Translator: yun

We stared at each other in silence.

Did you see everything?

Hm, what could you be referring to?

Did she see Hernan? Or was she pretending to have not? Even after squinting my eyes, I couldnt read her.

If you didnt see anything, then forget it

I turned my head. Reaching my hand out, the diary flew into my hand as if it had been waiting.

What brings you here?

Have you not heard anything from Dane Lowell?

I glanced at Danes letter.

I did.

I slowly raised my head,

Dane mentioned in a letter that you would come see me.

But?

But I didnt think youd really come to see me.

The moon hanging above Rusbellas head looked frighteningly dazzling. I furrowed my brows at Rusbella who looked as beautiful as glass that was close to breaking under this light.

She was like a dangerous plant attracting insects as prey.

Dane had also mentioned in his letter what he had to do in the future. It might have just been a while ago, but now that my reason had returned, I was rational enough to think it was strange.

Dont you think its ridiculous that you would actually come here to help me?

..

Rusbella frowned. I didnt miss the moment when her eyes narrowed.

Im not accepting any more of your nonsense anymore, so be straight with me. How did war bring you here?

She smiled as if it was funny.

Youve already heard, havent you? That Kaltanias had already won.

Looking as calm as ever, Rusbella did not look like someone who had just been defeated.

It was the Kingdom of Walter who started the war, not Kaltanias. Do you not feel responsible?

People died. In this world, a world which I now learned was not a world inside a novel, the people in here were not merely passing extras but living breathing humans. Those people had been injured and some even died in the war selfishly started by someone. What wrong did they commit for this?

It is because of you, countless people died. Do you not pity them?

Immediately, I scoffed.

Right. You would never feel sympathy. You are an undead monster that died a long time ago.

Rusbella then glared fiercely at me.

I dont know what youre scheming but I wont let you or Castor have your way anymore.

I did not back down and retorted fiercely. No, what more did I have left to fear when I already lost so many people. I was willing to tear their necks apart.

Ha, whats this

Rusbella did not hide her astonishment.

So, you havent heard anything about me from Dane Lowell. This is seriously

My ferocity unknowingly dissipated as I watched her expression crumble. What was going on?

Dane had written in his letter that he had discovered your weakness.

And what is that weakness?

Did I have to answer? But for some reason, I answered her anxiously with a frown.

He said you had some tool that was precious to you. He told me that if he took that tool away from you, you would come help.

Rusbella burst out laughing.

Ha, haha. Ahahaha. Thats funny. It really is. Ha

Her craze-induced laughter ceased abruptly. She swept her falling hair up gracefully.

I really do not like you.

She spat out.

I hate you.

As if responding to her feelings, a wave of gold pulsed ferociously around her.

Do you plan on continuing to use your innocence like this or perhaps this is all an act.

I could no longer keep up with what she was saying. However, with every word she spoke, she was emitting a dangerous amount of energy I could not ignore.

As you just said, it would be ridiculous for me to help you.

I frowned at her words. Rusbella twisted her lips.

Slon had been shot by an arrow. It was a poison arrow that the Head Templar of Diana had shot. An average man would not be able to live after getting struck by it. I am here now in exchange for them saving Slons life.

When I read tool, I thought Dane was referring to an artefact that was important to Rusbella. But the words she uttered made me forget my anger.

Slorenian, Slon. The man whom I once thought was the male lead of this world. The moment his name came to mind, the puzzle began solving itself.

Dont tell me

The words my lips could not let go off became jumbled upon my tongue.

Zip it.

The light Rusbella was emitting brushed my cheek. Staring at her, I wiped the blood streaming down my cheek.

Congratulations, Ashley Ros.

WIth an expression shrouded in evil, Rusbella spoke.

The small moves you made had eventually changed the future.

With a shaking exhale, she smiled.

Me helping you in the future, was something neither he nor I expected.

..

Dane Lowell was the seed you planted. Are you happy now? I regret not picking up on this earlier. Now that Im helping you.

She reached her hand out to me.

But I have yet to decide how to help you. I didnt even want to help you in the first place.

Her golden eyes were mixed with anger, sadness, remorse and regret.

Did you know?

Just as she spoke to me back in the academy. Rusbella addressed me with honorifics which only made me warrier.

I brought your soul here.

The madness I felt in Castor. The moment the rough hands grabbed my hair, I came to my senses.

The winds shook the shadows of the trees, revealing Rusbelllas smile right in front of my eyes.

Ultimately, Dane Lowell wished for your happiness and told me to help you But its up to me how I want to help you.

A dark energy I had never seen before flowed beneath her feet.

Urgh. W-Whats this

I quickly grabbed the hands that were squeezing me.

Sizzle.

I could hear the burning of flesh.

Your divinity manipulation is far from being up to par. No, you mustnt have the time to learn.

Rusbellas hands fell from me but the black energy continued to squirm and cover the back of my feet.

This felt completely different from when I was dragged into her space before. With my mind clear now, I quickly conjured my divinity to make a thin shield.

Its no use. Its not like Im trying to attack you.

However, that swamp-like energy suddenly penetrated the thin membrane I created before winding around my legs.

You want to be happy, dont you?

Let me go!

Then, you dont have to be happy in this world, do you?

As soon as I was about to ask what she meant by that, a lump of that black energy rose and covered my mouth. Soon, I wasnt able to breathe through my nose.

If you want, I can send you back to your world. Leaving only me here.

I could hear Rusbellas voice in the distance.

Even if it would only be a dream.

***

Once there lived an ordinary deputy section chief. The day she lost her job, she was struck by a truck driven by a drunk driver. Bang! Oh my god! Heavens! She died.

And when I woke up again, I found myself in a new world. A glass cup the size of my palm was filled with clear soju.

That was a strange story.

The bottle stopped spinning. My friend struck the tip of the soju glass with the edge of a knife. She had always been skilled at this.

What do you mean strange? Its a common story. Your bookshelf is filled with stories like that.

I couldnt refute that.

Well, I am a big fan of those books.

Romance stories are in the end just books. But youre too picky. They all end sadly or terribly. You have really weird tastes.

Youve just looked down upon the tastes of not just me but many people. Apologise to the weirdos across the country.

It is because we were friends, we knew well what was on the others bookshelves.

But its not just here, its a problem across the world. Why do the stories always start with traffic accidents?

It is common.

But dont you think there are disproportionately more female leads who were ordinary college students than there were ordinary office workers? I wonder why.

I guess itll be easier to sell like that.

Tch. Thats boring. What about normal salarymen like us? Do they not have novels about normal salarymen like us?

Tilting the glass cup back, we downed a glass of soju. We finished two bottles and miraculously were on our third bottle. My friend who typically didnt have the best tolerance to alcohol got drunk first.

Were just fucked. What more is there to life?

Nothing much.

There was no point putting airs in front of someone who was drunk.

What about getting promotions? Is it a sin for me to get married? Why cant I work if I have a child?

No clue.

Back when we were younger, this friend of mine was good at playing games so she had dreamt of becoming a popular streamer. But she spent her youth away and stopped pursuing that dream.

Darn it, this damned world. Damn it all. I wish everything would just fall apart

It wasnt bad to have this low-rung job but standing on the edge made the world look bleak and made everyone look twisted.

Hng, could Hogwarts please send me an owl too

Oh?

I was going to respond but I blinked my eyes instead.

Hey.

Hm?

I feel like Ive gone through this before?

It felt like I was now reminiscing memories.

Is this like deja vu or something?

I scratched my cheek but something felt like it was missing from it. There was a strange feeling of emptiness surrounding my burning cheeks.

What is this?

Just when I thought something was amiss, my drunk friend quickly raised her head.

Ji-Ahn, what was your dream?

WIthout giving me time to think, my lips moved on their own.

That I wont die anymore?

As soon as the words left my lips, I wanted to take back what I just said. Why did I say that? My friend stared back at me as though pitying me.

You must be having a hard time these days

Still, after telling me not to kill myself, she continued talking about owls and Hogwarts.

After our drinking session ended just like that, I returned to my daily routine. I had an ordinary, normal job, a job that would force me to sometimes face the harsh reality.

Youve worked hard today.

On my way home, my friend called me out so that we could get rid of our hangovers together. After I shot down her absurd idea of getting rid of our hangovers by drinking even more, we drank some hangover soup before sitting down in a cafe next to the soup place.

There had been a poster hanging on the glass wall of the cafe I had never seen before. We began to chat about the poster we just saw.

Is it from some popular animation? It was a big hit. What is it about? The main character was transported into another world and saved that world.

That sounds like a common story.

My friend tried to convince me to read it by saying that their art definitely stood out and that there was a handsome blonde man as the male lead.

Well. A common story is a common story. But arent your bookshelves full at this point?

My friend began attacking my innocent bookshelf.

But, Ji-Ahn. These stories usually end happily, dont they?

Do they?

Then, do the main characters return to their original world?

I hesitated to answer.

Youre asking me anything that comes to your mind.

I blinked. Before I knew it, I was scratching my cheek again out of habit. I tried to agree but my lips would not stop trembling.

Why? Whats going on?

While I was frozen in my thoughts, my friend continued the topic alone as if she had already gotten her answer.

Right. What novel have you been reading recently? You dont talk about them anymore.

You mean novels?

Yeah. You said you found something that suits your tastes perfectly.

Did I I dont seem to remember.

Did it turn boring after you bragged about it that much?

What was it about?

My friend tilted her head as if she thought it was strange.

The title was something vague but its obvious what you like. Theres some tyrant and he became obsessed with the female lead. Its some angsty story about the trials and tribulations the female lead has to face.

Am I that much of a weirdo? To think I liked these kinds of stories.

My friend then widened her eyes before staring at me as though I had changed.

Isnt that interesting? Did your tastes change overnight?

I shook my head quietly.

I dont like seeing people have a difficult time. Because its hard to see them like that.

For some reason, I felt burdened as though I had gone through something like that before but my friend who was hearing me speak found me even stranger yet she didnt question it.

On the way home, the sky was filled with dark clouds hiding stars that could not show themselves. The dark apartments looked like square boxes.

Standing atop a hill, when I turned around, I could see what was below me in an instant. The sight of spring blossoms beautifully decorated my view when I looked out my window. But at night, this view was tarnished.

My gaze lingered on the Seoul night view.

[So, this is the world you lived in.]