"Huh. Is this it?"
I stared at the final page of the only spice in my
life — a book series I'd been reading since middle school. One hundred volumes.
Thousands of hours. All for this.
At the bottom of the page was a short author's note:
"To my dear readers — thank you for reading the
final chapter of my life's work."
…That was it?
No epilogue, no grand finale, no postscript twist.
Just a note that probably took the guy thirty seconds to scribble down before
calling it a day.
I let out a dramatic sigh and stared out the huge
office window. The city buzzed quietly below, completely unaware that the only
thing keeping me sane had just ended.
"Now what am I supposed to read…?"
"Did you finish that series?"
A cheerful voice rang out beside me. I turned to see
her — her — dressed as effortlessly
elegant as always.
"Wow. I thought you were going to be stuck with that
book until retirement," she added with a teasing grin.
Great. My coworker. The star
child under the same tyrant boss, Seyong Park.
Seyong had been here for only a few months, yet
somehow already clawed her way to the top. Meanwhile, I'd been loyal to this
firm for years and we were still on the same rung of the ladder.
"Yup… my only pride and joy is over. Please don't
tease me too much, Miss Seyong."
Black hair that ran down her back like a curtain,
neatly cut bangs, a figure the entire office gossiped about behind closed
doors. Yeah — every guy here had fallen for her at some point.
Even me.
For a while, I had foolish dreams of a future with
her… but gave up once I realized I was just another background character in her
story.
"Aww, I'm sure you'll find another series to obsess
over, Mister Junseo~"
That "Mister" hurt more than it should have.
I sighed, which she noticed instantly.
"Noted. No more 'Miss Seyong,'" I said.
"Good boy," she teased.
I shot her a look, already feeling the salt sprinkle
over my open wounds.
God, I wish she'd stop teasing me.
"Anyway, what do you want? Shouldn't you be off
charming the manager over lunch or something?"
"Huh? I can't check up on a co-worker once in a
while? I'm just being nice here," she said, pouting a
little.
Something in that pout pierced my crusty, withered
heart. Without thinking, I reached out and patted her head.
"Thanks for looking out for me, Seyong."
Like a golden retriever, her pout vanished, replaced
by a warm, gleaming smile.
"There we go," she said. "That smile suits you, you know?"
But I was
too focused on something else to appreciate her shining smile, something which
was more shiny than her.
Literally
shiny. The book.
It was
glowing.
I reached
out towards the book. the pages were moving like waterfall a golden and white
shine emitting from its pages.
Seyong looked
at the book her eyes widened in surprise.
"Junseo don't
touch that we don't know what it is!"
She called
out reaching for my right arm.
But I was
too distracted by the other world like "book" to her warning, I couldn't help
but reach out this book is the epilogue of a series that's been through my life
with me.
As soon as I
touched the book, I was sucked in, I felt my entire being shift into the book
as of I was getting sucked into a black hole. My body felt like dust there was
no escaping it.
Last thing I
heard was Seyong's horrified scream as I was fully immersed into a gate.
Drifting a gateway
made out of golden yellow and white I saw vivid images of a man struggling
against a god like being who mocked him. The struggler gave me a sense of calm.
A familiarity in chaos.
I saw him
struggle, fight, and cry. Grief filled my chest when he cried, happiness blossomed
in my heart when he smiled.
Even if I
had only seen him in texts I knew.
Just from that feeling
alone I knew he was the protagonist of the series. My life long companion who I
out aged. The main character of The silent oath. Yoo Sangeon.
After drifting for what felt like a second and an eternity both
at the same time, I crash landed out of the portal to a medival looking city.
My entire body was paralyzed for a moment from the intense
pain. Then another thing popped out of the portal and hit me square in my
chest.
"God… stupid portal… where even am i…" I mutter to myself as
I looked around the area which… felt too familiar to me though I have never
seen it.
On my chest was a book titled. "To my loyal reader."
The hell? To who? Am I the loyal reader in question? I thought
for a moment, even though I was in an unfamiliar world I still couldn't help
but hope the book was sent to me by the author of The silent oath.
The first page started with.
"To the person who was with me through my life's work. I don't
know who you are. But I am grateful to you. This world is a little gift I made specifically
for you who stood by myside from the beginning. Have fun."
…Didn't help me know who was the person who sent me this
book. I flipped to the second page, when the book withered into nothingness.
"Huh?" I couldn't help but be surprised. As the book which I
still hoped was sent to me by the author dissapeared right in my arms.
"what… the FUCKKKKK" though
I was in another world, I was more upset over the book I couldn't read throughly.
"Execuse me mister…" a childish voice rung out behind me
throwing me out of my tantrum.
Looking back I saw a child in what I can only describe as peasant
clothes, raggedy worn dirty clothes and greasy hair along with dirty hands and
feet.
"Could you please spare a coun? I haven't eaten in days…"
…Ah… I get it now…
A helpless sensation engulfed my body as I let out a
defeated smile.
IM IN MY FAVORITE SERIES AS A NOBODY!!!