At first, it was a trembling laugh, full of disbelief and nervous horror. Then it grew louder, rougher, until it broke into a manic roar of laughter that filled the inside of the helicopter.
"Buwahahhaha!"
The others froze. His hands were shaking, his shoulders trembling as he pressed his palm against his chest. His face twisted between laughter and tears.
"Is this— is this real?" Winston gasped out between broken laughter. "I— I actually— hahaha! I can't believe this!"
His voice trembled, his eyes wide with tears as he laughed harder, almost choking on his breath. "Three years! Three damn years I've been stuck at 8th Infusion Peak! Three years of torture, of grinding my spirit, of spending everything I had— and now… I'm— I'm at the 9th Infusion Initial!"
His voice cracked as he screamed, the words bursting out raw from his chest. "Holy shit! Holy shit, it's real! The Core! I can feel it inside— it's forming in my heart! It's spinning! It's alive!"
He fell to his knees, both hands clutching his shirt as tears streamed down his face. His body trembled with laughter and sobs mixed together. "I tried everything! I used curse crystals until my veins nearly shattered! I entered curse dimensions that almost killed me! I even begged the Black Church for forbidden methods— and none of them worked! None!"
He slammed a fist into the floor of the helicopter, still laughing weakly. "And now— suddenly— just like that— I've broken through?! Why?! Why now?!"
Jaro, the middle-aged man with his rough vendor's face, took a hesitant step forward. "Sir Butler… are you okay? You're scaring us."
But Winston only stared at his trembling hands. "I can feel it… the curse energy flowing perfectly. No resistance. It's pure. I… I'm finally a 9th Infusion Conjurer."
The old man, Toman, the one with hair white as frost, blinked in confusion. "That can't be. No one advances like that without meditation, without drawing from cursed land."
Winston suddenly snapped his head up. His tears sparkled as he pointed at them, voice cracking. "No, you don't understand! Look at yourselves you bastard servants! Look at your curse energy!"
"What?" Pip, the youngest, blinked in confusion.
"Your energy— it's changing!" Winston shouted. "You four— you're leveling up too!"
The helicopter filled with a pulse, a vibration that made the air tremble. One by one, the others gasped as a dark aura began to ripple from their bodies. It was faint at first— wisps of curse energy leaking from their pores— but soon, it intensified.
Jaro's eyes widened. "Wait— my core! It's… it's shifting! The energy— it's thicker!"
Ren, the street vendor-looking man with sharp eyes, clutched his chest and swore. "No way! My infusion's climbing— it's climbing by itself!"
Toman's voice broke, trembling with disbelief. "I haven't felt this since I was young… it's moving, the energy's moving up! My veins— they're burning, but it feels— it feels right!"
Pip stumbled back, pressing his palms to his face as black lines appeared faintly across his skin. "I— I'm not imagining this, right? I'm actually— I'm going up?! I'm reaching 1st Infusion Peak?!"
Jaro burst into laughter, almost hysterical. "This can't be real! I've been at 2nd Infusion Peak for years! Years! And now— it's breaking through like water bursting through a dam! It's flowing so fast I can barely control it!"
Ren threw his arms open, eyes wild. "3rd Infusion Middle— no— it's rising again— Peak! I'm reaching Peak!"
The air shook with their shouting, their disbelief mixing with excitement and fear. The helicopter vibrated slightly under the sheer output of curse energy. The walls flickered with shadows as the aura from each of them twisted and flared, curling like smoke that wanted to burst free.
Toman laughed through tears. "I'm not talented— I was never talented— I thought I'd die stuck as I am— and now— hahaha! What kind of miracle is this?!"
Pip's voice trembled as he shouted over the noise, "Old man! Look at you! You're glowing like a damn lantern!"
"And you too!" Ren shot back, grinning wildly. "You're blazing brighter than all of us!"
Their laughter mixed with disbelief, the helicopter filled with raw emotion— joy, confusion, fear. For a moment, they forgot the danger, forgot where they were. It was as if years of frustration, of being powerless, were suddenly washed away by an unseen tide.
But in the midst of it, Winston's laughter began to fade. His eyes, still wet with tears, turned sharp. Something was wrong.
He rose slowly, still breathing hard. "Wait…"
The others stopped, catching their breath as they looked at him. Winston's expression had turned dark.
"Think about it," he said slowly, voice trembling. "How come… all of us leveled up at the same time?"
Jaro frowned. "It's… it's just a coincidence, isn't it?"
"No." Winston shook his head. "No, it's not. You know as well as I do— curse cultivation doesn't synchronize like this. Even with shared energy fields, even with curse resonance— it's impossible for five different cores to rise in sync. Not unless…"
He trailed off.
Ren's grin slowly faded. "Unless what?"
"Unless something caused it," Winston said quietly. "Something—or someone—is forcing our curse energy to evolve."
The mood shifted instantly. The air grew heavier, the excitement twisting into unease.
Pip swallowed hard. "Are you saying… someone did this to us?"
Toman frowned deeply. "Impossible. There's no ritual here. No curse catalyst. We're inside a damn helicopter, Winston."
"Exactly," Winston replied. "Which means it's external. Something outside us triggered it."
They all turned instinctively to the windows. Below them, through the swirling clouds, they could see the black car following beneath, keeping pace with the helicopter. The sleek shape of it glinted faintly in the night lights below.
Inside that car was Lazry—their young master.
Ren's voice was barely above a whisper. "You think… it's him?"
Winston's gaze hardened. He didn't answer at first. His breathing slowed as he stared at the car. "I don't know. But it started when we left the tunnel, when the young master entered that car. The timing… it's too exact."
Pip looked pale. "So… he made us level up? But why would he—"
Jaro cut him off, voice uneasy. "No. Maybe it's not intentional. Maybe it's something leaking from him. Maybe he triggered something inside us."
"Or maybe," Toman said quietly, his voice deep and uneasy, "we're caught inside something much bigger than we realize."
Silence fell. The only sound was the low hum of the helicopter's engines and their ragged breathing. Winston slowly walked toward the cockpit window, staring down at the car again. His reflection in the glass looked older, more worn than before.
He muttered under his breath, almost to himself, "We need to know."
Then, louder, he turned to them. "I'll ask the young master myself."
The others exchanged glances. Jaro nodded slowly. Ren followed, his jaw tightening. Toman closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them with a firm stare. Pip gulped but nodded too.
None of them said anything more. They simply stood there, the faint remnants of their curse energy still swirling in the air, each of them realizing that whatever had just happened wasn't luck. It was a sign.
Below, the black car continued its steady path through the mist, as if it was unaware of the storm of confusion brewing above it.
And in that quiet, charged silence, the four of them nodded to Winston—acknowledging the truth none of them wanted to say out loud.