The Heroine Stole My Regression-Chapter 119
[All games are now concluded.]
[We wish you well on your journey yet to come.]
The goddess’s voice echoed faintly in my ears.
I blinked in confusion as I opened my eyes.
“…?”
The moment I tried to sit up, I realized something was tangled all around my body.
When I looked down, Cheon Yeoul and I were stuck tightly together on the floor.
To the point it was almost embarrassing to describe—our faces and limbs were completely pressed against one another.
Like two slugs overlapping on the ground.
Startled, I tried to pull away.
“Hey… Hey…”
As I gently tried to peel her off me, Cheon Yeoul only blinked and snuggled in even closer.
“Honey… what’s wrong?”
What “honey,” seriously.
Her sweet voice made it obvious—she had no clue where the game ended and reality began.
She just kept pressing closer.
Squirming, shifting—she was practically climbing into me.
“Should we go one more time…?”
“…What the hell are you talking about.”
I panicked and snapped back.
She buried her face into my chest and mumbled something like a half-asleep whisper.
And then—
Thud!
“Ow.”
Someone kicked Cheon Yeoul in the back.
It was the fuming Yoon Chaeha.
Kang Arin, Ha Sion, and Yu Hana also slowly regained their senses and got up, dazed.
Only the slug—Cheon Yeoul—seemed incapable of distinguishing game from reality.
Fuming, Yoon Chaeha grit her teeth and charged toward the cube on the table.
“Demonic game!!!”
She screamed—
Crash!
—and slammed the cube, shattering it into pieces.
“…Ah?”
“…What?”
In that moment, everyone’s gaze froze in midair.
And only then, like a wave crashing down, all of the lives they had lived inside the game surged back into their minds in a single tsunami.
***
The first to open her eyes was Kang Arin.
She had strong self-control and mental discipline by nature.
In truth, she had been immersed only because she had chosen to be. She could have exited at any time.
But she’d stayed in until the very end because the game’s entire intent had been extraordinary from the start.
As she opened her eyes, she thought:
‘Ah…’
All I did was benefit someone else.
The original plan had been to call only Jeong Haein and test the game with just the two of them.
Just the two of them.
This prototype had removed the limits of immersion, and it had been designed so that their relationship would escalate to the absolute extreme—all the way to the end.
If it had gone on, the same would’ve happened with Cheon Yeoul and Jeong Haein.
That was the original intention…
But in the end, someone else had benefited.
She had lived a dazzling life—scouted from a royal knight into the household of a duke—but even at the very end, Jeong Haein wasn’t by her side.
And that—was something she regretted deeply.
Next to wake was Ha Sion.
Still lying face-down on the floor, she lifted her head slightly.
‘Ah… If I’d just had a little more time…’
She had finally met Jeong Haein.
At last, she had thought she could make him hers.
If only there had been a little more time, she believed she could’ve ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ become his wife.
But the game had cruelly ended right at the starting line.
‘…That’s disappointing.’
Regret, and a lingering longing, tangled tightly in her chest.
The third to awaken was Yu Hana.
She exhaled slowly, deeply.
Even though it had been a game, when she saw him, her heart pounded uncontrollably.
It was a moment that confirmed—again—her love for him.
But her approach had been… unconventional, to say the least. Far from her usual moral compass.
‘A homewrecker… really?’
And yet, deep inside, the thrill of that forbidden relationship had overtaken her body.
At first, it was embarrassing—shameful even.
It was a feeling she shouldn’t have even been able to entertain. But after living it for herself, she felt like she understood what she truly wanted, even just a little.
‘Could I be…’
Yu Hana was beginning to awaken to something new.
Last to lift her head was Cheon Yeoul.
She too recalled everything that had happened in the game.
Her face, cheeks, even the tips of her ears burned red.
Shame and a dizzying, almost maddening happiness flooded over her.
She had done nearly everything she’d dreamed of doing.
Everything… except one final thing.
The feel of his lips and the scent of his skin still lingered in her head and refused to fade.
If there was any regret, it was simply that they hadn’t actually done it.
But then again, everything else had already been experienced…
So the rest could just happen in real life.
All four women, in their own way, shared a similar emotion.
‘Regret.’
And that emotion—rather than fading—left behind a spark that slowly began to heat their hearts.
The ember of that lingering regret burned quietly within them.
***
I came to my senses too.
And the memories immediately came flooding in.
— I’ll always love you, honey.
— Me too…
— Uhng…
And finally—
— Haah…
All the unbearably embarrassing exchanges with Cheon Yeoul stabbed into my mind like a storm.
‘Was that really real?’
Even now, her breath seemed to echo in my ears.
Her body that I could never get used to seeing.
Those moist lips, that warmth…
Ah.
Suddenly my fingertips trembled faintly.
This can’t be reality.
I could feel my face growing hotter.
Kang Arin, that lunatic.
I didn’t think she’d bring a game this insane.
I covered my face with both hands and let out a long sigh.
For a few minutes, no one in the room spoke.
Only the sound of Yoon Chaeha fuming and huffing filled the space.
I cautiously lowered my hands and looked around.
Every single face was flushed red like a ripened persimmon.
And all of them stared into the void.
After a moment of silence, I quietly opened my mouth.
“…Sorry.”
I had caused a public disaster.
Even if I hadn’t meant to, it felt like I needed to apologize.
“…For what?”
The first to respond was Cheon Yeoul, sitting right next to me.
I hesitated for a moment…
“Just… stuff.”
I brushed it off vaguely.
Honestly, because of me—
Someone had become a homewrecker.
Someone, a nun blinded by lust.
Someone else, a noble girl consumed by love.
And someone else, a knight jealous of that noble girl.
What kind of game was this?
Then Cheon Yeoul, sitting beside me, hugged her knees and whispered softly.
“I… I’m fine…”
Her voice was tiny and trembling—so unlike her usual self.
“Of course you are.”
That was when—
Yoon Chaeha, seated on the other side, crossed her arms and muttered coldly.
Now that I thought about it, Yoon Chaeha and I had never even interacted in the game.
Yet she was the one who had ended it.
Sitting silently, lips pressed tight, she finally burst out:
“I was the only one… the only one who couldn’t get into it, it was so frustrating…”
She couldn’t finish her sentence.
Her head lowered deeply.
And for some reason—I felt strangely sorry for her.
Without thinking, I stood up and quietly walked over to her.
Still grumbling, Yoon Chaeha’s waist was lightly wrapped in my arms, and without hesitation, I picked her up.
“…?”
I sat down and placed her gently on my lap, pulling her into a hug.
She stiffened up at first, but slowly, she leaned deeper into my chest.
In response, I slowly placed my hand on her head and gently stroked it.
“…Ugh.”
From the tips of her ears to her cheeks, Yoon Chaeha turned bright red, bowing her head deeply.
It seemed like she was trembling slightly.
And once again, I came to my senses.
‘Wait—huh?’
What the hell am I doing?
Before I knew it, I had acted just like I used to whenever my wife was upset.
Cheon Yeoul would always calm down like this and silently guide me back to the bedroom…
No. Please. Get it together.
I reflexively lifted my head.
All the stares in the room were locked onto me.
I cautiously glanced over—Cheon Yeoul sat with a blank expression, her eyes slightly narrowed upward as she watched me.
Then, without a word, she opened her arms wide.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world. Like always.
A gesture that said, come here.
For a moment, my body nearly moved on its own.
I cleared my throat and quickly pulled my hands away, putting distance between me and Yoon Chaeha.
Yoon Chaeha sat stiffly, her ears red, hands clenched tightly.
The heat in the room didn’t cool easily.
Everyone still seemed to be only half back in reality.
“Let’s go. Now.”
I raised my voice, trying to sound as normal as possible.
Only then did everyone slowly nod and get up.
Outside, it was already deep into the night.
The door was plastered with notes from the club president.
— You guys looked like you were having fun, so I didn’t wake you. Heading home! Lock the door~
Our oh-so-considerate club president.
If only she’d just woken us up.
There was no telling when she’d left that memo.
But outside—it was already dawn.
I immediately ran to a 24-hour café and bought six iced Americanos.
In 1-liter size.
There was no other choice if we wanted to clear our heads.
Then I handed them out one by one to the dazed people sitting blankly on the bench.
“Drink up. Snap out of it.”
Then I sat down too.
Slurp.
Slurp.
The sound of coffee being sipped quietly filled the park in the pre-dawn stillness.
I held the plastic cup in both hands, staring blankly ahead.
And now, I fully realized the side effects of this game.
Normally, I’d have joked or teased a little by now, without thinking.
But for some reason, I couldn’t even look them in the eyes.
Don’t view characters romantically. That had been my one rule.
And this game shattered it completely.
I just kept my eyes on the coffee, avoiding everyone’s gaze.
That’s when someone called my name.
“Haein.”
I cautiously looked up.
It was Cheon Yeoul.
Her usual smile—but with a slightly deeper hint of mischief.
Her eyes curved gently like a crescent moon.
“…Why won’t you look over here?”
With her clear voice, the others sitting beside me began to lift the corners of their lips one by one.
Each of them wore a subtle smile, gazing at me with meaningful eyes.
In their gazes—expectation shimmered.
For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.
Chapter 119
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