What is the meaning of living?
Stimulations, ecstasy, pain, success.
What's...mine?
-
As I ran, I was chased by the hunter demon from before.
The speed of the hunter demon was unmatched, no demon could reach the same speed as him. Also, the fact that this demon, the longer he runs, the stronger and bigger he becomes.
But does that even matter now?
"Where is he going?!" Layla screamed, confused, on the other hand, I could hear Joakim Hans move his mouth in a gesture of disgust.
It wasn't that he disliked me. Or maybe he did. But rather, it was because demon hunters started falling over the great walls of the city, all running toward the same target: me.
Shit…
If everyone goes against me, they will kill me…
Almost like a prediction, a demon fell in front of me. Shit, I must lose them…I don't want to attract them all to Anser...
Although. On second thought, it would be a good thing to get that idiot to get some exercise. If he has the same physique as when I wrote him, though, if I change the story...maybe...he'll be fat? I bet he would look funny.
I crawled on the ground, to protect myself from the demon's attack.
However, the sound of slicing meat was not long in coming; when I looked up, I saw Joakim Hans, his beautiful sword unsheathed.
Why do I emphasize his sword?
Well, his weapon is one of the most powerful, above the protagonist's sword, Anser; Scalybur. A black weapon that penetrates even the strongest steel in this world.
Although it hasn't yet reached the level of splitting a diamond, it can easily split a demon over thirty centimeters thick.
Joakim fell to the ground, in a heroic pose, stood up, and soon raised his sword into the air, shining in a purple light. "Leadership Skill: Target."
Wow! My first time witnessing the skill of a sect leader!
As soon as he commanded, all the demons of at least a ten-meter radar, began to go against him. That's what his skill was about, anyway; he becomes the target of demons, the more demons his sword cuts, the stronger his soldiers become, and in the same time, he removes any stress or fatigue from them.
A great skill, coming from the man who has the most people in his hands, after the Rosicrucian sect, of course.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, I ran to dodge the demons attacking Joakim, and continued on my way through the alleys to reach Anser's carriage.
I had to hurry. If he's really neglecting it, he must be in that depressed phase, and if I want to ensure he sticks to the original content of the story...
"I have to save him...bring him back safely, and of course..." Find his future girlfriend.
If I find her, it will be easier to keep him under control.
He's the protagonist, and if he's not with his love interest now that we're in a sensitive situation...how do he even plan to be the best sect leader in this stupid world?!
Damn...
"Help please! Someone…!" I stopped halfway, hearing a woman's voice, along with a child's whimpering.
There were still people here?
Quickly, I ran towards where the noises were coming from, "Is anyone here? Can anyone hear me?!" I exclaimed, as I searched under the rubble left earlier by the demon who had started chasing me.
Although, it was strange...
The soldiers of the Third Round Sect would never leave a civilian, much less one with a child.
Oh.
Damn.
"I-Idiot!" It was a trap.
BOOM!
The sound of the explosion echoed throughout the place, the debris of the building that was partially demolished by the explosion flying in all directions, making it clear that it would soon collapse.
I have to hurr… "H-Huh…"
I looked to the side, feeling a hand grab my leg...
"Blood…" I heard the cannibal demon holding my leg mutter.
I am cursed.
"AAAAH!!" I fell on my back when the demon pulled my leg. This is bad, very, very bad, the most bloodthirsty demon of all the categories of demons you've ever created...what's he doing here?
Were they also attracted by the hunting demons?
Never mind, I just have to escape...run away...that's it! Run away...maybe I can kick him again like I did befo-
SLASH.
"Eh…eh?" my legs... "E-Eh…" ...were torn off.
I screamed in pain, seeing the demon eat my torn off legs with ferocity and desperation, already raising his claws to dig them in again.
Regenerate. Regenerate. Damn, regenerate…!
REGENERATE!
Damn, why can't I control the regeneration? Why did he heal when I entered Elmetron's body? Why isn't he healing now?
I don't want to die. I have to go to Anser, fix this story, and live one last time...in peace...
But maybe, once again, God doesn't want that to happen, huh?
I was lucky enough to get here, right?
Sorry, I think I'll just stop here…
…
「"Marie…why do you let him keep doing this to you? Why don't you listen to me? Why do you give up?!"
No matter how many times I asked her, she always said the same thing: "I haven't given up, Jeon."
She always, smiled...
"I just stopped for a bit, wait for me, oke?"」
Stop…
Yeah…
A savagely painful lie. A lie I won't tell.
"ANSER CIRO!" He was close, if only he could hear me, and run away...then it will have been worth it to give up here. "GET YOUR FUCKING ASS OUT OF HERE, DID YOU HEAR?!"
I clenched my fist, with a courage I had never seen before, no, rather, with a courage I couldn't show back then with her.
My legs regenerated, when I recovered both, I prepared to kick with both of them. "DON'T YOU DARE MESS WITH ANSER, DID YOU HEAR ME, YOU DAMN SHIT?!"
SLASH…
The head rolled down the floor, and the kick I gave with both of my legs was enough to separate his head from his body. My blood that had been eating my flesh, came out of his mouth, insects, and smoke coming out of it, while his body was already beginning to rot.
After all, with nothing to chew or eat, he dies in less than seconds, especially without his head.
At least I can regenerate whenever I'm provoked...
It's useless. Elmetron didn't regenerate like that. I didn't write it like that...or did I?
"Eh? What is that sound?" I looked at the building about to collapse, and I understood.
I screamed so loud the building was going to fall.
"I-I AM A I-IDIOT!!!" And a big, perfect one, Jeon Kwonoo. You're going to die a stupid death, especially for being a screamer and a fool.
I closed my eyes waiting for my death, but when I heard footsteps approaching…
"GAAAAH!" Another demon? Oh...
"BLOOD!!" Oh no, two?
…Three?
I'm cooked.
God, forgive me for having been a virgin all my life.
The building fell hard to the ground, landing on top of the demons, and ...me?
No, wait, why am i still alive?!
When I opened my eyes, I noticed a hand holding the collar of my sect robe. It can't be...it can't be...
I looked slowly behind me; a white turtleneck sweatshirt, a brown coat, a sword at my waist, and...
…Two beautiful different eyes, the right one green and the left one blue, albino skin...and downcast eyes, as if they were about to die of sadness—is him…
"A-An…A-An…" Why am I so nervous? Is it because he looks upset, or because I thought he'd be a pathetic fatso and he turned out to be a hunky guy?
Gulp.
"How do you know my name?" His deep voice echoed in my ears, causing my body that was hanging from his grasp to tense up.
I felt like a freshly caught fish.
Although I don't know how they feel.
But, something I learned in all my years of virginity, and that is, whenever these situations happen, the best thing to do is to play the fool.
"Who?"
Anser's face turned into one of annoyance. "…" He let go of me, letting me fall into the rubble of the destroyed building.
Soon, from his coat he took out a small machine similar to a mobile phone, with the only difference that this one, its only function was to know the identity of other residents of Anarxie.
When I used it on myself, I could see him snort, and then put the device back inside.
I still don't understand his physical change, although in the novel I wrote him as someone handsome, not as someone with muscles or some training...or at least not at the beginning of the novel.
He had followers, so he didn't need to train his body any more than his power…
Wait! It's true!
I came to take him to the shelter!
"Wait, wait, don't go!" I stood up immediately, my bare feet making me shudder as I felt the stones beneath me. "You have to go to the shelter, there's a demon attack, if you stay here for one more second..."
"Shut up."
Eh?
He...shut me up?
"…" In my thirty years of life…I never let anyone shut me up, and this guy does it?! "Don't just shut me up! Listen to me! You're not strong enough to face them...if you stay here they'll kill you. Don't you value your life?!"
However, even that didn't stop him; instead of going to the shelter, he walked in the opposite direction.
Damn him! Why doesn't he stop and listen to me?!
I didn't write him so stubborn. (He did)
I ran after him, and then pulled at his coat, finally managing to stop him, "Listen to m-"
"Take your hands off me." He interrupted, drawing his sword and bringing it close to my neck.
The blade of the sword grazing my jugular. I swallowed, I didn't know why I was so defiant, so rebellious, more than I should be…
「He will die if he continues to neglect himself.」
It's…true.
He is depressed about 'it'.
Because of that childhood accident, which took the life of his mother, his family, and left him alone in this world.
…
Maybe he doesn't know how to handle it.
Maybe all he wanted was to do was fulfill his role in this life and die quickly.
Maybe he...doesn't want anything anymore.
Like me.
Gulp.
Did I have to choose this selfish path so I could empathize with him so desperately?
Is the suffering of others really necessary to feel better?
"I'm sorry…" I know those words aren't worth it. I wrote this novel, I tortured him for over ten years, I forced him to do things that he, the real him, would never have wanted. Just because I wanted it that way. Just so I don't feel so bad about my situation. "But please listen to me, I don't want you to hurt yourself any more than you're already doing."
Those are the words I always wanted to hear. I don't know if they will be of any use to you, your soul is more broken than mine, long before I even came into this world.
But, I feel truly…sorry.
Or maybe it's just simple pity.
"I'll drive the demons away from here, and maybe Joakim can then kill all the demons that invaded the city," I grabbed the blade of his sword; Astral, pulling it away from my neck. "But you, now you have to go to the shelter. Stop trying to kill yourself."
I could see Anser's surprised face, the way he tensed when I grabbed his sword, the way he…
BANG!
I heard another demon land, I turned around immediately.
"What the fuck…" What is that thing doing here?
"Bl ood. Hu man s. S ong s." It repeated in a terrifying symphony: a rotten body, which from a ball formed into a long, almost stick-like body; with eagle hands and a raven head.
He was a Conde of the Underworld itself, Raum.
I should have guessed...if it wasn't just the beginning of the novel.
All this...is strange, who would dare to open a portal to hell so that this thing could enter?
"This is impossible..."
Listening to Anser's voice, I knew that if he said it was impossible, it was time to really worry.
The only ones who would be at the level of this demon would be Sherly…
"De struc tion…" His feathered hands came together, as he did so, millions of feathers burst out of his body, making a circle.
From the circle came gusts of air, as strong as three tornadoes together. I had to flee, and not only me, but also Anser.
"Supernova Remnant!" I could barely open my mouth when Anser rushed towards Raum with his sword.
The tip reached his chest, as soon as it could touch him, it exploded.
Supernova Remnant was an attack from Anser's sword style; it combined his power with the power of the stars, however, it wasn't strong enough, at least not now.
I fell on a large rock after the explosion, when I regained my senses, I could see Anser in the distance, holding his sword, and with an angry look, looking at the intact demon.
Although, the feathers were scattered by the explosion.
Without wasting any time, the demon pointed at Anser, throwing the feathers towards him. As sharp as knives, tearing through their clothes and skin.
Shit, if he keeps throwing all those attacks at him, he'll kill him…
And yet, Anser didn't move. He didn't dodge, he didn't evade them with his sword...
He was just getting the attacks.
And that filled me with anger.
"…Didn't you hear anything I said?" I took off my robe, and I immediately ran towards him.
"Dou ble cata s trop he."
SLASH!
"Ugh…" The feathers stopped, but now they were all buried in my body. "You're...a pain in the ass..."
I was able to protect Anser by putting my robe on him. While he was a Count-level Demon, he didn't have much vision, especially with the corrupted sky of this world, which left newly arrived Demons partially blind.
However, the demon can distinguish smells.
It was easy to make him believe that I'm the only one here...
But, the blood in my body is now starting to make me feel weak.
"D-Damn..." I need something to piss me off, and this idiot seems to be helping, but still, my regeneration is very slow.
"…Why are you doing this?" Anser took off my robe, looking at me with annoyance and disgust. "You're weak, get out of here."
I snorted, "It's not like you can beat him either..."
He is an intelligent demon, he will first destroy the city, and kill those who will remain alive after the destruction.
Anser would confront him in chapter fifteen of the novel. Anser managed to kill him after…
After learning…'Black Hole'...
A technique which Anser used to enclose the demon in his precious sword, but, by combining forces, the demon was feeding on Anser's energy, turning it into cursed energy.
Did I really write such a self-sacrificing scene?
Another reason why he doesn't need to know I wrote him.
"I'm serious," He exclaimed, "You'll only kill yourself if you try to act brave…"
And yet, it's no different than what he's trying to do.
All I need now is to neutralize that demon.
Elmetron's body regenerates. If I can use Black Hole, and absorb the demon to keep it inside my body...Anser won't have to deal with the demon's cursed energy ruining his magical energy…
But mine.
I ran my hand over the scratch on Anser's cheek, having his blood on my finger, I smiled, "Same here, if you're trying to kill yourself, this isn't the place."
Now, I just need to get closer to the demon.
I could see Anser's confused and angry face, however, I was faster than him, as I ran, my wounds closing, until I finally reached where the demon was.
The pure blood of Anser Ciro, the ultimate salvation of this world...
So, that's why I'll protect him.
I will protect him from the very world I made for him.
I climb up the devil's feathers until I can reach his chest. Before the demon could attack me with its feathers, I screamed: "Vulpecula: Black Hole!"
I took one last look at Anser's surprised face.
Oh sure, you'll learn this...
…Or maybe not.
The feathers were against me, followed by the demon's heart-rending scream. The last thing I saw were the feathers penetrating my skin, so that in the end, my vision was blinded by all the feathers inserted into my body.
"De De stru ction!" And soon, I heard the sound of an explosion, the explosion of the demon's body, blood scattering everywhere.
And I, dying.
-
Knock knock.
Was it her again?
"Anser, you should come out, it's been a year since you refused to fight. Joakim...he even despises you for wasting his time, please at least go out and talk to him..."
Layla J. Everest.
A mediocre one.
I don't need to listen to her.
"Get out."
Another one?
"...If you only exist to be a bastard, then you better get out of here. You've wasted enough of my time with you."
Joakim Hans.
A grumpy one.
I don't need to listen to him.
"Get out."
Another…
"If you want to let all that past out...come and have a drink with me, I'm not asking much of you."
Sherly.
A slacker.
I don't need to…
...
"Someday someone will change your mind, and yet you will still tell them to leave?"
…
"Get out."
I don't need to listen to them, unless it's so I can get my revenge.
They can't understand the fact that my heart has lost the power to beat, my mind has lost the power to program anything other than pessimistic.
Why don't they just leave me alone?
I don't even know if I really want to become better than Randy Bornman.
All of that is very empty.
I don't want to be...a shell anymore.
I want to...feel…
"ANSER CIRO!"
…
Feel?
And just a strange guy…
No, Ji Noo? Sounds...
…
Different.
No one has called me by my full name, it gives me the creeps.
But, he made me go out and fight, even when I forgot all about using the sword, more than training without control, for 'something' that I don't know.
I just want...
I want to know what it is to live.
"…!" Is that...blood? He...died to...save me...?
No, that's not...
Damn…he mentioned Vulpecula, didn't he? Does he...know Vulpecula? Does he know about me? About my family? No one knows about Vulpecula except my clan…
…My family.
"…"
I really don't care?
If someone I don't know dies, I don't care; they're not my family anyway. But if this guy dies...why does it make me feel...scared?
No, it makes me feel uncomfortable knowing that he dies, especially when he mentioned Vulpecula…
"…Shit."
This wasn't what I wanted to feel...
-
I opened my eyes.
A dark place.
My conscience? I always imagined it to be dark, but not this dark...
"Human," The resonant voice sounded within my soul, there was no one around but myself, "You swallowed my soul directly from my physical body into yours...no, into this body."
Intelligent, he knew this body was not mine.
"You'll be locked up here for a while, start getting used to it."
The demon gave a laugh, "Oh really?"
I know what this idiot is planning...
Steal Elmetron's body.
However, a body with as many abilities as Elmetron's cannot fall into the hands of a demon, much less one this powerful.
"You know this body doesn't belong to you, human, as a demon, I can take this body, and throw you out of here, aren't you afraid of that?"
Fear? It's just a body. Unlike him, I can find another body at any time. Not him. Someone would need to offer their body, their life. And almost always all the sacrifices that are offered are weak bodies.
"Scared?" I couldn't help but scoff, I am its creator, the author, I have seen worse things than demons in this world. "Not even a little."
I snapped my fingers, and soon, I was able to return to reality.
One of my eyes fell from the sky, in tune with the explosion of blood from the demon's body. The feathers that were previously buried in me, moving restlessly around, searching for their owner.
Without managing to return to form the body of the demon, since Anser stopped them with a stomp.
"…" He looked at the whole mess, while with the other side of his hand he cleaned his bloodstained face. "…Ji Noo."
Eh?
That...is my name, right?
Almost like an order, the demon's blood and the pieces of flesh from my body began to join together. The regeneration was faster than it was before with Elmetron's normal body.
Was the demon helping with my regeneration?
It was a disconcerting thought to know that I had locked the demon inside me, but it will be temporary, at least, until I can find Mandeleine to exorcise my body.
Oh, you don't know, do you?
Mandeleine is one of the best exorcists in this world, which is under the command of Randy Bornman, alias: Mr. Rosicrucian.
I sat on the floor, my body feeling refreshed, as if I had woken up after a tiring day. All my strength returned, and the pain I felt in my body disappeared completely.
"Take that idiot face off."
I came back to my senses with Anser's voice, upon hearing it, I immediately got up from the ground.
My body was naked, I could see how the skin that before seemed to be full of scars, was now perfectly clean. Was it also Raum's work?
However, one thing that I was unsure about was...
The fact that when he appeared, Raum said 'songs'. What did he mean?I mean, all demons are wise...in a way, right?
The sound of trumpets was heard, indicating the end of the hunt for the invading demons.
"...Is the hunt over?" Anser murmured, looking at me, that's when I got lost.
"AAAAAH!!" My head started to feel squashed, it hurt so much it felt like someone was trying to rip it off.
Combining with the melody of the trumpets, I realized the meaning of the demon's words: he didn't come to destroy, he came to possess a body…and I, by mistake, granted his wish.
As the music continued, I could feel a demon's tail growing from my body, at the same time I felt myself losing consciousness of it, feathers growing from my skin...
No, Jeon Kwonoo, you're stronger...stronger than him...if I let Raum take over this body...not just Anser, but everyone will be in danger…
Danger...
Danger...
BONK!
Eh? Anser...just…hit me...?
_
Keep everything in order.
That's what she always said.
"Potions of regeneration...fire resistance...damage reduction...energy boost…" Making a stock of all the options she had, she carefully checked each bottle, but soon stopped at one.
Of the ten regeneration potions she had, she was missing one.
"I made them yesterday...where is the missing one?" she murmured.
Although she was incredibly scared upon arrival in this world, she was at least able to survive in the wild forest thanks to her character's knowledge of potions…
Apparently, she had transmigrated into a novel she had last read; Mr. Detective. It was one of her favorite novels, however, she was not so satisfied. All the characters ended up doing things that didn't motivate them, especially the protagonist; too tragic to believe he was truly happy with the second protagonist.
And, for better or worse, she was that second protagonist; Liam Yoon Hee, the woman who is supposed to be the future girlfriend of the protagonist, Anser Ciro…
And that idea terrified her, she'd always been afraid of relationships since her last ex-boyfriend...
"Umm...maybe Anser took the potion?" Although, in the end, she end up being the protagonist's secretary...
She had the good or bad luck of being rescued by the protagonist when a cannibal demon tried to attack her, and after much pleading, she ended up being the secretary and only member of the Anser Ciro sect.
So, for a month since her arrival, she made sure not to make Anser end up in the ending he should, much less hers, although, she still didn't know the end of the story.
She knew that if the story changed to a happy ending, the author would be grateful...
Slowly, she walked towards Anser Ciro's office, with slow, soft steps...
"Detective...are you in...your office?"
She put his ear to the door; she heard several footsteps, those of Anser, recognizing his muffled, heavy footsteps.
Suddenly, the door opened, causing Liam Yoon Hee to fall face first into the office. She stood up immediately, rubbing her forehead.
"S-Sorry, Detective! I-I thought you were still out at the event, and..." However, his gaze fell on the figure of an unconscious man on the desk of the expressionless Anser Ciro. "B-BUT WHAT HAPPENED?!"
No matter how much she stared at Anser, he remained poker-faced, unfazed by the gravity of having someone unconscious on his desk.
"…He absorbed a demon," explained poorly, "I came to perform an autopsy."
"H-HE'S NOT DEAD!" She sighed, then approached the man; noticing the green hair, and the red eyes, her mind connected.
He… "I-It can't be possible…!" He was the main antagonist of the story, Elmetron, why had Anser Ciro brought him to his office?!
Anser looked at her, not understanding the girl's scared expression.
"Y-You better stay away from him, he's a threat! He'll kill you!" She immediately pulled Anser away from the man's unconscious body.
Although, she was curious, why did they meet? It was supposed to be just the first chapter of the story, or the prologue at most, and it wasn't possible...for Elmetron to appear...
Maybe it was because she tried to change history?
Whatever it was...
This was getting weirder than usual! That didn't happen in the transmigration novels she'd read before!