The young man could hardly comprehend everything unfolding before him, even as his pounding heart made his true feelings perfectly clear.
Why this sudden confession?
How had it turned into a confession so quickly?
They had not known each other for long, and they had barely interacted offline.
Vill-V, your feelings seem to have grown far too fast.
[The girl has already adopted a sink-or-swim mindset.]
[You can clearly feel it.
You sense the fear radiating from Vill-V, a terror that seems to reach into her very bones.
It almost overshadows the inferiority and submissiveness that should surround her at this moment.]
[No.]
[You are not foolish enough to lose your judgment.]
[This is not a replacement.
It is an intensification.]
[At most, it is a layer of fear wrapped around the outside.
At its core, the issue remains the self-doubt born from deep inferiority.
If you truly rejected her now, the girl might fall into an endless abyss.]
[This cannot be solved with a so-called high-EQ conversation.
There is no way back.
Even standing still has become torture.]
[This is an incredibly irrational act, one a normal person would rarely attempt.
After all, the time since they met is far too short.]
[But for Vill-V, watching you act like a simp might be even more unbearable than her own downfall.]
[When something precious is trampled on by others with complete indifference, it feels like trampling on oneself, an even deeper and more ultimate spiritual wound.]
[Without realizing it, she may have become a simp herself, and a far more dramatic one: a simp for a simp.]
[The following choice will change your life, as well as the lives of Vill-V and Elysia.]
[Option 1: You decide to reject Vill-V’s confession and stick to your original plan of continuing the journey with Elysia.]
[Option 2: You decide neither to reject nor accept.
Since the girl is so obedient, she will not hate you even if you keep her waiting for a few more years.]
[Option 3: You decide to accept Vill-V’s confession.
You can no longer stand being by Elysia’s side every day, only to hold a status lower than that of a stranger.]
[Please choose.]
“…”
“What is there left to choose?”
Edward took a deep breath.
His index finger hovered lightly in the air.
The three options before him appeared fair on the surface, yet in truth they all led to the same conclusion.
Acceptance or rejection.
It reminded him of a question he had once seen online.
You are an ordinary passerby.
When you see Gian bullying Nobi, your three choices are to help Nobi, watch from the sidelines, or help Gian.
But whether you choose to watch or help Gian, you are still participating in the bullying of Nobi.
The options here followed the exact same logic.
There was no room for hesitation once the bridges had been burned.
The girl had already taken that decisive step forward.
It was a dead-end road, one that allowed only forward movement.
There was no path behind her.
The moment she tried to step back, she would plunge into the abyss.
She could only keep moving ahead, provided a path still existed. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Perhaps the image needed to be clearer.
What if the road were lined with spikes?
As long as you remained in place, the torment would continue until the ground beneath your feet gave way.
The only difference was whether the pain was psychological or physical.
In the end, every path led to the same outcome: falling into the abyss.
In that case, only one choice remained.
Without hesitation, the young man selected the third option.
He had always been someone ruled by emotion, and emotion could override logic when it truly mattered.
In real life the situation might not be so simple.
Without facing the greatest crisis, no one could truly know their own nature.
But…
This was only a simulation.
It was merely a simulation with perfect sensory feedback.
If he could not even act freely inside a simulation, then such a timid existence would have little reason to continue.
Living cautiously and living like a dog were two entirely different things.
Silence.
Silence.
Still, there was only silence.
The question seemed incredibly difficult for the young man.
No emotion showed on his face.
Only his dark eyes remained lost in deep thought.
It was too quiet.
It felt as if the sound of a needle dropping would echo like thunder.
Only a few seconds had passed, yet it stretched on like an eternity.
The girl felt as though she were falling into an endless abyss, losing all awareness of the world around her.
People burdened by strong feelings of inferiority and self-loathing, even when fully prepared, will still fall into doubt and hesitation when facing the final outcome.
Moreover, this was an uncontrollable surge of emotion, a volcano that had been building for years and was now erupting for the first time in her life.
Is he going to refuse?
Is he going to refuse?
Is he going to refuse?
He will, right?
He definitely will.
Who would accept such a ridiculous request from someone so incompetent and insecure?
She could barely take care of herself, let alone live independently.
If the young man disappeared from her life, she would likely sink even deeper into inner conflict.
That conflict might become even more terrifying than before.
It would no longer be simple self-denial.
Simply becoming another person would no longer ease the pain.
In the end, she could not compare to Elysia in any way.
Not in appearance, talent, charm, or wisdom.
She did not even have the advantage of time.
How could she possibly compare to Elysia?
That perfect, flawless girl, without a single flaw, like a fairy from paradise, and she was also the young man’s childhood friend.
She had been by his side since they were children, never leaving him for a single day.
There was simply no comparison. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
Vill-V bit her lower lip in fear.
Goosebumps rose across her skin.
An indescribable sense of déjà vu surged through her.
She subconsciously took a few steps back.
Her legs felt weak.
She wanted to stand up and run away immediately.
Yes…
Run…
Run.
If only she could escape.
Whether it was self-deception or burying her head in the sand, she simply needed to run, to hide.
As long as she did not see the world, the world could not hurt her.
As long as she did not know the answer, she would never be wounded.
Why did she have to stand here and endure suffering she could have avoided, escaped, or even watched as nothing more than a bystander?
The girl bit down hard on her crimson lower lip until blood seeped from her flawless skin, tinting her pale red lips with a seductive hue.
She would rather clench her fists tightly, letting her nails, which she had forgotten to trim because she had been so busy thinking about the young man, dig into her fair palms.
She would not allow her feet to move even an inch backward.
No.
She would not run away anymore.
This was the one thing she absolutely refused to do.
Memories of Edward’s past kindness flashed before her eyes.
He had helped her refuse unreasonable requests.
He had helped her build confidence.
He had been willing to spend hours every day chatting with an incompetent and emotionally messy person like her.
If she had to keep watching such a gentle young man be ignored by Elysia, where his daily help earned him nothing more than the status of a stranger…
If she had to keep watching this wonderful young man speak so gently even when he had every reason to complain, still caring for that extravagant girl who treated him like an ordinary person and could discard him at any time…
If she had to witness all of it with her own eyes, then she might as well…
Might as well just end it.
“…I accept.”
…
…
…
“Hm?”
?
?
???
????
Looking into those dark eyes filled with a gentle smile and seeing the young man’s lips curve upward, the girl stood frozen, overwhelmed by the flood of information.
“Eh…”
“Eh.”
“Eh?!”
Perhaps because she had been so deeply lost in the vortex of her own inner conflict, Vill-V did not even register the young man’s tone at first.
She continued her spiral of self-pity, unconsciously imagining every possible tragic ending.
Action is driven by self-will.
If one never has confidence in themselves, then besides relying on raw talent to push through…
Would there really be anything special?