* * *

My chest felt tight.

While I hesitated, the monsters emerging from the gate crept closer to the hunters.

I hovered in the air, aimlessly wandering.

There was no other way.

If I helped, I would die.

“What the… Are you insane?!”

A hunter screamed as they faced the horde of charging monsters.

Their faces were pale, terror starkly visible.

“Where’s the backup?!”

“They’ve been called! Just hold on a little longer!”

“Hold the line! Don’t lose your nerve!”

The situation, which had been tenuously under control, crumbled in an instant.

The monsters weren’t attacking from one direction alone; they surged toward the hunters from all sides.

“What… What do we do?!”

“Get a grip and focus! Backup will come!”

Jung Eunji shouted loudly, trying to rally everyone, but doubt lingered.

Would reinforcements even come?

Surely whoever orchestrated these simultaneous dungeon breaks hadn’t acted without forethought.

I activated the Sage’s Eye to examine the monsters flooding from the dungeon breaks.

At least B-rank, with A-rank ones scattered throughout… all strong.

It wouldn’t be surprising if an S-rank monster appeared.

Reinforcements would likely be too late.

Even with two A-rank hunters here, the monsters’ ranks were formidable.

I closed my eyes tightly before opening them again.

I was just an ordinary citizen.

But most ordinary people, when the time came, were willing to lend a hand for others. I was no different.

Yet I could do slightly more than most.

Now was the moment to muster courage.

I grabbed a monster charging toward the hunters and hurled it into another.

Thwack!

The sound of the collision echoed, and the monster’s body shattered.

One after another, I threw monsters away, and a system message indicating the control rate was dropping began blinking relentlessly.

I approached the hunters, who were still frozen in shock.

“…Heewon?”

Jung Eunji stammered in disbelief.

I ignored her and dispatched another monster using the same method as before.

“Was that… you?”

“Are there any S-rank hunters who can help us right now?”

“There’s none who can come immediately… The high-rank hunters are all assigned elsewhere…”

“The guild master might come—he’s on his way back to Seoul after an emergency alert.”

Jung Eunji added to Lee Jooyun’s pessimistic remark, gauging my reaction.

She likely understood the circumstances of my earlier disappearance.

“There are simultaneous dungeon breaks at four nearby sites. The monsters are converging here. I’ll handle the big ones… You two handle the rest.”

“You? Alone? At least wait for—”

“I’m an S-rank. I’ll manage.”

There was no time to discuss personal matters.

After a quick explanation, I moved toward the approaching monsters and began dealing with them from a distance.

I didn’t kill them all. Instead, I corralled a significant number and occasionally sent weakened ones toward Jung Eunji and Lee Jooyun.

They likely thought my actions were strange, but they took down the incapacitated monsters, slowing the control rate’s decline.

At least, that’s what I hoped would happen.

But the system wasn’t so easily fooled.

After I resolved to stay and fight, the control rate dropped regardless of whether I killed the monsters or not.

The falling numbers felt surreal. Ignoring the system, I focused solely on dispatching the monsters before me.

They came endlessly.

My relentless efforts left my head spinning.

Though I had cleared the penalty before, something was wrong.

The pitch-black night was finally giving way to dawn.

The monster numbers dwindled noticeably.

Just a bit more, I thought, when—

“Heewon!”

The voice I had expected but dreaded rang out.

A rough hand seized me and spun me around.

Baek Gunho’s face, twisted with fury, showed a flicker of shock.

“What’s with your face?”

“……”

“I’ll take care of this. Step back.”

I complied silently, watching as Baek Gunho’s sword cut through a dozen monsters in one swing, clearing the battlefield in an instant.

“Baek Gunho.”

“Don’t talk. Rest. I’ll scout the area…”

“I have something to say.”

Baek Gunho turned to me.

Between us, the system message flickered again, drawing my attention. A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

[Reassessing compatibility with the trait [Villain’s Qualities].

The control rate of the trait [Villain’s Qualities] is dropping. When the control rate reaches 0%, the trait will go berserk.

Current control rate: 1%.]

“You could’ve come a little earlier.”

“Sorry.”

If Baek Gunho had come just a bit sooner.

If he’d appeared at least when I was struggling with my thoughts.

If Baek Gunho had been the one assigned to me from the start.

Countless “what-ifs” flashed through my mind, regrets lingering over things that could never come to pass.

Yet, I didn’t resent Baek Gunho.

It was too late to start blaming him now. I had already come too far.

Every choice, every action, had been my own. Maybe it was just resignation, but… I accepted it as it was.

I glanced at the number—1%—once more and then closed the window.

Just 1%. In a situation where even standing still caused the percentage to fall, berserk was only a matter of time.

I exhaled deeply.

Of all faces to see for the last time, it had to be Baek Gunho.

…Not bad.

Really, it wasn’t bad at all.

A flood of past memories washed over me.

Even if I had no memories of him in previous lives, he had always been my long-time adversary.

The one who had killed and crushed me countless times in the past, deceived me in this life…

…and the one I had loved for over a decade.

I looked at Baek Gunho. His face, handsome as ever, struck me anew.

There was a time I’d fallen for that face like an idiot.

I missed those days.

Living in unrequited love, assigning meaning to trivial actions, fretting over every little thing.

Memories and emotions are such curious things.

Despite having so many memories of fighting and hating, the moments of love shone like a light piercing the darkness, illuminating my end.

“Baek Gunho.”

“Speak.”

Baek Gunho focused on me, his expression slightly tense. In that instant, I snatched the sword from his hands.

During our first battle, I’d managed to disarm him in one move and incapacitate him.

After that, he never let me take his weapon again… Until now.

It was unlike him to slip up.

Lucky for me, though, I wondered what had him so distracted.

Even after losing his weapon, all he did was stare at me like a fool.

Snap out of it already.

I held the stolen sword close.

Glancing at the blade, its sharp, blue-tinged edge, I turned my gaze to Baek Gunho, who looked puzzled.

“For a while now… my control over my trait has been dropping. If it falls completely, the trait will supposedly go berserk.”

“What?”

Baek Gunho’s face twisted in a frown as he stepped closer to me.

“What does that mean?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.”

“Are you okay?”

I stopped Baek Gunho from coming any closer.

He frowned, struggling against my grip.

It looked like he was trying to break free with his power, but… holding him still wasn’t that hard.

“If the trait goes berserk, I doubt I’ll be okay.”

When the control rate hits 0%, the trait will go berserk.

I didn’t know exactly what would happen, but I knew one thing for sure—I wouldn’t survive.

If that was the case, then maybe…

“…Seo Heewon?”

I raised the sword high.

Even if I couldn’t control this trait completely, it was still mine.

If I died before it went berserk, what would happen to it?

As wild and chaotic as it was, this trait was mine.

If I, the host of the trait, were gone…

Wouldn’t it vanish along with me?

Baek Gunho had likely thought the same in the past.

The Baek Gunho who had captured me repeatedly urged me to end my own life.

It was probably the best solution he could come up with to eliminate my trait without any complications.

It was just a hypothesis, of course. I’d never tested it, but the possibility was there.

The price of testing it was too steep, but… this was my choice.

My last desperate attempt to take control of my life.

“Seo Heewon!”

Baek Gunho shouted, struggling violently.

From the shadows at his feet, Yeon and Noeul leaped out.

I pinned the two creatures down before they could reach me and turned my gaze to Baek Gunho.

“Damn it… Let go, Seo Heewon!”

Let go? What a joke.

Just wait quietly.

Soon, the biggest burden in Baek Gunho’s life might disappear.

It would be a relief, really…

I had so much I wanted to say, but not a single word made it out.

Baek Gunho would manage just fine, though. He always did.

He often understood me better than I understood myself.

For whatever reason, he always put me first…

My first love.

“Goodbye.”

I hadn’t meant to cry, but tears slid down my cheeks.

I plunged the sword hovering in mid-air straight into my neck.

* * *