NOVEL NEXT “Just a little longer…”
Everything comes to an end.
The story that began when I fell into this world is nearing its conclusion.
As I thought of that, a genuine smile started to bloom on my face.
“Truly, it took a long time.”
With a thud, the wooden sword plunged down.
Immediately, light burst forth.
One line, two lines.
Finally, the light began to erupt with the force to engulf this world, and my eyes squinted.
I tried to close my eyes to resist it, straining not to see the light.
But perhaps because my eyes were shut?
With only darkness in my sight, dusty memories began to float in my mind.
Though those memories were from a past I had tightly wrapped away, something I truly didn’t want to recall…
Thinking of it as a sort of last viewing, a kind of passing show, I felt it wouldn’t hurt to experience it just once.
The first memory that came to mind was the day of my fall.
Or rather, the day of the beginning.
When I regained my senses, the first thing I saw was the ugly looks of the people.
They looked at me as if I were some odd livestock trapped among them.
But back then, I was too foolish to even notice the malice that filled those gazes.
Well, I think I still can’t help it now…
After regaining my senses, I was surrounded by strange-looking people in a place I had never seen before – how could I be sane?!
The rest is obvious.
In a place where moral values were buried, even lower than medieval standards, what could they possibly do to me, a delicate girl who knew nothing?
They were trying to capture me as a slave.
Of course, after barely grasping the situation, I managed to escape from them…
But I can’t say I got away completely unscathed.
I ended up in a forest where no one dared to set foot, avoiding the dirty hands reaching for me, nearly filled with misanthropy.
After that, to survive in the mountains, I ate the weeds that grew wildly, extending my life.
They were disgustingly tasteless, but after eating them for days, months, or even years, I grew accustomed to it.
As time passed and the days of starvation decreased, a yearning I’ve never felt before emerged.
First of all, I wanted to eat meat.
In these mountains, there were plenty of wild animals, and if I could hunt, meat would be plentiful, so I suppose it was a simple yet natural desire.
But I didn’t have the strength to hunt beasts, and after pondering what to do, I concluded: “Let’s train my body.”
“Haha.”
How simple indeed.
If I had come to the conclusion to go down the mountain to work, that would have been one thing, but training my body to hunt? That’s like a caveman.
Looking back now, it was truly a good decision.
Well, the weapon I chose was a sword.
It was too complicated to make a bow, and with my lack of knowledge, the only thing I could carve from wood was a sword.
After I decided to train with the sword, I immersed myself in training to the point where my sense of time warped.
Later on, when I had reached a level of physical defense, I finally raised a question that I had not considered until then.
“Why am I here?”
It was a question I couldn’t have pondered while I was solely focused on survival. After deep contemplation, I arrived at one conclusion.
“I entered the novel I read.”
The troubling thing was that it sounded like something a lunatic might say, but what could I do?
With my dimwitted brain, I couldn’t interpret this situation, and the memories from before I came here? Just the novels I read every day.
So whether I liked it or not, I arrived at the conclusion, and the branches of thought began to sprout faster.
And as everyone knows, because I was inherently timid and cowardly, I couldn’t do anything when I thought of this world as a novel.
If I, the only impurity in this world, did something foolish and messed it up, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Well… honestly, this was also a delusion.
It was a nearly self-justifying way to hide memories I didn’t want to recall, create a plausible reason for why I fell here, and hold onto hope that I could return once everything ended, that this story would come to a close.
“Sigh…”
It was unpleasant.
These were truths and memories I didn’t want to recall.
Yet, I still hadn’t opened my eyes.
The light that should have been blocked by closing my eyes…
In a state where only darkness should exist, I could still see a glimmer of light.
Still, the light mustn’t have faded.
Naturally, my thoughts continued.
This time, it wasn’t an old, dusty memory.
Not a memory that made me frown just by recalling it.
“…That’s when I met you.”
On the thought of you, a smile crept up, memories that could be called a bit happy began to unfold.
A little child visited my lonely hut.
Looking back now, that child’s eyes were filled only with emptiness, somehow tugging at my heart.
Truly evil, but somehow, through those hollow eyes, I reflected my own feelings of muddy, sticky rage.
And thus, I who had come to despise people didn’t drive you away.
And so, I sought excuses in my heart to try to talk to you.
“…That happened.”
A smile mixed with guilt followed.
That day, the scraggly child asked me to accept him as my disciple.
At first, I had planned to refuse.
As you know, I thought I wasn’t worthy to be anyone’s master, a coward.
I thought a clueless person like me couldn’t be a teacher, a parent, or the world for such a child.
But, but.
“My name is Cheon Ha-rang. I will cut through the sky.”
At my ridiculous declaration to cut through the sky.
“It’s because your goal is similar to mine.”
The child answered so seriously.
The fact that the child too had a similar goal tickled a corner of my heart.
And so, I accepted the child as my disciple.
To instill responsibility in myself, I named him Cheon Mu-myeong, taking from my surname and the name he claimed to lack.
Well, shortly after that, I regretted this decision, making my resolve seem silly.
With my lacking body and mental capacity, how could I truly become the master or parent of this child, let alone become their world?
Thus, I regretted it.
I regretted accepting you as my disciple.
However.
Not long after, I changed my mind.
This time, it was thanks to you, the Nameless.
Seeing your once empty eyes fill with light after becoming my disciple made me reconsider.
Contrary to my still empty self, witnessing you filled with hope made me want to change my thoughts.
I was someone who always fled, but for the first time, I found a tiny bit of courage.
Thus, it wasn’t grand, but I thought I could become a small connection for you.
If this were written in a novel, I just wanted to be the supporting character worthy of a line when recalling the past.
I thought that much I could do.
Thus, I only wished to be the mentor you would say, “I had a truly grateful teacher who shared my childhood.”
Yes. I wanted to be your supporting character.
Not a grandiose final boss threatening the world in front of the hero as it is now.
A mere supporting character written into your life with just a single line.
I wanted to be a stopping point for you, a resting station.
Nameless. I promised myself that I wouldn’t negatively influence you, that I wouldn’t be a bug.
Even though I might not be good enough to sacrifice myself to save the world, I promised I wouldn’t be a villain enough to torment the poor child you were.
But now, what do I look like?
“…How truly filthy and vile.”
I have become a damn villain that drives my disciple into hell for my own selfish desires.
I opened my eyes and faced the light.
Amidst the brightly shining light, I saw my disciple covered in blood.
“Ah.”
What I wanted was definitely…
“…not this.”
I relaxed my grip.
As the sword collapsed, a few droplets fell from my face.
I wanted to rush out immediately, to stop you.
Even as you struggled and breathed heavily yet gave your all to fulfill my plea, I wanted to stop you right now.
What an utterly foolish decision, to follow this dimwitted master, becoming a villain in this tale.
I wanted to correct something that felt wrong.
I wanted to stop this situation that was rushing toward a flawed conclusion.
No, I had to stop it.
To honor what I had first determined, to protect the courage I had mustered for the first time.
To stand proudly as your master, as the world, I had to stop you.
That was when I realized.
“Ah, so that’s how it is…”
It wasn’t about trying to correct your world.
It wasn’t solely about my feelings for you.
I wanted to fix my own world.
“Ahaha… So that’s how it was.”
I had meant to be your master, your parent, your world.
Yet you had taught me, returned warmth to me, and had become my world.
“It was simple right from the start.”
Why did I twist and turn so much along this path?
“Nameless, if you can be happy.”
I had no more wishes left.