Chapter 461

〈Chapter 461〉 Part 1, Chapter 20, Section 18

“…….”

Blazing Phoenix is a being from the game. Though I don’t particularly welcome this topic, my curiosity got the better of me and I ended up bringing it up first.

“It’s what they call ‘gap moe.’ You know how Yuna is the epitome of pure and pitiable? But in reality, she’s this perverted girl who falls in love after just one… uh… *ahem*, let’s say, intimate moment with the protagonist.”

“…I feel like I kinda get it, but not really.”

Is there even such a thing as a woman who would fall in love after just one time? I can’t easily understand that. But if there’s already some affection built up between them, maybe it could happen?

For example, take him—

*Whoosh.*

“Why are you killing me again?”

“It’s because our conversation keeps veering off-topic thanks to you.”

“But it was Lord Raon who started going off-topic first!”

“You’re the reason every conversation ends up going off-topic.”

“I still think you’re adorable for denying your faults so stubbornly, Lady Raon. Fine, I’ll let it slide this time.”

He chuckled mischievously and straightened his posture.

“…Anyway, heroes are beings under quite a lot of restrictions. Do you know what the biggest problem is? Money. Don’t you think it’s absurd that I’m talking about money when I’ve just burned 2 trillion?”

“……”

I exercised my right to remain silent. He nodded knowingly and continued.

“When I talk about money, I don’t mean money for me. I’m talking about the money needed to buy strawberries for you, hire the barista who makes your lattes, purchase the building, hire security guards to protect it from monsters… All these things require funds.”

“If it’s about money like that, then there’s nothing to be done. Approved.”

Strawberries are a matter of great importance.

The reason I endure killing him three times without fail every time he dies is because in his last moments of controlling his body, he devoured an entire five-layer strawberry cream cake in one bite before coming here. He grinned sheepishly but then frowned.

“Isn’t that right? But if we leave things as they are, it will become extremely difficult to obtain. Later on, Terrasites will start spreading everywhere, using seven types of food as their medium. Just like flies spreading pathogens, they’ll infest food worldwide, turning people into monsters.”

“Strawberries, pork, mint chocolate, wheat, tea, cola, and….”

“Sake.”

“Hold on. Wasn’t Seok Harang supposed to be a blueberry enthusiast?”

“That’s because his mom loved pork. Specifically, pig bone soup. While living in Busan, she ate hearty servings of pig bone soup, and all that energy went into making a baby. They didn’t know each other for very long before she became pregnant with him. With all the *kyuk kyuk* happening daily, the baby inside survived and inherited magic power from both parents through the father’s semen.”

And once again, I’ve unintentionally heard unnecessary information. He loves discussing the original story with me. …At some point, I gave up and started listening to the original story through him.

“So, if they had abstained for just one day, Seok Harang wouldn’t have been born in this world.”

“So, do you want to do that kind of thing with me too?”

“Do you want to merge right now while we’re talking?”

“……Sigh. Alright. Then, if someone like Seok Harang, who was born from such passionate lovemaking, can be a hero, why can’t you be a hero?”

I barely managed to steer the topic back on track. My insatiable curiosity and his willingness to explain made this inevitable. Without doing this, the conversation wouldn’t progress properly.

“Hmm. Maybe I’d go stay in a hotel alone and indulge in buffets three times a day?”

“See? Heroes can also spend a lot of money. If you consider eating at hotels every day as part of being a hero, it doesn’t sound so bad.”

“But Seok Harang is a special case. Not only has he accumulated a lot of wealth since childhood, but most importantly, he receives substantial dignity maintenance fees from the nation and sponsor companies. Imagine if the only female S-Rank Hero in the country couldn’t even boil noodles and only ate pasta every day. Wouldn’t you immediately assign her a dedicated chef?”

“Didn’t that chef run away after seeing the state of Seok Harang’s house? To another country.”

“Yeah. That guy got plastic surgery and fled to Rome to escape Sun Icheol. Haha.”

…His memories of Seok Harang’s house were indeed dire. If I had seen it, I might have just torched the entire building outright. It was that dirty.

“Now, think about where villains live. The executives go without saying. The business villain, Yun Yuhwa, is the chairman of the largest group in the country, indulging in luxury every day. Political villain Baek Hee-a is the head of an illustrious family and the mastermind behind the political force that divides the nation with Sun Icheol. Even foreign villains live well. Aren’t the bad guys living better lives?”

“That’s because they do bad things!”

Before I knew it, I found myself speaking on behalf of humanity, delivering righteous and common-sense arguments. But that just goes to show how bizarre his logic is.

“I’ve done heroic deeds hundreds of times over a year, and I learned something: If you do good 100 times and mess up once, you get cursed to high heaven. But if you mess up 100 times and do good once, people say, ‘Well, that bastard does get things done sometimes.'”

“Is that one good deed world peace?”

“Saving you, saving me, killing Seongju, defeating the otherworldly god. All those things are part of one process. And the answer to achieving that is only one thing!”

“Sex?”

“Yes!”

He clapped and tried to hug me. I burned him to ashes, and his remains covered my face.

“…Is sex really that great?”

Since I can’t leave this world anyway, maybe experiencing it once wouldn’t be so bad—

*Smack!*

I slapped my cheeks with both hands to regain my senses. What am I thinking?!

*Creak.*

He opened the door and came back in.

“Lord, I’ve discovered the way to achieve world peace!”

“What is it?”

“To have—”

I turned him into a pancake.

“Wow, you actually killed me for the first time! Haha!”

“……”

How could I even consider giving myself to a guy like him? Apparently, my brain is slowly starting to lose its sanity and resemble his.

* * *

D-777

Hero, villain. Still undecided which path to take, I remodeled my temple with his help.

“Do you like Seoul?”

“Yes, I do. The collapsed buildings and the remaining ruins here and there are truly beautiful. If the world were to end, they would become its traces.”

“That’s right. This world you’ve manifested is based on my memories of the ‘original Seoul’ from the work. And now….”

*Snap.*

I flicked my finger. Using his memories, I created not the ruined Seoul from the 3D original but the 4D Seoul from his mind. The buildings were much taller and more luxurious, and people’s clothes were far more refined. I felt dizzy from the overwhelming crowd.

“This is your world….”

“It’s a world materialized by magic. But this world is more like a dream; it’s not real. It just shows what’s possible.”

He stood in front of a vending machine waiting for someone. A man whose face wasn’t fully formed inserted a credit card, and he quickly pressed two buttons, grabbing the drinks swiftly.

“That’s theft.”

“I’m naturally a villain.”

“You should be grateful I didn’t steal from someone else.”

“Oh, I never thought of that. We really do have a lot in common. Hehe.”

“……”

It bothered me that we shared almost similar thoughts despite our differences. He handed me a cold canned drink—a carbonated beverage with strawberry juice. He was drinking cheap canned coffee.

“Why are you drinking such cheap stuff when there are better options?”

“It’s just to clear my head for a bit. Anything works.”

He extended his empty hand toward me. I took it, and we walked down the street together. Cutting through the crowd, we reached a wide river—the Han River—and Yeouido, where Blazing Phoenix would sacrifice herself.

“What a terrible taste.”

“It’s just sightseeing. Isn’t it much prettier than in the original? Hold on.”

He covered my right eye with his hand, then my left. Two different landscapes appeared alternately: the destroyed Seoul and the advanced Seoul. Chuckling, he threw the empty can into the Han River.

*Flare.*

I burned both the can and him before it hit the water.

“Why did you burn me too?”

“Because trash needs incineration.”

“…Sorry. The Han River in the original was practically a garbage dump until the snake at City Hall was defeated. Before that, it was worse than fifth-class water.”

“The snake at City Hall?”

“Ah, it’s an S-Rank monster at Seoul City Hall, kind of like an imugi. One of Maamryong’s offspring.”

He enjoys telling me things I don’t know. More accurately, he enjoys satisfying my curiosity while leading the conversation.

“There are two S-Rank monsters in Seoul. They know each other. Both were originally politicians who became monsters. One was the buddy of the guy with Light Blade—he became a monster trying to destroy a Cube. The other was the political mentor of Sun Icheol, the former mayor of Seoul. He was conducting rescue operations at City Hall when he transformed. Heh.”

“Sun Icheol is a jerk, but why mention his political mentor?”

“He betrayed him. The fact that he didn’t order the Mapo Bridge to be blown up was probably his last gesture of respect. In the end, he held out at City Hall until he transformed.”

“In many ways, you’re similar trash.”

His expression hardened as if genuinely shocked. I worried briefly if I had hurt him.

“…Was that too harsh?”

“Comparing me to Sun Icheol stings. Comparing me to a baldy with 3cm of hair is humiliating. Are you comparing me to Jeolpung now?”

“Sorry. I made a big mistake. Do you want to touch my chest?”

“Yeah.”

He sat on a bench, and I climbed onto him. His hands supported my chest from below, giving me a sense of stability.

“Sun Icheol abandoned Seoul. But Seoul is the main stage, right? There are many restrictions if you want to be a hero protecting Seoul. You’d have to commute daily from New Seoul, and pay taxes on everything earned in Seoul. Thinking about giving 10% of everything to someone like Sun Icheol makes me furious.”

“So you’re planning to set up a villain organization in Seoul?”

“Yeah. Even if I choose the hero route, having a hunter-like or comparable villain organization is necessary. It allows for relatively free movement.”

“An organization…?”

His words naturally raised questions in my mind. An organization. That was a point of disagreement between us beyond the simple choice between hero and villain.

“Are such people really necessary? Managing kids is annoying, isn’t it? Didn’t you say handling the aftermath of kids’ actions was bothersome?”

“Once you set the initial direction, it becomes easy later. Besides, if you have members, you can enjoy love-making in a hotel while letting them clean up afterwards—”

*Flare.*

He turned to ash, and I sat down on the bench. He casually sat beside me and put his arm around my shoulder.

“That works, right? Oh, I may have spoken too much from my perspective. You know room service? With it, you can order strawberry cake whenever you want.”

“…You think I’d fall for something as simple as strawberries?”

“Yeah.”

“…Ugh, it’s frustrating.”

He knew me too well. Using strawberries as leverage was despicable; he really was a natural-born villain. Thinking about this, I couldn’t comprehend the records he had played.

“How did you manage to act so gentlemanly while hiding such a nature?”

“Talent?”

“Bad luck.”

“The highest compliment. So, Lady Raon, shall we change locations?”

He slid his hand under my armpit and lifted me up. Even though I could walk on my own, he insisted on carrying me princess-style.

“This is just a method to massage your chest and thighs while moving!”

“You just want to grope my chest and thighs while moving.”

“Exactly.”

If I said no, he’d undoubtedly give a long speech about why carrying me princess-style was necessary. So I followed his lead. As we moved along the Han River embankment, he kept chatting incessantly.

“…Here, Raon fought Penril…”

“…Everyone caused chaos trying to cross this river, and eventually, Yuha fell in first. Her 1 billion Core Coat got soaked in poop water…”

“…Around here, Yuna had an outdoor *kyuk kyuk* on a slope…”

Every place he passed had traces and memories of the heroines he had conquered. He smiled softly as he recounted these stories. Despite constantly teasing me about wanting to have sex, he clearly cherished the memories of his experiences with the heroines.

‘Past connections.’

If I allowed myself to give in, if I allowed my body to him, would I become just another past memory for him? …That thought made me somewhat reluctant.

“We’ve arrived.”

He stopped walking with a serious look. The spot he pointed to was an ordinary open space, but he treated it as if it carried deep meaning as he gently placed me on the ground.

“This is where Blazing Phoenix passed her power to Baek Cheonghwa.”

The place where the Phoenix would perish.