LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 209
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It’s hazy.
When I opened my eyes, everything looked cloudy, as if shrouded in thick fog.
‘….Where is this?’
A throbbing head and a cold floor. It feels like I drank too much.
No matter how I look around, it’s all mirrors.
I was definitely invited as a beta tester for [Black Heart].
“….After that, I have no memory.”
Everything was wiped clean like a blank slate.
What on earth happened? An empty glass bottle rolls at my feet.
“Is this a dream?”
I must have fallen asleep while playing the game. What a vivid dream it is!
The Black Knight helmet on my head and the contrasting white outfit look ridiculous.
They didn’t match at all.
If I had to say, it looks like the character Licht I was playing in the game.
But, seeing the larger burn marks and the thick eyebrows, it is definitely me.
Aside from looking a bit younger, it’s my face for sure.
No matter how much I customize, I can’t make it look exactly like me.
‘But what’s wrong with my hands..?’
Suddenly, I looked at my hands and saw various cuts.
There were calluses here and there, making it a hideous sight. It was like the hands of someone who dedicated their life to swordsmanship.
Unlike the ordinary office worker I was, I could see muscles all over my body.
I rolled up my sleeves in case, and the long scar I saw sent chills down my spine.
I’m confused. How did I end up here?
Are dreams really this vivid?
“……”
Even pulling my cheeks hurts. Could this be real?
Questions swarm in my head like fluffy clouds.
Butterfly dream, lucid dream…. What do they call this again?
No amount of modern knowledge could explain the phenomenon I’m experiencing.
‘It resembles the shrine from [Night Heart].’
It’s a place I’ve seen in the original work. The shrine dedicated to Pantoze, the deity of emotions.
A place where others’ feelings manifest like a maze.
I definitely came here with Kainel and Ariel.
I once wandered through the shrine to awaken as a hero.
‘….Huh? I feel like I came with someone else too.’
It’s not Dennis or the Celestial Demon. Not Laplace or the Sage either.
Then could it be the Dragon Slayer Drake? No, there surely was someone else.
Even when I try to recall their face, my memory fails me.
I felt a very precious something slip away from the corner of my heart.
I must have forgotten something. What could it be?
How long did I stand in front of the mirror, lost in thought?
“Licht.. You’ve awakened..!”
I heard a voice behind me.
A woman with teary eyes looking at me. A knight in large glass armor called out to me.
“….?”
Her cold gaze was closer to that of a wolf than a puppy.
With white hair and a fluffy tail and ears, she had an impressive appearance.
With looks like hers, it’s no wonder people could call her a beauty.
Licht is the name of the character I raised in the game. Why is she calling me that?
Black Knight Licht.
She’s a wandering knight character enhanced with knight class traits, skilled in swordsmanship.
Honestly, I just thought it looked cool when I started.
There had to be a reason a childlike heart chose that character.
Without any particular reason, I grew that weak character into a magic swordsman…
Huh? Wasn’t I supposed to raise a different class?
My memories seemed out of place like forcing a wrong puzzle piece into place.
I pressed my hand to my forehead as a throbbing headache began. I felt nauseous.
What on earth is going wrong?
Why does that woman in front of me look like she knows me?
“Indeed.. You’ve lost your memories..”
“Who are you? Who the hell are you to look at me like that…?”
The nameless woman looked sad.
She bit her lower lip, holding back tears.
With wolf ears and a tail, could it be that I really fell into the game?
That possibility was the only one left.
I’ve never seen someone like her before. Did such a character come out in the game?
All the Inrang tribe characters I know had black hair. Emperor Rock and Rufus don’t have white hair either.
“…Su-hyun, do you remember the Saintess?”
“…..”
A Saintess? There was no such person in the game I play, right?
A hunter with magical talent and a cursed dragon of spring.
The childhood friends, the hero and the mage who weren’t honest with each other.
In hindsight, they were all related to the Demon Kings of the Hero Church.
‘Do I know someone called the Saintess..?’
There is a healer spot in the party, but I can’t remember who it was.
That person in front of me looks like a knight no matter how I look.
“Licht.. You’re not speaking normally..”
“Don’t come any closer. Wait a second, who the hell are you?”
Every time I saw the approaching knight, my heart raced like crazy.
She must be a stranger, but my body’s reaction was inexplicable.
“I am Pina Grancia. Su-hyun.. Do you really not remember anything?”
Her voice trembled with moisture. The drooping wolf ears and tail expressed her feelings.
Her earnest eyes only looked at me as she spoke.
“….Who the heck are you to know my name?”
A warmth began to blossom in my chest.
Something felt off. Even though she’s someone I’ve never seen before, I felt nostalgic.
“I am someone who cherishes you, Su-hyun.”
In the end, I couldn’t shake her off. Pina placed her finger on my cheek.
She wiped away my tears from one of my eyes.
What? Why am I…
“And.. I’m also someone who loves you.”
Am I crying? It felt like gazing into a mirror.
As Pina Grancia and I looked at each other, we both shed tears.
“I don’t mind if you’re weak.”
“……!!”
As those words overlapped with pursed lips, the fragrant rose scent blocked my breath.
With the breaths mingling, a snap echoed within me, breaking something apart.
“Even if you’re a liar.. it’s okay.”
Time felt as if it stopped, akin to eternity.
My fists clenched as I couldn’t help it. When I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them,
“I believe in you. Always.”
The woman, smiling as if I was cute, was beautiful.
They say the first kiss tastes like lemons, but it isn’t true. It’s incredibly soft and dizzying.
Pina paused with a ‘chu’ sound, not letting go of my tie.
As if once wasn’t enough, she reached for my lips again.
“So, please don’t ever leave my side..”
Her fluttering lips and softly blossoming eyes.
Now, the wolf girl was trying to slip her tongue past my teeth.
“…Because I love you. So passionately that I can’t do without you.”
I couldn’t drop her, who was begging for more affection. Was it because purity in confessing my love rendered me immobile?
Or could I not resist her treating me like a long-lost lover?
“Do you need a reason for love, Su-hyun..?”
After the kiss, Pina Grancia continued her earnest assault.
Now, even the burn scar on her face was cherished as she sought my lips with affection.
Such pure love was excessive.
Shouldn’t these things be done with someone truly loved? Why with someone like me….
“…….”
This feels oddly familiar.
I had done something like this up north. When did I start hanging out with her?
The tingling sensation spreading in my mouth began to clear the fog in my head.
“…Saintess?”
My memories were gradually returning. Yes, she was a glass knight resembling the Nameless Saintess.
[Lee Soo-hyun ♡ Pina Grancia 1%.]
The numbers on the status window in front of me kept increasing.
The affection level, which started at 1%, quickly soared past 30% in the blink of an eye.
[36,37,38..]
[Lee Soo-hyun ♡ Pina Grancia 50% ‘NEW!!’]
The achievement of 50% triggered a burst of joy, as Pina Grancia showered even my burn marks with kisses.
[EVENT CG: “The boy who couldn’t believe in love learned love from the girl who lost her memories.” has been collected!]
Thoroughly marked, kisses covered the entirety of my scars.
It was an expression of possessiveness worthy of a princess.
As she left her mark on my heart, even the fading feelings swiftly rekindled like a vigorously burning flame.
The fuse of love had ignited.
“Saintess. You’re the Nameless Saintess, right..?”
She was the one who gifted me everything.
Even if I were to live my life over again, I couldn’t let go of someone so precious.
She was the pure girl I wanted to save at all costs.
Even if memories fade, feelings of love never do.
“You’re wrong. Silly.”
But shaking her head lightly, Pina playfully planted a kiss on my lips.
Her warm breath mixed with mine multiple times, and we felt as if we were one body.
She must never have learned how to deepen the kiss. Where did she pick it up?
The deep, sticky affection sent a shocking current through my entire body.
“…Pina. Now that I remember everything, you can stop.”
“No. You’ve not fully recovered your memory yet. Knight.”
Perhaps she learned this from a book borrowed from the Library of Truth.
I shouldn’t be becoming such a bad kid. Pina is now imitating the Saintess’s mannerisms too.
“…Hah.”
“Are you satisfied now, Pina?”
“Licht kisses well too.”
As I planted a strong kiss from my end, she toyed with my tiny tongue, as if proving who the wolf was.
I didn’t want to still hand over the initiative. After all, I should have confessed first.
“Hehe, but I haven’t kissed you as the Saintess before. I win.”
“…Huh, no way.”
When I looked into the full-length mirror beside me, the figure of the Saintess reflected back at me.
Finally, I began to remember everything.
I revealed to Pina that I was the Nameless Saintess.
What now? Perhaps my feelings became a maze, leading me to meet her.
The Saintess in the mirror smiled as she watched us.
“…Pina, there’s something I need to tell you. Will you listen?”
“Sure, anything you say.”
Since Pina had shared her true feelings, it was only right for me to reveal mine.
Taking a deep breath, I began to speak of something that had been long buried for years.
“Pina, I am a weak human.”
After I lost everything in a fire, I lived a life of fleeing.
I felt that if I grasped anything, I would lose it again.
“…Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to live.”
The reason I initially wished for Pina to be happy with someone else was because of this.
I had nothing. Afraid to burden you, the one who shines so brightly.
“I was just an empty, useless glass-like human.”
“…No.”
At my feet lay the Potion of Oblivion, having rolled to a stop. I had drunk this and forgotten Pina.
Despite others remembering everything, it sent chills down my spine that only my memories related to Pina Grancia vanished.
“Honestly, what remained in that potion was only a shadow. Pina.”
Pina shook her head in denial, but I was a dark person back then.
I was honestly scared.
What if I confessed my love to her as an embodied game character?
“Yet, the one who filled my heart with light was you, my future self.”
I knelt down like someone confessing a sin.
My life, once saved by the Nameless Saintess, felt like I was being saved all over again.
“Even if you consider me a cowardly liar, it doesn’t matter.”
Speaking honestly and genuinely in response to her vows.
“You don’t have to believe me.”
It was right to convey my heart.
“Pina Grancia. I’ve treasured you for a long time….”
At some point, she knelt down as if mirroring me and met my gaze.
Why did I push away someone so lovely?
“…I’ve been longing for you.”
As if to make up for the time lost, I planted a promise-filled kiss on her lips.
“Yeah. I love you too.. Soo-hyun.”
Pina responded, not refusing my kiss. We shared breaths as we became familiar with each other.
As our breaths mingled and brushed against each other,
“Indeed, this is how a helmet comes off.”
“…Huh?”
With a clank, the Black Knight helmet I had been wearing for so long was removed.
While kissing, it seemed Pina had touched my helmet. All my efforts had meant nothing against her.
─”I’ll teach you love, dear knight who couldn’t believe in it.”
Words inscribed inside the helmet appeared before my eyes, startling me.
‘…It’s the Nameless Saintess.’