Epilogue of the One Left Behind. A Short Time Later.
Through a dramatic compromise with the succubi, I barely managed to halt the chase. The terms were simple: add '(Virgin)' next to every succubus's contact information.
You people have no conscience at all.
Those fucking village bus bastards.
The pure white unicorn in my mind spun its horn like a drill and whispered to me. Should I kill them, Master? I told it to hold back. My inner non-virgin slayer.
So now I was painstakingly typing words that would never come back, attaching them to the village buses in front of me. I suppressed the rampaging unicorn in my heart and desperately held back the blood threatening to surge up my throat.
The moment I finished every edit, the succubi snatched my phone and began reviewing it multiple times.
"Who's Choco-hyung?"
"The profile picture is a Chihuahua? Are you fucking kidding us right now?"
"If you insult our hyung, you're dead, you fucking bitches."
"Ah... Yes, we're sorry."
When I rarely showed genuine anger, the succubi stopped arguing and became perfectly meek. While I was thinking about heading home to see Choco-hyung, the succubi finished their review and returned my phone.
Surprisingly, Lilith and Jeong Siyun didn't seem particularly troubled that their house had burned down. Since Caersi had promised to cover the restoration costs no matter the amount, they looked completely unconcerned. The intention to build an even larger house than before was written plainly across their faces.
Moreover, Lilith and Jeong Siyun didn't stop there. With nowhere to stay, the pair announced they would take this opportunity for another honeymoon.
"Then, son-in-law! Next time we meet, let it be with our grandchild!"
"If Ayeon cries, you're dead."
"Fuck."
Lilith and Jeong Siyun were already preparing to depart for their honeymoon. Just before they left, I faintly overheard their private conversation.
"Honey! Please put in some real effort this time!"
"I'll work as hard as the entire period I was under hypnosis."
"For our next child, if it's a boy, let's name him Jeong Baljeong. If it's a girl, Jeong Miyak!"
So Lilith named all the children.
Fuck. I wish I hadn't heard that.
Rick's group was stuffing him into a large plastic bag like they were disposing of garbage. Just then I spotted Spencer and asked the question that had been bothering me.
"What are you going to do with Rick?"
"We'll take him to a shop that uses the TS Beam and turn him completely into a TS."
"His base form is already a complete mess. Is there even a point?"
"What are you talking about?"
Spencer looked at me with pure pity in her eyes.
"It's common sense that getting hit by the TS Beam turns you into a flawless beautiful girl, right?"
"If her chest is bigger than yours, go possess Rick."
"You fucking bastard!!"
Spencer tried to slap me, but it was far too slow. I dodged it easily. Of course I did. The moment Hyeji vanished, she shamelessly re-equipped her fake breasts, and they were even larger and heavier than the first time I'd seen them.
After her attack failed, Spencer let out a long sigh.
"So after you hit him with the TS Beam, what then?"
"Just have him do internet streaming and earn money."
"There are plenty of senior TS streamers on Novelpia, so tell him to watch and learn from them."
"Thanks for the advice. I'll go pay for the Plus subscription right away."
Isn't it on J Platform too?
She's a complete angel!
Right on cue, the Black Dragon approached. Unlike before, it didn't seem particularly hostile. Since I was curious about its future plans, I asked immediately.
"That guy's finished. What are you going to do now?"
"The master-servant relationship has ended. I am now free."
"Too bad. The whitest thing the Black Dragon had is gone."
"What do you mean? For this body, the whitest thing is my teeth?"
The Black Dragon looked at me in confusion. Then the number above its head increased by one. Realizing what I was about to say, it tried to roar at me.
"Don't you know? The whitest thing on you is your owner."
"You son of a bitch!!!"
Of course, my mouth was a little faster. I dodged the fiercely swinging tail and distanced myself from them. With that, I bid farewell to Rick's group.
Lastly, Hyeji, Elsia, and Jeong Ayeon said they were going to have an overtime match and left their seats. Caersi declared she would go watch and followed after them. So now I was alone, separated from the rest of the party.
I spotted the delivery bag containing the loot and reached for it, but—
"Freeze."
Jeong Bia stopped me, her eyes bloodshot. She clutched the delivery bag tightly and glared at me like she wanted to kill me.
"Where do you think you're going, you piece of shit?"
"You loot-guzzling bastard, please fuck off. You're dragging down the rating because of you."
"This is mine! Put it down and leave!"
But Jeong Bia had no intention of letting go. In fact, she tried to bite my hand.
"Grrrrrr!"
"You fucking bitch?"
After all the trouble I went through to rescue Jeong Ayeon exactly as requested, the moment everything ended she attacked me. It was infuriating. I shoved my hand into the delivery bag and pulled out whatever jewelry I could grab.
Seeing this, Jeong Bia screamed at me.
"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have made it this far!!!"
I lightly shook the jewelry in my hand to show her, then slipped it into my inner pocket with a grin.
"I'll only take half of the other money."
I immediately picked up the delivery bag and, using centrifugal force, hurled it toward the mansion grounds where embers still flickered. Jeong Bia lost all reason and sprinted after it.
"My precious!"
With that, Jeong Bia vanished along with the delivery bag. The succubi had already left quickly, claiming it was their first vacation in years. As if the chaotic time from moments ago had been a lie, only cold silence remained.
A place with no one and nothing. The instant I realized I was truly alone, Piece spoke to me.
Have you finally realized that the heroines hold interest in you! Thou fool!
It took a while.
At least I now knew for certain that Jeong Ayeon harbored feelings for me. That Hyeji and Elsia felt the same, however, was somewhat surprising.
Surprising my ass!!! Watching you made me so frustrated I thought I would die!!!
Fuck. I'm an idiot, so I have nothing to say.
Little by little, things started to make sense. The strange behavior Hyeji had shown in the past. How she had expected a confession, only to be shown a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur and responded by unloading bullets in a fit of rage. How she had tried to confess to me, been interrupted by her father, and beaten him for it. Twice, even.
Even now I wonder how Hyeji's father is still alive.
In comedy novels, characters like that usually don't die.
As for Elsia, she had always called me husband, but I thought she felt nothing special. The current situation felt strangely new.
Well, at first I thought she wasn't a heroine.
She really had no conscience at all.
It wasn't that I disliked them. If anything, I did have some feelings for them too. They were women almost too good for me. One might think that since both sides felt the same, there was no problem.
But.
There's one thing that worries me.
You mean the future in which you kill everyone?
The nightmare I had locked deep in my consciousness wriggled and rose to the surface. It was the future I had glimpsed through my ability before Caersi's regression—the worst ending in which I massacred them all.
So you intend to reject the others' confessions using that as your reason?
For now, it seems I must.
I smiled bitterly in self-mockery. Until I resolved that future, I was terrified of forming any careless bonds. If I had to kill someone I was romantically involved with by my own hand, there could be nothing more horrific. I was afraid.
I closed my eyes to forget, but the images only grew clearer. My breathing quickened, nearly hyperventilating. My fingertips began to tremble. I felt like I was going insane.
Calm thyself.
Sorry. It was pathetic, wasn't it.
After hearing Piece, I felt slightly better. Whether we were lovers or not, if that future was coming anyway, I wanted to lessen the shock even a little. The thought of killing them directly was already terrifying; if they were my lovers, the pain would be even worse.
In a way, it might be cowardly. A protagonist shouldn't be this pathetic. He should form relationships with countless beauties, wield overwhelming power, and do whatever he pleased. Take what he wanted, control everything according to his will. In the end, modern protagonists destroy even endings like that.
But I am not like that. I am not overwhelmingly strong. Events often flowed differently from my intentions. It was only by luck that things had mostly worked out well. There weren't many cases I had solved purely with my own strength.
Moreover, in that future even Hyeji, Elsia, and Jeong Ayeon—who were stronger than me—had become cold corpses. Not by anyone else's hand, but by mine.
We weren't dating yet, but had their affection for me prevented them from killing me? Or had they been lovers and therefore offered no resistance? I didn't know. So I made assumptions.
In the latter case, they would have willingly accepted death. If so, forming a relationship with me would only bring us closer to the future in which everyone died. That was what I thought.
I made one more assumption. What if I had no relationship with them at all? What if their desire to save others outweighed their affection for me? What if they could kill me without hesitation?
In that case, could I face death without any reluctance?
Of course. I could die for them as many times as necessary. If needed, I would smile until the very last moment. Dozens of times. Hundreds. Thousands.
Is that not too harsh on you?
Compared to killing them with my own hands, it's nothing.
Still, I hoped for a future in which everyone survived.
Lost in thought once more, I only came back to my senses when the sun had already begun to set. Yet no one had returned.
Did they not go to vent their feelings without you?
You're calling this ostracism? I thought only the guy writing this story got ostracized.
- You fucking bastard, really.
I ignored the hallucination that had been growing more frequent lately. I began debating whether I should keep waiting for them or find somewhere to stay for the night.
At that moment—
"Shinwoo."
"Ah. You're here?"
The wild Hyeji appeared.