Learning about the origin of the wish pearl, Duncan was excited to see just how effective it would be when he used it himself. From the story, Duncan had gleaned some of the finer details that most would otherwise miss. For instance, when it came to fulfilling ordinary wishes that had nothing to do with the supernatural, the wish pearl could almost certainly fulfill that wish without any problems. The reason Duncan thought so was because when the sailor who’d originally wished for riches had accidentally lost the pearl, it could have certainly granted the wish by allowing the sailor to find the magical pearl since that was the original intent of the sailor. But the pearl hadn’t done that; instead, it had caused a treasure chest to magically appear to grant the sailor’s wish. This also led to another thing that Duncan had noticed, which is that the wish pearl was a consumable, meaning a person could only have one wish fulfilled. Duncan wasn’t sure if this rule applied in its enti

The wish pearl required that a price be paid for it to be used, and that price was something very precious to you. If you asked Duncan, it was a very unequal exchange, not because what one often considers to be precious to them is often priceless, but because the value itself is hard to measure. Sometimes, value is abstract and subjective… who’s to say if you were getting the short end of the stick or not in the exchange? But then again, perhaps if you were able to let go of what was precious to you, then it probably wasn’t as precious as you thought. Duncan wasn’t about to debate the philosophy of sentiment and value right now. He simply wanted to make use of the wish pearl, and for that, he needed something valuable that he was willing to give away, and what better place to search than in this heaping pile of junk his grandfather had left him. Duncan’s grandfather was a traveler in a time when traveling was not very convenient. He had been to many places, some of them very po

“But wait a moment!” Duncan’s mind was working rapidly. He was going through all the knowledge in his mind, trying to consider all possibilities and looking for a solution to this problem. Duncan thought, “Assuming my curse is too strong for the wish pearl to work against it, the rule of supernatural alignment says that the pearl should still have an effect on it provided it targets a specific weakness that is within its ability to affect.” “So the problem shouldn’t entirely be that my curse is too powerful but that I was aiming for a goal that was too big. So if I reduce my expectations and wish for something smaller, then the pearl should be able to work.” “Is that right?” Duncan asked himself. Could be… Duncan wasn’t sure of that himself, but it was the only hope he could hang on to, so Duncan had to at least try. Then the question now becomes… what else should Duncan wish for? “What else do I want so badly other than for the curse to be removed from me?” Duncan asked hims

Midnight arrived, and Duncan was still himself. No illusions, no past memories coming back to haunt him… he was finally free from the nightmares. “It worked!” This was Duncan’s final thought before he slumped onto his bed and fell asleep. For the first time in many nights, Duncan’s sleep was finally peaceful and dreamless. … Duncan woke up the next morning feeling marvelously refreshed. Today, he had woken up bright and early, and most importantly, sober, without the grief of a drowning man. Right now, Duncan felt more alive than ever. For so long, Duncan had always been surrounded by a despairing sense of gloom and impending demise. Although he breathed, it was like the breaths of a dying man living on borrowed time who knew fully well that their breath might fall short at any moment's notice. And the worst part was that Duncan had gotten used to feeling that way. So long had he lived like that that it had almost become natural to him—like he knew no other way of living e

Duncan and the locals were in a standoff, and to his credit, Duncan was not backing down, but then again, why should he? Duncan was not afraid of these people ganging up on him and lynching him in public. They were currently in a society that was ruled by order, and the police were very competent in their jobs when it came to solving crimes and arresting wrongdoers who break the law. So although crime was not entirely nonexistent, the rate of crime was actually low, with a good chunk of the crime that happens in the city falling under the category of organized crime and the rest being attributed to supernatural events. In any case, this lot, although they were sketchy at best, wouldn’t dare to actually harm Duncan, so he was quite relaxed. The situation seemed to be at an impasse, and this lasted for a few seconds until finally, a voice pierced through the standstill. “I’m here, I’m here, nobody start any fights, he’s with me, so scram, you lot. What are you doing lallygagging