"Alright, you can go now. I'll go see you later."

Seeing my lack of a reaction, he thought I was unhappy.

"I have to stay by Eve's side because she just got here, but don't think too much about it. The one I love most is still you."

I would have gotten happy in the past, thinking that he still thought of me fondly, but now I just turned around and left.

-

After warming the milk, Eve came out of the bathroom wearing my pajamas, lazily leaning against the armrest.

"How pitiful. You're basically a servant for a man who doesn't love you, and you even need to serve his new lover."

I didn't know what she was trying to do, but seeing how I didn't react in the slightest, she stormed over and raised her hand, slapping me across the face.

The sharp sound caught Shane's attention.

"What are you doing?!"

Even looked startled for a split second, then quickly regained her composure, slipping effortlessly into the role of the victim as she began to sob.

"I-I just wore her pajamas, and she called me a disgusting, shameless witch!"

The moment those words left her mouth, Shane frowned and looked at me.

My heart sank.

I was just about to explain when Eve hurriedly cut me off. "I couldn't help but try and defend myself, and she slapped me! It's all my fault for wearing her pajamas, so I'll take them off and apologize…"

The concern in Shane’s eyes nearly overflowed. For a brief moment, it even made me feel jealous.

Smack!

Before I could react, my left cheek was burning with pain.

I stared at Shane in disbelief as his hand hovered in midair again, only for him to lower it when he saw my reddened eyes.

"She didn't bring any sleepwear, so what's wrong with her wearing one of yours?"

Finally, I couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Shane, so whatever she says is the truth now?! Am I really that petty in your eyes?

"I don’t owe you anything for coming to this world!"

He had never seen me lose control like this before. A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face, but he quickly resumed his superior stance.

"Well, it doesn't matter! No matter what she does, endure it!

"You want to clear your mission and save your sister, right? Then isn't it alright if you apologize for something as petty as this? I won't make things too difficult for you if you do."

Shane looked at me with contempt, as if to say this was already the greatest mercy he could offer, that I should hurry up and comply,

I nodded slightly, a cold smile on my face.

Was there any use in explaining if he wasn't going to believe me, anyway?

"I won't apologize, so punish me however you want."

Upon those words, anger flared in his eyes.

I knew this would anger him. I treated it as the last time I would ever endure his humiliation, and the final blow to completely kill any lingering feelings I had.

"Get two people in here and strip her!"

I stood there numbly as I was stripped completely naked. He ordered me to stand there as punishment, before leading Eve away by the hand.

The calmer I became, the more memories came up in my mind.

Calmly, I closed my eyes and called upon the System. "Help me get rid of the child."

"It’s still a life. Are you sure?"

Since I had decided to leave, this child no longer had any reason to exist other than as a reminder of my past.

"Yes, I'm sure."

The System hesitated. "If we do it now, you’ll suffer severe backlash. It would be better to wait until tomorrow and go to the hospital."

However, seeing how resolute I was, the System carried out my commands, clearing the baby from my womb.

I clutched my stomach and wailed in agony as blood drained down my legs, but my heart had never felt so light.

Now, our final tie had been severed.

At some point, Eve appeared to watch the spectacle. She picked up a basin of cold water and poured it over my head.

As I shuddered violently from the cold, she said, "You looked like you were in pain, so I helped you cool down a little. Do you feel better now?"

She looked at me sideways, a mocking smile tugging at her lips.

"Seeing you like this puts me in such a good mood, so I'll let you in on a little secret.

"I'm the one who advised Shane to drag some random man to sleep with you, you know? He didn't hesitate at all, clapping his hands as he agreed…

"Why, he even said that the punishment sounded very interesting!"

I froze. Had they been involved since that long ago?

I was the only joke here.

I'd already failed in my mission, and I was on the cusp of leaving, so what else did I have to lose?

I had always been someone who repaid my grievances as they came, and the only reason why I'd been holding myself back was only because I loved Shane far too much.

As it happens, Eve's words ended up becoming a match that lit up the fire!

With a bitter smile, I forced myself to my feet, before swinging my palm as hard as I could at Eve's face, with every bit of energy I had left.

"This is for saying that I slapped you!"

Then, I smacked her the other way around.

"This is for splashing me with cold water!"

Eve was taken off guard after being slapped in succession, and she couldn't even form a response.

I stopped, looking at her coldly. "You really think hurting me like this will make him love you?"

Eve clutched her reddened cheek, glaring at me viciously.

I squatted down, grabbed her chin, and said with disdain, "He won't love anyone. You and I are nothing more than substitutes. What happens to me today will be your future tomorrow. Do you understand?"

Eve still refused to give in, stubbornly arguing, "That's because you don't look like her enough! I even had plastic surgery to look like that woman, so he's bound to treat me well!"

Hearing this, I felt she was even more pitiful than I was.

I covered my mouth and burst out laughing. "You really are an idiot!"

-

Eve tried to fight back, but I shoved her to the ground.

Shane and a group of his friends heard the commotion and rushed over.

When he noticed the blood marks on Eve's face, displeasure flashed across his expression.

He pointed at my nose and questioned me sharply. "What are you doing again? What did Eve do to provoke you? Why do you insist on picking on her?"

I gave him a cold glance.

"I just slapped an idiot. Got a problem?"

Shane wanted to reply, but was interrupted by several lecherous men. "Shane, your wife has a great body! She must be amazing in bed…"

"You've really got it good! How about you let us have a taste sometime, too!"

As they excitedly discussed among themselves, Shane's face darkened. He roared, "Turn away. Look at her one more time and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

They immediately shut up, exchanging looks, clearly confused about why he was angry.

"Put on your clothes, Janine!"

I smacked his hand away, replying coldly, "I don't need your help. Did you forget that you're the reason why I'm like this in the first place? Why are you acting like you have a conscience all of a sudden?"

"If you didn't bully Eve, I wouldn't have punished you!" Shane replied, as if he was the most justified man in the world.

I was rendered silent for a moment, and I forced myself to take a deep breath.

I failed the mission, my sister's life was still in peril, and I was hurt so badly that I was broken beyond recognition.

What use was Shane to me now?

At this point, I chose to tear off my mask completely. "Shane, do you think that I have no idea what you've done?!"

Seeing the chill in my eyes, his heart tightened. "What are you talking about? What do you know? Who told you?!"

It was rare to see Shane lose his cool, much less because of me.

After a few seconds of cold silence hanging in the air, I spoke, my voice filled with hatred, "You think I didn't know you found another man to sleep with me, Shane? I never imagined you could be this cruel!"

I had thought I would calmly expose his lies, but my body couldn't help but tremble as I spoke.

"You disgust me! Since that's the case, I'm done playing this game. Go, be happy with her."

Shane didn't expect me to know the truth, and he couldn't even form a proper sentence. "W-What do you mean, you're done playing this game?"

"I'll leave this world. I won't appear in front of you anymore."

A trace of panic appeared on Shane's face. He clenched his fists, but with so many people around, he still forced a smile. "That's got to be a bluff! Your mission's not complete yet, so your sister will die!"

Even now, he was threatening me with my sister's life.

I called on the System, telling it to reiterate the truth of this world to them.

When Shane and the others heard it, they were utterly stunned.

"What? You're leaving this world, and once you do, this world will cease to exist?"

Shane asked in shock, trying to confirm it, the System's words plunging everyone into silence.

"You must be joking! You're the outsider here, so why would this world disappear once you leave?"

"Yeah, you're definitely saying it on purpose to get revenge on Shane!"

No matter what I said, they were never going to believe me.

After I entered the infinite system, an error caused me to nearly complete my mission prematurely. To compensate for that mistake, this world was created.

Only if I successfully completed the mission would this world continue to exist.

If I failed, it would be completely erased.

Once I realized that endless tolerance only made them push further and further, there was no reason left for me to hesitate.

Shane still refused to accept the truth.

"Even if that's true, why would you leave this world? Don't you want to save your sister?"

The more they spoke, the more apparent it was that they were afraid.

-

The others quickly echoed him. "Yeah, what about your sister?"

"Besides, you love Shane deeply! You'd never leave him!"

They looked at me with disdain.

I had met these people before at gatherings organized by Shane, and it was true that he was all I cared about back then, so there was no wonder why they thought that way.

However, I was no longer the girl I was back then.

After Shane helped Eve up, she sneered. "We're both women, so I know what you're thinking! You just want to force Shane into completing your mission with you!"

Then, she looked at Shane, worried. "Don't believe her! She just wants you to compromise, so don't let her have her way!"

Shane hesitated. Hearing it framed that way, it did sound reasonable. After all, I really had loved him deeply.

That kind of feeling couldn't have been fake.

With the two of them reaffirming each other's thoughts, they looked into each other's eyes and promptly decided that I was lying.

"I deceived you, and you deceived me. Since we're both at fault, let's just cancel it out. As long as you don't leave, I'll treat you the same as before."

He didn't even speak a word of the damage he'd done to me, waving it off with a single sentence.

To think that I, at one point, truly fell for a man like this.

Or perhaps I'd fallen for the fictional image of him that I'd conjured in my mind.

After drifting in the System for so long, it was only natural that I clung on after finally finding a place that felt safe.

Thankfully, there was still time for me to stop. It wasn't too late.

"I don't need it. The mission has already been terminated. It can't be reversed."

A flicker of panic appeared on Shane's face. Perhaps he was afraid of me leaving, or that the world would disappear, but none of that was important to me any longer.

He walked toward me quickly, and that's when he finally noticed that my stomach had become flat.

"You aborted the child?"

My silence was all the answer he needed, and doubt, struggle and pain flashed rapidly across his face.

"Any other problems? I feel like there's nothing else to be said, though."

The System was already ready to send me away from this world, but Shane grabbed my wrist, not letting me leave. "I have something to say, Janine. Don't go."

Hearing the sincere pleading in his face, I couldn't help but feel surprised that he wouldn't want me to leave.

However, I had no intention of staying here any longer.

"There's nothing left between us to talk about. It's better to end this completely.

"I'll say it one last time. I don't love you anymore!"

Shane stared at me intensely, trying to find even the slightest change in my expression, but all he found was cold indifference.

"I don't believe you. You're lying, Janine Grover.

"I still have something…"

I shook his hand off and ran toward the passage with all my strength.

I heard Shane's voice, far behind me, but after a while, I couldn't even hear him clearly anymore.