Chapter 1

— translated and edited by dovetail —

Prologue

The Demon King’s Castle was just a few steps away.

I had no doubt in my mind that I would finally be able to achieve a happy ending and return home this time if I defeated the Demon King.

However, what stood in my way was none other than the warrior I had raised with all of my heart from the time I came to possess this body until now — Allen, the protagonist of this stupid game.

I had managed to subdue my comrades in one fell swoop, yet he still stood in front of me with no intention of moving. He only stared straight at me with pitch-black eyes like the night sky.

“…Move aside.”

“……”

“I said move aside, Allen Iroas.”

“You’ve always been like this. Always forcing me to make difficult decisions.”

Allen reached out and grabbed my wrist. In terms of strength, I’ve never lost to him. I gathered all the power I had into my arm, thinking it would be the same as before, but I couldn’t break away from his rock-solid hold.

“Hah…”

I only realized it then. I had no idea when it began, but I was starting to lose against Allen.

“You have no idea.”

I felt like my pride was being crushed to pieces, but Allen didn’t care and leaned over, placing a kiss on my wrist as he pulled me closer.

“What are you doing right now.”

“Your voice and your scent, even your habits and the smallest things you do. All the things that make you up drive me crazy.”

“Let go of me.”

“Maria Estelle.”

Allen, who removed his lips from my wrist, called me by my name for the first time. His eyes that seemed to burn me all over were drenched with possessiveness as they trembled pitifully.

“Don’t even think about leaving me.”

The grip on my wrist became stronger. Allen, who I always saw as a child, was begging for me now that he was a mature adult.

“Look, you raised me like this. Take a good look, this is the warrior you’ve created. No one can separate you from me, not even you.”

“You’re going to obstruct me until the end.”

His request was beyond something I could fulfill. I looked at Allen with a cold expression as he still deliberately kept a hold of my wrist. Hearing my words, Allen smiled faintly.

“There is only one thing I want.”

Allen then carved a deep bite mark on the nape of my neck. Then, he slightly backed away with an innocent smile and whispered in my ear in what almost seemed like a joke.

“I just need you to stay by my side forever, Estelle.”

I didn’t know where and how things went wrong, but what Allen demanded from me was a twisted love more than anything else.

“Forever.”

Chapter 1

[YBS Sports Channel is reporting the 2026 Seoul Summer Olympics Women’s Lightweight Boxing Finals in real-time. Lee Eun-hye’s opponent is China’s national team fighter Li Dailin. Will Lee Eun-hye be able to win the gold medal… The game will start the moment I say it!]

[Lee Eun-hye and Dailin clearly have different boxing styles.]

[What do you mean?]

[While Dailin’s main specialty is being a nimble out-fighter who uses the southpaw stance, Lee Eun-hye is a heavy in-fighter in every sense.]

[Then which style do you think is more advantageous?]

[I don’t know. This question still remains unanswered in the current boxing world. That’s because the pros and cons are clear, and in the end, a person’s individual skill is the most important thing.]

[Commentator Heol Seol-gu is also saying that it’s difficult to predict the outcome of the match.]

[Not necessarily. Of course, style is important, but whatever style you use is bound to collapse in the face of overwhelming differences in skill level. I just wanted to point that out. And I can confidently say that Lee Eun-hye is arguably the best boxer I’ve seen.]

[Aahh! As soon as he’s done talking, fighter Lee Eun-hye! She closed the distance with Dailin in an instance! It’s dangerous for Dailin to get cornered like this. Ah~ this is exactly where a body blow comes in. It’s not safe if Dailin’s guard is lowered like this! Here comes an uppercut! Fighter Dailin down! The referee begins to count!]

Beep.

I turned off the DMB before I could hear a shout in the car my mother was driving.

‘These guys are pretty good.’

Every time I listened to the cringy commentary, I had to rub away the goosebumps that rose on my skin.

“Come on, why did you turn it off at the most important part?”

“Mrs. Choi, aren’t you sick and tired of it yet? “

“Now why would I be sick and tired of it.”

My mother, who was at the wheel, turned her head towards me.

“You cried and complained that you didn’t want to do it at first, but you were so focused on training day and night because you said you didn’t want to lose. Do you have any idea how much I had a hard time cleaning up after you?”

“Why are you talking about that all of a sudden?”

“Do you think I would be sick and tired of the moment my daughter won a gold medal?”

“Front! Mrs. Choi! Front!”

Mom skillfully turned the steering wheel. We would have hit the guard rail if she had been even just a beat late.

“What are you going to do if you really get into an accident?”

“Really now. I’d be ashamed.”

“You’ve never been that sort of person.”

There was a saying that no parents could win over their child*. However, it was the complete opposite with my mother and me. Even my father, who was strict when it came to me, would turn into a gentle sheep in front of my mother.

(TN: It’s a phrase in Korean meaning that parents can never win against their children and always end up giving into them. This paragraph is pretty much saying that her mother wears the pants in the family.)

‘It’s already been a month since the Summer Olympics ended.’

I was the youngest gold medalist in women’s lightweight boxing. My face and name became known all over the country overnight, and people recognized me everywhere I went. Media interest poured in like a frenzy.

As a result, even going out alone would be enough to cause trouble. Even though a month had passed, there was no sign of waning interest, so I couldn’t go anywhere in public without my mother. As I rolled down the window to cool my head, I felt the chilly autumn wind brushing my face.

Before long, my mother stopped the car and the familiar front door of our house came into view.

“Are you going to go in and rest right away?”

“Mm. What about Mom?”

“Your father asked me to come to the association. Sometimes it feels like I’m raising two kids.”

“Dad’s always been like that.”

“Who said he wasn’t.”

As I playfully joked with my mom, she slid off her sunglasses and laughed. I gave her a small hug.

“Go ahead inside. You had a hard time interviewing today, right? Get some rest.”

“Mrs. Choi, please only keep your eyes on the front when you’re driving. Watching you drive makes me anxious. You’re not even feeling well these days.”

“You worry about everything.”

“I’m only worried because I know you too well. There’s not much time left until your surgery, what if you get into an accident.”

“Don’t worry, don’t you know who your mom is?”

Mom tapped me on the shoulder. Our family’s Mrs. Choi was a former racecar driver who had left behind countless colorful records in her name. The trophies she won completely filled up one of the walls in the living room.

Maybe that’s why my mom would return to her heyday whenever she took control of the steering wheel. It would be great if she could understand the dizzying feeling of sitting in the passenger seat.

“There’s a salad in the fridge, so don’t forget to eat it.”

Mom waved her hand and stepped on the accelerator.

As soon as the car left my sight, I turned on my phone. I wanted to clear the game that I had to turn off just before the boss battle due to a series of events that took place in the morning.

Otome Game

This game had been recommended to me by one of my few friends. Since all I’ve been doing was working out, it was no exaggeration to say that this game has been my only hobby.

Hero Maker was a game that began with the main character, Maria Estelle, being recognized as a Saintess at the Grazia Convent. Following that, she would draw the prominent male protagonists to her side, such as Allen, the last hero who was always blunt; Evan, the Commander of the Holy Knights who was a strictly principled person; Swallow, the Mercenary King who was a lazy idler; and Heinrich, the mischievous High Elf Archmage. All to eventually defeat the Demon King.

At first, the game gained immense popularity with its gorgeous illustrations and first-rate voice actors, but the hype was short-lived. The number of players dropped exponentially due to the unfriendly system, the extreme difficulty of dying so often, and most of all, the fact that no one could achieve a happy ending no matter how much they played. I was still playing because I was stimulated by the continuous bad endings, but it seemed that wasn’t the case for other people.

As I entered the house, I opened the app and the familiar background music greeted me. The background changed as soon as I touched the [Continue] button that appeared on the main screen.

On the battlefield, ashes swirled in the air as the final boss of Hero Maker, the Demon King, reigned in front of the warrior and other fellow characters. Among them, I was the only playable character, Saintess Maria Estelle.

“I’ll definitely get a happy ending this time.”

I strengthened my determination as I lay on my bed.

“Damn it.”

It didn’t take long for my will to break. My two hands trembled as I held onto my phone.

“Another bad ending?”

A black shower was falling on the screen. It was an effect that signified I had successfully defeated the Demon King. But I couldn’t rejoice because I’d already beaten the Demon King so much that I couldn’t even remember how many times he’s fallen. The problem was that beating the Demon King didn’t mean getting a happy ending.

[BAD END]

The annoying phrase appeared on the screen. As the ending credits rolled up, the screen began to fade darker and darker. It might only be an illusion, but each time, it seemed as if the hero’s empty eyes were looking toward me.

I’ve cleared Hero Maker in numerous ways.

From the name of the game, I tried to target only the ‘warrior’ who was implied to be the main male protagonist. Then, I also tried to target only the other male protagonists except for the warrior. When that didn’t work, I tried to target all of them, but in the end, I always got a bad ending.

“Why? Just why?”

There was no way an answer would come back if I grabbed my phone and asked. Every time this happened, I firmly understood why Hero Maker was called a MangGame*.

(TN: It’s a Korean slang term that refers to a game that has operational problems or bugs/glitches and as a result, players turn their backs on it. It essentially means ‘failed game’.)

‘What’s the point of defeating the final boss? There’s no happy ending.’

The friend who recommended me to play Hero Maker had quit at some point due to constantly getting a bad ending. Was a happy ending really possible?

There were only negative reactions in the community after players recognized the reality of Hero Maker. After all, who liked a game that had no sense of accomplishment? The star rating in the app store dropped to one star a long time ago, but I still couldn’t let go of Hero Maker. I was fueled by a desire to win.

“I don’t understand.”

Maybe there was another hidden route that I haven’t been able to discover?

Or maybe the game developer was just a pervert who enjoyed the players’ pain. Otherwise, I couldn’t understand why no one had been able to get a happy ending.

“Should I go to the community?”

When I was just starting out playing Hero Maker, I would often browse the game community. After I got the hang of it, my efforts slowed down because I managed to familiarize myself with all the tactics. Then, after rumors spread of the game being a MangGame, there would only be one or two posts a week.

I rubbed my eyelids and saw the phrase [Refresh] that appeared on the black screen. If I touched it, I would go back to level 1 and start Hero Maker from the beginning.

“As always, I can just start all over again.”

However, it was such a waste to just delete the level I had worked so hard to raise.

[ Name : Maria Estelle ]

[ LV.99 (Main Story Cleared 142 Times) ]

[ Title : The Last Saintess ]

[ HP : 100% ] [MP : 100% ]

[ Strength (Rank S) : 208 ] [ Stamina (Rank S) : 235 ]

[ Agility (Rank A) : 196] [ Divine Power (Limit Exceeded) : 999+ ]

:

:

:

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[ Skill ]

[ Passive ]

[ A Short Prayer ]

[ The Archangel’s Blessing ]

[ Sephiroth’s Libra ( Grade 1 : Malkuth) ]

[ Holy Body ] [ Holy Eyes ] [ Holy Pulse ]

[ Active ]

[ Heal (Master) ]

[ Advent of the Holy Spirit ]

Haah, what to do.

I was probably the only player who managed to raise my status this well. It was a problem because everyone gave up before this could even be achieved in the first place.

‘Let it go. I’ll get a happy ending no matter what.’

Whether it was a game or anything else in life, I was the kind of person who had to finish what I started to the end. So naturally, I didn’t plan to stop until I saw the happy ending of Hero Maker.

Before that, it was necessary to erase the data.

“It hasn’t even been a week since I last deleted it.”

I only left the most recent data and deleted everything else. Shortly after, the alarm went off.

[ Papapapapapapapapapapa~ Good evening~ ]

‘Already?’

I checked the time and saw that it was ten o’clock. Too bad it was time for bed.

Sticking to a routine was the most important thing for a player.