Louise, Eldest Daughter of the Loengram Family, and Her Necklace
I was confused. What were those memories I'd just seen?
No — I already knew. I knew exactly what they were.
They were my memories. The ones I'd lost. The ones I hadn't been able to remember.
What I'd just seen — no, what I'd just recalled — wasn't someone else's past. It was mine.
The fact that I'd lived thirty-two years as Kim Yongsa of South Korea came flooding back. Not every detail of that previous life returned, but what did surface was clear enough: the game I'd played, and the knowledge that after a carefully worded inquiry to its developer, I'd died in that world and been reborn in this one.
The common sense of my former world, its values — I could feel them sitting somewhere inside me, like knowledge I ought to possess. But trying to pin any of it down, to think it through or put it into words, was impossible. It was as if a thick fog had settled over my mind.
One thing was certain: when I was very young, I hadn't forgotten any of this. And then, as I grew up, I'd simply… lost it?
No.
Someone had made me forget.
The developer…?
…
Even with my past life's memories restored, I had already spent decades in this world as Aaron. Those recollections were just information now. It wasn't that they carried no emotion at all — but if I could only carry out my master's revenge, then past lives and the secrets of this world hardly mattered.
Honestly, the revelation that this world was that pathetic game I'd once played was a shock, but—
?
Wait. A game?
The game I'd poured my entire life into?
That bug-riddled piece of garbage the developer had slapped together like absolute trash?
…
No. Impossible.
This was reality, no matter how you looked at it. Getting hit didn't chip away at an HP bar — it hurt. A blade drew blood and spilled guts because this wasn't a game. It was perfect, unforgiving reality.
…
Still… just in case. I knew it was stupid, but just in case, I tried calling it out. Something that obviously had no place in the real world. Something nobody used anymore even back before I died — a little embarrassing, and yet it made my heart skip just slightly.
"Status."
Of course nothing would happen. I could already feel my face starting to heat up.
And then, right in front of my mortified self, a translucent blue slate appeared.
I remembered it perfectly. The status window from that game.
HP:150 / 150
Mental Power:50
Resonance:60+ Correction 30
Luck:-3
[Title: Lord of Darkness]<Bound>
(Fixed) NTR Victim: Combat Power -50 against Playable Characters
▶ Luna (X)
▶ Louise (X)
▶ Stella (X)
▶ Lisa (X)
It was the same status window I'd seen to death in my previous life. I never imagined I'd one day be looking at my own.
What could I even say? It was a little shocking.
Back then, windows like this had been so common they were almost annoying. In this world, the concept didn't exist at all. It felt like telling a lie in a world where lies weren't supposed to be possible. Or maybe the better analogy was this: the world's design clearly included it, and yet no one had ever discovered it.
A strange feeling.
In that game, total combat power had been calculated from the individual stats. I never did figure out the exact formula all the way through.
I skimmed the numbers.
HP: 150/150. Mental Power: 50. Resonance: 60 + Correction 30. Luck: -3.
I couldn't be sure how these values stacked up here, but by the standards of that game, they put me at about the level of a moderately strong extra.
The fact that my Resonance was this high was probably thanks to Master's mana training. HP of 150… by this world's standards, my durability probably wasn't that low. But considering a playable character's base HP started at 300…
The "true heroes" I needed to take revenge on — if they really were the playable characters, then the gap between us was heaven and earth.
And then there were the Abilities…
Ah.
Looking at those made the back of my head throb. Didn't reincarnation usually come with at least one broken cheat ability? Hell, if I hadn't lost my memories, I could have done something.
NTR Victim. At least that confirmed one thing for certain: I was not a playable character in this world.
…
I kept scanning the status window, and near the bottom, a set of letters caught my eye.
Heroine routes…
Three familiar names. And then—
Luna.
I couldn't tear my eyes away from that one name. The X stamped beside it twisted something in my chest.
In my previous life, I'd only ever pursued the Empire route for Louise's capture path, so I'd barely touched the Kingdom route. Stella, Lisa… and Master must have been the Kingdom-route heroines.
What was strange was the Saintess. That bitch wasn't listed here. Was she not a heroine? Just thinking about her again made the rage surge up. That absolute piece of trash.
…
I could see the threads of revenge and hope at the same time.
The heroine "Luna." She wasn't some game character. She was my master.
If this place truly ran on the rules of that game I knew so well, then seizing the power to take revenge on those bastards was possible. And maybe — just maybe — bringing Master back was possible too.
If this world really was that game, then every single person who had a hand in Master's death… I would not let them die easily. An ordinary death was far too good for them.
I'd wait until they grew more mature, until they found someone they trusted and loved, until someone trusted and loved them in return. And then I'd drag them all the way down into hell.
I forced down the smile that threatened to slip free and called out to the girl climbing the stairs.
"Louise!"
She stopped mid-step and glared down at me with sharp eyes. Looking closer, I could see the faint sheen of tears. Something in my chest stirred at the sight of her like that.
I'd known it in my previous life, but damn — they'd packed in every single one of my preferences, hadn't they…
Was it the returning memories making me like this, or had I always been this shallow?
"Forget it. If you're about to try comforting me, I don't need that kind of—"
I waved a hand.
"No, I wasn't particularly planning to comfort you."
"…Then what?"
"You asked me to come with you, didn't you?"
A strange expression crossed her face — confusion mixed with a flicker of something like joy.
"Why so suddenly…?"
"You don't want me to?"
"N-no! That's not it! You mean that, right? You're serious?"
"Do I look like the type? Sorry, but I'm not very good at lying."
Louise smiled.
"Alright! I'll make sure you want for nothing while you're in the Empire, Aaron! I swear it on the name of Louise!"
I know you're broke.
Even so, I knew there wasn't a shred of falsehood in her words. Knowing her personality, she'd go to unreasonable lengths just to take care of me properly.
Seriously — how was she supposed to be the villainess?
She fumbled for words.
"Your lodgings! Your meals! A-and…"
"T-tuition, too! Everything will be provided in the name of House Loengram! It's my request, so of course—"
Louise, the destitute fallen noble. I could already picture her weeping as she sold off what little magical equipment and heirlooms she had left on the black market just to cover my tuition.
"Don't worry about any of that. I can handle it myself."
Her face went red.
"A-are you looking down on House Loengram? Worrying about a count family's fi-finances — what a fool."
She was so embarrassed — or perhaps a little humiliated — that her words came out in a severe stutter.
Hmm. That hadn't been what I meant at all. Though, yes, I was a little concerned about the state of her wallet…
I took two light steps, moving smoothly and naturally until I was right in front of her nose. She backed away a pace.
"What are you doing?! That's too clo—"
I reached behind her neck and carefully fastened her necklace for her.
"It's important to you. You should treat it with care."
Her face flushed scarlet.
"I was going to take it back anyway."
"I'll protect you, so just sit back and get carried, My Lady."
She squinted at me, clearly not understanding.
"Get… carri…?"
What was she even saying.
Whatever. A laugh slipped out of me before I could stop it.
If this world was a game — if it ran exactly like that game I'd poured so much time into — then it was possible. I had been reborn into the game I knew better than anyone, the one I was confident I was a complete veteran of.
Lord of Darkness, was it… The "ability" obtained by an NPC hero whose fate was only ever to have everything stolen from him. A garbage ability, sure — but maybe that was exactly what made it meaningful.
I, who was only ever meant to be robbed, would turn the tables and render all of you powerless.
The abilities that existed in this world — ones I'd seen thousands of times in my previous life, memorized thousands of times, exploited thousands of times. I knew with absolute certainty how you would use your powers, and how those powers ought to be used. With my ability, I would plunder every last one of them.
The heavy tangle of worries in my head felt a little lighter. I could see the path I needed to take. The method I knew best — the one that would make me strongest. The place I knew better than anywhere else.
From here on out, it was a straight shot down the Empire route.
And this life… if I happened to save the girl I'd loved in my previous life along the way, that was just killing two birds with one stone, wasn't it?
…
Why, though? A sudden, intense wave of déjà vu washed over me.
Huh?
Was that really the first time I'd spoken with her?
Must have been my imagination.