Let’s Have an Honest Conversation

Why is there a subway train here? Is this Earth?

Witnessing the 1000-ton metal mass charging toward me at a terrifying speed, I felt the hair all over my body stand on end.

“This is insane. Seriously!”

It took me 5 seconds to move my thighs, which barely worked anymore, to run in the opposite direction, and 2 more seconds to realize that action was futile.

Right, no matter how fast I run. How could I escape from that monster rushing at 100 km/h?

Stopping helplessly, I observed the tunnel’s structure once more through Natural Mirror.

It was an action stemming from a small hope that I might avoid collision with the train if I clung to the wall.

“Wow, there’s no ledge at all.”

It’s impossible. The width is too narrow. If I press myself flat against the side, I’ll be ground to a pulp between the wall and the side of the train.

With Dolyeok… no, that won’t work either.

The situation is very different from when I blocked bullets with Dolyeok.

Bullets have high speed but light mass, so I could deflect their path, but this subway train approaching me is not only fast but also about 250 million times heavier than a bullet.

In other words, even if I blocked the tracks with Dolyeok, it would have no effect whatsoever.

Is this really the end? Bye-bye life? If I had known it would come to this, I should have confessed that I came from Earth when I first met Charlotte.

‘…Is this how it ends?’

Regret builds up more and more. Memories of the past flash before me, proportional to the speed at which the subway train approaches…

“No.”

…I refuse.

I don’t want to end this newly given life so meaninglessly.

I don’t want to part with the new relationships I’ve formed.

I want to survive somehow.

“I can’t end it like this!”

I catch my breath and ignite my will to live.

The train has come close enough that its form is clearly visible to the naked eye.

Standing before this approaching disaster, I take my stance and wrap my body in Dolyeok as much as possible.

Using Natural Mirror, I determine the exact speed of the train and anticipate the timing of its collision with my body.

For some reason, there’s no one inside the train. That’s actually fortunate.

I grip my sword tighter, afraid I might drop it due to the sweat on my palms.

I grasp the slightly dulled sword handle as if it were my lifeline.

• Clack clack!!

I can hear it. I can hear it. That familiar noise I always heard at stations and inside trains on Earth is getting louder and louder.

The air pushed by the train blows my sweat and hair around.

Though I can’t open my eyes properly because of the gale, I endure.

I hold my breath.

• Hooonk!!

When the distance between the train and me was no more than 20m, the horn blared.

Just a little more.

Just a little more.

Just a little more…..!

Right before collision with the train, in that fleeting moment.

“Now!”

I swung my sword while activating “Strong Strike.”

• Clang!!

As my iron sword collided with the train, a dark sword aura enveloped the train.

The train, covered in the sword aura that temporarily incapacitates opponents, stopped moving for a very brief moment, as if defying the laws of physics.

And then, the main effect of “Strong Strike”—”Counter with 2x the damage of the opponent’s attack”—took effect.

The kinetic energy of a 1000-ton train rushing at 100 km/h.

The sword, imbued with power equal to twice that massive kinetic energy, crushed the train.

. . . . . . . . . . . …….!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I’ve heard that when a sound is too loud, it doesn’t just hurt your ears—it tears them. It seems that’s true.

With a terrible roar, the front of the train caved in significantly, then derailed and was violently pushed backward.

The train’s cars separated from each other, and some compartments, unable to withstand the impact, flew upward, immediately collided with the tunnel ceiling, and then crashed into other cars.

This chain reaction continued relentlessly, literally pulverizing the train.

Glass shards from broken windows and small fragments of the train rushed toward me, but they were filtered out by the Dolyeok I had prepared in advance.

With a high-pitched ringing in my ears and a gale incomparably stronger than before sweeping over my body, I didn’t waver at all.

It was all thanks to Strong Strike’s effect of resisting all damage. Without this effect, my entire body would have been crushed beyond recognition by now.

I’m short of breath. Is it due to excessive adrenaline secretion? That would make sense. Until just now, I was standing in front of an oncoming train.

And now… I’ve completely destroyed that train.

After some time passed, the collapse of the train, which had seemed endless, finally came to an end.

“Huff……”

Covered in the billowing dust, my legs gave out, and I found myself plopping down without realizing it.

I inhaled. Realizing it was just dust, I couldn’t avoid coughing.

My frantically beating heart demands oxygen, while my bronchial tubes order me to stop breathing, so I really don’t know how to act.

-Click.

Just then, I felt a cool sensation on the back of my head. It was a gun barrel.

“…You. You really were a monster?”

Ah, it’s Charlotte. She must have approached through a dimensional rift while I was sitting down.

Even though I have Natural Mirror, why didn’t I notice her?

I can guess based on this splitting headache. My head has definitely reached its limit.

Strong Strike’s cooldown is 50 seconds, and my head is already at its limit.

Further resistance is impossible.

After deactivating Natural Mirror, I laughed and said,

“Ha, ha. Being called a monster by you, Lady Cervantes, hurts my feelings a bit.”

“…I don’t understand. With such power, why didn’t you attack me? You could have easily killed me if you wanted to.”

Charlotte’s voice wavered like a candle in the wind.

To that voice full of questions, I calmly replied.

“Didn’t I say it from the beginning? I just wanted to talk.”

“Talk…..”

A moment of silence followed. Even without activating Natural Mirror, I could sense that she was debating whether to pull the trigger or not.

“…Fine. Let’s give it a try. Talking, I mean.”

“I’m glad my sincerity seems to have gotten through. But… are you not going to lower that from my head?”

“Why, can’t you talk with a gun pointed at your head?”

“Not at all. It keeps me alert and focused.”

And so began the honest conversation between Charlotte, who had a gun pointed at my head, and me, who had a gun pointed at my head.

“You kept saying you’re not a Ma’in, right?”

“That’s correct. I am not a Ma’in.”

“Then let me change the question. What are you? The Sion I knew didn’t have the power to destroy an oncoming train.”

Is this where I finally have to tell her? The timing is much earlier than I thought, but I guess it can’t be helped.

“Hehe, are you ready to be shocked?”

“You want to play word games even in this situation? Don’t test my patience.”

“It’s precisely because I know your patience is as vast as the sky that I can joke like this. So, brace yourself.”

Ahem, clearing my throat, I tell a falsehood that resembles the truth.

“Lady Cervantes, would you believe me if I said I’m not from this world?”

“……What?”

“I’m not from here. Somehow, I possessed the body of this boy named Sion Frelia—I’m just an ordinary person from Earth. I’ve fallen into a novel called ‘Grand Chronicle.'”

It’s a lie. I didn’t possess someone in a novel called “Grand Chronicle” like Charlotte did; I possessed someone in a game called “Grand Fantasia” where she exists as a game character.

But rather than straightforwardly saying, “You’re a game character, and I’ve possessed someone in that game,” it’s easier for me and more acceptable for her to explain that I’ve possessed someone in “Grand Chronicle,” putting us in the same situation.

It’s what you’d call 90% truth with 10% falsehood.

“In short, this world is inside a novel called ‘Grand Chronicle’… but I guess you can’t believe that. Haha, if someone else told me this world was inside a novel, I’d think they were crazy too. I understand. But please believe just this one thing. I’m absolutely not lying….”

At that moment, the gun barrel touching my head shook. Is she going to shoot? I flinched.

The movement of the gun barrel grew more pronounced, and then she lowered it.

And soon, a sound that would make the listener’s heart ache was heard.

“…Sniff! Hic!”

A sobbing that escaped before she could suppress it.

Slowly turning around, I could see tears flowing from Charlotte’s beautiful eyes.

I didn’t even question why she was crying. Being human myself, I could guess this much.

The fear of falling alone into a strange world, surrounded by unfamiliar people, while precious memories from home gradually fade as time passes.

Time continues to flow, and it’s already been six months since being isolated in this novel.

In such a desperate situation, what emotions would surge when meeting someone in the same predicament?

Well, it’s hard for me to fathom.

“Sniff…. Waaahh!!”

Soon she collapsed on the ground and cried her heart out as if the sky would fall.

I silently watch her cry filled with sorrow.

She seems to need some time.