At the End of Revenge, There You Are ~The Scum Who Killed My Beloved, Prepare Yourselves! I Will Drag You All to Hell... Wait, What? Why Are the Heroine and the Demoness Coming After Me, a Woman!?(GL) - Chapter 9

Kimura (Supervisor)

“I’m disappointed in you.”

“You heartless old man.”

…Yeah.

She was right.

I must have looked pathetic to her.

Powerless.

From the outside, that’s how I must have seemed.

Unable to do anything.
Unable to say anything.

But still…

This frustration—

It burns inside me.

So much so that I feel like my very senses are disappearing.

Even so, I can’t make a move yet.

Not until I find it.

I’m sorry…

□ Shinomiya Akari

“This is your Explorer Card… Akari-chan, I’m sure you’ll be fine, but do your best, okay?”

“Thank you.”

I took the Explorer Card from the Guild receptionist and headed toward the dungeon.

This was my second time obtaining one.

I had surrendered my previous card when I became a Guild employee.

As a former staff member, I was familiar with the beautiful receptionist.

She looked surprised when I approached her counter, but after exchanging a few words, she quickly understood the situation and efficiently processed the paperwork, issuing my card without hesitation.

And then—

With a small, subtle fist pump near her chest, she quietly cheered me on.

…She looked adorable doing it.

But what did she mean by “I’m sure you’ll be fine”…?

I don’t think I’m that strong.

Sure, the Special Investigation Unit’s training was brutal—
I had been thrown around constantly, shouting “You sadist!” more times than I could count.

But still…

This wasn’t the time to dwell on nostalgic frustrations.

Time was slipping away.

Even if I found a way to revive Yuzuha—
If too much time passed, it might already be too late.

The more I thought about it, the more anxiety crept into my heart.

So I forced myself to stay optimistic.

To wear an expression that screamed confidence in the future.

“It’s okay.”
“I’ll make it in time.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“I will bring her back.”

Today’s goal was to return to the place where Yuzuha died.

Back then, I had been too shocked to investigate properly.

This time, I needed to see it with my own eyes.

With that determination, I took my first steps into the dungeon.

Inside the Dungeon

“Fire Slash!”

With a single swing, I sliced through a Treant—cutting down the surrounding weed-like monsters in the process.

This dungeon was overrun with plants.

Treants lurked everywhere, and almost every plant in sight was a monster, stretching their roots, vines, and leaves all over the place.

It was impossible to let my guard down.

It had been a long time since I entered a dungeon as a regular explorer.

As I made my way forward, a memory from early high school surfaced.

A Memory with Yuzuha

Back then, Yuzuha had gotten her hands on a special event ticket—

One that allowed even non-explorers like me to enter a dungeon.

It had been my first experience in one.

Yuzuha had already obtained her Explorer Card, so I simply followed her lead, fumbling my way through fights with low-level monsters as we wandered the dungeon.

At one point, we stopped to eat lunch.

It had felt like a picnic.

There had been no incidents—
We had just collected the event items and left.

Well, there had been one thing.

I had felt a strange pressure, like something was watching us.

Later, I convinced myself it was just the recording devices in the dungeon.

On the way back, Yuzuha had invited me.

“Let’s aim to be top explorers together!”

Her eyes had sparkled with excitement.

“Isn’t the dungeon fun?”

She had wanted me to experience the same joy she felt.

But I had turned her down.

Back then, I hadn’t been thinking seriously about my future.

I hadn’t been ready to make a decision.

And now…

I was walking through a dungeon again— But for a very different reason.

“I’m sorry…”

I remember now—

When I turned her down, she cried.

“Why?” she had asked.
“It would be so much fun if we did it together.”

She must have thought long and hard about how to convince me.

That’s why she had invited me to that event in the first place.

I should have realized it sooner.

“I’m sorry, Yuzuha…”

I never expected her to cry over it.

And when she did, I held her close, stroking her hair as she sobbed.

She had looked so sad—so heartbroken.

I remember feeling a little regret at that moment, thinking, Maybe I should’ve just said yes.

But I had stubbornly refused to make such a big decision just because of a fleeting emotion.

That’s just how I was—never honest with myself.

And now, here I was—becoming an explorer because Yuzuha was dead.

What a cruel joke.

If I manage to bring her back, I’ll tell her—

“This time, let’s become explorers together.”

Inside the Dungeon

When I first came here as part of the Special Investigation Unit, the path had already been cleared by my colleagues.

So I didn’t realize just how overrun this place was.

Now, the landscape matched the footage—

A suffocating sea of plant-type monsters, stretching endlessly in every direction.

“Fire Strike!”
“Fire Blade!”
“Flare!”

I sliced, burned, and blasted my way through, pushing forward.

Flame-based attacks were perfectly suited for this dungeon.

Using the same strategy as that bastard who shoved Yuzuha left a bitter taste in my mouth—

But I didn’t have time to worry about that.

I had to move fast.

I passed the upper floors.

Then the middle floors.

And finally—

…Wait.

Yuzuha had died not long after entering the lower floors, near what was supposed to be a safe zone.

But I had already gone past that area without realizing it.

Now, I could see a staircase leading even deeper—toward the Abyss.

…What?

Something’s wrong.

Golden Hawk’s party had struggled in this dungeon.
They had barely made it through.

But I—

I had reached this far with almost no resistance.

Had I simply been too cautious and overestimated the difficulty?

Or was Golden Hawk just incompetent?

…No. That wasn’t it.

I wasn’t some prodigy explorer.

Before I joined the Guild, I had been D-rank at best.

And wasn’t Golden Hawk’s leader supposed to be A-rank?

Then why was I having an easier time than them?

I kept cutting through the plants, scanning my surroundings—

And then—

I saw it.

A strange gap in the endless sea of plant life.

So far, the only place where vegetation didn’t grow was inside safe zones.

But this was different.

Something unnatural.

Curious, I approached—

And then I saw it.

A familiar bracelet.

Pink metallic, engraved with an angel.

“Yuzuha’s bracelet…?”

Without thinking, I ran toward it—

My entire body bursting into flames as I charged forward.

There was no doubt.

This was hers.

But—

The thin, grotesque hand clutching the bracelet suddenly lurched forward—

And grabbed me by the throat.

What?!

I immediately tore the arm away, stumbling back—

But before I could react,

The world shifted.

Teleportation?

For an instant, my vision blurred.

And then—

I was somewhere else.

A place where thick, stagnant mana filled the air.

A space that felt wrong.

Where the hell am I?

“Heh… You fell right into my trap.”

A sultry voice echoed from above.

I turned toward the source—

And froze.

Floating in the air was a woman of extraordinary beauty.

Her presence was exquisite, mesmerizing— And her smile…

Was breathtakingly perfect.

“I’ve been waiting for you.”

Her voice was silk and poison intertwined.

“I’m sorry, but… you need to die now.”

“Please.”