“The sun is already high in the sky. Wake up.”

“Mmm?”

I woke up from my sleep in a daze at the gentle voice.

Strange? When did I come home and fall asleep?

The bright colored blanket, the small nightstand next to the bed, and Ren smiling at me.

This was clearly my home, but I couldn’t remember when I had come here.

‘Surely there was something important…’

I rubbed my eyes and yawned, trying to recall my most recent memories.

But my thoughts were hazy, as if a thick fog had settled in my mind.

“What’s wrong?”

Ren asked with a worried look, perhaps because I had unknowingly furrowed my brow.

“Ah, it’s nothing! I just feel a bit strange.”

“Did you have a nightmare?”

“A nightmare… hmm.”

Was it really a nightmare? If I’m not mistaken, I feel like I encountered a high-ranking demon, but I can’t remember exactly what happened, only an unpleasant feeling remains in my heart.

It seemed that Ren was right, it was probably just a simple dream.

If not, there would be no reason for my memories to be so unclear.

“I think you’re right, Ren.”

“What kind of dream was it? I shouldn’t have made you a late-night snack yesterday. They say eating late at night causes nightmares.”

Ren seemed to genuinely think that my poor sleep was his fault. I waved my hands in surprise.

“No, what are you saying! I was the one who begged you to make it. And it was delicious… I’d have that nightmare a hundred times over for that food.”

I slipped in a compliment about his cooking skills, and Ren laughed softly as he fixed my hair.

“Your hair is messy.”

For a moment, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu and grabbed his wrist in surprise.

“Haven’t we… had this conversation before?”

“Pardon?”

He shook his head as if he had no idea what I was talking about.

‘Was it my imagination? No, this conversation is clearly in my memory…’

But seeing Ren’s reaction, it seemed more likely that it was my mistake. He has a better memory than me, after all.

“It’s nothing, sorry. Anyway, I’ll go wash up quickly!”

After getting up, I started my day as usual.

I enjoyed chatting with Ren while eating the lunch he had prepared.

From our conversation, it seems we had planned to go out today to buy winter clothes.

“But are there any clothing stores open at this time? Wouldn’t there be chaos due to the epidemic?”

“What are you talking about? What epidemic?”

What’s this? Is he joking now? No, Ren wouldn’t joke about such a serious matter.

I finally sensed that something was amiss at his incomprehensible response.

Come to think of it… I just realized, why am I in my house?

I clearly moved to another place to avoid Siegfried’s pursuit, so why?

It was strange that I only realized this now.

Maybe I’m still not fully awake.

“Ren, why are we here?”

“Huh? Because it’s our home.”

“No, what about the demons?”

“…Demons?”

Ren’s expression was as if he had never heard of such a thing.

I got up from my seat in confusion and headed straight for the window.

I threw open the curtains and the scene outside was truly lively.

People were full of smiles, everyone busy with their own tasks.

It didn’t look like a situation where an epidemic was spreading at all.

“What on earth…”

At that moment, Ren walked up behind me and said softly.

“I don’t know what kind of nightmare you had… but there’s no epidemic or demons.”

“…”

“The world is nothing but peaceful, Vivian.”

I was confused. Does that mean all my memories related to demons were just a dream?

But the world was too bright, without any shadows, for it not to be real.

‘It’s still hard to accept… but if those things were really just a dream, then that’s rather fortunate.’

In the dream, I struggled so hard to achieve this peace, but it was all here in reality.

I felt dazed, as if I had received an unexpected gift.

“Anyway, if you’re done eating, shall we go out now?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

After that, a smooth day followed.

With the heavy worries gone, there was nothing to fear or worry about. I could just enjoy my time with Ren.

We visited several stores to look at clothes and ate out.

Had there been such a leisurely and happy day recently?

I kept smiling. Yes, this was always how it felt to spend everyday life with Ren.

After being out all day, we headed back home only after the sun had set.

“Today was fun, wasn’t it?”

I looked at Ren walking beside me, waiting for his answer.

He curled up the corners of his mouth softly. It was a dazzling smile.

Just as Ren was about to open his mouth,

Suddenly, a nearby building collapsed, instantly crushing him.

‘…!’

It happened so quickly, there was no time to react.

I hurriedly tried to clear away the debris to get him out, shocked.

‘Please, please!’

I searched for Ren, praying for his safety, but when I finally found him, he was already not breathing.

“Ren! Breathe! I said breathe!”

It seems that when a person is too shocked, even tears don’t come out. I kept compressing his chest, out of my mind.

“Open your eyes. Please… Ren.”

But despite my desperate efforts, he showed no signs of opening his eyes.

‘Is this a dream right now? It must be a dream, right? Yes, it’s just a nightmare. There’s no way Ren would die like this.’

I slapped my cheeks dozens of times.

Contrary to my expectation that I wouldn’t feel pain, I felt a clear pain with each slap.

“No… this can’t be.”

I held onto Ren’s corpse and kept shaking my head like a person in shock.

“Wake up, I said wake up…”

My thoughts stopped. It felt like my whole life had been snatched away.

Until just a moment ago, it had been a happy day, but suddenly it was plunged into a quagmire.

His body was gradually growing cold. It was strange. Ren’s hands had always been warm.

I hugged his body tightly as it gradually lost its warmth.

Feeling like I might really lose him forever if I didn’t, I wanted to share my warmth with him somehow.

But I couldn’t rekindle the extinguished flame of life with just this method.

As the reality gradually sank in, tears started to flow.

I cried, and cried, and cried some more. Before long, I passed out from exhaustion, still holding his cold body in my arms.

When I opened my eyes again, for some reason the surrounding scenery had changed.

The collapsed building was gone, and I found myself in what looked like an underground prison filled with darkness.

Damp and cool air. The floor was covered with a sticky liquid.

The rotten smell that filled the space was an added bonus.

It was an unpleasant place.

‘Where is this… No, more importantly, where’s Ren?’

I looked around urgently, searching for him.

Maybe that scene I saw earlier was really just a dream after all. The suddenly changed scenery gave me a sliver of hope.

My expectation was met. The Ren I found here was alive. Although he looked quite different from what I remembered.

A body so skinny you could tell at a glance even though it was covered in rags. Arms and legs like thin skewers. A face that looked relatively younger compared to the Ren in my memories.

The man with his limbs bound by metal restraints was clearly the past Ren.

‘Could this be…’

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see his appearance more clearly.

Ren’s entire body was covered in unidentifiable scars. The sticky liquid on the floor seemed to be blood flowing from his wounds.

Suddenly, I recalled Ren’s past that I had read in the original work. His appearance matched the description in the novel.

‘Since I couldn’t have gone back to the past… this must be an illusion.’

The moment I realized that this place was not reality but an illusion, the fog in my mind finally cleared.

What had happened to me began to vividly come back.

‘I certainly encountered a high-ranking demon… Right, he said he would show me hallucinations.’

It seems I had completely fallen for that demon’s mental attack.

Fortunately, now I know that all of this is a hallucination.

‘I honestly don’t know the exact method to counter a mental attack. But now that I know it’s a hallucination, there must be a way to escape.’

I had to endure by reminding myself that no matter what scene the demon showed me, it was all fake.

If I lost my mind for even a moment, that would be exactly what the demon wanted.

I turned my body to the opposite side, finding it hard to look at the wrecked Ren.

Then Siegfried, no, Belial, heading this way came into view.

He seemed to have no intention of hiding his true form, openly displaying his two horns.

Just seeing his evil expression was enough to know his purpose for coming here.

‘He intends to torment Ren… Just like in the original work.’

Even though it was a hallucination, I couldn’t just stand by and watch Ren suffer. I blocked Siegfried’s path. But he passed right through me.

It seemed that unlike the previous hallucination, I couldn’t exert any physical influence here.

‘That means… I’ll have to just watch Ren suffer.’

Soon after, Siegfried stopped in front of Ren.

A pain-filled scream was heard. There was no need to check who the scream belonged to. I would never mistake Ren’s voice.

I squeezed my eyes shut and covered both ears with my hands.

I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to hear. But his voice seeped through the gaps between my fingers.

‘It’s okay, this is all a hallucination. A hallucination. It’s all fake. Ren is fine right now. Ren is safe.’

I repeated this to myself hundreds of times inwardly.

The more I did so, Ren’s screams only grew louder, but I continuously reminded myself that this was all just a hallucination and turned away from him.

At some point, his voice stopped. I looked at where Ren had been with a start.

Unfocused eyes. I could tell at a glance. Unable to withstand Belial’s torment, his breath had ceased.

Even though it was fake, it was hard to look at Ren’s corpse, so I squeezed my eyes shut.

But at some point, his voice began to be heard again.

…The same hallucination repeated from the beginning.

I closed my eyes and covered my ears just like before. Before long, he died.

The hallucination started again. The background was the same this time too.

Ren died.

The hallucination played again. This time too, he died.

Dying, dying, dying again. Endlessly, Ren kept dying.

I had to watch his repeated deaths in what felt like an eternal time.

It’s all fake, it’s okay. The real Ren is safe. The mantra I kept repeating to myself gradually lost its power.

I began to doubt. Is all of this really just a fake created by my hallucination?

Even if it’s an illusion, what’s happening before my eyes right now are things that really happened to Ren in reality.

Even if he didn’t die, he must have spent every day like he was dying.

It might be fake for me, but it might be real for him.

As soon as that thought occurred to me, my mind became completely confused. It felt like my sanity was collapsing.

Feeling like I was going crazy, I tore at my hair and scratched my whole body.

Even at this moment, Ren was dying in front of me.

His eyes, which used to sparkle like the color of leaves, the gaze that always looked at me with affection, was gradually losing its light.

I couldn’t bear it any longer.

“Stop it, I said stop!”

I grabbed Belial and begged with my thoroughly cracked voice.

I knew it was a meaningless action. I had already tried it several times.

But I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t watch the death of someone I cherished so much again.

Of course, my struggle was of no use.

Watching Ren collapse helplessly, I despaired. I no longer wanted to live.