Chapter 51: Counterattack, start!

“Since I’ve petted you so much, now explain.

What kind of ability is the Re-establishment of Narrative?”

Sihyun lowered his right hand, which had been stroking the Notification Window, and sat on the floor of the void, ready to listen to the explanation.

[Re-establishment of Narrative (再正立).]

[This is literally ‘the ability to rewrite a story.’]

“Rewrite a story?”

[Everything in the world is made up of stories.]

[From the moment a person is born until they die, their entire life becomes a story, leaving a trace in the world.]

[It’s not just humans.]

[From tiny insects to stars and galaxies in the universe.]

[All things in creation are ultimately a single story.]

“Isn’t the scale getting too big?

All creation and whatnot.

I thought it was just a simple ability to save Luna.”

Everything in the world was a single story.

And the ability to rewrite such stories, the Re-establishment of Narrative.

‘Doesn’t this mean rewriting the world itself?’

Sihyun, who had been listening to the explanation lightheartedly, felt a slight chill at the larger-than-expected scale.

[But there’s one important point.]

[If a story has a beginning, it must naturally have an end.]

[Just as living beings are born and die, stories also have an end.]

[However, there are beings that deviate from this law.]

“Urban legends… you’re talking about, right?”

Urban legends are stories created by beings that have fallen into unreasonableness.

Twisted and alien, they cannot end their own stories and merely repeat them infinitely.

‘That was definitely the setting in the novel.

By the way, even if urban legends became reality, I didn’t think such a grand setting would carry over.’

He was already living in a world where urban legends ran rampant, but it felt as if the original world was gradually disappearing and transforming into the novel’s worldview.

‘Well… it said it would normalize once all the stories of destruction are ended, so it should be fine.’

Sihyun adjusted his posture and listened intently to the explanation from the Notification Window again.

[The Re-establishment of Narrative is precisely the ability to rewrite their stories.]

[To find the twisted points and restore them to their original state.]

“Listening to this, it sounds like an ability that messes with causality, doesn’t it?

You’re saying it changes outcomes by eliminating causes.

Anyone hearing this would think it’s a divine power.”

An ability that defies the flow of an already written narrative.

That meant twisting the laws of the world itself.

[Divine power… Hehe, does it seem that way?]

The Notification Window’s small smile was like a chuckle that knew the answer to something.

“What?

Why are you suddenly laughing?”

[Hehe, it’s nothing.]

[It’s just a little amusing.]

“Is this something to laugh about?

Anyway, I generally understand what kind of ability it is, but it doesn’t quite resonate with me.

Isn’t there any more supplementary explanation?”

[I knew you’d say that, so I prepared something else!]

[Sihyun, you should always be grateful to have me, someone who’s thoroughly prepared, by your side!]

‘It’s a talent, really, to add a remark like that and make any inclination to agree completely disappear.’

The Notification Window carefully approached Sihyun’s face and brought a message window to his forehead.

—Flash.

‘What is this?’

For a moment, a blue light flashed, and an old book appeared before Sihyun’s eyes.

The book cover was so worn that it was tattered, and no title or author’s name was visible.

Yet, it was a mysterious book that evoked a faint, nostalgic feeling.

“So what is this?”

[That… let’s just say it’s the first work I ever wrote.]

[Sihyun, would you read that story once?]

“Ah, so you wrote it when you didn’t know much, so there might be plot holes or something like that, right?

And rewriting those parts is the ability called Re-establishment of Narrative.

Now I finally understand it to some extent.

By the way, authors usually feel incredibly embarrassed showing their first works, are you okay with it?”

[Hehe… Sihyun, it’s okay.]

[Because you’re special to me.]

The Notification Window answered with a small laugh, but its voice seemed to tremble.

Sihyun stroked the Notification Window once, then turned the cover of the old book.

****

[The Story of a Beautiful but Lonely Girl]

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a girl with long, straight hair and exceptionally beautiful eyes.

Everyone praised her appearance.

‘She’s too beautiful.’

‘If there were truly a goddess of beauty, wouldn’t she be like this?’

‘She’s like a doll.

No, a doll-like imitation couldn’t express this beauty.’

But even hearing people’s praises, the girl felt no joy at all.

This was because she couldn’t see herself.

Was it perhaps that the world was jealous of the girl?

The girl’s beautifully shining eyes had, ironically, lost their light since birth and were unable to see anything.

However, in exchange for losing her sight, she possessed many mysterious abilities.

So, although she couldn’t see, she could manage daily life without difficulty.

Only ‘seeing’ was an exception.

Humans are beings who find it difficult to believe what they cannot see.

Therefore, no matter how much people praised her appearance, the girl heard it all as nothing but lies, not sincerity.

“Everyone is a liar······.”

The girl avoided people and went to live deep in a dark forest.

This was because she no longer wanted to hear the sounds surrounded by falsehoods.

How much time had passed, with flowers blooming, fruits ripening, and leaves falling?

“I’m a little… lonely.”

One day, when the girl suddenly felt lonely.

Someone came to her house, which was built of leaves.

—Knock, knock.

“Wh-who is it?”

When the girl opened the door, a traveler who wandered all over the world stood there.

“Why did you come here?”

“······.”

The traveler did not answer.

No, in fact, he couldn’t answer.

He was congenitally unable to speak.

Instead of answering, the traveler communicated by writing words on the girl’s palm with his finger.

[Hello?

It’s raining heavily outside, so could I stay here for a little while?]

If it had been the original girl, she would have naturally refused.

Was it because she felt particularly lonely that day?

Or perhaps, did the warmth of the person who appeared just then stir something in the girl’s heart?

“F-fine, stay for just one day and then leave······.”

[Thank you.

You’re a truly kind girl.]

“N-not really······.”

The girl did not turn him away and welcomed him warmly.

The girl who couldn’t see, and the traveler who couldn’t speak.

Although the girl had let him into her house on a whim, the more she talked with the traveler, the more she grew to like him.

[Today, I’ll tell you a story about a dragon living on a very high and cold snow mountain.]

“Hehe, okay!”

As a traveler who journeyed the world, he knew many mysterious stories and magic.

The girl gradually became more and more captivated by the traveler who told her fascinating stories every day.

So much so that she wouldn’t let him leave her house, even as seasons changed, despite him saying he would only stay for a short while.

The traveler became the girl’s eyes, and the girl became the traveler’s voice, living together.

One day, when it seemed they would be happy forever.

The girl fell ill with an unknown sickness and lay suffering for several days.

The traveler stayed by the girl’s side without leaving for a moment, caring for her with all his heart and soul.

Despite his efforts, the girl showed no sign of recovering from her illness.

“Hey, am I… going to die like this…?

I really wanted to see your face before I died, though… What a shame······.”

“······.”

Hearing the girl’s wish, the traveler said he had found a good method and stroked her face every night for several days.

[Half a month has already passed.

When you wake up today, your illness will be completely cured.]

‘Hmph… there’s no way petting me will cure it… But your hand is really… warm.

Hehe······.’

The girl thought the traveler was just comforting her.

But then, as if a miracle had suddenly occurred, when she opened her eyes at night, the girl’s illness was completely cured.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Ah… Ahh······ I-I can see… I can see the night sky······.”

Light finally began to appear in the beautiful girl’s eyes.

From the leaf house she made to the dazzling stars and moon in the night sky.

She could now see with her own two eyes everything she had only ever felt.

“The world… was such a sparkling place.”

At that moment, the girl thought of what she wanted to see most of all.

“I want to see the traveler···.”

She wandered around the house searching for the traveler, but for some reason, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did he go?”

The girl grew tired of searching for him and returned home.

At that moment, the girl noticed a small note lying on the dining table.

A letter the traveler had written for the girl.

[I’ll go get some more medicine so you can fully recover.

Wait well until then, okay?]

“Hmph… always thinking about me···.”

The girl sat on a dining chair and hugged the letter to her chest as if it were something very precious.

The note, with its comforting feel and the traveler’s scent, made the girl feel at ease.

“Will you also tell me I’m pretty when you see me?”

It would be wonderful to hear those words from the traveler.

The girl deliberately decided not to look in the mirror and to wait for the traveler.

Because she wished for him to be the first to see her face, more than herself.

“You’ll come back soon, right···?”

The girl clutched the note to her chest and fell back into a deep sleep.

Waiting for a man who would never return.

[The Story of a Beautiful but Lonely Girl]

[END]

****

“Ugh-huh!

What in the world is this?!

It’s too sad, wahhh!”

Sihyun, having read the story in the old book, couldn’t hold back his tears.

Such a sad story.

A girl who couldn’t see and a man who couldn’t speak.

That two people who relied on each other would never meet again in the end!

‘Why can’t he ever return?!

Where did that traveler man go, leaving the girl behind?!’

A conclusion that felt somewhat rushed.

It was a story that strongly gave the impression of an author going on hiatus or rushing to an abrupt conclusion.

“Sniff… Notification Window, I didn’t know you could write such sad stories.

I thought you only wrote urban legends.

I see you in a new light.

*Sniff!*”

[······Is it a very sad story?]

“Is that even a question?!

I don’t even know why the traveler suddenly disappeared, and on top of that, he’s never coming back?!

The girl, unaware of this, is pitifully waiting.

It’s such an unreasonable story!”

[Hehe… Indeed.

I still don’t quite know why I wrote the ending like that······.]

The Notification Window’s voice somehow carried a hint of sorrow.

Did seeing its old work bring back some faint memories?

‘That’s certainly possible.’

As if understanding that feeling, Sihyun raised his hand and gently stroked the Notification Window.

[Sihyun, were you able to find the twisted part in this story?]

“Hmm… rather than twisted, there are some parts that are hard to understand.

The story gets weird from the point where the girl suddenly falls ill, doesn’t it?

It’s a bit of a sudden development, you could say.”

[You found it correctly.]

[Finding such twisted or false parts, the blind spots (盲點) of a story, and rewriting them with correct content, that is the Re-establishment of Narrative.]

“Giving an example definitely makes it clear.

So, if I use this ability to rewrite the story of Greed, I can save Luna, right?”

[Exactly!]

[As expected, Sihyun, you are smart.]

As the Notification Window confidently stated, the Re-establishment of Narrative seemed like an incredibly powerful ability.

He didn’t know what the max level of the system was, but to have this much functionality at Level 2.

‘Later, when it goes up to Level 3, 4, and so on, I’ll just be soaring.’

Sihyun began to look forward to how many more functions would be added to the system in the future.

“Alright.

Now I understand it perfectly, and since Greed isn’t here, let’s try using it right away.

Oh, before that, I have one question.”

[What are you curious about?]

“You know that old book story.

Can’t that also be rewritten with the Re-establishment of Narrative?

It keeps bothering me somehow.”

The girl’s final image, clutching the letter and falling asleep, kept lingering in Sihyun’s mind.

The girl, waiting for him endlessly, completely unaware that the traveler would never return.

‘Honestly, it’s sad!

I want the girl to live happily with the traveler.’

The Notification Window seemed calm, as if it had expected Sihyun to ask such a question.

[Sihyun, you truly… haven’t changed at all from before.]

[I also really hope you can change that story.]

[But you ‘still’ can’t rewrite it.]

[You know why, right?]

“It’s probably that damn restriction again, and the reason that I need to get stronger by resolving more urban legend stories, right?”

There was only one reason why the Notification Window would say something couldn’t be done or hesitate.

[Sihyun, if ‘that day’ ever comes, will you please lead the girl from a sad ending to a happy one······?]

“I promise on my pinky, so don’t worry!

Now, let’s go save our princess.

I can’t stand Greed impersonating Luna anymore.”

[Hehe, don’t be surprised when you see the masterpiece I created, Sihyun!]

Ding!

Simultaneously with the familiar notification sound, the pitch-black void space instantly began to be tinged with bright golden light.

[Initiating Re-establishment of Narrative.]