. He sighed and took a seat from the cloud. “Can you give me a few minutes to think about this situation?”

“Of course. Take your time, you should have enough time before it happens.”

Shac eyebrows raised. “The what?”

“Shhhh… I thought you were going to have few minutes of break?”

This duck… Shac took a deep breath, controlling his urge to punch the duck in front of him.

“Don’t ever think about doing it. It’s not worth it.” She said, as she walked a bit far away from Shac to let him have a breather. “Come approach me when you’re done.”

As Shac saw the figure of the duck slowly gets far away from him, he immediately gathered his thought about his current situation inside the void, but a thought came over him as he remembered that this duck is able to read his thoughts without any problems.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to take a peek.” She said, immediately after reading Shac’s thought. “It’s not that I can control it after all, it’s a shared sensation.”

That’s kind of cheating…

She laughed uncontrollably again. “Go on, don’t mind me.”

Shac sighed heavily. The thought of ×××× reading his though exactly the moment he thought of it, is something that is terrifying.

I’m kind of confused now.

Should I feel scared? or should I feel scared?

Yeah, there are no choices… I’m totally scared at this moment.

Shac once again glanced through the area, seeing the vast area of the void.

A void huh… I wonder what this place really is? There is no sky, only a white plain sky. The ground is full of clouds, expanding infinitely from what I can see, there’s simply no end to it.

And the existence of this duck, who she calls herself as… I don’t know, I can’t seem to make sense of her name, I don’t understand it. But I do know one thing, for sure, this is the cause of the second egg, the ‘right egg’.

But probably, the worst thing right now, is that there is a duck who can read my mind.

Shac stood up, his body shaking slightly, and approached her. “Can you tell me about what exactly do you mean by having shared memories?”

She chuckled, then said, “I thought you need a few more minutes. But sure, I will tell you about it.” She paused then continued, “As you might know, there are cursed individuals, you’re aware of that right?”

Shac nodded. “Like me.”

“Yes. So when a cursed individual is born, we, the cursed individuals, will have shared memories.”

“What?” Shac eyes furrowed. “How is that possible when I don’t know anything except for my own memories?”

“That’s because your brain can’t process it.” She revealed, as Shac still felt a bit skeptical about what she was talking about. “That should explain why my name can’t be understood, and the reason why I forgot about my name.”

Shac nodded slowly. “That makes sense… I guess?” Although she explained it, it was still something he just can’t get his mind into that easily. “It’s still hard for me to accept the fact that this place exists, and that there is a talking duck in front of me.”

“And here I thought you will be able to accept it easily.”

“That. Is. Not. Possible.”

“But you were able to accept the existence of the curses.”

“I guess.” He paused, thinking that she has a point. “But you know, speaking of the curses, is there even a reason for you to even exist?” He asked, his tone was serious. “Because I don’t see any reason for you to even exist at the first place.”

“Everything exists for a reason, and that includes us, the curses.” She paused then continued, “You should already know. We’re both cursed. That’s our purpose here.” She responded, trying to get the message to Shac.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

But he couldn’t quite grasp what she was trying to convey.

“In simple words, we exist to spread unhappiness.” She coldly responded, then continued, “And it has been going for years.”

“Are you having fun?”

×××× was shocked from the sudden question of Shac, it was the first time someone had asked her about that. “I wonder?” She answered, puzzled, as she wasn’t sure of herself whether she was having fun or not.

Disappointed, Shac looked away from the duck, trying to control his anger. “That’s one of the worst responses I’ve ever gotten in my whole life.”

“I know.” She laughed awkwardly, and looked at the sky above. “I know that myself.”

As the emotion from both of them started to become ugly, suddenly the sky of the void who were supposedly white, is starting to turn in a shade of gray.

“W-what is happening?”

“The void, it’s starting to shift.”

“Shift? And what is that supposed to mean?”

The whiteness of the void slowly turns in the shade of gray, coloring the light that the sky emits into more dim.

“I haven’t told you yet, but this place, the White Void, is a grave, not just for the dead, but for the living as well.”

"Huh…" Shac stood frozen, trying to keep up with ××××, but everything seemed like an overload of information to him.

The Void wasted no time, shifting and causing tremors in the clouds, throwing Shac off balance.

“What’s happening? Why is it shaking? An earthquake?”

She laughed. “You seriously thought there would be an earthquake in here?”

Trying to regain his balance, Shac glared at her. “At least tell me what’s happening right now!”

“Calm down. It’s not like you’re going to die. Just wait, it should start any time now.” She replied, clearly reluctant to answer his question.

As the White Void slowly lost its light, the tremors continued, and a ball of light began to form at the center of the sky. It seemed to be drawing in the light of the Void, growing little by little. Shac couldn’t help but shield his eyes from the blinding ball of light.

“A ball of light?” He muttered, peeking out from behind his hand, squinting at the burning brightness. “Am I supposed to run?” He asked, fearing that the light might consume him.

“No.” she answered immediately.

Shac’s legs began to tremble as the ball of light grew, and the light itself became more intense.

Suddenly, the ball of light began to shift and change. It twisted in on itself, and from every side, sharp beams of light shot outward. At first, they were small, but as they grew, they stretched into straight lines, forming shelves that stuck out from the ball. The light in the center grew brighter, and the shelves began to take shape, holding books inside them.

Are those bookshelves?

“Why do you think so?” She asked, reading his mind once again.

“Because those things that sticks out of the light, it definitely resembles a bookshelf.”

The entire thing now resembled an asterisk, with beams of light shooting in every direction, and having sharp shadows across the Void. And at last, the tremor of the clouds stopped, signaling the end of the shifting.

“Is it finally done?”

“Mostly.”

“Mostly!? You mean there’s more?”

Staring at the enormous structure, it resembled a library, with shelves sticking outward like spikes, and light spilling from its core.

Shac dropped from the cloud, his legs giving out. Realizing that the shifting is finally done, he sighed heavily, still processing the sight, “A library, huh... What a weird shape. Is this supposed to be a library?”

A liquid from the supposedly library started to drip downward, slowly at first, and as it touched the cloud, it painted it red. The ball emitting light suddenly turned reddish, as if it were bleeding, with a thick stream flowing rapidly down toward the Void below. The ground beneath began to twist, creating ripples from the pool of what seemed to be blood.

"What the hell is happening?!" Shac’s eyes widened as he stared at the sight of the unnatural library bleeding in front of him. Suddenly, Shac froze, his chest tightened sharply, an unbearable pain pierced his chest. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.

“W-what’s happening?” he choked out. Then, the stench hit him, an extremely foul smell. It travels through his lungs, making him gag. “What is that smell?” He clutched his chest, not being able to bear the smell anymore.

With a deafening, unnatural sound, the cloud erupted once again as the ducklings began to form. Their yellow bodies pushed upward from the liquid, slowly shaping into a mountain. As the ball continued to bleed, the ducklings were slowly born from it, filling the Void beneath the library. The mountain of ducklings grew, piling higher and higher.

The blood continued to flow from the library, feeding the growing mountain, giving birth to the ducklings beneath. The transformation continued until the mountain finally filled the Void beneath the library, creating what seemed to be a path leading up to it.

“No... no way...” Shac whispered, horror etched into his face.

Shac stumbled back, his breaths were shallow, his vision spinning as the mountain of ducklings grew higher and higher. “What is this supposed to be!?” Shac shouted.

“Instead of asking me.” She said coldly, “Why don’t you hear them out?”

“Hear them out?” Shac asked in confusion, then he froze.

Cries. Screams. Laughter. Countless human sounds erupted from the mountain, growing louder and more horrifying with each passing second. It sounded as if someone was enraged, while others seemed to be crying, each noise felt full of pain.

Shac clutched his ears, falling to his knees as the noise grew unbearable. “Make it stop!!!” he screamed.

But the duck simply stood there, watching.

STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPP!

The mountain seemed to respond to Shac’s scream, as though mocking on his pain, more blood sprayed from the cracks in the shelves, staining the void with splashes of red. The cries grew sharper, and more painful.

Through the chaos, Shac began to recognize the voices. They weren’t strangers, they were villagers, they sound familiar. It could be his friends, or someone he must’ve knew during his time in the village.

“No... no, this isn’t real.” Shac whispered, his mind spiraling and confused. He clutched his head, shutting his eyes to block out the horrific sight, but the voices still reached him, passing through his head.

“It’s as real as it needs to be.” The duck replied coldly. “You’ve seen the cycles, Shac. You’ve lived them., but have you truly understood them?”

Shac forced his eyes open, glaring at her despite the pain. “Why show me this?!”

“To remind you of what you are.” The duck answered.

The smell of decayed corpse of the ducklings grew stronger, choking him further, and the cries grew louder. The mountain of ducklings swayed, as if it might collapse under its own weight.

“Make it STOP!!!” Shac shouted again, desperate.

The duck stepped back, her face was unreadable. “Then stop running.” She paused and looked straight at Shac. “The answers are there.” She pointed at the blood-covered mountain, “If you're brave enough to face them.”

Shac opened his eyes and looked at the mountain again.

“It should be easy, right?” ×××× said as she slowly approached Shac, lying on the cloud. “After all, we are all curses.”