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〈 Episode 1 〉 Yeah, Just Kill Yourself~
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Warning ※ This work contains no character reset.
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There are many forms of revenge. But the revenge I prefer most is to hand them the most terrible despair at their happiest moment.
That is why I plan to kill myself right before meeting the Demon Lord.
In the form they least desire.
[D-day 1 Until Suicide]
1.
If you tried to push endlessly stretching seawater into a small balloon no bigger than a child's palm, what would happen?
It goes without saying.
The balloon would burst without even retaining its shape.
But what if, in the name of God's blessing, you forcibly tied it off so it wouldn't burst?
This is the exact description that explains the current Hero.
It was the state of one who had received excessive divine power in an ordinary body.
"A living divine power bomb. There's nothing that can describe you so accurately."
At the shortly echoing voice, Jeonghyeon let out a hollow laugh.
To be dragged here out of nowhere and then suddenly called a bomb.
Normally he would have cursed out far more than just talking back, but unfortunately, with a knife pointed under his chin, he had no choice but to shut up.
"I'll say this one last time. The moment you see the Demon Lord, self-destruct alone and kill him—that is the mission and karma given to you."
Telling him to self-destruct to save a world of which he had only seen game trailers, and even then only memories of a protagonist attending an Academy.
Did they even know how absurd their demand was?
Contrary to his thoughts, the people of the royal palace wore expressions as if it were only natural.
'Ha...'
It was so disgusting he felt like vomiting.
If they had even a shred of conscience, they wouldn't have demanded his sacrifice, his goodwill, like this.
Unable to endure this disgust any longer, Jeonghyeon let out a scoff and raised his middle finger.
"Fuck off, you fucking bastards. Why don't you tell your own mothers to self-destruct?"
He knew this too.
That no matter the circumstances, going against the mood of those in the 'superior' position was not a good choice.
That bowing his head, closing his eyes, and planning for the future was the rational choice.
'But.'
"That bastard's a retard, isn't he? He just does whatever you tell him? If you have shitwork, dump it all on him."
"If it were me, I'd be too embarrassed and quit; why exactly do you keep going?"
"Makes me think one shouldn't live like that."
Even if he survived like that, there would be nothing left.
Only the position of a pathetic inferior would continue.
… So even if it meant throwing everything away.
"I shall make you regret those words for the rest of your life! I was merely trying to show you mercy, yet you dare wag your tongue with your paltry title of Hero!"
"So what? You gonna kill me? Even if you want to, you can't. That Demon Lord you mentioned can't be caught without me, right? Am I wrong?"
"You bastard!"
He would no longer live being jerked around.
Even if it led to death.
* * *
'Archbishop Rea' approached him, placing food in a white bowl.
"This will be your last meal. No matter how worthless you are, I felt sorry feeding you garbage until the moment of death, so I brought proper food today."
Snow-white hair.
Her hair swayed along with the accessories signifying the highest-ranking clergy of the order.
"But to give it to you as is... for someone who doesn't even know what sin he's committed, this is far too extravagant food. Therefore."
She dropped the food into muddy water, then stepped on it with her shoe as she spoke.
"I must do at least this much for it to be a final meal befitting you."
Looking at the food covered in filth and dirt, Jeonghyeon bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
He was shackled with unbearably heavy fetters, and they used his inability to keep up with the carriage as an excuse.
Under the pretext of punishment, they had given him all their leftover food waste, or food trampled like that.
"Hurry and eat. Bark like a dog."
At those words, Jeonghyeon spat phlegm mixed with blood at her and said.
"...Fuck off, you fucking bitch."
At that single phrase, her expression, which had been smiling while feigning gentleness, contorted.
Those vulgar, arrogant eyes reminded her every time she saw them of the 'Saintess who stole her position.'
That's why she was about to stomp on his head until her anger subsided, as she always had, but...
"There's nothing as foolish as worrying about someone who'll die tomorrow anyway."
Not wanting to ruin things by doing anything unnecessary, she endured it and turned away.
Since tomorrow would be the complete farewell with him anyway.
"...May the Goddess's blessing always be with you."
When that scorn-filled voice had completely faded.
Rain began to fall drop by drop from the cloud-covered sky.
The wounds covering his body screamed just from the touch of the rain, but.
He showed no sign of it and looked up at the sky.
Such pain was nothing; thinking of the revenge that would soon begin, he could simply laugh it off pleasantly.
'Finally.'
It was time to be liberated from this long pain.
How long he had endured for this day.
Jeonghyeon repeatedly scratched at the restraints on his neck, arms, and ankles with his broken fingernails.
* * * * *
The Second Princess and the one called the Sword Saint, Karina.
She looked at the Hero covered in blood and dirt with an expressionless face.
One who didn't know his place, who struggled and thrashed about flaunting his meager pride.
Some might call it courage, but to her, it was merely reckless folly filled with vanity.
'That was why she hadn't been fond of the Hero at first, but.'
Seeing him sacrifice himself... no.
She let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
The word sacrifice wasn't right for a tool.
'It would be more correct to say he was used rather than sacrificed.'
Yes. Watching him be "used" according to his role, she had no choice but to acknowledge his existence.
Without him, they wouldn't have been able to continue this unreasonable journey.
"...What the fuck are you looking at, bitch?"
Of course, that was separate from actually liking him.
Karina smiled as she looked at the Hero glaring at her with a venomous gaze that hadn't disappeared even after several years.
Thanks to that attitude, it gave her two companions, including herself, an outlet to relieve stress.
Rattle.
The shackles binding him so he could do nothing—they were able to convey the pressure bestowed upon them in his stead.
Therefore, regardless of whether she liked him or not.
He was a necessary existence for this party.
"This shall be the last time with you. Even at the end, that expression remains the same."
In reply, he raised his middle finger as his answer.
His attitude, still not knowing his place, wasn't exactly to her liking.
But since he would cease to exist tomorrow anyway, she decided to generously forgive such thrashing.
'With this one time. All the honor that would go to him will come to me.'
If that happened, she would surpass the First Prince and the incomparably wicked First Princess to seize the right of succession.
'So now, soon.'
She didn't doubt at all that everything would fall into her hands.
Everything was flowing according to her will.
* * * * *
A rainy day without a single ray of sunlight.
Opening his eyes, Jeonghyeon laughed hollowly at the moth struggling in the muddy water with its wings torn.
The fact that this was what he saw on the morning of the last day was simply funny.
'...The last day.'
He fiddled with the "collar made of sealing stone" and closed his eyes.
He had tried to escape or kill them countless times.
Each time, this collar had ruined all his plans.
'So I did everything to remove it.'
Only the pain inflicted on his neck increased.
Until the final moment, he couldn't escape.
'...Whatever.'
That didn't matter anymore.
What truly mattered was.
"Ha... Finally the end. It was quite an interesting journey."
"Yes, it was. There were many dangers and accidents, but since we are the 'chosen ones,' it was only natural that we successfully completed the adventure."
"...Well. It wasn't bad."
For it was the act of plunging that excited, happy voice into despair.
Therefore, Jeonghyeon slowly dragged his legs and moved to the edge of the cliff with the best view of the Demon Lord's castle.
Now, with just one more step, everything would end.
The fate of this world, their fate, and his own fate.
So he could have ended everything by throwing himself off.
But a good idea came to mind, making him stop for a moment.
'Leaving without a word is bad manners.'
Since he was going anyway, wouldn't it be better to end it more dramatically?
So to see their expressions, he decided to call the spectators, picking up a fallen rock and tossing it casually into the tent.
It was a trivial act.
But the collar on him judged this as an "act of aggression" toward them.
Inflicting pain on his neck, it sent a signal to those in the tent.
'...Fuck.'
While feeling pain he could never get used to even after experiencing it hundreds of times, biting down—
Three figures came out from the tent with deeply furrowed brows.
Among them, the woman wearing a sword ground her teeth and glared at him first.
"...I was going to let you spend your last day quietly, but you don't know your place and thrash until the very end."
At the tone as if it were natural that he would die, Jeonghyeon laughed shortly.
Their self-centered thinking until the very end was incomparably disgusting.
Thus, thinking it fortunate he could take revenge without hesitation, he opened his mouth.
"...Didn't you know? These shackles and collar have quite a serious flaw."
"Ha. Struggling because you don't want to die. But it means nothing. Your death is already predetermined."
Simply hearing the voice made disgust rise up, but he swallowed it down and spoke.
"Right. But that death you speak of means self-destruction, doesn't it?"
"I don't know what you're trying to say. That is obviously..."
When it reached this point.
As if sensing something strange, the relaxed atmosphere vanished, and they looked at him with eyes of disbelief.
Toward them, Jeonghyeon spat out the words he had endured and held back.
"But did you think I'd actually do it?"
Realizing something was going strangely wrong at those words, the woman in white vestments hurriedly shouted something.
"There should be constraint magic on the collar? Whatever you do is meaningless, so stop this thrashing and mind your duty."
At those words, Jeonghyeon sneered and spoke.
"Constraint magic? That thing that punishes you severely if you try to harm you guys?"
Because of this, for the past few years he had been dragged around by them, unable to do anything, completely powerless.
Recalling that magic that had ruined everything about him.
He tightly gripped the collar made of sealing stone and spoke.
"That means, conversely, as long as I don't harm you guys, it doesn't care what I do, right?"
So if he didn't self-destruct, but instead committed suicide, there was no problem at all.
"Hero... th-that's right, aren't you the Hero? You were born to save this place in the first place..."
"No, you crazy fucking bitch. What kind of dog bullshit are you spewing? Why should I save this place? You kidnapped me by force and now you're asking me to save you? Has your head exploded from being pampered?"
"...Huh?"
"That salvation you bastards are talking about? Why should I care? Not only is this a place I've never seen before, but I'm treated like fucking dogshit. What kind of pathetic bastard would sacrifice himself for you?"
It was the most natural thing in the world.
With those as my final words, I sneered and spoke.
"So take care, assholes. I'm throwing off all the shackles and bonds of this world and leaving."
Recalling a picture that had been popular in the past, he raised his middle finger.
Of course, in that picture the person was going up, while he was falling down.
'Well, both of us are going to heaven anyway.'
Thinking it didn't really matter, he hurled himself off the cliff.
'...Fuck.'
Even as he fell, his mind was filled with nothing but how much everything fucking sucked.
If there had been even a sliver of an opportunity, he would have wanted proper revenge instead of this escape-like suicide, but.
'No matter what I did, I was stuck at level 1, and all skills and traits were blocked from acquisition.'
Even as a Hero, being completely unable to grow, he had no choice but to make this decision.
'Fuck.'
Through the gaps in his gradually darkening vision, he saw the world completely dyed purple, devoured by demonic energy, and twisted his lips.
The idea of this shitty world perishing with his death wasn't so bad.
Still, if possible, he would have wanted to take revenge directly rather than like this, thinking such regret-filled words as he crashed into the ground.
- Ding
[Error. Confirmed that the player viewed until the ending without dying in the tutorial where forced death was required.]
[Resolution: Bonus benefits granted according to playtime and achievements.]
Evaluation Result: EX Rank.
[Reward List]
1. Having been assigned the highest grade, you are allotted 10 bonus points.
2. Favorability, which had been forcibly designated and restricted to 0, is unlocked.
->
1. Second Princess Karina Favorability: 0 (Indifference) -> (Updating favorability points.)
2. Archbishop Rea Favorability: 0 (Indifference) -> (Updating favorability points.)
3. First High Elf Daisy: 0 (Indifference) -> (Updating favorability points.)
[Current bonus points: 10.]
[Generating new character.]
*Appearance cannot be changed and is "identical to before."
- Assigned Location: (Cannot be changed): Academy.
A world completely black like a character selection screen.
There, Jeonghyeon was granted a new opportunity.
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