Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The Futility of Death
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I stared vacantly at the message floating before my eyes in the dark void.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Ken Fineschtein has died.] 'I died, huh.'
The system had never lied.
So the message it was showing me now was undeniable fact.
I was dead.
In the end, while desperately struggling to envision a happy future, I'd died pointlessly at the hands of the game's final boss.
'I wonder if everyone's okay.'
And strangely, my mind—adrift alone in this dark space—was utterly calm.
What happens after death?
Do I return to my original world?
No such worries crossed my mind.
All that surfaced were thoughts of three women.
Rapne, Emily, Mary.
The previous time I'd died, it had been a calculated death, and I'd been able to check on the three of them even after, so I hadn't felt much anxiety.
But this time, I'd left them facing the Supreme Commander—the game's final boss—and the former Demon King Arleus.
So all I could worry about was their safety.
'If only I'd... done things differently.'
And with the regrets came a flood of what-ifs.
What would have been the right choice?
Clearly, Jerry was the one who'd summoned those two.
Should I have killed her?
As the regrets poured in, various hypotheticals swirled in my head.
If I'd done this, if I'd done that.
But all of it was just idle speculation in my mind.
Dead as I was, there was nothing I could do.
A bodiless mind floating alone in the dark void.
A spirit that couldn't even shed tears.
All I could do was pray in my heart that the three of them were safe.
Then.
'...Hey.'
From somewhere.
'What the hell are you doing, giving up on your own like that?'
A voice reached me.
'......Who is that?'
A familiar voice, yet from an utterly unknown source.
Where was it coming from?
In this space of futility, where I couldn't distinguish right from left, up from down.
A strange voice that seemed to resonate through my entire being.
And soon, I realized whose voice it was.
It was.
'You didn't die.'
My own voice.
'You're not Ken Fineschtein.'
Mocking me like it was laughing at my dejected, hollow self, the voice pierced straight through.
'But from now on, you'll have to keep living as Ken Fineschtein.'
It pushed me forward, rousing my slumped spirit as if shoving my back.
Then, like magic, a single point of light began to shine in the dark, empty space.
A gentle warmth I'd never felt before dying.
I realized that was life itself.
'This is what they call repaying a debt of gratitude.'
I voiced my question at the words from the voice, which sounded almost embarrassed.
'A debt...?'
No particular memory came to mind, so the doubt was natural.
Nothing clicked at all.
But the voice's owner replied in a pleased tone.
'Because of you, I got to experience a happiness I never could have otherwise.'
My own voice expressing gratitude to me.
It was truly a bizarre experience.
But the question lingered.
Had I ever made someone that happy?
Always, I'd just.
Lived a life where I came first.
Meeting Rapne while jogging to lose weight.
Crafting items to save her.
Protecting Mary from the rain she feared.
Saving Emily when she was on the brink of death.
Losing weight to get stronger.
And proposing to the three of them to be happy together.
All of it.
Had always been for my own sake.
Because I wanted to be happy.
'So this is me repaying that debt.'
At the quiet voice, like a farewell, I felt my nonexistent body grow warm.
Huh?
So bodies are this warm, huh.
I only realized it after dying.
Death is cold.
And life.
Is this warm.
。 。 。
The first thing that pierced my ears as I opened my eyes was Rapne's familiar scream-like shout.
"Dieeeeeeee━!!"
My blurry vision quickly focused, revealing purple-tinged demonic energy flickering in the dark night sky.
I tilted my head slightly to the side, and there was Rapne charging at the jet-black knight Valburk with a yell.
Rapne shifted positions in an instant, like teleporting, and swung her spear at Valburk.
No matter that he was the Supreme Commander of the demons—Rapne's life-risking attacks overwhelmed him.
The moment he let his guard down, an attack from somewhere struck his armor, sending him staggering from the impact.
And behind the Supreme Commander, Arleus watched with a pathetic sneer.
I realized right away.
'I'm alive.'
But I didn't move rashly.
Feeling the cold grass on the ground, I kept my cool and maintained my reason.
I'd definitely died just moments ago.
Rapne's frenzied rampage was proof of that.
What about the others?
No need to turn my head hastily—one presence was right beside me.
"No... Hic, please... Don't do this...."
It was Emily's voice.
Her healing magic emanated warmth, enveloping my entire body.
She must have kept casting it on my body, which had been ice-cold until moments ago, refusing to give up.
I searched for the others' presences.
Where was Mary, out of my sight?
The moment that thought finished, a burst of blue ice shards caught the corner of my vision.
Mary's familiar freezing magic.
She was in the middle of battle.
Her opponent was Jerry.
Mary was likely blocking Jerry, who was trying to help the Supreme Commander take down Rapne.
The two were evenly matched, leveraging their signature magics in combat.
When Mary unleashed ice-based spells, Jerry dodged with spatial magic.
Then countered with simple but lethal attack spells.
Chaos.
That one word summed up the space we were in.
I'd died.
And Arleus was fighting them to claim the magic sword from my corpse.
He was convinced I was dead.
Even if I opened my eyes and stared at him.
Arleus watched Valburk and Jerry's battle with a bored expression.
He looked down on the two pitifully, unable to quickly defeat Rapne and Mary.
His arrogant face and posture screamed impatience at how long they were making him wait.
Casual confidence.
Never imagining anyone would point a sword at him.
And that leisure and arrogance.
"......Ken?"
Would cost you your life.
"You're... ali—!"
━Fwooooosh!!
As I slowly rose, Emily's surprised voice rang out.
But there was no time for reunion greetings now.
This was a chance granted by the heavens.
I poured every ounce of power from the body I'd honed until now into my thigh, stomping the ground.
Like a bullet firing from a rifle.
Shuuuuk!!
My body rocketed straight toward Arleus.
'...So this is the view Rapne always sees.'
With extreme tension and focus, it felt like the world around me slowed.
Maybe my body had awakened after dying and coming back.
Though it moved faster than in any battle before.
My mind was calmer than ever.
Valburk blocking Rapne's attack with his greatsword.
As I passed by his side, he noticed me and whipped his head around in alarm.
Jerry, appearing behind Mary with short-range spatial magic to counter her spell.
She spotted me hurtling toward her in an instant and hurriedly used spatial magic again.
Arleus noticed me.
When Jerry suddenly teleported right in front of him, where he'd been boredly watching the two fight.
He gave her a puzzled look as she appeared mid-battle.
Toward the nape of that arrogant demon's neck.
I drew the magic sword Tyrpione from my pocket and swung.
This sword was, without doubt.
The legendary blade that slays the progeny of demon gods.
As it neared him, a holy aura—like a goddess descending to earth—warmly enveloped the blade.
And so, the tiresome former Demon King of our fated grudge.
As his arrogant expression shifted to shock.
His head flew through the air.
Thud, roll, thud.
His head tumbled across the open ground like a soccer ball ricocheting off the goalpost.
Then, as if by magic, the purple demonic energy blanketing the area vanished.
And an eerie silence filled the surroundings.
Breaking that silence was none other than the rampaging Rapne.
She cut off her yell, staring at me with hollow, darkened eyes.
Then, like waking from a nightmare, her eyes sparkled as she looked at me.
"Keeeenn━!!"
Ignoring Valburk in the midst of battle, she rushed to me and threw herself into my arms.
Valburk—who'd been facing her—couldn't show his expression, but he stared vacantly at his fallen master on the ground.
Unlike Rapne, who had awakened from a dream.
Valburk's body froze, as if trapped in a nightmare.
The massive greatsword in his grip trembled.
"You bastard...."
Astonishment and rage blended perfectly in his voice as it flew into my ears.
Emitting an aura like he could curse me with words alone.
He swung his enormous greatsword at me.
"How daaaaaare you━!!!"