Ch.76Chapter 76 – Everyone’s Prayer (3)

Bi-wol momentarily doubted her own ears.

“…You say I’m the protagonist you imagined?”

The past life of Bing-yeon, whom she had always trusted and followed as her master, was speaking as if she herself were a fictional character.

“Yes! When I wrote my first martial arts novel, there was a protagonist who looked exactly like you…!”

Han Do-hyeon casually opened a notebook labeled “Diamond Fist King” and pointed to a drawing of a girl.

It was a childish drawing with barely recognizable features. Apart from the red eyes and black hair, it seemed to have nothing in common with Bi-wol.

“Is this child Bi-wol?”

“Yes! Isn’t she pretty? Unlike me, Bi-wol is super strong! She punishes bad people! She has a sad past, but she tries to overcome it!”

“…”

As Bi-wol quietly listened to Han Do-hyeon’s explanation, her hands clenched into fists. Was this the reason he was the source of her miserable life?

“What kind of past does this Bi-wol have?”

“Similar to mine. She was abandoned by her parents and taken to a place called the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect where she was experimented on along with other children her age.”

Han Do-hyeon eagerly began reciting the character sheet and background he had written for “Diamond Fist King” in response to Bi-wol’s question.

Being abandoned by parents was a metaphor for the domestic violence he suffered from his father.

“Since I poured all my sadness and pain into this novel, I couldn’t avoid making it dark.”

Bi-wol becoming a Heavenly Demon instead of pursuing her dreams represented his own frustrated ambition of becoming a novelist.

“…I see. Wasn’t there anyone who helped you? You could have sought out adults around you, or found a teacher.”

Bi-wol asked if Han Do-hyeon had ever considered seeking help, but he shook his head firmly in denial.

“No. I told my school teacher, but all they did was have a meeting with my parents, and I got beaten even worse afterward…”

For Han Do-hyeon, writing was like a mirror reflecting his painful past. The heavily pressed black letters and tear stains showed how much he had struggled through his suffering.

“So, is that why you wrote things like wanting to die or wanting to be born as a better person in your next life in the blank spaces?”

While reading “Diamond Fist King,” Bi-wol noticed something strange. Pessimistic and extreme sentences were densely written throughout the notebook.

“Ah! I’m sorry! This is the first time I’ve shown it to anyone…!”

“It’s okay. When people are going through too much, they can have thoughts like that.”

Han Do-hyeon was startled when he realized what she had discovered and tried to snatch the notebook from Bi-wol’s hands, but she easily kept it out of his reach by using their height difference.

* * *

“The first scene Bi-wol remembers is a drought-stricken field.

She saw the worried face of a farmer sighing as he threshed the remaining grain, with pests having destroyed everything edible.

‘Heaven is so heartless… There’s nothing we can do now…’

Black locusts filled the sky like dark clouds, a death that took everything around them.

Not just rice, but barley, beans, radishes, cabbages, and even orchard fruits were all devoured, leaving nothing to eat.

‘Please, if you take this too, we’ll starve to death! Please show mercy…’

‘Please spare us! I have a newborn at home…!’

‘Sister! No! Why are you taking her away?!’

The village granaries soon emptied, and wails could be heard everywhere. The magistrates were too busy securing their own food to care, imprisoning people instead.

Children fell asleep exhausted from crying with hunger, while adults scraped together tree bark and roots to boil in water to feed their children.

‘It tastes awful… I’m sick of this too.’

The rough, chalky sensation on her tongue—boiled tree bark felt like chewing sand, filling her mouth with unpleasantness.

A child’s sense of taste is more sensitive than an adult’s, and they tend to be pickier, so Bi-wol had no choice but to go out with other children her age to find food for themselves.

‘Hey everyone! Let’s find our own food!’

‘Here are some wild berries and arrowroot.’

‘I-I gathered mushrooms and acorns…’

Days when they found food like this were lucky. Most of the time, edible things were scarce, and they ended up eating gathered leaves.

The increasing cuts from brushing against plants and the dirt on their faces and elbows were proof that food was becoming scarcer, forcing them deeper into the forest.

Among the plants and berries the children unknowingly gathered, some were poisonous. Some died from eating poisonous herbs or mushrooms, or fell ill and wasted away, making the situation even worse.”

* * *

Bi-wol sighed deeply as she skimmed through the first part of “Diamond Fist King.” A martial arts novel where she was the protagonist, before meeting Yoo Seol-hwa.

It matched Bi-wol’s past that she had never told anyone—how she went out with other children from her hometown to find food, and how famine struck due to pests.

“I see…”

Bi-wol let out a short sigh. There was even content about the Great Political Purge. Now she understood why Bing-yeon had said he killed so many innocent people.

“So I was just a made-up character after all.”

“A-are you crying, noona…?”

Han Do-hyeon couldn’t help but be surprised seeing Bi-wol start to tear up. She was just reading his novel, why was she suddenly crying?

“D-don’t cry! You’re such a pretty person. If you cry, Santa won’t bring you presents…”

Whether as a child or now, Han Do-hyeon didn’t know how to comfort women, so he was just saying whatever came to mind to console Bi-wol.

“…Do-hyeon, do you think Bi-wol has a reason to live?”

Looking at Han Do-hyeon, Bi-wol couldn’t help but ask what she had been wondering all along. She, who bore the karma of the Star of Heavenly Murder and couldn’t stop bloodshed, had been saved by her master.

‘I wish you would tell me it’s okay for me to live.’

Bi-wol was confused about her own existence. She didn’t know what was truth and what was fiction.

– Bi-wol, you deserve to live from now on. I will be your reason why.

Bi-wol remembered what her master Bing-yeon had told her when she first escaped the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect and became a disciple of the Ice Dragon Fate Sect.

Back then, just like now, she couldn’t find a reason to live in this world.

“Of course you do. That’s why I wrote you into my novel.”

Han Do-hyeon began speaking while wiping away Bi-wol’s tears with his small hands. His expression overlapped with the warmth of her master.

“But at the end of this novel, it says that Bi-wol the Heavenly Demon eventually dies…”

“That’s because I was planning to die before becoming an adult. If I died without finishing the novel, my protagonists would be trapped in the story forever.”

Han Do-hyeon showed her his wrist. It was covered with scars, possibly from a box cutter—deep, dark wounds that would make anyone wince.

“A novel isn’t just written by the author alone, but together with the readers.”

“…”

“You’re my first reader! If you want a happy ending, I’ll try to change the story for you…!”

Han Do-hyeon smiled at Bi-wol and pretended to write new content with the pen he was holding.

Bi-wol could only hug Han Do-hyeon tightly. She felt no hatred or sense of betrayal.

Bing-yeon had revealed the truth to Bi-wol the day before, and the reality was too heartbreaking to blame anyone.

A child who appeared not even 10 years old had run away clutching a notebook filled with suicidal thoughts.

“Thank you… for not dying… for trying to save us…”

Bi-wol embraced Han Do-hyeon and released her pent-up emotions. The boy looked so fragile, as if he might commit suicide at any moment without the escape of his novel.

His appearance mirrored her own childhood self when she was abused at the Heavenly Demon Divine Sect.

“Sister, could it be that we are…”

“It seems we are characters from a novel our master wrote in his imagination! Hmm! I suspected as much, but it’s still a bit surprising!”

Verdandi and Azazel, who understood the situation, nodded as they looked at Bi-wol. They could have felt betrayed by the revelation that they were fictional characters, but…

“I’ve also imagined having children with our master!”

“…I too, despite being a Saintess, have imagined holding a wedding ceremony with Brother. Anyone can have such fantasies.”

Thanks to their master Bing-yeon’s words and actions all this time, their emotions quickly calmed.

And at that moment,

─ [Do you truly believe that? If so, would you feel the same after seeing what your master did with his former lover?]

As Shub-Niggurath’s voice echoed, everyone was once again swallowed by an endless darkness.