One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe Side Story 20

Side Story 20

“…Ji-ho.”

Set called Yeon Ji-ho in a voice that had suddenly lowered. The atmosphere grew heavy, and none of those present could open their mouths.

“I can’t let you meet the god, but I can let you talk to them.”

Gliese temporarily put down the rabokki she had been eating on her lap. With an uncharacteristically serious face, she spoke to Yeon Ji-ho.

“If you earnestly entreat, they might listen. …Of course, they might not.”

“May I… ask for your help?”

Gliese nodded briefly at Yeon Ji-ho’s careful request. But she didn’t seem to want to entreat right away, as she picked up her rabokki plate again and said energetically:

“Let me finish eating this first!”

“You, you can take your time. Would you like more rabokki?”

“Yes, mostly noodles and cheese, please.”

Gliese shamelessly asked for a refill and then quietly but quickly inhaled her rabokki. Her speed was comparable to Shango sitting next to her.

While everyone enjoyed their rabokki and engaged in their own conversations, only Set hadn’t touched his food and approached Yeon Ji-ho. Yeon Ji-ho, who had already anticipated his approach, quietly stepped back and followed Set.

The two walked to a large ancient tree and stood facing each other.

“Ji-ho.”

“…Yes.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

This was the first thought Set had when he heard Yeon Ji-ho’s story. That he hadn’t told this important story to him, or more precisely, to him ‘alone.’ Feelings of disappointment and hurt surged like a wave.

“…I didn’t want you to worry.”

“Worry isn’t the important thing here!”

“Worry is important. You’ve been so busy lately. If I had told you this, would you have been able to not worry about it?”

“…”

But Yeon Ji-ho was equally upset that Set couldn’t understand his feelings. He just didn’t want to burden the busy Set with worry. If only Set had trusted him and waited a little, he would have solved the problem and returned on his own.

“…I feel hurt.”

“…I feel upset too.”

Set and Yeon Ji-ho honestly expressed their feelings to each other. Finally, Set sighed deeply and embraced Yeon Ji-ho.

“And I’m sorry.”

“No, it was my fault. …I didn’t want to make you worry, but I ended up causing more worry.”

Now a married couple, the two knew how to handle emotional issues. When Yeon Ji-ho bit his lower lip, Set prevented him from doing so with his thumb and said:

“Ji-ho, I wish you would rely on me a little more. …You’re someone who manages so well on your own that sometimes I wonder if I’m not needed by you and Seho.”

“You are needed.”

Yeon Ji-ho said firmly.

“If you hadn’t been there, I would have probably fallen apart already. …I endure because you’re always there.”

Set closed his eyes deeply at Yeon Ji-ho’s words. Taking a breath, Set confirmed that their emotional issues had been resolved and moved on to the main point.

“So, why do you want your power to be taken away?”

“I can’t control the ability well anymore. …And I think there are side effects when I use it a lot.”

Set finally leaned his forehead against Yeon Ji-ho’s shoulder, as if he had been expecting this. In truth, he had somewhat anticipated it – the fact that his ability couldn’t be used without some cost.

But as years passed and Yeon Ji-ho became more and more natural in using his ability, even the caution they had initially exercised dulled at some point. Set clenched his fist tightly, acknowledged his mistake, and wore a pained expression.

“…Yes, we should talk to the god.”

“Master Ji-ho? Are you here?”

Suddenly, Gliese’s voice was heard. As Yeon Ji-ho and Set turned their heads simultaneously, Gliese smiled brightly and said to them:

“Now that I’ve finished eating, I was thinking of making an entreaty. How about now?”

“…Yes, that’s fine.”

“Then please wait a moment…”

It was then that Gliese, who had approached, suddenly knelt before the ancient tree. With her hands clasped together, she remained still for a long time with her head bowed. Then Gliese suddenly opened her eyes.

“…Ah, this is indeed a bit difficult…”

Gliese seemed dizzy from the entreaty she hadn’t performed in a long time and held her head. But Yeon Ji-ho and Set merely looked at the dizzy Gliese with subtle expressions instead of helping her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Isn’t it about time to stop the charade?”

The moment Set spoke quietly to Gliese, her eyes, which had been full of vitality, changed and instantly became filled with boredom. She slowly stood up and asked the two:

“Since when did you know?”

“From the beginning. Gliese never calls me ‘Yeon Ji-ho.'”

‘…Yeon Ji-ho?’

Yeon Ji-ho recalled the look Gliese had given him when he first encountered her after crossing over to this place. The girl who always called him ‘Master Ji-ho,’ ‘Master Ji-ho,’ and followed him had never worn such an arrogant expression.

Moreover, that wasn’t the only hint. Gliese didn’t know at all that Yeon Ji-ho had the ability to create gates, yet she didn’t seem surprised when she saw him open the greenhouse door and cross over to the other world. Even when he returned.

“Ah, this is no fun. Why didn’t you say something earlier? Then I wouldn’t have needed to partially extract Gliese’s soul.”

“…Is Gliese safe?”

“Of course. Gliese has been assimilated with ‘me’ for a long time, so this much doesn’t even scratch her soul. She’ll probably come back when I fall asleep.”

Even while talking about Gliese, the god repeatedly yawned widely as if bored. It seemed Ganesha’s words about the god falling asleep due to boredom were not wrong.

Watching this, Yeon Ji-ho said quietly:

“You must have been quite bored. To wake up so quickly.”

“…What, did you deliberately wake me up?”

That was obvious. When Ganesha told him that the god would wake up if something interesting happened, Yeon Ji-ho first thought of meeting Hadad. Wasn’t the story the god so desperately wanted to write about Hadad and himself getting together?

“Then please return it now. My power.”

“Haah, really. I’m dying busy with writing, and you wake me up…”

The god, who had stolen Gliese’s face, grumbled with pouted lips. At those words, Yeon Ji-ho chuckled and said:

“If you wrote a novel about Set and me, you should pay the price.”

“…What?”

“I used to believe your words literally.”

“All ‘stories’ created by a god become a ‘myth,’ and that in turn becomes a ‘world.'”

But there was a contradiction hidden in that. Aren’t gods originally born from myths? The moment he thought of this, Yeon Ji-ho came up with a hypothesis.

Ouroboros. The story of a snake eating its own tail.

Perhaps gods and myths, or authors and stories, have the same beginning and end. In other words, while Ishkur claimed that The Star of Hadad was a “story he created,” maybe that wasn’t the case; maybe he had simply turned an already existing story into a novel.

Yeon Ji-ho’s suspicion began when he first read the new release notification for Chapter 1 of “One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe.” After all, Set and his story had preceded the novel that came out as a new release.

Of course, this was a hypothesis he had buried, thinking he would no longer be entangled with the god.

“You’re just a storyteller, aren’t you?”

“…”

“You can intervene a little with us who move with free will, but you can’t control us as you please.”

Yeon Ji-ho smiled gently at the god. It was a smile that would be humiliatingly shameful to a god who had been tormenting people just because of boredom, just because the story wasn’t interesting.

“So now please take away my ability. The story will continue sufficiently even without it.”

The god wasn’t smiling at some point. Instead, he listened to Yeon Ji-ho’s words silently, and finally let out a soft sigh.

“This story is over anyway.”

“…Ah, is that so? Well, we do live too happily, don’t we?”

The god frowned as if disliking Yeon Ji-ho’s words, but nodded. There was no way the story of those who had reached a happy ending would continue.

“Since the story is over, I don’t have to return your ability. …Instead, I’ll talk to the original author and make sure there are no side effects.”

“Original author? Who is the original author? Come to think of it, last time you clearly mentioned something about copyright…”

“What good would it do you to know?”

Realizing that the god’s tone had become bluntly curt, Yeon Ji-ho smiled sincerely this time. Even the god became irritable when their weakness was touched, no different from humans.

“What’s certain is that the god loves you all.”

“…I see.”

“And so do the readers reading this novel. You must know that.”

Haah.

Ishkur, sighing softly, extended his hand toward Yeon Ji-ho. Then his hand glowed faintly as if really taking something away. At the same time, Yeon Ji-ho realized that the pain that had been oppressing his chest was gone.

“…Thank you, Ishkur.”

“Don’t talk to me! You’re really annoying, why have you become so boring?”

Ishkur, who had been acting as if he was about to leave, complained like a child at Yeon Ji-ho’s thanks. Set, standing nearby, looked tense, worried that Ishkur might take out his anger on them before leaving.

However, Ishkur closed one eye and looked at Yeon Ji-ho and Set with just one eye open, saying:

“The novel ends here, but the story will continue.”

“…”

Ishkur’s one eye slowly began to close. Faced with this strange sight, as if the god was really speaking, neither Yeon Ji-ho nor Set could say anything.

But at that moment, Ishkur’s playful voice echoed in their ears before he left:

-Yes! Got something to write side stories about!

One Day, a Villain Fell into My Wardrobe – Side Stories FIN.

Author: Hyacinthus B

Hyacinthus