Lee Hye-yeong
On the Xth of X, 202X.
A murder case erupted at XX High School.
A woman who had only just turned twenty, on the very day of her graduation ceremony, slaughtered not one or two people but dozens, and injured nearly a hundred more—a horrific incident that plunged the entire Republic of Korea into shock.
No one ever spoke to her.
In her entire life she had never possessed a single person she could call a friend, nor had she ever spent even a fleeting moment socializing with any classmate while attending school. Yet she was not a bullying victim either—no one tormented her. People simply never addressed her at all.
In the early days a few students had approached her because of her pretty face, but childhood traumas had left her with severe social anxiety, so she avoided people of her own accord. Combined with the uniquely gloomy aura she radiated, others naturally began to keep their distance. And because she preferred solitude, she was content with that arrangement.
Until she met him.
“Choi Hyeonwoo! This is a handout the teacher gave me—hand them out for me, will you?”
“Hey, that’s the class president’s job!”
“Come on, Hyeonwoo, please? The teacher just called me back again!”
“Ugh, I can’t catch a break…”
The boy who was class president’s reluctant errand-runner grumbled under his breath, yet still went around distributing the papers to his classmates. He seemed to get along well with the people around him; every single one of them tossed familiar jokes his way while he worked.
“Choi Hyeonwoo’s playing shuttle again~?”
“Hyeonwoo-kun! Can’t refuse a childhood friend’s request, can you?”
“Ah, shut the hell up!”
He cursed and complained, but he did not seem to mind all that much.
“Looks like I’ve handed them all out… Ah! Here, you take one too.”
“Huh? Oh… okay…”
Unlike every other student, that boy made no effort to avoid her. He treated her without the slightest hesitation. At first she tried to keep him at arm’s length the same way she did everyone else, but he never seemed to notice and continued treating her exactly the same.
On days she arrived late and missed announcements, or when the classroom changed while she was in the restroom—facts that no one else had ever bothered to tell the girl who kept her distance—he alone made sure she knew.
“Hey, Lee Hye-yeong, you were out yesterday, right?”
“Lee Hye-yeong, today’s an outdoor class.”
Because he looked after her, the girl who had no friends was never left out of anything related to her studies.
“Choi Hyeonwoo~ Playing both sides, are we?”
“Hyeonwoo-kun! The class president’s gonna get jealous!”
“Piss off! So I’m just supposed to ignore a classmate?”
No matter how much the others teased and needled him, he never stopped looking out for her. Until then no one had ever approached her; the moment she showed discomfort, people simply stopped coming near. So when he kept giving her attention, she found herself unconsciously returning it.
The people who later locked her inside a narrow iron cage said things like this:
He was only looking after a classmate. At worst, he was being a busybody. His actions held no deeper meaning.
Don’t make me laugh.
That couldn’t possibly be true.
One day he glanced at the university pamphlet she had left carelessly on her desk.
“Huh? Thinking of applying to XX University? I’ve been considering that place too.”
“XX University… which major?”
She wanted him to pay her even more attention. He had said he was thinking of going there. So she answered that she wanted to enter any department at that school—even though she had no real interest in it.
“Whoa, the competition’s insanely tough~”
“Hmm, but with your grades you might actually make it.”
He really was interested in her. He even knew her grades.
“College entrance exams are almost here.”
“Let’s both give it our all and get into a good university!”
He told her to cheer up together. He told her they should go to the same school. He had promised her a future together. Otherwise there was no way he would smile at her with that beautiful face and say such things.
She had never decided which university she wanted. But because her grades were excellent, getting into the school and major he desired was not difficult. No—no matter how difficult it might be, she filled out the application with the absolute determination that they would go together.
And yet.
“Hyeonwoo, didn’t you say you were going to XX University?”
“Ah, I kinda bombed the science section, so I applied somewhere else.”
“What?”
“Where’d you apply?”
“OO University, Business Administration.”
“Huh? I’m going to OO University Business too?”
“Ah! Isn’t it about time we broke up already?”
“Hey! You wanna die?”
She had listed XX University—the one he had mentioned—as her first choice. Because he had said he was interested in business, she had even matched the exact major. And now this?
He had applied to an entirely different school and was laughing with the class president he called his childhood friend.
Did he deceive me?
Did he trick me?
“Hye-yeong, you applied to XX University, right?”
“Yeah. Because of you, Hyeonwoo.”
“You’ll definitely get in! Fighting!”
Fighting?
How could he say that?
Hadn’t he clearly said they would go together?
With those words, Choi Hyeonwoo drifted away from her.
Or had they ever truly been close to begin with?
“Hey! Choi Hyeonwoo, Hye-yeong thinks you’re an idiot, so of course she’ll pass.”
“Ah! Kim Suyeong! You wanna keep running your mouth?!”
Ah. So it was because of her.
That bitch had seduced Hyeonwoo.
Yes.
It was all Kim Suyeong’s fault—that trash who kept clinging to him for years under the excuse of being childhood friends.
But.
Hyeonwoo.
Even if she’s trash, you went to her. You’re at fault too.
Liar!
You said you wanted to be with me.
You said you li… liked me.
If that weren’t true…
Above all!
There’s no way you would smile at me with such a pretty face!
And yet.
You’ve already fallen into that bitch’s hands?
No. I will never accept that.
Shunk!
“Guh…! What the hell…?”
Why are you pretending not to know?
I was just sitting quietly.
I only wanted to be alone.
And you made me fall in love with you!
“Guh…!! I never…!”
You did, didn’t you? You’ll remember.
But it’s too late now, Hyeonwoo!
If I can’t have you, I’ll destroy you.
Kyahahaha!!
Hah… hah…
Hyeonwoo?
Bloody tears were streaming from the corners of his eyes.
Ah, so you’re sad too.
Hyeonwoo, your heart really hurt, didn’t it?
And then he stopped moving, eyes still open.
You’re not moving?
Hyeonwoo? Hyeonwoo? Hyeonwoo?
“Everyone, what’s going on—move aside!”
That voice…
“H-Hyeonwoo!? What on earth…?”
Ah. It’s you.
“Hey! Lee Hye-yeong! Did you do this!?”
Hahaha.
“Call an ambulance—no, the police!”
Hyeonwoo ended up like this.
I ended up like this.
“Hey, hey! Don’t come near me!”
It’s your fault.
It’s all your fault, you bitch.
I can’t forgive you.
“Aaaah! Run!!”
All of you who stood by and let Hyeonwoo become like this…
I can’t forgive you either.
Kyahahahahaha!!
I’ll smash everything.
I’ll kill every last one of you.
What happened after that, she no longer remembered clearly.
What good would remembering do?
Hyeonwoo was already gone from this world.
Hyeonwoo… by my own hands…
“Defendant Lee Hye-yeong. For the murder of dozens including Mr. Choi, and for the injury of dozens more…”
By my own hands?
“Is hereby sentenced to death…?”
“Aaaaaaaaah!!”
By my own hands
By my own hands
By my own hands
By my own hands
No
No
No
That can’t be.
That can’t possibly be true.
“Restrain the defendant at once!”
“Guh…! Guh…!”
“A demon! She’s a demon!”
“Jury members, please maintain order!!”
Hyeonwoo… Hyeonwoo…
“Ahem. The sentence is death.”
Ah… death?
“Kyahahaha!!”
“Someone gag the defendant!”
Hyeonwoo no longer existed in this world.
If she died as well, then in the next world she would be able to meet him.
And so she spent her remaining days waiting for death, waiting to reunite with the one she loved.
Yet when she came to her senses, she realized she was no longer inside an iron cage but standing in a pure-white space.
“Wh-where…?”
“Hello, Miss Lee Hye-yeong.”
Startled, she looked around, and a woman suddenly appeared before her. Pure-white wings spread from the woman’s back, and a halo floated above her head. Faced with the unreal situation, she opened her mouth in confusion.
“Wh-who are you…?”
“I am Goddess Rabinus of Isania—a world different from the Earth on which you lived.”
“What on earth…?”
Another world?
It was difficult to understand.
“In a place like Earth, devoid of mana, internal energy, or any form of power, you struck down countless people with nothing but pure physical strength. I was deeply moved by the sight.”
“Pardon…?”
Struck down countless people…?
At those words the memory of slaughtering that hateful bitch and the rest of the trash flashed through her mind.
“That is why, having witnessed your potential, I have summoned you to our world.”
“...?”
What did any of that have to do with this situation?
“Please defeat the Demon King who exists in our world.”
“All of a sudden…?”
A Demon King—such an abrupt story that she was about to protest, yet—
“If you accept, I shall grant you whatever you desire.”
“!!!”
The woman’s next words stopped her cold.
“Th-then send me to where Hyeonwoo is!”
“Hyeonwoo—the man you love, correct?”
“Yes!”
The woman, who of course already knew exactly what she wanted, answered at once.
“Then the bargain is struck. The world you are about to enter contains him.”
“What? Really!?”
“Yes. However, he has been reborn in a different form.”
“Th-that’s fine. No matter what he looks like, I’ll find him!”
“Then I shall send you to Isania.”
“Yes! Yes!”
She had been waiting only for death so she could meet the one she loved again.
He had not been in the afterlife—he had been in another world entirely.
“From this point on there will be someone who hears my voice and conveys my will; simply follow their instructions.”
“Hah… hah…”
She was suddenly overwhelmed with excitement.
Ever since she had been separated from the one she loved, nothing had held meaning.
Even in death she had never been certain they would reunite.
And now she could meet him again!
This was fate!
“If you defeat the Demon King, you will be able to spend the rest of your life with the one you desire.”
“Yes! Yes!”
“I shall bestow my blessing so that you may fulfill the Hero’s mission. May fortune favor you.”
With the final words of the woman who called herself a goddess, a brilliant light enveloped her.
And then—
She found herself inside a building that felt distinctly medieval.
“Ooooh! The Hero summoning was a success!”
When she came to, people in priestly robes surrounded her. Standing directly in front of her was a woman who appeared to hold the highest rank among them. That woman beamed and addressed her.
“Haha! Greetings, Hero from another world. I am Pope Tenesa. Might I ask your name?”
“...Lee Hye-yeong.”
She had just arrived in the other world where the one she loved now lived.