There are a few memories a man can never forget, even in death.
The sight of an alley lined with blooming forsythias on the way to eat pork cutlet while holding his mother’s hand.
The tears he shed while staring up at the ceiling on the second night at the training center.
The sense of betrayal he felt when his best friend since childhood put him down in front of a girl.
And so on.
Among all those memories, the most vivid one was, of course.
The memory of his first love.
“Hi, nice to meet you. My name is Yu Seolhwa.”
“I’m Seo Uri, the man who will one day become the strongest.”
“Wow, you’re pretty handsome. With that face, you might become the strongest at something.”
“……”
“Look at you blushing. Cute.”
First year of middle school.
Starting with the first greeting I exchanged with her, the first seatmate I met in the new semester.
“I’m transferring. They say I awakened, so I have to go to a Hunter academy.”
“That’s good news, so why do you look like you’re about to cry?”
“But if I go there, we won’t be able to see each other often.”
“We can just keep in touch after you go, you know.”
Third year of middle school.
Then the moment we parted unexpectedly.
“I heard the news, Seo Uri. They say you awakened as an SSS-rank. And yet your ability is only that much? How pitiful.”
“You never even contacted me all this time, and that’s the first thing you say when we meet?”
“I have nothing to say to someone as insignificant as you. And I blocked you ages ago, so don’t contact me from now on.”
Third year of high school.
Even the sight of her back as she turned away from me so coldly.
All I did was see her face.
And yet all sorts of memories surfaced, tangling up my heart.
This was why I didn’t want to see her.
‘Looking back on it now, it was total dark history.’
Just thinking about the messages I sent her after she transferred still makes me want to kick my blanket in shame.
I’d packed them so full of emotion, they were practically love letters.
At least she probably never saw them since she blocked me.
If Yu Seolhwa had read those, I’d be running away to the safe zone out of embarrassment right about now.
Well, anyway.
Because all that had happened.
My feelings toward Yu Seolhwa weren’t exactly good.
All I had was the desire to become truly amazing one day and get revenge.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
She had looked fine from a distance, but up close, she was a complete wreck.
The reason she had been kneeling on one knee was because her other leg had been cut off.
Even her right ear and arm had been severed, and she was staring into empty space with her only remaining left eye.
She was breathing, so she was alive, but had she lost consciousness?
“Why is someone as amazing as you like this here?”
“D-don’t tell me the people from the Association were taken down too…?”
Around Yu Seolhwa, several corpses lay collapsed on the ground.
They all had name tags around their necks showing that they belonged to the Association.
Han Yujin, who had already been terrified, trembled in fear once more.
“And that person over there is someone who supposedly awakened as an S-rank just today…”
Now I understood why Yu Seolhwa had come here.
She had probably come in person to test the S-rank Awakener.
Since it would be troublesome if others saw them,
they must have moved deep inside the gate.
And here, by bad luck, they had encountered the boss, Lucius.
“She was lucky.”
Aris, on the other hand, had a different opinion.
The reason was simple.
“That guy getting beaten up over there is a demon species. Most demon species take more pleasure in torturing people than in killing them.”
“If she’d run into the Black Oxen anyway, she would’ve died on the spot without even being able to resist. The fact that she at least kept her life means she was lucky. Though her mind will probably keep being tortured until she dies.”
“If I’d had even that much luck, I would have won rock-paper-scissors…”
They had played rock-paper-scissors, saying one of them absolutely had to protect me,
and Rachel had ended up winning.
As if she was still upset about losing, Aris looked at her own hand with a regretful expression.
“I would’ve had to face something on that level to show you my true worth… Do you know this person, by any chance?”
No matter what was being said beside me, my gaze remained fixed on Yu Seolhwa.
“…Is there no way to fix her?”
Aris shook her head seriously.
“Unfortunately, it’s impossible. Even if you kill the caster, this curse continues endlessly.”
“Even if I use this elixir?”
“That doesn’t work on curses. The only ones who can undo this are the same demon race, or the higher-ranking demonkin. But they don’t listen to humans. Sadly, sending her off without pain is the best option.”
If Aris went that far, was there truly no other way?
Blood flowed like tears from Yu Seolhwa’s empty right eye socket.
Wouldn’t she die of blood loss at this rate?
Before I knew it, I had taken out the elixir and shoved it into Yu Seolhwa’s mouth.
So what if it was worth tens of billions per bottle?
First, I had to save the person.
Gulp—gulp—
The pink liquid went down Yu Seolhwa’s throat.
Just as the description said it healed all injuries,
the body parts that had disappeared returned intact.
However, as Aris had explained, Yu Seolhwa did not escape the curse and still stared blankly into empty space.
Still, that was one worry off my mind.
No matter how strong a Hunter was, they couldn’t endure excessive blood loss.
“I guess persuading that guy is impossible, right?”
“As a super-super-super archmage, if I were to give my opinion, it’d be difficult unless you were the Demon King.”
“H-he’s even getting beaten one-sidedly like that, so I don’t think I’d listen to a request either.”
Even in Han Yujin’s eyes, though she didn’t properly understand the situation,
Lucius was no match for Rachel.
If she heard that thing was on the level of the 90th floor on Hard, she’d probably quit being a safety officer and start climbing the Tower right away.
“Gyaaaaaaah!”
Was it because he was a demon species?
Every time he touched the holy aura wrapped around the holy sword, it was a critical hit.
At a glance, it didn’t look like he would last long.
‘Is it really okay to leave like this?’
As I said before, Yu Seolhwa was one of South Korea’s rankers and an executive who held a high position in the Association.
What would happen the moment it became known that someone like her had lost her mind inside a gate?
The Association would try to hide her condition.
They would probably lock her away somewhere only they knew and wage a public opinion campaign saying Yu Seolhwa was fine.
Then it would be hard to meet her, and Yu Seolhwa would suffer, unable even to die.
‘I know that, compared to that, euthanasia would be better…’
But it felt wrong to send her off without doing anything.
I had to do something, or I’d regret it later.
What was there that I could do?
…Oh, wait.
“Aris, what did you say earlier?”
“As a super-super-super archmage, if I were to give my opinion, I said it would be hard to persuade that guy unless you were the Demon King.”
“You said that even without persuading him, a higher-ranking race like demonkin could also undo this curse, right?”
“Yeah, I did. Uh… why are you suddenly smiling?”
“Because thanks to you, I found hope.”
I had completely forgotten.
On my summon list…
[The Demon King who always waits for you on the 100th floor]
There was a Demon King.
“Sorry to rain on your parade when you look so happy, but high-ranking demonkin will be even more impossible to reason with than that demon.”
“It’s fine. I know one demonkin who’s friendly toward me.”
“A demonkin is friendly? Don’t tell me… you seduced a demonkin too?”
“I’m not sure about that… No way, right?”
I had no idea what kind of relationship the Demon King and I had,
but based on the statistics so far, the chances of the Demon King being hostile to me were low.
Of course, I had seen a line saying that the Demon King regarded me as the most dangerous enemy and was hostile toward me.
It was also certain that I had gotten on their bad side enough for them to want to educate me properly with Hell Mode.
‘Still, that specifically said the Demon King of the current world, so it should be fine.’
There was no way the me who went to another dimension had cleared this place too, right?
If my guess was correct, this Demon King was definitely the Demon King of another dimension.
“Anyway, thanks, Aris. I summoned you myself, but you really are incredible.”
“You’ve finally realized the greatness of this body?”
“Yeah.”
“I was feeling self-conscious because I hadn’t even properly done anything yet. Kyahaha! I guess my greatness can’t be hidden after all.”
If Aris hadn’t been here,
I wouldn’t have found the cause of Yu Seolhwa’s condition.
And I wouldn’t have found a clue to curing her either.
“So I need to ask you a few favors.”
I whispered to Aris, who was smiling proudly with her hands on her hips.
And not long after, Han Yujin’s body floated up into the air.
“Yeeeeeek?”
“It looks like you’re going to see something unpleasant, that’s why.”
What was about to happen from now on would be troublesome if rumors spread.
And the same went for what she had already seen.
“Huh…? Where am I?”
“I erased her memories like you wanted.”
“Now deliver her to the safe zone as is.”
“Mm! I already made the barrier you asked for.”
After seeing Han Yujin off as she was rocket-delivered to the safe zone,
I stepped inside the barrier Aris had made.
She said it blocked all external impacts, and even all impacts from within.
In here, I should be able to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
“I’ll do my best too, so don’t resent me even if you die.”
First, I laid Yu Seolhwa down on the ground.
Then I closed her eyes.
“I feel like I might end up looking hideous, you see.”
The method I was about to try was also my first time doing it.
So I had to prepare for every possibility.
“All right, then. Let’s begin.”
From now on, I was going to have the “Demon King” possess my body.
I thought I’d finished steeling myself, but hesitation still remained.
‘Of all things, the first one I’m possessing myself with is the Demon King.’
A sigh escaped me on its own, but what could I do?
They said this was the only way to save my first love.
‘You’d better be ready, because I’m going to collect the price for this later.’
【Using the Possession (SSS) skill.】
【‘The Demon King who always waits for you on the 100th floor’ will possess your body.】
【Remaining Time: 10 minutes】
The moment I used the skill, my vision instantly darkened.
And just like that, I lost consciousness.