Ch.138Finale

After a fierce battle with the Demon King, I ultimately died.

In stories like these, the protagonist is usually close to being a hero. Unfortunately, I’m closer to being an ordinary person.

Such an ordinary person couldn’t possibly save the world.

So this time too, I passed the burden to someone else. Well, that doesn’t sound quite right since I did contribute in my own way.

Although I didn’t directly accomplish much, I saved the kids and helped Leo fight again, so I’d say I earned my keep.

But if we couldn’t defeat the Demon King, everything I did would ultimately become meaningless.

So I waited desperately for the Goddess to arrive, praying fervently for the Demon King’s defeat, but for some reason, no one came to this empty void.

Still, I thought the Goddess would arrive soon. So I decided to wait quietly and organize my thoughts.

Contrary to my expectations, my mind collapsed in less than five minutes.

“Please get me out of here! Please! I’ll do anything, just please get me out!”

Being alone in an empty void is truly terrifyingly frightening.

I hope it doesn’t happen, but what if no one ever comes here?

What if this is the afterlife and I have to spend eternity alone…

“I’ll really do anything! Please help me! Please save me!”

Hell would be better than this place. At least there would be other beings besides me.

As I was desperately screaming, I heard someone’s voice from behind me.

“Lady Lite?”

I turned my head toward the voice I had been longing to hear and saw the Goddess’s face.

“Goddess? Is that really you? Why did you take so long? I’ve been waiting—”

“It’s only been 27 minutes…”

“…27 minutes can be quite valuable.”

You can do many things in 27 minutes. For example, you can tremble in fear and scream.

Anyway, as soon as I realized I wasn’t alone here, my mind, which had been on the verge of madness, instantly calmed down.

“But why were you 27 minutes late?”

“I was dealing with some matters related to Leo.”

In my fear, I had momentarily forgotten the most important fact—the outcome of this battle.

If we won, I might be able to live again and spend a peaceful life with Ju-an. But if we lost…

No, we must have won. We had to win.

Hoping that the life I sacrificed had meaning, I asked the Goddess with a trembling voice.

“So what happened to the Demon King?”

“Finally, even the Demon King’s lingering soul has completely disappeared from this world!”

“So we won, right?”

“Yes!”

Fortunately, it seems we succeeded. Now only a comfortable future awaits.

As someone who greatly contributed to defeating the Demon King, I’ll be treated with the utmost respect until I die.

Even if I’m not treated well, with Ju-an by my side, I won’t have to worry about making a living.

…Though this makes it sound like I’m completely dependent on Ju-an.

Anyway, with an excited heart, I asked the Goddess.

“So you’ll grant my wish now, right?”

“Probably.”

“…Why ‘probably’?”

“Well… some wishes far exceed the power we possess…”

“…How much power would it take to bring someone back to life?”

“Don’t worry about that. With the power we currently have, we can revive about three people.”

I felt relieved knowing I could at least come back to life. Now only a happy life awaits.

“But where did you get the power to grant wishes?”

“From gambling, of course.”

I heard the voice of the woman called Boss from behind me. Is there some law that gods must always appear from behind?

But why did gambling suddenly come up? If they had enough power, couldn’t they have invested more in us from the beginning?

“Why gambling all of a sudden?”

“We made a bet on whether you could defeat the Demon King. And we won that bet.”

“How did you gamble without having any power?”

“If we won, we’d get the money, and if we lost, we’d become slaves forever.”

Getting slaves who would work for you for life—that’s worth betting a massive amount of power.

Since gods, unlike us humans, can live forever, they could essentially extract infinite labor.

But these beings are truly remarkable. No matter what, promising to become slaves forever seems too risky.

“That’s quite bold of you.”

“You have to go this far to increase the stakes.”

So that’s the kind of determination needed to talk about saving the world.

By the way, if the price for being a slave forever is the power to revive three people, isn’t that too stingy?

I was about to ask the Boss about this doubt, but she acted faster than I could speak.

“I’ll call the kids over, so decide on your wish.”

As soon as the Boss finished speaking, the surroundings completely changed. What was once a black void was now a bright meadow.

And there were Ha-eun, Tae-yang, and the one I wanted to see most—Ju-an.

Just as I was about to greet them and ask about their wishes, Ju-an suddenly embraced me tightly.

“J-Ju-an? The kids are watching…”

My face turned bright red from extreme embarrassment, but Ju-an showed no intention of letting me go.

Of course, I feel sorry for making him watch me die. But I had no choice—we all would have died otherwise.

So as I was being embraced by Ju-an, he asked with a trembling voice.

“Can you really come back to life?”

“Yes. I definitely can.”

“That’s good… I’m so relieved…”

Ju-an was crying tears of joy. Somehow, knowing that he values me this much makes me feel good.

Anyway, while feeling happy in Ju-an’s comfortable embrace, I felt stares fixed on us, so I hastily changed the subject.

“So, what wish are you going to make?”

“I’m just going to ask for lots of money.”

Ha-eun hadn’t changed her wish from before at all.

“Tae-yang, what about you?”

“I want to ask for protection so I can live safely for the rest of my life.”

That seems like a trivial wish, but it’s also valuable. Being able to live safely without any threats for the rest of your life might seem boring, but it’s a great blessing.

It’s a timid wish, very fitting for Tae-yang. Though he was fearless when fighting.

Anyway, I also asked Ju-an, who was still embracing me.

“So what wish are you going to make?”

“Hmm, maybe I’ll ask that no one except me can have ulterior motives toward you.”

That’s a somewhat scary wish, but it also sounds really unnecessary.

I wasn’t planning to look at any other man besides Ju-an for the rest of my life anyway, so is there really a need to make that wish?

Well, honestly, if I could make a wish other than being revived, I might have made a similar one. Just in case.

Anyway, it’s all over now. So I can put aside unnecessary worries and live peacefully with everyone.

Rebecca will probably curse the Goddess as usual, and Agath will make sex jokes… no, she can’t do that anymore.

Right, now that there’s nothing else to do, I should go to Leo and learn magic…

…But what happened to Leo?

I saw him fighting directly. But after that, I was alone in an empty space, so I don’t know what happened.

This question was resolved thanks to the Goddess’s voice from behind me again.

“Leo is in hell right now.”

“…Isn’t that too harsh a treatment?”

I think such treatment is too unfair, even though he did get his hands quite dirty.

Couldn’t they overlook that much since he defeated the Demon King? He’s already lived a life full of suffering, and to continue suffering even after that—it’s too cruel.

I was about to confront the Goddess with these thoughts, but I couldn’t say anything because of the shocking statement that followed.

“Leo chose it himself, saying he doesn’t deserve to rest in peace.”

Leo’s terrible self-hatred ultimately led him to a place that would torment him forever.

But I don’t want to see it end like this. After all the time we spent together, I can’t just let it end this way.

So I came up with a clever plan to forcibly pull Leo out of that place.

“Ju-an, I’ll do anything for you in the future, so could you grant me one wish instead?”

“Of course.”

“…You agreed surprisingly easily.”

“I received a lot of help from him.”

Ju-an spoke with a somewhat pitiful expression. It seems that my act of transferring my lifespan was quite valuable.

Anyway, I was about to wish for Leo to be saved, but suddenly a thought crossed my mind.

“…But is this the right choice?”

“Are you going to leave him to rot in hell forever?”

“But even if we save him, won’t he just commit suicide soon?”

It seems he’s been living on hatred for the Demon King. But now there’s no Demon King in this world.

Even if that’s not why he lived, it’s true that Leo has no reason to live in this world.

Even though he’s made new connections, the people who were truly precious to him have already left this world, and all those terrible memories are still in his head.

So as I stood there, unable to decide, Ha-eun came up with a brilliant idea.

“Why don’t we revive his lover too?”

If there’s no one precious to him in this world, why not create someone new?

At least then Leo would be able to live somehow in this world. Maybe he could even heal his trauma to some extent.

“That’s possible.”

The Goddess confirmed it was possible. But the number of people who can be revived is limited to three.

So if I make this wish, Ha-eun and Tae-yang won’t be able to make their wishes.

“But then you won’t be able to make your wishes. Is that okay?”

“I can always extort money from the state.”

“…I’ll survive somehow with this ability.”

Ha-eun answered readily, while Tae-yang answered with some regret. But with his hypnosis ability, he should be able to live without any problems.

And if things get really bad, he can request protection from the Holy Country. If we ask Rebecca and Agath’s father, it should work out.

So just as I was about to wish for me, Leo, and the person Leo loved to be revived, suddenly everything around me turned black.

“I’m sorry, but Leo absolutely cannot be revived.”

And then I heard the Boss’s resolute voice.