I Thought It Was a Fairy Tale but the Genre Is Strange

Rapunzel and Siyu

Rapunzel grinned. Her entire body was shaking violently as she couldn’t contain her excitement.

“Hahaha! Keeheehee!”

A grotesque laugh bursts from her lips. Rapunzel’s shoulders heave. A chilling thrill, unlike anything she’s ever felt, sends shivers down her spine.

She hadn’t realized. How much she had been holding back. An unfathomable rage toward the world, the bitterness of years spent struggling within a pit of despair—a consequence of her cursed existence—was erupting endlessly. Her repressed emotions, which she had ignored, had transferred to her golden hair, and to keep her from collapsing, a new persona had been born.

And she, so foolish, had been oblivious. So truly foolish.

She had thought everything would be alright.

Rapunzel erupted into laughter, consumed by blissful liberation. She didn’t have to hold back anymore. The barrier around the tower had been broken. At last, she could go out into the world. Out into the world and…

The time to wield the blade of vengeance against the disgusting world that had cursed her had come.

How much she had suffered during all that time. How much sorrow she had endured. How lonely she had been, how much she had wanted to die. In her dreams, dead Meriel came to blame her and the corpse of dead Gothel would rise to whisper that she could never escape this place.

She could endure that much. Because when she woke, she knew it was all just an illusion. What she truly could not endure was the fact that no matter how many times she slept and woke, she would see the same ceiling.

The realization that she would be trapped here, for her entire life until she died, gnawed at her heart. No one came near the tower and no one was there to care for her. The sounds of cheerful laughter from the villagers, carried on the wind from the outside, made it so she couldn’t bear it unless she was repeatedly bashing her head against the wall until she bled.

Afraid that, left alone, she would go mad and become a monster who would destroy everything within reach of her hair, she recruited heroes who could kill her. But the heroes who frequently came were awful, and they couldn’t even leave a scratch on her hair.

“Hahahaha!”

But it didn’t matter anymore. She was truly free now. She didn’t have to kill herself! Because she realized that this was her true self.

She was the curse of the world. And Rapunzel was satisfied with that fact. No, she felt a bliss that transcended satisfaction.

“Ah, come on. Come on, come on, come on!!!!”

She wanted to destroy everything. She wanted to paint the world crimson.

She would tear apart the people who pointed their fingers and called her a demon, and she would flay the king and queen, her parents who had wanted her dead, alive. And she would annihilate all the creatures who were living peaceful and ordinary lives while she was trapped in the tower.

Just imagining it made her laugh.

“Rapunzel…”

A voice tickled her ear. Strangely, the moment she heard that voice, her heart dropped into her stomach. Her mind, engrossed in the pleasure of freedom, caused her to look directly at the source of the voice.

“Ah, right. Siyoo. You were there. Sorry, pfft! No, actually, I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry anymore. In the end, you were just another stupid human I brought along to use. You were nothing more, nothing less, than a pawn to me.”

Rapunzel covered her mouth with her hand to avoid laughing, showing at least that much respect to Siyoo.

Siyoo’s eyes widened. In his eyes, sadness and despair were evident. Right. Those eyes. The exact same eyes I had when I was trapped in the tower, wasting away the days.

“Excuse me, but could you get out of my way? Ex-boyfriend?”

*Whoosh!* A wave of overwhelming golden hair surged toward Siyoo. Tangled within the wave, countless clones of Rapunzel screeched, desperate to tear Siyoo apart.

Just as the wave was about to engulf Siyoo.

*Shwaaash!!!*

A refreshing emerald wave violently collided with Rapunzel’s golden one. It barely managed to shift the golden wave’s trajectory, enough to protect Siyoo, but it was enough to irritate Rapunzel. The golden wave separated, and a clone of Rapunzel emerged from within.

[Not a chance! I’m protecting the prince!]

A foolish red-haired woman stepped forward boldly. She spread water over the surrounding area, forming a puddle, then swallowed other Rapunzels that stepped in it, trapping them inside bubbles.

“Kyahahaha! You’re totally insane!”

Rapunzel looked up at the strange laughter coming from above. A shadow fell over her face. The owner, Alice, swung a mace down at Rapunzel’s head with all her might.

*Clang!* Sparks flew with the bright sound of metal colliding. Rapunzel didn’t even flinch, staring at Alice who was radiating killing intent. Her mace was blocked by Rapunzel’s hair, failing to do any damage. At most, it slightly bent the hair.

Rapunzel’s lip curled up. She grinned, showing her gums.

“You guys are so weak.”

Golden blades shot out, piercing Alice’s arms and legs and sending her flying.

Alice was impaled and sent flying into a wall.

“Kyahahahaha! You thought you could stop me with *that*?”

Then she gave an even more deranged laugh, not even caring that her injuries were getting worse, and forced her body to move.

But.

“……!”

Golden daggers pierced her limbs, preventing her from moving at all.

Then, a black shadow fell over Alice’s face. She chuckled, watching the giant’s golden fist rushing at her.

*Thud-*!

Dust billowed, and blood pattered down. Alice, head slumped, didn’t move again.

[Ugh! Get the hell away!]

Ariel had trapped a Rapunzel clone in a water bubble, but she was struggling against an endless stream of others popping up from the floor. She fought desperately, protecting the shell-shocked Siyu. Rapunzel glared at her with a displeased look.

And then, she gestured in the air.

[Pain! Agony! Intense torment!]

Hair erupted from the floor beneath Ariel, piercing her torso and limbs. Ariel staggered, then collapsed to her knees. But her gaze remained fixed solely on Siyu.

[P-prince… r-run aw…]

Ariel couldn’t finish her sentence.

Now, only one person remained. Siyu, her ex-boyfriend, the one who had accepted Rapunzel’s confession. The boy still stood there, as if he couldn’t believe the scene unfolding before him.

“Siyu, now it’s just us two.”

Rapunzel smiled sweetly, walking through the crimson trail left by Ariel and Alice.

Siyu slowly turned his head to look at the fallen Ariel and Alice, then back at Rapunzel.

“Rapunzel, why…?”

“Why? Siyu, you’re such an idiot. Did you think my hatred and anger would just disappear because of you, someone I just met today and only spent a little time with? That we could just laugh and carry on like nothing happened? Honestly~”

Rapunzel swept her cold gaze across the foolish Siyu.

“Such an idealist. A moron.”

Siyu stayed silent. Seeing Siyu, who wouldn’t open his mouth even when she deliberately gave him time, Rapunzel scowled. Strangely, looking at that idiotic face kept her heart aching. She knew it instinctively.

Siyu’s very existence before her was a huge obstacle blocking her path to sweet revenge.

Therefore, she had to finish it with her own hands. By her own hand.

Rapunzel reached out into the air, and strands of hair crawled up from the floor, weaving together into a golden sword. She gripped the hilt and moved forward resolutely.

I’ll kill him. I’ll kill Siyu and destroy the world. This disgusting world, the horrible world that cursed me, I will annihilate it.

I can do it. I’ll sever Siyu’s neck. And I’ll move forward.

Rapunzel steeled herself. Siyu, dumbfounded, stared at Rapunzel, who was emanating a savage bloodlust. The boy lowered his head for a moment and seemed to close his eyes, lost in thought.

Rapunzel frowned, seeing Siyu neither running away nor fighting back despite the fact that he could cut her hair. The shadow of the golden sword looming before Siyu slowly ascended.

“Siyu, I was always this kind of being. The time I spent with you was truly enjoyable, but I’ve reached a point where I can’t survive unless I kill everyone. So, I’ll slice you, and I’ll gleefully relish the moment of revenge.”

As the sword in Rapunzel’s hand twitched, Siyu raised his head and looked directly into her eyes. In that instant, Rapunzel’s pupils trembled.

“Rapunzel.”

Siyu smiled softly.

“It was really great being your boyfriend, even if it was just for a short time. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to endure. Thank you. And, if possible, I wish you would pour all your emotions into me. I’d like to see you live an ordinary life rather than seek revenge.”

Siyu finished speaking and then obediently offered his neck. Rapunzel didn’t understand. Looking at his vulnerable neck, that nape that would be severed like tofu if struck down,

Why was he thinking of her this much, what was she to him that he was treating her this way despite only meeting for a short while?

Why was he hurting her heart this much? Fleeting imaginations passed through her mind. The image of abandoning revenge and happily living with Siyu. Imagining going to the world where Siyu lived, watching movies together, going to cafes, riding real amusement park rides, having fun.

But that fantasy was soon swallowed by the raging flames of revenge.

Rapunzel gritted her teeth. And then she swung the sword that had soared up into the sky down with all her might.

*Swoosh.*

“…Thank you too, Siyu.”