Chapter 191
Chapter 191
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: S4. The Path the Heart Takes -4
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Reminiscence.
My footprints—how had they looked?
#1: The Prince, the Flower, and the Resistance
The empire's Second Prince Irid.
He fell into a passionate love with Centra, a Resistance woman he met by chance.
In less than a week, he fell for her, loved her, talked with her, endured tragedy, burned with anguish, and put a period at the end of their story with farewell.
I took immense pleasure watching his utter immersion. The thrill of toying with an imperial prince—with the risk of everything going to hell—and the joy of him savoring my tale so thoroughly sent dopamine surging through me.
I pretended otherwise, but I couldn't deny the sly, dark desire I felt in manipulating human emotions with my own hands...
It was the moment I knew my otherworldly TRPG scheme hadn't been wrong.
This was it. So damn fun.
What if he'd been a bit less immersed, a bit more boring in his play? I would've kept at this hobby quietly regardless, but maybe with less enthusiasm.
No, wait. Even then... would I have obsessed over TRPGs?
Hm.
Looking back on that first story now, I notice details I barely glanced at back then.
Irid was a man with a resolute heart.
Wasn't he? To save the one he loved, he threw his whole body into the effort. Swept up in emotion, yet never irrational.
He didn't convene his think tank in blind panic. He weighed his love against the penalties of his actions, shouldered them, and reached his conclusion.
He even invited Elaine, with whom he'd been on bad terms. Even if all her accusations turned out to be misunderstandings, it was a massive decision for Irid at the time.
She was a huge rival in the fight for the throne, seen as a ruthless woman who could kill her own family for power.
And at the end of all that effort... he saved her.
Without resorting to metamorphosis.
He didn't let his emotions devour him and stain his soul.
Even in that moment of a century-long parting, as regret and despair flowed from his eyes... he overcame it. Then he moved forward, for the lingering scent of rosemary in his heart.
To gift a peaceful empire a hundred years hence to her future self.
I didn't know his resolve back then, but after flailing desperately in fear of losing Yuli Lanster and getting backstabbed by the queen, I finally understood how incredible it was.
What would I have done? If I had to part from her forever, never meet again, never share warmth... obvious. I'd shatter like a broken plate.
Or get completely swept away and turn pitch black.
The strength of heart to shoulder it quietly.
In him, I saw the path of kingship.
#2: A Thousand-League Escape
The empire's First Princess Elaine.
She met a young boy in the wasteland... but it wasn't love. No friendship either—just her own inner wedge, from that bizarre incident in the palace.
Now I know something similar to what dwelled in the First Prince resides in me too. If freaky stuff like that happens twice in this world, that's even more grim.
I wanted to recount the session, but there's not much to say. She ignored everything I prepared. Ferro and the rest were just travel companions.
Conversely... neither my sweets nor trials became any obstacle for her. So... it wasn't fun. She didn't agonize that much.
Elaine was a strong woman.
She overcame that childhood tragedy with her conviction that she had to, and even from just a slight prick to her swelling heart, she understood her own impulsiveness and fixed it.
Even Roderus kept his existing abilities, just adding utilities, but Elaine completely removed the self-harm option from her metamorphosis.
She must've been pondering it constantly. That's why a mere trigger was enough to change her heart. Closest to a sage of anyone I've seen.
Could she have endured it with that in her head?
The strength of heart to break through and conquer.
In her, I saw the path of hegemony.
#3: Resentment Toward the Stars
Black mage Bennett Hilton.
He fell into a wicked city preparing for a cult's evil god descent, broke through the danger with his friends, and saved the world.
This short paragraph holds so much pain. I made it that way. My sincere apologies to those three who faced my malice head-on.
Though it was just so damn enjoyable.
Yuna must've felt that escalating malice too. She's the one always worried about my corruption, watching my every move.
I don't think it was coincidence that she launched the "that thing" removal op right then. Separately from her inexperience guiding the story... if she hadn't pushed the plan.
How far would I have tormented those three?
Who knows. Maybe Isahac riding in on a skeletal horse with Abraham's head... or someone had to sacrifice to save the world.
Two broke, but one steadied his heart. Acknowledged his faults, accepted his desires, resolved himself, and moved forward. To not lose himself.
Even Yongke steadied his, it seems. Session data shows he got no NPC help.
He wandered out for dungeon crawls mid-session. Met some noble then?
People have inertia. Lie to yourself long enough, it becomes truth. Overcoming that inertia, stopping, and turning to the right path... how hard is that?
I can vaguely feel it. Haven't I lived until now, complacent in routine, blinding myself like an ostrich, just going with the flow?
Can I turn to the righteous path like that too?
The strength of heart to agonize yet steady and advance.
In him, I saw the path of return.
#4: Does a Butterfly Dream of a Magical Girl?
Assassin Roderus Redburn.
Swept into chaos, he became a magical girl. Started as a way to escape, but realizing the preciousness of daily life with friends, he ultimately saved the world as one.
With that weird brainwashing education holding hearts captive, nothing's more lethal to the heart than happiness. He shook however I swung him.
Gender swap confusion, the gap between happy dreams and harsh reality.
If he'd clung to his warped beliefs to the end, the darkness in me would've feasted. I'd prepared a finale just for such a fool.
Make him shatter his own happiness. Have him pierce Kim Lulu's heart with a rapier, make him feel the agony that his stubbornness severed a future where all could be happy. Perfect.
But fortunately, he was kinder than expected. Grateful for that. If he hadn't reformed and it ended tragic, my inner malice would've bloomed wildly.
No guilt, though.
I'm not soft enough to spare the guy who tried to take my life. He should thank me instead.
Saved his life, hooked him up with a badass hot girlfriend, gave him TS, opened new horizons. All good deeds, right?
So we're even.
But... that final moment. Scraping together his crumbling heart to stand for his friends. Impressive.
Would he overcome even if thrown into my situation, for his friends?
The strength of heart to rise again even after falling.
In him, I saw the path of righteousness.
#Extra: Martial World Journey
This tale is the result of my efforts, worries, and guilt. I held back hard. No ally deaths here.
Even barely touched Enbus's heart.
Regret lingers, though. If Nangong Myeong had died, better story. Or ignoring Luna and pushing Nangong Seungha as main.
So his change came from his swarming friends, not my story.
How to spin it? I went easy. Shadow Bennett might've been tough, but smashing Nangong Cheonghwi's head easy—reasons there.
But I learned: people change people.
...Alright.
Everyone faces the moment they choose their heart's path.
Reflection ends; now I need a path forward.
My protagonists each took theirs. Different situations, yet they'd act the same: shoulder, breakthrough, turn back, rise again.
Can I borrow their paths?
Or emulate their trajectories for a new one?
Countless forks lie before me. The path I must take, and I must choose one. Eyes wide open, look carefully.
......
To the left, an eye-catchingly pure white path.
The path of包容 and compassion. Understanding others' pain and pity, prioritizing them over self, shining benevolent enlightenment like sunlight on others.
And on it, footprints as if someone walked ahead.
Might sound weird, but... this feels like a path I "walked." A hazy intuition, déjà vu, even before choosing.
......
Far right, a sticky black path.
The path of self-righteousness and narcissism. Viewing others' joys and sorrows from a step away, prioritizing self, treating others as chess pieces in a model garden to fully enjoy this beautiful world.
And scattered dragon scales, cracked sporadically.
Somehow... I knew immense pleasure awaited its end. Days filled with omnipotence and dopamine, toying with the world like a toy.
......
I...
Hated both.
Want to live in a bright world with loved ones. But crush those harming my people mercilessly.
Live happy and fun by any means. But keep the minimal line making me human.
Be good. But not bound by such crudeness.
Enjoy games. But live reality.
Always confused.
Couldn't judge what to affirm, deny. Honest desire to love someone means heeding the voice to break and manipulate others.
Abandon all desires for greater good, love the whole world? Can't give my girls deeper love, must forsake my life's joys.
A boy with dice, angels and demons whispering alternately.
That was me. The me I faced.
Be good, be evil. Amid that painful whisper.
"Makes sense—all your stories had happy endings, didn't they?"
Yuli's words flashed.
...Maybe the answer's closer than I think.
All paths I retraced lead to the same point.
They confronted their hearts and won.
Moved toward what they believed right, even in torment.
I stared at the die in my hand, vaguely knowing. My humble-yet-flashy hobby... would be my discipline.
Roll.
The die rolled, its path becoming line and road.
This line: left is reality, right is game.
Won't deny urges. I have desires. A nasty bastard inside tormenting and mocking people. Admit it.
But it'll be just a game. I'll bind it.
Will affirm urges. I have desires. Spoiled dreamer loving my loved ones, dreaming paradise. Admit it.
But that'll be reality. I'll make it.
I'm weak. Pathetic against minor emotional shakes. Might wobble, stray, veer from my path. Will happen. I know.
But I decided. Resolved. Will try.
If obsession torments me, embrace and metamorphose. Like caterpillar to butterfly through endurance.
If desire pains others, sublimate beautifully. Like the tightrope I've walked.
"......"
The color of my heart flickers in my grasp.
White and black alternating, seeming gray. No soul to dye, just wavering in void.
This is my metamorphosis... in waiting.
For now, just applied to others' souls to twist metamorphosis—call it Metamorphosis Extra Module?
Black dyes amp aggression, white amps support. New... technique.
How will it change 『Soul Web Binding』?
Yuli and I intuited its effect.
Dye Yuli Lanster's metamorphosis black for a lethal strike on the succubus queen. But we'd forfeit one thing.
"...It's fine."
Yuli smiled it's okay. I hesitated briefly, then nodded.
We lose one, but can reclaim it. Then do it. Steel resolve for happy ending.
Kill the white queen.
I'll craft a scenario: two players trapped in weird mental space defeat queen and escape.
Title: 『The Succubus's Love』.