# Chapter 24
In Chapter 10, I began to accept that I had been possessed by a real-time novel. I was becoming immersed in the fact that no one else could change this novel, and only I could save myself.
In the novel, Garam determinedly vows to change the future regardless of how the novel continues. But as the person reading the novel, I was somewhat pessimistic.
“What does he think he’s changing about the future?”
I couldn’t help but scratch my head. Moreover, he wasn’t even an esper but a guide. I sighed as I read the next paragraph. And I realized why the author had described me that way.
Garam, having woken up as usual, discovered that four gates had opened in the north, south, east, and west of Seoul.
Good Lord. That was impossible.
“No! That’s… exactly the same as the content of the last novel!”
Garam screamed.
“Again?”
I couldn’t help but lament the author’s laziness. The Chicago gate incident that Kim Haewon had experienced recently was also an event that appeared in [the novel]. Of course, some details had changed, but the main storyline was the same.
This Seoul Square Gate incident was the same. This was the incident where the C-class guide in the novel was first deployed inside a gate. It was also the starting point of the central events that would become the main focus of the novel.
The content was like this: One day, gates open in four places, all at the exact same distance from Gwanghwamun. The fact that they occurred simultaneously indicated they weren’t naturally occurring gates, which threw the Association into chaos.
This was a message, a signal that gates weren’t just opening randomly but could be controlled by someone. It was a setting that didn’t exist in reality, so I found it extremely interesting when I read it.
“That’s only a problem when it’s not happening to me!”
As soon as I said exactly that and scrolled down, I was rendered speechless.
“That’s only a problem when it’s not happening to me!”
Garam roared. But then he closed his mouth. The exact same content was written in the novel. How could this be?
I couldn’t even swallow a sip of saliva. All the content that had unfolded so far was chilling, but seeing words I had uttered just 5 seconds ago written down had a completely different meaning. Goosebumps rose all over my arms.
“So I’m really going into the gate?”
I suddenly clutched my neck. I was afraid my head would be cut off by a monster at any moment. The author was someone who had brutally killed the C-class guide in their previous work.
Just because that guide had become S-class wouldn’t mean much would change. They would surely kill me off again and call it heroic spirit or something, right?
With such fears, I scrolled down. What I had just said couldn’t be seen in the novel. Was it written selectively? I steadied my breathing and scrolled down.
The subsequent content was like this: Tomorrow morning at 9:30, while I’m eating breakfast at the hospital, Association officials urgently enter my room. I stop eating and am led by them to the western gate where the most intense battle is taking place.
Initially, the Association categorizes the gate level as ‘Gi’ and deploys B-class espers, but when casualties mount, they upgrade it to ‘Mu’ and deploy A-class and S-class espers. They handle three of the four gates that way. But the problem occurs at the western gate. An S-class esper who was deployed returns injured. To quickly clear the gate, the Association deploys Kim Haewon and Nam Ihyeon.
Of course, since I’m still a patient, I’m supposed to wait for Kim Haewon at the standby area outside the gate.
But the problem was what happened next. In the novel I read, this gate expands and swallows the standby area. As a result, two people who couldn’t avoid the attack inside the gate die.
In the previous novel, the C-class guide OO changes after experiencing this incident. He becomes awakened to justice, enraged that he couldn’t do anything.
In this novel, the protagonist ends this chapter contemplating how to change the upcoming story. There was no next chapter. This chapter also had comments.
[Reader1] Oh sh*t. This is why I read all the previous parts.
[Reader2] Now that they’re S-class, will we avoid that frustrating development from back then? I almost died from frustration back then;;
⤷ What? What’s this about? What’s the previous part? What frustrating development?ㅠㅠ Selling my eyes that saw the previous partㅠㅠ Name your priceㅠㅠI’m the only one who didn’t see it
The reactions were divided between those who knew the previous novel and those who didn’t. The novel seemed to be gaining more popularity too. And they all wanted the same thing: the next part! I was the same. I wanted to beg for just one more chapter, but since I was already a hater, I couldn’t even write a comment.
I put down my phone and gripped my head with both hands as if squeezing it. Is this how a protagonist in a movie feels after receiving a murder notice? It was too agonizing.
Based on my experiences so far, the gates would definitely open. I would be dragged out while eating breakfast tomorrow morning. And two people would die.
One was a somewhat famous A-class guide, and the other was a D-class esper full of a sense of justice. What were their names again…? It was so early in the story that I couldn’t remember. Anyway, I remembered how the two of them died.
Would the events unfold exactly the same way? Suddenly my heart started pounding. It felt as if the lives of two people were hanging on my hands.
“No! What can I do? No. I can’t.”
I slapped my cheeks to try and come to my senses. Even if I had become S-class, I was still a guide. I could bring an esper to their best condition, but I didn’t possess any physical abilities beyond that.
Far from saving people, I could die too. I needed to focus on preserving my own life. But was there really no way for both me and them to survive? I needed to think of a way even without being an esper. I hit my head repeatedly as I organized my thoughts.
“Move the shelter!”
I jumped up from the bed. From the start, if the shelter is located where it won’t be swept up even if the gate entrance expands, that would work. Then, without using an esper’s abilities, we can survive.
As long as we don’t enter the gate, we can live.
Everyone can live. At those seven words, my heart pounded.
* * *
I stayed up all night with my eyes wide open. By the time dawn broke, I was hoping this wouldn’t unfold according to the novel. This was too big an incident for a civilian like me to handle.
I didn’t have some source of power in my chest, I wasn’t a science genius, and rubber bands didn’t shoot from my wrists. I was just a guide with 20 years of experience.
“Why is this happening to me?”
I felt like pulling the blanket over my head and sobbing loudly. But since crying wouldn’t solve anything, even fake tears wouldn’t come. Yawning didn’t help either.
My heart was ceaselessly shedding tears, but my eyes were just dry. Only dark circles appeared black under my eyes. After showering, I changed into a new hospital gown. I considered wearing the bulletproof vest left by the illegal Santa, but I didn’t feel like it, so I left it alone.
So far, nothing had deviated from the novel. But the development was changing from the original novel. The Chicago Gate incident was like that, and the story afterward was like that too. The illegal Santa didn’t even exist in the original novel.
I saw the possibility of change in those differences. This wasn’t just a novel but my life. Of course, I would move to prioritize my own survival if possible. I had no intention of sacrificing myself for the greater good like the guide in that novel.
After all, I needed to be alive to see whether the greater good of the world was achieved or not.
I had no desire whatsoever to become the protagonist of such a novel. But if I had already become one, I could just change it my way.
I started eating breakfast early. As I watched the clock and ate combatively, time was further reduced. Fortunately, because I had a lot of field experience and could eat quickly, I was able to scarf it down.
By 9:20, I had already finished brushing my teeth and clearing my meal tray. I took a deep breath and sat on the bed. Then I just stared at the door. As if challenging whatever was coming to bring it on.
Of course, it would be better if all this was in vain. Then I could just live my life without being anxious about that novel. I looked at my wristwatch once.
9:24, 9:25, 9:26.
With each passing minute, my palms grew sweaty. I roughly wiped my palms on my pants and took a deep breath.
9:29.
I completely took my eyes off the watch and just stared at the hospital room door. Then I started counting down 60 seconds. 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53, 52…
The door opened with a bang. The person who opened it was Manager Kang Muwon from the Management Department.
“Garam-ssi! Emergency situation! Four gates have opened simultaneously in Seoul right now. The situation is urgent, and Kim Haewon Esper will also be deployed.”
It was exactly the same line as in the novel. I recalled his next words. Let’s go to the western temporary shelter.
“Let’s go to the western temporary shelter.”
Guide Park Garam is absolutely necessary.
“Guide Park Garam is absolutely necessary!”
I nodded and got up from my seat. Unlike in the novel, I didn’t make a fuss asking what was going on and refusing to go. I stood confidently and clapped my hands once.
“Let’s get started.”
In response to my resolute reaction, Kang Muwon just blinked.
