"Ahaha."
The girl laughed.
With an expression free of any worry or concern. She laughed as if she were having the time of her life.
[…Hey, dear reader, you look pretty desperate right now, don’t you?]
"Right?! Maybe it’s because I didn’t say anything. Do you think you’ve been abandoned?"
She watched as the reader was clearly wracked with anxiety.
What if I’ve been abandoned? Did I do something wrong?
That agonized look was just so adorable.
"You look like a little abandoned kitten crying for help!"
Meow, meow.
A kitten mewling at a person, begging to be saved.
A kitten clinging desperately because it would die without help.
The way it trembled in fear reminded her of a cute little kitten.
That desperate search for warmth, clinging to the protagonist—it was just too precious.
"So cute. That’s why I like you, dear reader!"
[Sigh…]
As if she’d ever kill the reader.
Maybe they worried too much, or maybe they’d just seen too much.
The way they feared being replaced was just so endearing.
[Still, that soul you brought along… how about treating them a little better?]
"You’re one to talk."
The girl turned her head away with a pout.
No matter how she thought about it, she wasn’t in any position to take advice from *them*.
After all, what they did was far worse.
"All you ever do is mess with time—regressions, this, that. You say you want to see the Great War, so you build a tower, shove an entire race inside, and make them fight each other. And *you* have the nerve to say something?"
[…I’ve got nothing.]
"And, as you all know, I don’t *want* to kill the reader!"
[Well, you couldn’t even if you tried. You’re too fond of that world.]
"Of course not! I can’t abandon them. No, I *won’t* abandon them!"
It had been so hard to infiltrate this world—how could she just throw it all away?
This was a rare opportunity. Was she crazy to even consider abandoning the reader?
"I want to enjoy every last bit of it before the reader breaks down."
Infiltrating another world was no easy task.
Worlds naturally rejected foreign substances, so simply entering was impossible.
She had to bring in a human soul from the outside, mix part of her own body with it, and force her way in.
Only then could she avoid being rejected.
After all that effort to get in, getting kicked out so soon would be a waste.
Finding another terminal could take hundreds of years. That would make it all meaningless.
"Well, I don’t *have* to tell the reader they weren’t abandoned."
It was kind of fun watching them mistakenly think they had been.
Maybe it was because they were a guy, but the reader didn’t seem to have any particular feelings for the protagonist.
And yet—ta-da. The moment she stopped talking to them, look at this.
There they were, clinging to the protagonist in a panic.
She had only been silent for a moment, lost in thought about what to say next.
But the reader had already spiraled halfway into a panic, clinging to the protagonist in the most adorable way.
"What do you think? Isn’t romance fun?"
[…Hmph. I hate to admit it, but it’s pretty good.]
[Should we try it too?]
[Let’s finish watching this first. We can give it a shot after that world is destroyed.]
Seeing the others take interest in this world, their curiosity piqued, filled her with pride.
I felt like a trendsetter.
"I wonder how the Reader will act from now on. I’m looking forward to it."
It seemed the distance between the protagonist and me had suddenly closed.
What kind of actions would he take to entertain us?
The girl, unable to hide her fluttering heart, began watching the Reader again.
"…Alright. This should be fine."
"Gah—! L-let go, let go! I won’t let some bastards like you—!"
"Stay still. If you want to walk out of here with all your limbs intact."
"Hiiik!"
Bastards like you?
I snapped at him, annoyed that he’d dare speak to Siwoo like that.
Fortunately, he seemed to realize his mistake quickly—decent for a villain, all things considered.
After that, he walked with us to the Academy without another word.
"We’ve caught quite a few."
"Yeah."
"Just today’s haul alone is enough to put us in the top ranks."
The reason I was so confident was simple.
When Arachne stopped her activities, imposters started popping up, right?
So if Arachne was active again, they’d be too scared to keep it up.
Plus, we’d left Arachne’s spider emblem in their hideouts and trashed the places. Word was, they’d all started lying low after that.
Arachne’s target was always villains.
Sure, their numbers were high right now, but once Arachne resumed her activities, the villain count would drop again.
That meant fewer ways to earn points.
So if we racked up points now, our spot in the upper ranks was guaranteed.
"You’re reliable, Arte."
"Of course!"
She smiled at Siwoo the way she always did.
No more disgraceful behavior. I was completely calm now.
What happened yesterday and today was just a fluke…
"…So, should we part ways here?"
"Huh?"
P-part ways?
So suddenly?
"We don’t need to earn more points, and you look like you’re running on fumes. Wouldn’t it be better to go home early and rest?"
"Y-yeah… that’s true."
We were parting. Yu Siwoo and I were going our separate ways.
The moment I realized that, my breathing grew ragged.
Huu, huu…
No, I’m fine. It’s just a normal goodbye.
There’s no deeper meaning. It’s just time to go, and he’s being considerate by telling me to rest.
There’s no reason for me to be shaking like this. None at all.
My mind went blank.
Rationally, I knew parting was the natural thing to do. There was nothing wrong with his suggestion.
But my body?
The second I realized it was time to separate, my breathing spiraled out of control.
No matter how I thought about it, I knew better than anyone that my state wasn’t normal.
I couldn’t let the protagonist see me like this.
Somehow, I forced my breathing under control and managed my usual smile.
"Let’s do that. I’ll be going—!"
"Arte! Wait—!"
I slipped away before Siwoo could finish whatever he was going to say.
If I’d stayed any longer, I might’ve shown him something strange. I had no choice.
"Hah, hah, hah…"
My breath came in short, sharp gasps.
How could the thought of separating from Siwoo affect me this much?
A wave of self-loathing crashed over me. I wasn’t some dog or cat. What was wrong with me?
"Huuup… Huuuuh…"
After somehow steadying my breathing, I started following Yu Siwoo.
Regardless of the self-loathing I felt for being this desperate, I had to keep an eye on him.
It was true that the Author might do something unpredictable.
I had to watch over the protagonist, no matter what.
As my breathing gradually stabilized, I adjusted my pace and continued after Yu Siwoo.
"Tasty. Tasty. Mir, isn’t it good?"
"Yeah, Annie. Really good."
In the ruined city, littered with corpses.
A girl in a tattered hood kept shoving something into her mouth, muttering to herself.
"Humans are good, but monsters are especially special. So tasty, so tasty…"
"You shouldn’t discriminate against monsters, Annie. Equality is best."
"Mhm. I know, Mir."
The girl kept talking even as she stuffed her mouth nonstop.
Because her mouth wasn’t the only one she had.
"…Ah. Something else appeared."
"Proof that we’re equal, Annie. Don’t worry…"
"Okay, Mir. You’re always right."
If anyone had seen her carrying on a conversation with herself, they’d have found it chilling.
…No, the moment they saw her, they’d either flee without hesitation or try to kill her.
Because what was under that hood was no longer human.
"…I think I grew more teeth."
"It’s just a rank 3 monster, Annie… Pathetic, really. Don’t you think?"
"Yeah. That’s right…"
"To make the world equal, we need overwhelming power. Overwhelming power."
The girl kept muttering to herself.
Overwhelming power. Incredible power.
The memory of that day surfaced—the day their plan had been on the verge of success before collapsing. The day she’d been killed in an instant, her ankle caught by some unremarkable boy, then ambushed by an unexpected powerhouse.
If all of us had been there, it wouldn’t have happened.
Spirra, Minos, Marmo, me, Mir, Rang, Ravi and Havie. Obis and Chris. Ecus and Repo.
If all twelve of us had been together, the story would’ve been different.
If it weren’t for those damn spider bastards, Mir wouldn’t have died.
"We were too weak, Mir. We were pathetic."
"…Yeah, Annie. We were."
"If it weren’t for those spiders…! If it weren’t for them…!"
Filled with rage, she gnawed on a monster’s bone.
We were weak. Weaker than our enemies.
That’s why we died.
They probably think we lost. That we were crushed by overwhelming power.
But they’re wrong. We haven’t been destroyed yet.
Because a tiny fragment of us remains.
"Hah. They’ll regret not killing us. …Right, Marmo?"
The hooded girl unfastened her bundle and stared at the corpse she’d barely managed to scavenge.
Its form was too mangled to identify, but she recognized it.
That distinctive skull shape. Those pointed fangs.
She’d seen them many times before.
"Wait for me, friends. Let’s achieve our goal together. I’ll be there soon."
The power-hungry, deranged specter began to move.