Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss

Suicide Before Defeating the Final Boss – 101

EP.101 That… No

“…No, it’s not like that,” Jeong-hyeon replied, his voice tinged with confusion.

The question had caught him off guard, and he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.

‘What have I done to be called the Demon King?’

He had merely repaid evil with evil, and to be asked if he was the Demon King seemed utterly absurd. Feeling a bit wronged, Jeong-hyeon quickly responded.

“There’s no way! I’m a hero, after all.”

He spoke with a sense of confidence, but the Demon King, or rather, Shin Si-ah, smiled awkwardly as she replied.

“W-Well, I’m sure you’re a hero, but your actions… no, never mind.”

It seemed she had given up on trying to reason with him and fell silent, offering him a strained smile instead. Jeong-hyeon, feeling victorious, decided to change the topic.

“Well, anyway, my name is Jeong-hyeon.”

“I’m Shin Si-ah,” she responded.

‘Shin Si-ah?’

The name struck Jeong-hyeon as surprisingly familiar—too familiar, in fact, considering he was in another world.

“Are you from Korea?”

Shin Si-ah blinked, looking taken aback, but nodded, confirming his suspicion.

“Are you, by any chance, also from there?”

Jeong-hyeon nodded in return, and Shin Si-ah smiled at him warmly, clearly pleased by the shared connection. Jeong-hyeon, however, couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy.

‘I didn’t expect to meet another Korean here…’

While the idea of a hero—or Demon King—being summoned from another dimension wasn’t entirely impossible, the chances were so low that it left him stunned.

‘I’m not saying it’s bad, though…’

He wasn’t against meeting someone from his homeland, but he was all too aware that this was just a passing emotion. The familiarity wouldn’t change much in the grand scheme of things.

Shaking those thoughts off, Jeong-hyeon refocused.

“Anyway, enough personal talk… let’s get back to business.”

Shin Si-ah, still somewhat surprised, nodded in agreement.

The tone of their conversation felt strange. It was hard to reconcile the kind, soft-spoken manner of the woman before him with the idea of the Demon King. But then again, considering she was once a hero, it made sense that she hadn’t quite shaken off those old habits.

‘The Demon King who can’t let go of her hero days…’

Jeong-hyeon mused, his thoughts drifting for a moment. Then, he cleared his throat, ready to get to the heart of the matter.

“I’ll be blunt. Help me get revenge.”

Shin Si-ah fell silent at the mention of revenge, her eyes narrowing as she processed his words. She seemed unsure, still assessing the situation.

Seeing her hesitation, Jeong-hyeon elaborated.

“The targets for this revenge are the Church, the Kingdom, and the Elves.”

“So, you want revenge on everyone, huh?” Shin Si-ah mused, her expression thoughtful. “That’s a tall order, isn’t it?”

“It’s true. It wouldn’t be easy, not for an average hero,” Jeong-hyeon replied, his voice firm.

While he had no knowledge of what the previous heroes had gone through, he was sure of one thing: they were bound by the constraints of the “Hero’s Code,” which forced them to maintain a strict moral line. The penalties for breaking those rules were severe, and many heroes lived under the heavy weight of those restrictions.

He, on the other hand, had thrown away that code. He wasn’t bound by those ideals, and that made all the difference.

The directness of Jeong-hyeon’s approach left no room for misinterpretation. He was someone who cut straight to his goals, unhindered by the restrictions that bound traditional heroes.

Take money, for example. While other heroes would spend hours completing quests to earn it, Jeong-hyeon could achieve the same result in seconds—by simply threatening someone with a sword. Sure, there were penalties for such actions, but they didn’t matter much when you were strong enough to ignore the consequences.

“So, what’s it going to be? Are you in, or not?”

Shin Si-ah seemed to deliberate for a moment, her expression thoughtful. Then, she shook her head and offered a small, resigned smile.

“There’s no point in overthinking. After all, I’m only alive thanks to your mercy. If this is what you want, then I have no choice but to follow.”

It was clear that her old heroic values still lingered. Despite being called the Demon King, she exuded the demeanor of a true hero. Her acceptance was so natural it almost felt more virtuous than Jeong-hyeon’s original proposal.

“Well, that settles it,” Jeong-hyeon thought, his lips curling into a sly smile. All the pieces are in place.

His allies now included the first princess, the Saintess, the World Tree, and the Demon King. As for pawns to be sacrificed—he had the second princess, the heir to the archmage, the bishop, Regina, and even the elves. The lineup was nothing short of dazzling.

‘I wonder what kind of expressions they’ll make.’

Especially the Pope who had tortured and killed Shin Si-ah. The thought of seeing his face twist in agony brought an anticipatory grin to Jeong-hyeon’s face.

As he indulged in these imaginings, Shin Si-ah suddenly raised a finger and spoke up.

“There’s one condition,” she said.

“A condition?”

Jeong-hyeon arched an eyebrow. She had just pledged to follow him unconditionally, hadn’t she? Curiosity piqued, he motioned for her to continue.

Shin Si-ah smirked playfully.

“How long have you been a hero? One year? Two? No matter how I think about it, I’m definitely your senior in hero terms.”

Jeong-hyeon stared at her, dumbfounded by the unexpected turn in the conversation.

“So,” Shin Si-ah continued, her tone teasing, “why don’t you start calling me ‘senior’ from now on?”

“Senior? Absolutely not,” Jeong-hyeon replied, narrowing his eyes in defiance.

Shin Si-ah giggled at his reaction and offered a sly alternative. “If you don’t like ‘senior,’ how about calling me noona? Come on, give it a try. Si-ah noona.”

“Go eat dirt, Demon King.”

“Then how about Demon King noona?”

“Ha… Get out, Noona.”

Despite the insult, Shin Si-ah seemed perfectly content to be called “noona.” She smiled brightly and said, “Anyway, I’m counting on you, Jeong-hyeon… or should I say, little brother?”

“Sure, Si-ah,” Jeong-hyeon muttered, deliberately ignoring her preferred title.

“Si-ah noona,” she corrected, her grin unfaltering.

“Yeah, yeah, Si-ah.”

Feeling drained by the banter, Jeong-hyeon waved her off. That’s when Lucia suddenly appeared, clutching Hana tightly in her arms. With a determined expression, she pressed herself close to Jeong-hyeon’s side and shot Shin Si-ah a challenging glare.

“J-Jeong-hyeon is closer to me!”

Lucia declared boldly.

The unexpected proclamation left Shin Si-ah momentarily stunned. She blinked at Lucia, then softened, looking as though she found the display utterly endearing. With a gentle smile, she reached out and patted Lucia’s head.

“Aww… is that so?”

Shin Si-ah cooed.

“……”

Lucia froze, clearly overwhelmed by the unexpected affection. She glanced desperately at Jeong-hyeon, silently pleading for rescue.

But Jeong-hyeon simply ignored her, instead lifting Hana from Lucia’s grasp and settling her into his arms. Lucia could only stare at him in silent betrayal as she was left to deal with Shin Si-ah on her own.

As soon as Hana settled on Jeong-hyeon’s lap, she clung to him with a radiant smile, happily murmuring, “Daddy… Daddy.”

Whatever comfort his embrace offered, it seemed enough to brighten her entire world. Jeong-hyeon found the display endearing and gently patted her head, savoring the moment.

But Shin Si-ah, who had momentarily paused her playful gestures with Lucia, broke the silence with a curious question.

“Oh, right. I got caught up in the mood and forgot to ask… Who’s that child?”

‘Caught up in the mood? You mean the one you created?’

Jeong-hyeon thought, stifling a laugh at her shamelessness. Just as he opened his mouth to explain Hana’s identity—

“She’s Jeong-hyeon’s and my daughter!”

Lucia declared, cutting him off with an earth-shattering claim.

The statement left Shin Si-ah visibly stunned. Her gaze darted between the two of them before she asked in a bemused tone, “… My little brother is married?”

A headache hit Jeong-hyeon like a hammer. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he groaned and began the monumental task of unraveling the misunderstanding.

***

After much effort, Jeong-hyeon explained everything—Hana’s origins, Lucia’s choice of words, and the circumstances that led to their bond.

“Lucia didn’t actually give birth to Hana. She was just saying that because we’ve been raising her together.”

It took some time, but eventually, Shin Si-ah’s skeptical expression softened. She turned to Lucia with a faint smile.

“You have… a unique way of phrasing things, don’t you?”

Lucia tilted her head, as if the thought had never occurred to her, before her eyes lit up in delight. She grabbed Shin Si-ah’s hands, exclaiming, “This is the first time anyone’s ever told me my words are fun! Thank you so much!”

Shin Si-ah opened her mouth, as if to retort, but seemed to reconsider and simply smiled.

‘Looks like Lucia won this round.’

His smirk didn’t go unnoticed by Lucia, who leaned closer, her cheeks slightly flushed, and whispered, “Jeong-hyeon, I think the Demon King is a really good person!”

‘Seriously? The Saint calling the Demon King a good person? Where do I even start with this mess?’

He sighed, realizing the futility of correcting her, and nodded weakly.

“… Sure, if you say so.”

“Yay!”

Lucia chirped, unknowingly tallying up yet another win in her favor.

***

As Jeong-hyeon absently stroked Hana’s cheeks, he shifted the conversation back to the pressing matter at hand.

“Anyway, back to the topic. Shin Si-ah, can you control the demons? I want to use them to strike at the kingdom.”

Shin Si-ah’s expression turned serious as she mulled over the question. Finally, she shook her head.

“To be honest, it’s impossible. After my death, my authority as the Demon King completely crumbled.”

“It crumbled?”

“Yes. I think the fact that I was killed by someone who wasn’t even a hero made it unforgivable in their eyes.”

That raised a curious question in Jeong-hyeon’s mind.

“How do you even know that if you were dead?”

“Oh, the system messages let me read the thoughts of the demon lords in the underworld. That’s how I learned about it.”

System messages. It made sense—an efficient way to gather insights without being physically present. Jeong-hyeon accepted the explanation and refocused on their strategy.

“That’s unfortunate.”

“There are still plenty of demons who remain loyal to me,” Shin Si-ah continued, “but I’m no longer able to command them all as I once did.”

“So you need to reestablish your authority, then.”

It wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t impossible either. Jeong-hyeon was already formulating his next steps when a thought struck him. Turning to Shin Si-ah, he asked,

“Demons feel pain if they’re hit, right?”