Episode 1
1. We Broke Up Today
“Let’s break up.”
My boyfriend, Pedro, dropped the fork he was holding and looked utterly bewildered.
“What? Why are you saying this in a bakery?”
And he was right—this was just a cheap bakery in front of a children’s academy.
Even more absurd, this was the place Pedro had chosen after five years of dating. He had said, “Since you gave me ten million gold, today it’s my treat!” Yet, the restaurant he picked was shabby at best.
“Do you really want to know why?”
“Yeah, I do.”
I looked Pedro over from head to toe.
His hair was slicked back with pomade, his watch gleamed, and he wore a perfectly tailored suit that hugged his figure. He looked sharp and handsome.
The catch is, all of this I paid for.
And me? My hair was a mess, my glasses thick and crooked, my sleeves worn out, my clothes shabby.
Realizing this made me feel completely done with him.
“I don’t want to give a reason anymore. Let’s just break up.”
I got up, and Pedro looked at me in disbelief.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Oh… is this one of those trendy jealousy tactics?”
Is he insane?
Well, considering I’d spent all this time begging him to date me with money, I suppose he could be confused.
“Do you really want to know the reason for breaking up?”
Pedro gestured arrogantly with his chin.
“Sure, I know it’s just jealousy, but go ahead.”
“Then fine.”
I slipped my hand into my chest pocket and pressed the record button on my magical recording device.
Then, in a monotone, brisk voice, I began:
“First, you cheat way too much. Guys like you are what they call women-crazed bastards.”
He had flirted with everyone from Lisa, a fellow academy student, to Merril, a junior at his company, even my sister, Soldica.
He responded dismissively.
“Everyone looks away sometimes. If you were better, would I even have cheated?”
Normally, I would have been angry. But I’d long since become immune to excuses like that. I just thought of my magical recorder quietly recording everything and smirked.
Good, I’ve got proof of his cheating.
Time to continue with my little verbal dissection.
“Second, you’re too arrogant. You’re only a third-circle mage, but you act like a grand sorcerer. Know your place.”
Pedro fumed at the blunt truth.
“……What? You’re just a first-circle mage, and even at third circle, I’m about to get a noble title.”
“Oh really? Then who wrote the paper you submitted to claim your noble title?”
To get a noble title, any mage above third circle had to submit a thesis proving their magical and intellectual abilities. But Pedro had no magical knowledge whatsoever. I had written it for him.
“That… that was you!”
“And I’m not done. Third, your skill at extorting money from me is truly an art form. Even a leech wouldn’t suck as much blood as you.”
Pedro’s face went red, purple, or whatever, and I continued calmly:
“Fourth, your breath stinks. Fifth, you’re incredibly annoying. Sixth, you have a talent for making people angry. Seventh, you’re selfish and think only of yourself. Eighth, pretending to be the most handsome man in the world while critiquing others’ looks is laughable. You’re not that great. And ninth……”
Pedro’s eyes slowly glazed over.
“……Next, 499th reason, you look like a praying mantis. A well-dressed praying mantis. 500th, I just don’t like you. From head to toe, I hate everything about you.”
Pedro, gripping only his fork like a ghost, shouted in disbelief.
“Ha! Unbelievable. Have you gone crazy? You used to be timid and sweet, why are you suddenly going berserk? Did you eat something wrong?”
“I’m perfectly sane.”
“Then why are you acting like someone who’s come back from the dead?”
I crossed my legs, stared at him, and tilted my head. Yes, hard to believe, but he was correct: I had died recently and come back to life. More accurately, this was my third life.
I had been a fool, giving money to family and lovers.
My fate, as a fallen noble, had been decided from the start: living as a money-making machine under an authoritarian father, a lavish mother, and a beautiful younger sister.
“Unnie, can you give me some money? I need it for a dress.”
“Uh… okay! Here…”
I was a mess, hair wild, glasses filthy. My sister Soldica, beautiful as ever, clicked her tongue at me.
“Unnie, clean your glasses. That’s why Pedro… never mind.”
Thanks for your concern.
Even as I handed over money, sweating and nervous, it felt pathetic.
And my only support, Pedro, was the same.
“Ishael, you’re really ugly.”
“Huh?”
“You should lose some weight. Why have you gotten so fat?”
All the while, he shamelessly flirted with countless women. Of course, the money for his meals, his indulgences, it all came from me.
Even my family encouraged me not to break up with him, insisting no one else would take me. And they still took my money.
I knew this, and yet, I couldn’t speak up. I just fell sick with heartbreak, ultimately dying of a heart attack.
And in that moment, memories of not just my second life but my first life came rushing back.
My first life, before I was reincarnated as “Ishael,” was in South Korea as a confident workaholic, “Yoon Sejin.”
“Yoon Sejin, you studied marketing, how do you know coding?”
“You need to understand the references provided by the development team to do marketing properly. So I learned in advance.”
She was brilliant, hardworking, and most importantly, courageous enough to speak up against injustice.
“When the main contractor abused the subcontractor and someone died, shouldn’t we correct that?”
“Yoon Sejin, aren’t you afraid of your future? That’s not how you survive in the real world.”
“I’m not afraid. I’ll speak up and live with a clear conscience.”
“The nail that sticks out gets hammered.”
“A world full of identical nails would be boring.”
Yoon Sejin was passionate, fearless, and impressive as a person. My second-life self, exploited and drained by family and boyfriend, was the complete opposite.
After days of recovering memories, a storm of change hit my daily life. Not because reality had changed, but because I now had confidence and courage.
At first, it was confusing, but now it’s different.
Armed with Yoon Sejin’s courage and confidence, the first thing I did? Throw my ex-boyfriend into the trash.
When Pedro contacted me to go on a date because he “needed money,” I inwardly cheered. Not out of joy or sorrow, but because the moment for a satisfying, cathartic finale had come.
Back in reality, I looked at Pedro.
In the sweet potato patch of my life, Pedro is just a baby sweet potato.
No time to feel sentimental. Time to finish this properly.
“If you have nothing more to say, I’m leaving.”
“Hah… wait. I also have something to say.”
After hearing “500 reasons I have to break up with you,” a battered Pedro was about to retaliate.
Then the waitress approached our table.
“What?”
She slammed the tray down roughly.
“Your order is here.”
Pedro tilted his head, confused.
“I didn’t order anything.”
She ignored him and looked at me.
“It’s on the house. A dish with pepperoncino so hot it’ll burn your eyes, a hard campagne bread stuffed with cream, and a warm, sticky cappuccino—perfect for pouring over someone.”
The large, hard bread was slammed in front of me.
I caught the nuance in her tone.
Ah, to deal with a clingy ex, a flashy finale is needed.
The waitress winked at me and vanished like the wind.
“I’ll never let you go. If we break up, do it after I get my noble title.”
To him, I was just a money source; he didn’t want to lose that.
“Pedro, do you really not want to break up with me?”
As I said this, I dipped my pinky into the cappuccino to check its temperature, then pulled it out.
“Yeah, I even considered marrying you.”
By the time I wiped my finger with a napkin, Pedro’s face had turned red as the pepperoncino.
“Then…”
I wrapped my hands around the warm cup and lifted my pinky with flair.
It was time for a spectacular finale. No more hesitation.
Swish—!
