“Ah…”
Blood pouring down, hearts bursting in her hands, lives being severed.
Not a single aspect was refreshing.
Kim Eun-ha, watching Namgoong Min collapse helplessly with his burst heart and vacant eyes, smiled at the corners of her mouth.
“This is… such a waste…”
She turned the lifeless Namgoong Min onto his back and kissed his bloodless lips.
Then, she poured the heart still in her hand over her head, as if performing a sacred anointing.
With a devout and blissful expression, Kim Eun-ha, drenched in Namgoong Min’s blood, closed his eyes.
“Thank you, and I love you.”
Affection.
A voice drenched in endless love and gratitude, as sweet as honey.
And so, she who whispered love…
Leapt.
Fwoosh!!
“Refreshing—wait, it’s stuffy!!”
Behind her, a being with crowned red eyes glimmering appeared.
Running through the corridor of the underground prison, she swept open the door to the Crown Princess Palace, arriving in the still dark and dust-laden halls.
I want to kill people.
I want to kill people.
I want to kill people.
Like a hungry person searching for food, like a thirsty person seeking water.
Burning with the thirst for murder on a primal level, Kim Eun-ha laughed maniacally.
<Desire to Kill>.
A skill that grants the owner immense power and physique but requires killing one person each day to maintain sanity.
However, it had been far too long since she satisfied the cravings of <Desire to Kill>.
And one mere fortuneteller was far from enough.
Far from enough.
“Your Highness!”
“There’s a loud noise coming from the Crown Princess Palace—”
“Everyone? I’m fine!”
So even as the servants rushed in, startled by the great noise while she ascended to the Crown Princess Palace, she smiled.
One, two, three, four… roughly thirteen.
That should suffice as a warm-up.
“So, should I be satisfied with just a heart?”
“Y-yes?….Gah!?”
“Your, Your Highness?!”
“What’s that behind you…?”
“Ahhh!!!”
“Run! The princess has gone mad!”
“The <Desire to Kill> has relapsed…!!”
“I’m completely sane, you know?!”
“Ughhh!!!”
Thirteen servants fall, blood scattering.
With a satisfied expression, Kim Eun-ha relished in the sensation of bursting hearts and surveyed their faces.
“Many familiar faces.”
If they rushed over at the uproar in the Crown Princess Palace, they must have been working around here all along.
Perhaps that’s why she recognized many of them.
The elderly butler from the Crown Princess Palace.
The cook who handled the meals.
Mr. Jang, who repaired the building here and there.
Even the sister taking care of the garden.
Familiar faces she had seen since childhood.
Yet, despite their deaths, Kim Eun-ha smiled.
After all, compared to the acute thirst for murder she felt now, such things were mere specks of dust.
“With this… fourteen.”
It had been over ten years since her <Desire to Kill> had been sealed.
One a day would mean roughly 4,000 deaths to satisfy it.
Finishing her calculations with a smile, Kim Eun-ha dashed forth.
The thick smell of blood and the scent of living humans.
In an instant, she arrived at the royal palace with a twisted smile.
“Uh, uh? Your Highness?!”
“W-what is that!!!”
“Run!!”
Whoosh.
She extracts hearts from everyone she sees and meets.
When it comes to killing, the heart is the most delectable delicacy.
Devouring only the most delicious parts and discarding the rest was something she could never do under normal circumstances.
But there were plenty of people here.
Naturally, there were overflowing hearts too.
“Hahahahaha!!!”
Piercing the chests of the fleeing individuals, she retrieves their hearts, grasping them tightly.
It was a repetitive act akin to simple labor, yet Kim Eun-ha was happy.
Kill, kill, kill, kill.
Intoxicated by murder, ecstatic by <Desire to Kill>, intoxicated by blood, she runs wild.
Crushing the barriers in her way, all who are visible fall to her blade, and that was when.
“Your Highness…!!”
“Oh, The Oppressor.”
How nice to meet you.
And…
“Goodbye.”
“Cough…!!!”
Regrettably, perhaps because she was too old, the sensation of bursting hearts wasn’t particularly enjoyable.
Throwing aside the old man who had collapsed without being able to utter a word, she roams around the royal palace.
“What is this…?!”
Even the leader of the Shadows.
“If that’s Your Highness’s choice.”
The <Oppressor> too.
“Your Highness, we’re with the Crown Prince’s faction!”
Seven ministers, the servants, visitors, royalty.
Ignoring conversations as if they were a luxury, they simply laugh madly while craving hearts.
Someone once said, death is fair.
“That’s really true.”
Who said that, again?
It was a line that had stuck in her mind forever since childhood, but she didn’t remember who said it.
She just sympathized with it.
I want to kill people.
Still, I want to kill people.
And I want to keep on killing people.
Drenched in blood, covered in gore.
When she finally quieted the royal palace that had been overflowing with screams and chaos, Kim Eun-ha regained her senses.
To be precise, she woke up from the ecstasy of murder.
“Huh…?”
Have I already killed 4,000 people? It doesn’t feel real.
Suddenly, a pang of anguish strikes her chest.
Is this pain making me wake up?
Then, she surveyed what she was doing.
Her father lay beneath her feet.
“Ugh…”
“Oh, Dad. Have you been well?”
“……”
“Please understand when I call you Daddy. ‘Father’ or ‘Father dearest’ sounds too stiff, right? Sometimes a child just wants to call their parent like that.”
“……”
“But why didn’t you meet me during Chuseok? When was the last time I saw you? I can’t remember.”
“……”
“In the past, I was grateful to you. I appreciated that you sealed away my <Desire to Kill>.”
“……”
“Of course, looking back, that was a boneheaded choice.”
Thump. Thump. Thump.
…Ah, I haven’t burst it yet.
Kim Eun-ha finally noticed the heart still beating in her hand.
She didn’t even have to think about whose it was.
“Ha ha ha, I’m standing, and Dad is lying down. Does that bring back any memories?”
“……”
“You know, I accidentally hit you when I was little. I stood there dumbfounded in front of you as you clutched your stomach and collapsed.”
“……”
“Such a sweet memory, right?”
“……”
“The regrettable part is that Mom isn’t here next to you.”
“……”
“Oh, right.”
I killed her, didn’t I?
Crack.
With a light grip, the heart bursts forth.
Throwing the heart piece that had long stopped beating toward her dad, she leaves the room.
“……Huh? Older Brother?”
She was confronted with the Crown Prince’s lifeless body with its heart burst.
Did I even kill my brother?
Eh, it doesn’t really matter.
“I’m sorry, Older Brother.”
Why did you come to the royal palace anyway? You should have just stayed at the Academy.
Offering a prayer for her brother’s soul, she lightly strolls down the corridor, soon spotting several other corpses.
Rich tycoon, psychic, hero, warlock.
“……?”
Why are they all here?
With a slight question, she examines their heart regions.
Naturally, they were pierced and burst.
“Oh, foolish me.”
I should have savored the hearts of such important people a bit more before bursting them.
No matter how hungry I am, I should have at least tasted them.
But it’s alright!
There are plenty of hearts to burst!
And so, she walks.
Hum hum, skipping joyfully, with a bright smile.
While roaming through the vast royal palace.
“Huh…?”
Nothing.
All that was left was corpses.
Did they all die already? How regrettable.
Then suddenly, a question arises.
‘People working in the royal palace…’
Surely not 4,000 of them, right?
At most, half that, and to wake up after killing only that much?
“Why is that?”
Is it because I’ve been gone for so long that a small number has filled me?
Or has the number of servants increased in the meantime?
Questions give rise to more questions, trailing endlessly.
And above all…
It aches.
“So… painful…”
From the moment the ecstasy of <Desire to Kill> ended.
From the moment I woke up in front of my father.
My heart feels like it’s being squeezed.
It’s hard to breathe, tears are slipping out, and my head is throbbing…
“Why is this happening?”
“……”
“Originally, I should have killed everyone in the royal palace and continued the massacre outside.”
“……”
“Why have I woken up with such a small number?”
“Namgoong Min?”
“And why does it hurt so much?”
Right beside her, groaning in pain.
Namgoong Min sits there.
The fortuneteller who should have been dead down in the underground prison.
“Am I… alive?”
“What do you think, Your Highness? Shall we try killing you again?”
“As you wish.”
Thump. Crack.
Even in agony, she casually plucks out Namgoong Min’s heart and bursts it.
Immediately, Namgoong Min collapses, breath drawn away.
“Shall we try again?”
“This… what the…”
Before she could react, another Namgoong Min sat beside her.
The sight of the dead Namgoong Min and the living Namgoong Min coexisting.
Before the astonished princess could act, Namgoong Min spoke first.
“How do you feel right now?”
“……What?”
“Your Highness, how do you feel right now?”
“Is this… what you mean by ‘method’? To infinitely resurrect via an artifact or some unknown means?”
“……”
“Are you thinking to die until my feelings settle? If that’s truly the case, it’s a very foolish thought.”
“Why do you say that?”
“<Desire to Kill> isn’t that simple. The more you kill the same person, the diminishing pleasure you experience. To satisfy yourself by killing only me, you’d have to kill me more than 10,000 times, you know?”
“……”
“If this is a clever way to handle <Desire to Kill>, then give it up.”
“Well, maybe it is?”
“……?”
“More than that, I’m not trying to satisfy or eliminate Your Highness’s <Desire to Kill>.”
“……Huh?”
“I’m trying to teach you—”
“—’Self-Control’.”
“Now then.”
“Let’s try once more.”
*
“Kim Eun-ha, Crown Princess.”
“……”
“How do you feel?”
“Such a simple question.”
It was an incredibly uncomplicated question, characteristic of a fortuneteller.
How do you feel right now?
“Refreshingly… so.”
“……”
“To the point where I want to kill all living beings…”
Regaining her <Desire to Kill> that had been sealed away.
Throwing away the <Innocent Kill> imposed by the <Mediator>, Kim Eun-ha was preparing to descend as a blood demon.
“……”
“Your Highness?”
“First, I’ll kill.”
“Cough…!?”
With that, she—
Losing herself, she exuberantly—
Fwoosh!!!
Snatched Namgoong Min’s heart and burst it.
*
“What is this pain…?”
“Now then.”
“Answer me!!!”
“Let’s try once more.”
*
“Kim Eun-ha, Crown Princess.”
“……”
“How do you feel?”
“Um… um…?”
*
“Too painful… my heart… the pain…!”
“Now then.”
“Let’s try once more.”
*
“Kim Eun-ha, Crown Princess.”
“……”
“How do you feel?”
“Such a simple question.”
It was a question too simple for a fortuneteller.
How do you feel right now?
“Refreshing… to the point where I’m driven to kill every living being…”
Regaining her <Desire to Kill> that had been sealed away.
Throwing away the <Innocent Kill> placed by the <Mediator>, Kim Eun-ha was ready to descend as a blood demon.
“Kill, I must kill…”
“……”
“I must kill…”
Confusion, pain, and emptiness.
Why?
I certainly just became complete.
I finally regained my <Desire to Kill>.
Why—
“Ugh… uh…”
—Why am I hesitating to kill?
<Desire to Kill> cries out. To kill the fortuneteller before her. To cover herself in his blood and seize his heart.
But.
I, I—
“Now, Your Highness.”
“Ugh… ugh…”
Grabbing Kim Eun-ha’s arm, Namgoong Min presses it against his own chest.
With just a little more force, she could kill him and burst his heart.
<Desire to Kill> commands. Do it.
But.
Her hand.
Doesn’t move.
It merely rests on Namgoong Min’s chest.
“Your Highness.”
“Ah… ah…”
“How do you feel right now?”
“Ah… it hurts, it hurts so much… my heart…”
Pain. A pain tightening around her chest.
It’s an undeniable pain.
But why?
‘Why is this so… familiar?’
This pain felt oddly familiar.
A kind of pain she had experienced before in her childhood…
“Your Highness.”
“It hurts… it hurts…!!”
“That’s what loss feels like.”
“Er… ah?”
“And because you chose not to kill me…”
Thud.
Namgoong Min places his hand on Kim Eun-ha’s head.
And he strokes her gently.
“You did well.”
“……”
“You, Crown Princess, have just…”
“……”
“Learned self-control.”
“Ah…”
“Well done, Eun-ha.”
……………
………
………
……
“Yes.”
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
