Ben slumped on the worn leather couch, his feet propped on the coffee table littered with empty soda cans and chip bags. The living room was bathed in a dull gray light, filtered through poorly drawn curtains. On the giant TV screen, the logo Apex to Supremacy still flickered faintly. Three weeks. Three weeks of nonstop gaming, sinking into the tortured world of Eden, a half-angel, half-demon supposedly the hero of an epic tragedy.
Ben's eyes were bloodshot, dark circles hollowed from sleepless nights. He felt a strange bitterness in his mouth, as if the aftertaste of humiliation had lodged itself in his molars.
"So I've been playing a damn eroge this whole time?" he muttered aloud, his eyes heavy.
He'd been lured in by the website's summary—a deep, bloody, and cruel RPG, seinen-rated, not for the faint of heart. Eden, son of a fallen archangel and a demonic prince. Two enemy races. He wasn't supposed to exist. Upon learning the truth, he embarks on a quest to avenge himself against the bastards who took everything from him.
There were powerful antagonists with deep backstories.
Lucifero, Aeshma... And especially Daemon, with genuine development, transforming from a hedonistic young master into the embodiment of the devil.
But barely three minutes in, Eden had already slept with his adoptive father's disciple. Literally. No warning, no preamble. Just a "press X to remove her thong."
"Well… it's for the story…" he'd reassured himself at the time.
Five minutes later, it was his cousin. Barely older than him, introduced as a childhood friend. There had been tears, flashbacks... Then an explicit scene, shaky camera, and moaning in the background...
"There's something weird here…"
Ten minutes. His professor, Gold Saintess Luxia.
An hour. His best friend's mother. His adoptive aunt. Four princesses at once. A blind woman whose sense of touch was... heightened by her blindness. A masturbation expert.
Several succubi. Fallen angels. The Drakes Queen... Then… the Drake's daughter...
"This is getting a bit much, isn't it?"
He'd tried to keep hope. The plot, according to underground reviews, would crescendo in dramatic intensity. Eden loses everything, descends into madness, seeks artifacts, and forces Olivia to destroy her existence to use the Butterfly Effect to rewind time.
That was obviously the case.
But...
[You've found the place where your biological mother was sealed.]
Ben furrowed his brows. He set the controller down, slowly sat up.
"I thought she was dead?" he wondered aloud.
The screen displayed three options:
A: Run away
B: Kill her
C: Fuck her
"What kind of sick choice is this?"
He quickly pressed the button to choose option A.
[Error.]
[Option C automatically selected.]
His eyes widened. "Huh?!"
[Use L2 + Square for doggy style combo while spanking her.]
Veins popped on Ben's forehead.
"What the hell is this game?! Where's my gore?! Where are the damn dripping intestines?!"
He screamed, hurling the controller at the TV with all his might.
CRACK
The screen shattered with a sharp sound. A supernatural white light burst from the crack like a rift in reality. Ben instinctively backed away, stumbling...
"What… What's—"
LIGHT
HISS
"My eyes! ... Shit! AHHHHH! SHIIII! I'M BLIND!"
...
The sky was red with dark clouds, torn apart by crackling lightning. The breeze carried a metallic stench of rotting flesh from the surroundings. The ground was muddy, littered with corpses everywhere.
Daemon stood there, his clawed hand gripping a young red-haired woman. Her red eyes were as empty as her pale skin.
He slowly lifted the woman, his fingers pressing into her throat. His gaze, cold and merciless, met that of his former friend.
"She kept calling for you, Eden, until I cut out her tongue."
The woman tried to speak, her legs weakly kicking. A gurgling filled the air.
Then, with a sharp gesture, Daemon tore out her throat. Blood gushed, splattering his arm, bare chest, and face—but he didn't flinch. He tossed her aside like trash.
Eden said nothing immediately. He stood there, impassive, arms crossed. His black hair floated in the air, intertwined with silver strands, matching his silver eyes. He slowly ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back.
—"I hope it hurts, bastard," Daemon growled, his fangs bared in a carnivorous smile.
Eden sighed, then said with a weary look:
—"You're just pathetic, Daemon. You sold your soul to a hell duke to kill me. But you'll never bring her back to life."
A faint smile finally stretched across his lips.
—"And she hated you. Don't you remember? She chose to help me over being with you."
Daemon's gaze ignited with rage. Dark veins appeared on his temples.
—"Shut up, you fucking piece of trash… She was mine! YOU brainwashed her!"
Eden slowly drew his sword—a dark blade with blue veins.
Then he vanished. A mere gust of wind, a breath.
Daemon reacted by spinning around, his claws slicing the air.
But Eden had reappeared just within reach, sword raised. His blade struck. Daemon leaped back, but the tip had already sliced his chest. Black blood flowed, but quickly sealed.
The clash echoed through the infernal skies, mingling with the screams of the damned and the rumble of thunder. The torn earth spewed fumes of blood and ash.
Eden pivoted, slashing horizontally. Daemon blocked with his claws, their faces inches apart.
—"I can see we're evenly matched, Daemon."
He kicked him away, lunging again in a whirlwind of steel.
—"You want to kill me? But we're far more alike than you'll admit. The only real difference…"
He reappeared behind Daemon, attempting to strike him down in one blow. The latter barely parried, growling, gasping.
—"…is that you're selfish. Me… I want to save everyone."
Daemon staggered back, breathing raggedly. His chest bled from multiple cuts.
—"Save everyone?!" Daemon smirked despite his empty eyes.
"Who have you saved here, Eden? LOOK AROUND YOU! All these fucking corpses."
Eden tilted his head, his smile widening. "I've only failed this loop," he said, his voice oddly calm. "But next time? I'll be ready. I'll refine my plans, and neither archangels nor archdemons will stop me." He pointed his sword at Daemon. "You're just a pawn clinging to a dead past."
Daemon roared, his voice shattering the air. "No!" He slammed the ground, sending a red shockwave that cracked the mud. "I've sacrificed too much! I've suffered, over and over, and you're just going to forget and start again?" His claws trembled, his red eyes tearing up with rage.
"This world… the archangels, the archdemons… This world was just his chessboard against those superior entities."
Daemon was doomed to fail again and again. To be Eden's pawn... Everyone was doomed... Without an ounce of freedom in this time loop.
"I've failed again…"
He whispered to himself.
His voice broke. He remembered. All the sacrifices. All the pacts. He'd given everything… for nothing to change.
He'd forget it all and restart this damn cycle.
—"You'll forget, Daemon," Eden murmured, his gaze glowing with supernatural light.
His left eye abruptly turned blazing blue. The world froze—the wind, the sounds, even the lightning suspended in the sky. A chill swept through the air, as if time itself held its breath.
Eden slowly approached, placing the tip of his sword against Daemon's chest, without pressing. He'd already resigned himself, no longer wanting to fight...
—"Ten years in the past, Daemon… I'll start over from the beginning. This time, I might even save you."