Ch.262Epilogue of an Epilogue. Perhaps

Being a full-time writer involves more work than one might think.

Of course, the job is writing, but just sitting alone at home doesn’t make words appear automatically.

Even for light novels with relatively casual content, some research is necessary.

Let’s say the protagonist is a teenager. If I write based on my current perspective, today’s teenagers might not relate to it.

This applies even if there’s only a few years’ age difference. There’s a significant gap between how adults view teenagers and how teenagers experience their own adolescence.

So I need to do research to understand their world. I browse the internet, sit in cafes popular with teenagers, and listen to their conversations.

Moreover, I don’t just write light novels. To gather content for travel guides that I write under a separate pen name, I actually need to visit those places. It’s not just about going there, but discovering what makes a place fun, finding unique spots, and traveling regularly with these goals in mind.

Since writing is my job, I don’t mind. Writing after soaking in a hot spring feels completely different from writing in the middle of a bustling famous café, and naturally, the atmosphere of the resulting text differs as well.

Above all, diverse experiences always help generate new writing material.

…Yes, I suppose from others’ perspective, writing for a living without financial worries must seem like a very comfortable job.

To be honest, it is comfortable. How could it not be?

I don’t have an editor assigned to me. I’ve been writing since the publishing house first opened, so I’m close with Kaoru and Izumi, the founders.

Though they’ve hired a few more employees, “Neko Workshop” remains a small publishing house.

By the way, the name comes from Ka”neko.” It’s quite remarkable that they chose this despite the fact that Kaoru’s surname Kaneko (金子) doesn’t actually contain the meaning of neko (ネコ, 猫, cat).

I wondered why Izumi’s name wasn’t included, but apparently she strongly declined having her name in it, and that’s how it was settled.

Well, both “Neko Izumi” and “Izumi Neko” would become “Cat Izumi,” so it’s understandable why she’d dislike it.

There might be publishing houses with overlapping names, but since there don’t seem to be any, it’s probably not an issue.

I don’t commute regularly, but I visit the publishing house often. I help out when needed, and most importantly, if I want to hear how my writing will be edited, it’s easier to discuss it in person.

It’s not particularly difficult for me, having commuted by train from Saitama to central Tokyo throughout high school and university.

“Oh, Kotone!”

Kaoru waved cheerfully at me as I arrived at the office after leisurely spending the morning at a café with my laptop open.

“That looks like the expression you have when you want to ask for a favor.”

When I said this without even greeting her, Kaoru looked incredulous.

“Come on, is that the first thing you say?”

“Well, every time you make that face, I end up having to go somewhere far away.”

That’s right.

“Travel” includes guidebook purposes, but sometimes also involves collecting occult-related information that Kaoru likes. Apparently, the special edition books they publish in summer sell quite well.

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Kaoru made a frustrated expression, unable to refute my statement.

I sighed lightly as I entered the office.

“So, where am I going this time?”

“Ah~ Don’t worry. It’s not that far.”

“…How many hours will it take?”

“About four hours?”

Four hours?

Hearing this somewhat middling distance, I tilted my head.

“Kaoru.”

Izumi, who had been working diligently, joined the conversation.

She only called Kaoru’s name, but the emotion in her voice made Kaoru’s shoulders flinch.

“Ah, well…”

Kaoru glanced around once and then looked at me somewhat apologetically.

“I was thinking you might go… overseas.”

“Korea? Seoul?”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“What other overseas destination takes about four hours from here?”

Plus, Korea.

Actually, I had been thinking about visiting.

Why? Because I speak Korean well. I occasionally watch Korean dramas and movies out of curiosity, and since I understand them without subtitles, I’d probably manage fine there.

Of course, my accent might have changed a bit after living here for so long… but well, I’m officially Japanese anyway.

“If you want, you can go with Koko or Ms. Kagami. We can arrange that much.”

“Is that really okay?”

“Yes. Actually, there seems to be growing demand for this kind of content lately.”

I see. So it’s already that time.

It’s not yet the 2020s. But it’s a period when fans of Korean content are gradually emerging overseas.

Tourism seems to be increasing too, so it might be good to write something in advance.

“Alright then.”

I nodded.

I came here today because I had finished my manuscript anyway. The staff will inform me about any editing discussions, and I can modify manuscripts from overseas as long as I have internet access.

“When should I go?”

“Early in the year. How about January? Late January would be good, I think. It would be nice to include seasonal content.”

Early year. January. Not bad. It doesn’t really matter when I go anyway.

I unconsciously opened my phone while listening, and felt something odd.

As I pondered this feeling—I realized it was related to the date shown on my phone screen.

Specifically, the “year” hidden in the status bar.

It’s the end of the year. There isn’t much time left until January. It’s not just because I don’t have a passport and will be busy.

I can’t forget this year.

“…Senior.”

“Yes?”

“Would it be okay if I choose the travel dates myself?”

As my expression suddenly hardened, I asked this to Kaoru, who was just blinking in confusion.

*

This world is different from the world of my previous life.

Many aspects are similar.

Some terrible events that happened in that world also occurred in this one.

Famous people who existed in that world exist in this one too.

However, I have no way of knowing whether characters from light novels, other than the main characters, exist in this world.

Because I’ve never been to Korea.

And if I could go to Korea.

If by chance I could be there on exactly the same date.

Perhaps.

“Kotone.”

“Huh?”

I finally came to my senses when Koko called out to me.

Weather much colder than Japan. And unlike Tokyo, snow piled up everywhere.

Gyeongju covered in snow was far more beautiful than I had imagined.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have much leisure to appreciate that beauty. Today wasn’t the last day, so things would probably get better after today passed.

To be honest, it might have been better to remain ignorant.

“Is something wrong? You’ve been with us all day since morning…”

Kagami tilted her head and asked.

“Ah, well.”

I couldn’t properly explain.

Over the years, we’ve shared many stories.

I’ve… told them a little about my previous life. Neither of them nor Yuka showed intense reactions. They simply accepted it calmly as something I had experienced.

Well, what’s the point of dwelling on such things when we’ve fought and driven away foreign gods?

However, seeking out my previous life in this world is somewhat different.

Kagami is my mother.

Koko is my sister.

And finding such family members here.

Koko and Kagami stared at me for a while, seemingly realizing something.

But neither of them brought it up.

In fact, Koko might have sensed it more acutely. After all, my sister’s soul briefly resided in Koko’s divided body in this world.

We walked in silence.

I hadn’t heard the details of that story, so before coming up to Seoul, I didn’t know where or how my family had been.

But if I could catch just one moment.

If I could be away from that place just a little longer.

Then—perhaps, someone in this world could be saved?

Though I had been walking around various Gyeongju tourist spots all day since morning without saying much, Koko and Kagami followed without complaint.

Because I hadn’t shown such an intense reaction in years.

And then.

“…Ah.”

I saw her back.

A young girl who looked like she had just graduated from high school.

In this world, there was no evidence I could look back on. No photos, no videos.

But even so, I could recognize the three of them.

My pace quickened. I felt the two behind me speeding up as well.

Approaching the girl whose back was all I could see, I opened my mouth.

“Excuse me…”

The girl turned around.

On her wrist, I glimpsed a watch.

“Yes?”

The girl looked at me with a slightly surprised expression. Only then did I realize I had addressed her in Japanese.

My sister wasn’t the type who enjoyed manga like I did.

But she was outgoing, liked to travel around, and enjoyed meeting new people, so she wouldn’t turn down a foreigner who spoke to her.

After a brief moment of consideration, I spoke again.

“Could I ask you the way to Daereungwon?”

The girl was surprised again.

My accent was somewhat unsteady. It had been years since I’d spoken Korean.

But because of that, the girl seemed interested in what I was saying.

“Oh! I was just coming back from there!”

The girl’s face brightened.

“Mom! Dad!”

The girl turned toward her parents and called out.

Seeing their faces, I felt breathless for a moment.

“Can I guide them for a bit?”

“Well…”

The girl’s father looked at his watch, then nodded.

Seeing that, I clenched my fist.

Could I do it?

Could it be alright?

*

That girl was truly kind.

She didn’t just take us there, but also showed us good spots for photos inside, and enthusiastically explained where and what we should eat for dinner.

I nodded and wrote everything down.

In truth, I had already visited or researched about half of the restaurants she mentioned, as well as the place I had asked her to guide us to.

But ending with “I already know” would be problematic.

Because these three would be heading home.

Above all, that time was precious to me.

Perhaps I’ll never see this girl again. No, seeing her again would probably be difficult.

Having decided to live as a person of this world, I have my own life.

I have my own family, so I can’t cling to my past family—no, to another family in this world.

And so, the time we spent together—1 hour.

I was able to delay them for a whole hour.

Even if they left now, they absolutely wouldn’t be “there at that time.”

“…Thank you so much.”

“Oh, no! I enjoyed it too. Since you came all this way, you should enjoy your visit.”

The girl scratched her head and smiled.

Her smile was radiant.

“Are you going back to Seoul now?”

“Yes. I originally had dinner plans with my brother, but I’m a bit late now…”

“I’m sure he’ll wait for you.”

“My brother is a bit impatient, so he might get upset.”

But not today, at least.

He probably won’t be eating dinner. For various reasons.

…Should I have tried to prevent the accident?

Should I have done more?

But I didn’t want to take risks with Koko and Kagami present.

Besides, I thought it wasn’t something I could change.

It’s a large dump truck. Even if Koko or I tried to stop it, we’d certainly have to accept serious injuries. And now we don’t know how much our bodies can recover from major injuries. We’ve used up all our flesh.

Seeing that we can gain weight, recovery might be possible somehow, but I can’t be certain.

And… perhaps, just perhaps.

With one car not being in between, many things could change.

In front of the car my family was in, there was a large van.

That van was also quite damaged from the collision, but the people inside didn’t die.

Neither did those in the car in front of it, or the one in front of that.

So maybe, just maybe, they could get through without major incident.

This might all be me trying to convince myself.

I’m not a hero.

And this family is not my family.

They’re just another family from another world who closely resemble my family.

I can’t control everything in this world, nor can I compare what’s different and what’s the same in every detail.

So what I can do is change only the parts I can change with certainty.

And this will probably be the last time.

“Have a nice trip!”

“Thank you.”

I bowed, and the girl waved at us before getting into the car.

The girl’s parents also slightly bowed to us before getting in.

And the car departed.

Against the background of the snow-white town, I watched the car disappear into the distance for a long time.

“…”

Kagami stood beside me for a while, then slowly reached out and embraced me.

Koko joined the embrace as well.

I stood there for a long time, quietly, looking in the direction where the car had disappeared.

*

*

*

“You had a tough day.”

A well-built young man said as he picked up a piece of meat and put it in his mouth.

“Many people were injured, cars were wrecked, parts scattered everywhere.”

The young man said after chewing and swallowing the meat, exhaling deeply.

“But it’s fortunate there were only injuries. If a car had been crushed under the truck…”

“Oh my, you’ve been through a lot, son.”

The young man’s mother said as she placed meat on his plate.

“So that’s why the road was so blocked.”

The girl said with a somewhat dazed expression.

“It’s actually fortunate you were late.”

The young man sighed deeply.

It wouldn’t have happened, but if they had left a little earlier…

“Why were you late leaving again?”

“Oh, some Japanese tourists asked for directions.”

The young man stared at the girl, who seemed eager to talk.

“A scam?”

“No, it was a woman.”

“Was she pretty?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Well, you said it was a woman.”

“She was pretty. With twins and… a mother? Sister? Anyway, they looked like family.”

“Oh, really pretty, huh?”

“No, that’s not the important part. Listen, she spoke Korean incredibly well—”