Logout (2)

The cool dawn breeze brushed against my skin as I tilted the bottle back, chugging the liquor straight while using the densely packed stars in the sky as my drinking snacks. Leo suddenly asked,

My hand, which had been busy gulping down the drink, froze in midair. Damian set the bottle down weakly and stayed silent for a moment before glancing at Leo with a slightly uncomfortable look.

Leo made a face of utter disgust as he watched Damian clench his fist with a smile. The revulsion was written all over him. But Damian's eyes had gone ice-cold while looking at this so-called hero who spouted sex jokes at the most random times.

At the mindless sex joke that came out exactly like always, Damian's face twitched. He stared at Leo with a dumbfounded expression that quickly turned into one of pure exhaustion. The fact that this guy could actually pull it off only made it more absurd.

There are no eavesdropping rats. Leo declared it with certainty.

If there were, they'd be worthless trash who didn't even know they were sneaking in to assassinate the hero and his companion. Leo kept his expression completely blank, as if the idea didn't interest him at all. Maybe it was the alcohol, but his words and actions were even more unrestrained than usual. Damian stared straight at Leo's face. His flushed cheeks made it obvious he was already drunk.

That's a talent too, I guess. A real talent.

Damian clicked his tongue. Had three years of rolling around as the hero given him some kind of mental illness that forced him to spout sex jokes nonstop? At this point, it was genuinely worrying. The empire's renowned doctors had definitely said there was nothing wrong with his head. Maybe the problem wasn't in his head after all.

When he'd first met him, Damian had simply thought of Leo as a lively, slightly crazy friend overflowing with a sense of justice. But the more time passed, the stranger the guy became. To the point where he wondered if some apostle or the demon king had cursed him. Come to think of it, back when he'd only known him as a 2D character, the description had said he was a straightforward and honest type. That memory suddenly resurfaced.

This is complete fraud. His personality is totally different.

He was honest, sure, but straightforward? Bullshit. Was having a brain completely ruled by sex what they called straightforward? ...Well, maybe it wasn't entirely wrong. He was foolish, that much was true, but he was definitely not rigid. If anything, his mindset was too open, and that was the problem. Honestly, he still didn't understand why Leo acted all proper in front of his lovers—the saintess, the elf, and the others—but only behaved like this toward him.

'He says it's the kind of thing he can only say in front of a friend.'

It was way too much. Damian let out a short sigh and spoke with an expression that was half-joking, half-serious.

Damian immediately apologized.

But still, there are limits to jokes, my friend. Damian frowned and added,

Leo leaned his elbow on the railing, took a sip of the handmade dwarf beer, then downed the rest in one go. It must have tasted pretty good, because he suddenly broke into a faint smile.

He filled his empty glass to the brim again, knocked it back in one shot, and laughed like an idiot with slightly unfocused eyes. Damian blinked. He'd once heard a princess from the western kingdom say that the smiles of handsome men and beautiful women were treasures. She wasn't wrong. Leticia's smile really was a treasure. This guy, however, was the exception. When a bastard who was basically his balls-for-brains friend smiled so refreshingly—like the male lead in a romance fantasy smiling at the female lead—it was nothing short of repulsive.

He made a disgusted face and rubbed his eyes as if he'd seen something he shouldn't have.

At the scolding tone, Leo snorted.

This guy had a low tolerance to begin with, yet here he was making a nuisance of himself by drinking such strong dwarf liquor. Damian frowned and reached out to take the beer from Leo's hand. Leo's silly grin suddenly hardened as he politely refused.

Damian was shocked by Leo's behavior. He was saying things that would normally make even himself cringe. He was way too drunk. The guy who couldn't hold his liquor had started acting weird the moment he took a shot of the strongest dwarf brew in the world, and now he was completely gone. When he'd first suggested drinking, Damian had wondered what was up with him, but it turned out he still couldn't hold his drink at all. What was he supposed to do with this guy? It was funny, but was it okay to leave him like this?

His reddened face and slightly unfocused pupils made it painfully obvious that he was drunk.

While Damian was distracted for a second, Leo filled his empty glass again, clinked it against Damian's, and started chugging it down.

Damian tried to stop him in a panic.

It really wasn't. His condition was completely shot—what was good about that? Damian had never seen anyone who claimed they weren't drunk actually stay sober. Therefore, this guy was definitely hammered.

Damian bit his lip hard. A little blood trickled from between them. Both Leticia and this guy seemed to have their emotions explode right before parting. Maybe it was because of all the alcohol, but Leo's behavior was completely different from normal.

He said it without meaning it. Damian had vaguely realized it. Starting today, he would never be able to return to this world.

Leo's words stabbed into his chest like a cold dagger.

The guy naturally draped an arm around his shoulder and chuckled.

His voice sounded almost cruel. Damian looked at Leo with a stiff tone.

Leo spoke proudly about something that should have been at least ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a little embarrassing.

Watching the shameless Leo, Damian let out a sigh with a headache-inducing expression. It seemed he'd already forgotten how the saintess and the saintess's knight had fought so fiercely over it that the heavens shook, each claiming they would be the legal wife. It was the first time he'd seen the healing specialist, the healer, fight that violently since the battle with the demon king. Still, whatever.

It was true that the empire allowed polygamy, but nobles and royalty usually only had one legal wife and rarely took concubines. The perception was so bad that any noble with a concubine would be labeled as corrupt and unfaithful to his wife. For a world that wasn't exactly medieval, it had a rather peculiar worldview.

Talking to a guy this drunk would only make his mouth hurt. Damian stopped talking and checked the remaining time.

Less than thirty seconds left now. Time really flew by. After checking the remaining time floating before his eyes, Damian chugged the liquor in his hand. Compared to the clean, bitter yet sweet taste sliding down his throat, his heart was in complete turmoil. Leo's words kept bothering him. Should he have at least said goodbye to Leticia? He'd held back because he thought it would only leave more lingering feelings. That was when Damian was struggling with his thoughts.

In order, Leticia, Chloe, Kanf... or rather Irina, all opened the door and came in. It was the worst possible timing.

Time was up.

Damian let out a bitter laugh. It wasn't funny at all. The first meeting might have been fine, but the farewell was the worst.

The last thing he saw was Leticia reaching out desperately with tears streaming down her face. Damian reflexively stretched out his hand, but his body began turning into particles and disappearing. Soon his vision went completely dark.

Just before his vision went black, the mechanical system voice delivered its verdict. And the system, as if warning him not to waver, referred to this world as a game from beginning to end. As if telling him not to confuse it with reality.

"Hey! It's already past eight o'clock. Get up right now!"

Damian muttered blankly. Damian Radius—no, Ryu Laon—had finally logged out of the game world after three years.