Demon King, Chaebol Heiress, Baek Ga-eun (3)
[··· That's impossible.]
"Haa···"
I went to bed early in the evening, pressing my head against the goddess's to find an opportunity to meet Baek Ga-eun. But it wasn't easy for an ordinary commoner like me to encounter a chaebol heiress.
The hero, Hyeon Ha-yeon, had joined the company, receiving lessons and steadily growing. With her fresh and bright personality, she won over everyone around her. As Hyeon Ha-yeon grew and gained more favor, the goddess's influence expanded accordingly.
I'd begged her to show some kind of miracle to that girl, but···
[··· Impossible.]
Frustrated by the endless rejections, I kept spouting nonsense, and she sighed each time as if I were pathetic, turning me down repeatedly.
In the end, no solution emerged.
"Hyeon Ha-yeon··· she's strong, so maybe she'll be fine somehow?"
The hero from the past couldn't be summed up merely as "strong." The first time I'd glimpsed her history, she'd single-handedly halted a war—though by slaughtering both allies and enemies alike. And that was before she'd even reached her prime···
"···Huh? Wait···"
[No.]
The goddess dismissed it outright, warning that if the women recovered their memories and clashed, disaster would follow.
But no matter how absurdly powerful Hyeon Ha-yeon might be, this was a world without swords or magic.
"Come on~ In this day and age, the worst that could happen is a knife fight, right?"
[Naturally, with their current selves, it would end as a mere lovers' quarrel···]
[···Just see for yourself.]
The goddess extended her hand, and a warm light enveloped my eyes.
[A record of one of the many battles between the Hero and the Demon King.]
*
A gentle breeze tickled my face. When I opened my eyes, a vast grassy field stretched before me under a clear blue sky. The soothing wind carried the warm scent of the sun, calming my mind for the first time in ages.
Turning my gaze, I was shocked by the sight of my past self. He looked more wretched than I'd imagined—staring blankly at the sky with a dumb expression, his legs scarred with long gashes where muscles had been sliced away. His body was covered in wounds, telling tales of unimaginable hardship. Recalling the past lives I'd witnessed, pity welled up inside me.
Moments later, a figure appeared out of thin air. She was neither the Hero nor the Demon King.
"Ahh··· Hero, I'm here~"
The blonde woman called me "Hero" and hugged me tight. Burying her nose in my chest and inhaling deeply, she spoke in a voice dripping with delight.
"Snuuup··· Haa~ Did you have a good day today, Hero?"
"···"
I didn't respond. Undeterred by my ignoring her, she stroked my hair and murmured slyly.
"Come on··· Time to head to the bedroom, Hero."
"!"
My past self flinched at "bedroom" and reached out to push her away, but···
"Hehe··· Still got some fight left in you, huh?"
Watching me struggle feebly, she smiled gracefully, subdued me effortlessly, and scooped me into her arms. Trembling helplessly as she stood with me cradled against her, the world glitched—the sky and earth flickering like a TV losing signal. As she turned and walked, reality blacked out like a power failure.
In an instant, my darkened vision shifted. The endless grassland became a floor etched with intricate patterns, the high blue sky a low ceiling. She carried me down a dim corridor into a spacious room and tossed me onto the bed.
Thrown aside, I scrambled away from her on all fours, shaking violently in a desperate bid to escape.
"H-Hiiik···"
"Where are you going, Hero~?"
She giggled endearingly at my crawling desperation, grabbed me, and pinned me to the bed. I thrashed against the overwhelming power gap, but it was futile once she seized my arms. Smiling fondly even at my futile struggles, she pressed me down firmly and locked eyes with me.
"Ah~ You're still not pregnant···"
"···"
Muttering to herself, she kissed me savagely. Mounted and helpless, I could only endure her teasing touches.
···Can we skip this part?
[···]
The goddess, clearly unwilling to watch, skipped ahead without a word.
*
A warm light wrapped around me, and my consciousness cleared. The acrid stench of smoke filled the air. Opening my eyes, I saw rubble from shattered buildings and mangled corpses strewn everywhere—the most brutal scene of any past life I'd viewed. Wrinkling my nose at the gore, I scanned the surroundings.
In a nearby clearing stood the blonde woman, facing off against a familiar face: the Hero, Hyeon Ha-yeon.
The blonde sneered triumphantly at the Hero.
"You think the Hero would fall for a brute like you?"
"···"
The Hero glared stoically, but her rippling hair betrayed the fury boiling within from the blonde's aura.
Mocking her, the blonde caressed her lower belly provocatively.
"Ah~ What to do? I'm carrying the Hero's child··· A kid can't grow up without their daddy, right?"
"···You filthy bitch."
Finally provoked, the Hero lunged first. Each clash of their blades unleashed thunderous booms that shook the earth, the shockwaves killing even those crawling for survival amid the debris.
Their exchange was too fast for my eyes to follow. When the dust settled, someone had fallen.
The Hero stood unscathed, not a drop of blood on her. Beneath her feet, the blonde bled from countless wounds yet smiled mockingly, stroking her belly.
"Heh, hehehe··· I win··· You loser bitch."
"···"
The Hero raised her massive sword and plunged it into the blonde's belly without hesitation.
Squelch.
"Guhk···"
The Hero withdrew and stabbed repeatedly, butchering the woman's gut with calm precision until she split in two. Even then, unsatisfied, the Hero hacked the corpse to pieces before searching for me.
"There you are."
She found me at last. Struggling to keep her voice steady, she said calmly—though it trembled faintly.
"I looked everywhere···"
Confirming my inability to move due to the blonde's handiwork, her anger flared anew, but she wiped the blood from her hands and stroked my body gently, holding back.
At her familiar touch, I forced an awkward smile.
"I-It’s been a while···"
"You ran off saying you hated me··· And after all that, you went and fawned over trash like her?"
"Ugh··· Th-that’s···"
"···Anyway, it's been a while, so···"
BOOM!!
She couldn't finish. A blinding light struck her like lightning, leaving only a charred scorch mark where she'd stood. The beam targeted her precisely, sparing me nearby unharmed.
"Ah··· You've gotten dirty···"
A familiar voice came from beside me. Huddled and trembling in shock, I sought its source. Long straight hair reaching her waist resembled snow-white eyes, her drowsy gaze with crimson pupils lending her an ethereal mystery.
The Demon King had arrived.
She magicked away the bloodstains on my body, grumbling.
"Always so filthy··· Ah, that's better now."
"···"
My past self stared blankly, unfamiliar with the Demon King.
Noticing, she addressed me anew.
"···This is our first meeting, huh."
"Nice to meet you. My name is···"
Thud!
Before she could finish, the Hero charged and slashed at her.
"···Tough one."
The Demon King, now behind the Hero, spoke irritably. With a casual wave, she sliced open space and vanished through the rift.
The Hero stared at the spot, then turned to me.
"···I'll be right back."
Without waiting for my reply, she slashed the air—the same rift—and disappeared inside.
Unable to process it, my past self slumped in a daze.
*
My consciousness snapped back, and I opened my eyes before the goddess, feeling hollow at the abruptly ended record.
"···Is that it?"
[Yes.]
"I thought you'd show something epic, but it ended before it even started."
[···This is the end of this past record.]
[···When the Hero and Demon King at their peaks clashed, the world was destroyed.]
"What?"
Realizing her words moments later, I recoiled in horror. The goddess continued impassively.
[At their peaks, they were catastrophes incarnate.]
[Their sole restraint was you, Kim Cho-in.]
[They began fighting over you, and the result was···]
"···World destruction."
Suddenly, an image of Hyeon Ha-yeon flashed in my mind—her bright smile as she spoke to me now feeling strangely daunting.