A lot of time has passed since Shac told them about his past. He told them each about the ducks, the curse behind it, as well as what happened when he failed which led to him dying multiple times.

Both Evie and Qoka remained quiet as Ivan was the only one who kept the conversation going, asking Shac about the things he found odd about his story as well as things he found interesting.

And now he finished the last of the story, where he is now in the past and learned that Evie and Qoka existed.

“That’s all…” Shac said, ending the topic.

“Wow… I can’t believe such a thing was possible. Even if I were to say that I have doubts, the fact that everything was too detailed from start to finish, I can’t help but believe it.” Ivan commented, both confused and amused.

“Yeah… It was still clear in my mind. I don’t think it took more than one month for all those things to happen.” he said, glancing at both Evie and Qoka who remained quiet. “I’m sorry you have to hear this from me. As confused as the both of you were, I am also unaware of this whole thing.”

He pressed his palms together with his fingers interlocked, frustrated about the situation. “But I’m glad…” he smiled bitterly and turned to them. “I’m glad the two of you are still here.”

Suddenly Ivan chopped Shac’s shoulder with all of his strength.

Swoosh—WHAM!

“Aghhh… What was that?” he frowned at Ivan. But then his expression softened as he saw the playful expression of Ivan.

“So you are still able to feel pain then?” he asked, grinning at him.

“How else would be alive if I wasn’t able to…” I sighed deeply.

Ivan laughed and gave Shac a light slap on the back. “I’m glad you told us about it. But I think we should head home now.” he said as he glanced at the two at the back. “Looked like everyone’s feeling a bit tired”

He nodded, realizing that it must’ve been too much for everyone to hear the whole thing. “Yeah we should—”

“Wait!” Qoka interrupted. “I don’t know what to make of this… But, we have ducks at home.”

What!? Surprised, Shac immediately stood up and approached her. “Is it true?”

She nodded slowly. “We have pet ducks at home.”

“Pet ducks?” he blinked and paused.

If it was a pet duck, then surely it wasn’t the same cursed duck, right? Considering she was not aware of the curse, meaning it was not the same duck.

It was a normal duck.

He turned back to Qoka and was surprised at her expression. “W-what?”

Her face was indescribable, it was both a mix of fear and an attempt to hide it.

Ah… I see now…

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Don’t worry, from what I could tell the ducks in your home were totally normal.” he assured. “Besides if it was a cursed duck, then surely by now you must’ve been already cursed and experienced the same as me.”

“T-that’s right…” she let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad…” she whispered, placing her hand on her chest.

“That scared me…” Ivan said, approaching Evie around the corner. “Don’t you think so?”

Evie remained silent despite that.

“Don’t tell me you saw a duck?” he continued, looking at Evie.

Evie shook her head. “I don’t think I would ever see ducks the same way again.”

Ivan chuckled. “You’re right. Now that you think about it, the thought of seeing a duck randomly might scare the shit out of me.”

I can’t blame them. I was the same way, until now the sight of seeing a yellow duckling in the road still scares me.

He turned his head to them, watching as the worry showed in their faces. “I know the story might seem ridiculous. But I want to help the three of you the best as I can. By telling you this, I hope it would at least be aware of the curse.”

He could only hope for the best. There’s no telling what would happen to them if they got cursed by the duck.

“None of you have been cursed, and I’m sure of it. If you encountered the same duck as I had encountered, then you know what would happen.” he continued.

“You said that I was cursed in the future right?” Ivan asked, remembering the story. “When is it going to be?”

“I actually forgot about the exact date…” he whispered, as he didn’t pay much attention to the details of Ivan’s book in the library. “Could someone tell me the date now?”

“It’s April 3.” Ivan said.

April 3, 2022… If I’m not wrong he met the duck in April, but I’m not sure when is it…

If I were to tell him about it, he might overthink about it endlessly. So it might be best to not tell him about it, especially since I’m not even sure about the exact date.

“So we are about to graduate past being first-year high school students then?” he said, smiling, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Yeah, there are still two more weeks.” Ivan responded.

“But then I don’t remember the exact date of when is it Ivan.” he continued, answering Ivan’s question earlier. “But if you did see a suspicious looking duckling in the road, don’t hesitate to tell me about it.”

“I wonder how could I tell what kind of duckling is suspicious.”

“Hm…” he pondered for a while before answering him.

There are two things I noticed about the cursed ducklings.

First, they are always walking. I don’t if it was random, but I remember the duckling who cursed me and continued walking until it finally reached the school after hours of walking. I’m not sure where it was trying to go.

But then it doesn’t matter, because it dies when the clock hits midnight, it dies from starvation.

And second, I am not entirely sure about it. But sometimes its eyes look unnaturally white. I don’t know about it personally, but I do know duck’s eyes aren’t supposed to look like that.

“Things might be different from yours, but in my case, I noticed two things about them. The first thing is that they are always walking, and the second is that sometimes their eyes look white.” he continued.

“So it walks continuously and sometimes its eyes look white?” Ivan repeated. “I’m going to have a hard time with this one.”

“Hahaha…” he chuckled softly. “If you did notice a yellow duckling who’s walking on its own, then there’s a high chance it must be a cursed one.”

“You might be right.” Ivan commented. “A duckling always follows its mother behind so I doubt it would be walking by itself.”

He’s right. It’s been always odd to me how that duckling continued walking without stopping. It’s not like it was following something or someone, so I don’t think it was the case.

“Should we get going now?” Ivan suggested. “The school’s done for today, we should get going too.”

“Yeah, we should get going now.” Qoka agreed. “I think Shac needs a little more rest.” she added, looking at Shac.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine now. Thanks for worrying about me.” he said.

Suddenly, Qoka wrapped her arms around Shac’s shoulder. “I’m really glad we have the same height.”

“Wait!” Startled, Shac looked at her with confusion. “What are you doing?”

“What?” she looked back at him, acting confused. “There’s nothing wrong with it, no?”

Shac turned his head to both Ivan and Evie. “Is this normal?”

The both of them nodded at the same time.

I see, this is who how Qoka usually is, one of my friends who I forgot.

Together with the siblings, and with Qoka’s arms wrapped around me, we all walked out of the clinic, intending to head straight home.