Raeyeon silently stared at her reflection in the mirror. The girl in that mirror was a stunning beauty: her thick silver hair was neatly tied into a high bun, wearing a delicate silk chemise. Her delicate face, slim features and bright blue eyes were so beautiful that even she couldn't get used to them. But that person is absolutely not you. Strictly speaking, this is the body of
Irel Elorance
— a supporting character in a game she was once fascinated with.
‘In the end, why did things turn out like this?’
Raeyeon gently caressed the hem of her shirt, lost in thought. That concern, which she had recently pondered until she was tired, was like chewing gum that had lost all its sweetness, leaving only an unpleasant chewiness. However, no matter how many times I thought about it, the answer still did not appear.
She was just a normal college student preparing to graduate. Her entry into the game world was truly a tragically strange story. Before that, Raeyeon had never touched any video games. During the long period of waiting for notification of job application results, she just needed something to dispel the emptiness and insecurity. So, she tried playing games, something that seemed simple but had never happened in her life.
“Salvation.”
A truly romantic name. All playable characters have their own charm, as if they have a real soul. Furthermore, the "Friendship" system reacts delicately to every word and every action of the player, making her feel both curious and excited.
Raeyeon gradually immersed herself in the game's unique worldview and setting. She even thought that if she could, she would like to stay in that game forever.
'I didn't expect things to turn out like this...'
When she first learned about the joy called "game", she forgot to eat and drink, and her sleep was fitful. Living alone, far from family, with no one to remind or take care of me. Then at a certain moment, her body exceeded its limits and collapsed without her even realizing it. And when Raeyeon opened her eyes again, she was in her body
Irel Elorance.
‘What a myth!’
Entering the body of a game character is enough to shock people. But what frightened her more was when she realized that things that shouldn't appear before her eyes were there: the "Friendship" window of the characters in the game, still glowing as if everything had never ended.
BAM—!!!
Unfortunately, this game doesn't give her time to reflect on her life. A deafening explosion suddenly rang out, then the bedroom door shattered. The large wooden door fell miserably as if it had just been hit by a bomb, and a strong burning smell rushed in.
“Ah!”
Extremely frightened, Raeyeon - now Irel - turned around. Right behind the destroyed door, she saw a man so beautiful that he looked like a devil had descended to earth.
"Oh. How careless."
The man stood there, like a continuation of the nightmare, smiling cruelly. The look of him trying to scare her but saying it like he was in a little trouble was truly shameless.
He threw away the doorknob he was holding and calmly walked in with an unrestrained gait. Royally entering her private bedroom, a place where an outsider should never set foot.
"You look surprised, don't you think? I should have knocked on the door."
Seeing Irel's stiff face, he smiled seductively. He knew full well why she had locked the door, but now even mentioning 'knocking' was despicable.
‘He hates me.’
Irel bit her lip and looked up at the man. He had a fate that was cruelly tied to Irel Elorance, and Raeyeon tried her best to avoid it.
But in the end, he still appeared in her life as the final disaster that came to this world. And like a bloodless, tearless robber, he attempted to take over her entire body and mind.
[Varkan Ha Marsh: Current favorability 25. He is currently in ‘Hostile’ state.]
Irel looked in despair as the system message appeared before her eyes. She tried so hard, but her sympathy only achieved so much.
“Hey, biting your lip is not okay.”
In a daze, she accidentally bit her lower lip. His long and strong fingers suddenly touched her lower lip. At first, he was gentle as if he wanted to release the lips tightly bitten by her upper teeth, but then, his fingertips gradually glided over her lips in a lewd, teasing manner.
"I never saw you coming out, I thought you had run away. Thinking like that, my heart suddenly felt like it was on fire."
His eyes focused on his lips, which were red and swollen from being rubbed by him, as if they wanted to swallow them immediately. Even though he has no love, this man falls in love especially easily. It was as if what flowed through her veins was not blood but a potion.
"Will you understand me? It's all because I love you so much."
He used the tip of his foot to gently kick the pieces of the destroyed door, then shrugged. Although his face was pink as if he were embarrassed, his eyes looking at Irel were cold as ice.
Truly a very bad man. Irel turned her head to avoid the hand caressing her lips. She was so afraid of him that she wanted to escape immediately, but there was no way back. To survive, she must find every way to please him.
"I-it's okay. The door can be fixed. Besides, please take my hand..."
“But it's strange.”
The man calmly interrupted her stammering plea. He tilted his head and asked with a terrifyingly handsome face.
"Why don't you run away? I love playing tag."
In his lazy breath, the smell of dry ash mixed with the seductive scent of musk spread. When she stepped back because she wanted to avoid him, his fierce yellow eyes narrowed like a wild animal about to hunt. Being looked at by him with those eyes, how could she dare to come up with the idea of running away?
"What a pity. I planned to punish you if I caught you."
He whispered, like the lewd teasing that couples often say. But when she saw that charming smile, Irel's face was no longer dreamy but even paler.
‘Did he realize it?’
If he caught her, he planned to break her ankle. In moments like these, he only felt regret that the woman in front of him was uselessly smart. Thanks to that, he never actually acted on the sadistic urges that were screaming madly in his head.
Varkan licked his lips slowly, hiding his inner restlessness. Every time he faced this woman, he felt his body heat up and his lips become dry.
If possible, he wanted to put a chain around her neck and keep her in the palm of his hand forever. That involuntary thought pleased him quite a bit, making the smile on his lips even more intense. Irel, who immediately recognized the danger from that radiant face, hastily opened her mouth.
“How can I leave you?”
Irel reached out her thin arm and carefully held his hand. Then she used her fingers as soft as buds to gently stroke and pat the back of his large hand. The tickling sensation stimulating the back of his hand caused the madness in the man's eyes to subside.
But even in the moment they faced each other and smiled gently like a couple, they both knew clearly. Even though she was the one who initiated the touch, her hand still trembled as if she were stroking a fierce dog that could bite back at any moment.
“Really? Why did I think you would run away…”
Maybe because I love it so much. The man lowered his eyelids and muttered in a dry voice. His profile face was tinged with sadness, like a man holding his lover in his arms but suffering because he feared she could disappear at any moment.
Therefore, Irel finds him even more hateful. To him, she is not human. She was just a convenient painkiller to help him forget his chronic pain, nothing more, nothing less.
The fact that this man often threatened her, then sweetly comforted her, was just a type of training. It was just a trick to engrave deep into her bones that she couldn't go anywhere, she was his until death.
But Irel had to pretend not to notice. From the beginning, the rules of this ice-thin relationship were only one. Whoever gives up the role of lover first will be the loser.
“I absolutely will not leave you.”
Irel held his hand tighter, whispering softly. Her beautiful lips were cold with fear, but the voice that came out was as warm as spring.
“Because I fell in love with you at first sight… Varkan.”
Irel tried not to let her voice shake as she finished her sentence, then smiled. Looking at that face as radiant as a ray of sunlight, Varkan's eyes narrowed like a crescent moon.
‘She is good at lying.’
He finds it extremely interesting every time Irel trembles but pretends to be resilient. Sometimes he felt terribly uncomfortable, but honestly, it was fun.
How much can this weak, tiny girl continue to pretend? He suddenly had the idea to observe the woman in front of him longer.
After all, destroying her is as simple as crushing an orange in your hand. So, indulging in this childish game a little isn't bad.
Ting!
Irel raised her head when she heard a familiar sound that only she could hear. She saw transparent words floating in mid-air.
[Varkan's favorability has increased by 3.]
Irel breathed a sigh of relief. Varkan, with his twisted and complex personality, is really difficult to increase his Likeability, even though he is always smiling.
The relief from the increase in Favorability only lasted for a moment, Varkan suddenly approached. As his large body approached menacingly, Irel reflexively stepped back. However, the tight chemise hem caught her leg, causing her to fall back onto the sofa.
“Ah…!!”
Before she could recover, her wrist was held tightly, and the man's solid body pressed on top. He looked at her lovingly, but smiled coldly.
"I'm very happy. Your heart is also mine."
In the blink of an eye, his hand slid under the thin layer of chemise like a snake. Then he gently stroked her slender calves and gave an arrogant command.
“Then spread your legs.”