"...My head hurts."
I clutched my head, wracked by a terrible headache.
What was I doing again?
I drank the alcohol Amelia made for me, and then...
"I don’t remember..."
[Oh, dear reader. You’re awake?]
The author’s voice reached my ears.
A playful tone, as if she were holding back laughter.
I couldn’t figure out why at first, but her next words made it all too clear.
[Well, what do you think a man and a woman would do late at night in that state...?]
"Huh?"
Confused, I looked around—and there he was. A man with black hair.
So familiar I didn’t even need to ask who he was.
...Why are *you* here?
As the terrifying thought struck me, I checked my own body—only to see a bikini so revealing it bordered on indecent.
Wha—? What?!
My face paled in an instant, and my mind went blank for an entirely different reason.
No way... No, it can’t be... Right?
[A man and a woman, alone on a trip, in such exposed states...! Heh, did you have fun last night?]
"NOOOO!!!!"
I screamed at the horrifying thought before I could stop myself—then immediately panicked.
If I shout like this, Yu Siwoo will—!
"Mmm... Slept well, Arte? Why are you—"
"Tell me the truth! Right now!"
"J-Jeez... What?"
"Last night! D-Did I... do something *weird* while I was drunk?!"
"Last night?"
Siwoo blinked sleepily, scanning the room as he tried to piece together the situation.
My frantic expression. The two of us in the same room. Both of us half-naked.
"...Ah, sorry."
"Huh?!"
His sudden apology nearly made me lose my mind.
No way... No way, right?
Did we... *actually* do it?
The author’s snickering voice echoed in my ear.
Just as I was about to let out a silent scream—*what the hell did I do last night?!*—Siwoo spoke.
"I guess I passed out last night. I should’ve slept in my own room. My bad."
"...You passed out?"
"Yeah. You were pretty drunk, so I helped you, but I must’ve dozed off too."
I turned his words over in my head.
He *passed out*?
"...So, nothing... happened?"
[Ugh, he had to say it. Now it’s not fun anymore.]
I heard the author click her tongue in disappointment.
...So *nothing* happened!
"Y-You scared me half to death..."
"What, Arte? Were you thinking something dirty?"
"N-N-NO, I WASN’T!"
Siwoo’s knowing smirk was infuriating.
He must’ve guessed what I was thinking, because now he was teasing me on purpose.
"Stop messing with me!"
"Alright, alright."
He brushed it off with that carefree attitude of his.
...He’s changed so much.
The Siwoo I first met would’ve never even *thought* of teasing me like this.
After everything we’ve been through, he’s grown a little bolder, I guess.
Is this what they call growth?
No, that can’t be right.
Even if he was a growth-type protagonist, this wasn’t growth—he was sure of it.
Amelia must have had a really bad influence on Siwoo.
Maybe she shouldn’t be called a heroine, but rather an inkblot.
The way she was staining people around her was like ink spreading on paper.
Even Dorosi seemed to be getting pulled into Amelia’s influence.
"Sigh. Yeah. What about the others?"
"Hmm. They were drinking when I left."
"Just the two of you?"
"Well, yeah. There were three of us at first, but I left. It was hard to get away, though. I told them I’d be back in a bit."
"A bit? It’s morning now."
"…Ah."
He still remembered Amelia’s face clearly from before he’d passed out.
She’d been hyped up, pushing drinks on everyone and riling up the mood.
So she was the type to get rowdy when drunk. And she kept shoving drinks at him, so of course he remembered.
…But he’d left her like that with just Dorosi?
He’d said he’d be right back and then just passed out?
"This is bad…"
"I should go check on them. Ugh, my head…"
Gripping his throbbing head from the hangover, he decided to go find Dorosi and Amelia.
Where were they again? Oh right, they’d had the party on the sandy beach.
"Here, take this."
"Huh? Why are you giving me clothes…?"
"You left your clothes and swimsuit there, didn’t you? At least cover yourself up. It’s morning, and it’s cold near the ocean."
"…Thanks."
She took the clothes Siwoo offered.
She could’ve just grabbed her own clothes from the unpacked luggage in the room, but since he’d thought of her…
She didn’t want to reject his kindness.
"…It’s warm."
Siwoo’s clothes didn’t fit her at all.
His shoulders were much broader, and since he was taller, the sleeves and length were all wrong. It was distracting.
It almost made her recall the fact that she was in Arte Isis’s body.
…She could feel a warmth from them that she’d never sensed from other beings.
"Arte, let’s go. I doubt it, but if they’re still asleep there, we need to wake them up."
"Ah, right. I’ll be ready in a second."
Clutching the oversized shirt tightly, she hurried out of the room with Siwoo.
[Normally, I’d have to scold you properly, Reader-nim. But if I say that kind of thing to the protagonist, it’ll cause a disaster, won’t it? I let it slide once before, too.]
She sighed, muttering to herself as if annoyed that she’d forgiven him once when his mind seemed unstable, and now he’d done it again.
[Well, this is fun in its own way, so I’ll let it slide. As long as it’s entertaining, that’s all that matters. Maybe I’ll tweak the final boss candidate a little.]
Watching Siwoo sling an arm around Arte as they retraced the path he’d taken alone the night before—this time together—she murmured,
[This world is so amusing. Even with my power, I never know where things will go, which startles me sometimes. But that’s what makes it fun.]
Life with Reader-nim was more entertaining than she’d expected.
Every time she tried to escalate things the way she usually did, problems exploded just as Reader-nim had predicted, which was a little surprising. But, well.
Unexpected events were fun to resolve, so maybe it was fine.
The reactions from the other beings were better than expected, and I even thought I could keep enjoying this creative life with Reader-nim forever.
[Ah, it’s truly a shame there’s nothing eternal in this world.]
But eventually, I’d have to part ways with Reader-nim.
Reader-nim’s mental state didn’t look great, so maybe a year or two at most?
Reader-nim had once complained that Academy novels always stopped being about the Academy after about a year.
And now, that’s exactly what’s happening.
There were some among the onlookers who could manipulate time, but I didn’t want to rely on them.
This story was between me and Reader-nim.
[I can’t wait to see how it ends!]
I watched as Reader-nim and the protagonist hurriedly tried to wake the two people lying on the sandy beach.
As expected, I was right.
A finished story had its own charm, but there was something uniquely appealing about an unfinished one striving toward completion.
The guys who had laughed at me when I said I’d show it in real time were now watching with bated breath.
They’d grumbled about how I’d ruin the pacing, how they could do better than me, but in the end, they were all glued to the screen. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Some of the more impatient ones were even scouting locations, saying they’d try it themselves.
Well, let them. I was too busy enjoying my time with Reader-nim to care what the others were up to.
[What will happen today, Reader-nim? Please entertain us again.]
Reader-nim seemed to genuinely think I was a web novel author, but…
I didn’t see the harm in letting them believe that.
Wasn’t a work of fiction another world?
If that was the case, then exhibiting a world as a work of art shouldn’t be a problem. Calling me an author would be fine.
Bringing Reader-nim into this world had been difficult, but so far, Reader-nim had always brought me joy.
So if I trusted Reader-nim and waited, they’d create an interesting story for me.
The pure girl smiled brightly.
As if she were looking forward to what was to come.
"I’m disappointed."
"I said I’m sorry…"
"Unforgivable… *hurl*"
"…T-There, all done. Dorothy, there’s a hangover cure in your luggage over there, so take that first."
"Th-Thank you…"
Dorothy staggered toward her luggage like a zombie to find the hangover remedy.
Even then, the murderous glare she shot Siwoo’s way screamed, *We’re not done yet.*
"She’s still mad, huh…"
"Of course she is. Wow, just how many bottles did you drink?"
"…Ugh, almost all of them, I think."
"A-Amelia."
Amelia stumbled over, clutching her head as if she’d poured every last drop of her energy into last night.
…She looked like a total homeless person.
"You drank *all* of that? Are you in your right mind?"
"I wasn’t in my right mind, that’s why I drank it all. Ugh, my head…"
I handed Amelia some hangover soup, and she devoured it in seconds.
…Was she really suffering from a hangover? She ate that fast?