"Amelia, over here."
When I called out to her, the sound of hurried footsteps approached, and a familiar figure burst out from the alleyway.
"Where the hell did you disappear to after ditching me?!"
"S-Sorry. I just felt... uneasy..."
"...Ah. No, that makes sense."
Amelia, who had been flushed with anger, suddenly softened her expression as she looked at me.
I wondered why for a second, but the reason quickly became clear.
Arte, who I’d been holding in my arms, had started squirming to break free.
"M-Move... Please, just let me go... I’m fine, so..."
"Ah. Sorry."
There was only one reason Amelia had suddenly taken pity on me.
Because I’d been embracing Arte—she must’ve let her imagination run wild at the sight.
That was nothing new, but Arte’s reaction felt a little off.
Normally, she would’ve just laughed it off and casually asked me to move.
"Hah, hah... I must’ve looked pathetic."
"Y-Yeah..."
"I-I should go first!"
Arte hurried away, her usual bold demeanor completely gone. All that remained was a flustered, red-faced girl—like a mask had been torn from her face.
"Long time no see, Yu Siwoo. Not bad, huh?"
"It’s not like that."
"Oh come on, don’t play dumb. You were clinging to her like you were whispering sweet nothings."
"I said it’s not like that."
"...Something happen?"
Given Amelia’s usual behavior, I’d expected this kind of teasing, but I wasn’t in the mood to play along.
My blunt reply made her expression turn serious as she asked me again. She must’ve realized something important was going on. As always, she was quick on the uptake.
"I told her."
"...Huh? Told her what?"
"That I know Arte is an Arachne."
"WHAT?! Are you out of your mind?!"
Amelia’s shout was so loud it nearly burst my eardrums.
Well, I could see why she’d react like that.
Even I’d blurted it out on impulse.
I’d been so pissed off at Arte for selling herself short that I’d let it slip without thinking.
"Listen, Amelia. I’ll explain everything later, but for now, just answer my question. I need to know if my guess is right. I need your opinion."
"...You’re explaining *everything* from start to finish after this."
"Yeah. So just wait a little. I need to sort my thoughts out too."
Amelia sighed but went along with what I said.
She might usually seem out of her mind, but she was reliable when it counted.
"...Hey, Amelia. Remember the Author?"
"Of course I remember. I was already guessing she was an informant. So what?"
"When I told Arte I knew your true identity, she suddenly burst into tears and started begging."
"What?"
"And then she said, *Author-nim, I was wrong. I’ll do better. I’ve been doing well so far, haven’t I? Why…*"
"No way… that can’t be…"
Amelia seemed to have reached the same conclusion as me, her expression turning serious.
Right. Our initial assumption about Arte and her "Author-nim" had been completely off the mark from the start.
We had assumed their relationship was horizontal.
But it wasn’t. That was only the surface.
The two of them had the most vertical relationship imaginable.
"Here’s my theory… it was all that *Author-nim*’s doing."
"…"
"Arte killing people. Releasing the beast into the Academy. Infiltrating the Academy—all of it."
Somehow, despite calling it a theory, I found myself growing more and more certain.
It fit together too perfectly to be a coincidence.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain Arte’s behavior.
"Arte has been rationalizing her killings. *The things I kill aren’t people. They’re dolls.*"
"W-what? What are you—"
"Think about it. We’ve known Arte for over half a year, and we still don’t have a single clue about this *Author-nim*. How do they even communicate?"
It was embarrassing to admit, but I had once hidden in Arte’s locker.
And yet, I hadn’t found a single mechanical device inside.
"We assumed they were using some kind of telepathy ability to talk… but doesn’t that seem odd now?"
Telepathy was an ability that allowed communication without speaking.
But something was wrong.
How had I missed this?
If I’d just thought a little harder, I could’ve realized something was off.
Because I hadn’t considered *Author-nim* to be an important figure.
That was why I’d overlooked the critical detail.
"Even if you can transmit your own voice, how does Arte’s voice get through?"
"…Huh?"
"Everyone knows the rule—one ability per person. And Arte’s ability is Thread Extraction."
Right.
With telepathy, you could only transmit your own voice.
There was no way to hear Arte’s.
"Communicating with Arte should be impossible. And yet, she kept muttering to herself, talking to that *Author-nim* in real time."
Assume they were using telepathy to transmit voices.
Then how was Arte’s voice being heard?
It wasn’t mechanical.
I’d confirmed that myself.
It wasn’t an ability either.
And yet, Arte and *Author-nim* were somehow maintaining a conversation.
"Then, what the hell...?"
"I don’t know either. But it’s definitely not something like telepathy."
Yu Siwoo started walking in the direction Arte had fled.
He didn’t know exactly where she’d gone. But he was certain.
If he kept going this way, he’d find her.
He had no basis for it. But he knew. This was the right path.
"I can hear Arte’s voice from somewhere, I can keep watching her, and I hold the power over her life and death."
"...That guy ordered Arte to kill people?"
"That’s what I think."
He should have realized something was off from the start.
How could someone as mentally unstable as her—someone who rationalized people as dolls—suddenly start killing?
He concluded that the one called "Author-nim" was the cause.
"...Finally."
A way to help Arte was starting to take shape.
It was still just an outline, nothing more.
But even that was a huge step forward. Until now, he hadn’t even been able to see the outline.
"Wait for me, Arte. I’ll help you."
Just discovering that Arte’s actions were under someone else’s orders was a massive breakthrough.
Because it meant he could be sure—none of it was her true intention.
He quickened his steps toward where he believed Arte would be.
"Hmm, what do I do about this..."
She muttered to herself as she watched Reader-nim frantically trying to escape the alleyway.
He could’ve just used his Thread Extraction Ability to climb to the rooftop of a tall building like he’d tried earlier.
But in his panic, he wasn’t thinking straight—just running around like a headless chicken.
"When did he figure it out? To know about the Beast incident during the entrance ceremony..."
She’d been so sure he hadn’t suspected a thing.
The girl sighed deeply, disappointed.
Damn it, giving him intuition as an Ability was a mistake. Now he’s picking up on useless things.
She should’ve just given him a status window or something.
And now, somehow, her own Ability didn’t even work on him anymore. She had no idea what kind of Ability the protagonist had developed.
Thanks to that, the others were mocking her too.
[I knew you’d mess up like this, you idiot. You went and caused a disaster after all that scheming.]
"Aaaah, shut up! Anyone can make a mistake!"
[...More importantly, I’m curious. What are you going to do?]
"Huh? About what?"
[Your toy is half out of her mind, and the so-called protagonist is harboring some insane grudge against an Author who doesn’t even exist in that world.]
"...Ah, that? Easy."
[Easy?]
These guys really lacked imagination. That was their flaw.
All they ever thought about was apocalypses and doomsday scenarios, so of course they ended up like this, right?
You should learn to enjoy romantic stories once in a while, like me.
"Just change the route. It’s been a while since the map was altered anyway."
[…Changed? When?]
"Quite some time ago, I think? When did it start? I don’t know. Don’t care."
No, she didn’t care when it had changed.
Right now, she was simply enjoying the story that had been created by chance.
The Reader seemed to think that if she realized she had created the events, she would abandon him.
Yu Siwoo had managed to calm him down for now, but given time, he’d probably start thinking that way again.
Even though she had no intention of doing so.
"Don’t you think the Reader’s cute? He’s begging even though I don’t plan to kill him."
[…You have a twisted taste.]
[Yeah. Your preferences are impossible to understand sometimes.]
"You guys talk like that?"
As if the bastards who cheered at the world’s end like fireworks had any room to judge.
Honestly, they had no appreciation for art.
He was so adorable, though.
"How did I end up with such a soul? Am I a genius or what?!"
She had only brought in a soul that seemed fine for the role of an observer.
But it turned out to be far more to her liking than she’d expected.
She could have abandoned the Reader, reset the surrounding settings excluding Yu Siwoo, and developed the story as originally planned…
But she didn’t want to. She couldn’t lose the Reader!
"The final boss candidate was Arachne, but… Hmm, that might be too cliché!"
Maybe a shocking final boss would be better for a change.
The girl grinned.
"Participating directly sounds fun!"
Of course, if she fought seriously, the world would be destroyed, so she wouldn’t be able to go all out.
But if she just lost to the protagonist at the right moment, it’d make for a great scene!
For love’s sake, shouldn’t he overcome a wall like her?
…Come to think of it, she was the one who created the Reader’s body.
Did that make her his parent?
Heh, for love’s sake, he’d have to convince her! What an overbearing parent. This’ll be fun!
The girl grinned.
[Aren’t you being too arrogant? You don’t even know what the protagonist’s ability is.]
[Right. Since your ability doesn’t work on him, it might be something we need to be careful about. We should be cautious…]
"Pfft, it’s fine! As if I’d lose?"
There was no scenario where she lost to the protagonist in a serious fight.
Unless he couldn’t even descend into the world, her overwhelming mass alone would crush him.
And unlike the others, she could descend easily.
All she had to do was tweak the world’s settings a little.
The girl smiled as if to say, *Don’t worry.*