Ch.28Chapter 28 – The Protagonist and the Final Boss (1)

As I descended the mountain range with my disciples, I began to ponder the message engraved on my back.

“I believe this world should end properly, according to the ‘original story,’ Do-hyeon.”

First, this person called me “Do-hyeon” instead of “Bing-yeon.”

That’s my name from before I was dragged into this world, and very few people know it.

Even if someone wrote this as a prank, they couldn’t possibly know this place is a world inside a novel.

“From someone who loved your writing dearly.”

Second, they concealed their identity while claiming to love my writing, as if asking me to recognize them.

‘Could this be the work of an Outer God?’

I momentarily held my breath. Two people immediately came to mind.

One was a devoted reader who followed all my serialized works. A mysterious figure who possessed me into Bing-yeon’s body, claiming to show sincerity.

Even Azazel said I had an Outer God dwelling within me, so perhaps I really was marked by a deity.

‘An Outer God being a web novel reader… that honestly doesn’t make sense.’

I immediately began questioning the plausibility. Thinking backward to determine if this was possible—a professional habit I’d developed since becoming a writer.

An Outer God could certainly possess me in this world and would know my real name.

I clutched my head and squeezed my eyes shut.

Would a god-like being that rules the outer universe do all this just because some creation made by a creature less significant than an ant discontinued its serialization?

“Can you tell who wrote this? Azazel?”

“This distinctive pattern… I can only think it belongs to Lady Shub-Niggurath.”

Azazel let out a long sigh and almost retched as she uttered the Outer God’s name.

Shub-Niggurath.

Known as the Mother of Black Goats, I knew she had offspring who followed her due to her notoriously promiscuous breeding habits.

I had to delve deeper into the Cthulhu Mythos to create Azazel Blackheart’s character profile, as it was something I was already interested in.

But why would such an Outer God leave a mark on my body?

As I organized my thoughts, Azazel noticed something strange and raised her voice in question.

“Why would she refer to herself as ‘someone’? If it truly were the Great Mother, she wouldn’t need to pose such a riddle…”

“That’s true. Looking at the pattern left by Shub-Niggurath, there’s no need to call herself ‘someone.'”

I nodded at Azazel’s doubt. Shub-Niggurath isn’t a minor Outer God like Azazel.

She’s famous among the Outer Gods for corrupting human minds, crushing them, and driving them mad—she even appears frequently in creative works.

There’s one more person besides my devoted reader who might leave such a mark asking to be recognized.

“Can you tell me what the handwriting looks like?”

“It’s round and small. Not rough at all, more like a woman’s handwriting, I’d say.”

Yoo Seol-hwa.

After a traffic accident, she became despondent about her body becoming paralyzed and committed suicide by jumping from the hospital roof.

She was my first love and girlfriend, someone I had promised to marry someday, now only existing in photos and memories.

“Can I see it myself?”

I remember the handwriting I saw in Azazel’s dream. Seol-hwa’s handwriting was consistently described as cute by others.

“If there’s someone here who can use magic…”

“I know a little, Master!”

Verdandi raised her hand with a bright smile. The three main genres I wrote fell into distinct categories, each with final bosses who used different powers.

Bi-wol used qi and martial arts.

Verdandi used mana and magic.

Azazel used divine power and Outer God authorities.

Martial arts, fantasy, and game possession novels, respectively.

My experience writing different genres actually came from Seol-hwa’s suggestion.

“Do-hyeon, want to know why your writing skills aren’t improving?”

Advice she once gave me.

Seol-hwa really loved the drama “Complete Life” about the game of Go. Even as an adult, she would recite lines from it.

“When I look at your writing, you’re too bound by rules and precedents.”

That’s why I thought of Go during my debate with Bi-wol. She once told me that life is like trying to survive as an incomplete stone in Go.

“Of course, you should study plot development and do market research, but…”

This was when I abandoned my original writing style to mimic existing works in hopes of getting published.

Back then, after repeated failures, I was struggling to figure out what was wrong and my self-esteem had plummeted.

More precisely, I was afraid to write. I felt self-loathing from being criticized by others and failing to meet my own expectations.

“After long deliberation, you make a bad move. Actually, I liked your first writings better.”

In such moments, Seol-hwa encouraged me through her writing. Her words had the power to move people’s hearts.

“My unchanging truth is that writing should be entertaining. And that includes stories ending happily.”

That was her consistent value. She said our lives have enough misery and sadness.

At least in creative works, stories should make everyone happy—a principle I still follow.

Even my decision to accept the final bosses as my disciples and make them happy was because of Seol-hwa.

“So what you need now is to break convention. It’s called ‘breaking the mold.'”

Like in Go, when you leave a surrounded stone to die rather than trying to save it, I wrote new works instead of remaking failed ones.

“Is that too difficult to understand? Let me use a game analogy—your experience bar has grown enormously. You’ve passed the beginner stage, so growth has slowed.”

Seol-hwa told me that to write better, it was important to try completely new experiences.

“So, you need to write a lot. I recommend trying different genres! Experience is more important than theory in the end.”

And the result of that journey is this.

Martial arts web novel “Diamond Fist King” with the Heavenly Demon, Bi-wol.

Fantasy web novel “I Need To Kill The Hero” with the hero, Verdandi.

Game possession web novel “I was Possessed In Idle Game” with the saintess, Azazel.

They were like daughters created by Seol-hwa and me together.

“…It’s definitely Seol-hwa’s handwriting.”

With Verdandi and Azazel’s help, I was able to copy the small, cute writing engraved on my back onto the white snow.

“Master, do you know this person?”

“I know her too well, and that’s the problem.”

I felt a bitter, burning sensation as acid refluxed up my throat.

The last memory I had of Seol-hwa was her slowly becoming rigid like stone, suffering from spinal paralysis.

While I was in the military, she lost all hope in life and committed suicide by jumping from the hospital roof.

“Azazel, could you look into the future for me?”

“…Why should I? If it’s related to Lady Shub-Niggurath, all I’ll see is despair and darkness.”

Azazel kept her eyes downcast, refusing to look at me. She even turned her head away when I tried to make eye contact.

“I’m asking you as a favor. There’s something I absolutely need to confirm.”

“……”

Azazel remained silent for a moment. The future she could see wasn’t perfect and could always change depending on actions.

She had let go of her unrequited love for Kang Si-woo a little and decided to become my disciple.

“Just this once. I won’t help you again after this. I’m only doing this for Sir Si-woo.”

Sighing deeply, Azazel touched her forehead and met my eyes. A rainbow-colored brilliance gleamed in them.

“…Thank you.”

I barely managed to nod in gratitude. If Seol-hwa really had left a mark on my body, I might learn something through future prediction.

She brought someone from reality into the novel world.

Could she also resurrect the dead and bring them here? We shouldn’t try to understand how Outer Gods operate.

“…Huh?”

“What’s wrong, Azazel?”

Azazel stared intensely into my eyes, then began to groan as if something was wrong.

“Unlike before, I can’t see the future. It’s as if someone has covered it up.”

“Has Shub-Niggurath played some trick…”

I couldn’t hide my disappointment and sighed. It meant that in that brief moment, something had changed that would greatly affect the future.

That’s when it happened.

“Then I’ll try looking at a closer future—”

BEEEEEEP.

A chilling sound like a flatline on a heart monitor scratched at our ears, coming from between Azazel and me.

“Ah, AAAAAAH…”

With a dull thud, blood flowed from Azazel’s eyes, as if she had seen something forbidden.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean to peek please forgive me please spare my life please please please…”

“Azazel! Snap out of it!”

Azazel was wailing with her hands clasped together, praying to a god. Her voice, mixed with screams and sobs, made it impossible to tell whether she was calling for an Outer God or a true deity.

‘Damn it, what went wrong?’

I thought it would be fine to glimpse a future with Bi-wol and Verdandi. Besides, the Seol-hwa I knew cherished story characters dearly.

I didn’t think she would attack like this.

‘Could it be…?’

Something flashed in my mind, making me unconsciously furrow my brow.

The “original story” of this world ends with the protagonist defeating all the final bosses. From the beginning, I had transferred my dark past to them through the medium of writing.

“Do-hyeon, readers and writers see things differently. No matter how difficult and painful things are for the writer, readers only care about the end of the story.”

“Even if I make excuses about being sick, readers will eventually leave me. So I need to show them my dedication.”

A memory flashed by—Seol-hwa who said such things would never harm Azazel, who was like her daughter.

But,

‘Did Seol-hwa also get possessed like me and experience something terrible?’

What if, like Azazel, she had an Outer God dwelling within her?

Outer Gods are beings far beyond human comprehension. Morgidian in Azazel’s case was unusually friendly.

Since he personally gave me a terminal illness, there was no guarantee he hadn’t done anything to Seol-hwa’s body.

If,

If Seol-hwa really was alive in this world,

“Verdandi, quickly purify her with the holy sword…!”

“Understood!”

I prayed that what I was thinking wasn’t true.

* * *

“Good. Everyone’s here. I was almost late because of some annoying business.”

Bing-seol-hwa clapped her hands together with her eyes closed momentarily, then looked around at everyone with a grin as if enjoying the situation.

“……”

A black-haired man with bandaged fists—he was Kim Hyul, the protagonist of the novel “Diamond Fist King.”

“Hey, are you seriously saying we need to kill someone?”

A man scratching his blue hair in confusion—he was Sieg-hardt, the protagonist of the novel “I Need To Kill The Hero.”

“That’s right, there’s no way the Azazel I knew could be such a bad person…”

A man holding a smartphone while scratching his chin—he was Kang Si-woo, the protagonist of the novel “I was Possessed In Idle Game.”

“Yes, because that’s what our ‘devoted reader’ wishes.”

Facing these protagonists, Bing-seol-hwa spread her arms wide toward the sky with a chilling smile.

As if worshipping a god above this sky.