The Worn-Down Triangle
In the fourth loop's hoopy house, Siwoo's heart harbored a triangle. Each time it wounded someone—once, twice—it spun, pricking at his conscience. Today, too, Siwoo had hurt another. But the triangle no longer stabbed. It had worn smooth and round. That triangle's name was the dopamine reward circuit.
Blonde hair sparkling like the sun. Eyes transparent as jewels. The Hero chosen by the Holy Sword.
She declared our parting in a voice cold as ice.
"Porter. You're expelled from the party."
"Wh-what? Why?"
"You just get in the way during battles, don't you? The Mage learned subspace magic, so we don't need a cumbersome porter anymore. Get out of my party."
"I thought... we were comrades..."
"Ha! What comrades? A guy who can't even fight. You're delusional."
"...Got it. Sorry. I'll leave the luggage here."
I didn't argue against the Hero's declaration of expulsion.
It wasn't because I knew she was actually worrying about me and deliberately being harsh to drive me away.
It was because I knew pretending to feel betrayed and leaving quietly would amplify the Hero's later despair and anguish.
The build-up took forever.
The finish matters most. If the Hero confesses she expelled me "for my sake," the yuyeol falls flat.
If she tries to grab me back... I could die right in front of her eyes then. Not a bad twist.
Just imagining it nearly made me laugh; I bit my tongue hard to hold it back. Blood filled my mouth.
Sensing the blood, the Hero trembled.
Good. Good. Good. This is it!
A soft-hearted kid like her pulling off an expulsion? Just leave it to the Mage. She'd act better.
Probably her sense of responsibility as party leader. Is this the same coward who used to shake and flee from slimes?
My chest swells with pride. Seeing the Hero's growth moves me to tears.
Sob sob.
I held back the overflowing tears and handed over the luggage to the Mage.
"Mage."
"Hurry up. We need to head out. Tsk. Why are you so slow?"
"Haha... Lots to sort through..."
"Sigh. Fine."
"The spices in this big jar—transfer them bit by bit to the small one for storage. Oh, and this is animal-derived seasoning, so don't give it to Illina. She might eat it if you don't tell her, but still, she's an elf. We should be careful so she doesn't get scolded by the World Tree later."
"You worry about the weirdest things. For someone useless to the party."
"Yeah. That's why I have to care more. These daily necessities are sorted by person, so keep them separate."
"Subspace storage doesn't mix things up."
"Handy. Oh, and I marked everyone's menstrual cycles on this calendar, so keep an eye on it for them, Mage."
"Wh-what?! Why would you track that?! Pervert?!"
"Haha. They get sensitive around then, and the Saintess is too shy to bring it up first."
"Th-that's true, but..."
"And this doll... it's yours, so you know."
"..."
As I organized the luggage, I handed the Mage a memo with notes. Favorite foods, dislikes, points needing regular attention, info to keep the Hero Party in top condition.
How many loops did it take to perfect that?
"Why so detailed...? Are you a stalker?"
"Haha..."
"...Crying?"
"N-no. Just... realizing it's really the end. Thanks to you all, I felt like I could do something to save the world. Even someone who can't fight lasted pretty long, huh? It was an honor beyond my station."
The Mage must've seen my emotional choking as sorrowful tears. She hesitated, about to say something, then pulled a fancy-looking pouch from her subspace and tossed it to me. Coins jingled inside.
"Here. Take this."
"Huh?"
"Severance pay. You weren't much help... but you stuck with us this long."
"This is too much money..."
"It's a lot to you, pocket change to us?!"
"...Yeah. Thanks."
I nodded and clipped the pouch to my belt—made for porters to hold gear like this. Perfect fit.
Nice. Gotta have these props.
"Take care. Thanks for everything."
"Thinking of the headaches you caused makes me relieved. Like shedding a wart."
"...Haha. Sorry."
"Tsk. Just go already. No clinging."
And so, I was expelled from the party. The luxurious severance pouch from the Mage jingled at my waist.
Great. Now—
On the way home, get robbed by bandits, lose the severance, and die!
Puh, puhehe, puhehehe—puhaha!
Ah! This is the hoopy house!
When they hear I died right after expulsion, how much despair for that righteous Hero?
Knowing it was her severance that got me robbed—how much guilt for that prickly Mage?
The lying Saintess? The elf who habitually trashes humans?
My soul's getting hard. Time to certify on the gallery.
The Multi-Possessed 'Me' Gallery. A communication system born from my personality cloned hundreds of times, possessing multiple novels/worlds simultaneously.
I just call it the yuyeol gallery. Blame the gallery dwellers' twisted lust for yuyeol.
Crazy bastards. Still, I'm better than these fucks.
"As expected, live threads get the best comments."
This gallery's probably 90% why my dopamine circuit's busted.
To survive in this troll-filled hellhole, I had to become a troll too.
They're all the same clones? Even identical twins live different lives from birth timing alone. Different worlds, bodies, start points—no same person.
I'm the normal one; these guys are braindead.
Anyway.
"Sigh. Trash."
Are these idiots incapable of productive living like me?
"Gallery time till the Bandit Den."
The Multi-Possessed 'Me' Gallery. Shortened to YuyeolGal.
To get why that abbreviation, you need the core bait of this deranged gallery.
In this world, you don't die when you die. Precisely, death rewinds to a fixed point, restarting.
Learning we can't truly die, "I" started rampant trolling with endless lives.
Suicide. Depravity. Yuyeol. The extreme sport leaking brain juice began.
By the way, death count shows in your IP on login. [000.000]. First three digits: dimension number. Last three: loop/turn count.
So [Anon(055.349)] diA349 times. Insane fuck.
"Sigh. Morons who don't cherish life."
Life's one-shot, so use it wisely. Meticulous build-up, emotional bonds, raise affection—then die from their wrong choice, eternal regret. True happiness.
Like me.
Yeah.
"Ah. Bandits here."
.
.
.
[You have died.]