Thud.
The sound of a sword sinking into flesh rang out once more.
Or maybe it didn’t “ring out” at all.
The sound was there, but it wasn’t loud.
So it was more accurate to say I was so focused that even a quiet noise felt deafening.
It felt similar to the sensation when I’d cut down Annie, that girl.
But this time, the feedback in my fingertips was far sharper, so much so that my hand trembled.
Because the act of carving out the heart of someone I loved was that horrifying.
Even knowing this was for Arte’s sake.
Even knowing she wouldn’t die, cold sweat still poured down my face.
"What the hell are you—?!"
"Just wait a little. I’ll explain everything later, I swear."
I wanted to explain to Dorothy, who clearly didn’t understand what was happening, but there was no time.
I had to finish this before the Author noticed and intervened.
"Y-You’d better explain every last detail later!"
"I will. Sorry."
That apology wasn’t for Dorothy.
Even as her face twisted in pain.
Even though it had to be unbearable, she was smiling at me—as if she still trusted me.
Arte was weak to pain.
A couple of large bruises on her side were enough to leave her unable to move.
And yet, even as her chest was carved open, she was enduring the agony and smiling at me.
Her face was scrunched up, but she still looked at me with trust.
"...This is it."
Thump. Thump.
In my right hand, Arte’s heart—still beating—was clenched tight.
Or should I even call this a heart?
It was something taking the heart’s place, now in my grip.
That was the better way to put it.
"..."
Timing it perfectly.
Amelia would arrive here in... 3... 2... 1.
"I’m here! You’re both still—?! Yu Siwoo?! What the hell are you—?!"
"Heal Arte first. Now."
Right as Amelia arrived, I swiftly cut out the heart and tucked the crucible I’d been holding into my arms.
She’d be shocked for a moment, but the superhuman Amelia brought with her would prioritize saving lives first and start the operation.
They’d see there was no heart, just a single orb-like object in its place, and assume it was impossible to save her... but soon,
they’d realize that orb was functioning in place of a heart.
And with another injured person, Amelia would go fetch someone else.
Everything was unfolding exactly as I’d predicted.
"Dorothy."
"Y-Yes...?"
"In thirty minutes, deactivate the reinforcement. I need to pass out for a bit."
"...What?"
"You have to keep the reinforcement active even after you pass out. Thirty minutes, got it?"
After relaying all his requests to Dorothy, Yu Siwoo swallowed Arte’s heart whole—ripped straight from her chest.
A metallic tang flooded his mouth, so strong he almost spat it out right then and there.
Sometimes, having senses sharper than everyone else was a curse.
But he forced himself to swallow. Arte had trusted him enough to give him her heart.
If she trusted him that much, how could he spit it out just because of a little bitterness?
Arte’s heart was a bit too large to swallow in one gulp.
But once he finally managed it, a voice echoed from somewhere.
[W-What the hell is this?! W-Wait, no, what do I—?! How do I fix this?!]
Then his vision went black.
"W-WHAAAAT—?! What is this—?!"
The girl panicked.
She had been so sure she was about to witness the passionate love story between the protagonist and the Reader.
But then, out of nowhere, the protagonist had raised his sword, ripped out the Reader’s heart, and swallowed it!
This wasn’t some gory slasher flick.
Eating the heart of someone you love—what kind of insane twist was this?!
No, that wasn’t even the worst of it.
If things kept going like this, she’d be—
"H-How do I—?! How do I get back?!"
"There is a way."
"Really?! ...Wait, hold on."
The girl froze.
No one else should have been able to enter this space. If another Transcendent’s consciousness forced its way in, the entire dimension would collapse instantly.
She turned toward the source of the voice—and her shock only deepened.
It was the boy she had set as the protagonist.
That very boy was now standing right in front of her.
"Just leave this world. That’s all you have to do."
"...Y-You, how are *you* here?!"
Sure, the boy *had* eaten the Reader’s heart.
That *should* have severed the Reader’s connection and linked him to her instead... but—
How?!
How had he gotten *here*?!
"Beats me. I don’t know either."
"W-What?! That’s not an—!"
"I knew this would let me come here, so I did. That’s all. Won’t be doing it again, though."
Yu Siwoo spoke to the girl, who was gaping at him in sheer bewilderment.
"...Well, that’s not the point. Sorry, but you’ll have to leave. Think of it as the owner’s tyranny."
"H-Haha...! I don’t know how you got in, but—! You think I’m just going to *leave*?! Do you have any idea how much I went through to get here?!"
"I do."
"...What?"
His sudden appearance was shocking, but that was all.
Even if he was the protagonist, she could kill him in an instant. The realization made her confidence surge.
No matter what he tried, the boy wouldn’t be able to attack her—he’d probably just drop dead on the spot.
Just as the girl had regained her momentum, she was thrown into confusion once more by the boy’s words.
"How you found this world interesting and invaded it."
"How you had to force open a hole, but to keep from being repelled, you could only send one of your eyes through."
"How that eye would eventually be detected and cast out after enough time passed, so you needed a person to hide it."
"How you shaped Arte’s body for that purpose and hid your eye in her heart—all of it."
"H-How do you—?!"
She had told no one.
Not even the other Transcendents.
And yet, this mortal in front of her was reciting it all.
The girl couldn’t even begin to grasp what was happening.
"Breaking into someone else’s home and rummaging through it as you please. That’s not allowed."
"···."
"Last time, I told Arte she was like your eye, right? I never expected your actual eye to be inside her. That was a surprise."
The girl began to feel genuine fear toward the boy, who was casually spouting facts she had never spoken aloud—facts no one could possibly know.
What the hell is this?
Is this really the protagonist I’ve been watching?
His ability was supposed to be intuition, wasn’t it?
I never set up some incomprehensible ability like this···
"It’s not intuition. You’re the one who set it up, didn’t you? That if he grew to the very end, something beyond mere intuition would emerge. Well, here’s the result."
"?!"
"Don’t worry, it’s not mind-reading. You’re just too easy to figure out."
(There was someone else with actual mind-reading abilities.)
As the boy muttered to himself, the girl shrieked in frustration.
"Stop lying! That’s impossible!"
"Why?"
"Because it would take at least two more years for that growth to finish—!"
That’s right. It was impossible.
When she had been able to meddle with the boy’s settings.
There was no way he could have reached that level of power already.
There hadn’t even been any power-up events—!
"···Wow, you’re really stupid. Now I see why Arte was always cursing at you."
"What?!"
"Did you seriously forget?"
Tap. Tap.
The boy lightly tapped his temple with his index finger before speaking to the girl.
"You set it up yourself. Every time I’m on the verge of death, I grow."
"···?!"
"Wow, I can’t even remember how many times I almost died today. How many was it?"
(I stopped counting after fifty.)
Muttering to himself, the boy grinned widely.
In contrast, the girl’s face turned deathly pale.
"There’s also Dorothy’s reinforcement. Though, honestly, that’s a bit much."
"...S-So what? What are you trying to say?!"
"Hm?"
"No matter how strong you get, you can’t kill me!"
But soon, the girl regained her composure.
A mere mortal couldn’t wound her.
No matter how strong they became, they were just a mortal empowered by their own settings.
In the end, they were beneath her.
The girl believed that, and the boy agreed.
"Right. I can’t kill you. I probably can’t even attack you."
"Hah, haha...! That’s right! You’re just a mortal...!"
"But I do have a way to make you leave this place."
"What?"
"Didn’t you explain your ability to Arte last time? Schrödinger’s cat and all that. It was a pretty clever explanation."
"...What are you getting at?"
"I was thinking of telling you a similar story."
The girl couldn’t understand what the boy was talking about.
She couldn’t.
She didn’t want to.
"There was once a scientist who said this: if there exists a being that knows everything in the universe with perfect accuracy, it could explain all past and present phenomena and even predict the future."
"What does that...?"
"You’re practically a god. A little childish, maybe, but still. So what do you call someone who tries to drive out a god?"
"...A demon?"
"Exactly. The one who opposes a god is a demon. And as it happens, there’s a demon with just that kind of ability."
A demon that knows the present.
Laplace’s Demon.
That was his ability.
The boy said, smiling.
"And that’s supposed to make me leave? How?"
"It’s not that hard. Why do you think I swallowed your pupils?"
"That was... to get in here..."
"No. That’s not it."
The boy didn’t stop smiling.
Was it a mocking smile, or a pure laugh of triumph?
"You’re seeing the world through my eyes right now, aren’t you?"
"..."
The boy wasn’t wrong.
Her pupils were now inside him.
So whatever he saw, she could see too.
Even if he lost consciousness, she could still observe his surroundings.
"Your ability lets you reshape the world however you want, as long as you haven’t observed it."
"...What are you saying?"
"Simple."
The boy finally laughed out loud.
As if he could no longer hold it in.
"If you see everything from the beginning to the end of this world, what could you do then?"