I couldn’t hide my bewilderment as I looked at Kim Hyul and Zikhart. They mentioned that if my disciples from the Yong Bong Gihwa managed to beat them, they would join our side.
“…Does Bing Seolhwa know that you two are here?”
It was dangerous that they were here when their families were being held hostage.
“No, but they’ll find out soon enough.”
“Just watching doesn’t suit our nature.”
Kim Hyul and Zikhart nodded at me. They seemed to have already made up their minds deep inside.
They were practically protagonists of a novel, unable to tolerate injustice.
“I guess you have your reasons. If they kill their hostages just because we ran away, it means that guy won’t achieve his goal either.”
Zikhart spoke as if he had figured out Shub Niggurath’s intentions. An Outsider wanting to transform me and Seolhwa into a relationship where we would kill each other.
“Do you know Bing Seolhwa’s goal?”
“It would be stranger if I didn’t know. What’s inhabiting that girl is even weirder.”
“……!!!”
Zikhart had lost his sight but possessed superhuman senses that allowed him to know things others couldn’t. That’s how he could fight evenly with Verdandi, the Hero.
“I felt something so unsettling that it’s hard to describe. I’ve crossed death countless times, yet I trembled in fear.”
Kim Hyul trembled his fists while speaking. It was known that Outsiders could drive ordinary people insane or lead them to choose death if they revealed too much.
It wasn’t surprising to see the protagonists of the original novel reacting this way.
“So, why did you bring the Master of the Gold Tower here? She was supposed to be looking for the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Suddenly, I noticed something strange about the blonde woman next to Kim Hyul. Wolfram was supposed to head to the cave I told her about.
Why was she here with them now?
“Oh, that? Bing Seolhwa kidnapped me!”
“…What?”
Wolfram casually dropped this enormous fact, and it was almost unbelievable due to her nonchalant attitude.
“That girl, Bing Seolhwa, kidnapped you?”
Why on earth would she make such a choice? No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find a clear reason.
“Yep! I thought she was going to eat me with those massive tentacles, and when I opened my eyes, I was trapped in a dark basement.”
It was too costly to only kidnap one Master of the Gold Tower. If the world found out Wolfram had been touched, all the Magic Towers would turn against her.
If she was going to do something like this, she would have planned to kidnap all the Masters at once.
“Jealousy…? Or does she have another reason?”
The only clue I had was that she had met me right before.
If she was preparing another method to make me fight Seolhwa, it made sense.
Especially since Wolfram was a character inspired by Seolhwa’s free spirit and was someone she liked.
“So, did she say anything else?”
“Yeah! She claimed she was the creator of this world. It was creepy how she knew all about my past.”
“…….”
It seemed the Outsider mentioned that this world was a mixture of three novels. A guilt that crept up my entire being couldn’t be shaken off.
I struggled to save as many people as possible. That was the best I thought a stopped serialization author could do.
But,
“I couldn’t save everyone.”
I trembled my lower lip as I recalled the past.
Children who lost their parents in the gap of the War of Good and Evil, widows crying after losing their families, and the strong ruthlessly pillaging the weak.
I was like a sinner bearing the greatest original sin for them. I gained the nickname Bing Yeon while saving people during the War of Good and Evil, but that didn’t erase all my wrongdoings.
Only now, after decades, was that guilt returning to me like a boomerang.
“When talking about being a co-creator, Do Hyeon was also mentioned. In this world, there are both heavenly gods and earthly gods. Isn’t that hilarious?”
Wolfram mentioned my previous life’s name and laughed in disbelief. She didn’t seem to know that both the heavenly god and earthly god were settings I created as a child.
A god that irresponsibly granted the power of a hero without properly assessing human good and evil.
Deep down, I might have wished for the freedom to live outside of the settings like Bi Wol.
Considering that all the evil and villainy had been birthed from my fingertips, just breathing felt torturous and made me feel like going mad.
“Master, are you alright? Your face is turning pale!”
“Oh, no. I’m fine.”
The reason I scolded the village chief in Verdandi’s village was close to self-loathing.
I couldn’t understand why they didn’t feel guilt for abusing and ostracizing a child.
Even if they were minor characters moving in a scripted world, I’d witnessed them living without behaving that way.
The Infinite Sword Technique of the Namgung Clan, the Poison Dragon of the Sichuan Tang Clan, and the Hwasan Sect’s Hyunhwa—those who were supposed to despise the side characters were strong figures in the martial world.
They should have been more than willing to kill me as an outsider but ended up accepting me instead.
“Surely, the name Do Hyeon was inscribed on your brother’s back.”
Azazel picked up on something strange from Wolfram’s words. It was impossible not to notice it, considering my current name was quite different.
If this situation got exposed, I couldn’t even imagine how I’d face them.
“Perhaps it’s about Yog Sothoth, Shub Niggurath’s husband?”
Fortunately, Azazel seemed to ponder for a moment before starting to make incorrect assumptions. It was probably too much to expect her to know this world was born from my fingertips.
“Just as Shub Niggurath is likely inhabiting that woman Bing Seolhwa, something similar might be affecting your body as well.”
Considering the connection with the Outsider Shub Niggurath and the fact that both seemed to have knowledge of the future, this theory made more sense.
“…….”
I purposely remained silent. If I spoke recklessly, Verdandi could discover the truth.
“Given what ruined your body, that might be possible.”
Bi Wol nodded meaningfully while holding my hand as if to say it was okay upon seeing my serious expression.
I was the root cause of the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect that tormented her, and I only helped because I didn’t want to confront what I’d done.
Why were so many people gathering around me now?
Suddenly, Seolhwa’s words echoed in my mind: “You’re too kind, that’s the problem.” It was about me helping others too much, even when I could have just let things pass.
As she said, if others had fallen into this world instead of me, they might have monopolized opportunities or gained wealth and fame through prior knowledge.
I had merely transcribed my imagination into text.
But,
“So, what now? Bing Yeon. I heard on the way here that you have to kill that woman Bing Seolhwa, right?”
“…That’s the case, but I won’t kill her.”
I had a goal to properly conclude this world.
This world was also the last trace she left behind. Though I had stopped the serialization, I had never given up on crafting its settings or writing.
What came from that was my current survival as Bing Yeon, the character I possessed.
The story behind Bi Dong, the forbidden technique of Bi Wol, Verdandi’s hidden powers—all these were results I obtained by not giving up on writing.
“Bing Seolhwa is also my half-sister, you see.”
I revealed my determination while looking at the flustered Wolfram.
Sometimes, lies can be more effective in life. More than saying I had a lost love or unfulfilled romance from my previous life.
“Huhhm… I suspected it might be the case, but I never thought it was true.”
“The mistakes of a sister must be resolved by her brother.”
After all, our characteristic hair and eye colors belonged to the North Sea Ice Palace, making it odd not to notice.
“So how do you plan to defeat a woman like Bing Seolhwa? Even I, as a Master of the Magic Tower, was easily captured without a proper fight.”
Wolfram looked at me as if she didn’t trust me, which was understandable since she was one of the strongest characters in this world.
“We’ll use every possible means. The opponent won’t know.”
It was practically impossible to kill Shub Niggurath, who resided within Seolhwa, without any plan or method.
“Would you two be interested in becoming my disciples?”
I said while looking at Kim Hyul and Zikhart.
It was a pity that Kang Si Woo wasn’t here, but I needed to use all the cards I had.
If the Final Boss and the protagonists all band together to confront the Outsider…
…there was at least some possibility, however small it might be.
