I hated rainy days.
Whenever I remembered the day I died, it was a day when rain poured down as if to mourn me.
The sound of the rain in that damp, humid, and suffocating space always stirred up emotions I had forgotten.
Listening to the sound of the rain coming from somewhere, I reflected on my own situation.
I tried but failed. The fact that I couldn’t achieve my self-imposed goals remained unchanged.
How many times had it been? As I recalled those times, I lowered my head.
I knew it was pointless to count again now.
This life was a mess. It’s not like there were many times it wasn’t.
Suddenly, I pressed my hand against the wall, and a cold chill enveloped me.
Touching the stone floor that was mercilessly releasing all the winter’s chill, I realized that the sensation in my feet had disappeared.
I wondered why I wasn’t getting frostbite, but it seemed I was already afflicted.
Frowning in sharp pain, I crumpled down into a heap.
Trapped in this cramped room for over a week, I slowly began to discern my fate.
I thought, “Maybe I’ll die here this time.”
It was pretty difficult to gauge time in this dark room without a single window.
Had it not been for the death that came once a day, I wouldn’t have known.
Since the meal had come six times, it was six days, and if I received the next one, it would be exactly a week.
Twisting my uncomfortable body this way and that, I chuckled softly at the footsteps echoing from above.
Twisting my body this way and that, I finally chuckle softly at the footsteps that echo from above.
“Finally, you’re here. I thought I’d kill you in a day.”
The creaking of the wooden boards momentarily stops.
Did they hear my voice? The two pairs of footsteps quicken, drawing closer to me.
“You’re quite shameless. Or do you really not know the sin you’ve committed?”
A woman from the darkness opened her mouth.
Even in the pitch-black curtain, those dazzling blue eyes glimmer like winter wind, shredding my whole body.
“How about being thankful that I’ve let you live for a whole week? Just facing someone like you is so repulsive, how nice do you have to be to make me grateful?”
A smile escaped me, as if I were looking at a bug.
You’ve really never changed. No matter what I do, no matter how our relationship shifts.
Her eyes would send such a cold gaze at the final moment.
Be thankful for not dying right away? My heart wants to say something, but that icy glare makes my shoulders shiver.
“…Your fiancée has come to see you. Why don’t you greet her? It might be your last.”
I still can’t see that darkness.
But the other voice pouring out toward me merely lets me know that the one standing in front of me is my fiancée.
“Robert.”
The sweet voice that once promised to love me has now turned into a desolate tone, prickled with thorns.
If you were to ask where it all went wrong, perhaps it all stems from my life, which desperately fought to survive.
“I’m regretting every single day I spent with you…”
Having heard that statement dozens of times, it no longer hurt.
“How nice would it be if I could erase the memories I have with you? Do you have any idea that meeting you has ruined my life…?”
“Is it really happening…?”
“Well.”
“I melted and got rid of all the rings and necklaces you gave me. Why did you come to me? Why would someone like you come and ruin me? Why on earth—!”
In my already cold and hardened heart, there was no longer any room for wounds.
I silently listened to her words while gazing at the small vial placed before me.
Even in this darkness, the vial shone brightly.
Seeing the vial that seemed to be the potion to end all this, my heart gradually felt at ease.
Is it poison this time?
If it’s instant death, that would be better.
As I raised my head, my gaze met the cold stare of the Lady of the House, who hugged her weeping fiancée.
I picked up the vial slowly while staring into her eyes filled with hate and disgust directed at me.
“This… will it make me die right away?”
“…Looks like you know what it is. It’s a potion too precious to give to someone as pathetic as you, but I hope you atone for your sins through death.”
Seeing that she didn’t even try to hide it, it seems the Duke knows well about this too.
To be exact, he’s my father, but why would he care about a problem child like me?
As I opened the vial, a fragrant almond scent wafted through the air. I already knew this from past experience.
Back then, I drank the antidote and didn’t die, but this time, it looks like I’ll end my life with poison.
Is it a relief? No, that can’t be it.
But now, everything was utterly pointless.
Realizing that even if I try to cling to life now, the fate bestowed upon me is such a wretched death.
One hundred times, the number of times I’ve died and the number of times I’ve struggled to live.
Feeling the liquid flowing down my throat, I closed my eyes. A warm sensation spread in my chest.
The heartbeat quickened; I felt the blood circulating in my body moving toward death.
With a burning sensation at the base of my neck, I coughed it up.
What stained my hand was a viscous and sticky liquid. It was easy to realize it was blood.
It wasn’t hard to realize what blood was.
I would probably die.
Perhaps my body was already collapsed, dying on the cold ground.
The cold, chilling sensation made my mind hazy.
And amusingly enough, the voice of the Grim Reaper that always comes when death is near… it sounded like a truly sweet voice.
[You have encountered the 100th bad ending.]
[What you desire is the improvement of all relationships and a life without a single regret.]
[Before starting the 101st round, let me ask you.]
[Do you really still wish for the same thing?]
This Grim Reaper, who comes just before death, has been quite kind to me.
He rewinds time until I achieve what I’ve longed for.
Even if my life was filled with sins, after dying once and rewinding time, I always went back to a time when I had committed no sins at all.
Listening to that voice, I think.
Do I really want to live?
Dozens of deaths, under that cruel and cold gaze directed at me.
Am I ready to endure it all once again? I’m sick of it now. I can’t take it anymore.
No matter what I do, I will be nothing more than a bug to them, so why should I go through life again and again?
Before starting my 101st life, the only thing I wished for in my hazy consciousness was one request.
Please let this annoying reincarnation end.
May what comes next be eternal rest.
[The 101st round begins.]
The clear voice ringing in my ears felt nothing short of the voice of the most cruel demon.
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