Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Gospel to the Snobby Bitch (10)
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"Do you know the best way to drive someone insane?"
Yuseong stared down at them emotionlessly.
"Do nothing to them at all."
"……."
Gulp….
They swallowed dryly without realizing it.
Just listening to him made their minds reel.
"The environment matters too. A cool chill, a temperature where you don't even sweat. Monochromatic colors are even better—especially white. It's the perfect shade for utterly breaking someone's psyche."
"No one to talk to, no objects around, not even a mirror. Just you, alone in the space. That's when the setup is complete."
"A normal person can tough it out for a day. It's just frustrating, nothing more. A decent amount of willpower gets you through. But on the second day? That's when it changes. Humans are social creatures, after all—we can't help it."
"You might think positive thoughts could creep in? Not a chance. Loneliness, sorrow, anger, despair. Nothing but negative emotions piling up."
"It hits extra hard on someone as mentally fragile as her."
"An environment where positivity is impossible."
"Eventually, people start fighting. Fighting what?"
"The hallucinations they create themselves."
……Once Yuseong finished speaking, not a single breath could be heard.
It was terrifying.
The way he muttered it all so impassively.
He felt distant.
A gulf between them and him…!
"…Luke…."
How does he know all this?
Mirni asked calmly, cautiously.
And surprisingly, Yuseong answered lightly.
He'd learned it.
"From the Demon King."
Rutio's hallucination kept tormenting her.
— You were an idiot. No, even worse than a child—you couldn't tell right from wrong.
"Stop…."
— Do you remember? That day when everyone tried to stop you? All your closest aides, who were like your hands and feet, begged you not to… but you sided with those High Elves you'd known for less than a year. Guess us regular elves weren't even kin to you.
"No! That's not it!!"
— Haha, Lady Alicia. I'm just a hallucination. No need to make excuses to me. …I'm probably burning in the flames of hell anyway, punished for failing to stop you….
"-----!"
She didn't want to hear it.
She covered her ears, but her friend's voice still echoed in her head!
What if she damaged her ears? Would the voice stop?
Alicia even started choking herself, desperate to pass out by force.
But….
Crackle!
"Kuhhh!"
The magic embedded in the bracelet wouldn't even allow self-harm.
"…Ughhh!!"
Alicia felt like she was going mad.
This space denied her sleep, rest—even death!
How could such a hell exist…!!
But as if to prove the real nightmare was just beginning, on the seventh day, another torment joined the fray.
……She was hungry.
………
………
The hallucinations faded.
In that brief ray of light amid her fraying mind, Alicia managed to regain a sliver of sanity.
But maybe it would have been better if she hadn't….
She was certain of it now.
How long has it been since I last drank water?
Elves, like humans, needed food and drink to survive.
The difference? Humans could last 3-4 days without water, while elves could endure a week—maybe up to ten.
But that didn't mean….
Grrrrumble!
"…Kuhk!"
…hunger went away.
With her tormenting friend's apparition gone, now food hallucinations plagued her.
The first ones were foods from Korea.
A feast of aromas paraded before her eyes. Finally, waffles—her favorites—hovered just out of reach.
Then came Midgard's cuisine.
Even if it wasn't as tasty as Korea's, it had filled most of her 400+ years…!
Alicia began drooling like a madwoman.
She could see them.
So vividly!
Pies brimming with fresh fruit steeped in honey.
Fresh shrimp and raw cheese salads.
Suckling pig stuffed with apples and roasted over firewood.
Foods she'd loved.
Drip…. Drip….
She looked pathetic, wretched even, saliva pooling from her mouth. It was a miracle she still had any left to produce.
The mysteries of the body…. Or maybe she was far from her limit….
One thing was clear: pride, dignity—none of it remained.
Seven days.
That's all it took to shatter the lofty High Elf mentally.
"Maybe… we should stop now?"
"……."
"L-Luke, I get that you're angry. But… what you're doing…."
Is too much….
Leon murmured as much.
Any more, and she'd….
"That bitch and this asshole… how are you both still the same?"
"……."
A voice so cold it felt rimed with frost.
Leon shut his mouth instinctively.
Yuseong spoke to him like a warning.
"Cut the bullshit. You think you're different just 'cause I'm targeting that bystander bitch? You're no better."
"……."
"If you'd done your job properly from the start, none of this would've happened. Right?"
"……."
Leon—the Hero—had countless chances, dozens even, to rein in his elf party member.
When she ditched the party on whims and fought slave hunters or nobles, he should've warned her properly.
Drawn a clear line between vile criminals and innocent civilians.
But Leon hadn't.
All it would've taken was one word.
Yet he'd only pretended to stop her, spouting ideals about how all life was precious and must be protected.
No real solutions offered.
Even during the war, when Yuseong tried to deal with Alicia, there'd been opportunities.
Expelling her from the party might've made even that arrogant bitch reflect and beg for another chance.
Being ousted from the Hero Party meant abandonment by the goddess, after all.
But Leon hadn't even done that. He'd opposed Yuseong and defended her instead.
To protect his ideals.
Never dirtying his own hands. A hypocrite of hypocrites, safeguarding only his reputation.
"If you're a hypocrite, act like one to the end. Don't overstep."
"……."
"Isn't that your specialty? Looking the other way for the 'greater good'?"
"……."
……Leon fell silent.
His face on the verge of crumbling….
Valian blocked the path of the man who'd just stripped Leon's mentality bare.
"What? You here to show off too?"
"…I do think it's excessive, but it's unavoidable. That pointy-ears is twisted, after all."
"……."
"Whether you punish her or not, I won't object much. Feels like she's finally paying for her sins."
"…You know that, so why block me?"
"Hm. Just… maybe wrap it up now? Push her too far, and she'll end up a vegetable. If she can't even remember her crimes, doesn't that defeat the purpose?"
"…Fair point."
Death is too merciful a punishment.
A common saying.
Becoming a vegetable is the same.
No different from fleeing reality.
Yuseong found Valian's words reasonable and gave him a surprised look.
"You saying something smart for once?"
"I've always been right."
"…Getting better at jokes? That was funny."
"……."
The goddess was starting to nag anyway.
She wouldn't stop the punishment, but begged him not to break her mind beyond repair.
Honestly, broken or not, I don't care….
Yuseong wasn't particularly angry.
Whether she started a war, shirked duties, or burned cities.
……No emotions stirred.
But.
Coming at him first? That's different.
Repay kindness twofold, grudges endlessly…!
Alicia's sin was simple.
She could've picked anyone else. Not me.
She'd pissed him off.
That was her only crime.
"…Mu, muuuh…."
A rasping, metallic voice—unrecognizable to anyone who knew her—escaped Alicia's lips.
Day ten.
Hunger was whatever now. She craved water.
Thirst…. Indescribable agony, pure torture.
Torture without a single stab!
Drip… drip….
The visions turned to auditory hallucinations—endless dripping water.
Her skin flaked, her hair more brittle and greasy than a broom.
Alicia would've gnawed her own hand or foot if she could!
But the bracelet—this damned restraint—denied even that.
In this endless pain where death was impossible, her mind was dying bit by bit.
Resentment? Vengeance?
Gone long ago!
One emotion remained!
Ju, just kill me…. Anyone…, kill me…!
She wanted to die, plain and simple.
If someone would just end her, she'd lick their boots like a dog.
No. Even then… I'm Alicia, heir to Moon Knight!
If she died, it'd be by her own hand.
This state wouldn't last—three days, no, two, and she'd perish naturally.
Grateful for it, Alicia slowly closed her eyes.
Luke, you won't get your way.
And so Alicia slowly died.
Little by little….
"Who said you could die?"
ZZZAP!
"Aaagh!!"
Her body convulsed like a flopping fish as Alicia glared at her hated foe.
Luke! He stood there, no idea when he'd entered!
"Lu, Luke…."
"What? You said my name—spit it out."
"……."
…Unbelievably, the joy of seeing another person outweighed her hatred for him.
How could this happen?
Alicia ground her teeth, trying to summon resentment, but shame flooded her—joy and relief overpowering it!
"…Di, did you come to… kill me?"
Instead of spewing hate, she spoke to keep the conversation going.
Lest he leave.
"Kill you? Do I look like some saintly pushover who'd just mercy-kill you to ease your mind?"
"…I see. You're not that kind of guy…. Then why are you here?"
"Goddess was nagging. Something about giving you a sip of water."
"…The goddess."
Alicia bristled at the idea of the goddess telling him to give her water!
In this space, she'd hated Luke most, but others too—even the goddess.
How could she not resent the divine?
Especially…!
Her, who called life precious even for a wretch like me….
Alicia squeezed her eyes shut, as if tears would flow if she had any moisture left.
Anticipation welled up.
He might give her water.
"…Water? You'll give it to me?"
"Yeah. I'll give it."
"Ah…!"
"I'll let you drink till your belly bursts."
"Aah!!"
That's when Alicia realized how treacherous the human heart could be!
Her most hated foe offers water, and suddenly he has a halo.
For the first time, she felt gratitude toward a human.
Yeah, let's drink. Even if I die after, one sip can't hurt.
Alicia smiled faintly.
Like a candle about to flicker out.
………
………
"Pwah! Kekek!!"
"I said drink. Why can't you?"
"Kuhk! St-stop…!"
"Drink."
"Ughhh!"
…Correction: she thrashed wildly, overflowing with desperate life.
Suspended from the ceiling, dunked in and out of the drum barrel like wet laundry—no time to drink amid the torment.
"I said drink—why keep spitting it out?"
Yuseong murmured in confusion. But in Alicia's mind, gratitude, hatred—all vanished, replaced by one surging emotion.
……[Terror].
And so Alicia plunged back into the drum.
As his bemused mutter echoed: why can't she drink the water?.