“father?”
I called Lee Si-hyeon, but Lee Si-hyeon didn’t answer at all.
I felt like the world’s time had stopped, and I was the only one moving.
Suddenly, I remembered what the ‘reader’ guys said to me.
-What should I do?
I hoped not.
There was no way this was the ending that the ‘readers’ wanted so desperately.
I quickly went out of the dorm and looked outside. The windless sky had turned gray, and everyone seemed to have stopped doing something.
When I saw that, I bit my lip.
Actually, I thought this might happen.
When I see an ending that readers will like and go out of the novel again, what happens to the characters who live in this novel?
I once had that question.
The answer came quickly. In order to progress the story, the author had to continue writing.
Only then could the characters in the novel survive.
On the contrary, the world in the novel where the story is interrupted will end up as I see it now.
I shouted after seeing the world stop.
“right now… You will have to appear before me and explain the current situation. Otherwise!”
Grumble!
A small flame bloomed in the palm of my hand.
“I will burn it all.”
As if he heard me mumbling, a door opened in the middle of nowhere.
The door opened and readers started crawling out one by one.
-Ah really. It’s bothering me.
As if my threat worked, readers started coming out the door.
-how is it? Now do you want to hear what we have to say?
At those words, I shook my head.
“Do you know what writers want to do the most but can’t do?”
-What?
“Knocking down readers who leave malicious comments.”
-huh?
“That’s what I’m going to do now.”
As I shouted that, I pulled out my gutter knife towards the ‘readers’.
Shuak!
I approached them in an instant and swung my sword to cut off their heads.
widely.
But my attempt was absurdly abortive.
-Fuhaha. I never thought there would still be people like this… … .
-Hey, we regressed you. What do you think we can do with a human subject like that?
Laughs began to appear on the readers’ faces.
2.
I thought there would be some difference in power, but I never thought it would be this much.
A writer cannot win over his readers.
In response to this immutable law, I tightened my grip on the hand holding the sword.
“… “How can I make time flow for them again?”
-It’s simple. We’ve thought about it, let’s stop now.
I felt my heart pounding at those words.
“Why do you want to stop?”
-You’re having a hard time too, right? I went back and tried to see the ending… … . So let’s stop.
I shouted at what he said.
“You can’t do that!”
-Hey, he’s mistaken. You have to speak clearly.
-Okay, I’m not saying it’s over just because I’m calling it quits. Then we don’t have fun either, right? There is one thing I want from you. Call out the author of the original work.
I did not properly understand what the reader standing in the center said.
“What do you mean? Are you calling out the author of the original work? “He asked me to ghostwrite!”
-Tsk tsk, do you believe that? Would you leave the world you wrote to someone else?
I couldn’t help but flinch at those words.
Although I didn’t write a hit, and it was a novel that wasn’t read by many readers, I remembered the days when I was attached to the world I created and silently wrote the novel until it was completed.
I definitely didn’t want to see someone ruin the world I created.
“no way… … .”
-Yes, that’s true. What you do from beginning to end. He was watching you from somewhere in this world.
I couldn’t shake the feeling of being hit in the back of the head by those words.
According to what the readers say, the author of ‘The Post-Apocalyptic World’ was watching me as I went through a series of regressions.
“No way… … .”
-You probably think there isn’t one, right? But the author must really like it, right? Because you are changing the story yourself, it is becoming a more complete story. So now we are curious too. What is the perfect ending the writer wants?
-You said you wanted to make time go by again, right? Find the author and bring him to us. Then, I will make you see the ending and escape too.
With those words, the readers returned to the open door.
When they returned to the world of readers, the door closed and time began to flow again.
“Siwoo?”
Lee Si-hyeon, who was talking to me, started moving.
3.
Who is it?
After quickly finishing the conversation with Lee Si-hyeon, I started thinking hard alone in my room.
Just as Lee Do-yoon possessed Lee Si-woo, the author also possessed one of the characters in this worldview.
Of course, there was no guarantee that the person possessed in the first, second, and third rounds would be the same.
If the writer was capable of possessing me, he would have been able to possess any of the characters in this universe.
You must have been watching me like that.
As I watched myself act, I thought, this story is not good, that story is okay.
You must have thought of it this way.
If so, it means that he is aware of the existence of readers.
‘He probably knows that the third chance is the last.’
If it were me, who would I possess?
First of all, it seemed like the part that paid the most attention was the level of risk.
If I were to die by possessing a character from a novel, the world could have collapsed.
Since he is an omniscient author, he may have had other options, but he would not want to die in the world he created.
Therefore, it seems that he possessed a character with as little risk as possible.
And at the same time, a character who can watch me closely.
I couldn’t figure it out at all.
“Damn it, how am I supposed to find it?”
Phew.
After sighing for a moment, I decided to apply the elimination method.
There were only a few characters who could keep an eye on me.
‘The starting point of the regression is Awakening High School. If you wanted to keep an eye on me, you would have had to be either a student at Awakening High School or a teacher.’
Classmate or senior. Or teacher.
However, if they had watched me in the first and second rounds, they might have known my behavior patterns and thought it was okay to come to Awakening High School later.
In that case, the additions would have to include the seven heroes and their children.
‘There are too many… … .’
In times like this, the only person who could help was Jeong Ju-won.
“wait for a sec… … .”
A person who doesn’t have combat-related talents, so he never goes into battle, and thanks to that, he’s not in much danger and can always be around me.
That person was right next to me.
If you feel that it is not possible, just get help.
We had to break even.
I thought I needed to check, so I went out of the dormitory and started looking for Jeong Ju-won.
4.
Jeong Ju-won was lying on the terrace of the dormitory, using his talents to classify and analyze various information.
“Now, they must have started moving.”
Jeong Joo-won’s appearance, looking at the sky and muttering, looked a little different from usual.
“And the roommate I met with those guys will come visit me.”
It’s designed so that you have no choice but to rely on it when you need information.
And that too three times.
Those who handle information cannot be easily trusted.
It was a piece of cake to fool a guy who didn’t even know this basic common sense.
“Now, what do we do now?”
The world became peaceful again. If the demon is defeated and everyone is happy now, we will be able to have a happy ending where everyone is happy.
But I couldn’t be satisfied with that.
I wanted to get proper recognition from the guys who started it all.
To do that, Lee Si-woo had to move a little more.
“Then let’s get started. “I mean the world after the ending.”
The moment Jeong Ju-won muttered softly, Lee Si-woo appeared outside the dormitory.
“Joowon!”
“Uh, is the story over?”
Jeong Ju-won stood up and spoke to Lee Si-woo with an expression no different from his usual Jeong Ju-won.
“uh. “There is something I want to ask more than that.”
“What?”
“Just in case, there’s someone you want to keep an eye on secretly.”
“yes,”
“Is there any way to keep an eye on that person without being caught?”
In response to Lee Si-woo’s sudden question, Jeong Ju-won looked worried for a moment before answering.
“For now, let’s just be friends. “If you stay friends, wouldn’t you have the opportunity to talk to the person you want to watch?”
“We stay friends… … .”
Jeong Ju-won, seeing Lee Si-woo worried, asked while giggling.
“So who is it? “Who is the person that Lee Si-woo of the world is so infatuated with that he comes to me for advice on his concerns?”
“huh? What are you talking about?”
“Oh, minus. Who do you want to watch? “Of course you’re a woman, right?”
ah.
Jeong Ju-won, who saw Lee Si-woo’s mouth open, smiled sinisterly inside.
He had to remain hidden until the end.
Jeong Joo-won smiled mischievously and started asking Lee Si-woo a series of questions.
***
“Oh, minus. Who do you want to watch? “Of course you’re a woman, right?”
When I thought about what Jeong Joo-won said, I thought it sounded like he was giving dating advice.
‘Isn’t it Jeong Ju-won?’
If Jeong Joo-won was a writer, he should have revealed his true colors at this point.
I fell here three times and met some people called readers.
It seems like what the author wants and what the readers want are different.
In order to coordinate it, I had to find a writer.
Otherwise, the world in the novel falls apart.
I couldn’t bear to watch that.
Maybe it’s because it’s a world I’ve lived in three times in my life, but I’ve developed an attachment to this world.
One thing is for sure, I didn’t want to see this world fall apart.
‘This time is different from other episodes.’
Bonds with friends, bonds with seniors. Established bonds with teachers.
No one died, and everyone got a chance to be happy.
If I were to return in this situation, it would definitely be very different from before.
There was a difference between me, who was interested in no one, and me, who was interested in everyone.
I no longer wanted to be the only one feeling nostalgic while recalling memories of the past.
Without even knowing that I was thinking this, Jeong Ju-won continued to play pranks on me.
“I’m really curious. I’m feeling dizzy so tell me quickly! Lee Si-woo, who blocked the final gate and became the first of the Seven Stars! Who is the heroine you chose?!”
Stop.
I, who was calmly accepting Jeong Ju-won’s joke, felt a strange sense of discomfort from his words.
“You, you bastard… … .”
Usually, we don’t often say who chose who.
Moreover, in a situation like before, I should have asked who the girl or person I like is.
The word ‘heroine’ is a slang term referring to the female protagonist in a novel.
It wasn’t a word that Jeong Ju-won, who doesn’t even read web novels, would have known.
In other words, Jeong Joo-won. This child was the author of ‘The World After the Apocalypse’.