Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 4

EP.4 Who Are You?

Erie was born into the L’rusié, one of the three great noble houses, and had entered Melheim Academy’s Department of Magic as the second highest-ranked student.

Following her grandfather’s words that “politics is about accumulating influence,” she was striving to leave a lasting impression on those who would later advance to the central political arena.

‘Impressions formed during school days last a lifetime.’

She realized that gaining the favour of these people could significantly advance her ambitious plans. To achieve this, she strategically portrayed the innocent commoner priestess as an adversary, hoping to garner sympathy and support.

‘I assure you, I have no bad intentions…’

The priestess had too many qualities that made her a perfect public enemy. For example, she would say things like “The hero is alive!” as if to emphasize her difference from others. And her mysterious, commoner background made her an easy scapegoat.

‘So.’

Even if she openly attacked her, it wouldn’t harm her reputation or cause future problems.

… Until someone threw a stone.

As usual, she was mocking the priestess’s pretentious claims when a sudden commotion caught her attention. Thinking it was a disciplinary staff member, she turned to investigate. Instead, her eyes were drawn to a breathtaking sight: a stone hurtling through the air. Mesmerized, she watched its flight before quickly gathering her mana to create a shield.

‘This is nothing.’

No matter how fast the stone flew, it was just a normal stone. As a 3-star mage, it posed no threat to her. She stood there confidently, trusting her shield, but…

Crack!

The stone shattered her expectations and pierced through.

‘What the…!’

Normally, this would be impossible, but the stone he threw made it possible. It caused widespread destruction, like a stone shattering a glass window, it broke through everything and struck her side hard.

“Kyaaah!”

With that came an intense pain she had never felt before. As the pain and the acid reflux made her nauseous, she retched and threw up her breakfast.

“Ughhh.”

The pain was intense, causing her eyes to water, but she managed to stay on her feet. She quickly tried to stand up, wiping away whatever was on her mouth. However, her mana continued to disappear from her side as the stone hit her, making her unsteady.

“… What?”

This was the first time that the mana disappearing. Her body trembled and she felt fear at such a foreign sensation.

‘This is impossible.’

She couldn’t believe her mana was vanishing. It was impossible. But the evidence was undeniable, and her growing fear confirmed the horrifying truth.

‘Who the hell is that guy?’

She couldn’t help but tremble at that creepy, unknown sensation.

***

Jeong-hyeon watched in shock as the woman he had tried to scare with the stone collapsed. Sticking to his initial plan, he grabbed the wrist of the cowering priestess and ran. After running for a while, he heard a weak voice called out, forcing him to stop.

“C-can we rest for a bit…!”

As soon as they stopped, the priestess collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. She seemed utterly exhausted. Jeong-hyeon watched her and then sat down next to her, taking deep breaths. He didn’t show it, but he was equally exhausted.

‘Damn, I need to work on my stamina…’

He thought about his stamina, which was only at 4, and exhaled heavily.

‘I think my stamina was higher than 4 even before I killed myself…’

He couldn’t understand why his stamina was so low. He wanted to improve it through training as soon as possible. While he was catching his breath, he noticed the achievement points system window, which he had momentarily forgotten about.

*-*

[Achievement Points System]

– Accumulate enough achievement points to level up!

*-*

In this world, achievement points represented the experience needed to level up. There was a specific reason why they were called achievement points instead of experience points.

‘Because level up here has a greater impact than in other RPGs.’

In other RPGs, a level up might slightly increase stats and unlock skills, but here, a level up was said to bring about a significant difference, described as a change in ‘rank.’

‘It’s like going from a 1-star to a 2-star character in a mobile game, I guess?’

He hadn’t levelled up himself yet, so he couldn’t be sure. But everyone said it made a huge difference, so he assumed it was something like that.

‘Anyway, it’s best to level up as quickly as possible.’

Doing so would provide substantial benefits for him. With that in mind, he turned his attention to his right arm, which was still throbbing with a sharp pain.

‘… It’s completely wrecked.’

He chuckled as he looked at his arm, which was not only swollen and red but also had torn skin dangling off it. There was no way throwing a stone could cause such damage. He realized that he must have unconsciously used his divine power, resulting in this state.

‘Divine power, huh.’

He stared in confusion at the divine power that was rising from his right hand like a mist. This divine power was supposed to be a blessing for him, yet it always landed him in trouble. Despite the complex feelings, he shook them off and focused on his right arm again.

‘It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought.’

Compared to the pain inflicted by the collar, this was something he could laugh off. It wasn’t too bad, he thought, and then he noticed a new message.

[Your stats have increased.]

‘And on top of that, my stats went up.’

Not feeling much pain but still gaining stats? It was like finding free money on the street.

‘In reality, pushing yourself too hard can have harmful consequences.’

But not here, apparently.

Finding this intriguing, he was lost in thought when the priestess beside him seemed to regain her senses. She stood up, looked at him, and then gasped in surprise.

“Is your arm okay?”

Jeong-hyeon gave a brief nod. Although his arm was covered in blood and looked gruesome, the pain wasn’t as severe as it appeared. As he tried to stand up, the priestess stopped him.

“Wait a moment…! I’ll heal you.”

The word “heal” made him flinch momentarily. He had bad memories associated with healing because Lea often used violence and healing as a form of penance whenever he made mistakes. Because of those bad memories, he was about to refuse the treatment when a warm, gentle sensation—completely opposite to what he knew—flowed through his palm.

“You’ll be fine soon, so don’t worry.”

“… Thank you.”

“No need to thank me. You were the one who helped me first.”

He silently looked at the priestess. Her pure white hair and skin, symbolizing purity, caught his eye, confirming her role as a priestess. She resembled untouched white snow, and he found himself staring at her blankly for a moment. She closed and opened her long eyelashes, then examined his arm and smiled contentedly.

“All done.”

‘… She is pretty.’

Her appearance was so beautiful that it seemed as if a god had descended and created her in his own image. He couldn’t help but acknowledge it. Suddenly, she asked him an unexpected question.

“… Do you also think that the hero doesn’t exist?”

Jeong-hyeon laughed at the absurdity of asking him, of all people, whether he existed. He pondered his response briefly before answering concisely.

“I believe they exist. I’ve seen one myself.”

“R-really? I knew it… Right?”

Her excitement was somewhat awkward for him. As she continued to chatter, he silently observed her. Suddenly, she met his gaze and spoke with curiosity.

“By the way, you look similar to the hero I saw. Although it was a few years ago, so I’m not sure.”

Not knowing how to respond, Jeong-hyeon remained silent. She noticed his reaction and smiled awkwardly before continuing.

“Anyway, is there anything I can help you with? I feel obligated to repay a favour if I’ve received one. I’d like to return the favour if possible…”

Return the favour. It was a term he hadn’t heard in a long time. Jeong-hyeon smiled as he responded.

“Then I have a favour to ask.”

“What is it?”

Maintaining his smile, he continued.

“First, we seem to be the same age, so can we speak casually?”

“Oh, yes? Sure.”

“And let’s go somewhere for a moment.”

The sudden series of events left her blinking her large eyes in confusion, her expression dazed.

***

The secluded back mountain, filled with trees and lacking any maintained trails, was a place rarely visited. Jeong-hyeon continued to lead the priestess deeper into the forest, holding her wrist.

As they ventured further into the dense woods, the priestess began to show signs of distress. Finally, unable to hold back any longer, she shouted at him with her face turning bright red.

“W-wait… No, we can’t do this! We should only do such things after we’re really close!”

At those words, Jeong-hyeon frowned as she spoke.

“I told you I’m helping you.”

“But… even so, this is something we should only do after getting close…”

Realizing she had completely misunderstood the situation, Jeong-hyeon decided to clear up the confusion before she could continue shouting.

“I think you’ve got the wrong idea. I just brought you here to use some healing during my training.”

“Beast…! Men are all the same…”

She screamed but then paused, tilting her head with a slightly foolish expression.

“What?”

“I found a way to increase my stats quickly. I wanted to test how much they can go up, and I need your help for that.”

She still seemed confused, looking at him with a puzzled expression. Jeong-hyeon gave up trying to explain further and switched to a different topic.

“Anyway, how much can you heal? How severe of an injury can you handle?”

“Well… as long as you don’t die, I can manage something. I can do it about 100 times…? Maybe 20 times if it’s a severe injury…”

That’s more than he expected. It seemed she could heal much more frequently than Lea could. He wondered why a priestess could use healing magic so many times, but he kept his thoughts brief.

“Great. I’ll be counting on you.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

Jeong-hyeon decided it was better to show rather than explain. Without responding, he swung his fist at a tree in front of him. His physical strength and stamina were poor, so the force behind his punch was weak. However, his divine power supplemented everything, granting him an overwhelming strength that far exceeded his physical capabilities. As always, such immense power came with a price. The backlash from the force shattered his arm once again.

[Your stats have increased.]

Pushing his limits had resulted in another increase in his stats. The pain surged, but the satisfaction of seeing his stats rise quickly overshadowed it. He thought it wasn’t a bad training method.

From behind, he heard a horrified voice.

“… Are you insane?!”

With that shout, a warm energy flowed into his arm. Watching his arm slowly heal, he replied briefly.

“Not really.”

“Then why are you breaking your arm on purpose?!”

In this world, it takes at least a few days, or at most several years, to increase a single stat using general training methods. She probably didn’t realize how lucky he was to be able to raise his stats with just one swing. He considered explaining this to her but quickly found it too bothersome. Instead, he focused on his training, channelling his strength into his legs and kicking the tree to continue.