The Doctor Cured The Villainess And Ran Away-Chapter 1: The Villainess Who Destroyed the World
Without any special events, the world was destroyed once again.
I guess sometimes it just happens like that.
You wake up, eat, go about your daily routine as usual, and then go back to sleep.
When every day is the same, you start to lose track of time.
You forget what day it is or what date it is.
For me, the end of the world and death have become routine.
So it’s only natural that I’ve lost count of how many times I've died or how many times the world has ended.
“No, wait, this time it’s a bit different.”
My eyes sting.
The sky is blood-red as if the sun's belly has been torn open and its contents spilled out.
A choking stench fills my nose.
It’s the pungent, blackened scent of burning wood, stone, flesh — everything.
Buildings and castle walls, constructed without a single gap using solid bricks, now have gaping holes and are collapsing.
And most importantly, the sky is swarming with creatures, like a flock of crows appearing out of nowhere.
A dragon legion.
I can only let out a hollow laugh.
“Hah... well, shit.”
There was a time when the hero’s party was wiped out by the Demon King. There was a time when a plague turned all of humanity into undead.
But this is the first time I’ve seen the capital being obliterated by a horde of dragons.
“How the hell am I supposed to beat that? Status window.”
―――――――――――――――――
Name: Lass
Surname: None (Gotberg)
Age: 27
Class: Healer
Rank: Commoner (Fallen Noble)
Affiliation: Hero’s Party
Talent: ■■■ (S)
■■ (S)
Objective: Clear by avoiding the Bad Ending.
Upon Bad Ending, Death (In Progress)
Time Remaining: 17 minutes 42 seconds
―――――――――――――――――
I really thought this time, we’d finally manage to defeat the Demon King and clear the game, but here we are again.
How long has it been since I got trapped in this pathetic fantasy game world?
It’s all a blur.
“If you’re going to give me time, at least give me more of it.”
In the original game, the in-game time was a month.
I’ve already repeated the same 30 days hundreds of times.
When I first failed to clear the game and died, I regressed.
When I realized that I couldn’t even die for real, chills ran down my spine.
It was no different from being imprisoned.
Since then, I’ve tried every possible way to clear the game, but it was all in vain.
There’s no way to clear it under these conditions.
I’m a worthless extra character, a healer with a background as insignificant as dirt, and talents that are all sealed.
Yeah, a healer.
I was in the middle of casting a healing spell on the warrior of the hero’s party who had fallen to the ground.
“It hurts! It fucking hurts! Do it right!”
“It’s a fourth-degree burn all over your body. Of course, it hurts. Hold on, the cooldown’s not over yet.”
The warrior twisted his body like a shrimp, screaming as if he were dying from the pain.
“Argh...! Lass, you’re part of the hero’s party too, so take some damn responsibility! Try harder!”
“My healing spell is trash. Its target area is random, the speed is slow, and its effectiveness is garbage. If you’re burned, you’re supposed to cool it with cold water, anesthetize, and perform skin debridement. But here, I’m just reading from a holy scripture.”
In this world, if you tried treating a patient like that, people would call you a maniac trying to kill them.
Here, when you get hurt, you don’t look for treatment; you pray first.
Oh, blessed healing spell.
Despite my explanation, the warrior gritted his teeth in fury.
“You’re supposed to be a healer, but all you ever do is spout nonsense! If it weren’t for your skills, a sociopath like you would never have been allowed into the hero’s party...!”
I’m not a sociopath.
I just got possessed by one.
But after all this time, even I can’t tell the difference anymore.
“Listen up, buddy. Before I got possessed, I actually studied medicine. Yeah, I wanted to be a doctor. You know, a fancy, respectable job. Make good money, be a top pick for a husband.”
I wasn’t exactly a prodigy or anything.
After all, who studies because they genuinely want to? I was just going through the motions like everyone else.
“But eventually, I got serious. During my practicals, when I treated patients, I actually felt some sense of purpose.”
Back then, I treated patients using medicine, not healing spells.
“But it was all for nothing. I got into a car accident, and my nerves got all messed up. What kind of doctor has hands that tremble like a leaf?”
I could’ve undergone expensive surgery and rehab to recover, but I didn’t have the money.
Same as here. Only the rich can afford the best healers with real skill.
Even the hero’s party is stuck with a second-rate loser like me.
“I only graduated high school, man. After that, I became a useless bum, wasting my life playing games... and then, unlucky me, I got dragged into this world. Oh, cooldown’s up.”
“Heal! Heal me!”
The warrior’s breathing was growing faint.
Even if this world is about to end, I can’t just abandon a patient right in front of me. It’s a matter of principle.
I open the holy scripture and recite a prayer.
But there are no gods in this world, so it doesn’t matter what I say. Any random mumbo-jumbo will do.
“Oh, merciful Goddess Pingchang, hear my half-hearted prayer and grant your shitty mercy upon this pitiful lamb...”
The warrior’s arm fell lifelessly to the ground.
“Hey. Hey, damn it.”
Tch. He couldn’t even hold out for that long.
I tossed the scripture aside and immediately began CPR.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. It’s an emergency procedure used to revive someone when you have nothing else at hand.
I press down hard on the warrior’s chest, but there’s no response.
...Five minutes pass.
The golden time is over.
“Haaah...”
Drenched in sweat, I look around.
The valiant members of the hero’s party are all face down in the dirt, not even twitching.
Well, what did I expect? As soon as we defeated the Demon King, hundreds of dragons descended from the sky. There was no way they could survive that.
This is the end.
I’m out of divine power, and my head is spinning.
I stagger to my feet and start walking.
Without thinking, I step on the fallen holy scripture.
“I said I wanted to be a doctor, not a damn healer.”
If they were going to send me to another world, they could’ve at least made me a swordsman so I could feel something when I swing a weapon.
Or a mage, blasting spells all over the place.
“I miss modern medicine. What kind of fantasy world doesn’t even have potions?”
If I could make some painkillers here, I’d sell them like hotcakes.
Then I could at least upgrade this garbage equipment to something decent.
“But I still managed to get this far.”
Under these crappy conditions.
The body I got possessed in is so out of shape that I’m out of breath after just a short run, and my sleep problems are severe.
There seems to be some hidden talent, but it’s all locked. In a world where I only have a month to work with, there’s no time to unlock it, let alone train.
Besides, the game starts right in the middle of the battle against the Demon King’s army, so there’s no time to prepare.
And to top it off, the character I possessed is such a jerk that everyone despises me from the get-go.
But after hundreds of repetitions, I’ve gained experience.
Before getting possessed, I’d only played the game once, so I didn’t know much about this world.
Now, after experiencing so many deaths, I’ve learned about the characters’ pasts, the weaknesses of monsters, and so on.
Every time I die, I relive some of Lass’s memories like a flashing reel.
No, now I am Lass, the scumbag healer.
I even managed to defeat the Demon King a few times.
But what does it matter?
It’s still a bad ending.
I move forward, my steps hollow and empty.
Where should I lie down and die this time?
As I wandered around, searching for a burial spot, I noticed someone waving at me from the palace wall in the distance.
When I saw her face, nausea surged up from my gut. I felt like ripping my insides out and wringing them dry.
Well, based on experience, there’s never been a time when I peacefully met my end after pissing her off.
Even the hero’s party had to kneel and obey her without question.
If she says kneel, you kneel. What other choice do you have?
Dragging my feet, I climbed the palace wall’s stairs.
Even though it was obvious that she was the one who brought about the world’s end this time as well.
She was perched on the railing of the wall, surrounded by the corpses of soldiers strewn about.
Her long silver hair, which reached past her waist, fluttered in the wind yet maintained its elegance.
Her silver hair, the hallmark of a powerful witch, still carried faint traces of gold from her birthright.
She casually swung her slender legs, a glass of wine, redder than blood, resting between her fingers.
Her long lashes pointed toward the center of the capital being ravaged by the dragon legion.
A subtle smile played on her lips.
Seeing that smile, fear from countless deaths, now a trauma, welled up alongside a deep-seated hatred.
If it weren’t for this woman, my suffering would have ended a long time ago.
But it’s not a feeling I haven’t experienced before, so it faded away like a mirage.
Getting angry here would only hasten my death, after all.
Now that I know a bit about her circumstances, I can somewhat understand her behavior.
The Seventh Emperor of the Empire, Asella von Württempelt, sneered at me like a devil.
“I expected you to despair more. I’m rather surprised, you incompetent healer of the hero’s party.”
I pointed at the dragon legion that filled the sky.
“Did Your Majesty summon those?”
“Fufu, you’re as blind as ever. That’s why you continued your reckless behavior until the very moment your family was wiped out.”
I casually kicked aside a piece of brick on the floor and plopped down beside Asella.
When I reached for the wine bottle lying next to her, she swiftly snatched it up.
“How dare you lay a hand on a tribute offered to the Emperor of the Empire?”
“That Empire just got destroyed, didn’t it? Come on, spare me some.”
“Kneel and beg like a dog. Perhaps then, I might consider it.”
“Oh, great and merciful Emperor, I humbly beg for Your Majesty’s charity.”
I bowed my head with exaggerated politeness, and Asella, seemingly satisfied, handed me the wine.
From experience, it was a hundred times better to be drunk when you died.
Since I wouldn’t remember anything anyway, it was better to get a drink for the price of some dignity.
Defying this woman would only lead to suffering through endless magical torment until death.
“Quite the view.”
We were in the perfect spot to watch the capital burn as dragons breathed fire upon it.
“Isn’t it beautiful? Today is the day the curse finally ends.”
Asella stretched her arms out wide, as if to embrace the entire scene, her expression filled with ecstasy.
“Indeed, a masterpiece like no other.”
“Curious. I thought you’d be so enraged that you’d try to stab me with a dagger right now.”
“I’ve tried that more than ten times. Couldn’t even land a scratch on you. Only my head rolled.”
I casually took another swig.
As expected of the Emperor’s wine, it was exceptional.
“You always speak such strange things. Like a madman.”
“Not as much as Your Majesty.”
The Seventh Emperor of the Empire, Asella von Württempelt, was a mad villainess.
She was infamous as the ‘Golden Witch.’
Among all the world-ending catastrophes I had witnessed, nearly half of them had been caused by her.
During the battles against the Demon King’s army and even after the battles ended, she’d do insane things that would eventually lead to the world’s destruction.
Whether by abusing her power or through the use of magic.
“You’re more honest than before. Ah, but don’t get the wrong idea. It doesn’t mean I like you. Just imagine how horrible it would have been if the marriage between you and me, as arranged by our families, had actually gone through.”
“Oh, who’s talking? You must have been delighted when my family was wiped out for that ridiculous act of treason.”
“It was the best birthday present ever.”
Asella chuckled, a breathy laugh escaping her lips.
The scent of grapes grown in the cold fields of the North tingled at my nose.
As she said, we had been engaged.
It was a contract made when Asella was still a princess.
I had been from a prominent noble family, but now there wasn’t a trace of it left.
Not that it mattered. If I’d married this crazy woman, I wouldn’t have survived long anyway.
...Though I knew she hadn’t gone mad by choice.
“Are you in pain?”
The words slipped out before I could think.
At my question, Asella didn’t answer. Instead, her lips curled up in a faint smile.
Even knowing she was the villainess who had brought about the world’s destruction, her beauty was so bewitching that it was almost mesmerizing.
Lost in thought as if recalling an old memory, Asella stared blankly into the air.
She let down her guard just a bit, her shoulders losing a fraction of the imperial authority they carried.
Then, in a small voice, she spoke.
“...Lass of Gotberg. I hated you my whole life.”
A lifelong grudge.
What was I supposed to say to that?
“Do you remember? We first met in the flower garden of your family’s estate. That day, I despised you from head to toe.”
“Is that so.”
I think I remember something like that.
If I retrace the flashes of Lass’s memories, there’s a faint recollection.
“How did you summon the dragon legion?”
“Oh, would you like to know? Since it’s a rare occasion, should I tell you? I’ve reached the level of an Eighth Circle mage, but there’s no one to brag to.”
Asella, like an excited child, began drawing a magic circle in the air.
She always seemed genuinely happy when talking about magic.
“Look, this is the base formation. High-level magic is like drawing three-dimensional shapes in a higher dimension. You place the main circle at each vertex and then...”
Listening to her ramble on, the alcohol took hold, and I started nodding off.
I think it was around then that the dragon legion’s breath attack descended upon us.
A wave of searing heat engulfed us, my lungs burning, my insides twisting in pain.
Just for a moment, everything went black.
‘Huh. Pitch black.’
That meant the regression was about to begin.
I’d seen this scene countless times. Soon, a notification would pop up, and I’d be returned to the starting point.
―――――――――――――――
· Notification
Clear Failed
You have collected .
Regression will now commence.
―――――――――――――――
Right. Just like this.
―――――――――――――――
· Notification
You have collected all Bad Endings.
A [Privilege] has been unlocked to aid in clearing the game.
· [Ending List] has been unlocked.
· You can now select the regression point.
―――――――――――――――
...What the hell is this?
A line of text I’d never seen before appeared.
The word [Privilege] snapped me to attention.
‘What? There was something like this all along?’
Did I really see all the bad endings?
I vaguely remembered that there were 101 bad endings.
When did I manage to collect them all? I’ve died so many times that I must have lost count.
Unbelievable. Absolutely insane.
...But a glimmer of hope sparked within me.
I had a gut feeling that this regression would be different.
And there was one thing that stood out more than anything.
‘I can choose the regression point?’
I scrolled through the list, trying to see how far back I could go.
I kept scrolling. And scrolling. But the list just kept going.
Finally, when I couldn’t scroll any further, a small, incredulous laugh escaped me.
[Regression Point: 10 Years Ago]
...Not a month, but ten years.
I could change a lot in ten years.
Without hesitation, I selected it.
[Regression in progress.]
My vision spun. Even in the darkness, I could feel myself turning.
And then —
“...Ugh.”
I opened my eyes in a bed.
I got up and looked around.
It was a clean, luxurious room I’d never seen before.
I checked the mirror.
A fresh, youthful face stared back at me — a boy who hadn’t yet been worn down by the world.
“I really came back ten years ago.”
I opened the status window to confirm it.
―――――――――――――――
Name: Lass
Surname: Gotberg
Age: 17
Class: None
Rank: Heir of a Marquisate
Affiliation: Healer Training Institute
Talent: ■■■ (S)
■■ (S)
Objective: Clear by avoiding the Bad Ending.
Upon Bad Ending, Death (In Progress)
Time Remaining: 9 years 364 days 23 hours
―――――――――――――――
“It’s real.”
Countless possibilities began to blossom in my mind.
My family was still intact, and my body was young.
If I started preparing now, I could become anything.
And I still had more privileges.
“This isn’t just about clearing the game anymore...”
I could change my future. Avoid joining the hero’s ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) party — that nest of lunatics.
I felt like I could succeed at anything now.
I only had to do one thing.
As long as I avoided the bad endings where I die.
Just as I was mulling over what to do first, I heard a commotion outside and glanced out the window.
My room was on the third floor of the annex.
Far below, beyond the garden walls, the central entrance was bustling with people.
It looked like some important guest had arrived at the estate, and knights were swarming around.
The marquis, who I assumed was my father, was busy greeting them.
‘The Empress must be here. It seems she’s visiting the marquisate.’
Then she must be here as well.
I shifted my gaze to the back of the estate.
There, in the meticulously maintained garden filled with lush greenery.
Amidst the bed of golden roses in full bloom.
A delicate girl with a head of rich golden hair was strolling leisurely, admiring the flowers.
It was fourteen-year-old Asella.
