Multiverse Gacha

By the time the sun was high in the sky the next day, August and Melro finally woke up. They had spent the entire morning lazing in bed together.

After getting up, the two lingered with each other for a while before August sent Melro back to the inner world. After all, having a mermaid on land was far too inconvenient.

When August finally found Stunk and the others, he was surprised. What had happened to them?

They all looked drained, lacking any energy or spirit.

"Hey, what's going on?" August asked.

Stunk looked up at him briefly, then lowered his head again. Zel and Kanchal didn't even bother to lift their heads.

Left with no other choice, August turned his gaze to Brooz, who seemed to be the only one acting normally.

"Don't look at me. I don't know what's wrong with them either," Brooz said. "They've been like this since last night—haven't eaten, haven't drunk anything. It's like they're under some sort of curse."

August frowned at Brooz's words and examined the three more closely. He noticed faint wisps of black smoke swirling around them.

It was a curse. But that was odd. How could a visit to a seductress's shop result in a curse?

He extended a hand, covered in a dark aura, and drew the black mist out from their bodies. The three wisps of curse floated like strands of hair in his palm.