“If you love me, can’t you let me go?”

He spoke with a dejected expression.

“The moment you put the ring on your hand, I can no longer stop you.”

“…”

I should have put on the ring earlier. I regretted not wearing it because I’d been scared by the System’s subtle threats all this time.

But anyway, since Victor couldn’t interfere with me anymore, I moved my steps to enter the temple. Then Victor blocked my path.

“You said you couldn’t stop me.”

“I can’t use magic.”

“Then move aside.”

“Are you really never going to see me again like this?”

I’ve lived just fine without seeing you until now, so what’s the problem? I pushed Victor away with an annoyed expression. He was pushed back with a face full of despair.

“Sorry. I want to return to my original life. I could never love you, so just give up.”

Without looking at Victor, I strode toward the temple. Thinking I was just a few more steps away from ending this tiresome game made me feel relieved.

But somehow, Victor weighed on my mind. I wanted to look back several times, but I felt my heart would waver if I faced him, so I walked looking only forward.

I was thinking I’d never mention the word “game” again when I took my first step into the temple.

“Were you truly happy after you left me?”

The moment I heard Victor’s words, I froze. His words pierced my innermost thoughts, so I couldn’t move forward anymore.

In the end, I turned my head to look at Victor. Then I saw him gazing at me with sad eyes.

“If you ran away because you hated me, you should have lived happily. But your eyes were full of emptiness and loneliness.”

“…”

I couldn’t deny his words. At first, I came to the virtual world to escape my boring daily life. Then I went back, longing for that daily life again.

What was the result?

I thought I’d be happy living without all those memories, but I wasn’t. I returned to reality and lived the same life, and once again I wanted stimulation…

That feeling must have led me back to this virtual reality.

“Angela, you said it yourself. These feelings are fake.”

Right, I said they were fake. Because I didn’t think game characters could have real feelings.

“But after you disappeared, I lived like a broken person. So how can you be certain these feelings are fake?”

“…”

“After you disappeared, I understood my heart even more. That it’s genuine. That I can’t imagine life without you.”

“…”

“Do you know how painful it was every time you came to me reeking of another man’s s*men? I only wished you were mine alone. So I worked hard to become a man worthy of you. Do you still not like me? What do I have to do for you to look at me?”

Victor kept digging at my heart’s weakness.

“I want to ask you. Please see the real me, not a virtual character.”

Hearing Victor’s desperate confession left my mind so confused I couldn’t think.

What did I truly want? Between life as Seo Ji-soo and life as Angela, which made me happier?

“No. These aren’t your real feelings.”

“Believing my words is your freedom. I won’t stop you anymore.”

When I kept denying it, Victor seemed disappointed at not being chosen again this time and gave up on himself.

Now was the time to make a firm decision without being swayed. Should I stay in this game and continue living a turbulent life, or go back outside to the world and live a boring life again?

I wanted to return to my life, but before that, I had a question.

“If I return to the real world, what happens to you?”

“You’re going to abandon me anyway. You don’t need to worry.”

Despite his words, tears welled up in Victor’s eyes. He seemed to remember I hated men who cried, so I could feel him desperately holding back tears.

I wanted to approach him and stroke him, but I immediately dismissed the thought.

“This world returns to normal, right?”

“It’s a world that will disappear anyway if you don’t exist. This world only maintains itself if you’re here. So if you disappear, it will return to the original world.”

“Then what happens to you?”

“Didn’t I say you don’t need to worry?”

Victor deflected when asked what would happen to him after I returned. Seeing his attitude made me suspicious.

Why wouldn’t a man who imprisoned me to keep me in this world talk about his own life?

“Tell me straight.”

When I pressed him, Victor hesitated briefly before opening his lips.

“The result for the one who lost the bet is decided. I’ll return to nothingness. I’ll pay for my sins.”

It meant Victor would disappear if I returned to the original world. Well, how could he be safe after committing such heinous acts as changing the world?

“Then if I don’t go back? The people of this world have to live against their will?”

“Yes.”

If I didn’t return to the original world, Sir Chalmonte would have to keep mixing bodies with men against his will. I didn’t talk with the Crown Prince and Northern Duke, but they might not have wanted their engagement and marriage either.

There might be other people who suffered because of me too.

No matter how I looked at the situation, it was right for me to return to the original world. Peace would be restored and Victor would pay for his sins.

So I decided to go to the temple. This was truly the last time. I looked at Victor once before extending my foot.

He was a man who cried often, so I thought he’d be teary-eyed like always. But not now.

Victor was smiling at me. Like he truly wished for my happiness.

“Why are you smiling when you’ll die if I leave?”

“Since I couldn’t win your heart, all I can do now is wish for your happiness. Please be happy this time.”

Hearing this farewell that suddenly respected my choice made my heart heavy. I felt needlessly sorry. I felt like I was committing a great sin.

But I tried to steady my heart. Victor was just a game character and I was a person outside the virtual world, wasn’t I? I was an uninvited guest, so I had to leave this place.

The world was wrong because of me, so I had to fix it. So I steeled my heart not to be swayed by Victor.

I deliberately didn’t say goodbye to him. This time too, I had to be cruel. I extended my foot into the temple, hoping he’d forget me once order was restored.

* * *

“Ahh!”

Two n*ked men and women were entangled on the bed. They tangled together, indulging in each other’s bodies. At this moment, nothing else caught their eyes. They only focused on the two of them.

I couldn’t come to my senses from the intense pleasure penetrating roughly. Already conditioned to the pleasure Victor gave, I was addicted to the endless climax and ecstasy.

It didn’t matter if I broke like this. It was fine even if I became more of a mess. I couldn’t feel such ecstatic sensations from anyone but Victor.

Now I was so deeply fallen for him that I could no longer escape.

The reason I was mixing bodies with Victor like this when I should have returned to the original world was because I withdrew my foot just before stepping into the temple. Victor’s last smile weighed on my mind so much I couldn’t return.

When I didn’t try to enter the temple, Victor approached me, forcibly grabbed my hand, and tried to drag me inside the temple.

“Are you okay with me disappearing like this?”

“…”

“You’re not okay with it.”

“…”

There was no answer, but the strength in the hand holding me gradually loosened. Looking at Victor, he had returned to his usual self.

With tears welling up in his eyes. But he didn’t cry. He just looked at me with a sad expression.

If Victor had cried until the end, I would have entered the temple. But when he smiled for my sake, I could truly feel his heart.

Has anyone ever loved me like this? I was certain that besides Victor, there would be no one to love me so passionately when I’d only dated trash.

Maybe I thought life was boring all this time because I wanted someone to love me this intensely.

I couldn’t find it in real life so I became absorbed in games, but now I realized it, didn’t I? So I had no more reason to push Victor away.

Now that I was no longer a player, I became eternally trapped in the game.

When I entered the game world, my body was sucked in too, so unless I logged out, my physical body didn’t exist in reality.

So I no longer existed as a person in real life. Even if I went missing, would there be anyone to grieve for me?

Would my parents, who lived separate lives after divorce, be sad hearing news of my disappearance?

They were people who didn’t ask about my well-being even when I was alive, so they didn’t seem likely to worry even if I disappeared. So I wasn’t going to think about my real life anymore.

Now I wasn’t Seo Ji-soo but Angela. Angela who was loved by Victor. Remembering that fact, I reached out to Victor and carefully caressed his cheek.

“I’ll never leave your side again.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, can I accept your proposal now?”

“Of course.”

Only then did Victor start pouring out tears. I hugged and comforted him. At this moment, this space where we were together became reality, not a game.

By taking the villain’s hand, I had no choice but to become a villainess too. With my choice, this world completely lost its way back to the past.

Sorry, but I wanted to be selfish. Because Victor in front of me was more precious than them, and my desire to protect him was greatest.

Since this was love obtained through such a big decision, I would stay by Victor’s side for life and love him.

fin.