episode_0065

“…What are you.”

Something feels off.

A type I have never encountered before.

Amidst the swarm of ant monsters pouring out, a girl with an ant antenna on her head appeared. Is this really just a coincidence?

With her smooth brown hair reminiscent of a beetle’s back and a suspicious antenna on her head, it seemed like it was not there for decoration, but rather moving around freely.

So, this girl is.

“…A monster.”

A humanoid monster.

“Oh, no! Please listen to me. I, well, I don’t know what’s going on but…”

But it was strange. Although humanoid monsters could speak fairly clearly, their conversations were usually limited to vague and random words they wanted to say.

However, this girl was naturally conveying her thoughts and even begging for her life.

It was a bit strange to label her as a monster.

As the girl’s long antenna swayed towards me, I thought it might turn into a stinger and attack me, so I took a defensive stance.

“Ugh?!”

She seemed to have the same thought as she crouched down and tightly closed her eyes.

…It feels unfair.

“What are you. Not a monster?”

Watching this monster act so much like a real person, I decided to speak to her as I would to a human.

Carefully lowering her hunched shoulders and looking up at me, the girl said, “Platinum hair, golden eyes, a small mark under the left eye…”

Carefully examining my appearance, she muttered as if confirming something along her gaze.

“There’s a tail behind… as expected.”

And then, seeing the tail swaying behind me.

With a confident tone, she shouted, “Ayle! You’re Ayle Cloi, right?!”

“How do you know my name?”

Just like the last golem monster, how does she know my name? Could my personal information have been leaked somewhere and used without my consent?

As I pondered these thoughts, the girl, who had been scratching her head with a puzzled expression, sat down and bowed her head, introducing herself.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Shin Yujoo.”

“I’m Ayle Cloi. As you know.”

“My past name was Cha Yujin. I was a man.”

“You know a lot of unnecessary things.”

“It’s the first time I’ve felt a sense of camaraderie. I used to be a man too.”

…What?

The sudden revelation of her gender identity made me feel awkward, scratching the back of my head.

“Actually, when you cross over to the world of the novel, you change gender as a price for possessing a character. You might not have known that.”

“You too…”

“That’s right. I used to be a high school student living in South Korea. Not a typical one though.”

I don’t know how much of the girl’s incomprehensible words to believe. Could this be a ploy to lull me into complacency and then attack me unexpectedly?

Unable to shake off my suspicions, the girl slowly approached me, cautiously extending her hand towards me.

“That tail.”

“Why?”

“Try poking yourself with the tail.”

At her words, a shiver ran down my spine.

“What are you really. How do you know about the tail?”

Confused, I couldn’t help but question her as she calmly explained, raising both arms.

“I know. Of course, I know. I’ve been watching you all this time.”

“From where?”

“From the work.”

Ah.

Her words left me feeling like I had been hit on the head, confused yet at the same time, considering the credibility she held.

This is the world of the work. It’s the novel that Lager wrote, and I am an extra character in it.

If someone had been watching the story unfold?

It wouldn’t be strange at all, even if they knew that when poked, the ultimate direction of each character would be revealed.

Moreover, she knows that unlike the early days when I was being dragged around by the tail, she can now handle the tail to some extent as she pleases. Ironically, the girl no longer approached me, and when I extended my tail, she only came close enough to be able to poke her own hand with it.

I had been peeking into this world of the novel relatively recently.

“What happens if you poke me?”

“You’ll find out if you poke me.”

“What ability will be manifested?”

However, poking her recklessly is dangerous. Everyone except me so far has gained tremendous power for various reasons when poked by the tail. Even though the girl looks weak now, once she gains the ability, there is always a possibility that she could threaten me.

But as if the girl even knew my concerns, she calmly said to me.

“If you poke me, nothing will happen, just poke me.”

With that statement, I was convinced. This girl remembers the ‘Golem Monster’ part and is saying this.

The reason why Lager was not affected when poked by the tail. And the common phrases uttered by the humanoid monsters.

– Cha, Lari, ‘Look at the beastman from another world’!!!

– Have you seen the Golem’s journey in another world?

When considering these points together, one conclusion came to mind.

“You’re the author.”

The true identity of the humanoid monsters.

They were authors.

The girl nodded quietly. To confirm, I extended my tail. When the girl reached out her hand, I poked her hand with the tip of my tail as if clicking an icon with a mouse pointer.

[Ability not available for use by the author.]

The message heard in my head drove the nail into the speculation.

Web novels do not have strict boundaries between authors and readers. Readers reading the work may become authors in some cases, and authors writing the work may regress to the time when they were readers for various reasons. It was not strange at all for her to read this story and write her own story.

However.

“But what are you doing here? Why did you suddenly fall into someone else’s novel?”

I briefly thought that it might have been Lager’s doing, but the girl denied that possibility.

“No. Lager Godin may be the author, but he didn’t do anything to me. Maybe he doesn’t even know that I fell into this world.”

“Then why?”

“I don’t know. But I have a world view to manage….”

“What?”

“I have to go back. The world I wrote is almost on par with Lager Godin’s. If left unattended, the ranking will drop….”

What is she talking about? A world view to manage? Ranking? Unable to hide the confusion at the overflowing information, the girl quickly realized and provided supplementary explanations.

“Oh, right, you were an extra character. You might not know because you’re not the author.”

With that, the relieved girl cleared her throat, stood up, and slowly continued speaking.

“Do you know that this is a novel world?”

“I know. It’s the novel written by my childhood friend.”

“But you don’t know that it’s not just a novel world, do you?”

Smirking at me, the girl added.

“This is a novel for a competition.”

If it’s a competition, what is it for?

What is the ultimate goal of the competition?

Anticipating my question, the girl immediately added.

“What was Lager Godin’s ultimate goal?”

“To save the world….”

“Yes. My goal is the same.”

Now I get it.

It wasn’t Lager Godin’s character’s point of view, nor was it this girl’s point of view.

It was the author’s point of view before coming to this world.

It was like the purpose of the competition.

“Not only Lager Godin, but the worlds that the authors participating in this competition must adhere to are their own worlds, but ultimately.”

“The world where they originally lived.”

“It’s Earth in the universe.”