Everything Went Wrong! The Rune Curse That Swapped Everyone's Gender - Episode 3

Gate of Depths——the massive checkpoint connecting Piltover and the Undercity——was crowded even at this early hour. A line of laborers clutching cargo stretched before the towering iron doors. Enforcers checked passes one by one. Steam hissed white through the gaps in machinery, and the air always carried a faint dampness. Etsion Jace stood at the back of the line. (Going through a checkpoint in a swapped body...) She sighed internally. But kept it off her face. Deep breath. As a scientist, first assess the situation. Panic solved nothing. "Nervous?" Jynx whispered from beside her. Even though she was in Jace's body now, she seemed completely at ease. "A little," "You'll be fine! I come through here all the time!" "I haven't heard that story," Caitlin spoke without turning around from ahead. Her uniform was the same as always. But the hat pulled low was probably because of the missing hair. Carvel Victor stood silent at the very back. The same dull gray coat as yesterday. Cane in his right hand. The same dragging gait. But he was staring toward the Undercity, thinking about something. (What's he thinking about?) Jace glanced at Victor. She didn't know why, but the moment their eyes were about to meet, she looked away. For no reason. Her face warmed slightly. This was... probably the effect of the body swap. The line moved forward a bit. One of the Enforcers raised his voice. "Prepare your passes. If verification cannot be confirmed, entry will be——" Jynx stepped forward smoothly. "Yep!" She held out her pass with a bright smile. The Enforcer checked it. A brief pause. "...You may pass," She got through just like that. "Wait, really?" Jace said it quietly, and Jynx turned back and winked at her. Caitlin produced her Enforcer credentials. No problem there either. Jace showed her Academy researcher's pass. Victor did the same. Both felt a little tense, but got through without issue. "...Every time I'm nervous, and every time it goes fine," "Researcher credentials are valid. It's normal," "But mine isn't normal for normal reasons!" "Don't explain. I really want to pretend I didn't hear that," They passed through the iron doors. The air changed. Not like the wind above ground. Damp, heavy air. Stone walls stretching endlessly overhead. Chemical lamps cast orange light on the walls. The sound of machinery echoed from somewhere distant. Rhythmic. Thump, thump. The Undercity. Jace stopped for a moment without meaning to. She'd read documents about it in the lab, but this was her first time actually here. (So it's like this...) Since the ceiling was Piltover's bedrock, small grains of sand fell occasionally from above. The orange glow of the chemical lamps stained the rocky walls, and somehow... it felt like another world. "Welcome to the Undercity! Leave the tour to me!" "First we buy gas masks at Rusty Lane. Can't reach Voilrow without crossing the Chemical Fog zone," "Midnight Bazaar has four for about thirty Gears. It's a bit of a walk though," "Let's go," --- Rusty Lane——the most crowded commercial district in the upper levels of the Undercity——was far busier than Jace had imagined. Steam pipes ran crisscross across the ceiling, occasionally hissing white vapor. Stalls lined the street, mixing the smell of dried meat with machine oil. Under the orange glow of chemical lamps, all kinds of people walked past. Jynx clearly loved this place. She called out to people as she walked. "Baluna! Long time! How've you been!?" "Yo, Jynx. Brought more weird friends, huh?" The stall owner laughed while speaking. He glanced at Jynx's body——now Jace's body——and tilted his head slightly, but didn't ask further. Jace looked around curiously as they walked. "Victor, have you been here before?" "No," "Really? Don't ancient texts and rune documents come from Undercity ruins?" "Literature is available through the Academy. No need to come directly," "I see," They walked for a while. "...But you're glad you came, right?" She asked without really meaning to. Victor looked at her. A brief pause. "Still can't say. I'll judge after seeing the ruins," "Harsh!" But Victor's mouth——just barely, just barely——seemed to move. Not a laugh. But it softened slightly. Jace felt oddly happy. (Why do I feel calm when I'm with this strange person?) Midnight Bazaar, true to its name, was a black market that opened at night, but some stalls operated during the day too. Jynx led them around a corner. They passed tables lined with what looked like illegal goods. Caitlin quietly looked away. "...I didn't see that," "That's the spirit, Caitlin! So flexible!" "Not flexible. Current priorities are different," The gas masks were sold at a stall lined with bulky mechanical parts. Metal masks with filters. The shop owner, a stern-looking woman, glanced at them briefly before quoting a price. "Thirty-two Gears for four," "I only have thirty," "If you want to haggle, go elsewhere," As Jace hesitated, Victor pulled out two Gear coins from beside her. "I'll cover it," "Really? You sure?" "Pay me back later," "...Thank you," She took the four masks. While Caitlin checked them, Jace quietly looked at Victor's profile. (Why did he come? He said it had "academic value," but... is that really all?) She didn't know. But somehow, it didn't feel like that was the whole reason. --- They left Rusty Lane and began walking down the mine shaft toward the depths. When they entered Midshaft Mining Pit——the old excavation tunnels where Hex crystals were once mined——the air grew even heavier. The ground beneath their feet was uneven, and Jace stumbled on rocks several times. Thud. "Ow..." She fell again. Gravel bit into her palms. "That's three times now!" "I still don't understand this body's center of gravity!" As she tried to get up, a hand appeared from the side. Victor. "I'll help," Jace took his hand. Victor's hand was slender, but firm. He pulled her up. She stood. "...Thank you," Victor released her hand immediately and started walking forward. His ears were slightly red. ...Maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe it was the orange glow of the chemical lamps. (...Why is my face warm? It's the body swap effect. It has to be.) Jace concluded that. Faint rune markings were etched into the mine shaft walls. Victor stopped and shone his flashlight on them. "Old. More than five hundred years," "Can you read it?" "Fragments only. Doesn't form coherent text. But..." Victor traced the marks with his finger. Slowly. Carefully. "The same characters appear here too. The closer we get to Voilrow, the higher the density of these characters should be," "How do you know that?" "It was in the literature. Depth and density correlate," Caitlin was looking ahead. "Let's move faster. Should be just a bit more to the Chemical Fog zone," "Yeah! Once we cross that, Voilrow's right there!" The four of them started walking again. Jace glanced back at the rune marks on the wall. Faintly——very faintly——they seemed to glow pale blue. And she noticed something. Her own hand——the one Victor had pulled up——was still slightly warm. (...Will this glow again?) The pattern came to mind. Victor's words that the stone was "still active." The swap was stage one. So stage two was—— "Jace, come on," Victor called from ahead. "Oh, yeah!" She ran to catch up. Stumbled slightly again. But this time she didn't fall. The mine shaft ahead was beginning to haze white. The Chemical Fog zone. Jace held the gas mask in her hand again. The warmth in her palm lingered, just a little.

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Episode 3

Name: Everything Went Wrong! The Rune Curse That Swapped Everyone's Gender
Author: Novelia

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