“What……?”
“This time, I came here of my own will, because I love Heo Wonyoung.”
“Taerim-ssi……”
Both Wonyoung and the game creator looked at Taerim in surprise. Taerim turned back and spoke sharply.
“You guys snap out of it too! Are you going to lose Wonyoung-ssi like this? Are you okay with him returning to being Narae?”
“……That’s……”
“I’m……”
Over the flood of cruel memories, newly built memories rose to the surface.
―Heegang.
―What could you have done wrong? You’ve never done anything wrong.
Through that, Baek Heegang received forgiveness for the first time.
―Siyeon.
―I’ll respect whatever choice you make. But I’ll never let you go alone. That’s my choice.
Through that, Ki Siyeon gained his only ally in a world where he had been alone.
Of course, it wasn’t all happiness. Sometimes it was painful. But that’s exactly why it was even more precious.
Because it wasn’t a story where someone else decided the ending, but a story with Heo Wonyoung that they had chosen themselves.
That’s why they came here to protect him. Recalling that fact, Siyeon and Heegang struggled to stand up.
“Wonyoung hyung. Don’t worry.”
Hiding his still trembling hands, Siyeon smiled.
“I’m not going anywhere without you, Heo Wonyoung.”
Erasing the past that kept becoming clearer in his vision, Heegang spoke without wavering.
“……Everyone……”
A gentle hand soon caressed Wonyoung’s eyes as he couldn’t easily continue his words.
“We won’t let you fight alone anymore. We won’t let you sacrifice yourself alone.”
“Taerim-ssi……”
Wonyoung, who had been looking at Taerim with emotion, soon seemed to have made up his mind and slowly turned toward the game creator.
“Let’s stop now, this kind of thing.”
“……”
“Not just Narae, but these three people are also characters you created, aren’t they? If you care about them even a little…… please compromise just this once. I know we’ll have to part ways eventually. Until then……”
Wonyoung felt a lump rising in his throat. He really didn’t want to part ways. He didn’t want to beg this person in this way.
But, even so.
“Please allow me to remain as Heo Wonyoung in this place.”
Wonyoung pleaded more desperately than ever before.
The game creator remained silent with his head bowed. What he was thinking, that was hidden in the darkness and couldn’t be seen.
And how much time had passed? From within the shadows, a mournful voice rang out.
“You promised…… that you’d let me be loved……”
The game creator took one step forward.
“Why?”
Another step.
“Why does it have to be you?”
Wonyoung’s eyes widened when he saw the appearance that emerged under the light.
“……Narae……”
Clearly, in the spot where the cafe owner had been standing until just now, stood a person he knew all too well.
Narae, the protagonist of this game.
Taerim, Siyeon, and Heegang were equally surprised. They couldn’t easily open their mouths at the unbelievable sight. Among them, Siyeon was the first to speak.
“What kind of stunt is this? Do you think something will change if you appear with Narae’s face now?”
At Siyeon’s rebuke, Narae flinched. At that sight, Siyeon’s eyes wavered. Even that behavior was just like the Narae he knew all too well.
“I am Narae. Don’t you recognize me……?”
“What kind of…… bullshit is that!”
At Narae’s plea, Siyeon raised his voice even louder to shake off his agitation. But Wonyoung murmured ‘Could it be……’ at those words.
“Wonyoung-ssi?”
Without even hearing Taerim’s call, Wonyoung stared intently at the Narae before his eyes, at the game creator.
The game creator’s speech pattern that he had simply thought was an abangsu concept, his behavior of being excessively obsessed with Narae, Narae’s overly realistic past…….
All those facts pointed to only one conclusion.
“……You were the real Narae?”
“……”
At that question, the three men looked at Wonyoung with shocked eyes. The real Narae? That man who created this game is Narae?
“What do you mean, hyung?”
Siyeon asked in a flustered voice, but Wonyoung solidified his thoughts while looking at the game creator who had the exact same appearance as Narae. Come to think of it, this game itself was like that.
The choices given to him each time were just like Narae’s life, where he constantly had to choose between family and debt, study and work, father and mother.
Soon, toward the three flustered people, Wonyoung stated definitively.
“The creator of this game was Narae himself.”
He didn’t know how it happened. However, because Wonyoung had received Narae’s past memories, he could sense it.
The Narae before his eyes wasn’t the game creator in disguise. It was that Narae, the one Wonyoung had seen in the past, himself. The game creator’s appearance had actually been the fake one.
However, that’s why there was a part that was even more incomprehensible.
“But how? How can you be Narae? This world…… what the hell is this game?”
“A world where Narae can be loved.”
The one who answered Wonyoung’s question was a familiar yet somehow discordant voice. Wonyoung confirmed the owner of that voice and asked blankly.
“System……?”
The glowing sphere had appeared between Narae and the four people before they knew it. The System continued in a dry tone.
“He created this world because he wanted to be loved. For a life that was never loved even once. We pitied him and gave him power.”
“……”
“But no matter how many times he was loved, he wasn’t satisfied. So he repeated the same time over and over again. For hundreds of times.”
At the truth that suddenly confronted them, Wonyoung and the three others fell silent, at a loss for words.
The place where he stood, this world he had come to love, was a world created for only one person. He and those he loved had merely been ruthlessly sacrificed.
Of course, Wonyoung understood both Narae’s desire to be loved and the pain he felt from not being loved. But he could neither understand nor forgive what Narae had done after that.
“Why on earth. After receiving the world you so desired, why did you repeat it hundreds of times? That’s…… too cruel to these three people.”
Narae remained silent. This time, even the System didn’t open its mouth to speak instead. Wonyoung pressed Narae with a resentful voice.
“Why didn’t you become Narae yourself from the beginning? Why did you specifically become the game creator and summon people like me? In the end, wasn’t it because you couldn’t be satisfied since the Narae in the game wasn’t you? That’s why you kept resetting the world, isn’t it?”
“……I……”
Narae’s lips trembled. Wonyoung drove the final nail into such a Narae.
“While wanting to be loved by these people, have you ever loved these people?”
“!”
The flustered Narae looked at Taerim, Siyeon, and Heegang in turn. Their gazes pouring onto him were sharp as thorns. There wasn’t a trace of affection in them.
Narae lowered his eyes and murmured hesitantly.
“I…… just didn’t like the ending……”
“What?”
“Clearly there were better endings…… I could be loved more, but everyone left so quickly……!”
At that moment, Siyeon, who had been listening silently, rushed at Narae and grabbed him by the collar.
“Are you joking?! You didn’t like the ending? For such a trivial reason you’ve been repeating the world?”
“……Si, Siyeon.”
“Don’t call my name!”
Siyeon was full of indignation. Even though it was affection close to brainwashing, he had loved Narae every time the game repeated. But that was merely, truly nothing more than a game to someone.
This pain, to Narae, meant nothing at all.
It wasn’t just Siyeon who felt despair. Heegang and Taerim felt the same.
The memories repeated hundreds of times and the resulting pain were so agonizing.
“After returning all those memories, you shouldn’t appear in this form! If you have any conscience, you shouldn’t play the victim……!”
Overcome with emotion, Siyeon swung his fist. With a thud, Narae fell to the floor.
“Ugh……!”
At that sight, Wonyoung flinched, but Taerim held such a Wonyoung back. In the end, no one approached Narae.
Soon, resentment slowly rose from the chest of the fallen Narae. I’m the protagonist of this world, so why is everyone only on Heo Wonyoung’s side?
What did I do so wrong?
I’m the one who has this world. Everyone should love me as a matter of course.
Why am I the only one so unhappy?
What should I do now?
“……Ah.”
At that moment, one plan came to Narae’s confused mind. Then it felt like his blocked insides were clearing out.
I should have done this from the beginning. What was I worrying about?
This is all because of Heo Wonyoung. Because that person acted selfishly and blamed me.
‘But it’s over now.’
Soon Narae spoke to the System in a carefree tone.
“……System. I’m going to quit this game now.”
“What did you……?”
At those words, Wonyoung and Siyeon doubted their ears, but Narae continued nonchalantly.
“With new characters, I’ll start from the beginning. These three don’t listen to me anymore…… and since they’ve come to like someone other than me, it’s uncomfortable to reset them too. Create new characters for me. You will, right? Because I’m pitiful.”
Narae said that to the System, then dusted off his clothes and stood up. At that shameless appearance, Siyeon’s face contorted.
“What? You crazy bastard!”
“Siyeon, wait……!”
Somehow he had a bad feeling. It was when Wonyoung reached out his hand to stop the agitated Siyeon.
[You have selected to delete the game.]
[All installation elements including save files and personal options will be deleted.]
[Character deletion in progress……]
A notification window appeared before his eyes, and the next moment Wonyoung’s hand swept through empty air.
“……Huh……?”
Wonyoung’s hollow voice echoed in the empty space with nothing there. Clearly Siyeon had been right before his eyes just moments ago, but now his figure couldn’t be seen anywhere.
As if he alone had been cleanly carved out.
“Errors should disappear. All of you.”
Narae smiled and lifted his head. Wonyoung drew in a breath and turned around. Soon, the moment his eyes met Heegang’s.
“Wonyoung……”
“Heegang!”
This time, even before Heegang could finish his words, he disappeared.
“……What is this……”
Taerim too muttered in confusion at the unbelievable sight. Narae looked at such a Taerim and said to the System.
“I can just start over from the beginning. Erase everything and start again. Right? You’ll do that, won’t you?”
“……Yes, I’ll proceed with that.”
