Chapter 10: I'm Ready.

"Huh?"

Before his brain could react, his entire right arm was cut off, falling to the ground like a piece of rotten meat. The clean cut, like a hot knife through butter, kept spurting blood.

What happened?

Hikigaya Hachiman stared blankly at his arm on the ground. Before he could understand what had happened, a wave of intense pain hit him two seconds later.

"Ah? Ah... Ahhh!!!"

Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes. The pain was far worse than when he broke his leg last year in a car accident. It was beyond what an ordinary high school boy could bear. Hikigaya Hachiman screamed in agony, his face twisted. His remaining left hand tried to press on the wound but didn't dare to touch it. He could only clutch his collar tightly, veins bulging on his hand and forehead.

"What did you do!?"

The black lines on Yukinoshita Yukino's face disappeared like melting ice. For the first time, she forcefully took back control of her body. She rushed forward in panic, never having faced such a bloody scene before. Her smart brain went blank.

"Right, stop the bleeding... I have to stop the bleeding!"

Yukinoshita Yukino's trembling hands didn't know where to go. She looked around, searching for something to use for an emergency bandage. Her brain wanted to stop Hikigaya Hachiman's bleeding, but her body couldn't move.

Hikigaya Hachiman was still screaming, his dead fish eyes squinting, the whites of his eyes bloodshot. He leaned against the wall, sitting on the ground, trying hard not to roll around in pain.

"The infirmary! Hikigaya, wait here! Hold on!"

Yukinoshita Yukino bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.

I shouldn't have listened to that guy! I'm such an idiot! I knew Hayashizaki was an evil person from a thousand years ago, but I still gave him control of my body.

At the beginning of high school, my family's car sent Hikigaya Hachiman to the hospital. Two years later, because I released Hayashizaki, Hikigaya lost his hand.

It's all my fault!

Regret, anger, fear, despair, strong negative emotions were born in the hearts of the two in the service club, turning into cursed energy flowing through their bodies.

"No."

A mouth suddenly opened on the girl's smooth forehead. Hayashizaki's voice, with a hint of laughter and an undeniable authority, said.

[error! error!]

[Warning! Warning! Host's body control is being taken!]

Ignoring the system's frantic error messages, Hayashizaki continued,

"You should feel it, the cursed energy born from strong negative emotions. Use your consciousness to control it."

"At a time like this, what are you talking about!?"

Yukinoshita Yukino didn't even have time to scold him and started to run.

But she found her legs wouldn't move, as if nailed to the ground, still standing in place.

I can't move? What's going on? Did Hayashizaki take control of my body?

Ignoring Yukinoshita Yukino's struggle for control, Hayashizaki stared at the panting Hikigaya Hachiman,

"What's wrong? Didn't you say you'd go through fire and water without hesitation?"

"It's just a broken hand, you have to risk your life when fighting curses."

The girl's mouth on her forehead cracked into a wicked smile,

"If you can't even control your curse energy, then die here."

Like the whisper of death in his ear, Hikigaya Hachiman felt a chill all over his body, even the pain of his broken arm became somewhat numb.

It's really scary, if I can't do it, this guy will really let me bleed to death.

The reason for the cold feeling was not only because of Hayashizaki's threatening words, but also the continuous loss of blood taking away his body heat, pooling a puddle of crimson blood under him, the strong smell of blood filling the small activity classroom.

The strong desire to survive made Hikigaya Hachiman gradually calm down, the rapid secretion of adrenaline soaked his back with cold sweat, while also reducing the pain from his broken arm, he felt the curse energy flowing within him that Hayashizaki mentioned.

As an ordinary person who had never encountered curses, Hikigaya Hachiman didn't know how to control curse energy, he just instinctively grabbed it like picking up a water bottle.

The next moment, the solidified curse energy rose like flames on his only remaining left fist, the color of the curse energy filled with negative emotions was darker than the red of the flames, just like the pool of blood under him.

"Haha, you can do it if you try!"

Hayashizaki laughed,

"Now use this curse energy to attack me!"

Attack? How do I do that? Isn't this teaching progress a bit too fast?

While complaining about Hayashizaki's Spartan hell teaching method in his heart to divert attention, Hikigaya Hachiman stood up against the wall.

Anyway, the only attack I can do now is to punch.

After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth, staggered towards Yukinoshita Yukino, and then swung his fist covered with curse energy.

"Wait, what are you doing...!?"

Yukinoshita Yukino found she could control her body again, but the fierce-looking Hikigaya Hachiman had already closed in.

After taking two steps back and finding no way to dodge, the girl instinctively used her family's Aikido, blocking Hikigaya's punch and then throwing him out.

However, the moment she threw Hikigaya Hachiman out, Yukinoshita Yukino realized something was wrong.

Her strength was too great!?

The window glass shattered, and a figure flew out, falling straight from the fourth floor of the special building.

Huh?

Hikigaya Hachiman, after being blocked by Yukinoshita Yukino's Aikido, hadn't reacted yet when he felt a dizzying spin, and when he came to his senses, he found himself in mid-air.

Huh? Am I going to die? Not from blood loss, but from falling?

He looked at the sky dyed red by the sunset, his mind blank, with no sense of reality about his impending death.

The next second, he saw another figure leap out of the service club's window, rapidly approaching him.

Really? This is the fourth floor of the special building?

Hayashizaki, controlling Yukinoshita Yukino's body, grabbed the still dazed Hikigaya Hachiman in mid-air, and then landed steadily on the ground.

Hayashizaki let go of Hikigaya Hachiman's waistband, and the latter fell to the ground with a thud.

He instinctively put his hands on the ground, feeling the solid earth beneath him, which gave the boy with dead fish eyes a sense of relief. Falling from the fourth floor, twelve meters high, was too much for a high school student.

Wait, hold on...

"My right hand is still here?"

Hikigaya Hachiman stared at his intact right hand, clenching and unclenching it as if the earlier severed hand was just a nightmare.

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