What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 797

The Death of the Novel (1)

【······3@R#r$ΩR%5^┃】

-Beep!

‘Hyung [Korean honorific for older brother or male friend].’

【=ERR)Or*S&······┃】

-Beep, beep······

‘What kind of character did Mom set Jushin as?’

‘What kind of ‘setting’ did Mom give Jushin? Haven’t you ever wondered, Hyung?’

【ERRORS······┃】

-Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep······

‘I’ve been wondering for a while. Why did Prince Yeseo die?’

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. Can’t you just develop it however you want since you’re the one writing it, Hyung?’

‘Sorry, I really don’t understand. Isn’t it your idea in the end?’

【CAUTION: TRANSCRIPTION ERRORS】

-Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, beep beep beep······!

“Huck.”

【WαRNING!】

-Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep!

‘-Mom, I think Mom messed up. Sob, what should I do? Your brother······.’

‘Hyung, I’m scared! I’m actually scared―!’

‘Hyunseo, I think Mom made a mistake.’

‘Hyuuuuung!’

【WαRNING!】

‘-Whoooooosh······!’

‘-Thwack!’

‘Aaaaaaah!’

-BEEEEEEEE!

【—SYSTEM DOWN】

“Huck!”

In a flash! His eyes snapped open, and his whole body thrashed as if trying to escape the chair.

‘Thump!’ At the same time, the armrest hit the corner of the desk with a dull thud.

Jeong Hyunseo stared with bloodshot eyes, gasping for breath.

His mind, awakened from what he couldn’t tell if it was a dream, was struggling to regain its rhythm.

He must have dozed off for a moment.

After pouring so much coffee into his stomach, to take a nap when he was short on time, dividing each minute into seconds, was truly absurd….

-…That was Mom’s mistake. I never thought it would become reality….

“……Mom?”

Choi Seonah’s voice was coming from somewhere.

Hyunseo frantically scanned his room.

Before he knew it, his phone, coffee cup, and stationery were all scattered on the floor.

He must have swept them off while thrashing around a moment ago.

The man hurriedly picked up his phone and put it back to his ear. His hands, taking off his glasses and roughly washing his face, were trembling.

-Hyunseo?

“Yeah, I’m listening. I think I dozed off for a second. I must be crazy.”

Was that just a nightmare?

-Oh my, it’s only natural you’d doze off. You’ve been awake until this hour without sleeping. And your brother….

His mother’s worried tone flowed in. She was somewhat unstable, but in a state of clear reason.

Only then did Hyunseo flinch and look at the monitor.

Wait, how many minutes have I taken my eyes off Jeong Yeseo? In an instant, his heart rate soared as if it would pierce the ceiling.

He was only half sane due to worry about his brother and concern about the novel spiraling out of control.

So, perhaps he was in a more precarious state than his mother, who was currently a patient.

Unfortunately, this is not a joke.

“Damn it.”

…How much time has passed inside there?

The scroll bar of the Hangul [Korean word processing program] file was far higher than when he had last looked at it.

He couldn’t quickly recall where he had last read.

Hyunseo abused the mouse wheel like a madman, rushing upwards, further into the past.

Then, he suddenly stopped as if something had broken.

“Ha, I’m going crazy….”

The story he had missed in those few minutes and the story flowing in real time.

He wasn’t sure which was more important at that moment.

His brother was risking his life and rolling around, so he had to maintain a clear head, but the chaos was constantly spreading from beyond the monitor to here.

It wasn’t easy to hold on to his sanity due to the fear and tension that increasingly gripped his heart.

Unconsciously, his gaze turned to the keyboard.

A single purple feather had fallen on the Esc key.

“……Well, well.”

-Son, what’s wrong? Did something happen?

His eyes closed involuntarily. Hyunseo slowly turned his head to check behind him. ‘Flutter, flutter….’

“……There’s nothing wrong with me at all. I’m perfectly fine, Mom.”

Damn it, damn it, damn it. No wonder his back was stiff and the area around his desk was a mess.

Hyunseo took a deep breath, trying his best not to be aware of his wings—was he still dreaming?

Ironically, the shocking event that had befallen him was quickly calming him down.

“……Jeong Yerang and the others entered the royal capital. I definitely saw that far. I told them to go to the royal palace, so they should have arrived by now.”

-Is that so? That’s a relief. No, I don’t know if I should call it a relief… Haigo [Korean exclamation of frustration or exhaustion]….

Surprisingly, his mother was accepting reality much faster than Hyunseo.

She was relatively calmly understanding the situation her second son was in.

She also said that she had already seen what Yeseo had gone through several times in her dreams like hallucinations.

Well, there was nothing more to be surprised about.

Wasn’t she the only god of the expanding world beyond the monitor?

“Mom, are you okay? Is your body okay now?”

-Yeah. I’m with Jonghee… I’m wide awake. I’m so worried about Yeseo right now.

“Have a warm cup of tea with the caregiver. You know, the tea bags I ordered from overseas last time.”

-Okay, I will.

“But what did you mean by saying you made a mistake earlier?”

Hyunseo asked as he cleaned up the coffee cup rolling on the floor.

Fortunately, it was a cup he had emptied cleanly, so nothing spilled.

His mother seemed to be moving away from the receiver for a moment, looking for the tea bags.

The sound of rustling blankets and opening and closing drawers continued from the other side.

“Mom didn’t know what kind of existence she was in Toegye Plaza. Honestly, is there anyone who could have predicted something like that?”

His tone was blunt, but it was full of the desire to protect his family.

Anyway, Yeseo was likely to succeed in destroying the summoning circle.

He was the guy who had been going around with the protagonists and stealing the ‘real’ protagonist’s spot, so there was no way he would fail.

And even if the summoning circle was activated, nothing major would happen to his mother, who was being protected by several people in the nursing hospital.

If that happened, it would be more than just domestic news; it would be international news. Of course, it was an event where two worlds were connected into one, so it wouldn’t be strange if the US Pentagon contacted them.

Hyunseo organized the scattered pens and pencils.

Before long, his mother’s voice returned.

The sentences flowing gently into his ear were like….

-…Mom recorded and memoed anything that came to mind, and wrote it down somewhere. The doctors said it was a good habit, remember? So that was just….

It was like the Book of Revelation.

-But that must have been a mistake. No matter how I think about it, that’s the only thing….

“What did you say?”

‘Thud!’ The pig-tail ballpoint pen slipped from his hand and rolled on the floor.

His black eyes were trembling as if there was an earthquake.

His gaze slowly moved towards the doorknob.

“……Mom, what did you just say?”

The cargo wagon was moving too slowly.

-Heeheeing!

“Giddy up! Let’s go!”

-Clatter, clatter, clatter…!

Even though the wagon, scarred by war, was creaking as if it would break while running at full speed, and the royal capital outside the wagon was becoming a ruin painted with flames and ash—I was anxiously looking outside, thinking that.

I tried to find an air-attribute holy knight outside the royal palace to replace Lord Johann, but everyone was already involved in fierce battles.

If anyone tried to help us, there was a greater chance that we would be caught up in the fight.

So, there was really no other way than this.

I was frustrated and angry at the reality that I couldn’t move faster.

Of course, I never showed it on the outside.

“Cough, ugh….”

“It’s okay. The bleeding has stopped a lot more than before, so you’ll be okay.”

-Click, click, click, click…!

“You’ll be completely pain-free soon, Your Highness. Pantheon is just around the corner from the royal palace.”

“……”

Eliseo Fenetian, lying lengthwise in front of me, was losing light and heat every moment.

Her fire-attribute hand was as cold as ice, giving me goosebumps.

I forced a smile, hugging Tete with one arm and massaging Eliseo’s palm with the other.

There was still a black sickle stuck in her back.

The entire wagon was filled with the stench of blood due to the extreme bleeding. However, no one, including me, dared to show it on their face.

“I stayed at the Pantheon for a while before entering the royal palace.”

“……”

Opposite me sat Count Dominique Dupuy, the Vice Minister of National Defense of the Riester Empire and a Level 7 non-combat mage, his aide, and a knight of the Fenetian Holy Kingdom.

Two of them were pale and silent, and only the aide was busily writing something in his notebook.

“There are so many excellent healing priests there. Did you know that most of them belong to the Papal States?”

“……”

In the meantime, I desperately tried to keep Eliseo’s mind from wandering.

I kept telling useless stories, constantly talking, and bending my neck to smile awkwardly, trying to get her attention.

Each time, Eliseo turned her fading sapphire eyes to capture me in her vision.

However, there was no significant change in expression, and no particular reaction came back.

Only the body with the sickle stuck in it swayed helplessly with the vibration of the wagon.

“……There was also a priest named Hilda who knew Lord Johann in the past. Oh, do you remember Lord Johann? Back then, he came to the imperial palace with Lord Jestra in the summer.”

“……”

“Your Highness listened to my request and saved her son, Herit.”

“Cough, cough.”

And sometimes the sound of blood passing or flowing out of her throat, or a boiling cough, rang in my ears like now.

Our eyes meet once again.

“……”

“Cough….”

It was a small, very small sound. There were no following words.

But I finally gained enlightenment with a long eye contact.

“……Yes, you remember.”

“Cough cough….”

“Of course. Herit is doing so well. He’s very healthy thanks to Your Highness.”

“Cough cough cough….”

“I couldn’t properly thank you after that. Thank you so much. Sincerely.”

I smiled brightly and held Eliseo’s hand even tighter.

I see. All the sounds she had been making while enduring the pain were actually words answering me.

They were answers that she had given, responding to each sentence even though she didn’t have to.

The wagon lurched greatly as it passed the bodies and blades scattered throughout the city.

I quickly rubbed my cheeks to wipe them clean and promised the future. Things that could keep her here even a second longer.

“I’ll let you meet Herit soon. That child will definitely want to see Your Highness, who is so kind.”

Anything. Whatever it may be.

“He’s about the same age as Cornelice. As you know.”

“……”

A meaningful change occurs with one name forming in my heart.

A small spark ignited in her blue eyes. I quickly added words like a lifeline.

“Cornelice is also safe and sound. We are safely protecting our people so that they are not harmed. Of course, you will meet again.”

“Waaaaaah…!”

Flitch! At the same time, a huge shout erupted from over there.

Count Dupuy, the aide, and the knight raised their heads at the same time.

I looked out the window, tense, worried that the wagon might be threatened.

But the situation unfolding before my eyes was….

-Heeheeheeing!

“Fire―!”

-Swish swish swish swish!

It was exactly the opposite. We were momentarily stunned and recorded the scene on our eyelids.

At a time when even the morning glow was dripping blood, the great tide of history was flowing.

When the great silver-haired swordsman raised Durandal and issued the imperial order, the densely lined Imperial Army battle mage division fired terrifying attack magic at the opposite side of the wagon. Thwack! As soon as the last catapult exploded over there, hordes of demonic beasts and wild beasts ran wildly, biting and killing the Sneider rebels.

‘Heuaaaap!’ Again, on the other side, the self-defense forces and the Imperial Army, who were protecting the royal capital, became allies and engaged in close combat with the ‘Fallen Ones’ who appeared as soon as the moon disappeared.

Swords and spears clashed everywhere, and arrows repeatedly poured down like a shower and then stopped.

Screams, drumbeats, screams, horns, horse cries, and animal roars were mixed together like a hellish execution ground.

Lightning struck in the clear sky, and green, rotten mana spewed out somewhere.

And I….

-Kugugugung!

-Kwakwakwakwakwa…!

“Aaaaaaah!”

“Oh my god….”

I discovered an army that was swallowing the battlefield at a fierce speed.

For a moment, my eyes widened.

-Your karma, your lineage, will be cut off right here!

-Woo woo woo woo…!

-Aaaaaaah…!

-Quarrrrrr!-

The huge crimson soul that covered one side of the west was rushing in, leading an army of desert ghosts that seemed to number at least thousands.

To the enemies, Hanan Lumayan was literally a evil spirit, an existence closer to a natural disaster than an army.

It only poured out attacks and had no body to be injured, so there was no way to defeat it with black magic or curses.

The enemies were simply cut down like crops in harvest season and could never stand up again.

Isabel, the incarnation of the king, was seen whipping her pure white whip and galloping with all her might. Now the allied forces were literally sweeping through the royal capital like a tidal wave.

It was then.

-Pooooooo―!

“Waaaaaaa!”

“Ah….”

No, the real tidal wave might not be here….

-Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…!

“……Tete, the sea is coming to us.”

-Awoong?

I looked down at the canal under the bridge the wagon was passing over.

The red stream was surging greatly with waves coming from the east.

Soon, the gazes inside the wagon moved to the opposite window.

From the end of the sea of abundance, the sea that surrounded the Holy Kingdom as if blessing it―

“By wrapping the royal capital with water like this, is there any way to withstand me!”

“Corleone! Corleone! Corleone!”

-Swa swa swa swa swa…!

Admiral Emma Corleone, walking on the water using the canals that were swelling with filth, was rushing in with a formidable force, shining eight magic circles. Papapapapapapapapapapapapak! Every time she swung her blood-soaked hook arm, all kinds of attack magic were fired indiscriminately at the enemies.

The marines who landed with her were also a tremendous force.

They had won many victories at sea and finally entered the capital, so their morale and passion seemed great.

“Yiaaaaaa…!”

“Riester! Riester! Riester!”

-Pooooooo…!

I was stunned by the momentum of the allied forces pouring out right under my nose, and then flinched again at the sound of a horn tearing through the air from the west.

It somehow sounded like a warning. Something a little different from what I’ve heard so far….

“Good Lord, it’s purple smoke.”

“Yes?”

I was surprised and turned around.

Count Dupuy, who was looking out the window in shock, pointed to the distant sky with his finger.

“Look over there, Palace Lord, beyond the Memphis Mountains. Holy smoke is rising from the Papal States.”

“Lord God….”

“……”

The Holy Kingdom knight closed his eyes and prayed. The aide’s writing speed was getting faster and faster.

I hurriedly rolled my eyes and counted somewhere in the west.

“Uh….”

-Click, click, click!