To You Who Will Destroy Me - Chapter 6

<Episode 6>

“Ha, ah… … .”

Rae-yeon, who sat up from the sofa, gasped for breath. It seemed like she had had a terrible dream. Was that why? Her heart was pounding for no reason, and she felt ominous, so she didn’t feel like she had slept.

‘Where is this?’

As she had done for the past few days, she looked around as soon as she woke up. But every time, what she saw was not the familiar one-room ceiling, but an old-fashioned mansion like a scene from a movie. When she saw this, she sighed deeply and covered her eyes with her hands.

‘It’s still a game.’

It had been several days since I had entered Irelia Ellorance’s body. But every time I opened my eyes, I couldn’t help but wish that this was a dream.

The nightmares she had every night made her anxious. When she woke up, she could barely remember the content, but there was one man who kept appearing again and again.

A man as beautiful as the end of the world. Who is he? He had red hair that looks like it could burn everything? Rae yeon thought that the man was somehow related to Irelia Ellorance. But for now, there was no way to know the inside story.

The game ‘Salvation’ contained such a vast worldview that I was so absorbed in it that I didn’t even eat or sleep, but I couldn’t even clear half of it.

‘I have no idea who that man is.’

Well, that wasn’t all she didn’t know. She was also curious about how she had ended up in the game ‘Salvation’ and why she had become an unfamiliar supporting character called ‘Irelia Ellorance’.

“Rel. Are you okay?”

At this moment, someone grabbed her shoulder from behind. The sudden feeling of being grabbed reminded her of the dream she had just had, and Irel was so surprised that her heart stopped. She turned around with her hair standing on its edge without even screaming, and the other person was surprised as well.

“What? What did you dream about that made you so scared?”

What I saw in my brightened vision was a blond young man. He had a graceful face line and a delicate nose bridge, and if he had originally been a gentleman, he would have had a gentle androgynous appearance. However, his muscular body, which was very muscular, had completely destroyed his handsome beauty.

The man was clearly looking like an Angel, but it seemed that he was a battle angel. This man was Irelia’s only older brother, Michael Ellorence.

“You fell asleep in the living room? That’s strange. Didn’t you sleep well last night?”

It was a tough question, but he was worrying for her. Irell rubbed her pale cheek and answered appropriately.

“I just had a nightmare. Thanks for worrying about me.”

I don’t remember it well, but I think I had a dream where I was being driven around terribly. That’s probably why I felt so exhausted the whole time I was sleeping, as if I had done some intense exercise.

“From now on, sleep in the bedroom. You’re already weak. What if you catch a cold?”

“You should do some exercise,”

Michael nagged, while clicking his tongue. He was a picky person, as expected from someone who took good care of his body, but he cared for his younger sister in his own way.

[Michael Ellorence: Current favorability rating 87]

Irel, who checked the information floating above his head as if it were a habit, smiled awkwardly. She was grateful that he was kind to her, but Michael was too quick-witted. That was why dealing with him was sometimes difficult.

“I’ll go up and sleep like you said. I’ll go now.”

“No, before that, look at me for a moment.”

Michael, with his arms crossed, called out to her. He narrowed his blue eyes, looked her up and down, and blurted out.

“Irel Ellorence. Do you know that you’ve been acting really strangely lately?”

It was only natural. She wasn’t Irelia in the first place.

‘I’m glad that at least some memories of the original Irel remained in this body.’

Irel’s body accepted Rae yeon with a strange obedience. And, since she had some memories of this world, she prevented Rae yeon from making a big mistake.

But I couldn’t tell the truth, especially not to Michael.

‘How can you say that this is a game in the first place?’

Irel glanced at her mission quest window, which was shining next to the favorability window. There was just one line written there in bold, concise letters.

[Mission Quest ‘Prevent Destruction’: You must prevent the imminent catastrophe that will befall Ellorance. Failure to do so will result in the game being forcibly terminated.]

… … No, what on earth are you talking about? How do you prevent catastrophe?

‘If you tell me at least the bare minimum, I’ll do whatever it takes.’

And what happens if the game gets over? Do I have to go back as the real ‘Lee Rae-yeon’?

‘But my real body might be already dead.’

Thinking about it like that sent shivers down my spine. I was already feeling anxious because I didn’t know what was going on, so how could I explain it to Michael?

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Michael felt very frustrated because of his sister who kept her mouth shut like a clam.

“Tell me, Rel! What is the problem?”

There were many problems. But there was nothing I could say. In the first place, I had no idea why Rae-yeon had entered the ‘Salvation’ and why she had become ‘Irel Ellorance’.

“Okay. So you’re not going to say anything until the end?”

Michael looked disappointed. His blue eyes turned cold as he stared at his sister who didn’t respond.

“I thought we were that open with each other. I guess I was mistaken.”

After he finished speaking, he coldly kicked the seat and stood

At the same time, a system notification window that was visible only to Rae-yeon, or rather Irel, popped up.

[Tring! Michael’s favorability rating has decreased by 5.]

I really wanted to cry. I was already in an unfamiliar game world, and I was upset that my family’s favorability rating had dropped so much.

“Just a minute, brother.”

Irel called out to Michael, who was about to leave in a hurry.

“Why are you holding me back when you’re not even going to answer?”

Unlike his manly muscles, Michael had a longing soft heart. However, he answered bluntly and waited without leaving the room, which was typical of him.

“I… … was wrong. I’m really sorry.”

Irel, who had been hesitating, apologized for now. Michael didn’t answer, but his eyebrows, which had been raised, and his trapezius muscles were seen to have lowered slightly.

“I just did it because I’ve been having a lot of worries lately. I’m also worried about my future.”

It was an attempt to cover up, but it wasn’t a lie. As she spoke, her sincerity began to mix in, and Irel let out a complicated sigh.

Michael hesitated as he looked back at her face, which seemed to be filled with worry. Then, he eventually turned around and plopped down on the sofa in front of her.

“… … I’m sorry too, for being so narrow-minded.”

Michael coughed and extended a hand of reconciliation, as expected of an older brother. At the same time, I could hear the sound of his favorability rating rising again.

[Tiring! Michael’s favorability has increased by 5.]

Irelia was relieved that things had turned out well. Just then, Michael suddenly said something meaningful.

“I completely understand the confusion you feel right now.”

“Really?”

That couldn’t be possible. She suddenly became Irel and looked at Michael with a sense of emptiness. However, his attitude as he spoke as if he knew something was extremely serious.

“Of course. How long has it been since we experienced something so shocking?”

“Uh… … Huh?”

“I’m sure you have a lot to worry about. It’s that important of an issue.”

… … What the hell is the problem? And what happened to me?

Irel was inwardly embarrassed when an unknown topic came up. It felt like she had absentmindedly pulled on the end of a ball of string and found a golden key with an unknown purpose attached to it.

Judging by Michael’s serious expression, it seemed like this wasn’t something that could be passed over. So Irel quietly looked at him a little more.

“Brother, the problem..  Is it… … ?”

“The thing happened last week. When you visited the main shrine.”

Fortunately, Michael answered without any doubts. However, it was still something she couldn’t understand.

Last week! It was just before Rae-yeon herself possessed this body.

‘Wait a minute, the situation she was in before possessing was probably… … .’

She slowly tried to recall her memories. When she first opened her eyes, she was in a carriage. A horse-drawn, rattling four-horse carriage.

Rae-yeon was perplexed by the sensation of her body shaking from side to side. She clearly remembers passing out while playing a game, but why was she riding in a carriage?

She looked around absentmindedly and was even more surprised to see the platinum blonde hair flowing down from her shoulders.

‘What is this…?’

That wasn’t all. Above the heads of the family sitting across from me, the favorability ratings for me were floating around. It was as if I had entered a place where reality and games were mixed up.

Thanks to that, I was lucky that I was speechless. In front of her, who was silent, the family continued to talk about this and that.

As I listened to their random conversations, my mind strangely began to organize itself little by little.

Everything was clear from the situation. She was possessed by ‘Salvation’ and all those small memories that remained in the body of ‘Irel Ellorance’ flashed in front of her.

‘The reason I was riding in the carriage at that time was probably… … .’

Their family had clearly said that they had been to the main temple. So the ‘important matter’ that Michael spoke of was probably something that happened back then.

Somehow, it seemed like her family was always watching her. They happily talked about the scenery they saw on their way back from the main shrine and the delicious food they ate, but they kept their mouths shut and avoided sensitive topics.

‘But I have no idea what it is.’

Rae yeon sighed. In the first place, there was no character named ‘Irel Ellorance’ in the story of the game she was playing. So even though she had entered the game she loved, she was at a loss and didn’t know what to do.

“Don’t worry too much, Irel. You have us.”

Michael misunderstood her complicated expression as she reminisced about the past and quickly comforted her.

“I will never let anything bad happen to you. I promise as your older brother.”

“… … Thank you. Oppa.”

This was all she could say in a situation where she knew nothing. However, she was slightly moved by Michael’s clumsy sincerity being conveyed to her as it was.

‘Irel has a really good family.’

It was a kind of bond that Rae-yeon, who had been estranged from her family throughout her life, had never felt before. As she was smiling bitterly out of envy, someone appeared through the open crack of the door.

“Oh, you guys are here.”