“…Everyone is late.”

[That’s true~]

“Why aren’t they coming?”

[Who knows~]

Strange.

We were definitely supposed to meet here around this time.

But none of them are in sight.

Even the Author seemed bored, dragging out her words.

Looking at the clock again, it was indeed the promised time. 2:10 PM.

Just in case, I took out my phone to check the conversation, confirmed that the meeting time was 2:00 PM on Saturday, and checked the date again.

It’s correct. Saturday, 2:00 PM. No doubt about it.

…Hmm, I guess they’re a bit late. Should I wait?

I thought about sending a text asking when they would gather but decided not to go that far.

They’ll be here soon.

“I guess everyone is running a bit late. I expected Siwoo to arrive first.”

[Huh? Why?]

“No, well… If he’s a guy, wouldn’t he be excited?”

Not just anyone, but the heroines in swimsuits.

The exposure level of a swimsuit is practically no different from underwear, right?

Perhaps because they’re heroines, Amelia and Dorothy are both pretty.

Most superhumans are good-looking, but is it because they’re heroines?

They definitely stood out compared to other students.

“Hmm, with Amelia and Dorothy, shouldn’t he be here early, thanking his luck?”

[…Is that so~?]

“Of course! Those two are so pretty!”

Amelia is the typical lively blonde beauty with blue eyes.

She’s a pretty girl with braided hair along her bangs.

Her figure is moderately voluptuous but quite tall, so her model-like proportions are beautiful.

And what about Dorothy?

She’s a pretty girl with slightly timid-looking brown hair and beautiful green eyes.

Unlike Amelia, her large breasts are impressive.

…Where did Siwoo go, leaving these girls behind?

“Was he not curious about Amelia and Dorothy in swimsuits…? I even encouraged him to look forward to it.”

It seemed like he was hesitating to come, so I brought up a topic that would stimulate any guy.

I wouldn’t be able to resist seeing Amelia and Dorothy in swimsuits, either. I would’ve been the same.

As expected, when I casually mentioned that, it was impressive how he nodded as if entranced.

Boys that age wouldn’t be able to hold back.

I know well since I went through that phase. Even if you don’t want to care, you can’t help but care.

[Why do you think he’ll only care about those two?]

“What?”

[Reader-nim, you’re a girl now too. Couldn’t Siwoo be attracted to you?]

“Haha, you’ve gotten quite imaginative. There’s no way.”

The Author is really good at making jokes, too.

There’s no way.

“I think I’m quite pretty too, but not enough to outshine the two heroines, you know?”

[…Hmm, is that so?]

“I haven’t had much contact with Siwoo either. Even if he looks my way, there’s no reason for him to be drawn to me.”

[Re-really?]

“I’m telling you.”

What incidents did I get involved with Siwoo…?

What was there?

First spar, comforting him when he couldn’t recover from the shock of his first kill, meeting as enemies in the finals.

That’s about it, right?

Ah, there were club activities too.

We met as enemies in the first spar and the finals. He was an obstacle.

For club activities, the three of us mostly moved together, and even then, Amelia and Siwoo spent much more time together.

He must have rapidly gotten close to Dorothy through the 2v2 tournament practice.

The only incident where I might have gotten close to Siwoo was comforting him after I killed that chameleon thing, right?… I can’t really think of anything else.

That was probably offset by me suddenly going a little crazy when we rode the Ferris wheel.

He must have thought that crazy bitch is having a fit on her own.

“Whenever there was a major incident, I had to be around him, but we didn’t really interact outside them.”

[Hmm, is that so…]

“I’m telling you.”

The Author’s reaction was ambiguous, but I wasn’t wrong, was I?

“If it was just me alone as the pretty one, it might be different, but there are several pretty girls and two heroines closer to him than me.”

Objectively speaking, nothing happened that would make Siwoo somehow drawn to me.

Even comforting him is something a friend could do.

“…However, Author-nim. There is one thing you should be careful of.”

[A precaution?]

“Yes. A precaution.”

In some popular novels, the protagonist is a popular character, and sometimes, supporting characters or extras try to cozy up to him.

…I can’t allow that.

“Some strange girls better not try to get close, okay? You were roughly planning to include a beach episode, right?”

[Huh? H-how did you…]

“I won’t tolerate those kinds of girls approaching him.”

That’s right, it’s unforgivable.

Siwoo is the protagonist. The one and only unique existence in the world.

…And, one of only two humans in the world.

“Amelia and Dorothy… And maybe future heroine candidates are okay.”

I can barely tolerate them.

Unless the Author goes crazy, she can’t just throw away a heroine who has appeared this many times and say she was a spy for some secret organization.

…You might bring up Lyla, but that’s different.

She had no real connection to me and Siwoo, and it was the beginning of the school year.

It was a time when we didn’t properly know what kind of person she was.

Honestly, deep down, I hope no new heroines that might appear someday show up either.

Because it’s easy for the Author to change their settings as she wishes.

It’s a different story from Amelia or Dorothy, whose personalities and backgrounds are roughly known already.

Like suddenly saying she’s from some new villain organization and kidnapping Siwoo…

Grrr. (TN: ??? Sure?)

[…Reader?]

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

Anyway, that kind of incident must not happen.

Because he’s an existence that can’t be replaced by anyone else in this world.

Both the Author and I want Siwoo to survive, but…

What would happen if Siwoo, the protagonist, dies?

The Author said with her own mouth that she couldn’t touch Siwoo.

…A person is always exposed to all sorts of dangers. You never know when an accident might happen and kill you.

I don’t know exactly what kind of existence the Author is.

Whether she really has the job of an author, how she freely manipulates this world, or whether she’s really human.

The one thing I’m certain of is just that she’s close to an omnipotent existence.

She would also want Siwoo to survive…

But what if–just what if–Siwoo dies?

Will the Author throw away this world?

If that happens, what will become of the world?

Will it crumble? Or will it continue on as if nothing happened?

He’s the person I found in this world.

The only one besides me.

If I lose such an existence, can I really stay sane?

…If I hadn’t noticed his existence from the beginning, I might not have known, but now I can say for certain.

I won’t be able to endure it.

“…Anyway, it’s cliché for those extras to approach the protagonist, so it can’t happen. Got it?”

[Hmm… Is that so…? Reader-nim has always been right… Alright! I understand!]

Fortunately–or unfortunately–the Author is not the meticulous type.

She’s the type to roughly cause things to happen and only realizes her mistake after a problem occurs.

…What would happen if she accidentally kills the protagonist?

That absolutely can’t happen.

I’m going to save him. Definitely.

I couldn’t leave Siwoo in danger.

What if some extras try to cozy up to him, and suddenly the Author says it would be fun and adds a setting where they’re villains who like surprise attacks?

…No!

Who cares if he has an ability that completely prevents that?

The only thing that came to mind was that the world is dangerous.

At least I can trust the people around him so far. But not others.

I have to get a grip…! Absolutely, absolutely no dangerous incidents can…

As my thoughts spread that far, I suddenly got chills.

…Why aren’t they coming?

Did the Author do something behind my back again?

Or in a place she didn’t set, was the protagonist suddenly stabbed and attacked?

Don’t tell me he’s already in danger…!

“Um, Arte.”

“That absolutely, absolutely can’t happen… Where is…!”

“Arte?”

“Ah.”

I heard Siwoo’s voice behind me and hurriedly turned my head.

I was spacing out a bit while waiting, so I didn’t notice the people approaching behind me.

Fortunately, the voice I heard was a familiar one.

Siwoo. The protagonist.

I agonized over sending my subordinates to search the city thoroughly, but thankfully, he seemed fine.

“Sorry, I was spacing out for a bit…”

“No, we should be sorry. Sorry, were we a bit late?”

“…”

For a moment, I felt awkward.

And I realized why the three of them were late.

“Just what did you put so much effort into?”

“…Ah, you noticed?”

“Wouldn’t I be stupid not to notice this?”

No matter how you look at it, it was different from usual.

…How should I put it? It felt like they received styling at some specialty shop.

It’s hard to explain properly since I haven’t been to such a place, but it felt like they splurged a lot of money.

“Miss Dorothy, what were you doing not stopping them…”

“I tried to stop them, saying we would be late, but they wouldn’t listen.”

“Sigh…”

There’s only one person by whom those two would get dragged around.

When I glared at Amelia, she hurriedly spilled excuses.

“I-I’m sorry we’re late! But don’t they look cool?! I-I tried to dress up a bit since we’re going anyway! Everyone arrived earlier than I thought…!”

“…The other two didn’t even get dressed up?”

“We ran out of time! S-so for now, we only did Siwoo! I’ll do you later too, Arte. How about it?!”

“Sigh.”

It felt like an excuse, but I decided not to ask further.

It was roughly convincing, and it was Amelia.

I had the thought that she wouldn’t do anything strange to Siwoo.

“Co-come on! It’s late, so let’s go quickly! I prepared a car!”

“Yeah! L-let’s go quickly!”

“…Hmm.”

Pushed from behind by the urging of Amelia and Dorothy, I boarded a vehicle that looked expensive at a glance.

And that’s when it really started to hit me.

…The trip is starting.

The Author said there won’t be any fighting on this trip.

I decided to relax and rest well.

It was a vacation after a long time.

Author’s Notes

Many readers made a fuss, saying they knew it would happen last time.

It’s not too late yet!!! They said they haven’t fallen for each other yet. It’s still just an obsession!

By the way, I haven’t received any news about the emoticons, even though I worked hard on it. It’s already been a week…?

Novel-chan… it’s cold… why aren’t you checking my sketches…