“Don’t go… don’t go…! Don’t go!!”

Rafne was in a state of panic.

“Please don’t go! You’re still mad at me, aren’t you? That’s why you’re leaving, right? I-I’m sorry! I was wrong! I’ll apologize, I’ll do anything…!”

She clung to Ken’s clothes, begging.

Her once lifeless eyes grew even darker, filled with despair as tears streamed endlessly down her face.

The girl, who had once found salvation, was now terrified of falling back into despair.

She never wanted to experience that loneliness again.

“N-no, Rafne…! I promise I’ll come back tomorrow! I said I’d come for breakfast, didn’t I?”

Ken, still not fully understanding her deep sense of isolation, tried to reason with her.

But she couldn’t believe him.

“L-lies… lies, lies! You’re just going to abandon me too, aren’t you? You’ll leave me here just like everyone else! Please don’t do this! If you leave me here, I might actually die! Are you trying to kill me? Are you trying to leave me to die too? Please… please don’t abandon me… h-hic.”

She knelt down and wrapped her arms tightly around Ken’s waist, as if she’d never let go.

She didn’t care about how close their bodies were, completely disregarding how inappropriate it might seem.

The only one who was thinking about that was Ken.

“W-wait, you can’t just… a girl shouldn’t cling to someone like this…!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…! You’re really mad at me, aren’t you? After all the awful things I did to you, I have no right to ask for forgiveness! I’m so sorry, I’ll do anything! If you want me to crawl, I’ll crawl! If you want me to dance, I’ll dance! If you want me to strip, I’ll take everything off…!”

Her dark, tear-filled eyes stared at him as if they would swallow him whole.

The smile on her face was no longer filled with any joy. It was a smile born from despair and hopelessness.

Tears fell from that desperate smile.

“That’s it! Is there something else you want to eat? I’ll make anything you want! Lunch, dinner, tomorrow’s breakfast—I’ll make whatever you ask for! Just say the word, and I’ll prepare it!”

She clung to him, holding on to that last thread of hope, begging him not to leave.

“Or should I put on a show for you? You’re really mad at me, aren’t you? You can hit me as much as you want until you feel better! Or maybe… you can do something dirty to me? You’re a man, right? Aren’t I attractive? You can do whatever you want with me…!”

Please, just don’t leave me.

She continued begging without even realizing what she was saying.

And as Ken watched her, he thought,

‘…She’s not in her right mind.’

Rafne Vel Martinez was far more broken than he had anticipated.

In the end, Ken had no choice but to stay in the tower until Rafne calmed down.

‘Looks like I’m unintentionally skipping first period today.’

With a sigh, Ken sat beside Rafne, who had finally settled down and was now hugging his arm.

The sensation of something large and soft pressing against him was certainly stimulating, but this wasn’t the kind of affectionate touch shared between lovers.

It was a shackle.

She was only holding onto him to prevent him from escaping.

“I-I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. …Sorry for making you miss your class because of me.”

Now that she had calmed down, she seemed to realize her mistakes, burying her face in his shoulder and apologizing repeatedly.

But even as she apologized, she didn’t let go of his arm.

Her rational mind had yet to overcome her primal instincts.

Ken could feel her body trembling against his arm.

In the face of this unchanging situation, Ken sighed and opened the status window.

‘System, open Rafne Vel Martinez’s status window.’

The screen in front of him displayed Rafne’s status.

[Name: Rafne Vel Martinez
Unique Skill: Neural Acceleration
Unique Trait: Curse of Fear – Any living creature within a 50-meter radius experiences extreme stress and fear.
Possessed Traits: Despair – Current Level: 121%, Dependency Syndrome LV.5]

Her information was summarized, focusing on her unique traits.

‘Level 5, huh…’

This brief overview of her status showed a trait Ken had never seen before.

He could easily recall Rafne’s status from when he had played the game before being possessed.

And this kind of information didn’t exist in those memories.

‘In the game, her possessed traits were usually Anger or Excitement.’

But now, her traits were Despair and Dependency Syndrome.

These traits were the ones that appeared when the protagonist, Emily, achieved negative affection points with all the main characters early in the game.

However, there was a significant difference in the numbers.

For Emily, the maximum Despair level was always capped at 100%, and her Dependency Syndrome had never gone above Level 3.

Ken thought it might be a difference in character personality, but that didn’t matter right now.

The problem was that even though Rafne had calmed down somewhat, her state was still critical.

‘If I leave her like this, there’ll be no going back.’

After all, in the game, when Emily had these traits, a few turns later led to a bad ending.

The game would end with a silhouette of her hanging in her dorm room—one of the most depressing endings in the game.

The fact that Rafne was still alive even after all this time was remarkable.

It meant that, despite everything, Rafne still wanted to live.

Even in such a desperate situation, she didn’t want to die.

The hope keeping her alive was Ken, and if he left now, that hope would vanish, leading to her death.

After pondering for a while, Ken finally made up his mind.

‘…Alright, let’s do it this way.’

He gently tried to loosen Rafne’s grip on his arm.

“N-no…!”

Of course, she immediately tightened her hold on his arm, clinging to him desperately, as if her life depended on it.

“No, that’s not it, Rafne. Trust me. I’m not trying to run away. And if I do try to run, you can use your skill to stop me.”

With her unique skill, Neural Acceleration, she could easily overpower Ken, as if stopping a baby.

Not that she needed to be told—if he tried to force his way out, she would instinctively use her skill anyway.

“I-I see…”

With that assurance, Rafne finally loosened her grip. Now that she realized she could stop him at any moment if needed, she didn’t need to cling so tightly.

With his arm freed, Ken immediately placed his hands on Rafne’s shoulders.

“Rafne, I’ve made up my mind.”

And, looking directly into her lifeless eyes, he said,

“I’m going to help you break your curse.”

“…H-huh?”

Her hollow eyes wavered slightly. It was a startled reaction to Ken’s unexpected words.

“I have a crafting skill. I’ll make an item that can suppress your curse. So don’t worry—I’ll keep coming back every day until I can make it work.”

Ken wasn’t planning to escape. He was genuinely thinking about how to break her curse.

It was an item that appeared later in the original game.

The Pendant of the Goddess, designed to counter the final boss—who, as the Demon Commander, had a unique skill that cast an instant death curse.

The pendant was introduced in the late game as an item to defend against this curse.

But the pendant’s abilities weren’t limited to just preventing instant death curses.

According to the item’s description, the Pendant of the Goddess, blessed by the goddess herself, had the power to purify all forms of curses in the world.

It was a bit early, but Ken could make it now.

In the original game, crafting required blueprints, materials, and an NPC with crafting skills.

Normally, an NPC who could craft the pendant only appeared in the late stages of the game.

But fortunately, Ken was a character with crafting skills.

With the right materials and the knowledge from the original game, it was possible.

That’s why Ken’s gaze was filled with determination. It was the confidence of certainty.

The certainty that he could save her.

“U-ugh, h-hic… L-lies. …You’re lying…”

Rafne burst into tears again.

She wept like a child, insisting that Ken was lying. But deep down, she knew.

She knew Ken was telling the truth.

Her tears were a mixture of complex emotions.

She knew Ken wasn’t lying, and that made her happy.

The academy, her family, and even the country had all abandoned her.

But now, here was someone willing to save her, and it made her happy.

But it also scared her.

Because his words were genuine, she had to let him go. She had to be alone again.

That terrified her. That’s why she tried to deny his words, claiming they were lies.

But Rafne knew.

If she clung to Ken like this, she would end up driving him away.

And then, she would be left alone again.

With all those conflicting emotions, she cried uncontrollably.

‘…Did it work?’

Ken checked the status window as he watched Rafne sobbing.

[Possessed Trait: Despair – Current Level: 98% …97% …96%]

Her despair level was decreasing.

Even though she was saying it was a lie, Ken could tell from the status window that she believed him.

“Well then, I’ll really get going now.”

“H-hic, hic…”

Rafne didn’t try to stop Ken as he made his way toward the door. She could only continue crying silently.

Ken couldn’t help but feel pity for her.

“Oh, about lunch… was it something I don’t like?”

“H-huh?”

“So… would it be okay if I came back here for lunch too?”

Come to think of it, there was no need to visit only for breakfast. If she was feeling this lonely, he could just increase the number of times he visited.

It was a simple thought.

But to Rafne, it was a ray of hope.

She looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

Then, all at once, she broke down and started crying again.

“Hic, hic… You have to come back… You have to…”

“Y-yeah, don’t worry.”

Ken was starting to worry that she might end up dehydrated like he had earlier.