Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 2

EP2. Yeah, just kill yourself and be done with it~ (2)

***

– Ding

[Error. Player confirmed to have reached the ending without dying in the mandatory death prologue.]

[Resolution: Special rewards granted based on playtime and achievements.]

Jeong-hyeon chuckled as he read the message that appeared before his eyes.

‘An error?’

Could a simple error explain his brutal treatment over the past few years?

‘These damn bastards.’

An unbearable rage surged within him. Part of him wanted to punch the system window, but there was no point in waving his hand at a non-existent system window. He forced himself to calm down, swallowing his rage.

‘Damn it.’

He spat once and then calmly looked at the message in front of him. It detailed special points and unlocked affection levels. For now, he decided to focus on the special points.

‘Whether their affection levels go up to 100 or not, it has nothing to do with me.’

Despite the possibility of unexpected changes in behaviour, he believed their past actions were too significant to be forgiven with a single kind act.

‘Only a complete idiot would do that.’

Of course, there might be people like that, but he wasn’t one of them.

He thought it was unnecessary to even consider. With that, he began reviewing the list of special points.

*-*

[Special Points List]

Skilled Hands (1 point)
Agile (2 points)
Spirit Affinity (2 points)
Charismatic (1 point)

.

.

*-*

There were hundreds of special points options.

After thoroughly reviewing them all, Jeong-hyeon selected two special points.

[Unrealistic Genius] (5 points)

– The player’s growth rate and learning ability are unrealistically high.

[Unrealistic Luck] (5 points)

– Luck will accompany everything you do.

Why did he choose these two? The reason was simple. These were the best traits he had seen among those bastards that dragging him around for years.

‘No, it’s more accurate to say they are better than any traits I’ve seen.’

Even Nero, who was called the Sword Saint, had the ‘Overwhelming Genius’ trait, which was one tier below the ‘Unrealistic Genius’ at 4 points.

Unrealistic Luck was also a level higher than the trait possessed by Marco, known as the Golden King.

‘In any case, what’s certain is that these 5-point traits are beyond human capabilities.’

So, at least he wouldn’t fail his revenge due to lack of talent or suffer misfortune due to bad luck.

With that thought, he proceeded to press the ‘Create New Character’ button.

*-*

[Creating a new character.]

*Appearance cannot be changed and is ‘identical to the previous one.’

Name: (Please enter a name.)

– Assigned location: (Cannot be changed): Academy.

Traits: [Unrealistic Genius], [Unrealistic Luck]

*-*

‘Academy?’

Why the academy now?

Since it couldn’t be changed, he clicked on it to find out the reason.

[The main storyline cannot be changed.]

A message appeared, and a memory from the past surfaced. He recalled a game trailer featuring the hero and their companions training at an academy.

‘… now that I think about it, the current setting was originally an academy story.’

When he first arrived, he questioned why he hadn’t started there initially. Of course, that thought quickly disappeared due to the treatment he received.

‘Well, whatever.’

Starting at the academy seemed inevitable.

‘It doesn’t matter. The fact that it’s so mandatory means there must be significant rewards prepared for it.’

An academy-setting game meant there would be numerous opportunities to progress within the academy. There was a high chance he’d find many elements to help him progress as he stayed there.

‘So, I’ll quickly progress at the academy and achieve my revenge.’

With that determination, he pressed the complete creation button.

***

“… Because of your petty pride, this is what happened. Are you satisfied now?”

Daisy, the first High Elf and one of only ten 7-star Archmages in the world, demanded accountability as she realized everything had ended.

“You tormented him every day, and now he’s dead? Right before the crucial moment?”

To hide her own fault, she deliberately mocked them, highlighting their mistakes. Karina, who was nearby, muttered in denial of reality.

“… That can’t be. The hero… the hero should inevitably sacrifice…”

She was still not interested in the hero’s death, only in his sacrifice.

Realizing why the hero committed suicide, Daisy understood a bit more, but it was too late to change anything.

“… We should search the bottom of the cliff just in case. If, by any chance, he’s caught on a branch and still alive, we can use him.”

The next to speak was Archbishop Lea. She looked down the cliff with a blank expression.

Daisy, intentionally smirking, replied to her.

“Ha. Surviving a fall from this cliff? Our dear archbishop must be dreaming!”

Grit.

Lea clenched her teeth at the mockery and replied coldly.

“Then what do you suggest? We can’t just sit and do nothing, can we?”

Daisy had no choice but to keep her mouth shut at those words.

Surviving in the place filled with demonic energy was nearly impossible for a hero with an endurance below the average human level. But if by any miracle he was still alive, he could solve all their problems.

‘There’s nothing else we can do anyway.’

Perhaps Lea was right about searching.

Daisy, though annoyed, showed her willingness to follow Lea’s suggestion. Lea, looking at Daisy and the despairing Karina, responded.

“And whether the hero is dead or alive, we need the body. We can’t just go back to the capital and say, ‘The hero disappeared because he committed suicide.’ We need to disguise it as another accident and bring him back.”

Indeed, disguising it as an accidental death rather than a suicide would lessen the blame on them. After all, it wasn’t their decision to put a collar made of sealing stones on him, but the decision of other superiors.

“We tried our best to fend off the monsters but ultimately couldn’t handle it, resulting in his death … that should suffice.”

Lea, already having thought of what excuses to make, explained to them how the narrative should unfold. She glanced briefly at the cliff and spoke.

“So, finding the hero should be our top priority. Princess, please get a hold of yourself and focus on the search. And you too, Daisy.”

“Y-Yes, I understand.”

“… We have no choice.”

With those words, they exchanged glances and descended to search for the hero.

***

Several days passed, yet they couldn’t find the hero’s body … not even a trace of it. Lea, in despair, bit her nails.

‘… Why?’

Even if he had fallen from this height, there should have been a body. Why couldn’t they find even a trace of blood, let alone a body?

[Using Divine Power Detection.]

She used the Divine Power Detection again, even though she had already used it over a thousand times. As expected, she found nothing this time either.

To an outsider, it might seem like he had either escaped or died, but someone with as much divine power as the hero would leave residual divine energy just by standing still. The fact that there were no traces made no sense.

‘Why? How?’

She wondered why she couldn’t find any traces of the hero, as if he had vanished in an instant. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood, filled with hatred.

‘If only we had taken one more step…’

Everything was ruined by that hateful hero who resembled the saintess. As she cursed everything about him, she heard something breaking nearby.

[Affection restriction is lifted.]

She couldn’t see or feel anything, but she sensed an alien sensation slowly wrapping around her body. She didn’t know what it was, but thinking it might be related to the hero, she splashed through the muddy water, searching the area.

“……”

No matter how much she ran around, she found nothing, she could only express her anger by clenching her teeth.

‘If he had died as a divine power bomb, he could have at least been remembered as a hero, but he committed suicide, something utterly meaningless… it’s truly pathetic.’

How could he continue to be a problem even in his death?

Thinking that the hero’s actions were no different from the saintess’s, she prayed that the hero would never rest in peace, even in death.

‘May the hero who failed to fulfill his role pay the price.’

Only then could she relieve even a bit of her frustration. Lea finally sighed and pushed her wet hair back, forcing herself to let go of her anger. Spending any more effort on something worthless was a meaningless waste.

‘What’s important now isn’t hating the hero but figuring out how to resolve this situation.’

No matter what they did, the fact that the hero was dead wouldn’t change. They needed someone to take the fall.

‘For example… the refugees staying nearby.’

If they used those who had no voice as scapegoats, they could deflect some of the blame. While they couldn’t completely erase their guilt, they could at least mitigate it to some extent.

‘But it won’t be easy to mitigate it through normal means…’

They would need a rather provocative story to make their case. Lea decided on this course of action and gathered Karina and Daisy, putting on a tearful act as she spoke to them.

“Unfortunately, while we were scouting the demon castle, some of the nearby refugees unable to endure hunger, they then killed the hero and looted his belongings.”

Daisy was the first to react to this statement. She smiled elegantly and nodded.

“I see… that’s a viable option. If we do it like that, we may not eliminate our responsibility entirely, but at least we won’t be the first casualties.”

Typically, the first to take responsibility bears the brunt of it. As long as they weren’t the first to be blamed, they could manage the subsequent fallout. With no trace of even the hero’s corpse to be found, using these expendable individuals to shift the blame seemed like the best option.

“… It’s better if the culprits can’t speak.”

Second Princess Karina offered her opinion. Since she stood to lose the most from this failure, she seemed eager to create evidence first.

“Yes, it’s best to avoid unnecessary complications.”

“…I’ll take the lead.”

“Please do.”

“Then I’ll set the stage.”

Everyone’s opinions were aligned.

Lea thought this would be enough to prevent the worst from happening, but then she felt that strange sensation again.

– Ding.

*-*

[Due to an error, you are now receiving the affection points you previously missed.]

[Companion +1] [Mission Completion +1] [Companion +1] [Companion +1] [Companion +1] …

[Excessive affection points detected.]

[Affection increase temporarily paused.]

[Current Affection: 50] (Considerable Affection)

[Time until affection lock is lifted: 10 minutes]

*-*

She felt a sudden blooming sensation for the first time in her life. It was warm, thrilling, and gentle—too comforting to be considered a negative feeling. She wondered why she was feeling such an all-encompassing sensation in this situation.

*-*

[Affection lock has been lifted.]

[Warning! Excessive affection increase detected again!]

[Affection increase temporarily paused.]

[Current Affection: 80] (Unwavering Love)

[Time until affection lock is lifted: 10 minutes]

*-*

The warm feeling vanished the moment she looked at the cliff where the hero had fallen, transforming into an indescribable revulsion and a stabbing pain in her chest.

“Ah…?”

Why was she suddenly feeling this way?

She couldn’t understand and tried to deny it.

– Ding.

[Warning! Affection is rapidly increasing again!]

[Affection is reaching its maximum level!]

The emotion grew uncontrollably, dragging her into a complex whirlpool of feelings.