…How should I die?
I no longer felt the desire to live.
Yesterday. When the one thing I absolutely couldn’t let Yu Siwoo find out… got exposed.
Siwoo didn’t say a single word to me all day.
He just treated me the same as always.
Probably out of consideration. Back then, I wasn’t in any state to hear whatever he might have said.
But even if that was his intention, it didn’t change anything.
The fact that he discovered I’d been secretly hiding and hugging his shirt—while keeping it a secret from him—remained unchanged.
After spending the entire night wide awake, I was now pondering how to die with the least amount of pain.
The least painful way would probably be an overdose…
But if I tried to leave Siwoo’s side to buy the means, he’d worry and follow me, so that was impossible.
At first, my role was to monitor him, but at some point, it had turned into us monitoring each other.
"…Is this really the only way?"
I stared at the school uniform fluttering in the wind.
If I braided this well, hung it from the ceiling, and looped it around my neck, maybe I could just… snap.
"Arte."
"…"
No, that would probably hurt too much…
And stabbing myself or slicing my body with something like a wire would be even worse. That would definitely hurt more.
"Arte!"
"Ah, y-yes…?"
"What are you so lost in thought about? I’ve been talking to you this whole time. Is something bothering you?"
Dorothy and Amelia were looking at me with worried expressions.
Judging by what they just said, they must have called me several times.
Since I didn’t respond, they’d come closer.
…What should I say?
Should I tell the truth?
That I’d been secretly stealing Siwoo’s shirt, hugging it to myself, and indulging in it—only to get caught because I hadn’t noticed he was looking for me?
That the shame of it all had left me wanting to die?
There was no way I could say that.
I decided to brush it off.
"It’s nothing."
"It doesn’t seem like nothing…"
"Why did you call me?"
"…You’re really bad at changing the subject. Fine, whatever. Anyway, the midterms will be over in a few days, right?"
If they’d kept pressing, I might’ve been in trouble.
Luckily, Amelia let it slide, so I was saved.
Come to think of it, had that much time really passed?
I’d completely forgotten about the midterms, but Amelia’s words reminded me.
The end of the midterm period was approaching.
"It’s already set in stone that we’re at the top of the class, Arte."
"That’s true. The other students in our class were jealous."
"We just got lucky, that’s all."
Hmm. Was it really just luck?
The other students had taken it easy at first because the villains’ activity had been growing more intense.
They’d been trying to earn points more efficiently.
And yet, those same students had ended up scrambling for points—all because of the villains.
Because the villains’ activity had suddenly… just stopped.
Why? Well, obviously, it was because of me.
"Arachne suddenly resumed her activities, so the villains tucked their tails and ran."
"Poor villains."
At first, I’d only restarted my activities because of the imposter issue, but it had turned into an unexpected gain.
Siwoo had secured his place at the top without any extra effort.
Thanks to that, I spent a long time skipping classes and just doing personal training.
"...So?"
"Huh?"
"I get that midterms are over, but why bring that up now..."
Honestly, I didn’t really care that midterms were over.
I didn’t even have any thoughts about taking them, and we were already competing for first and second place anyway.
In fact, the only ones I was even competing with were these two right in front of me.
We weren’t officially a team, but in reality, the four of us had pretty much taken over everything.
Thanks to the overwhelming gap we’d created early on, we didn’t have to do anything, so it was weird that they were suddenly bringing up midterms now.
"Uh, well..."
"Well what?"
"To celebrate them being over, I just wanted to have some fun today... Is that okay?"
If they wanted to have fun, they could just do it.
Why were they asking me?
I was thinking that when I felt both of them staring at me.
"Siwoo said he’d go too. What do you think?"
"...Siwoo too?"
"Yeah."
Why were they acting like they were trying to gauge my reaction?
Then, without meaning to, I realized the reason.
"Where are you planning to go?"
"Huh? Uh... nothing special. Maybe shopping at the mall or something like that."
Just as I’d thought.
No real plan. Just an invitation to hang out.
It reminded me of the past, before I came to this world.
Sometimes, my friends back then would invite me like this.
"Sounds good."
"Huh? Really?"
When I nodded to say I was in, their surprised reactions almost hurt my feelings a little.
Had they only asked me out of obligation?
"Ah, no, don’t get me wrong. It’s just... unexpected."
"...Unexpected?"
"I was hoping you’d come... but I didn’t think you actually would."
So that’s what they meant. Well, I hadn’t planned on going either, so maybe they weren’t wrong.
"I just thought it might be nice to do something like this once in a while."
Was it a coincidence that I’d been reminded of the past, before I came to this world?
The way they casually invited me to hang out, like old friends, made me accept without thinking.
"But you don’t actually have *no* plans, right?"
"Huh? Uh... should I come up with something now...?"
"Sigh..."
Whether it was here or back there, they always invited me out first and figured out the details later.
I let out a sigh and looked out the window.
The sky was clear, without a single cloud.
"...I just thought it might be nice to do something like this sometimes. That’s all."
I muttered to myself and thought again.
That was all. Amelia and Dorosi weren’t people.
They were just dolls.
Suddenly, I missed the Author.
When the Author talked to me, it was so easy to think of everyone in the world as dolls.
But lately, the dolls were starting to look more and more like real people. That was a problem.
"We’re going?"
"Yeah. But why did you suddenly suggest we go out? I had a hard time coming up with an excuse."
"I thought I had to."
"...?"
Siwoo couldn’t say any more than that.
My ability wasn’t the kind I could control.
Intuition was useful.
When I was in danger, or when there was something I absolutely *couldn’t* let happen, my ability was as reliable as precognition.
But on the other hand, that meant I couldn’t notice anything else.
Arte had stolen my clothes.
It would be easy to understand if he hadn’t noticed such things.
But sometimes.
Really, just sometimes, a sudden thought would flash through his mind.
Like an urge to take immediate action, or a sense that someone was in danger. That kind of intuition.
"I just felt like doing this would make things turn out better."
"...A gut feeling?"
"Yeah."
He had insisted on Amelia and Dorothy going alone, not him, because he’d felt like he had to.
He’d shoved the two of them forward when they asked what excuse to give, because he’d felt like he had to.
Yu Siwoo didn’t know exactly how this action would lead to a better outcome.
But one thing was certain: his intuition wouldn’t let things go badly for Arte.
"Well, in that case... it worked out. I had something to give you anyway."
"Ah, right."
"Doesn’t look like it needs any adjustments. You did a good job."
Amelia’s praise made him feel good.
She had a decent eye for accessories like this.
If she approved, then it must be fine.
"But what’s this thread?"
"Thread?"
"Yeah. This black thread. Using a contrasting color to highlight the white thread was a nice touch, but where’d you get it?"
"Ah."
Her sudden question left him at a loss for words.
How was he supposed to explain this?
"It’s nothing."
"Come on, just tell me. I’m curious. ...The texture’s really soft. Could even use it for underwear."
At Amelia’s words, he couldn’t help but shiver.
...She couldn’t have figured it out, right?
"Heh, hehe. I gathered them. I gathered them all."
The girl draped in rags looked up at the sky.
The cloudless sky filled her vision.
The weather seemed to celebrate her achievement, lifting her mood.
"Finally, I’ve gathered them all, Mir. I’ve gathered all my comrades."
"Good job, Annie. Now we take revenge? Make everyone equal?"
"Not yet."
"...Why?"
If anyone had seen the hooded girl, they would’ve thought she’d lost her mind.
Talking to herself, answering herself.
It was the behavior of a madwoman.
"Think about it, Mir. Why we lost."
"We weren’t prepared enough."
"Right. We weren’t prepared. We didn’t have enough people."
But if anyone had seen her up close, they would’ve turned and fled in terror.
Beneath the hood, the girl’s form was no longer human—it was a monster wearing a human skin.
"We need underlings. Underlings to fight alongside us."
"...But, Annie. We’ve lost our foundation. Who would follow our cause?"
"Don’t worry, Mir. Don’t worry. If they’re not people, it’s fine."
A grotesque mass of countless animals fused together.
In its eyes burned a madness that no human could possess.
It was no longer something that could be called human.
"Let’s go to the front lines. There’ll be animal friends there who can help us."
"You mean the Beasts, Annie."
"Yeah. What do you think?"
"Brilliant. As expected, there’s no one like you, Annie."
"...Hehe."
The girl—no, the monster—began to walk.
Thump. Thump.
With each step the monster took, sticky blood coated the ground.