What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 630

#630

Color Matching (4)

…What the heck is that supposed to mean?

My throat, which had been fine until now, suddenly felt blocked.

Sir Johann, noticing that my breathing was unusual, quickly handed me a canteen.

I nodded and gulped down a lot of the clear water.

For some reason, even after drinking the water, it felt like a sweet potato was stuck in my throat.

I had a bad feeling for no particular reason.

No, I should call it a hunch, not just a feeling.

“……Did Hyung [older brother/term of endearment] not write that?”

I whispered, wiping my mouth.

Demi, who had followed Sir Johann, burrowed into my arms as if sensing my anxiety.

On the purple window, neat letters continued to appear.

【I told you, I didn’t write ‘all’ of it. Hyung wrote some, but not the rest.】

【To be precise┃】

【┃】

【　┃】

【┃　】

【┃┃┃┃┃┃】

“Gasp……”

And the status window started flashing cursors here and there as if there was an error.

I felt chills down my spine and quickly clasped my hands together.

Nothing significant had appeared, but a strange sense of dread pressed down on the top of my head.

The canteen fell from my knee with a thud, dripping the last few drops of water before drying up ominously.

I felt Sir Johann’s calm gaze as he turned to me, but at the same time, a thought flashed through my mind.

‘【Is there someone else watching us?】’

“Your Highness?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. My hand slipped.”

I quickly picked up the canteen and smiled brightly.

However, judging by the fact that his eyes didn’t smile back, he didn’t seem to believe me.

Meanwhile, letters I could read were written on the status window again.

Seeing the familiar language, I felt like I could breathe a little easier.

【……I guess it’s not working. Tsk.】

Ah, don’t scare me!

【Yes, this is also one of the parts that Hyung reviewed and confirmed. Anyway, you know about it too.】

“What?”

I blinked like a complete idiot.

Carefree Demi and Peri occasionally waved their paws, playfully passing through the status window.

Leia, as expected, seemed a little scared and buried her nose among the cooing birds.

Sir Johann continued to observe me silently.

It seemed like I was the only one who couldn’t manage my expression here.

No, it’s already chaotic outside because of the rainbow bridge, and now what’s this new task?

What am I supposed to know? Am I the only one not keeping up with the flow……?

【Of course, it’s not like I can be an omniscient being.】

……Ah.

【Look at me, not even able to properly convey a single piece of information to you. Like someone said, it’s a ‘useless status window’ right now.】

“Hey, that was just a joke……”

【It’s not wrong. You think I’m a ghostwriter, and therefore part of the main god. Of course, Hyung thought so at first too. To be honest, I believed there was a lot I could do. If I did well, I was confident that bringing you home wouldn’t be too difficult.】

【But that’s not it.】

【As I began to seriously interfere with this file, the world that your group is creating…….】

“……”

Jeong Hyun-seo was silent for a while, as if he didn’t want to acknowledge the sentence that would follow.

【I too have become an ‘element’ that makes up the story.】

【One of thousands, tens of thousands of pieces.】

……I really don’t know how to react.

I stared at the status window, forgetting how to breathe.

It felt unreal, as if my body and soul were separating, and my feet were floating in the air.

For a moment, everything around me felt unfamiliar.

The uncomfortable homing instinct that occasionally rushes in when you leave a familiar space and travel far away.

【Sitting in a Seoul apartment where three families live, holding onto a keyboard alone at this hour. I’ve never even seen the world you’re in directly…… And this is what happened.】

“Is that even possible?”

A more trembling voice than I expected came out.

I coughed for no reason and fiddled with the canteen.

I didn’t want to worry Sir Johann, who was already tired.

Fortunately, he didn’t say anything.

【Now that things have come this far, wouldn’t you say it was somewhat foreseen?】

【I gave you a lot of information, but there was also some information that I couldn’t even input from the beginning. As a result, I couldn’t make the story unfold in the direction I wanted. Rather, it was you and your friends who created the new rainbow.】

【……The main god’s avatar is ultimately just an ‘avatar,’ not the main god.】

“……”

I stared blankly at the last sentence, replaying and replaying what I knew.

Just like Hyung had confidence in himself in the beginning, I also felt reassured by Hyung’s appearance.

Of course, there was a slight disappointment and a strange sense of betrayal from the fact that Hyung didn’t reveal the truth to us siblings—but more than that, gratitude, guilt, and joy were overwhelmingly greater.

No matter what happened, we were each other’s most precious family.

With Hyung around, we would unconditionally be safe, and there was an unfounded belief that everything would work out in the end.

But Hyung is now saying that he has gained enlightenment.

“Then. Then……”

The series of times when I believed Hyung had the initiative was actually just a process of him being incorporated into a larger flow.

Jeong Hyun-seo’s influence is extremely limited, and perhaps even the intelligence he can give me is being thoroughly censored under someone’s surveillance.

They are sharply watching all the warp and weft that adorn the white manuscript, meticulously supervising what hinders the flow and what does not.

They are correcting this place, which I fully accept as reality, this place that is a vivid foundation of life for us, solely based on their subjective standards.

‘Bojeina.’

“……Those three sisters are even interfering with Hyung’s authority. They’re blatantly editing Hyung.”

Hiding in the margins of the text, watching us.

【It was a losing battle from the start.】

【How can a mere writer win against the great plausibility?】

Hyung’s self-deprecating voice seemed to reach my eardrums vividly.

I tried to make a smiling shape with my mouth.

I knew very well the helplessness and fear that Hyung was feeling.

Perhaps I won’t be able to save the prince and will fail greatly.

Perhaps I will be left here forever and never be able to see my family again.

It would be a blatant lie if I said I had never had such doubts.

I am also a person, so I constantly doubt myself and am sometimes consumed by endless shadows.

Such nightmares could not be completely cured even with soul healing.

Perhaps Hyung has also begun to feel a similar fear.

“……But I won’t give up.”

I said, raising my head sharply.

Perhaps feeling that it sounded a bit reliable, the troublesome pets looked up at me at the same time.

“Hyung said it, didn’t he? Our world is completely different from the original. It’s an unpredictable world line that we create by bringing in all sorts of abandoned settings and forgotten settings to fill in the gaping holes.”

【…….】

“It may be a story that someone has to write while maintaining plausibility, but not for me. For us, every day is a ‘real’ day where we have to risk our lives. And it will be for Hyung too.”

I continued, clenching my jaw.

“So Hyung doesn’t need to be too shocked or have a hard time. Whatever those three sisters do with the ‘plausibility’ they’re taking, our goal will be to match our reality. Not their intentions.”

Safely return to our world, end the war, save the prince, and go home.

And meet my friends again.

【……Speaking of your reality, it reminded me.】

【Let me explain one of the laws of web novels, Hyung will.】

I finally let out a sigh and shook my head.

Hyung’s playful eyes seemed to be within reach. He seems to have the energy to joke around.

Muttering that, I turned to the side and met Sir Johann’s smiling eyes.

He seemed to like the grilled squid. He had a full expression on his face.

【To me, your story is a fierce real situation, but at least to those plausibility grandmothers, this has to be a well-written novel.】

【And novels usually have a structure of introduction, development, turn, and conclusion. You know this is basic, right?】

Nod, nod. I glanced at the situation outside and nodded.

The white pillar of light, the ‘rainbow bridge,’ was still emitting a sacred aura and presence from the cliff.

The subtle tremors had become so familiar that they didn’t bother me anymore.

-Kugugugung……

【So that’s what was summoned.】

“Huh?”

Are you talking about the rainbow bridge?

【This is your situation now, so you’re complaining. Put yourself in their shoes. The main characters are running around collecting rainbows. You are reader 1 who is so curious about the next content.】

“Yeah.”

【You endured the boring parts in between and read while paying, and finally, boom! The main character got the last purple color.】

“Yeah.”

【But those seven rainbows are just twinkling small, just like that. They only shine enough for the main characters to barely see and then turn off. How would you feel then?】

“Ah……. The result is a bit bland. I was expecting it, but it’s disappointing?”

【That’s exactly it.】

Hyunseo’s window shrugged its corners as if giving a great lesson.

I burst into a hearty laugh at the late realization.

Demi, seeing my face, wiggled his whiskers and smiled along.

【Oh, you’re laughing? Look back on the past. It must have happened a lot, not just this time. It’s polite to detonate the climax appropriately. Those nasty grandmothers probably drew a similar big picture.】

“Okay, okay.”

I was dumbfounded. I chuckled and glared at the status window, then picked up Leia.

As I supported her fluffy bottom with my hand, the child moved her front legs and immediately clung to my shoulder.

It didn’t take even a few tens of seconds for her to fall asleep.

【So, are you guys not going to ride that rainbow bridge right away? Do you have time for this?】

“That’s the kind of development that would come out if we proceeded according to the ‘law of web novels’ that Hyung is talking about.”

I glanced at Sir Johann in the next seat, then looked around at the people who were each seated inside the temple.

François and Shu seemed to be seriously discussing something.

Sir Elizabeth was slowly filling her stomach with the prince from the confessional.

Gain, Christel, Cedric, and the Crown Prince were not visible.

I had seen the two young ladies going out together earlier, so they probably had something to talk about separately.

“Does everything work out so neatly in people’s lives? No matter how little time we have, we have to say goodbye.”

【No…….】

“Hyung can say that because he’s a writer, but think ‘realistically.’ First of all, there are more than a few things we need to agree on. And we needed time to discuss with Hyung like this. Charlemagne and Jukchang went down, so we must have bought some time.”

【That’s not the problem.】

“We can just leave, but for the people here, the future is a big problem.”

【It’s going to be very difficult, I tell you?】

“Of course it will be. The scale of the accident is so big that it won’t be easy to fix. So we should cooperate even more—”

【Jeong Yeseo!】

Hyung urgently cut me off.

Sir Johann clearly wouldn’t be able to see the status window, but he tilted his head as if he had caught a strange feeling.

【Start gathering the kids and prepare to leave. That rainbow bridge, it’s not over just by getting on it.】

……Huh?

【Why is that ‘rainbow bridge’ white? Haven’t you figured it out yet?】

*

Peeking.

“……Is it really okay for me to have this?”

Christel, who had been circling around, asked again, poking her head in.

Gain, who was sitting in front of the rainbow bridge and concentrating, smirked and looked up at her.

“It’s not like you’ve never received a gift before. You’ve enjoyed a lot of good things so far, so why are you so awkward?”

“No, it’s said that it contains the priest’s ether [spiritual energy]. I’m not even a paladin, so isn’t it more necessary for you? It seems like a precious item.”

What Christel was pointing at was the hair tie made of holy stone that tied her pink hair tightly.

It was made of a fluttering handkerchief and suited her long hair very well.

It was a handmade item that the princess had given to Gain sometime ago.

The paladin stared at it for a long time and then shrugged.

Then, she created water droplets on the tips of her ten fingers again. As usual, it was as if it was nothing.

“……I can get another one, but I don’t know when or how you might need it. It would be best if you didn’t have to use it.”

“……”

“When I go back, you’re going to feel lonely sometimes like before, right? Don’t do that. A souvenir.”

At those words, Christel made a face as if she was making all sorts of expressions.

If others saw it, they would whisper about why the recipient’s attitude was like that, but Gain clearly knew.

That was the face she only made when she was very touched.

The expression she makes when she’s really embarrassed and ashamed to express that gratitude and apology in words.

“……I have nothing to give, so why would you leave such a treasure behind? Just take it.”

“Ah, it’s okay. The princess already knows. She said I did well.”

Gain shook her chin and continued her own experiment.

It was then.

-Step, step, step!

“Well, well.”

From over there, two princes were walking towards them with big steps.

They seemed to be in a very serious mood.