VSP 158

Anyway, he wasn’t the type to stay and sleep by Sejun’s side…

Sejun just grumbled and couldn’t bring himself to suggest it to Dogyeong.

Even if he was the shameless Seo Sejun, he didn’t need to waste his emotions. He knew how the person who hated him would react to those words, so there wasn’t a reason to bother.

Their relationship was like that. They hated each other and only had sex occasionally. It was a dry bond with not a single point of compatibility.

Sejun thought about it later after he learned the truth, but he still didn’t know how the author wanted to make them fall in love. The story never mentioned it. Their story hadn’t been written in detail, except for the very beginning.

The start of the story and the parts that shed light on Sejun’s and Cha Dogyeong’s relationship began to move rapidly after a certain point. He thought later that the author might’ve changed the genre around then. Their story was abandoned at that time.

There wasn’t any description in the story after that. The narrative progressed simply, as if someone had patched together snapshots from a camera. Sejun couldn’t do anything. He was just a character in the story, after all.

He just felt that their relationship was spiraling toward disaster whenever the unfinished story flickered by.

Their relationship became a messier tangle amidst the hellscape where cities were destroyed, dungeons overflowed, and people died. He became entangled with Ryu Sehyun, Lee Dohun, and Choi Hangyeol. Then came the cycle of fighting and having sex with Cha Dogyeong again and again.

The detailed circumstances and stories that might’ve existed in between were skipped. The end was the dungeon’s overflow. There was only a single line at the end of the fragmented story: Incheon, final dungeon overflow, Asura appears, Ryu Sehyun dies while trying to protect Seo Sejun.

Ryu Sehyun died. Sejun didn’t know the exact reason because the author hadn’t written that part either. The only certain thing was that Ryu Sehyun died while trying to save Sejun. He couldn’t even grieve. Even that moment wasn’t written.

So Sejun didn’t know what kind of ending his story or other people’s stories would have. He only realized it was a story while he was struggling inside the unfinished, poorly made narrative. He probably wouldn’t have realized it if he hadn’t been the protagonist.

No.

When he sensed the end, Sejun searched for Cha Dogyeong’s fading traces within the frozen world. But what could he do in a discontinued novel? Their story disappeared just like that.

Or rather, it should’ve disappeared. However, a thread remained.

A different story with the same characters but a different genre and plot was ongoing, so their existence didn’t get buried.

Sejun’s world was suddenly overturned one day. Someone had come looking for their story.

[If I want a strong Sejun, I should just bring over the past setting.]

The author came back to Sejun, like someone looking for something they’d crumpled into a box and forgotten.

[I’ll just move his combat power as it is, except for the summon-related parts.]

Sejun might’ve realized it was his last chance the moment he heard those words. He saw the components of his world merging with something else when he heard the author’s voice.

Ah, is this world merging with that one?

The worlds had already merged to some extent while the author pulled settings from it, but they began to merge more when she made up her mind. Things related to Asura especially began to move to the other world because Sejun’s world had stopped at the battle with Asura.

He tried to grab onto them. However, he didn’t think he’d be pulled along even if he held on, since he didn’t know what was being merged. He couldn’t grab them. Sejun was too weak to hold on. His EX-rank hunter power was just a strength he could only use within a novel.

He wanted to give up as time passed. Why couldn’t he just disappear?

Could he do it? He didn’t think so.

He wondered if it was okay to just disappear.

Did he have to struggle?

Why bother…

Cha Dogyeong came to mind when those thoughts occurred to Sejun.

Sejun made a final struggle in that moment.

It can’t be like this.

Cha Dogyeong will die if things remain the same.

He didn’t know why he struggled so desperately while he thought that.

He doesn’t know the reason even now.

He just felt like it shouldn’t be that way. He thought it shouldn’t end like this. He simply felt he had to do it whenever he thought of Cha Dogyeong.

[Now, as a reward for Sejun…]

Finally, Sejun grabbed something after a desperate struggle when the author tried to take a setting she’d been considering. He couldn’t describe what it was in words. He felt the joy of finally grabbing the world’s edge. He thought he’d made it, and then something sucked him away.

He opened his eyes and found himself inside a dungeon. He’d become the other world’s Seo Sejun.

“So, our world’s Asura suddenly appeared in this peaceful world because the worlds merged. A few other things probably mixed in too, not just Asura.”

Dungeons, anomalies, and settings. The two worlds merged awkwardly from the moment the author decided to take the story from that world. It was even easier since they were the same world originally.

Sejun sighed softly.

He should’ve brought some water if he’d known this would happen. His throat hurts because he talked too much.

But he was grateful that he could speak. He wouldn’t have been able to talk about this normally. He would’ve been trapped in that frozen world forever and fallen asleep without even knowing it. Just like people in all the unfinished stories in this world.

A story should lose its life the moment it stops, but the problem was that the author wrote a different story based on theirs. He could be here now because that world’s life had persisted.

Sejun had to try for a long time to accept this reality when he first woke up in the locked dungeon. He made a decision the moment he realized the world’s secret.

I’ll survive. I’ll survive and reach an ending.

These people reached an ending and became free. They had a happy ending after they defeated Asura. So if I defeat the Asura that came from the other side, then… won’t I be able to see an ending too?

Asura was the final boss in both worlds. He thought that if he defeated the Asura he couldn’t beat over there, he might reach an ending and gain freedom. That’s why he was here now.

“In short, what I’m doing now is a struggle to live.”

“…….”

“My world ended up like that because the author didn’t write it properly, yet she’s happily achieving what she wants in a second world without lifting a finger? How can that be? It’s not fair to me.”

Sejun wondered too late if he’d talked too much. Cha Dogyeong wasn’t a great listener and didn’t give much of a reaction. Sejun felt a bit awkward and turned to check on Cha Dogyeong’s expression, but he only saw a blank face and couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Sejun tilted his head.

“What? You don’t believe me?”

“No.”

Dogyeong turned his gaze forward again as he replied.

“There’s no reason for you to lie.”

That meant he believed him. He believed this story that could be called ridiculous. Then again, could he refuse to believe?

It’s usually hard to believe that your world is a novel.

“But why do you look like that?”

His expression wasn’t very bright. Sejun admitted it was a gloomy story, but the look on his face was too dark. Cha Dogyeong sighed.

“I just realized it wasn’t a lie.”

Oh, was that it?

“You wanted it to be a lie.”

Sejun chuckled. It made sense to hope for that. It applied to the fact that his world was a novel and his resentment toward Sejun. However, Cha Dogyeong shook his head after a moment.

“……No.”

“Huh?”

Sejun asked, but Dogyeong didn’t answer. He asked something else instead.

“……So what happens after we defeat that guy? What becomes of everything then?”

“Well, I don’t know what happens after that.”

Cha Dogyeong’s gaze turned colder than before. But Sejun felt it was unfair.