A Homegrown Cursed Spirit

At some point, a game called Cursed Spirit Player became all the rage in class. The objective was to play as a cursed spirit and survive the sorcerers. If you made it out alive, you won.

After his classmates recommended it, Himigure Akiha couldn't resist his curiosity and downloaded it. In match after match, he got taken out by a high school student named Geto.

"Maybe you two are fated to meet? Maybe you'll see each other someday~"

Himigure Akiha scoffed at his classmates' teasing. "As if. I might as well say I'll transmigrate into the game. Do you believe that?"

Then he really did transmigrate, and the very person who had made him restart three times picked him up.

Himigure Akiha: Wait, you were serious?!

Year One:

A boy found a small black orb. On the day the main storyline began, the two promised that the orb would give him advance notice when it was time to leave.

Unfortunately, Himigure Akiha broke his promise.

Year Two:

Residing at the school as a spirit, one of its many urban legends, Himigure Akiha once again met someone he thought he would never see again.

"Changed? That's probably just your imagination, Akiha." The young curse user casually changed the subject. "Will you leave again this time?"

Himigure Akiha couldn't promise him anything, so he fell silent.

"I see." The boy's smile remained unchanged, but ink-darkness spread through his eyes. He lowered his gaze, hiding feelings warped by time.

Himigure Akiha felt that something was off, but couldn't put his finger on what.

Year Three:

Inside a golden cage, a richly dressed puppet sat without a care among a heap of black feathers.

Until one day, someone unlocked the chains at the door. A young man stopped before the puppet and knelt down, raising a hand to remove the talisman paper covering its face. "Akiha, let's go home."

The puppet slowly lifted a hand and placed it on the young man's, as if yearning for the warmth of human touch.

For cursed spirits, who feed on negative emotions, love is the most poisonous thing of all. And yet their evolution requires love so obsessive it becomes warped.

Himigure Akiha suddenly realized that from the very beginning, this instinct had influenced him, making everything happen without him noticing.

Also known as: A Few Stories About How I, a Cursed Spirit, Was Picked Up by a Sorcerer

Theme: Learn to stay calm before facing anything.