Chapter 1: First (1)

The room was filled with a mixture of dust and the lingering scent of stale alcohol.

The windows were obscured by thick curtains, making it difficult to discern if it was day or night.

The space was only filled with dim light and the dust motes dancing within it.

Knock, knock.

The dry, uninspired knocking broke the silence and pierced my eardrums.

Ravine lay motionless on the bed.

‘It must be a hallucination,’ I thought.

‘Because no one would come looking for me in this wretched place.’

On second thought, maybe there was one.

“Ravine! I know you’re in there. Open the door.”

A sharp, familiar voice.

That voice was not a hallucination.

Ravine slowly pushed myself up.

My creaking joints protested with a cacophony of sounds.

‘Why did she come?’

As I opened the door, bright light from the hallway flooded in, accompanied by a gaze filled with contempt.

Having been holed up in the dark, I involuntarily squinted at the incoming sunlight.

It was my sister, Levina.

Her uniform was perfectly ironed, without a single speck of dust, and her pristine white hair was neatly combed back.

Everything about her was like a mirror, starkly reflecting Ravine’s shabby attire and miserable reality.

Levina strode into the room, pinching her nose.

Her shoes, with her heels raised as if the floor was too filthy to touch, tapped disdainfully on the days-uncleaned floor.

“What a state you’re in. Even beasts would live in a cleaner place than you.”

“Just state your business.”

My voice was hoarse, cracking as it came out.

It had been a long time since I’d last spoken.

Instead of answering, Levina pulled a thick envelope from within her uniform and tossed it onto the table.

It was sealed with bright red wax, clearly bearing the family crest.

That alone made its contents obvious.

“This is the final notice from the family.”

‘…Final.’

That word echoed in my mind.

‘Now, it’s truly over.’

‘I suppose I always knew it would come to this.’

The sensation of everything ending, one by one, was surprisingly unfamiliar, yet somehow liberating.

“We sent you to the academy to get your act together, but all we hear is your infamy, and now you’ve even caused trouble?

There’s no longer any reason for the family to bear your disgrace… that’s what Father… said.”

“……”

“With this letter, you are no longer a part of our family.

He has no intention of covering your tuition, so you’ll soon be expelled from the academy; find somewhere to stay on your own.

You must have plenty of money, scattered around or stolen from the family, right?”

I said nothing.

I merely stared at the envelope on the table.

I had no energy left to make excuses. Explanations? I’d already offered them dozens, hundreds of times.

But all that ever came back were gazes of distrust and contempt.

All they believed were the ominous rumors surrounding Ravine Edelgard, along with the infamy and misdeeds that had accumulated over time.

And only the situation, as if the outcome had already been decided—‘the villain of the original story’—ever sought me out.

‘No one cared whether my behavior changed or not.’

‘I tried, didn’t I? To break free, somehow.’

Putting the unpleasant past with the original male lead, that shining friend, behind me, I approached him, smiling and offering a handshake.

He would merely exchange a handshake with a reluctant expression, and more often than not, he’d avoid me whenever I approached.

Given the nature of the rumors, I wasn’t hurt, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret.

At some point, after rumors began to circulate that I was not only seducing women but men as well, I stopped approaching anyone entirely.

To manage my already ruined social reputation, I wore a mask, sold smiles, and even tried to appease disgusting old men.

‘What schemes is Edelgard’s scoundrel up to now?’ they would merely whisper.

Well, I suppose I’d probably do the same.

If a fool who’d lived like a complete scoundrel suddenly started acting like a normal human overnight, they’d probably assume it was either time for him to die, or he’d received a hint that he might be expelled from the family.

My fiancée who hated me—no, that’s not right.

I even tried to win back Seraphina’s heart, though ‘detest’ felt more fitting than ‘hate’ for her feelings towards me.

I had acquired a rare herb she’d mentioned in passing, enclosed it in a letter, and brought it to her, but she burned it right in front of my eyes.

‘My life entangled with you is disgusting, Ravine.’

‘You still haven’t changed anything.’

‘Now, the fact that I was your childhood friend! That I once liked you!

And the fact that I was even engaged to you—all of it is so horrifying it’s driving me insane!’

Well.

Despite enduring her insults and putting in all sorts of futile efforts to woo her, all I got in return was a massive fight a few days ago, which ultimately led to the mention of breaking off the engagement.

I had been practically waiting for it, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

Anyway, I tend to agree with the saying that people don’t change, but…

‘I tried, didn’t I? To break free… I struggled.’

All those efforts crumbled amidst misunderstandings, missed connections, and the misdeeds that had already piled up beyond my control, as if the world insisted on following a predetermined scenario.

To the extent that I couldn’t understand why I was even thrown into this world in the first place.

Perhaps it would have been better if I had been born Hans, a farmer in some modest rural village, instead of the scoundrel of a prominent family.

Now, I don’t even know if it’s truly misunderstandings and missed connections.

It feels as though a predetermined outcome is being forced upon me, no matter how much I twist and turn.

[Collect Endings!]

[Reward: Return to your original world.]

The system message shimmering before my eyes seemed to mock me.

‘Ending.’ I couldn’t possibly know what kind of ending it was referring to.

In this damned game, wasn’t the only ending I would ever meet the pathetic demise of a fallen villain?

The hope of being able to return.

That had been the last lifeline supporting my heart, but it didn’t even reach my grasp before rotting away.

“Don’t even think about showing your face again. You’re a disgrace to the family.”

Levina’s voice dragged me back to reality from the rising paranoia—or perhaps it was just delusion, I wasn’t sure.

Her face held not just contempt, but outright revulsion.

Her gaze was like one observing filth in the street.

‘If I’m kicked out like this, will I truly be able to go back?’

‘If I close my eyes and open them, I wish I’d be in my small, six-pyeong studio apartment right now.’

‘What have I been doing all this time?’

‘Wasn’t everything supposed to be resolved if I, having turned over a new leaf and become a decent person, simply approached them?’

‘There’s a limit to how much nothing can work out.’

‘It’s not like they’re performing a death ritual for me…’

“Yeah, that’s right. I shouldn’t even show my face, should I?”

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘Perhaps if I just die like this, I’ll go back.’

“So get out, Levina.”

“What…?”

“Your business is done, isn’t it? You said I’m no longer part of your family.

So if your business is finished, just go.

You won’t understand anything I say anyway.”

I wondered why she looked so dumbfounded, then realized this might be the first time I’d ever truly rebelled.

Come to think of it, Ravine seemed rather clumsy in some ways.

Because the utter scoundrel was, in fact, a pushover who would just laugh off whatever his own family did to him.

It wasn’t my concern now.

Ignoring the system message flickering before my eyes, what if I just died like this?

With a chaotic, dizzy feeling in my head, I turned my back on my sister, who was still glaring at me with contempt, and picked up the liquor bottle from the table.

My head felt like it was splitting open.

I wished I could just disappear like this.

The thought of wanting to die spiraled endlessly, each thought chasing the last.

To the point where I couldn’t even comprehend what I was doing.

“When was it, I wonder, when I heard someone say, ‘If you’re going to live like such a cripple, you might as well just die’…”

I deliberately ignored my sister’s disgusted gaze, put the bottle to my lips, and mumbled.

In truth, I wasn’t sure if it was even appropriate to call her ‘sister.’

Our mothers were different.

Since childhood, I’d often heard her threaten to kill me if I dared call her ‘noona.’

Of course, this wasn’t something I had personally experienced, but rather a lingering impression from Ravine’s own memories.

But what other word could I use to describe her, if not ‘sister’?

“It was probably my seventeenth birthday.”

The ‘Ravine’ who wasn’t me took out a revolver he had acquired long ago from the drawer and aimed it at his sister.

Even though these weren’t my memories, Ravine’s and my own were so jumbled that even feelings of resentment seemed to transfer.

“What did she say on the day Mother died, I don’t quite remember.”

I watched my sister’s face, which had been observing me with a ‘what a pathetic sight’ expression as I chugged the bottle, contort in horror, before bringing the gun barrel to my own temple.

“For just one day, she could have refrained from calling me a bastard.”

The cold metallic sensation was so vivid it momentarily made me forget the throbbing headache.

I saw Levina’s lips moving.

She seemed to be saying something, but all I could hear was a ringing in my ears.

Whether she was in the middle of speaking or had finished, I didn’t know, but regardless, I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the trigger.

Ever since I’d fallen into this world, I’d always wanted to do this, but I was too afraid, and I didn’t want to see anything.

Rather than a bang, my consciousness blurred with a bursting sound.

****

[Collect Endings. 1/?]

[Reward: Return to your original world.]

“Ha, f*ck. Bullshit.”

I had no inclination to check the time.

I pulled a cheap cigarette from my pocket, stuck it between my lips, and lit it.

No matter how much I inhaled and exhaled the smoke, my mind remained stubbornly restless.

As I did, a letter caught my eye.

The kindling that had burned before my eyes.