Chapter 137
“More than anything… in just a few minutes, Sharlette will appear here.”
My relationship with her had always been the worst, but Hansongi was the kind of girl loved by everyone. Like Sharlette in the game, she naturally became the protagonist wherever she went.
Now that someone like her had become this world’s official heroine, everyone would forget about me soon enough. Just like in my previous life. Just like in the game.
So the only time I had to hurt these transcendents—the only moment I could ever leave a scar on them—was right now.
“Master. Please put the gun down.”
Karl’s desperate voice reached me, but I didn’t look at him.
[ 00 : 03 : 47 ]
[ 00 : 03 : 46 ]
My remaining time was painfully short.
Within this brief window, I needed to make them accept my suicide. To make them believe they were so horrifying that I chose death by my own hand.
How should I act to make it convincing?
While my mind churned with calculations, I carefully chose my first line.
“You know… I’ve actually been miserable this whole time.”
But the moment the words left my mouth, I realized something.
I didn’t need to act at all. Simply speaking the things I had forced myself to swallow—that alone was enough.
My trembling voice already held the hatred I’d been pushing down for so long.
“Being hated is strange, you know? When you get used to beatings, your skin grows calloused and it doesn’t hurt as much. But being hated… the more accustomed you become to it, the more it hurts.”
“Odette. Please, please put the gun down and talk to us.”
“You know when it finally stops hurting? When you realize how disgusting you are. When you think, Oh, I’m treated like this because I’m worthless. Who would like someone like me? Even I would hate me. Once you realize that, it becomes bearable no matter how much others hate you.”
“Albrecht. Take your finger off that trigger.”
“The reason hate stops hurting is because I hate myself more than anyone else ever could.”
I had no intention of crying, but warm tears slid down my cheeks as I spoke.
“The citizens, all of you, my own family—you all hated me… but none of you ever hated me as much as I did. I was the one who hated myself the most.”
Normally, I would’ve forced myself to hold the tears back.
Why are you crying? Do you think you deserve to cry? Do you have the luxury to cry?
I would’ve scolded myself like that.
But now, there was no need.
Being cornered, being pitiful—that was the image I needed right now.
So I let the tears fall freely as I continued.
“…Honey, put the gun down.”
“The people who hated me so much suddenly say they love me now. Pretend they never hated me at all. Do you know what that makes me think?”
“Please…”
“Oh, this is just a new way to torment me. They want to make me hopeful, inflate me with empty expectations, and then break me properly.”
“…”
“If it was real love, it wouldn’t be this late. They wouldn’t have let me reach the point where I hated myself that much. They couldn’t possibly act like nothing happened and confess love now.”
“…”
“So yes. This is definitely torment. They hate me so much, I disgust them so much, that they want to torment me using the word love.”
My trembling voice gradually dried into something brittle and rough.
“Aren’t you all the same? You ignored me every time I said no, and came all the way here anyway.”
None of them answered. Only a heavier, suffocating silence settled.
Then—
“Odette.”
Sion called to me in a gentle voice.
I flinched and looked at him. I already knew why he was using that tone.
Even after everything I said… you still haven’t changed at all.
As expected, golden light began rising in Sion’s eyes—his attempt to brainwash me again.
But before it could even fill halfway—
it shattered like dust in the air.
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
Realizing his power didn’t work on me, Sion’s face hardened.
Even while begging me to lower the gun, he had held onto that last fallback—brainwashing. That’s how confident he had been.
Cracks finally formed across his composure, fear flooding in.
I looked at him with amused contempt and smiled.
“There you have it, Your Excellency. Something like that could never be love.”
“…Why—”
“How fortunate for me that I didn’t fall for your lies.”
Sion frowned deeply at my ridicule. He opened his mouth like he wanted to argue, but in the end, clamped it shut.
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
He tried again and again, but the result was the same. With each failure, desperation carved deeper into his expression.
Seeing him crumble like that felt refreshing. He had always toyed with me at his whim, yet now he was desperately trying—and failing—to save someone he used to look down on.
Good. You deserve to break like that. Even if I’ll be forgotten soon, I need to remain a deep scar in your memory—now, at least.
“Odette, I was wrong. Everything was my fault, so please… put the gun down.”
Johann pleaded, but I smiled and shook my head.
“No, the mistake is mine. I should’ve made this choice much earlier…”
I held the gun in one hand and reached back with the other. I pulled aside the curtains, pushed open the balcony doors, and stepped back.
Toward the balcony jutting out over the cliff.
“Odette!”
Rain drenched me instantly. Ferocious sea wind whipped my hair wildly.
When I looked down, a sheer cliff stretched beneath my feet, raging currents crashing violently below.
I recalled the confrontation with Marco at the palace and let out a faint laugh.
I suppose all that was practice for this moment.
Just like with Marco, I sat lightly on the railing—facing them. Then I turned my head back toward Sion.
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
[ Sion’s Ability Activation has been successfully blocked by ‘Chains of Time.’ ]
Still failing uselessly.
“I told you, Your Excellency. I don’t need vows to leave. I can leave anytime I want.”
Sion, who had been repeating his futile attempts like someone possessed, inhaled sharply at my words. When he finally spoke, his voice trembled.
“Albrecht… don’t do this. Please. This isn’t right… I won’t ever do that to you again.”
His voice cracked as his expression twisted.
“I—I was wrong. Everything I did to you was wrong.”
The man who looked like he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed—
suddenly had a tear roll down his cheek.
Pathetic. I wanted to laugh at him. And yet, perhaps because he was the world’s officially designated male lead, there was still some strange elegance clinging to him, even in despair.
Wasn’t he supposed to have never cried since losing his mother?
It was a sight even the game never showed. Unexpected, but insignificant.
I turned away without hesitation.
“Colonel König. Why that expression? You should be happy. This is the magnificent climax you’ve been so eager to see, isn’t it?”
“…Honey… please come over here.”
“I told you not to call me that. But you do whatever you want, as always.”
My light tone only made Viktor let out a strained groan of pain.
“That’s not it…”
His face was pale. His voice squeezed out like a confession. But whatever he meant was no concern of mine.
Johann was shouting Damn it! Damn it! trying to break free from the invisible restraints ever since I sat on the railing.
“Odette, I have something to say. Something I should’ve told you long ago. Please, at least listen—”
His desperate plea didn’t interest me at all.
[ 00 : 02 : 46 ]
[ 00 : 02 : 45 ]
I looked away from Johann’s despair-filled eyes and turned to Karl.
His young face was twisted with shock, betrayal, and fear.
“M‑Master… You promised you wouldn’t abandon me.”
“I’m sorry… I couldn’t keep that promise.”
As I spoke, I cut the sigil tied to my blood. Karl’s eyes lost the color of my blood and returned to the red they had on the first day we met.
“M… Master?”
He must have realized the sigil was gone—his voice became even more frantic.
“Damn it! Damn it! You think I’ll let you go like this? No way! Never!”
He struggled so violently against the invisible shackles that blood poured down his ankles.
Maybe because he’s desperate… he looks like he did in the previous life.
The face filled with hatred as he chased me down.
I didn’t want to part with him like this either.
But…
Don’t worry. Once your hatred hits 40 and multiplies by 61, you’ll think it’s a blessing I died.
His desperation would soon turn into relentless murderous intent once Sharlette arrived.
This was the only way to avoid being killed by Karl.
The only way to escape being toyed with by the transcendents and Sharlette.
At least in this life, my death won’t be mocked or ridiculed.
I smiled at them with genuine relief.
What should my final words be?
At that moment, Viktor’s voice from the end of my last life suddenly echoed in my mind.
“Goodbye, honey.”
The last farewell I ever heard.
Responding to that farewell… didn’t sound so bad.
Even if they wouldn’t remember it.
“Goodbye. All of you, take care.”
I didn’t hesitate.
I pulled the trigger.
BANG—
The sound echoed across the cliff.
