chapter 1
00. Kill the Heroine, Kill the Hero
I killed the hero today.
The reason is simple.
Because of this guy, I’ve died five times—and been reborn six.
“L-Lady… why…?”
The hero, Dhan, stared at me with tear-filled eyes, as if blaming me.
He was once my lover. I thought it might hurt to see him die like this.
“Ah. I don’t feel anything.”
At my words, Dhan’s pupils shook violently. But I didn’t care. His death came first.
<Raise the Hero>
That childish title was the game I had been possessed into.
At first, I didn’t even realize I had entered a game.
I just thought I’d died at an unlucky time and been reincarnated—into a medieval fantasy world I had always admired.
So I acted like a proper child, lived my childhood diligently. My new family was all terrible, but I told myself it was still better than my previous life. It wasn’t happy, but it wasn’t horribly miserable either. It was the kind of life I had once dreamed of.
So I had no doubt I would keep living like this.
Until I turned fifteen.
I was poisoned—out of nowhere.
Even as I died, I never learned why.
Why me? Why do I have to die? I didn’t do anything wrong.
And then, at that moment, some guy suddenly appeared, hugged me, and burst into tears. What did he say again?
- Lady, I think I must tell you now. The truth is… I like you. You may not know this, but I fell for you at first sight during the ball…
The moment I heard that, it felt like I’d been struck by lightning. At the same time, I realized—this was a game world—and everything clicked into place.
<Raise the Hero>
The game was very simple.
Become the hero, complete quests, and defeat the Demon King, the final boss.
And Dhan was the only hero in this game.
So what was my role?
A lover created for the hero’s awakening.
You know those stories, right?
Where the hero awakens true power after losing the one he loves.
I had possessed the character of that tragic “lover” who exists only to die in such a storyline.
What is this, some outdated trope? Am I seriously the “woman in the fridge”?
Just as I was about to scream that I refused to die like this—
A transparent system window appeared in front of me.
[SYSTEM]
You may use the ability <Reincarnation Regression>.
Do you want to activate it? Y/N (Uses remaining: 0/5)
So I actually had a hidden ability like this.
Well, I did get possessed into a game—of course there’d be a buff!
Without hesitation, I used <Reincarnation Regression>.
Time rewound, returning to the game’s starting point, and I was reborn as a completely different person.
Of course, my new life was just as awful. Abusive parents, contemptuous siblings. But I had one goal now: don’t die. So I pulled myself together and tried to live properly this time.
But for some reason, the “hero’s lover” role remained unchanged.
Even in my second life, I caught Dhan’s attention and died on my fifteenth birthday.
And then I was reborn again.
Different person, same result.
No matter how much I avoided him, he found me. Even if I hid inside my house, he loved me.
By my fourth regression, I had to admit it.
My role was locked as the “hero’s lover.”
A cursed life.
A cursed death.
The repetition wore me down completely.
There was no hope it would ever change. At fifteen, I would die, be reborn, and repeat the same nightmare.
So…
“I should’ve done this sooner. My ninety years of frustration are finally gone. Hah.”
This time, I killed Dhan.
Of course, killing him didn’t mean I could survive. I was already dying from poison. Every life, I died from poison. What a legendary curse…
“Cough!”
I coughed up blood and lowered my head. Through my half-lidded eyes, I saw the system window again.
[SYSTEM]
The <Reincarnation Regression> ability can no longer be used.
It was over.
The usage count had reached zero. I could finally escape this endless cycle of reincarnation. I could finally rest.
Those long, exhausting lives.
Goodbye, at last.
As I slowly closed my eyes—
[SYSTEM]
WARNING! WARNING!
EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!
[SYSTEM]
Detected hostile force that harmed the hero! WARNING! WARNING! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!
The once-transparent system window turned bright red and began circling around me.
This was the first time it had shown anything other than the regression function.
“What the hell is….”
[SYSTEM]
Hidden character approaching hostile faction detected!
What?
[SYSTEM]
Due to faction change, the <Reincarnation Regression> ability can be used.
Do you want to activate it? Y/Y
What the—there’s only “yes.”
I searched for “NO,” but it didn’t exist anywhere.
“Hey! I said I want to die for real! I’m done living!”
I screamed desperately, but the system ignored me completely.
[SYSTEM]
Due to user’s noncompliant behavior, auto-accept has been triggered.
[SYSTEM]
Activating <Reincarnation Regression> in 5 seconds… 4…
“No, you crazy bastards—!”
I shouted with all my strength, but it never reached the system.
My vision went dark.
I knew this feeling too well.]
I was reincarnating again.
I Killed the Hero, So…
“Waaahhh!”
I let out a loud cry while wriggling my body. My arms and legs wouldn’t move properly—so, as expected, I had been reincarnated as a newborn baby.
I thought being a hidden character might make things at least a little different.
A “corrupt faction,” huh?
It seemed I had been classified as a “bad guy” for killing the hero.
No, then why not just erase me outright? Why go through the trouble of reincarnating me again? Seriously, this is getting old.
“Waaahh!”
Anyway, I cried again.
Normally, when a baby cries like this, someone rushes over to comfort them.
I figured I could at least figure out what kind of character I’d been reincarnated as by seeing who came.
So I waited for a while… but—
…What? Why is no one coming?
I couldn’t even sense anyone nearby.
A faint unease slowly crept up.
Don’t tell me… I was born as some unwanted child or something? So my family abandoned me… no way it’s that cliché, right?
Of course, my previous families across reincarnations were all trash. Abusive parents, indifferent siblings. No matter how many times I was reborn, it was always the same.
That was because my role was fixed as the “Hero’s Lover.” Except for Dhan, no one was ever allowed to love me. It was system-locked like that.
After realizing that, I gave up on everything. Besides, I already knew I’d die at fifteen anyway, so I just stopped caring no matter what my so-called family did.
But I’ve never been neglected as a baby like this before!
So I cried again—“Waaahh!”—but no matter how much I cried, the firmly shut door showed no sign of opening.
Yeah. Since when has my life ever gone the way I wanted?
I twisted my body.
First, I needed to figure out where I was.
I tried rolling over.
“Ughya!”
Success.
I tried crawling.
“Ughya-ya!”
Success.
As expected of me, a once-in-a-generation genius. Even as a baby, I had already mastered rolling over and crawling.
Feeling oddly satisfied, I moved toward the window and looked outside.
The first thing I saw was a towering spire—so high it seemed to pierce the sky. Its jet-black walls were unnaturally sharp, and behind it stood a wall of ice, like a frozen waterfall.
Just looking at it gave me chills, so I instinctively turned my head away.
Then, for a moment—
“…Huh?”
I dug through my fading memories.
Wait. This scenery… I’ve seen it somewhere before…
Flash!
Something clicked in my mind.
And immediately, I couldn’t help but swear.
“Ugh… (Shit…)”
This place was—
The hero’s enemy. The final boss of the game. A ruthless villain.
The Demon King’s residence.
[SYSTEM]
Congratulations on reincarnating as a hidden character!
System, you damn bastard.
