Dolores heard the most sincere apology possible from Grin’s mouth.
She had imagined the worst possible outcome for herself. It was normal; one subconsciously gravitated toward the worst-case scenario. Her failure was the ending she had envisioned most frequently.
After Grin finally had his way with her, would the version of her that undoubtedly fell in love with him still be herself?
If she resisted at the final moment, or if she let out the words she viewed as nothing more than the venting of incompetent rage, would she receive forgiveness or an even more violent punishment?
What if her favorability was affected by the System to the point where she completely stopped resisting before even reaching the Unswerving rank?
What if she had already fallen under the System’s control long ago?
These countless thoughts had cycled through Dolores’s mind numerous times. It wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the possibility of being forgiven after confessing her identity. It was just that whenever she thought about it, there was always a faint, stinging pain in her heart. Her heart told her that such a thing was a luxury, a mere fantasy.
Why would Grin ever forgive her? As someone who had truly experienced death, Dolores knew exactly how terrifying death was.
Before she died, she had felt the agonizing pain of being unable to breathe. Her life’s memories had flashed before her eyes, followed by regret and unwillingness. She knew how frightening death was, and she knew that if she were in the same position, she would never forgive the “traitor” who caused it.
Because of this, she felt such thoughts were absurd. And because of this, Dolores had echoed Grin’s answer in the depths of her soul. She had died; she understood, and she agreed.
She had always viewed the worst outcome as the only certainty, keeping the outcome she desired most hidden in her heart as an unreachable, extravagant hope. Even so, her heart yearned for that ending to become reality.
The Hero, killed by betrayal, could forget his hatred and forgive her—or rather, not view her as the “Dolores” who killed him, thereby rendering her blameless.
It was clearly the outcome she anticipated most, the possibility she didn’t dare ask for.
But why did it actually become a reality? Dolores heard those words, which should have been a pipe dream, directly from his mouth.
Why was it that when she finally obtained this result, Dolores couldn’t even make a sound?
The actions she had later deemed cowardly were seen by Grin, and he praised them as kindness.
‘That should have been a cowardly and timid act. Feeling soft-hearted toward someone who wants to kill you… isn’t that just being a fool?!’
Despite thinking this, Dolores covered her eyes with both hands. She seemed to be trying to stop the tears that kept flowing. Low sobs escaped from her tightening throat from time to time.
A cowardly act was evaluated as kindness and met with forgiveness. The Hero was not blinded by the hatred of being murdered.
‘How could I have such a dream?’
‘Why is this dream reality?’
‘Why… why am I crying?’
‘I was clearly a guy who didn’t cry easily.’
‘I’m a Transmigrator, a creator of a part of this world.’
‘I am clearly… clearly…’
No… crying was just crying. Did one really need to find a reason to cry?
There was the unbelievable surprise, the relief and luck, the excitement of her actions bearing fruit, and the thought that she might have become more sensitive after turning into a woman. Even if she felt she shouldn’t cry—that it was childish—the undeniable fact was that crying… didn’t feel bad.
Her youthful palms were cool, her eyes twitched, and her breathing was a bit shallow. However, her thoughts suddenly became much lighter. The long-standing oppression gradually began to fade.
Crying was not something that made one feel miserable. Dolores understood this point with absolute clarity at that moment.
Grin, meanwhile, silently observed her every reaction. Dolores’s reaction was far greater than he had anticipated. It was almost like a person condemned to death discovering they were still alive after experiencing total despair.
He felt he had done something that wasn’t a mistake, though it couldn’t negate the wrongs he had committed before. But seeing Dolores’s face regain its spirit, he couldn’t help but feel happy himself.
He quietly maintained that strange posture, supporting the backward-leaning Dolores with one hand, until she regained her composure. She asked her first question in a trembling voice.
“How did you know…?”
“I once used the System to enter your memories titled **[Punishment]**. I went back to a time more than 20 years in the future, when Prophet Phil betrayed us. It was in the Undersea City, Melisglen.”
“As soon as I entered the memory, the you within it recognized me. You not only knew you were inside the **[Punishment]** memory, but you also tried to guide me in executing a plan. You wanted me to use the System to make your current self’s Affection Level reach **[Unswerving]**.”
Dolores’s body stiffened violently. Her first reaction was to wonder what Grin was talking about. She knew that the game design included a **[Memory]** system.
She also knew its origin—it was meant to let the protagonist, after completing a route, make the originally “innocent” character remember their “sins.” Besides revealing the betrayal, it gave the protagonist a sense of justification for their Revenge…
The content within was all based on Grin’s experiences in his previous life.
Why? Why would the Dolores in the **[Memory]** speak about things related to the System?
Dolores knew the answer.
Regarding the unreleased game, she could only think of three possibilities: either the “Dolores” of the previous life was herself, or Xiao Huayu, or some other Player after the game’s release.
But regardless, she was definitely a Transmigrator.
So… according to what Grin said, that “Dolores” wanted to kill her? What a joke. If it were herself or Xiao Huayu, they would know all too well what would happen once the Affection Level was maxed out…
Grin didn’t understand Dolores’s complex inner monologue because, in his eyes, Dolores was always Dolores.
Although the behavior between the two versions was disjointed, they were ultimately one and the same. Dolores had always been hiding secrets, and she reacted differently because of his own differences.
He didn’t have a deep love for the current Dolores. He was always looking at the Dolores of the past through the current one. The atrocities he inflicted on the current Dolores were based on the past Dolores’s actions and the “Revenge” incited by the past Dolores.
Before this, he had always used the System’s methods to try and shape Dolores’s feelings for him. This was motivated by a somewhat sickly sense of “insecurity” and “retaliation.”
If Grin couldn’t distinguish the Dolores he loved from the current Dolores, then he wouldn’t be apologizing to her for it. He was apologizing for his own actions regarding sins the current Dolores had never committed.
He wouldn’t take the experiences and love shared with the past Dolores and project them onto the current one just because he was looking at her.
He understood, so he knew how much pain his use of the System had caused the current Dolores. After reliving those times with Dolores, Grin could no longer simply develop feelings of liking or impulses based on Dolores’s appearance, as he had when they first met in his previous life.
He was no longer a green, impulsive youth.
“She… no, did I say anything else?” Dolores asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“What I mentioned happened the first time I entered the **[Punishment]** memory. When we fell into the Hollow, I entered the **[Punishment]** memory a second time to avoid the poison Viseliane gave me.”
“In that second memory, you gave me the answer to the questions I had been wondering about. The strange anomalies regarding your body, and Viseliane’s motive for the poisoning.”
“You should be able to see my Quest Board. The favorability quest I completed not long ago required me to kiss you and hear you say you liked me sincerely. I had no hope for that quest.”
“But in the memory, you kissed me at the final moment before it ended and sincerely said you liked me. If you couldn’t see the quest, I don’t think you would have made those moves so coincidentally… That’s why all the strangeness and inconsistencies I felt before finally made sense.”
“After realizing this, I realized I had done so many terrible things to such a kind child like you. So, I won’t run away from my faults.”
Dolores’s words died in her throat.
It was absolutely impossible for her to remember so many details of the System, such as specific quests. She hadn’t participated in the design of the tasks; those were all designed by Xiao Huayu.
The memories in the System would perfectly recreate the past, and the reactions of all the characters were real.
She didn’t remember the detailed quests of the System.
She also…
Couldn’t see the System’s quest column.
Dolores looked up. On Grin’s body, she could only see a single, solitary notification…
**[Dolores]**
**[Affection Level: 90 (Like)]**