Chapter 37 - Two People's Diverging Fates (2)

Have you heard the term UNDEAD?

A supernatural being neither alive nor dead. A word referring to corpses that move against death.

That word circled in my mind as soon as I saw the girl before me.

For good reason, as the person before my eyes felt unmistakably like Yu Seolhwa.

Though her hair and eye colors were different, people have their own unique atmosphere.

There's a reason we can recognize people even as they age, even if their face or height changes. This was also why I could immediately recognize Bi Wol's Heart Demon.

However,

"......"

One problematic point left me speechless.

That appearance was Bing Seolhwa, set as Kim Hyul's heroine. A being called my half-sister in this world.

In other words, we met again in the worst possible relationship. As if someone who knew our relationship in reality had secretly cast dark magic.

"Ahaha! Do-hyeon, do you know you're making a really strange expression?"

Bing Seolhwa touched her lips while smiling in a twisted way. Her fragile smile reflected and shone in the moonlight.

"Who are you? How do you know my real name..."

I denied it at first.

Like the stages of accepting death, I didn't want to believe the assumption forming in my mind.

She might be just a shell identical to Seolhwa, created by Shub-Niggurath who claimed to be my avid reader. I hated the thought of our memories being sullied by an Outer God's muddy feet.

"Hm? I'm your one and only precious girlfriend, Yu Seolhwa."

Bing Seolhwa furrowed her brow as if I were strange. She took large strides to close the distance.

"You were possessed as Bing Yeon? So that's why I became similar. I think I understand now."

Bing Seolhwa immediately recognized me as Han Do-hyeon looking at my appearance. If so, she was more likely to be an Outer God rather than the real her.

Only the one who possessed me in this world could be so certain it was me while looking at the appearance of an extra, not even the main character.

She drew closer, even humming innocently. Though she seemed just like the Seolhwa I knew then.

"Stop lying. The Seolhwa I know wouldn't want to see this world's 'original story.'"

Above all, there was a decisive difference. More than anything, she wanted the story's characters and endings to be happy.

No matter how much I tried to discontinue serialization and make the novels' endings dark, unlike gloomy me, Seolhwa was a radiant being.

"She already knows this world's ending."

I spoke while clenching my fists.

This was a world we created together from the start. Just an unremarkable story made by two middle school students putting their heads together and discussing.

"Hmm, do you really think so? You know too that this world will become peaceful if the final bosses in the novel die."

Seolhwa slowly closed one eye while saying this. Why make such an awkward wink at this moment?

"Those children haven't done anything wrong yet. There's still plenty of possibility to turn them around."

I countered her with logic. Though I had designed dark pasts for my disciples, there was still possibility to change the future.

Bi Wol had escaped the Heavenly Demon Cult and resolved her Heart Demon, Verdandi had stopped using her ability self-righteously, and Azazel had somewhat let go of her obsession with Kang Si-woo.

I simply thought the ill fate I created should be cut by my own hands.

"So you're ignoring your one avid reader? Even the Mother Earth Goddess?"

"Though I know a writer exists because of readers, this ending feels right to me."

My conviction didn't waver no matter how much she tried to persuade me. This might be different if it were just a fictional novel, but this was a world where that fiction had become reality.

Moreover, the real Seolhwa wouldn't say such things. She was my first avid reader who loved my novels.

"Aren't you being too cold to your girlfriend you haven't seen in so long? Do-hyeon?"

"Why don't you stop this pathetic imitation? Is it fun toying with me using a dead person?"

Moreover, the original Bing Seolhwa was destined to become lovers with Kim Hyul, the original work's protagonist. Unlike me, a mere extra, she was a supporting character with significance.

If following the original work, she shouldn't be here in the first place.

"Every word you speak is an insult to Seolhwa."

Though I felt a sense of kinship with her having the same snow-white hair and blue eyes as me, I spoke to Bing Seolhwa while showing my displeasure.

"Hm? I was reborn in this world just like you, you know? Don't you believe me?"

She smiled while showing her wrist, as she often did normally. It was a unique habit Seolhwa had shown since childhood, but.

"Right, I definitely don't believe you. If you were really the complete Seolhwa, you wouldn't leave such a sentence as a trace on my body."

I shook my head and sorted my complicated thoughts seeing that gesture.

If she were really the one I knew, she wouldn't have left a sentence only visible through Azazel, nor would she have awkwardly winked one eye earlier.

I deliberately twisted it once considering the possibility of the Outer God discovering.

Seolhwa, who was skilled with riddles and codes, enjoyed when I understood her intentions this way.

"More precisely, we were given another chance. Because they enjoyed the web novels you wrote, they want to see the ending of that story."

Seolhwa spoke with a slightly tearful attitude trying to persuade me. She placed her hand on her chest as if her heart ached.

"Is there any proof I should believe those words?"

This entire scene could all be in the palm of the Outer God. I tried to block her approach while emanating cold energy.

"I cried so much after you left for military service. As if I'd developed a mental illness, my body started becoming rigid again..."

Then, tears welled up in Bing Seolhwa's blue eyes. They sparkled, slightly frozen in the cold temperature.

"...Shut up, I said shut up!"

I shouted at her not to come closer seeing that sight. I felt my heart would waver if she came any closer.

"Do-hyeon, didn't you want to see me? I didn't die immediately when my body hit the cold concrete floor. With my spine broken, I begged desperately to be saved."

Seolhwa continued crying while telling dark stories I didn't know. How much it hurt just before she died, how much she yearned for life because she didn't die immediately.

And,

"I died longing for you until my last breath, Do-hyeon. I cried out begging to meet you again if there really was a next life."

She candidly spoke of how much she had missed me when dying.

"...Even now, are those children more important than me?"

Drop─, Seolhwa stopped crying and reached out her hand to me. As if she would forgive me if I joined her intentions now.

"Aren't they like daughters to you too?"

I spoke while drawing up the internal energy in my body. Blood flowed from my eyes, nose, and mouth as my vision began to blur.

"Those children are the protagonists of the original work. Not the villains appearing as final bosses."

Hearing these words, I became certain the current Seolhwa wasn't in her right mind. Though she had memories of being with me, her body and thinking didn't seem normal.

- Hm? Then what about the final bosses with unfortunate pasts?

Well, Seolhwa had once told me about such issues too.

- You can make them happy in a parallel world sequel!

- So, is that why you try to connect the worldviews of your novels?

- Yes, isn't it every novelist's dream? Multiple novels coming together to form one world!

This was why I had tried to connect Azazel and Verdandi's worldviews. Even if they appeared as final bosses, there was no reason they had to remain unhappy forever.

"This confirms it. Return Seolhwa to normal, Outer God."

Kwang─! I immediately used Ice Descending Fist against her. A technique where I leaped into the air using a large ice mass, then descended with a striking fist.

"...My, I thought the acting was perfect."

Bing Seolhwa blocked it easily with her palm, smiling at me in a twisted way. Through my trembling fists, I saw her crying.

And only from the one eye she had winked earlier.

"It's not a lie. I really did give this child a second life."

Suddenly, her tone changed to that of a mature woman, mixing languages from various countries. As soon as I heard that voice, my heart felt like it would burst from constriction.

"Child, I'm simply curious about what tragedy your novel is heading toward. Understanding ignorance is most important, you see."

It was different from when Azazel revealed her divine nature. Though she spoke slowly, the words hammered directly into my brain.

It was deliberate. Like deliberately controlling the intensity when burning ants with a magnifying glass, keeping them just short of death.

"Kuh, keuheuk..."

No matter how I tried to breathe, I couldn't breathe properly, continuously vomiting blood where I had collapsed.

"Why do you refuse? I followed your novel to the end to see the protagonists' narrative."

Bing Seolhwa spoke as if pitying me while I gasped with my palms pressed to the ground.

Though I could live a happy life with Seolhwa if I accepted her opinion now.

"To an author, every finger hurts equally...!"

I didn't want to do that.

Even if they were discontinued works.

I knew of an author who succeeded after four remakes, and it had taken years to conceive Bi Wol and the disciples.

"Thank you for always coming to read when novels were posted, checking for typos, and cheering me on. But...!"

I barely stood up and spoke to Bing Seolhwa. At least this one thing felt like something I had to say myself.

"The ending of the story is decided by the author...!"

I showed my determination while conveying Seolhwa's words of encouragement from before.

"...How disappointing, I thought you were an author I could reason with. Then I'll see you at the Dragon Phoenix Branch Meeting."

Seeing my attitude, Bing Seolhwa clicked her tongue and spun around. As she disappeared into the distance, leaping between trees.

"Yes, I'll definitely save you someday."

I clenched my fist and strengthened my resolve.