I Killed the Game’s Heroine

Chapter 11

Arc 2: Today too, I continue living in the game world. Today, and tomorrow.

***

After driving away the pervert that flew in through the window.

Having leisurely showered with warm water, I was currently doing laundry without a break.

The sudden reason for doing laundry was that while cleaning the house, I felt uncomfortable leaving the mountain of green and red clothes piled up on the veranda, as if I had left a task unfinished.

Since I wanted to wear clean clothes after showering, I had to do laundry because there was nothing I could wear immediately among the clothes I had bought and stored in my bank account.

Anyway, I had underwear and pants, but no top, so buying one at the store was an option, but.

Why should I spend money when I could wash clothes without using my own?

What if it was women’s underwear? Normally, I might feel a bit embarrassed because I’m a man, but.

Seeing the women’s hygiene products and underwear thrown into the sink during cleaning, I decided that it was giving me a hint to do the laundry as well.

If that wasn’t a hint, then it was just beastly behavior.

No matter how special the circumstances of Nokra’s birth were, she was living in society and had learned everything, so I hoped she would at least respect the purpose of the sink.

Thinking that way, I continued with the laundry, classifying the colors and materials as much as possible based on my experience and know-how from working in a laundromat.

I used a small amount of detergent and fabric softener but ensured the most efficiency, pulling out the hidden hanger in the house like a treasure and hanging the clothes.

Actually, it wasn’t enough with just the hanger, so I tied up the bundles of string that were scattered around the house and made a clothesline.

Is it okay to do this in someone else’s house? If the clothes here had consciousness, they would probably ask if it was alright to be treated this way.

Anyway, catching the pervert wasn’t something that would take a day or two, and when Nokra came back, all the laundry would be neatly organized, so what was the problem?

After doing what I needed to do, two hours had already passed.

The veranda was now tidy, and I felt a sense of satisfaction that it could be called a home where people lived, not a garbage dump.

No, it might be more accurate to say it was a laundry drying room rather than a home.

Women’s underwear filled about 99.9% of the house, making it impossible to turn my body without seeing the underwear Nokra had left behind.

…… What a disgusting structure.

I tried to close my eyes and fall asleep, lying in the living room.

The laundry was so damp that it was uncomfortable, but this level of humidity was rather pleasant.

Thus, I felt my body sinking into the spirit world with a relaxed mind—

“Hey— is that cursed little brat here? Seriously. Crazy girl, if you put a kid in a trash dump like your house, you’d be cursed even more!”

A loud voice of a girl was heard from outside the door, babbling nonsense.

The distinctive high-pitched voice of a girl echoed loudly.

Even if it was a time when everyone had gone out, would anyone really want to shout like that in a public hallway? What were her parents doing?

Was it right for someone who had cleaned up all night to think like that? That thought crossed my mind for a brief moment, but I decided to forget it.

I tried to sink back into the spirit world—

Bang!

“Alright! Here, little brat! The elder has come to rescue you from the trash— oh, what the hell, crazy.”

“You piece of shit.”

The owner of that voice kicked the door open and entered, startled to see me lying in the living room like a corpse.

From the outside, it must have looked bizarre and perverted, lying among the women’s underwear that was hanging around.

The girl seemed surprised, but I was equally startled to see the girl who had suddenly appeared.

She had white hair that gave the impression of having faded over time like the elderly, and red eyes.

The girl was dressed strangely, not dyed, and was wearing a women’s hanbok with the jeogori removed, wearing an outer skirt and an underskirt, exposing the bandages around her chest in a shocking manner.

If a child were walking around in such attire, someone would immediately report it for child abuse.

But I knew that this girl was one of the characters in this game world.

Her name was Maehwa. Or Gaeddong.

The oldest and most powerful exorcist who had lived since the Joseon Dynasty, and the dean of the academy.

The reason she could have lived since the Joseon Dynasty was due to her skill called the Curse of Immortality.

Thanks to her long experience, she had even developed a skill to see the future, and unless there were external factors, she could live forever.

With the knowledge and power accumulated over a long time, she held the position of the strongest exorcist protecting this country in the present age.

The reason I could remember her so well was partly due to my younger brother’s explanations—

Although she called herself Maehwa, she was actually referred to as Gaeddong.

I knew that they didn’t put much effort into naming girls in the Joseon Dynasty.

But still, what kind of name is Gaeddong for a girl?

My younger brother had babbled something about “legal loli grandma is the best!” but I ignored it because I couldn’t understand what the word loli meant or what a legal grandma was.

The moment I understood the meaning of that word, my instincts told me that I should bury my younger brother in the ground, so I didn’t even look it up.

For these reasons, I remembered her, but meeting her in person was quite impressive.

When I glanced at Gaeddong, I felt no trace of the spirit power she had accumulated in this world.

But upon focusing on her, it wasn’t that she lacked spirit power; rather, it was so immense that I couldn’t perceive it.

It was clear that Nokra was stronger than me as an exorcist.

But even she was weaker than Gaeddong.

“Wow.”

I muttered in admiration.

As I was admiring her, Gaeddong looked around the house and me with a confused expression.

She took out her phone from the ornament hanging on her skirt and made a call, quickly spitting out a single phrase.

“What is this?”

Depending on what the person on the other end of the line answered, Gaeddong seemed to decide whether or not to deal with that person.

I was puzzled as to why she, the strongest exorcist, was here when she should be out catching Sethani.

After a brief moment of awkward silence, Gaeddong cautiously asked me.

“That little brat. Did that pervert in this house make you do something?”

“She subtly made me do some work. She also threw women’s hygiene products around.”

“Haha!”

Humans are creatures that can express their opinions not only through words and writing but also through gestures, actions, and situations.

Leaving something like that in the sink was her way of telling me to clean up.

I spoke while lying down, and after declaring “I will kill you!” to the person on the other end of the phone, Gaeddong put her phone back into the ornament.

Her expression was so cold that even the spirit that had been pressing down on me fled in fear.

In the midst of that, I thought. It seems like sleeping is out of the question now. Damn it.

*****

“The curse, which is the power of evil spirits, doesn’t require rational judgment. The cause and effect are inconsistent, and even ordinary evil spirits, like virtual evil spirits, have their own instincts that increase lethality without restrictions on who they curse!”

“Therefore, the most necessary intelligence for an exorcist is not rational reasoning but instinctive intuition! The intuition of an exorcist, who has survived for a long time due to the characteristics of spirit power linked to survival instincts, is almost like foresight!”

Gaeddong continued speaking while avoiding the underwear scattered around the house and sitting in the living room.

Without any explanation of why she was here or what her purpose was, she began to spout strange words as soon as she sat in front of me.

Since she was the dean, did she want to teach me something?

Or was she trying to brag about how long she had lived by dropping hints?

It felt strange. According to what I had checked online before, when a possession occurs, it is treated as a national disaster equivalent to war.

It was said that all B-grade or higher exorcists would be gathered to hunt down the possessed.

Even she, the strongest exorcist in the country, would certainly be dragged to the scene, so why was she here?

I looked at Gaeddong with doubt, but she was just looking at me with a mysterious smile.

I gazed at Gaeddong, and she stared back at me intently.

My face reflected in her reddish eyes, which seemed to lack pigment, looked sullen, full of dissatisfaction and worry.

As we glared at each other for a moment, Gaeddong seemed to understand something and smiled before continuing her previous statement.

“In that sense, I am much older than I look, you know? I could probably be considered the oldest person in this country! An exorcist!”

“So it’s not just about fighting and seeing the near future! I can also see visions of the distant future!”

“Oh. Yes.”

Was she really here to brag?

With the determination to mess with that damn quest window, my overloaded brain was now telling me that Gaeddong’s sudden appearance in this situation was not just a coincidence.

She was a special A-grade exorcist. The dean of the academy.

Such a person appeared in this place.

It wasn’t a normal day, and it was during the time when the A-grade possessed spirit, Sethani, had appeared.

Could it be that she hadn’t found Sethani yet? No, that couldn’t be it.

The TV I had seen while doing laundry reported that a powerful malevolent spirit had been discovered near Mijeongyu.

They were evacuating people living in the area and sending exorcists to exorcise it.

I recalled that the main body of Sethani was in Mijeongyu.

I realized that the news was hiding the fact that Sethani had been discovered and was evacuating people.

Since malevolent spirits grow stronger as fear of them increases, they would try exorcism first without revealing their existence, and if successful, they would announce that it was handled with the blessing of the spirits, as my younger brother had said.

When I had asked why the spirits were mentioned, he had said that the greater the faith and belief in the existence of spirits, the more they could prevent the emergence of malevolent spirits.

I wondered why exorcists were treated like celebrities among people, but recalling this made it somewhat understandable.

Spirits are good beings, and exorcists fight with the power of those good beings to protect people.

With such an image, they lower the fear of malevolent spirits and weaken them.

It seemed reasonable, yet also not, but thinking of the spirit power, it felt like nonsense.

…… These thoughts led to strange places.

To summarize, Gaeddong in front of me could see the future and was incredibly strong.

Why was this strong person here?

Could it be— did Gaeddong see me kill the spirit?

Not that she secretly watched, but that she saw it in the future.

My younger brother explained that Gaeddong could see significant events happening in this country, not just her own future.

Since I had killed one of the spirits residing in this country, it could be considered a significant event.

It was possible that she had seen that scene…… right?

Hmm, I don’t know. I can’t tell if it’s possible or not. My brain, which had already run at full speed once, was now just idling.

Whether she saw it or not, what does it matter? If she wants to kill me, then just do it.

When I go home, I’ll take 5 million won with me.

I could give it to my younger brother, open the window, and jump out.

I looked at Gaeddong while digging in my ears.

Gaeddong seemed to find my attitude funny, chuckling as she continued.

“You look like you don’t understand why I’m saying this— I should tell you. It’s simple. I saw a future where you die. A future where you’re brutally torn apart by the malevolent spirits. While we were fighting Sethani, you will die alone.”

“Ah-ha.”

What a load of crap.

I scoffed at Gaeddong’s words.

It made sense because I knew that due to her peculiar name, the future she sees is bound to happen, but it only shows a single moment like a photograph.

In other words, even if she sees someone dying, in reality, someone might miraculously help them, avoiding the crisis.

There are cases where a dangerous situation appears to be so because a plan to escape has already been prepared.

My younger brother likened it to a trailer of a movie where the protagonist seems to be in danger, but I had never seen anything other than movies on OCN, so I had no idea what that nonsense was about.

The important thing is that this prophecy is something to prepare for, but not something to live in fear of like someone who received a death sentence.

It seemed like she was dropping hints because she wanted something from me.

But right now, what mattered was the enormous earwax I felt at the tip of my finger while digging in my ears.

I just wanted to listen to what she had to say.

In an instant, her atmosphere changed.

The spirit power that had been so immense that it was hard to perceive suddenly pressed down on my body.

My back became damp with cold sweat, and I couldn’t even breathe properly with the creaking sounds coming from my body.

The brightly lit room felt unusually dark.

The spirit power Gaeddong had been emitting felt like it had transformed into blades that touched my skin, sending shivers down my spine.

I glared at Gaeddong with the determination that I would pull out a weapon from my bank account and at least take one of her eyes if I died.

Then she asked me.

“Honestly, there are many things to confirm in this situation, but first. Let me ask you one thing, kid. Did you perhaps receive a blessing from Yeong Hyeong?”

“What the hell?”

If she asked whether I killed that damn spirit, the other party would have seen that scene through foresight, so they’d probably give up hiding it and just answer.

And whether I died or not, they would at least hit me once. After that, they would accept whatever happened.

Even if Yeong Hyeong is a hopeless piece of trash, I did kill that damn thing!

But what? I received a blessing from that?

Receiving a blessing in this world means kneeling before a spirit and offering faith.

Other spirits don’t matter. I have no interest in them, and if they exert their power, I’ll gratefully accept it.

The reason I hadn’t done so until now was simply that deciding which of the many spirits in this world to believe in was a hassle.

The reason I emphasize that I have no interest is that I am selfish.

It’s tiring to hate other spirits that have nothing to do with me as the same kind as Yeong Hyeong.

But Yeong Hyeong, that damn spirit, is different.

The moment I imagined kneeling and praying to that spirit, every cell in my body wanted to choose suicide.

“Isn’t there something people can and can’t say?”

“Uh. Hmm? That’s not the reaction I expected, but. Uh… this is weird. Hmm. Whatever! I know this incident isn’t related to that crazy thing!”

“So let’s talk rationally. First, let me introduce myself. My name is—”

Seeing my reaction, Gaeddong rested her chin on her hand, as if relieved, and started babbling nonsense.

I tried to raise my middle finger, but it seemed that even the gods couldn’t forgive the nonsense she was spouting.

Things escalated.

Thud!

One of the strings I had tied to hang the laundry came undone, and Nokra’s underwear fell over her head.

The adult women’s underwear piled up high above the little girl’s head looked like ridiculous modern art.

“My name is Maehwa…. Damn it, Nokra, you pedophile! Because of you, my image is ruined!”

Your image was already in the gutter with that nonsense you just spouted, Gaeddong.

Besides, how could a person’s name be Gaeddong?

I couldn’t help but laugh at her appearance and face.

Gaeddong blushed, seemingly embarrassed by her own appearance.

End of Chapter