Ch.41Chapter 41 – Dragon and Phoenix Tournament (4)

In the original novel “I was Possessed In Idle Game,” the story begins by introducing a game where you play as a hero who raises a saintess.

The game is called “Making the Idle Saintess Happy,” and its main focus is raising the affection level of Azazel Blackheart, a saintess with succubus blood.

“Welcome! You’re quite late today!”

Kang Si-woo, an office worker at a black company where overtime and all-nighters were routine, preferred these types of games. Idle games where characters grow automatically without investing time or money.

“While you were away, Hero, our party defended against the monster offensive in the north! I specifically requested that your compensation be set aside!”

[Click to receive 5,800 GOLD]

He simply enjoyed coming home exhausted, turning on his smartphone, and being greeted cheerfully by Azazel.

“…If only real life could be like this game, earning money without doing anything.”

Lying on his bed, dreading tomorrow, Kang Si-woo preferred his hero character in the game over his miserable reality.

“[Kang Si-woo], there’s a small play at the theater today. Would you like to watch it with me? They say it’s a heart-fluttering romance…!”

No wonder—in the game, his character attracted women without effort and never worried about money or food.

Same name, yet such different treatment. Azazel’s affection level for him had already moved beyond trust toward love, smiling brightly whenever she saw him.

“Azazel… if you existed in the real world, would you like me?”

Looking at the heroine who was the game’s main icon—a succubus character designed to appeal to male players—Kang Si-woo fell into thought.

He had no money, came from a poor family, and walked with a limp after a factory accident.

He had easily convinced himself that no one would ever love such a man.

Kang Si-woo was an unfortunate person from birth. As if someone had deliberately designed his life to be this way.

“Hmm, that was quite an ambiguous play. I didn’t like how an Outer God suddenly appeared and made the characters miserable.”

After completing the theater event, Azazel spoke these lines. Now the player had to choose a response.

[I enjoyed it because I was with you.]

[I didn’t like how they suddenly fell into misfortune either. No matter how much foreshadowing there was, people watch plays for happy endings.]

Through events like this, gifts, and story progression, Kang Si-woo could raise his affection with Azazel.

As always, he chose the first option.

He was considering deleting the game, having seen the repetitive dialogue and scripts too many times.

While some people might find salvation through games or even meet partners and get married…

“…This is boring. It’s just virtual, not reality.”

For Kang Si-woo, it was just another game. The story and production weren’t particularly good; he’d only started playing because of Azazel’s revealing outfits.

“[Kang Si-woo], are you leaving already? Oh, but I have so much more to show you!”

Just as their meeting had been easy, parting was equally light for him.

Azazel’s pleas when closing the game now felt too predictable. Updates had stopped, with only a few posts appearing in the inactive community.

After sticking with it for over two years, he’d had enough.

[Are you sure you want to delete this game?]

As if it was time to let go, Kang Si-woo placed his finger on the delete button.

“Huh? Why is my phone freezing…”

At that moment, the smartphone screen flashed, and Kang Si-woo vanished from his bed.

When he opened his eyes, he had taken on the appearance of his customized hero character.

“Oh, hello?”

“…Azazel?”

“Do you know me…?”

As if by some twist of fate, he had met Gabriel, who looked identical to Azazel.

Time passed, and Kang Si-woo eventually unleashed his twisted personality on Gabriel. The reason he displayed such sadistic and violent behavior toward his lover was because he didn’t see her as a real person, but merely as a game character.

This world seemed exactly like the game transferred to reality. He thought it didn’t matter what he did to characters he’d only seen on screen.

He thought he could act like a playboy without consequences.

“…Azazel? Is it really you?”

Kang Si-woo swallowed hard as he looked at Azazel standing before him. He never expected to meet her—how did she know to find him?

“Did you think I was my sister?”

Azazel showed her displeasure at his expression. She had expected him to look forward to their meeting, but instead he was fidgeting uncomfortably.

“I’m sorry for confusing you with your sister. I have my reasons…”

To be honest, some feelings remained like sediment. After all, she was someone he had once loved.

But why did seeing her face make him so angry?

Originally, she didn’t know much about Kang Si-woo because she hadn’t met Bing-yeon. She was just a character trapped in a game, loving a man who lived in a different world.

Even if his feelings were false, she had genuinely loved him.

“Is that all you have to say? If I were you, I’d be too ashamed to say anything.”

In the waiting room where participants of the tournament gathered, their sharp voices drew attention from everyone around.

“How ridiculous. Was that kiss mark on your neck left by my sister?”

That seemed to be part of the issue. The bluish bruise that looked fresh. The fact that he came to confront Azazel while bearing such marks of love was absurd.

Azazel crossed her arms and glared at Kang Si-woo. Unlike in the original work, she had learned from her master why her sister Gabriel had cheated with Kang Si-woo.

No matter how meticulously an author plans the setting, as the work progresses, the flow of events changes according to the characters’ personalities and actions.

“Reasons? Fine. Let’s hear them.”

Azazel now felt hatred mixed with love for Kang Si-woo, in contrast to how he blamed his unfortunate past and continued his despicable behavior even after entering this world.

“I thought your sister was you, Azazel. She looked exactly the same, and I came from a different world, so I didn’t know better!”

Unaware of this fact, Kang Si-woo made a tearful plea to Azazel. He thought such an appeal would work on her.

The Azazel he remembered was a naive girl who easily believed others, so he judged that saying “I didn’t know” would easily deceive her.

“No matter how many times I called her Azazel, your sister never denied it, so I had no choice but to believe her. She pretended to know memories that only you and I shared using her succubus abilities!”

Succubi are always like this. They dig into their prey’s mind to find weaknesses, then use them to crush and play with their victims.

Azazel truly hated her bloodline. Even though she was chosen as a saintess, she wasn’t properly treated because of the conservative papal state.

“Yes, I deserve your curses. But my love for you remains unchanged.”

“……”

Instead of answering, she bit her lower lip and furrowed her brow.

“Azazel. Can’t we start over? There’s no problem if you become my lover too. If we form a harem…”

Azazel hated every word coming out of Kang Si-woo’s mouth.

Though his face and voice were as she remembered, his true intention was to form a harem with her and her sister.

Like thorns caught in her throat, all her memories—their adventures together, him getting hurt for her sake, healing his wounds—felt tainted.

“…No. You knew she wasn’t me when you slept with her.”

Unlike in the original work, she had learned the truth from Bing-yeon. He knew it wasn’t Azazel but Gabriel, yet he turned away from the truth and pursued the woman.

She also knew that her sister had tried to keep that man from leaving for her sake.

“That was your last chance. I thought you would at least repent and apologize with the truth, not lies.”

She thought he wouldn’t say he didn’t know.

She thought he wouldn’t claim he was deceived.

Perhaps she would have felt better if he had admitted it was all his fault, his mistake.

“At the very least, you shouldn’t have asked to meet again. You shouldn’t have tried to hurt me more.”

The greedy look in his eyes as he scanned her up and down made Azazel see the future.

A future where she blindly believed Kang Si-woo’s words and started dating him again.

In that future, she was mired in violence and drugs. Yet she couldn’t escape from him, pathetically clinging to him.

“I was a fool for believing in you until the end.”

After seeing that future, Azazel no longer wanted to hear Kang Si-woo’s excuses and turned to leave the waiting room.

“Wait! There seems to be a misunderstanding. I was really deceived by your sister…!”

“Let go of me!”

As Kang Si-woo grabbed her wrist, Azazel swung her arm with all her might and slapped his cheek.

The sound of the slap echoed through the air, with everyone around staring at them.

“How dare a mere game character…!”

Humiliated by Azazel, Kang Si-woo tried to strike her cheek in the same way, but—

“How about taking your hands off my disciple?”

“Ugh! Let go!”

He was stopped by a white-haired man who had somehow appeared beside them.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t lower his wrist. In this clearly uneven contest of strength, all Kang Si-woo could do was grind his teeth.

“Brother? Why are you here…?”

Azazel couldn’t help but be surprised to see Bing-yeon protecting her. Why would he come to save her when he knew she had been waiting for and longing for Kang Si-woo all this time?

Perhaps due to this change of heart, Azazel’s way of addressing her master had changed from “you” to “brother.”

“Verdandi said you seemed to be falling for his lies again.”

Following Bing-yeon’s nod, she saw Verdandi waving enthusiastically and smiling. She had known that Kang Si-woo was continuously lying to Azazel.

“I found an evil person telling lies!”

She appeared to have tipped off her master, Bing-yeon.

“Rather than that Kang Si-woo you’ve been waiting for, this master of yours is much more of a man.”

Morgidian observed the entire situation and added his comment.