〈 Episode 2 〉 Yeah, I Just Need to Kill Myself~ 2
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Ding.
[Error. Confirmed that the Player did not die in the Prologue where forced death was mandatory, and watched through to the Ending.]
[Resolution: Granting bonus benefits according to play time and achievements.]
Jeonghyeon looked at the message floating before his eyes once more and let out a hollow laugh.
‘An error?’
The reason he’d lived a life worse than livestock for the past few years was something as simple as an error?
‘These sons of bitches, really.’
An unbearable rage crashed over him.
He wanted to smash the system window with all his heart, but swinging his hand at an intangible system window held no meaning whatsoever. He suppressed it with effort, calming his emotions.
‘Fuck.’
He spat once, then calmly looked at the message before him.
Perk Points and Affection unlocked.
For now, he decided to focus on the Perk Points among these.
‘First off, whether those bastards’ Affection hits a hundred or not is none of my damn business.’
Even if an enemy he wanted to tear to shreds grew fond of him and treated him well due to some event, there was no way he’d forget all his grudges and forgive them just because of that, was there?
‘Only a goddamn retarded pushover would do that.’
Of course, there might be such people, but he wasn’t one of them. Thinking he didn’t even need to know about it, he pushed this aside and scanned the Perk Points list from top to bottom.
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[Perk Points List]
1. Skilled Dexterity (1 point)
2. Agile (2 points)
3. Spirit Affinity (2 points)
4. Charming (1 point)
*
Hundreds of Perk Points. After looking through them all, Jeonghyeon selected two.
[Surreal Genius] (5 points)
- The Player’s growth speed and learning ability increase unrealistically.
[Surreal Luck] (5 points)
- Luck accompanies everything you do.
The reason for choosing these two? It was simple. Among the traits he’d seen while being dragged around by those bastards for years, these were the best.
‘No, to be exact, it’s right to say these are even better than the traits I’d seen.’
Even Nerea, called the Sword Saint, had ‘Overwhelming Genius’—meaning she possessed a 4-point trait one tier below ‘Surreal Genius.’ And Surreal Luck was a trait one tier higher than even Marco, called the Golden King.
‘Anyway, what’s certain is that these 5-point traits are beyond the realm of human limits.’
So thinking that at least he wouldn’t fail in revenge for lack of talent or suffer unjustly for lack of luck, he pressed ‘Create New Character,’ the next step.
*
[A new character will be created.]
*Appearance cannot be changed and is ‘identical to before.’
Name: (Please set a name.)
- Assigned Location: (Cannot be changed): Academy.
Equipped Traits: [Surreal Genius], [Surreal Luck]
*
‘The Academy?’
Why the Academy, of all things, now? Since it couldn’t be changed, he pressed it to at least learn the reason.
[The Main Storyline cannot be changed.]
That message popped up, and a memory from the past surfaced. A game trailer he’d glimpsed in passing. He remembered the Hero and companions training at the Academy.
‘…Come to think of it, this place was set in an academy from the start.’
That’s why when he first came here, the memory of wondering, ‘Why didn’t I start somewhere else instead of the Academy?’ had suddenly surfaced. Of course, that thought had quickly vanished due to the treatment and circumstances he’d faced.
‘Well, whatever.’
Starting at the Academy seemed mandatory.
‘Whatever, it doesn’t matter. The fact that it’s this forced means they’ve prepared rewards to match.’
Academy games were, in other words, games that prepared countless arrangements within the Academy. There was a high probability of discovering numerous elements for growth while staying here.
‘So I’ll grow as fast as possible at the Academy and achieve revenge. That would be ideal.’
I resolved to do so and pressed Complete Creation.
* * * * * *
“…This happened because of your petty pride? Satisfied now?”
Daisy—the first High Elf, and one of only ten 7-Star Archmages in the entire world—realizing everything was over, demanded they take responsibility for it.
“You tormented him every single day and eventually drove him to suicide? And right before the great undertaking?”
To hide her own fault of having watched from the sidelines all this time, she deliberately pointed out their faults and sneered.
At her words, Karina, who was nearby, muttered in denial of reality.
“…It shouldn’t be like this? If he’s the Hero… the Hero should of course sacrifice…”
Still showing no interest in the Hero’s death, only full of interest in his sacrifice. Daisy, noticing this, realized at least a little why the Hero had committed suicide, but because everything was already over, such realization, even if gained, changed nothing.
“…For now, I believe it would be best to search beneath the cliff. If by chance he’s caught on a branch and alive, we can still use him.”
The next to answer was Archbishop Lea. She spoke while looking down at the cliff with an expressionless face, and Daisy deliberately made a sneering expression toward her and replied.
“Ha. Surviving a fall from this cliff? Must be nice to be our Archbishop. Nothing but flower gardens in your head.”
Grind.
At such sarcasm, Lea bit her teeth hard and replied coldly.
“Then what do you suggest? We can’t just stand idly by with our hands off, can we?”
At those words, Daisy had no choice but to shut her mouth. In this place filled with demonic energy, it was nearly impossible for the Hero, whose stamina was worse than an ordinary person’s, to be alive. But if he truly were alive by some miracle, he could solve all these problems.
‘There’s nothing we can do anyway.’
Searching as Lea said might be right. Daisy showed her intent to follow Lea’s words despite her annoyance, and Lea looked at her and the despairing Karina and answered.
“And we need the body, dead or alive. We can’t return to the capital and say something like ‘The Hero committed suicide and disappeared.’ We have no choice but to disguise it as another accident and bring him back.”
Certainly. If they disguised it as an accidental death rather than suicide, they would face less responsibility. After all, the decision to put a seal stone collar on him had been made by other superiors, not them.
“We tried to hold back the monsters as best we could, but couldn’t withstand them in the end and he died… This much should be appropriate.”
As if she had already thought of what excuse to make, Lea explained to them the flow of events they would fabricate, then glanced at the cliff and spoke briefly.
“Therefore, finding the Hero is the top priority. Your Highness, please come to your senses and focus on the search. Of course, you too, Daisy.”
“Y-yeah. Understood.”
“…It can’t be helped.”
With those words, they exchanged glances and then descended below to search for the Hero.
* * *
Several days passed since then, yet they couldn’t find the Hero’s body… no, not even a trace of his body. Lea despaired at this fact and bit her nails.
‘…Why?’
No matter how far he fell from this height, a body should remain. Why couldn’t they find even a bloodstain, let alone a body? She scratched her reddened nails with her other nails and closed her eyes.
[Using Holy Power Detection.]
She tried using Holy Power Detection again, which she had already used over a thousand times. But as expected, nothing was detected this time either. An outsider might wonder, ‘Did he run away or something?’ but someone with as much holy power as the Hero left residual holy power even from standing briefly, so finding no traces whatsoever was absurd.
‘Why? Why?’
She threw question after question at the Hero whose traces had vanished as if disintegrated in an instant, but there was no way he would answer. She simply bit her lip until blood flowed and harbored hatred.
‘One step… If only I had advanced one more step.’
That hateful Hero, resembling the Saint, had ruined everything. While thinking she cursed his everything, a sound like something breaking was heard nearby.
[The Affection restriction is released.]
She couldn’t see anything, couldn’t feel anything, yet she felt an alien sensation gradually wrapping around her body. She didn’t know what this was, but wondering if it was related to the Hero, she splashed through muddy water and looked around.
“……”
No matter how much she ran around, she couldn’t find anything, so she had no choice but to grit her teeth with frustration. ‘If he had died by Holy Power Bomb, he could have remained a hero. But to do something meaningless like suicide… Truly, he is pathetic beyond measure.’ How could he be such a nuisance even in death? Thinking the Hero’s actions were no different from the Saint’s, she prayed that the hateful Hero would be unable to rest in peace even in death.
‘May the Hero who failed his role pay the price.’
Only then could she relieve even a bit of this resentment. Lea bit her nails for a while, spewing malice, then soon sighed and brushed her wet hair back, forcibly shaking it off. Spending any more attention on a useless thing whose value was exhausted was a meaningless waste.
‘What’s important now isn’t hating the Hero, but how to resolve this situation.’
No matter what they did, the fact that the Hero was dead wouldn’t change. They needed someone to take responsibility in his stead.
‘For example… the refugees staying nearby.’
If they used those without even a voice as shields to avoid responsibility, they couldn’t erase their guilt completely, but they could reduce it to some degree. But it would be difficult to reduce it through ordinary means, so she would have to fabricate a rather sensational story and appeal with it. Lea decided to do so, gathered Karina and Daisy, and then spoke to them while feigning tears.
“Sadly, while we were scouting the Demon King’s Castle, some of the nearby refugees, unable to bear their hunger, killed the Hero and looted his belongings.”
Daisy was the first to react to that single sentence. She smiled gracefully and tilted her head.
“That’s right… There was that method. Certainly, doing that wouldn’t erase our responsibility, but at least we wouldn’t be the first scapegoats.”
Originally, the first scapegoat bears the largest portion of responsibility. So if they could avoid becoming the first to be blamed, the responsibilities that followed could somehow be endured. Since they couldn’t even find the Hero’s body now, the best course was to use suitable sacrificial lambs—expendable people—to cover up their responsibility.
“…It would be better if the criminals couldn’t talk.”
The Second Princess Karina, who had been listening, offered her opinion. Since she was the one who suffered the most from this failure, she seemed eager to be the first to fabricate evidence.
“Yes. It’s better to have no unnecessary variables.”
“…Then I shall take the lead first.”
“Please do.”
“Then I’ll set the stage.”
Everyone’s opinions unified into one. Lea was thinking this would avert the worst, when suddenly she felt the alien sensation welling up again.
Ding.
*
[Due to an error, obtaining Affection that had not been acquired until now.]
[Accompanying +1] [Mission Completion +1] [Accompanying +1] [Accompanying +1] [Accompanying +1] …
[Excessive amount of Affection increase confirmed.]
[Affection increase temporarily halted.]
[Current Affection: 50] (Significant Fondness)
[Until Affection Lock Release: 10 minutes]
*
A sensation she felt for the first time in her life, flaring up suddenly. It couldn’t be called a negative emotion; it was warm, fluttering, and gentle. She wondered why she felt such an all-embracing sensation in this situation.
*
[Affection Lock has been released.]
[Warning! Excessive amount of Affection increase detected again!]
[Affection increase temporarily halted again.]
[Current Affection: 80] (Love That Cannot Let Go)
[Until Affection Lock Release: 10 minutes]
*
The emotion that had been endlessly warm sank in an instant the moment she saw the cliff the Hero had fallen from, transforming into a chest-piercing pain, bringing an indescribable disgust.
“Ah…?”
Why was such an emotion flaring up suddenly? She thought she simply couldn’t know and tried to deny it.
Ding.
[Warning! Affection is rapidly increasing again!]
[Affection is reaching maximum!]
That emotion had already grown too large to suppress, so in the end she instantly fell into a swamp of emotions, complicating her mind.
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