Chapter 5: The Baka’s Battle & The Ghost's Giggle

☠️ 65 Days Remain…

Luffy's legs trembled as he stood, still gripping Lilith's hand tightly. The cursed mark on his arm flared again,its pulse violent—angry, like a heartbeat made of fire.The cracked mirror was quiet now. No more smirking reflection.No more glowing red eyes. But the voice… It was still there.

"Soon… sooon… I'll wear your skin like a coat…"

Luffy slapped the side of his head and say shut up u baka freak leave me alone and dont dare to annoyy me. Lilith blinked. ...Was that at me?" "No! The voice! It won't shut up!"

She rolled her eyes. "Great. You're hearing voices and screaming at mirrors. Definitely cursed."

Just then, a familiar shimmer passed through the room, followed by the unmistakable sound of dramatic humming. Ryo phased in—upside-down, of course—floating near the ceiling.

"Yohoho~ Did I miss the dramatic entrance?" she giggled. "Or did you already start your mental breakdown, Luffy? Ryo spun midair. "I was busy checking if the hallway was cursed. Spoiler: it is."

Luffy pointed to the wall. "Guys, uh… I think the closet is cursed too." And he start to go towords it and saw a black substance—thick and slimy—was seeping out from beneath the closet door.

Ryo's eyes had widened. She floated towords the closet door. And She said, "Dude… this looks like a slime!" Before anyone could stop her, she poked at the black, its like Jelly HEEEEEHEE. poke poke hehehe, The slime hissed.

Luffy leapt forward instinctively, grabbing the writhing shadow with his bare hand. It squirmed, cold and alive and—hungry. In that moment, the cursed mark on his arm flared brilliant red. The curse activated. Red-black energy surged through his arm as the shadow began to melt, sucked into the mark.

"Luffy, wait—!" Lilith shouted, but it was too late. The slime was absorbed. And then—Luffy froze. His entire body tensed. A strange shiver ran up his spine. And then…

"Uuhhhh… why does this feel… weird?" Luffy whispered, his voice shaky.

Lilith blinked. "Weird how?"

Ryo burst into laughter. "Noooo way. Don't tell me the baka's cursed mark just gave him an… arousing feedback loop?"

Luffy confused, "HUH What do you mean by loop thing." and scratched his head. Ryo smerks.

Ryo flipped upside down again and floated beside him, grinning. "Congrats, Luff. You're able to get rid of your fear." The room erupted in a mix of groans and snickers, the tension breaking just enough for them all to breathe again.

But beneath the laughter, Lilith's eyes narrowed at the mark on his arm. The edges had changed. Grown darker. The mark was looking like a slime now. "Jokes aside," she muttered, "that slime wasn't ordinary. It was part of something. A scout. A piece of a bigger curse."

Luffy nodded and stared at mark. All the fear was gone. like the absorbtion made him calmed.

Lilith tossed her hair back dramatically. "And if anything else creepy shows up, I'm drop-kicking it back to whatever cursed hole it crawled out of."

Luffy blinked. "You can drop-kick ghosts?"

"Don't question my methods, baka," she shot back, winking. "You handle the cursed stuff, I handle the dramatic entrances."

Ryo floated in upside down again. "Wait, I thought I was the dramatic one!"

Lilith raised a brow. "You're more like... comic relief."

"Rude!" Ryo huffed, twirling mid-air. "I'll have you know, I'm terrifying in seven different dimensions!"

Luffy sighed, smiling faintly despite the chaos. "Yeah… we're totally weirdos."

Lilith cracked her neck, stretching her arms above her head with a groan.

"Alright, I'm done for the day. I'm going to take a nice long bath and pretend none of this cursed crap exists for the next hour," she said with a tired sigh. "I'm exhausted." She turned toward the door, waving lazily over her shoulder. "See ya, baka. Try not to get possessed again while I'm gone."

"W-What? You're just leaving?" Luffy asked, half-confused.

"Yup. I fought demons, screamed at shadows, and emotionally supported your dumb cursed soul. That's a full day's work." She winked, then vanished out the door with a casual "Bye~".

Ryo, still floating upside down, followed her toward the wall. "Guess I'm going too. Gotta make sure Lilith doesn't fall asleep in the tub and drown." She stopped halfway through the wall and turned to Luffy with a teasing grin. "Oh, and hey—Luffy?" and said ......

☠️ 65 Days Remain…