In the beginning, the Shadow Army had just been a legion of low-level knights and mages. Then Igris manifested, becoming the commander and the strongest just under their Monarch. The Ice Bears joined their ranks, led by Tank, then Iroh. The High Orcs from the A-Rank Dungeon were welcomed into the fray after their defeat. That left Beru and the Jeju Island inhabitants to be the newest members of the Shadow Army, therefore rightfully confused at their Monarch’s agitation as of late.

Beru had been the pride of the Jeju Island colony, praised for killing the Queen-Mother and leading his compatriots in the war against the humans who had dared to enter his home, to kill him. Oh, showed them. He showed them the difference in their skills, their powers, why he is the strongest and why they hinder in his quest to find their king. Because a soldier cannot be the strongest of their pathetic race. Only a king can have power, and Beru naturally wanted more power.

But the King had reduced Beru to nothing because of that singular desire to become stronger.

His last genuine memory as a monster had been the King’s chilling glare, the lashes wrought upon by his blade, then darkness. And from that abyss, he was reborn, to be called upon and serve the one who had bested him in combat, accompanied by new emotions that swirled inside of his inky body: loyalty, honor, excitement and joy. Beru swore to serve the King to the best of his capabilities as he knelt before the Shadow Monarch.

His King commanded him to stop his siblings from reaching the mainland - he did so, and his King rewarded him for his efforts with a display of brutal elegance, how he would strike down his enemies, a lesson Beru was grateful to have learnt. He was grateful for everything the King had done for him.

So why was it that when your name had reached his ears, the King had spiraled into madness?

Beru tried to appease his liege, but his efforts failed, leaving the King to anguish over a minor irrelevance like a missing Hunter. Beru investigated on his own and found his discoveries displeasing; Hunter [Last Name], an-Rank member of the Hunter’s Association with an embarrassing reputation, who claimed to be a consultant instead of achieving glory and riches like her companions. Recently, this person received a leave from Chairman Go’s secretary and vanished without a word, creating unnecessary trouble for the Association.

Good riddance. Beru thought with a shake of his head. Why should the King waste his time on someone who is insignificant in the grand scheme of things? There are other Hunters more worthy being in my liege’s glorious presence than someone who has such a humiliating moniker tied to them. The Laziest Hunter of All Mankind, indeed!

When he spat and cursed your name, those who had stood by his King’s side since the beginning came forward and corrected him with stories of their own - a tale about how you were his sword and shield before they were brought into existence. You had been the King’s companion, standing by his side even when other humans looked down upon him, providing support all wrapped up in billowing fabrics of black and white without ever asking - or desiring - anything in return except to stay alive. You had been the closest thing that their King had to a true friend. If things had continued as they were, you would have made an exceptional Queen.

But when you died protecting him inside the Red Gate, something went wrong. He had lost his memory of you, yet you did nothing except lie behind a pained smile and make them promise not to say anything else to him. You knew why his mind had been altered; you knew you couldn’t remove it entirely, and yet you stayed by his side at the cost of your own happiness and sanity. The Shadows swore they would watch over their King, to honor the sacrifice you have made.

They would not allow that sacrifice to be smeared by Beru’s slander; someone was on par with their loyalty and service to their King.

As Igris and Iroh silently nodded in agreement, Beru had nothing to say for himself. How dare he? How dare he assume he knew everything about you based on his own findings? No. It was all wrong. He intended to atone for committing such a grievous sin by helping his King search for you. If there is one skill that Beru has taken pride in as a servant to his liege, it is the ability to understand any language he hears as soon as it reaches his ears.

If the King needed to travel across the ocean to find you, then there is no one better suited to than his official translator than the humble servant Beru.

Even after he had exchanged the rewards of high-difficulty dungeons for more access to surveillance footage beyond Gimhae International Airport, the trail eventually went cold. Jinwoo saw you travel all over Europe, drifting from one gate to another with a plushie - white, shaped like a cloud, with tiny black eyes and a horn on top of its head - tucked inside your coat, pulling it out when you sat and spoke to it, smiling and treating it as if it were your traveling companion. He could inquire the Hunter’s Association in Europe about your current whereabouts, but he had a feeling that as soon as you heard he was looking for you, you would pack up and run away again.

There was also the Hunter’s Protection Clause, in which any registered Hunter had the right to protect their privacy from anyone, including their home address, cell phone number, birthday, etc. Even though the Association considered them treasures, the Association would not excuse S-Rank Hunters for trying to violate this policy. The severity of the crime dictated the penalty; in this case, if Jinwoo were to abuse his authority to get your information, he could lose everything: the guild, the connections he’s made, his license, or worse, face an undetermined sentence in prison, leaving Jinah and his mother on their own. The Internet was out of the question, seeing as how it is both unreliable and highly unlikely that you blogged about your life after retiring as a Hunter. Some do it to become influencers; others do it because they have too much time and money on their hands except to brag about their accomplishments or the dungeons they’ve crushed in exaggerated detail for likes.

Jinah told him that this trend was a real thing and showed the proof on when it showed up on ViewTube’s search engine.

Frustrated and a little tired after spending another long night researching potential places where a Hunter could retire in Europe that yielded no results, Jinwoo stepped out of the apartment and went on a run. He wasn’t sure if it would help, but he needed to do something besides spending the day hunched over his laptop.

He could send out his kids to look for you when he got to Europe; they were fast and wouldn’t be seen by ordinary humans. If he was going to go that route, he needed them to be discreet and not be detected by A or S-Rank Hunters. Beru would stay with him, limiting the overeager insect soldier to being his translator. He did not know how or why Beru had this special ability, but he would not question it since it would limit his phone usage on translation apps or drag locals into his search - he wanted to be the only one to find you.

Jinwoo rounded the corner at the intersection and collided with a stranger on the street - a stringy man with floppy brown hair, glasses, maybe a college kid? - knocking the latter down onto the ground. He quickly apologized, scrambling up to collect the papers that came flapping out of his satchel.

“It’s all right, don’t worry about it. I was lost in thought.” Jinwoo reassured him, glancing over to see that a mage had slithered out from his shadow, using wind magic to guide the rest of the documents away from the bustling traffic and have them rest innocently by the kid’s feet. When Jinwoo grabbed the last piece - a dog-eared magazine - he froze when it opened up. On the left was an article - an interview of some kind- and on the right side, under the caption About The Author, was you.

Not a picture of you exactly, but the cloud-shaped plushie he’s seen you carry with you all over Europe.

“What’s this?” Jinwoo exhaled.

The kid blinked, looking down for a moment before he smiled at him, face flushing with excitement. “Oh! You haven’t seen this before? You’re totally missing out! My big brother is a Hunter, and he’s got kids, and he’s doing great! Problem was, he had no idea where to take them for vacays that were family-friendly! That’s when he found this little gem!” He rapped his index finger on the article. “Everything you want to know about the best spots for a beach gateway, a trip across the pond, finding equipment, it’s all in here! It’s a magazine created by Hunters for Hunters! The author of this one is pretty cool, and guess what? They’re actually both the interviewer and the writer, which is rare, but they totally respect whoever they are talking to and never ask for confirmation on gossip so that they can make a fancy essay about it! Sort of feels, I dunno, more genuine? Anyway, no one knows their actual name ‘cause that’s protected and all, but when you see that cute little fella next to the article, you know it’ll be a good story!”

“…”

“Well, I’m gonna get going, thanks for helping me out! You can keep that if you want, you look like you need it more than I do for some strange reason! Later!” The kid took off as quickly as he appeared, leaving a stunned Jinwoo in his wake.

“Beru.”

“Yes, my liege?”

“You have a new assignment.” Jinwoo held up the magazine, its flimsy pages rolled back so that your article was the only one that Beru could see. “Find out everything you can about this company, its employees, and the owner, and report back to me when you’ve finished.”

Beru bowed. “As you command.” His general sank back into the shadows just as Jinwoo turned on his heel, eyes narrowed and stride quickening in the direction towards the shopping district. He had finally found it; a bread crumb, a clue to what had happened to you since he last seen you disappear into the crowded gate of your last known traveling destination- Italy.

If everything goes according to plan, he could Korea by tonight to find you and make things right again.

Three days later, you locked up the safe-house and drove to Gimhae International Airport. Biyoo was sleeping in your Infinite Dimension Space Coat, a small pocket in infinity that no one could access except you. Your travel documents were still valid and your carry-on bag had everything you needed. As much as you despised the System, the Item Box feature allowed you to store away belongings so long as it wasn’t taller or heavier than your own body. So when security looked through it with their scanners, all they would see were five days’ worth of clothes, toiletries, a charger, and a book. At least you hoped so. 

In the end, they gave you clearance to board the flight, and you left Korea to explore the world. There is a small part of you that didn’t want to leave Korea, you couldn’t lie about that. As a reader, you wanted to make sure that this story reached all the way to the happy ending, even if that’s what the Side Character System is supposed to do. Of course, too much interference from you came with the alternation of Jinwoo's memories. His memories of you. 

It first happened at the hospital. You visited him and made sure he was all right, bringing him some flowers and a plastic bag of his favorite takeout. But instead of seeing a flustered expression on that cute face or a smile, he stared at you as if you were nothing to him. That you meant nothing. 

“Who are you?” He asked calmly, his voice steady and with no trace of emotion whatsoever. You had looked at him for a moment before you smiled bitterly. Of course it’s a sadistic System. When its host doesn’t play by the rules, penalize them in the worst way possible: by having the person you care about the most not know who you are. So you lied and said you were a friend of Jinah’s and came to visit him on his behalf. He bought the excuse, and then that was that. 

You did try to be nice though, when you did cross paths with him in the dungeons. But whenever you said hello to him or extended an invitation to grab a drink after the raid was over, Jinwoo would stare at you with narrowed eyes and politely decline. At this point in his second awakening, he grew distrustful of everyone and believed they had a motive for wanting to associate themselves with him. It wasn’t hard to deduce that he thought you would spike his drink. But you would never hurt the protagonist when all he’s ever done to you is give you hope in a fucked up world in those pages you’ve read over and over on your phone.  You were cruel, perhaps an irredeemable monster, but not to that extent. So, you remained his life companion, but operating from the shadows and ensuring that his family would be safe and taken care of whenever he left for extended periods of time to level up. 

In your defense, you had tried to ignore Jinah’s phone calls with a text citing that you were pretty busy but promised to take her out for coffee when she wasn’t studying or doing chores. But somehow, she tracked you down at a cafe near the train station and demanded why you were avoiding her. You had to lie to her about what was going on because the System threatened to remove her memories if you stepped out of line. Although she wasn’t happy with the story you spun about working too much and lost track of time, you pleaded with her to not say a word about you to her big brother. Sung Jinwoo would hunt you down and kill you if Jinah mentioned it. 

Naturally, she was confused by your paranoia but swore she wouldn't say anything, but hoped things between you and Jinwoo would get worked out because she did miss hanging out with you. You felt your heart plummet to the pits of your stomach when she said that, but you hide your grimace behind a practiced smile.  It would never happen because he doesn’t remember you. 

Time passed, and you had died protecting him  in the red gate and he did not blink as you fell into the snow and took the blow that would have severely crippled him in the fight against the Ice Slayers. Typical of a protagonist like Sung Jinwoo. And a reminder that you will never have a place in Korea, in the world of Solo Leveling, in the protagonist’s heart. As if you really needed to be reminded how insignificant your role is. Plus, he’s fated to be with Cha Hae-in, and that is his happy ending. 

You’ve read those moments in the novel over and over, but having the Side Character System broadcasting them on the screen for you to remind you of your place is a little different than seeing the written letters. You saw how flustered the cool-headed protagonist will get when his shadow accidentally showed Hae-in soaking in the tub when he was raiding the High Orc dungeon with Jinho. You saw Cha Hae-in stumble over her words when he asked her why she wanted to join his guild, and how her townhouse shook after she saw a picture of him with another woman on social media. 

These images were a  message. A warning to not cling onto hope and just let Sung Jinwoo go. To forget about him. And that’s what you have done. Now?  You’ll have to make one on your own without a phone or a notebook or Sung Jinwoo. It was time to move on. Start a new chapter in your life as a background character. 

The first stop on your itinerary is merry old London. And from there? Well, you’ll figure it out as you go.

Taking a hot-air balloon ride in Italy. Walking through the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Buying souvenirs and trying street food in Istanbul’s Karakoy Alley. Enjoying a glass of wine with a plate of tapas after visiting the Basilica in Barcelona. The world is definitely bigger and brighter outside of Seoul. Instead of screenshots on how to defeat monsters and completing scenarios, there are more photos of you and Biyoo, with her acting like a stuffed animal in your hands at different destinations. 

Although touring Europe isn’t a bad thing, there’s still finding a job and a new place to live. Active and retired hunters received certain benefits as long as they kept their license from expiring. It’s why you’ve been able to create so many memories with Biyoo as you have without going broke. But you were cheap, and you would not purchase a house in Spain no matter how persuasive the real estate agent you’re meeting is or the travel blogs say. Staying in the country for over 90 out of 180 days is not allowed for foreigners, even if they have a visa and a Hunter’s license. London had apartments, so did Paris. Problem was most of them had thin walls, so anyone could hear Biyoo if she left alone, mewling anxiously for you to come back home. The last thing you wanted was to draw more attention to yourself.

Almost a month and half later, bouncing between hotels and filling out job applications, you can safely say that you were financially secure and all settled in your new chalet in the French Alps. You stay there in the summer, and rent it out for a fee during the winter when everyone comes to ski or snowboard. That’s where your secondary home, a modest villa in Padua, Italy, came into play. The gardens were extensive enough for Biyoo to wander around in with no nosy neighbors, and your job allowed you to work remotely, so income was no longer an issue. 

Who would have thought Hunters struggled to find the best places to go on a family vacation or wanted tips on not getting scammed at specialty stores when they were out of town? The magazine you now worked for is like America’s Better Home and Gardens, but geared towards Hunters. The supervisor gave you an assignment and you would email the completed article by the designated deadline. Easy enough, and that you were a former Hunter wouldn’t be public knowledge without your explicit consent is a delightful bonus. It also helped to have a pen-name too. 

Things were finally quieting down, allowing you and Biyoo to have a peaceful life far, far away from the novel’s plot. So why hasn’t the next scenario appeared yet?

Did the Side Character System go on a hiatus until certain conditions are met to trigger it again? Is there something you’ve overlooked in your haste to leave Korea? You weren’t sure, since you were still required to complete the daily quests or else there would be a penalty. 

You just hoped this period of tranquility wasn’t an omen that something terrible was going to happen soon. Biyoo wouldn’t be able to handle another sudden move. It would stress her out and she’d go on a hunger strike. 

What you didn’t realize is that trouble in the shape of a brooding S-Class Hunter is already on his way to Europe for a meeting with the Editor-in-Chief of a magazine at their London headquarters for an exclusive interview. Or so that’s what Sung Jinwoo told them over the phone.

One wall fell, but what caught Jin-Woo’s attention was the holographic book that appeared behind you, flipping its page to stop at a certain one before encasing both you and his memory self in a protective dome. Just as the Hunter team realized what you had done, goblins brutally ripped them to shreds. You hugged his memory self close to you, your words ringing loud amidst the chaos.

“Jin-Woo, I won’t always be able to care for you. Please know that you should always follow your gut feelings when it comes to shady people. When you can’t beat them in strength and power, protect yourself from danger. By any means necessary.”

Was this why he could tell that Hwang Dongsuk’s team was dangerous and shady from the start? The familiarity of the situation came to him and gave him the direction he needed to take, even when he had forgotten about it all. He encountered a similar situation with another Lizard team in the past, but he had protection, which resulted in a different outcome. 

[MEMORY 2: INTRODUCTION TO BETRAYAL] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY 3: HELPING DEAL]

Now he was in his somewhere he was all too familiar with. The hospital where he frequents for his wounds and injuries and his mother. He watched himself stressing over the various papers to pay bills, medical fees for his discharge and treatment, continuous medical fees for his mother, school tuition fees for Jinah, the rent for the month, daily living expenses. The list goes on. He couldn’t help that he was weak and was knocked out of commission during a raid, yet his life goes on and if he can’t afford all this then…

“Let me see that.” The papers suddenly yanked out of his memory-self’s hands. “You just recovered, and you’re panicking looking at all this. Seriously, what am I going to do with you, Sung Jin-Woo?”

Jin-Woo had somehow grown accustomed to your continuous appearance in his memory. Unconsciously, his form would stand as close as he could to you. If he couldn’t, then he’d move to the perfect spot where he could see you and commit you to memory. Well, this was his memory, but he’ll add it to the lost memories he will recover here soon. Okay, stop, too confusing. Either way, he’ll remember. By now, he knew his face shared the same smile his memory-self would have when you appeared by his side. 

“I can’t help it.” His memory self sighed in defeat. “I think I need to trouble you for some raid tag-along or invitation.”

“No need.” You looked over the papers and your phone at the same time. “I got a quicker solution for you to earn quick cash. Easily, in fact, you can do it immediately.”

“Really?” His memory-self’s eyes sparkled. “How?!”

You pointed at yourself. “Your piggy bank is right here.” 

Jin-Woo and his memory-self had the same reaction as they both gave you a look saying, ‘are you serious?’. 

You waved your fingers, setting the papers on the table, “No need to think you owe me or anything, just think of me paying for your friendship or something.” You shook your head, “No, that won’t do. Hmm. Ah, why not let you pay me back in the future? I have a gut feeling that you’ll earn big money then!”

“How can an E-Rank earn big money?” His memory- self questioned you. Jin-Woo wondered the same, you sounded confident, and this wasn’t the first time he had seen you check your phone for something before doing it. It was like a habit of yours or something like your safety net, to double-check before anything. He even tried looking at your phone screen when you do, but it was pitch black for him as if something was preventing him from seeing what you do.

“Trust me on this.” You smiled at his memory- self. “When have I ever done you wrong or go against my word?”

“Never?”

“Exactly. I’m here to help you, Jin-Woo.”

Jin-Woo looked over at you, his hand reaching out to ghost his hand over your form. His hand went through you as if he was a ghost. Although he is inside a memory and none of his actions had any effect on what had already happened, he wanted to keep watching. He wanted to feel physically your presence. The way his memory self was this relaxed when you were around and the trust his memory self has in you made his heartache. 

The question in his mind now was how did he forget about you when you’ve made such a big impact in his life?

[MEMORY 3: HELPING DEAL] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY 4: COMPANION FOR LIFE AND DEATH]

“It’s a chance to grow strong. There’s no way you’d let this opportunity slip by, right?” Your voice made Jin-Woo look back to see his memory-self and you sitting on a bench outside the hospital. “This system of yours is helping you and you should use it to the fullest.”

Jin-Woo’s eyes widened. You know about the system and his quests? This was no ordinary friendship for sure at this point. He thought he didn’t tell anyone of his secret to grow strong, but now there was someone that knew and was encouraging him to push forward. The person was none other than you, still he didn’t expect himself to see it.

“I can’t even finish the daily quests, it’s asking too much of me.” His memory self depressingly said. 

You hummed, leaning back. “Think of it this way. If you were given infinite wealth, but you have no idea who to use it or place to store it. What would happen to you?” At his silence, you continued. “You don’t know what to do with it. Or it’s stolen from you. Right now, all you’re doing and what you told me the system is telling you to do is just the stepping stone to your greatness. Instead of risking your risk for some cash, why not dream big?”

“I know but…”

“I’ll do those daily quests with you. 100 push-ups, 100 what? Running too.” You tried listing what you recall. “We’ll do it side by side so you’re not alone in this. I need to exercise anyways.”

“You’d do that for me?” There was a faint blush on his memory - self’s face that made Jin-Woo do a double take. “But I don’t want to bother you too much. You have your work to do too.”

You smiled, “No bother at all. I enjoy helping you. In fact, I’ll be your companion for life and death.”

[MEMORY 4: COMPANION FOR LIFE AND DEATH] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY 5: THE GIFT]

Jin-Woo and his memory-self eyed the sword in your hands, presented to him like a gift. While he was still staring, his memory version asked, “What’s this for?”

“A gift.” You nudged for him to hold it, when he did, you shook your head, “Boy, was that heavy!” You eyed him and shrugged. “You find a use for it. Swords aren’t my fighting style, anyway. Plus, it was collecting dust.”

“I already have my daggers.” He countered.

You gave him a look. “You can use it or you can pass it to someone you trust to use it for you. I don’t mind. Just accept it, please.”

“If you say so.” His memory self sighed and placed it into his inventory. 

There it was again. Jin-Woo noticed that you’ve been hinting at future events for a while now. First, you predicted that there would be a time when money wouldn’t be his concern, then you gave him lessons and advice on dangerous events he met with, now you implied that he would have beings that fight for him and by his side, no doubt pointing at his Shadow Army now that he was watching his memories.

You took out your phone again now that your hands were free of the sword, swiping through the screen at something he couldn’t see. “That sword’s called Unbreakable Faith. I think you’ll figure out its function on your own in due time.”

Jin-Woo eyed the phone that you carry everywhere. In every memory he’s seen up to this point, you were never without your phone, even when you were in a fight or raid in a dungeon. 

[MEMORY 5: THE GIFT] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY 6: A MISUNDERSTANDING]

Now, this scene was interesting. His Shadows were training, and his memory-self was exchanging blows with you. It was a session where he played his cards, and you countered them―even pointing out weaknesses he had. If his army were there when you were, then do they recall you? That was something he needed to confirm.

Not long after, the two of them were resting, and Jin-Woo stood next to you. Had this not been a memory, there would have been a Jin-Woo on either side of you. Judging from the clothing he was wearing, it was still a time before he was reevaluated and given the S-Rank. The size of the Shadow Army also showed that it was the early days. 

“A thought. Since you basically turn any dead beings into undead and a loyal soldier of yours with ‘Arise’, what if you killed me and did that to me?” 

The question somehow made Jin-Woo snap as he stared down at the memory of you being that carefree and nonchalant about what you had just suggested. His memory self had the right of it when his hand crashed the water bottle in his hand. 

“Why would I ever do that?”

“Oh, I don’t mean just letting you kill me or something. Like if there was an unavoidable situation where you had to kill me for something. Or if you found me dead. It’s better to ‘arise’ me and use me as a loyal soldier, right? I may be called the Laziest Hunter of All Mankind, but I know I have some mad skills and powers that could be yours to dispose of.” You explained your thoughts so casually and detached, as if you didn’t see value in your own life.

“I would never. As if I could just do that to you.”

Jin-Woo saw the way you smiled bitterly while his memory-self was still busy composing himself from rage at the thought of having to do that to you. You who had been helping him since the beginning? He wasn’t sure if his memory self heard what you said later on or not, but now he heard it loud and clear. “If your memories of me are gone, you would. In fact,” There was this emptiness in your tone, more than that, your eyes dulled as if you were a doll. “You’d have forgotten me and pushed me aside.”

“Hey.” Jin-Woo’s memory-self got up and kneeled in front of you. In a blink, you were back to normal and both you and Jin-Woo watched his memory-self intensely. “This is as good of a time as any, actually. If you’re not busy, and I’m not clearing any dungeons with Jinho, would you like to get something to eat together? Not as fellow Hunters, but like a date because I really-“

“Ah! Ah!” You lunged at him and covered his mouth. “What do you think you’re going to say! Think things through! It’s just an idea! Don’t let your impulses take over rational thinking!”

Jin-Woo could predict what his memory-self was about to say, and it hurt him when you halted him in the middle of his confession. Now he knew what his feelings for you were and what you were to him. 

[MEMORY 6: A MISUNDERSTANDING] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY 7: FORGOTTEN DEATH]

In this snowy setting, he knew what event this was and when it happened. The Red Gate Incident. The Ice Elves on the battlefield proved it. He took one step and read the memory’s title. His form froze. Death? His head looked around and just in time, he saw you taking an arrow to the chest for him. His form moved before he realized, but just as his arms were ready to catch you, you fazed through him and laid on the snowy ground.

His eyes widened as he moved away, kneeling beside you. The moment he did, his memory self was by your side, screaming and crying for you to wake up and open your eyes. He was desperate. All that screaming made his voice ragged. Still, Jin-Woo could only question why he had forgotten such a memory like that. His form flinched when his surroundings glitched and the emotional memory of himself turned silent and numb, exactly like a switch had snapped in him. 

One moment he was hugging your body to his chest, crying and screaming, the next, he had discarded your body to the ground and left to put an end to the battle against Baruka. Jin-Woo knew how it goes, so he stayed by your side. He figured his past self was just too shocked and wanted revenge. He was like that as well. He knew himself. He watched your body glitch occasionally, and every time he reached for you, his hand went through your form. So he stopped trying. He wondered if it was a healing ability you had since he recalled Jinchul asking for you; there was no way you died here.

The exit of the gate generated itself, showing his past victory. Jin-Woo could hardly call it a victory when something like that happened. He watched his past self try to make Baruka a soldier but failed and thus his anger. Jin-Woo understood the sentiment, since that was a strong opponent. However, when his past self was just heading for the gate without you, he shouted, “Aren’t you forgetting someone?!”

To his horror, when he looked back, your body was gone. Where?

“Wait! Don’t go!” Jin-Woo shouted at his past self, he followed right behind his memory self, trying to knock some sense into himself. He knew this was a memory, but seeing you being forgotten and having relived the previous ones, he couldn’t rationally think and act. “You’re forgetting someone important!”

Despite it all, Jin-Woo watched in despair as his memory showed himself leaving the sight without so much as another word or a glance at you. There was no question where you were or the acknowledgement that you sacrificed yourself for him.

In Jin-Woo’s focus on his past self, he didn’t catch your already healed body being carried by a member of the White Tiger’s Guild out of the Red Gate and sent to the hospital.

[MEMORY 7: FORGOTTEN DEATH] Completed.

Entering [MEMORY ???: THE REASON]

Jin-Woo looked around, partially exhausted, mentally. Another dungeon setting. He walked a few steps and sure enough, you were there and so was his past self. The unnerving part was how he saw himself screaming in pain while holding his head. You were glaring at something. He looked over to that direction and saw a window screen. It thought it was his system’s notice, but the design was different, not to mention the colour.

It read the following:

[You have interfered in the protagonist’s path to the point of no return. The help and aid you have given was unnecessary. You will receive a punishment.]

Afterwards, his memory self was knocked unconscious. Jin-Woo watched as you clutched your head from pain, your body shook, and your form swayed and wavered. He heard footsteps behind him and saw a pack of wolves. He turned back to you. You were in no condition to fight and neither was his past self.

But by some miracle, you pushed through and protected yourself and him from the wolves. You collapsed onto the ground, panting, “What kind of punishment is it this time…?”

“This time?” Jin-Woo repeated with dread. Every time you have helped him and aided him, has it resulted in your suffering? He watched familiar system screens trying to undo what was done and failing at every attempt. From the beginning, his system was trying to counter this bug.

You smiled and patted his past self’s head. “Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on you.”

The scene shifted and he saw himself looking out the hospital window while dressed in white. Patient garbs. The door opened and in strolled you with a bouquet and a basket of fruits. “Jin-Woo, how are you feeling? I told you not to push yourself too hard.”

Jin-Woo watched as his past self turned to look in your direction. He flinched at the emotionless expression on his own face. “Who are you?”

You, too, flinched at his cold words. Contrary to Jin-Woo’s confusion, you nodded and smiled bitterly with a soft mutter. “I see, so that’s the punishment. Memory alteration.”

You sighed and placed the flowers and fruit on his table. “I’m a friend of your sister, Jinah. She couldn’t make it today, so I came in her stead. She said to wish you a swift recovery!”

“Oh, thank you for the trouble!” The way his memory self just lit up that easily when it wasn’t you was sickening to Jin-Woo. 

The scene shifted again. This time he was at a raid, and you were by his side trying to help him, but he remained unresponsive as he ignored your being entirely. Still, the way you kept continuing to protect him and indirectly help him made Jin-Woo’s head hurt and his heart ache uncontrollably. What sick and twisted ploy is this?

The scene changed. Now it was just himself fighting alone. You weren’t even by his side anymore.

[! ALERT] <FLASHBACKS> have completely be re-experienced, Player will be returned to the present. <RESTORATION> is completed. Everything has been restored.

“Inventory.” Jin-Woo immediately checked. In his inventory, there was this sword he had only seen in his memories. Unbreakable Faith. He received it from you. It was right there now, but before this whole thing happened, it was never there. Someone played him. His fist balled and slammed into the desk, creating a spiderweb of cracks, tears formed and flowed down to his cheek and chin. This heaviness, this unbearable void, all these feelings were rushing at him like a tidal wave. 

[Sung Jin-Woo, there is no need to shed tears for a character with such little importance. All you have seen is useless and insignificant. Do not mind the details and look at the bigger picture. You have no need for the forgotten one.]

“How could you do this? To just remove all my memories of someone so important to me, when I was at my lowest?! How could you remove her memories too?! This has nothing to do with you!”

You were innocent, you were merely helping him, you wanted what was good for him. Yet for some reason, your good will was returned with pain and suffering that he was ignorant to. Now, with his returned memories, he knew he had vowed to protect you in return for all the good you have shown him and helped him. What good was that vow when he had forgotten the receiver?! Were you like him? With chunks of memory gone from your mind and don’t even realize the problem? 

[You are mistaken. Only your memories have been meddled in. You who the traitorous constellation holds dear and finds solace in. What better torturous punishment than to be unwanted and forgotten by the one person that is treasured to the ends of the universe and more? This is the perfect retribution.]

“What…” 

[The forgotten one was doing too much damage to your story, so I saw it fit to send this fragment away from you. I thought my actions were merciful enough, given that I didn’t interfere with your system to have you kill the traitor with your own hands. What was that quest called? <KILL THE ENEMIES>?]

“Mercy…?”

[Express your rage, depression, and murderous intent all you please. None would be effective to a being such as myself. Nor would it bring back that constellation to your side. However, do you truly even need such a presence by your side, Shadow Monarch? For how long have you forgotten those memories? For how long have you ignored such a presence? For how long have you ever needed that traitor? I gave you your answers. You have been comfortable without that fragment for too long. What’s does it matter now that you know? It matters not. So, I give you this last chance.} [Do you accept this generosity to permanently forgot ever having this conversation and all relating to the forgotten one?] Accept

“So, you slipped through my system’s defenses by a small miracle, and that gives you the right to redact my memories of a person who saw me at my lowest point, when I was the weakest hunter of all mankind and still treated me like I mattered. But who said you could make her suffer for your own amusement? There’s no denying it. This isn’t revenge, so don’t give me that bullshit about a traitor’s retribution or the sins of a fragment. All I want to know, right now, is her location. Where are you hiding her?”

[You cannot hope to reach that forgotten presence. So do not waste your time and energy. The <SIDE CHARACTER SYSTEM> has made sure that inferior presence will never appear before your eyes ever again.]

[! ALERT] Search for <SIDE CHARACTER SYSTEM> complete. Match found. Devour all memory-related effects of <SIDE CHARACTER SYSTEM>? Including distorted image, videos, objects, memories, and others. Accept Decline

“Devour it all!”

[You will regre& !@#$(@#(%*%@#(*$@)#$*)!*#*&!*@]

[! ALERT] Command received. 

Jin-Woo collapsed in his chair. “Where are you. Where are you now, [First Name]?”

[! ALERT]

A quest has arrived. <SEARCH FOR THE FORGOTTEN>

Do you accept?

Yes No

[! ALERT]

A hint will be given upon acceptance.

“A hint.” Jin-Woo read through it. Exhausted from all the ball passing, Jin-Woo felt like a pawn in someone’s game and was accustomed to hurting someone he cared for. Now, he has the chance to take it all back and redeem himself. The first step was to look for you and bring you back to his side. “Accept.”

Do you wish to read [ITEM: LETTER TO THE MONARCH]? Yes No

“Yes.” In an instant, a piece of paper materialized in his hand. His hand brushed the words written on it and checked the signature at the end. When he saw it had your name, he immediately read through it. The more he read the worse his mood. By the end, he slammed it on the desk. “My Shadows!”

At the moment it took for his Shadows to materialize in front of him, enough to fill the room, he had gotten the picture Jinchul had sent to his phone. A clear picture of how you appeared, just as he remembered and saw in his memories moments ago. “Find Hunter [Last Name] and bring her back. Now!”

It was also nice to just pay 50 gold coins for the survival fee rather than the full 100 gold coins when he participated in your daily stamina quests with you, when he could. After all, the whole reason he became a Hunter was to provide for his family. His little sister Jinha is in high school and wants to be a doctor. His mother, Park Kyung-Hye, succumbed to the Eternal Sleeping disease and fell into a coma. Despite the astronomical hospital bills, Jin-Woo risked his life countless times to pay them and ensure she was in good care.

Solo Leveling. Its characters, magic system, the mysteries behind the spawning gates and the magical beasts that emerge from them, you love it all. You cherished these people even when you knew they would not spare an iota of attention on someone as insignificant as a side character like yourself. They saved you in ways they couldn’t understand and you did not want them to know.

So, you began to help them in small ways.

Discreetly paying the hospital bills for Jin-Woo, almost all of it yet just enough for the Weakest Hunter of All Mankind to pay the remainder and still have enough to buy fried chicken for dinner. Introducing Cha Hae-in to a weapons specialist when she entered the industry after being evaluated as an S-Rank Hunter. Help Baek Yoonho avoid the paparazzi when he was discreetly out in public. Join in on Sung Jin-Woo’s dungeon raids and teach [ or at least tried to, damned plot!] him how to use his surroundings to his advantage and craft potions without going broke on ingredients. You know, the small things that could be done by utilizing the advantages of an A-Rank Hunter who is known as The Laziest Hunter of All Mankind.

Bastards.

Just because you were dressed in a black buttoned down blouse and slacks and the white Infinite Dimension Coat doesn’t mean you aren’t prepared to move out when the Association needs you or there’s a job listing that requires your skill sets! There’s a practical use for your special grade item, and it’s to store stuff in your pocket as long as the items are not bigger than your body! You use it mainly for mana and essence crystals! Furthermore, you never leave home without Unbreakable Faith strapped to your side or in your Inventory. You worked too damned hard to acquire this item too after the shitty scenario you had to go through! And comfortable shoes were a must if you’re gonna be trekking for long periods of time in a dungeon! Good, expensive shoes that look like ordinary sneakers!

 Oh, the media mocks you for being on your phone when they decide to take a picture of you and post it online? Screw them! This is the best way to read webnovels, and you have been working your ass off to complete the scenarios that the system has given you! You’re allowed to have a little downtime before you’re back on the clock again, damn it! Having the Bookmark, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, and Fourth Wall are extremely difficult skills to maintain since you can’t level up like Sung Jin-Woo! The Demon King of Salvation and Lone Messiah skills too! Unless you meet certain requirements, they’re useless! It’s always a good idea to check and double-check what you could or couldn’t do before making a move on the enemy. 

Which is probably why you had died during the red gate incident. Yes, you died. You got stabbed in the abdomen by an Ice Slayer who thought they would be helping Baruka win against the protagonist by being a sneaky asshole, and you did it because that was what the scenario told you to do. Get inside the red gate, protect Sung Jin-Woo and the other White Tiger Guild members for the whole three days and you would get rewarded.  The icing on the cake is that you had to lie and tell the protagonist that you were here inside the red gate because Woo Jin-chun told you that the S-Rank Hunter Hwang Dongsoo flew in from America to get even after he got word about what happened to his little brother in the last C-Rank dungeon he was in with Jinho, and your job was to do damage control in case anything happened. 

Shitty system. 

Anyway, Bookmark. In layman’s terms, Bookmark is a skill that allows you to copy the abilities of characters you have a deep understanding of. The deeper your understanding of the character, the more powerful the skill will be upon recreation. If your understanding of the character is low, then only part of the character’s skill is activated and the power is halved.  If you wanted to use ‘bookmark’ another character, the slot had to be emptied before inserting a new one, appearing behind you as a hologram of a book flipping through the pages until it landed on the skill you wanted to activate. Oh, and it can only be activated for a limited time. Currently, you can do it for ten minutes. The max is thirty, but you still had a long way to go before you could even reach that point. And of course, of all the characters who had an ability to take down Ice Slayers, Choi Jongin had been the one you selected. Choi Jongin is the Hunters’ fire-wielding guildmaster who got thirty seconds of screen-time in the novel at the most. You were pretty sure it increased to fifty seconds during the Jeju Raid arc. Including Baek Yoonho, he was desperate to recruit Sung Jin-Woo after hearing about the extent of his abilities.  

But back to the Bookmark skill slot. You used it, and because of your lack of understanding Choi Jongchin, your reproduced fire magic was only strong enough to knock down Ice Slayers, not incinerate them. You saw the Ice Slayer try to get one up on Sung Jin-Woo and you died. 

If you’re being completely honest, it didn’t feel like you were dying as you were cradled in Sung Jin-woo’s arms and seeing black spots in your vision.  Death was…like sleeping really, or logging out of a game for a moment and then logging back in. When you came to consciousness, having activated the Lone Messiah skill with just enough karma points you had collected and the blood of an eight-headed dragon you killed in an A-Rank dungeon, no one was there when you woke up except for a screaming nurse who just happened to be in the room at the time to check on your vitals.  That was when a familiar blue screen popped up in front of you, commencing the start of the next scenario with a timer and the requirements to complete it. 

[Scenario – Beast Rearing

Category: Sub

Difficulty: E

Clear Conditions: Leave Seoul  and keep the existence of the dokkaebi Biyoo a secret from civilians and Hunters. 

Time Limit: 21 days

Compensation: 500 coins. Expansion of shop items in relation to raising the dokkaebi Biyoo, including the availability of consumable monster corpses and mana crystals for a discounted price. 

 Failure: ???] 

“Ba-baht?”

The tiny squeak and the sudden weight on your shoulder paused you mid-rant. You glanced to the side and smiled softly, raising a finger to rub the tiny horn on your fluffy companion’s head. “Sorry, Biyoo. I was just thinking about something. Don’t worry about it.” You reassured the dokkaebi. If the system wasn’t telling you to get out of town, then Biyoo is another reason.

She had just hatched out of her egg when you found her in a dungeon. Her species were powerful for a C-Rank dungeon, mischievous and possessed immense magical power. You didn’t know why, but you couldn't force yourself to kill this baby after the strike squad wiped out her entire family to get to the boss. She imprinted on you too as her mother, and newborn dokkaebi would not last a day on their own without someone to look after them.

So if anyone found out that you have been hiding and raising a magical beast without the Association’s knowledge, there would be a lot of trouble. She was still a tiny thing, a puff of soft white fur and tiny arms with pink paws.

Combined with a curiosity of everything around her and a cuddle-bug? How could you not love her? 

You turned to look around again at the empty space, sadness gnawing in your bones. You’ve done what you could. There’s nothing else here in Seoul for you. Oh. Right. What about Unbreakable Faith? Where did you put your sword? Back in the inventory? Or is it by the master bedroom? No, that wasn’t it. You don’t remember it being there. Ah, right. You gave it to Sung Jin-Woo when his own blade broke, back when he was still an E-Rank Hunter and you were keeping an eye on him as per the requirements of the system’s scenarios.  Weapons were not cheap, and even if it cost someone millions of won, there’s no guarantee that it’ll hold up in a dungeon based on quality and ranking. When his blades kept breaking, you decided to loan him your sword and never asked it back nor accepted the return, even after all the trouble you went through to get it. Besides, he’s the protagonist. He’ll get more use out of Unbreakable Faith than you will, or trade it or can lend it to his shadow soldiers to boost their aggro skills. Whatever will help him in the end.  Your new blade is Persephone’s Wrath. Weird name, but the stats were solid and worth it after spending so many coins on it in the system’s shop. 

By now, Jin-Woo should be with his mother and sister, enjoying some family time with them before the tragedy of Jeju Island will happen. Afterwards, he will be recognized by the world as an extremely powerful S-Rank Hunter despite the criticism aimed at him or the Association’s incompetence as to why this powerful Hunter hadn’t been added to the raid roster. He deserves it. That will probably be the last time he’ll get any peace and quiet or feel like a normal person before he is dragged into the war between the Monarchs and the Rulers. After all, he is Ashborn’s vessel. 

Ping. The scenario’s screen appeared in front of you again. On the bottom was a single sentence and the sound of a timer ticking in your ear.  Countdown to the conclusion of the scenario: 00:03:59:45

No time to be reminiscent. You needed to get on the road, and fast. At least the safe house wasn’t too far of a drive. After ushering Biyoo to go inside your coat pocket and promising her to give her a treat if she was a good girl, you walked out of the condo with the last box in your hands. 

Ha, why couldn’t you disappear after that car hit you in the intersection instead of being resurrected with a system? That would have been easier than following these bizarre scenarios and paying a goddamned survival fee every day.

Let’s meet again, Sung Jin-Woo. You thought, smiling sadly as you inserted the key into the ignition of your vehicle and kept driving, never looking back and thinking about what to do next now that you’re officially retired from hunting. 

“Noona, I know you’ve finished with that article on the most popular activities that a tourist can do during Christmas in Istanbul. Why don’t we have our own little Christmas fun and go to the Gwanghwamun market tonight?” Jinwoo leaned over, staring down at you with a smile.

You were curled up on the couch, one hand protectively hovering over Biyoo as she slept on top of your right leg and cellphone in the other, no doubt binge-reading the next web novel on your TBR list. Normally, when you were like this, Jinwoo would leave you alone while he relaxed next to you or busied himself with some light housework.

Not today. He thought.

“Are you sure you want to subject yourself to a day that is so popular with couples celebrating their relationships with lavish meals and grand declarations of love, followed by the occasional marriage proposal?” You asked with a raised brow. “I thought you wanted to avoid being in public, especially with how popular you are with the netizens, Mr. Number One Hunter I Would Bang In A Heartbeat.”

Jinwoo frowned. “Noona.”

“What? It’s true.”

“Since when did people start calling me that?”

“Jinwoo, have you looked at yourself in the mirror? You are literally the human incarnation of Adonis, and many weep at the sight of your beauty. May the gods help those who are infatuated with the world’s greatest necromancer.”

He huffed, playfully flicking your forehead as a wave of disgust crawling down his skin at the thought of being the object of lust for strangers. “I’m only interested in you, noona. And I want to us to spend time together. Or do I mean so little to you?” He asked, his lower lip quivering as he stared down at you with the infamous puppy-dog eyes.

Is he being petty? He will not confirm nor deny it.

“Are you kidding me? You are really - argh. All right, all right, fine.” You groaned, flopping your head back against the arm of the couch exaggeratedly. “We’ll go, but I am going to despise every moment of being inside an indoor marketplace that screams claustrophobia. We need to feed Biyoo and turn on the television before we leave so that she won’t get too anxious while we are gone. Can’t ask Beru to babysit since he’s watching over Jinah and your mother.” You poked your tongue at him. “Happy?”

He leaned forward and capture your mouth in a fleeting kiss. “Thrilled.” He breathed, pulling away with a smile so wide that it was actually hurting him. “Now go find something nice to wear, not just your regular clothes and the Infinite Dimension Space Coat. I know you have another outfit in the closet somewhere.”

“Aye, aye, captain.” You snarked, turning your attention to the tiny creature resting on your leg. “I’m sorry Biyoo, but our nap time is being cut short. Mommy has to get ready for a date with a mean Hunter.” You said, lulling Biyoo out of her sleep.

“Baaht.” Biyoo chirped groggily.

“I know, right? Jinwoo is a big bully who wants Mommy to go outside with him and face the dozens of people who will be out wasting money on meaningless stuff just to show how much they love for each other when we have everything here to entertain ourselves for the evening.” You said to the tiny dokkaebi in your hand, disappearing down the hall towards your shared bedroom and closing the door behind you.

Jinwoo was over the moon. He had done it. He was finally going on a date with you! Tonight was going to be wonderful. He could feel it.

He then glanced down at his shadow, seeing hundreds of glowing white eyes staring up at him in happiness and excitement from the darkness. “I’m counting on your help, everyone.” He said to his soldiers. “Can I trust you to ensure that noona is safe from anyone who would get any bright ideas and try to ruin our fun this evening?”

A thunderous rumble from the shadows was the answer he received. Yes, they would not fail their King nor their Queen. When he had lost his memories of you thanks to the Side Character System, his shadows remembered. Igris knew of your kindness and loyalty towards him and his family. Tank loved getting belly rubs from you. Iron adored you in his own weird way. You spared with the knights to increase your own powers and always thanked them for their hard work. Beru immediately praised him for selecting such a wise and wonderful human worthy to stand next to his King.

Tonight it would just be the two of you, traversing through the crowds and check out the various stalls, sipping hot chocolate and gaze at the festive lights that hung from the rafters. A perfect evening that might end with a passionate kiss in front of an extravagantly decorated Christmas tree.

You deserved nothing but the best; you were his lifelong companion, his constellation, and he would never let you slip away from him again.

Bonus Content:

Although he would like to think that he knows your likes and dislikes, Jinwoo would low-key stress out on what to give you for Christmas because you deserve only the best. Should Beru help him out before your impromptu date, he will ensure the former Ant King is properly rewarded for his hard work.

If that doesn’t happen, expect Jinwoo to find something at the Gwanghwamun market and ask a vendor in a hushed voice to please wrap it while you examined other stalls.

His shadows will do their job and act as bodyguards, shielding you both from bystanders who want to talk, get an autograph, or ask Jinwoo if the Laziest Hunter of All Mankind is really just a friend and what does he look for in a romantic partner. He hates those kinds of questions, especially when they coincide with the ridiculous rumor that he and Cha Hae-in are lovers. Disgusting. Does he seriously need to go on live television and tell the entire world that you are the only one for him?

It didn’t bother you at all, but you bought two large hot chocolates with extra whipped cream and chocolate syrup from a sweet old lady to keep him from outright murdering someone on Christmas.

He would look at you as if you had hung the moon and the stars when he sees the neatly wrapped present in your hands, outstretched towards him. It would take him a moment to collect himself and not shed happy tears in public before quickly he showed you the one he had prepared for you. He loved the gift you gave him. You appreciated the thoughtfulness of his gift.

He truly is lucky to have someone like you in his life, and he will keep reminding you of it, even if hearing his words of affirmation over and over drives you crazy.

*Noona is a term in Korea that refers to an older sister or can be used as a respectful term of endearment.

One might call them demons, although they are not Demon Kings like you or members of the demon species. They desire the story as much as dokkaebi would yet despise the dokkaebi just as much. If someone got expelled from the scenario as you did, the only hope you have of surviving in this wasteland is their mercy.

That is what you hope to achieve, or at least trade one fable for another to get into an area adjacent to the scenario form because you had no intention of letting the egg fall into a Wenny Man’s grimy hands no matter how much it begs. Why? Because beings born from the egg in your pocket can create a ‘channel’, allowing you to have your own Star Stream outside of the jurisdiction of the Bureau. The ability to create countless stories without inference from the Bureau or the Constellations.

You really thought it was a brilliant, meticulous plan, but there were two variables you hadn’t counted on happening.

First, when you tried to turn off the Fourth Wall.

You thought the bastard was being annoying as hell and way too expressive for your own liking in the current situation. When it asked if you wanted to quiet the skill’s effects, you told it to do so without even thinking about the consequences. Within seconds of the Fourth Wall being gone, you felt hands coiling around your neck, their grip tightening slowly and painfully. That was when you realized why the Fourth Wall was so chatty.

It kept talking to you to keep you alive by telling you a story, because beings in a story cannot exist without being part of one. Expelled from the story to a place where TWSA is non-existent, is the same as a death penalty. The Fourth Wall immediately turned itself back on, calling you a reckless idiot and telling you it couldn’t keep you alive for too long because of an oncoming Plausibility Storm and its Scenario Cleaners.

You were running out of time, and fast. You had to hurry. The Demons of the Horizon were coming. You couldn’t miss this chance, or you would fade from existence, and you would never see your companions again -

Another screen popped up in front of you. What alarmed you immediately was that it was pink and golden, with black cursive lettering. This wasn’t part of TWSA or the Star Stream. Was it something else entirely? A trap? The context sure looked fishy.

[Greetings, Demon King of Salvation. Your criteria and extensive knowledge led to your selection to complete an incomplete Story. The Creator wishes to salvage this world but needs help to preserve its existence. Your acceptance of this scenario will allow you to return to the Scenario after completing the Story.]

You frowned. “How I can trust you?”

Fourth Wall Activated: [First Name] thought, How is this even possible? Can another Star Stream hack into the main one? No, if that ever happened, the Scenario Cleaners would eradicate an unknown anomaly or, at best, the Bureau would receive immediate notification. The Bureau would not risk angering the Constellations if the Star Stream’s compromise were discovered.

Another screen popped up. It was a contract, formatted with clauses and conditions similar to how you made Pildu come work for you in exchange that you would take care of him, per his Constellation’s request. In this contract, the anomaly says it will provide you with a system to help you navigate through the Story by completing scenarios and the usage of the Fourth Wall to look at Character Profiles. The primary aim is for the Story to be finished, with a happy ending that the Readers would love and be ‘something different from the generic ones'.

To put it simply, a beautiful wedding with the Story’s female and male leads surrounded by loved ones is out of the question.

Your brow twitched. So much for the easy way out. You glanced up ahead at the oncoming Plausibility storm, uncertainty bubbling in the pit of your stomach in sync with the egg’s heartbeat. You had to return to your companions, to that damned sunfish protagonist, and see that TWSA gets an ending. But is it worth risking your existence to go into another one, a world that’s completely unknown with a Star Stream that seems to know you?

Fourth Wall Activated: [First Name] didn’t have the luxury of time on her side. Accepting meant she would be trapped in another novel, never seeing her companions again; refusing meant the Demons of the Horizon might not be as magnanimous as she, as a Reader, believed. The risks and rewards were there, right in front of her and she was hesitating. De cide you mo ron.

“Shut up.” You hissed.

You looked through the contract again, and after a moment, you made your choice. You weren’t sure how it would work out…but you were going to take a gamble. You inhaled a deep breath, staring at the screen in front of you.

“Where do I sign?”

A feathered quill materialized out of nowhere, levitating in the air. You took it and signed your name on the dotted line. Upon doing so, the screen vanished, and another one popped up.

[Please stand back.]

You took five steps, and as soon as you did so, a black digitized tear in the world outside of TWSA appeared.

[Step through the portal. You have two minutes.]

Your knuckles were probably white from tightly clutching onto Unbroken Faith’s scabbard, but it was better than accidentally damaging the egg. You ran a hand over its warm shell, trying to reassure it that everything will be all right before you steeled your own resolve. Then, without a second thought, you sped towards the portal, leaving the world as you knew behind to fix another one.

[You have existed The Ways Of Survival and entered the World-Line.

Destination: The Chronicles Of An Imperial Princess.

Objective: Refer to the Contract.

Failure: Death.

Good luck, Demon King of Salvation.]

Your heart plummeted into the pit of your stomach at the title on the screen. Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me. Of all the novels I’ve read when TWSA was on a hiatus, it’s this half-assed romance one?! Goddammit!