Chapter 7 – The Abyss of Despair

Rouga’s streaming room was a wasteland, littered with the shattered glass of his monitor and empty plastic bottles. The once-glamorous space now seemed to reflect the ruin of his own heart. His social media was buried in a flood of curses and insults, and his phone was incessantly barraged with calls from blocked numbers and cold emails notifying him of contract terminations. The same fans who had once adored him had turned on him in an instant, now condemning and mocking him.

“Guh… daaaamn iiiiit!”

Rouga screamed, his voice raw. His fame, his money—it had all vanished before his very eyes. But more than anything, the one unbearable fact was that Karasu Kurosu was the one who had brought him down, who was laughing at him now.

I can’t end like this…! Me, lose to some plain-looking nobody…!

With a trembling hand, Rouga grabbed his tablet. Displayed on the screen was information on “The Abyss,” an S-rank danger level uncharted dungeon that even government agencies had yet to fully grasp. If he could conquer this place, he could get it all back. He could once again be “King Wolf” and look down on that crow, Karasu. His ability to think rationally was gone, his mind consumed by a mad desire.

Meanwhile, Karasu received a call from Sui.

“Rouga Haitani is on the move. Just as predicted, it seems he’s going to challenge ‘The Abyss.’”

Sui’s voice had a somewhat cold resonance to it. Hearing it, Karasu gave a quiet nod.

“I’m ready.”

Karasu mentally reviewed the classified information on “The Abyss” that Sui had previously provided. It was a place far more dangerous than any dungeon he had faced before. Complex terrain, unexpected traps, and hordes of monsters with overwhelming power. There was no guarantee he would make it back alive. But Karasu didn’t hesitate. This would be the stage for Rouga’s final judgment.

Rouga Haitani entered “The Abyss” alone. Even fewer viewers remained on his stream than before, but still, as if clinging to his last shred of hope, he faced the camera with a crazed smile and screamed.

“Behold, world! I will become the King Wolf of the Abyss!”

But his hope was destined to be shattered in the dungeon’s depths, all too easily.

Following Sui’s advice, Karasu had already reached the deepest part of “The Abyss” ahead of Rouga. He had laid meticulous traps along the route he knew Rouga would take. Using the information from Sui on manipulating the dungeon’s environment, he controlled monster spawn patterns and guided Rouga into specific areas to be isolated.

As Rouga pushed deeper into the dungeon, he began to notice something was wrong.

“What’s with all these monsters…? There are more than usual!”

Wave after wave of powerful monsters appeared before him. Rouga fought back desperately, but their numbers were overwhelming. On top of that, a series of unpredictable accidents occurred—invisible pitfalls suddenly opened beneath his feet, and rocks rained down from the ceiling.

“Dammit, what the hell is this!?”

Rouga screamed, half-crazed. Behind him, a giant Golem appeared, as if to block his exit. It was one of the highest-tier monsters in this dungeon.

Cornered, Rouga frantically pleaded for help to his camera.

“Someone! Help me! I don’t… I don’t wanna die here! I’m King Wolf!”

His stream displayed the image of a screaming Rouga and the shadows of the monsters closing in on him. The comment section flooded with mockery and insults.

‘Serves you right, Rouga!’

‘This is what you get for being a villain.’

‘King Wolf’s final stream from The Abyss lol’

At that moment, Detective Maki was in his office, watching Rouga’s stream in real-time. A pained look crossed his face. Rouga’s reckless challenge had brought about his own self-destruction. However, Maki had already sensed that some deliberate inducement lay behind it all. The recent movements of Karasu Kurosu, in particular, seemed to be driven by some cold calculation.

This is…

Maki couldn’t help but let the words escape.

Deep within the dungeon, a quiet voice echoed in the screaming Rouga’s ears.

“Are you watching, Rouga Haitani?”

It was Karasu’s voice. Rouga snapped his head up, looking around, but Karasu was nowhere to be seen. His voice echoed off the dungeon walls, cornering Rouga’s mind even further.

“You took everything from me. My peaceful life… and Suzuran. Everything you built was nothing but a tool for my revenge.”

Rouga’s face twisted in terror. He felt as if the dungeon itself was moving according to Karasu’s will.

“This is the end, Rouga Haitani. Your brilliance dies here, in the abyss.”

The moment Karasu’s voice faded, the monsters surrounding Rouga swarmed him all at once. Rouga’s scream echoed through the dungeon, and then, it stopped. His stream cut out at that moment.

Rouga Haitani survived, barely escaping the dungeon with his life. But his spirit was completely shattered. His face was caked in blood, his eyes were vacant, and nonsensical words spilled from his mouth. He was like a husk of a man.

That night, a news bulletin flashed across the screen. “Popular Dungeon Streamer ‘King Wolf’ Found in ‘The Abyss’ in Critical Condition. Unconscious Due to Severe Psychological Shock.”

This news also reached Suzuran. She clutched her smartphone and whispered in a trembling voice.

“No…”

Reflected in Suzuran’s eyes was the image of Rouga’s broken form, and beyond it, the image of Karasu, staring out from the screen with a cold gaze. She finally understood the true depths of the hell she had unleashed. A tsunami of regret washed over her heart.

Karasu watched Rouga’s downfall with quiet, unwavering eyes. His revenge was proceeding, without fail.

Chapter 8 – Tears of Regret and Unforgivable Sins

On a white hospital bed, Rouga stared at the ceiling with vacant eyes. There was no one around him; the entourage that once followed him and the fans who had fawned over him had now become the chorus of insults mocking him on social media. The only sounds that escaped his lips were meaningless groans, occasionally punctuated by the word “King Wolf.” The psychological shock ran deep, and he had become completely detached from the real world. Everyone coldly declared that he got what he deserved, and not a single person came to visit him.

Meanwhile, Suzuran was also sinking into a deep abyss of regret. Rouga’s miserable state was reported on the news daily, his disgrace continually exposed online. The despicable methods he had used to build his popularity, and just how many people he had hurt—every time these facts were brought to light, Suzuran’s heart was gouged deeper.

“No… this wasn’t… how it was supposed to be…”

Suzuran sat on her bed, hugging her knees. This was the result of her yearning for a brilliant world, her search for excitement. Betraying Karasu, being used by Rouga, and now, spending her days in a lonely, empty room, regretting the mistakes of her past. Life with Rouga had been nothing like the glamorous existence she had imagined. Whenever she was by his side, she was constantly terrified of the shadows of other women, and was simply at the mercy of his mercurial attitude.

The image of Karasu’s cold gaze resurfaced in Suzuran’s mind again and again. The scene he had witnessed that day behind the school building. And the look in his eyes during his recent stream, burning with revenge. Suzuran felt keenly that all of this was the consequence of the choice she had made that day.

“Karasu… I’m so sorry…”

With a trembling hand, Suzuran sent a message to Karasu. As she typed out the words of apology, large tears streamed endlessly from her eyes. But there was no reply to her message. Karasu’s silence seemed to speak to the depth of her sin.

Around that time, spurred by Rouga’s case, Detective Maki was pushing his investigation deeper into the dark side of the dungeon streaming world. He felt there was something abnormally thorough, something cold, about the movements of Karasu Kurosu in particular.

It looks like Rouga Haitani self-destructed, but what if his ruin went exactly according to someone’s plan…?

Maki was re-watching Karasu’s past streams. From his clumsy initial attempts to the meticulous strategies he employed after teaming up with Sui. And the stream from the day he exposed Rouga’s corruption. It was as if everything was built upon a perfect script. Maki sensed the presence of an unseen power behind the dungeons. It was something deeper than the simple entertainment industry it was made out to be.

One day, Suzuran steeled her resolve and went to meet Karasu in person. After school, in front of the family restaurant he always used, she found him.

“Karasu…!”

Suzuran tried to run to him. But the moment Karasu noticed her, he stared at her with eyes as cold as ice and tried to walk right past.

“Wait, Karasu! Please, just listen to me…!”

Suzuran grabbed Karasu’s arm. It was much stronger, and much colder, than it used to be.

“What do you want, Shiraishi?”

His voice was mechanical, devoid of any fragment of emotion. Suzuran nearly flinched at its coldness, but she desperately forced the words out.

“I’m sorry… I’m truly so sorry, Karasu. I was a fool back then. I was deceived by what Rouga-kun said, I betrayed you…”

Suzuran pleaded desperately, tears welling in her eyes.

“A fool? That’s right. You are a fool. You trampled on my feelings and fawned over a man like Rouga Haitani. That was the path you chose.”

Karasu’s words stabbed deep into Suzuran’s heart. The gentle light he once had was gone from his eyes. There was only hatred, and a deep resignation.

“But I regret it! I get it now. How important you were to me…”

“What could you possibly get, now? I don’t trust you anymore.”

Karasu shook Suzuran’s hand from his arm. His eyes rejected her very existence.

“Rouga is finished. He’s never coming back. You can live the rest of your life carrying that sin, alone. I don’t care about either of you anymore.”

With that, Karasu turned his back, opened the door to the family restaurant, and left. Suzuran could only stand there, frozen in place. His retreating figure was so distant, so cold. Her tears flowed without end, soaking into the asphalt below.

Once seated in the family restaurant, Karasu contacted Sui.

“I just met with them. With those two.”

Sui spoke as if she had seen it all.

“And? How did it taste? The flavor of revenge.”

“…Not yet. It’s not enough.”

The flames of vengeance still burned in Karasu’s eyes. Even seeing Rouga and Suzuran suffer hadn’t fully satisfied his heart. He felt that he needed some kind of more definitive “end.” And it seemed Sui knew just where that “end” could be found.