CH 1.2

I hated it. But I loved it that much. So no matter what, I had to see it to the end.

I did my best with bloodshot eyes, and the result was worth more than the effort I put in. Even though it was poor writing with obvious clichés, it worked out with luck and timing. To the extent that it was adapted and made into a game.

However, luck that was hard to handle was the same as misfortune. There was nothing more I could do at the steep summit, which had no stairs or slopes.

I could not go up, but I could not go down safely either. My life as a writer ended in that high place.

Withering in the shadow of accidental luck, I had to face a blank screen with no letters every day. The cursor that blinked meaninglessly slowly paralyzed me.

So, after this damn game was released, I was going to leave this field.

However, what the hell was going on right now?

[Writer. Hurry up and greet the protagonist, Mikael.]

‘Writer’ was my name inside the game. I couldn’t believe I was looking at a chat window like this, in this place. It was a situation of unknown cause.

“Could you tell me your name, which I have seen only in writing, with your noble mouth?”

And the man who was talking to me right now was definitely the one I was playing as, the main character. The wizard who experienced ‘game over’ several times in the labyrinth filled with evil spirits.

YOU DIED.

How many times have I seen the infamous ‘Miss Yoo Da-hee’ because of my poor skills?

(T/N: The phrase ‘You Died’ that appears when playing games sounds similar to the name Yoo Da-hee in Korean, so people started calling it like that instead and it became a meme among players.)

“Celina?”

He raised his voice questioningly. The silver hair with gray undertones scattered smoothly over the man’s forehead and earlobes. The pupils of the delicate eyes were radiant.

But what caught my attention the most was the strange and dreamy atmosphere he exuded, which could not be expressed in words.

He was a man I created with all my heart and soul, so that he wouldn’t be lacking anything. He was heterogeneously distinct and realistic. I was enraptured for a moment by his unexpected outer appearance.

So this was the feeling he gave when he was alive and breathing.

“Hurry up and let me hear your voice.”

Mikael smiled gently and brought his lips to the back of Celina’s hand, the body I was in right now.

At the same time, my vision blurred. Feeling dizzy, I closed my eyes tightly. The blood in my entire body cooled down and my heart plummeted.

I felt the world crushing like an abstract painting and my body leaning helplessly.

“Celina!”

There was an urgent voice beyond my fading consciousness.

***

So. I guess I fainted in my dream. The funny thing was that when I opened my eyes, it was still a dream. And a lucid dream, on top of that!

Well, things like this can happen, right?

This was Celina’s room. A pleasant scent hovered at the tip of my nose, like when hanging the laundry to dry in the sun. The blanket was incredibly soft. It was so cozy that I wanted to take a deep nap.

Seeing me fainting wasn’t a strange situation. Because this woman had a weak body. It was an important character in its own way, but I didn’t want to neglect it just because it wasn’t a man, so I remember planning it as carefully as possible.

But even so, I didn’t expect to collapse so feebly right on the spot Mikael was looking at.

I began to observe what I could see in front of me. The carvings on the high, soaring ceiling were geometric and beautiful, without leaving any empty spaces.

The face of the angel, half shaded by the sun, was dynamic. His neat ivory lips seemed to be open at any moment to speak of the profound paradox and understanding of the world.

Lying on the bed, I grabbed a handful of my long hair and pushed it in front of me, staring at it quietly. It was very unrealistic to see hair with violet-like colors reflected in the sunlight.

The last thing that caught my attention was the ring on my index finger. A brilliant yellow diamond glittered.

Wow. I must have been stressed out a lot in my real life because of the game, that I was even having this kind of dream.

However, though it was definitely a lucid dream, the surroundings didn’t change at my will. Strangely. Was it also different in theory and practice? If I just stayed like this, my eyes would open by themselves, right?

“Get up.”

A blunt voice cut off my thoughts. As I turned my head, I could see a man sitting on a chair beside the bed, with an upright back.

Elijah Dell?

“Mikael was very surprised. He blamed himself for your fall.”

“…”

Wow, even this person appeared. I never thought I’d see his face in this place. I stood up in a daze.

“A child who has no abilities; if I take good care of you for the rest of my life, at least you shouldn’t have an accident. What is this indecent behavior towards a noble person? I see you can’t even raise your face because you’re ashamed.”

His eyes and tone of voice as he spoke to me were as cold as the middle of winter.