I Became My Ex-Boyfriend’s Concubine - Chapter 81

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 81

Rain poured down as if the sky itself had split open.
Dan-bi gazed at the fractured heavens weeping their deluge, then lowered her head.
Through the downpour, she felt someone’s gaze upon her. It was Hyeon, standing motionless before the White Jade Basin.
His eyes were fixed precisely on her. Dan-bi withdrew her arm from Seom’s shoulder.
“Miss!”
Seom called out urgently, but Dan-bi did not stop.
With halting steps, she moved forward, her gaze fixed ahead.
When she reached Hyeon’s side, weaving through the throng of people, the clamorous roar of the crowd seemed to fade into the distance.
It felt as though only Hyeon and she remained in the world.
“Hah, hah… Your Highness, it’s rain.”
“…….”
“It’s really raining!”
“Yes.”
Dan-bi swallowed hard against the tears welling in her throat.
Hyeon looked down at her with an expressionless gaze.
Was it joy, sorrow, or anger?
Studying his face—a tangle of emotions utterly unreadable—Dan-bi acted on impulse and pulled him into an embrace.
She buried her face against his solid shoulder.
Rain was falling. Rain was truly falling.
She had succeeded in deceiving the System.
For so long trapped by the System, unable to advance a single step, this was her first victory.
Now that the drought would break, all would be freed from their suffering.
Seom’s face, longing for rain to bring life to the Market street, flashed through her mind—and Myeong-i’s, who had prayed for her family’s hunger to end.
And above all.

“Soon that tree will return too. Once the Giuoje ends.”

This king, who cherished his people above all else.
The memory of Hyeon’s profile as he gazed at the bare, withered tree now pierced through her.
Dan-bi tightened her embrace around him. If this continued, everyone would find happiness.
Though it should have been joyful, the tears streaming down her cheeks refused to stop.
Then it came. A blue light began to flicker at the edge of Dan-bi’s vision.

「Main Quest: Assassinate the King — In Progress.
The opportunity to fulfill this quest now stands before you. Hurry. Kill the king and achieve your objective.」

Dan-bi stared at the Status Window with vacant eyes.
She had known it. If this Giuoje succeeded, there was only one thing left to do.
To assassinate Hyeon, exactly as the Main Quest demanded.
Now was the moment.
If not now, with the rain making him vulnerable and exposed, another chance to end him might not come easily again.
Dan-bi swallowed her rising tears and slipped her hand into her clothing. Her fingertips brushed something cold.
Slowly she drew forth the Short Sword, gripping it, and with both hands she positioned the hilt at his back.
One thrust to his heart or a slash across his throat, and it would all be over.
In that brief instant, countless faces flickered past like a lantern slide show.
If she succeeded in the mission and escaped from the game, what would become of this world she left behind?
A game world without a Player had no reason to exist.
The moment she departed, all this scenery would scatter like grains of data.
But that was no longer what mattered to her.
Dan-bi tightened her grip on the Short Sword.
‘Come to your senses. This is all just a game.’
Not living beings.
Merely virtual entities—and she now had to wake from this dream and face reality.
Then a cheerful notification chime rang out, and a new Status Window flooded her vision.

「You have completed the Sub-quest.
You have succeeded in bringing rain.
Your reward is……」

The window displaying the text suddenly crackled and blurred.

「System: Scanning reward list…….」
「Error: No suitable reward object found.」
「Impossible」
「Warning: Reward disbursement is unavoidable.」

The screen flickered as if shattered, a new window appearing and vanishing in succession.
‘Why is this happening all of a sudden?’
A sense of déjà vu gripped her.
It resembled the bug she’d encountered in her previous loop when facing death.
Unease crept over her. Surely nothing else was going wrong.

「You have completed the Sub-quest.
You have succeeded in bringing rain.」

As if to mock her concerns, the Status Window reassumed its proper form.
But the text that followed was unexpected.

「A reward Item is being provided.
Royal Seal generation in progress……」

Dan-bi’s eyes went wide.
Royal Seal generation? What in the world was this supposed to mean.
Loading dots flickered above the Status Window for what felt like an eternity before finally ceasing.

「Royal Seal 50% generation complete」

“……!”
Dan-bi stopped her hand as it reached for the Short Sword.
There was no doubt about it.
The System was informing her that a new Royal Seal was being created.
Had the Royal Seal truly vanished from this world entirely? But why?
No, wait. That wasn’t what mattered right now.
If the Royal Seal was being generated as a reward, then something decisive would surely happen once the percentage reached one hundred.
Yet the Status Window, flickering precariously like a bug just before the Item was granted, gave her considerable pause.
What was this ominous sign?
Was it safe to proceed with the quest as things stood?
She was caught in a moment of turmoil, unsure how to accept this situation.
“You said you came from another realm.”
At Hyeon’s unexpected voice, Dan-bi hurriedly stuffed the Short Sword into her garments.
The look in his eyes that met hers now was quite different from before.
There was something about it—a great deal of confusion, it seemed.
“What are you suddenly——”
“Answer me. Did I not ask whether it is truly a fact that you came from another world?”
Dan-bi found herself speechless at the sudden question from one who had doubted her until now.
As she struggled to discern his intent, Hyeon’s brow twisted.
“Will you kill me this time as well?”
“……What are you saying?”
Could he be referring to what happened at Ui-sang-go?
Certainly, one could not easily forget someone who had tried to kill them.
“Are you speaking of that matter again? As I told you before, that was——”
“I, too, have tried to believe your words.”
She parted her lips to deny once more, but Hyeon was faster.
“Your words contained no falsehood. By that very account, I could even explain the strange dream I had. And if it were not a dream, how could one who ruined my garments throw themselves so completely into the Giuoje?”
Had he known?
Even if he did not know of the Main Quest requiring her to end his life, it seemed he had already grasped that she and the characters in this game were fundamentally different.
But why now……?
Could he have detected that I’m hiding a Short Sword in my breast?
Yet the Hyeon before her now was strangely different from the man who had raged moments ago, demanding her death with icy fury.
His wavering gaze followed Dan-bi with relentless persistence.
“If everything you’ve said is true, then what are these memories flooding into my mind right now?”
“Memories……?”
“You wouldn’t dare claim you don’t remember. All those countless times you tried to kill me.”
Hyeon narrowed his brow, his voice dropping low.
It was the moment Dan-bi met his gaze with confusion.
“……Huh, ah!”
Suddenly, something surged into her mind like a tidal wave.
Vast, relentless torrents of information.
Past memories began to spiral madly within her thoughts.
The terrible truth was that these memories were not events Dan-bi had ever lived through.
“Surely not…….”
Similar moments repeated themselves dozens, hundreds of times over.
Yet each time, the ending differed slightly.
Some days she fell to the Geum-gun’s blade; other days she lost her life before Hyeon’s sword.
Memories of plunging from great heights, or being torn apart in unspeakable agony.
Fragments of countless deaths struck against her mind without pause.
And in every single moment, Dan-bi had been trying to do only one thing.
“So you remember at last.”
Dan-bi raised her head to meet Hyeon’s eyes.
Her gaze burned with a fierce light, hatred and sorrow intertwined.
“All those countless lives in which you sought to kill me.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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