Breaking Up with the Heroine of the Female-Oriented Game - Chapter 128

Chapter 128

Anomaly (2)

***

“Ah.”

When I was stabbed through the stomach.
I thought.
I’m going to die, I thought.

Well, it was obvious if you think about it.
The middle of my abdomen was cleanly pierced through.
With blood gushing out from my insides and parts of my intestines scattered about, there was no way I could survive.

Maybe because the condition was so severe, I couldn’t even feel the pain properly.

With an injury of this degree, even if I received help from a healing ability user, I wouldn’t be able to escape death.

As I was prepared for death and my consciousness was gradually fading away.

“Hic, hic, sob, Jinhyuk-ah-ah-ah.”

The sorrowful crying voice of a girl pounded in my ears.

I straightened my hazy mind and painfully opened my eyes to shift my gaze, and what I saw in my vision was Soyeon’s face.

“Jinhyuk! Jinhyuk-ah! Are, are, are you o-okay?! Uwuu.”

Soyeon, who was looking down at me with her pretty face all distorted, crying and sniffling uncontrollably.

I still can’t forget that sight of her crying so pitifully that it made me feel even more heartbroken watching her.

She must have been really shocked.

Of course, I expected her to be shocked, but I didn’t think it would be to this extent.

I wanted to tell her that I could be revived because I was wearing a resurrection artifact, but I just couldn’t get the words out.

Not only was my condition too severe to speak properly, but it was also because of a possible fear.

Fear.
Yes, fear.
As I was dying, I was afraid.

What if, what if… I couldn’t be revived again.
I was afraid of pushing her even further into despair by telling her I could be revived and then failing to do so, and I was quite scared of dying like this.

Death was practically confirmed at this point.

In the face of impending death, I could only become infinitely weak, and my mind became complicated with a bit of worry, fear, terror, and thoughts about Soyeon.

I was so worried that Soyeon might blame herself too much, that she might go down the wrong path, that she might suffer greatly trying to get revenge recklessly.

Now Soyeon is the only person I can call family.
So I really hope Soyeon turns out well.

But the dead can’t do anything.
No worries, no advice, no help, nothing at all.

So please.

When I open my eyes next time, I hope I can meet Soyeon again.
I hope I revive properly and wash away all my unnecessary worries.

I hoped and hoped.

However.

When I actually opened my eyes…

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Jinhyuk-ah?”

“No, nothing.”

…Wasn’t it Soyeon from kindergarten welcoming me?

‘What is this, what’s going on?’

I couldn’t understand the current situation at all.

Why on earth is young Soyeon staring at me blankly out of nowhere?

Unable to shake off my puzzled feelings, I could only stare blankly at Soyeon for a moment.

Short stature, smooth hair, delicate features, tender skin…
It’s definitely Soyeon from when she was young.
But I have no idea why young Soyeon is in front of my eyes, I really don’t know.

‘Wait. My body is fine too?’

I didn’t notice because I was flustered.
Now that I look, it’s clean without a single scar.
Doesn’t seem to be any aftereffects either.

Is this even possible?
Even if a healing ability user used their power, it should be impossible?

‘Where is this?’

I carefully looked around my surroundings.

The place I’m in now is a playground where children would play.

It was a somewhat familiar playground, so I thought for a while and suddenly realized it was the playground where I used to play with Soyeon when we were young.

After my stomach was pierced through, I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a playground I used to play in with young Soyeon when we were children…

It was an unrealistic situation.

So I realized.
I really had no choice but to realize.

‘Could this be a hallucination, like a near-death experience?’

Near-death experience.
Why. Isn’t it commonly said?
That you can experience hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, lucid dreams, etc. due to the imbalance of neural hormones right before death.

Near-death experiences manifest in various forms, but the most common is meeting a precious person.

For me now, the precious people would be my deceased parents and Soyeon.

I don’t know why she appeared as her young self though.

‘If this is really some kind of near-death experience, am I really on the verge of death?’

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember someone saying they were taking me to a healing ability user.

It was an injury so severe that I could die at any moment, but it seems I’m still barely hanging on thanks to the healing ability user.

But that probably won’t last long either.

Because healing an injury of that degree is practically impossible.

Unless the resurrection artifact activates to revive me, it might be impossible to meet the living Soyeon again.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind?”

“…”

I raised my head at Soyeon’s words.

Young Soyeon was looking at me with a bright smile.

It was such a pure smile without a speck of dirt that I could only stare blankly at Soyeon’s face for a moment.

Then Soyeon said:

“Jinhyuk-ah, do you remember?”

“What?”

I answered reflexively.

Since this is probably my hallucination or lucid dream anyway, there was no need to talk to that Soyeon.

But I was a bit curious about what Soyeon created by my subconscious would say.

“You saved me near this playground a long time ago~”

“Ah.”

Come to think of it, there was such an incident.

“I was almost kidnapped by a strange man.”

“Mm.”

“I survived thanks to you, didn’t I?”

“It was just luck, luck.”

Right, it was luck.

The kidnapper tried to abduct Soyeon into a vehicle, but unexpectedly, Soyeon’s resistance was quite fierce, and I also firmly grabbed the kidnapper’s clothes and wouldn’t let go.

Thanks to that, more time was wasted than necessary, and we were able to be safe thanks to some adults who came after hearing the commotion.

“To be honest, I think it would have been fine even if I wasn’t there.”

As if she wasn’t the main character, Soyeon had quite good physical abilities since she was young.

Even if Soyeon had been alone at that time, she probably could have held out somehow until other adults came.

“What are you saying, Jinhyuk-ah? That’s not possible.”

Soyeon shook her head from side to side.

“I was actually really scared then.”

Then she stares straight into my eyes.

“My mind went blank and I was just trembling, unable to do anything.”

Soyeon’s golden eyes sparkle beautifully.

“You were shouting and trying your best to save me somehow.”

She smiles brightly.

“Thanks to that, I was able to muster up courage too.”

She grasps my hand tightly.
A warm sensation slowly rises from my fingertips.
The feeling transmitted from my fingertips was softer than anything else.

“Come to think of it, you’ve been helping me since kindergarten.”

Soyeon, who held my hand a bit more strongly, quietly looked up at my face with clear eyes and then smiled brightly again.

“Like a hero. Yes. That’s right, you were always my hero, Jinhyuk.”

It was the kind of fresh smile you’d expect from a girl of that age.

“So, you know, I like you, Jinhyuk.”

“Ah, um.”

“I like you so so much.”

Soyeon puts her hands on her cheeks as if embarrassed, going “Kyaa~” and then glances at me and blurts out one sentence.

“Do you dislike me, Jinhyuk?”

“…No.”

“Then do you like me?”

“…”

At the childlike dichotomous question, I blinked my eyes a few times but suddenly smiled bitterly.

If I had to answer whether I like her or dislike her, my answer is set in stone.

“I do like you.”

Yes, I like her.
As a childhood friend and as my favorite.

By the way, how did the conversation turn out like this?
I’m not sure, but well, I guess I should answer anyway.

“Then why did you reject my confession?”

“Huh?”

Hmm?
Suddenly Soyeon slightly narrowed her eyes and said.
Confession rejection? Could she be talking about when I vaguely expressed my feelings while drunk that time?

“Why did you reject my confession like that?”

“No, that ‘like’ was just as a friend…”

“Really?”

Soyeon cut off my words sharply.
And then she stared at me blankly.
Soyeon’s eyes were asking me.
If those words were really true.

“Did you really never think of me as a romantic interest even once, Jinhyuk?”

“…”

“You just like me as a friend and favorite, that’s all?”

“…”

“Always saying you like me as a childhood friend, as a favorite, it’s a kind of defense mechanism, isn’t it? Trying not to think of me as a romantic interest.”

“You… no, nevermind.”

I opened and closed my mouth a couple times as if to say something, but then shut my mouth.

Certainly, before recalling my past life memories, I had feelings resembling romantic interest towards Soyeon.

However, after recalling my past life, those feelings became a bit blurry and I intentionally tried to kill those emotions as much as possible.

Because someone like me shouldn’t have such feelings for a main character like Soyeon.

Thinking she was destined to be with someone else anyway, trying to kill my feelings for Soyeon as much as possible was what I thought was the wisest method at that time.

‘But why am I having this kind of conversation with her?’

I don’t know how we ended up talking about this.
It’s like I’m asking and answering myself in a delusion.
So should I stop now?
This kind of foolish conversation.

“Jinhyuk-ah.”

However.

“And you used to.”

Somehow I couldn’t stop the conversation when I heard Soyeon’s voice.
Somehow.

“Why did you try to set me up with guys like Siwoon or Daehan?”

“That’s because…”

The reason for trying to set up Soyeon with characters like Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan in the early days of the academy is simple.

Because Soyeon is the female protagonist and Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan are male protagonists.

Of course, I know well that this world doesn’t flow exactly like the game content.

But it’s also an undeniable fact that a lot of the game settings are reflected.

“I thought they would suit you better than me.”

“In what way?”

“You know. Like abilities, they have a lot of wealth, good backgrounds, their personalities are a bit ambiguous but they’d treat you well at least.”

Thinking about the original content, Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan can’t be called very good connections, but it’s not like everything flows according to the original anyway, and from what I’ve seen so far, they may not be good to others but they would be good people to Soyeon at least.

So as a friend, helper, and colleague, I tried to set up Soyeon with the male protagonists.

“Above all, you dream of becoming the greatest hero, right?”

“So?”

The greatest hero.

It’s been Soyeon’s long-cherished dream since she was young.
Soyeon should be able to become the greatest hero she’s dreamed of.

And there should be a fitting person by the side of the greatest hero, right?

“Those guys would be able to stand by your side sufficiently.”

Unlike me.

“I was able to help you somehow thanks to artifacts and knowledge of the original, but look at me in the end. I ended up like this.”

“…”

“What good would it do for someone like me to hang around you except to die?”

“…”

Even if we achieve a happy ending by safely arresting all the Rebellion members, Soyeon’s life as a hero will continue.

In the numerous incidents and accidents Soyeon will face in the future after growing into the strongest in the world, would I be able to survive?

Also, would I be qualified to stand by Soyeon’s side?

Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan who grow to become nearly the strongest in the world might be okay, but it’s most important for a weakling like me to know my place.

Besides artifacts, information about the future, and settings from the original, what do I have? In a world where numerous villains and monsters run rampant, the most important thing is power, power.

In that sense, I was infinitely weak.

A weakling with no talent, no ability, nothing.

“So to those guys…”

“Lies.”

Soyeon moved her small lips. Her calm, settled voice rang out coolly.

“You’re lying, Jinhyuk-ah.”

“What?”

The corners of her mouth that had been smiling brightly until just now were heavily sunken.

“Saying things like Siwoon and Daehan would be helpful to me, that they would suit me better, that you’re too weak so it’s burdensome for you to be by my side, that you don’t want to be by my side because it’s dangerous, they’re all lies.”

A hint of sadness had settled in her two eyes.

“They’re all excuses and pretexts, Jinhyuk-ah.”

Soyeon, who had a blurry expression, slowly begins to speak.

“You, Jinhyuk, you just.”

Soyeon murmurs in a lonely voice.

“Don’t trust me, right?”

“No, what are you suddenly saying?”

I frowned slightly at Soyeon’s sudden words. Don’t trust her? What does this mean?

“The actions of mine that you know… you don’t trust them, right?”

End of Chapter