“Ahaha.”

The girl laughed.

With an expression free of any worries or concerns. She laughed as if she was so very happy.

(…Hey, that Reader of yours looks quite unstable?)

“Right? Maybe it’s because I haven’t said anything in a while. Do you think she believes she was abandoned?”

She watched  the Reader looking very anxious.

Hey Author-nim? Did I do something wrong?

That anguished appearance was so lovely.

“It’s like an abandoned  kitten crying!”

Meow, meow.

A  kitten crying out to a person to save it.

A kitten desperately clinging because it will die if it doesn’t receive help.

It reminded her of a cute, trembling, frightened kitten.

The way she clings to the Protagonist, trying to find warmth in any way she can.

“How cute. This is why I like  the Reader!”

(Sigh…)

As if she would kill the Reader.

Is it because she’s needlessly worrying and has seen many things?

It was cute how she feared she might be replaced.

(Still, she’s the soul you brought. Why not treat her a bit better?)

“You’re telling me?”

The girl turned her head sharply with a sulky face.

No matter how she thought about it, she wasn’t in a position to listen to those guys.

Because what those guys were doing was even worse.

“Always playing around with regression and whatnot. Saying you want to see a great war, building a tower, putting a whole race inside, and having them fight.”

(…I have nothing to say to that.)

“And as you know, I don’t want to kill  the Reader either!”

(Well, there’s no way you could kill her. Since you like that world so much.)

“Of course. I can’t abandon it. No, I won’t abandon it!”

‘Do you know how hard it is to take control of a world? There’s no way I could abandon it.’

How could she abandon  the Reader after obtaining this chance? Was she crazy?

“I’ll enjoy it before she fully breaks.”

Invading another world is quite a difficult task.

Because it’s impossible to just enter due to the world’s nature of rejecting foreign substances.

She had to somehow bring a human soul from outside and mix it with a part of her body to infiltrate.

Only then could she avoid being bounced out.

After going through such hardships to invade this world, it would be a waste to throw it away.

Who knows how many centuries it would take to find another terminal? Then, it would be meaningless.

“Well, there’s no need to tell  the Reader she wasn’t abandoned.”

It was also amusing how  the Reader mistakenly thought that she might have been abandoned.

Is it because she was originally male?  The Reader didn’t seem to have any special feelings towards the Protagonist.

‘But tada! I just didn’t talk to her for a bit, and my goodness.’

Look at her clinging to the Protagonist out of anxiety.

She was pondering momentarily about what to say to the Reader, not responding.

It was so cute how she was half-panicked, clinging to him.

“How is it? Romance is fun too, right?”

(…Hmm. I hate to admit it, but this one’s pretty good.)

(Shall we try it too?)

(Let’s watch this a bit more first. It should be fine to try after that world is destroyed.)

Seeing the other guys taking an interest in this world, she felt her pride rise.

It felt like she became a trendsetter.

“I wonder how  the Reader will act from now on. I’m looking forward to it.”

It seemed the distance between the leads narrowed a lot.

What actions will she take to entertain us?

The pure girl began watching  the Reader again, not hiding her pounding heart.

***

“…Alright. This should be good.”

“Urgh…! Let, let go! To the likes of you…!”

“Stay still. If you want to walk out with your limbs intact.”

“Eek!”

The likes of you, he says.

Not liking him talking to Siwoo like that, I spoke curtly.

Fortunately, he seemed to be a decent guy for a villain, quickly realizing his mistake.

After that, he began walking to the academy with us without a word.

“We caught quite a lot.”

“Indeed.”

“The villains we caught today alone are a considerable number. We’ve basically secured a high rank.”

The reason I was so certain was simple.

Copycats were appearing after Arachne stopped their activities, right?

Then, if Arachne is active, they’ll stop out of fear.

Moreover, after drawing spider patterns in the copycats’ houses and making a mess, they all started laying low.

Arachne’s target is always villains.

Although their numbers may be high now, the number of villains will decrease by the time Arachne starts activities again.

The ways to earn points itself will decrease.

So, if we earn points now, a high rank is guaranteed.

“You’re reliable, Arte.”

“Of course!”

I looked at Siwoo with my usual smile.

I won’t make a spectacle like before. I’ve completely calmed down.

What happened yesterday and today was just a…

“…Then, shall we part ways here for today?”

“What?”

P-part ways?

Suddenly?

“We don’t need to earn any more points. You seemed to lack sleep too. Wouldn’t it be better to go back early and rest?”

“T-that’s… right.”

Part ways. The time has come for me and Siwoo to part.

The moment I realized that fact, my breathing started getting heavy.

Huff, huff…

No, I’m fine. We’re just parting ways.

There’s no particular reason. It’s just time, and he’s telling me to go back and rest out of concern for me.

There’s no reason for me to tremble this much. No reason.

My mind turned blank.

My reason was to try to convince myself that parting ways is natural and that there’s nothing wrong with what he said.

But my body?

My breathing started getting heavy when I realized it was time to part.

No matter how I thought about it, I myself knew best that my state wasn’t normal.

I can’t show the Protagonist this unstable state.

Somehow suppressing my breathing, I showed my usual smile.

“Let’s do that. I’ll be going then…!”

“Arte! Wait a…”

I left without listening to what Siwoo was trying to say.

If I had stayed longer, I would have shown Siwoo a strange side of me.

I had no choice.

“Huff, huff, huff…”

My breathing was ragged.

To think I would be this mentally cornered by the fact that I have to part from Siwoo.

Why?

“Phew… Haaah…”

After somehow calming my breathing, I began following Siwoo.

Separate from the self-loathing I felt for being cornered to this extent, I had to watch over him.

Because it was true that I didn’t know what the Author might do.

I had to somehow watch over the Protagonist.

Catching my breath which was gradually finding stability, I began following Siwoo.

***

“Delicious. Delicious. Mir, isn’t it delicious?”

“Yeah, Annie. It’s really delicious.”

In a city turned to ruins with corpses strewn about…

A girl in a tattered hood was muttering something while continuously putting something in her mouth.

“Humans are humans, but magical beasts are especially exquisite. Delicious, delicious…”

“You shouldn’t discriminate against monsters, Annie. It’s good for everyone to be equal.”

“Okay. I got it, Mir.”

The girl kept talking even while ceaselessly putting something in her mouth.

Because the girl’s mouth wasn’t just one.

“…Ah. Something else grew again.”

“It’s proof you’ve become equal, Annie. Don’t worry…”

“Alright, Mir. Your words were always right.”

If people saw her conversing alone, they would have found it eerie.

…No, the moment they saw her appearance, they would have either fled or tried to kill her without hesitation.

Because it was hard to see the girl’s appearance inside the hood as human.

“…I think I grew more teeth.”

“It’s just a 3rd-grade magical beast, Annie… It’s so very weak. Right?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I see…”

“To make the world equal, we need greater power. Overwhelming power.”

The girl kept muttering to herself.

We need great power. Overwhelming power.

The memory of that day when they failed right before the plan’s success came to mind.

She was hindered by a boy who looked insignificant, and she died in an instant from the sudden intrusion of a powerful being.

If all of them had been gathered, that wouldn’t have happened.

Spira, Minos, Marmo, Annie, Mir, Lan, Rabi, Havi, Ovis, Chris, Equus, and Lupo.

The story would have been different if the twelve of them had gathered.

If it weren’t for that damned spiders, Mir wouldn’t have died either.

“We lacked power, Mir. We were weak.”

“… That’s right, Annie. We were weak.”

“If it weren’t for those spiders…! If it weren’t for them…!”

She chewed on the magical beast’s bones, filled with resentment.

They were weak. Weaker than their enemies.

That’s why they died.

‘They probably think we were defeated. That we were crushed by a mighty power.’

But they’re wrong. They haven’t been crushed yet.

Because a small fragment remains.

“Haha. They’ll regret not killing us… Right, Marmo?”

The hooded girl unwrapped the bundle and looked at the corpse she had painstakingly obtained.

Although it was hard to identify due to the collapsed form, she could tell.

This distinctive shape of the skull. The pointed front teeth.

Because it was someone she had seen many times.

“Wait, my friends. Let’s go achieve our goal together. I’ll be right there.”

The insane specter yearning for power began to move.

_______________________

Author’s Notes

Ruminas-nim, have a good day!