What followed were my real memories.

Living a normal life with an ordinary family until a tragic accident killed everyone but me; the game becoming my first comfort after losing all joys of life…

Memories I had never contemplated while living as Angelica suddenly flooded back.

Not that I became a shutin solely obsessed with gaming. I lived diligently enough to attend a prestigious university.

I probably lived harder because I hated hearing pity due to my orphaned status.

Yet, I was never truly happy.

I felt alive only when I was gaming, ahead of everyone else; the rest of my life felt lackluster.

Actually, I was happier living as Angelica.

At least Angelica had Hades, who accepted her for who she was.

Not just him.

Even the people under Hades’ rule eventually came to accept me, although initially they were hostile and guarded towards Angelica.

‘…’

I swallowed hard. I had longed so much to return, but now, I found myself missing Hades’ world.

‘No.’

I shook my head.

‘Snap out of it. Were you planning to live there forever?’

I had a stable future here. And hey, I could occasionally enjoy games.

But live in that game world forever? Even think of going back?

It was impossible and nonsensical.

I staggered outside. Now, everything appeared normal.

My desk, my chair, even the soda can I had casually tossed aside.

‘Time hasn’t moved at all.’

Had months actually passed, the state of the house would have been catastrophic. But it remained the same, just as when I left as a recluse.

‘Uh…?’

I got goosebumps.

‘Just before leaving, did I say?’

I sat down hesitantly. Why were these alien thoughts suddenly occurring to me? I was just playing a game and got transferred to Angelica without understanding why.
And so I returned, and that was that.

Hades and Donovan were both forgotten, and all that remained was to live my life without ever touching Leodel again.

‘Hades is just a character in a game, no matter how much I miss him. He’s not a real person.’

I muttered to myself, as if justifying my actions.

‘The desire to go back is all an illusion. I’ll forget it all in a few months.’

It seemed absurd when I thought about it.

After all the fuss about defeating the Demon King, it turned out I could return to my original world just by dying.

‘…I’m sorry, Hades.’

If I had known, I would have died before getting to know him better.

‘I wonder if Hades is doing well?’

He probably isn’t. But now, that has nothing to do with me.

‘I should avoid even looking at Leodel from now on.’

I carefully walked towards the whirring computer. I planned to unplug it and throw the whole thing away.

If I were to go back into Angelica’s body, that would be disastrous.

‘…So, this is the end.’

I spoke out loud on purpose. The monitor was completely off and would not turn back on unless powered.

All I had to do was throw it away, and I could escape from Leodel forever.

For a moment, I wondered if all of this wasn’t just a dream. It would make sense if it was an incredibly vivid dream.

But if a dream had been so vivid for several months, experiencing numerous events, wouldn’t it essentially be reality?

‘Don’t think about it.’

I nodded to the voice in my head.

Yes, it was better not to think about it. For both Hades and myself.

I turned on my phone to search for a secondhand shop where I could sell the computer.

‘What, what?’

Thousands of notifications were piled up. They were comments on the post I had uploaded just before collapsing.

I forgot my resolution not to engage with anything related to Leodel and, as if entranced, opened the comment window.