#175
“Um… you’re that student?”
I asked, stammering in confusion. The woman then spoke in an energetic voice.
Yes! I guess you couldn’t hear me well when I first greeted you…!
I remembered that there was indeed some static noise, and I hadn’t heard anything about her personal information.
By the way, you said “my novel” earlier… so you’re really the author, right?
‘This feels strange.’
The author had been my enemy all this time, but it turns out she was this kind of person. Moreover, it was completely different from what I had expected. Before, it always felt like she was trying to corner me, but now it seemed like she not only didn’t dislike me, but actually liked me a lot.
Well, I suppose I would feel the same way about someone who saved me from a traffic accident.
“Anyway… I’m glad you’re alive.”
At any rate, I was relieved to see that the person I saved seemed to be alive and well. Then suddenly, I became curious about why she was in the world of the novel when I had clearly saved her. Did something go wrong, like with me?
“But how are you talking to me?”
If she’s in a normal state, shouldn’t she be unable to communicate with me? Did I perhaps not actually save her? I suddenly felt very worried.
Ah, I’m fine! Though I wasn’t at first…
“You weren’t?”
I got trapped in this world at first too. I wasn’t possessing a character, just floating around. Then, when it was nearing the ending, I was able to make contact for the first time and tried to speak…
Somehow, like a gradient of anger, the woman’s voice gradually changed to sound more upset.
That weird thing kept interfering with me! Suddenly getting pushed back to the original world and all!
“…You mean Nine?”
Somehow, even though I could only hear her voice, it seemed she was referring to Nine. When I looked with wide eyes, Nine awkwardly turned its head away.
It seems Nine had moved desperately to prevent me from returning to my original body. I let out a small sigh.
Now, let’s go back together. I was really worried after only I returned to my original body!
“W-wait a moment. What exactly happened?”
She returned to her original body but is talking to me now? Unable to understand at all, I asked again, and the woman, who seemed excited and had been talking to herself, caught herself with an “Ah!” and composed her voice before explaining what had happened.
She said she had been looking at the world in a ghost-like state floating in the sky, that she had wanted to return somehow by making contact with me but couldn’t, so she waited for the ending according to the usual novel formula.
However, Nine opposed it, and instead of the ending, the second round of “S-class Love” began. She tried to make things flow according to the original novel’s ending somehow, but I went wild and failed miserably, so she waited to be able to connect with me again.
Although it’s my novel, I don’t know why this happened either. Right now, I’m just sleeping, and we’re talking through a dream. If it’s just a dream, there’s nothing we can do, but if by chance this isn’t a dream but reality, I thought maybe you could come out too…
I flinched momentarily at the dreadful word “ahjussi,” but considering she looked about high school age, I figured it was natural for her to see me as just an older man and let it pass.
Anyway, it seemed the woman felt a lot of guilt for coming out alone. I smiled slightly as I listened silently. I could feel the two people next to me pressing their bodies closer to me, seeming anxious.
“Hey, thank you for trying so hard until now.”
I expressed my gratitude first. In a way, it could have been something she just forgot and moved on from, so I was grateful that she hadn’t forgotten about me even after returning to reality.
Th-thank you! I visited not too long ago, and they said that although you’re unconscious, your body is in a healthy state! Now you just need to return!
I see. So my body is still intact…
Given the big time difference, it seems I’m still hospitalized for now. But if more time passes, my uncle would surely give up on maintaining my life.
I turned my head for a moment to look at the faces of the two. Hyun Dowoon was looking at me with a slightly anxious, sunken face, while Shin Haejun surprisingly seemed to trust me. His eyes, filled with strong faith, were looking straight at me.
“I’ve already formed too many connections in this world. I don’t want to give this up and go back.”
What? But why…! If you go back, you can see your family and all that!
“I don’t have any family waiting for me anyway.”
At my words, the woman seemed a bit flustered and lost her words for a moment. Then soon, in a small voice that sounded a bit dejected, she apologized for being sorry.
“It’s okay. Anyway, I really don’t want to go back. I just can’t leave.”
At my words, the woman’s voice cut off for a while. It seemed like she was thinking deeply about something. Was she trying to come up with words to persuade me? I couldn’t know, but no matter what she tried to say to persuade me, I intended to stay by these two people’s side.
Well then… I was thinking of deleting this novel, but I guess I shouldn’t do that…
I was shocked by the woman’s words. She was thinking of deleting the novel if I left? Then what would happen to all the people living and moving in this novel?
‘If I had gone back, Shin Haejun and Hyun Dowoon could have been in trouble too.’
The thought that they could have been seriously harmed due to an external factor made me shudder for a moment. When I was too shocked to respond, the woman quickly jumped in.
No, no! I won’t delete it now! You said you’re staying here, right?
She must have thought I was angry. It was difficult to communicate only by voice without seeing her face.
“Yes, I’d like it if you could keep it forever. We don’t know what will happen if the novel is deleted.”
If the novel is deleted, wouldn’t this whole world just disappear? That’s usually how it works.
We don’t know what would happen, so that absolutely must not occur. I want to live happily with these two for thousands and tens of thousands of years now.
Is, is there still a problem with the world inside the novel? When I last saw it, it was just breaking apart.
“That’s…”
I looked at Nine. Nine nodded.
It’s like a kind of hallucination… I’ve somehow made it look fine with my power, but it’s not actually okay. The world is still broken.
“It’s in a broken state.”
I relayed Nine’s words to the woman. After thinking for a moment, she made a new proposal to me.
Since you’ll be staying there from now on, it would be troublesome in that state… It would be better if the world normalized again, right? Then I’ll… write a bit more of the story.
“Do you mean you’ll resume serialization?”
I clearly remember the author abandoning her writing, but is it possible to go back on the decision to stop serialization?
As I tilted my head, the woman answered.
Ah, no. But even after I stopped the serialization, when I checked the writing again, I found that text had been added as you moved. So I’ll try to write a bit more of the story to restore the world.
“I’d be grateful if you could do that.”
No matter if it’s a world inside a novel, it would be much better for the world to move normally rather than living in a hallucination.
And… thank you so much for saving me.
The woman greeted me. I realized this was a farewell greeting.
And the light-like thing that had appeared above my head gradually faded, and finally disappeared as if it had been cut off.
I blinked blankly and turned my head.
“I think she’s gone.”
“Hmm…”
As I muttered, no longer feeling anything, Shin Haejun nodded.
That’s right! It’s completely cut off!
Nine shouted in an excited voice. It seemed very happy that I finally decided not to go back for sure.
“From now on… please take care of me.”
Saying goodbye to the world I had lived in for my entire life left me feeling empty and dazed. All I had left now were this new world, my two loved ones, and Nine who liked me. This was now the world where I would live.
Now let’s go back to the original world! There’s only one thread left connecting to Yeonsoo-nim now, so we just need to grab onto this and go back.
Nine said, looking at the top of my head. I wasn’t sure what was attached there, but anyway, it seemed there was clearly a way to go back.
I nodded and held the hands of the two people.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
