Chapter 1: Logout (Part 1)

In the dead (middle) of night.

There was one man who was awake while everyone else was asleep.

That man, Damian, sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes half-closed, letting out a hollow laugh before staring into space and muttering a curse.

“This is f***ing ridiculous.”

It was a statement loaded with multiple meanings.

“Sigh.”

Damian let out a short sigh, his face contorted in a troubled expression, his head throbbing.

Was it because he had been guzzling alcohol until his mind was hazy?

Not only was there a headache, but the smell of alcohol emanated from his entire body. Damian, with a disgusted look, slapped his own cheek to try and regain his senses.

Slap! A crisp sound, along with a tingling pain on his cheek, was felt as Damian tried to regain his composure.

“Mmm.”

An agreeable, soft voice reached his ears.

“…!”

Damian’s face stiffened, startled as if he were a thief caught in the act.

Creak.

Like a robot without oil, Damian stiffly turned his head, his gaze directed towards the bed in the corner.

“Haaam—.”

On the bed, a woman with striking half-naked, ash-gray hair was fast asleep, reeking heavily of alcohol.

A rare beauty.

A beauty with exceptional looks, not often seen.

However, despite having a woman who would normally steal one’s gaze lying half-naked before him, Damian’s gaze remained indifferent.

“If I were to be surprised by mere nudity after seeing everything, I’d be impotent.”

He calmly took in the woman’s half-naked body. He admired her beautiful body, as always, but only for a moment before shaking his head, one eye twitching as the corner of his mouth turned up.

Was it just a simple toss and turn?

It seems he doesn’t have to consider the worst-case scenario.

The woman shivered as if she were cold, let out a small moan, tossed and turned, and then began to sleep soundly again. Seeing this, Damian sighed in relief and quietly approached, carefully covering her up to her shoulders with the blanket so as not to wake her.

After confirming that the woman was embracing the soft touch of the blanket with a satisfied smile, Damian finally relaxed and muttered.

“Was it just a sleep murmur?”

Flick, Damian’s gaze fell upon the woman sleeping soundly on the bed, his eyes now filled with pity.

“…I didn’t know things would turn out this way. I’ve really done something terrible to you.”

He scratched his head and apologized with a sorry expression.

“I’m sorry, I really am.”

It was an apology whose meaning was unknown.

As if he were a sinner, Damian apologized and looked at the woman sleeping soundly. In that brief moment, as if having a nightmare, the woman’s face slightly contorted.

With a slight sweat forming on her forehead. Damian gently reached out and wiped the sweat from her forehead, then softly stroked her cheek.

Each movement was careful, as if handling delicate porcelain that could break with the slightest mistake.

“If I knew it would turn out like this, I shouldn’t have embraced you, even if I was drunk.”

It’s just going to hurt you. It’s like I just used you and threw you away.

Damian muttered with a gloomy face. He placed the letter he had written earlier and a vial of holy water made from unicorn tears on the desk next to the bed, along with a potion that would erase memories of a specific person. Then, he pulled up a nearby chair and unhesitatingly sat down.

And silently gazed at the woman.

Her delicate features, fair and smooth skin, a voluptuous body that stirred the hearts of men, a slender waist, her signature long, ash-gray hair that flowed down to her waist, and the purple eyes hidden behind her closed eyelids.

It was the kind of beauty that would inevitably captivate you if you kept looking.

You, as a woman.

Except for a certain individual, he had never given his heart to anyone and had truly loved her.

“Leticia.”

Leticia Lisyantus.

That was this woman’s name.

The eldest daughter of the Lisyantus family, called the King of the North, and a great sorceress who commanded the brave warriors of the North, praised as the treasure of the snowfield.

“Right, Witch of Ash?”

Whenever you drank, you would always say that with an unfitting, foolish smile, telling people to praise you.

Pfft, Damian let out a flat smile, his expression reminiscent of the past.

Damian’s smile, as he looked at Leticia who was tossing and turning again as if something displeased her, was infinitely warm.

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to see that smile anymore.”

Sadly. Damian said with a small sigh.

“If it were me before I met you, if I had the chance to return to the ‘original’ world, I would have logged out to Earth without hesitation.”

But, Damian added, stroking Leticia’s ash-gray hair.

“After you and I became entangled, this forced logout situation is unbelievably f***ing ridiculous.”

Damian vented his pent-up feelings, words he had been suppressing in his heart.

Damian’s tearful face looked incredibly sad.

Soon, a single tear rolled down his cheek, falling onto Leticia’s cheek and soaking the bed. Damian wiped away the flowing tears with the back of his hand.

“I’m sorry. For being such a pathetic man. So, please just forget all the memories about me.”

Damian Radius, the man he had customized as a game character. Please erase him from your memory.

Forget him forever.

Remember the former member of the hero’s party, the Heavenly Demon Damian Radius, as a being that never existed.

“That way, I think I can leave without any lingering regrets.”

I’m sorry for being selfish until the end, I really am.

Damian finally withdrew his hand that had been stroking the woman’s cheek with a smiling face. Regret and longing dripped from that touch.

The kind woman who first reached out to him, who was called a murderer, unknown to anyone.

The woman who made him first accept this world as reality, not a game.

A mysterious woman who was so precious and so cherished that he unknowingly wanted to be by her side.

A woman who was cold and taciturn, but infinitely generous and kind to her friends and colleagues.

You were that kind of woman.

Ting-

Damian blankly scanned the system window that appeared before him with a cheerful sound. It was time to go back.

[Quest (Clear)]

[Have the original protagonist join the hero’s party, raise their favorability to 80% or higher, and defeat the Demon King who is trying to destroy the world.]

[Reward: Escape from the game, return to reality.]

[Failure: Death and the destruction of the physical body in the real world.]

A familiar quest window.

It was a quest that Damian had already cleared long ago.

[Favorability]

[Leticia Lisyantus (Female, Love & Affection): 100%]

[Leo Starfield (Male, Friend & Comrade): 100%]

[Chloe Grace (Female, Friend & Comrade): 100%]

[Irina Santein (Female, Comrade): 90%]

A familiar favorability window.

As per the quest details, all were over 80%.

The last line, that damn elf, being only 90% bothered him, but considering that elf’s personality, this was a generous achievement.

[Player ‘Damian Radius’ has successfully defeated the Demon King and cleared all quests given in this world.]

A mechanical voice that did not seem to belong to a living being.

Damian shrugged.

“Maybe I should have eloped with Leticia instead of defeating the Demon King.”

No. If that had happened, the world would have been destroyed, so nothing would have changed even if they had eloped.

“Then the world would have been destroyed.”

No matter which route he took, he was destined to part with her.

“God is so indifferent.”

I defeated the Demon King, shouldn’t there be a reward? If you’re watching this heartbreaking love, even if this world is a game, you should let me stay.

Of course, there was no god listening.

[Time remaining until forced logout: 00:30:00]

Only 30 minutes remained. The time he could remain in this world.

Seeing that, he let out a hollow laugh.

Forced logout, it said, forced logout.

Normally, a window would pop up saying “Logout is not possible,” taunting Damian, but not now. In short, since there was no sign of him leaving on his own, he was being forcibly expelled.

Being used and discarded. What a dirty choice of words.

“You nameless, f*ing bastard who put me here. I hope you step in dog st every morning for the rest of your life and regret it.”

I sincerely hope you gamble away all your money.

Damian continued to curse, then with an expression that said, “What’s the point of all this?” he tried to get up from his seat.

If it weren’t for the hand that grabbed his sleeve.

Damian looked at Leticia with a surprised expression. It was because Leticia had unconsciously grabbed Damian’s sleeve in her sleep.

Damian tried to carefully remove the hand holding his sleeve so as not to wake Leticia, but each time he tried, Leticia would grab his sleeve even tighter and not let go.

“I just want to get some fresh air.”

Damian muttered with a bitter smile.

“…Damian, don’t leave. Please, don’t go. D-Don’t leave me alone… Don’t abandon me… Without you, I…”

I wonder if she’s really having a terrible nightmare. I know those words are just sleep talking. I know, but why can’t I just ignore them?

Damian’s face slightly stiffened as he heard her muttering while sweating profusely. Her usual taciturn and strong appearance was nowhere to be seen.

Weak and fragile.

Unlike the hand that tightly gripped Damian’s sleeve, the words she spat out were now pitiful.

His fingertips trembled. Damian opened his mouth with difficulty.

“I’m sorry. Forget all the memories related to me.”

It was a resolute answer that sounded cold at first glance. But Damian was not given any more time.

So this is right. If she and I continue to harbor regrets and lingering feelings, it will be painful for both of us.

It’s better to think of it as a passing encounter and part ways.

As if putting a shackle on himself, Damian coldly removed Leticia’s hand that was tightly holding his sleeve.

“Ah, ah…!”

Leaving Leticia, who was sighing, behind, Damian opened the door and was greeted by someone.

An unexpected person. The hero, Leo Starfield, who was leaning against the wall at the end of the hallway and looking this way, shook the several bottles of alcohol he was holding and spoke.

“Do you have time?”

“…30 minutes.”

“That’s enough. It’s the perfect amount of time to drink and reminisce before you leave.”

The only friend and comrade who knew Damian’s secret, which even Leticia didn’t know.

The hero, Leo Starfield, called the strongest hero of the current generation, moved his steps and approached, staring intently at Damian’s face and blurting out.

“Did you cum inside?”

“…What?”

“You must have had a lot of s*x. I could hear it all the way from the next room.”

His thoughts stopped.

Taken aback by the bold question, he asked back with a bewildered expression, but it was Leo, who had asked the question, whose expression turned serious.

“Y-You, I didn’t know you were this kind of guy! Did you, you bastard, cum inside Leticia and not even use proper contraception?!”

“What the f**k are you talking about…?!”

“You’re cursing, so it’s true! …Ouch!? Don’t hit me, you bastard! It hurts!”

“You deserve to be hit, you bastard! I did it properly, okay?! I’m the idiot for expecting words of comfort from you!”

He was a consistently vulgar, idiot hero, both then and now. Maybe that’s why the parting, where I can’t feel this familiarity anymore, hurts even more.