Kwan lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The evil voice whispering in his head didn’t let him fall asleep. Usually, he heard it in his dreams, but in the past several days, he had begun to hear it even when he wasn’t asleep yet. There had even been a couple of times when he heard it during the daytime.

The whispering voice kept talking in his head, trying to force him to do unthinkable things – to enter the house where Nina slept and take her by force. Kwan knew that he would never do such a thing. She wasn’t just his friend – he was in love with her. He would never hurt her and would never let any harm happen to her. Mentally, he yelled at the evil voice to shut the fuck up, but it didn’t of course. It kept talking to him in an annoying whisper, driving him crazy.

He knew where the inhuman voice was coming from. He turned his head to look at the cursed sword that was propped against the wall at the foot of his bed. He should’ve gotten rid of the cursed weapon a long time ago as soon as he realized what was wrong with it. The sword seemed to have a soul – a wicked one. Yet he hadn’t discarded the sword when he had a chance to do so. The weapon grew stronger when Kwan killed enemies with it. The sword leveled up when it got enough experience points, and with every level, it grew more powerful. By now, Kwan had leveled it up a few dozen times, and it’d become equivalent to a legendary weapon.

However, it wasn’t the main reason he hadn’t gotten rid of it. When the cursed sword grew strong enough, its soul had established some kind of a mental link with him. It felt as if he’d been chained to the weapon with magic. The cursed sword had the reins on Kwan now, making it impossible for him to discard the weapon on his own. There had even been a couple of times when he wanted to ask his friends to help him out. He tried to tell them about the sword and what it’d been doing to him, but every time he opened his mouth to reveal all that, the evil weapon made him shut up.

Sure, for now, the cursed sword had some minor control over him, but what would happen next was hard to predict. Kwan was afraid that at some point, the weapon would get so powerful that it might have complete control over him, but he didn’t seem to be able to do anything to prevent that from happening.

Finally, Kwan got fed up with the evil voice whispering in his head, trying to persuade him to barge into Nina’s house and subdue her. It was harder and harder to resist the demonic voice. He knew that he had to do something right now, otherwise he would give in and do what the cursed sword was telling him to. There was only one way he was aware of to shut the annoying voice up. The sword was called Bloodthirsty for a reason. It always wanted blood and violence, feeding on it. When Bloodthirsty was satiated, it kept silent, but when it was hungry, it got verbally active, whispering to him in his head nonstop. So there were two ways to shut it up – either do what it was trying to make him do or go kill some monsters with it. Sure enough, Kwan was going to choose the latter. When he slew enough enemies with the sword, it would go to sleep, leaving him alone for a little while.

Kwan got out of bed. One of the floorboards creaked loudly when he stood up, and he immediately turned to see if the sound had woken up Michael. The big guy grunted and turned over. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to awaken, and it made Kwan nervous. He wanted to sneak out of their camp without anyone noticing. Kirk wouldn’t approve of him leaving the camp alone, especially in the middle of the night.

Fortunately, Michael didn’t awaken. When his peaceful snorting resumed, Kwan took the cursed sword in his hand and tiptoed to the exit. After he reached it, he glanced over his shoulder at his friend to make sure he was still fast asleep. He then opened the door and stepped outside. The moonlight seeped through the canopy high up above, bathing the camp and the forest surrounding it in silver light. He quickly looked around. Nobody was outside – all his friends were sleeping in their respective houses.

He glanced at Nina’s house.

Yes, the demonic voice instantly whispered in his head. Go to her. Violate her. It’s high time you took that ungrateful cunt. You’ve saved her sorry ass, but she hasn’t even properly thanked you for that. You deserve some reward for saving her life.

Grinding his teeth in anger, Kwan turned away and began to walk toward the gate instead, ignoring the demonic voice that kept whispering in his head. A few seconds later, he slid aside the bolt and pushed open one leaf wide enough for him to squeeze through. Once outside, he stopped, unsure of himself. He was aware that he wouldn’t be able to lock the gate behind him. What if some monsters got into the camp while his friends were asleep?

It’ll be fine, he thought, trying to convince himself. You’ll be back in no time. No monster will get inside while you’re absent.

He knew that by sneaking out of the camp and leaving the gate unlocked he was putting his friends in jeopardy, but he didn’t seem to have any other choice. He hesitated for a moment before finally making up his mind. He closed the gate tightly behind him and ventured into the trees.

For the next two hours, he wandered around the forest, slaying monsters until the cursed sword was satisfied and finally shut up. Kwan finished off the group of monsters he was currently fighting and decided to rest for a minute before returning to the camp. He leaned against a tree trunk and sat on the ground.

It was such a relief not to hear the sword’s annoying whispering voice in his head. However, he knew very well that it wouldn’t be long before the demonic sword talked to him again. He’d been using the cursed weapon for a while now, having leveled it up almost to 40. With each level, the sword grew more powerful and its demonic soul became stronger. In the first days of using the sword, it’d hardly ever spoken to him. At first, it spoke to him only in his dreams. Then he began to hear its voice every few days. Then every two days. Now the demonic weapon whispered in his head twice a day, and not only when he was asleep, but when he was awake too.

Kwan knew that in about twelve hours, the cursed sword would continue to whisper in his head. Yet he couldn’t do anything about it. Even though the cursed sword was quiet now, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it. It had a tight grip on him even when its demonic soul was asleep. He couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when he leveled up the cursed sword a few dozen times more. What if the demonic weapon would become so powerful it would consume his soul or turn him into an altogether different person? Such thoughts terrified him; then again, he couldn’t do anything about that. Whatever evil magic the cursed sword used on him didn’t allow Kwan to get rid of the sword.

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

Half an hour later, he returned home. As soon as he stepped out of the trees into the clearing where their camp was, he realized something was wrong. The gate was wide open, and from inside echoed the sounds of a battle taking place in the camp. Somebody or something had attacked his friends while he was absent!

Cursing, he raced through the open gate, drawing his sword on the run. He stopped for a moment in the doorway, taking in the battle scene unfolding inside the camp. Kirk, Nina, and Michael were fighting ratlins – a species of humanoid creatures that seemed to have evolved from rat-like ancestors. They inhabited caves and dungeons, leaving them mostly at night. It was no wonder a group of ratlins had found out that the gate wasn’t locked. Unlike many other creatures in this forest, ratlins were pretty smart. Sometimes, they seemed almost intelligible even. The group of ratlins that was attacking the camp had cave rats with them. Ratlins used those large creatures covered in spikes as pets.

Yelling a battle cry, Kwan joined the battle.

Ratlins were pretty weak and cowardly creatures. They usually attacked only when they outnumbered their enemies or when they had some serious advantage over them. The four friends didn’t have much trouble dealing with the attackers. It wasn’t long before the group of ratlins realized they couldn’t win this battle. Those of them who were still alive and kicking spun around and dashed for the exit.

The four friends didn’t bother to chase them. For a moment, nobody spoke, catching their breath after the battle. Then Kirk stomped toward Kwan, moving in an aggressive manner.

“What the hell are you doing, Kwan?” he almost yelled at him. “How could you leave the camp during the night without even warning any of us? What were you thinking?”

Kwan felt anger rise in him. He wanted to yell at Kirk, wanted to punch him in the face, wanted to stab him with his… With a huge effort, Kwan forced himself to get a grip on himself. Those were not his real thoughts and feelings. The evil sword was forcing them on him. Kirk was his friend, and he, Kwan, had put all of them in jeopardy. Kirk had every reason to be mad at him.

“Just leave me alone,” Kwan said tiredly as he stepped around Kirk and started walking toward his house.

“We’re not done yet,” Kirk shouted after him. “We already talked about it, Kwan. You can’t leave the camp whenever you want, especially not at night and not without warning us. What if one of us got killed?”

Ignoring him, Kwan continued to walk toward the house he shared with Michael. Kirk ran after him and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Hey, I’m talking to you, goddammit.”

Kwan suddenly spun around and shoved Kirk in the chest, almost causing him to fall.

“Leave me the fuck alone!”

Upon seeing the shocked expressions on his friends’ faces, he realized he’d lost control of his emotions. He wanted to apologize to Kirk and tell his friends that he wasn’t in control of his actions anymore. Sure enough, the cursed sword didn’t let him spill the beans.

“Kwan, are you alright?” Nina asked in a soft voice, a worried look on her pretty face.

He glanced at her for a second, then silently spun around and ran to the house. The three friends of his watched him run, not trying to stop him.

“What the hell is wrong with him?” Kirk muttered. “What’s gotten into him?”

Michael looked at Nina, then at Kirk. He was silent for a moment, then said, “I think I might know what’s the matter with him.”

Nina and Kirk turned their heads to look at him.

“Yeah?” Kirk said. “So tell me. Help me understand him.”

But Michael looked at the girl instead.

“Nina, I don’t know if you noticed,” he began, “but Kwan is in love with you.”

The girl’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “What? Really?”

“Yeah.”

Nina seemed confused. “I—I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah,” Michael said with a little smile. “Because you’re always too focused on Kirk.”

“What? No.” The girl said as she lowered her eyes, her face flushing in embarrassment.

“So you think that’s the reason Kwan has been acting weird lately?” Kirk asked.

“Yeah, probably,” Michael replied. “I mean I don’t know what else could be wrong with him. He’s very young, and therefore easily falls in love. Right now, he’s clearly suffering from one-sided love. So yeah, I think that’s the reason for his recent behavior and tendency to overemotional displays.”

Kirk seemed to be deep in thought.

“So what are we gonna do about it then?”

“I’ll talk to him,” Nina suddenly said as she began to walk toward Kwan’s house.

“Nina, wait,” Kirk stopped her. “Do you think it’s a good idea?”

“Why not?”

“He seemed—I don’t know, unhinged. I don’t think you should be alone with him.”

Nina seemed offended by his words. “What are you talking about? It’s Kwan, our friend. He wouldn’t do anything bad to any of us.”

“But we were attacked by ratlins because of him.”

“He didn’t do it intentionally. He probably wanted to go out for a night walk and didn’t think monsters would attack the camp while he was absent. I mean it hardly ever happens, doesn’t it?”

Kirk frowned, still not quite agreeing with her point of view. “What are you gonna say to him anyway?”

“I dunno. Ask him if he’s alright, if something’s bothering him. I just don’t think we should leave him alone. He clearly could use some friendly company.”

“Fine,” Kirk finally gave in. “But we’ll be nearby. If something happens, just yell for help, okay?”

“Nothing’s gonna happen,” Nina said in a stern voice and continued to walk toward the house Kwan had disappeared into.

“Besides, she can handle herself,” Michael put in. “She’s a very capable mage.”

“I know.”

The two of them watched the house for a couple of minutes. Just like Nina had predicted, nothing bad happened. There wasn’t any indication that something was wrong.

“The other day, Kwan offered to pair up with different people,” Michael said. “But you turned down his idea.”

“I remember,” Kirk said grimly. “So?”

“So he definitely offered it so he could pair up with Nina every now and then,” Michael said. “If he spends more time with her, it’ll definitely make him feel better. So you should probably change your position about that.”

“Fine,” Kirk agreed. “I’ll tell the others later. But if Nina doesn’t want to pair up with him, I’m not gonna force her to do it.”

“I’m sure she’ll be fine with that,” Michael said. “She’s a kind person, and she clearly cares about her friends very much.”

They went silent, watching Michael and Kwan’s house for a minute or so. Nina and Kwan were still inside. Everything was calm and quiet.

Michael then motioned around himself expansively at the dead bodies of the ratlins and cave rats they’d killed a few minutes earlier.

“We should probably drag them out of the camp. Not my kind of street decoration.”

“Yeah,” Kirk agreed, smiling a little at his friend’s lame attempt to joke.