Chapter 17

“Don’t do it!”

“..”

At Lexion’s shout, the nearby servants were startled and looked alternately at me and Lexion’s face.

I didn’t know he would be so angry, so I opened my eyes wide.

Previously, he had just accepted treatment at this point.

Even though I knew better than anyone that I was using my life energy.

It didn’t matter, but suddenly he got so angry.

As I stood silent at his sudden reaction, he dragged me into the room.

I was confused as I was being led by his hand.

Before I knew it, I came into the room and the door closed.

In the room, it was just me and Lexion.

He looked down at me with a woeful look on his face.

I was so overwhelmed by the atmosphere that I couldn’t say a word.

For a while, he just stood there silently staring at me.

Time passed slowly.

“Why are you so hurt?”

He mumbled, staring pitifully at my injured arm.

But he was worse himself.

Without realizing it, tears fell.

I wondered where and how he had been rolling around to end up like that.

What do you do if you’re transcendent, you can’t take care of a single wound in your body.

He looked at me crying and gave me a pity glance.

Then he wiped my eyes and whispered softly.

“Sorry for yelling.”

“Whaaaa.”

“I’m really fine, so don’t cry. I’m sorry, Titi.”

Lexion comforted me as I sobbed and spoke kindly.

His way of speaking was so warm that I couldn’t stop crying.

Looking up at him with tearful eyes, he had a very distressed expression on his face.

His face was wrinkled as if it was about to collapse, and his eyes were burning up as he looked at my wounds.

After a while, Lexion said calmly.

“I think I did a good job hitting him.”

“..Who?”

“I’ll just pretend it’s a mistake and kill him.”

Lexion softly mumbled a bloody omen.

Then his slender fingers ran across my cheek.

“I thought you were going to disappear again.”

“..”

It felt like time had stopped except for us.

It stopped at his words that he thought I would disappear again.

“What do you mean..”

But I couldn’t finish.

“Ugh..”

Because suddenly, Lexion collapsed.

“Zion..?”

I barely caught him as he fell.

He grabbed the hem of my robe while he was losing consciousness, just in case I was going somewhere else.

“Don’t go, don’t leave me..”

“I won’t go.”

I clasped his hands and promised, and he closed his eyes.

A faint breath was heard.

He seemed to faint from bleeding so much.

“Daisy, are you out? You can come in now.”

With my permission, Daisy entered the room.

Then, looking at the fallen Lexion, her eyes widened.

“Th- The Duke..”

“I think he fell asleep. It’s hard for me to get up on my own, can you help me?”

“Yes, yes! Everyone come here and help me! The Duke has collapsed!”

At Daisy’s call, other servants came in and quickly moved to the bedroom, holding Lexion.

“I’ll call the physician!”

Daisy left the room saying that.

I stared pitifully at Lexion, who was carried away by the servant.

Unable to keep up, I collapsed and sat down on the cold floor of the room.

“How the hell do you know?”

Apparently, Lexion also returned like me.

Lexion was treated by a doctor and fell asleep peacefully.

I stared at him lying, clean and washed.

There was a lot of confusion on my face.

It felt like it was my fault that he was hurt like this.

How bad he was injured, he had bandages wrapped around every corner of his body like a mummy.

I was heartbroken by the lack of one single place without wounds.

“Don’t treat me.”

The voice that had been begging, even screaming, cluttered my mind.

The desperate cry of his request resonated in my mind.

Even thinking about it, it might be better not to treat him.

I was sure he’ll wake up and be angry, so it might be better to just leave it alone.

But seeing him lying down like this, I couldn’t stay still.

Using a little of my power was enough for him to get well soon.

I finally decided to use my powers, knowing that I would live up to his resentment.

Making the plausible excuse that my settings were originally like that.

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Whispering to him in a low voice, I stretched out my hand with the ring removed.

He couldn’t do much if he was treated before he woke up.

“Ejis.”

When I shouted the starter word, the walls were shaking and blue hovered around my hands.

While feeling the energy draining from my body, his small wounds began to heal.

Little by little, Lexion’s expression became more and more peaceful.

“..!”

The moment I finished the treatment, the book I had been looking for for so long appeared in front of my eyes.

The book floated in the air, and a strange beep sounded.

BEEP BEEP BEEP―

I looked at the book with a bewildered expression on my face, and quickly put my hand to it.

As soon as I touched the book, the warning sound naturally stopped.

“The color has changed.”

I stared blankly at the red-colored cover, mumbling to myself quietly.

The cover color was different from the book I knew before.

‘It was definitely black.’

I blinked and checked the color again, but the book was unmistakably bright red.

Without realizing it, I looked at Lexion’s expression.

It was an act I did unconsciously, even though I knew he couldn’t hear the sound of the book.

As before, the activated book was invisible to anyone but me.

Knowing that even the inactive book looked like an ordinary Bible, I became somewhat anxious and quietly left the room, hiding it in my arms.

Immediately after arriving at my room at a staggering pace, I locked the door tightly in case anyone could come in.

There were as many caution phrases as the warning sound I heard earlier when I opened the book.

I read them down slowly.

[Mission accomplished. Go to the reward page.]

[There was a problem with the ending. Go back to the beginning again.]

[The main character has strayed from the path. As a result, the setting value has changed.]

[Timeout to initialize. The story resumes with the set value changed to emergency operation.]

[Because the setting of ‘Lexion Sparrow’ has changed, he is no longer the main character. Currently, there is no protagonist in this story. A reset is required.]

“Wh- what are you talking about?”

I was appalled by the unexpected warning.

The first notice was clearly what I saw before I died.

However, the warning signs that followed were all new ones.

I was startled because it happened after I died.

Were there any problems with the ending?

Are you saying that even one little thing out of line was my responsibility?

I frowned and shouted.

“Guide!”

Then the book flashed and the guide began to write.

―Welcome to [The Opponent of the Evil Dragon.]

The guide greeted me as if it was meeting someone for the first time.

I inquired more sharply.

“Why am I still inside the book?”

―I do not understand the question.

“I must have finished my ending. But why am I still inside the book!”

I shouted, remembering all the frustrations I felt inside me.

The guide stuttered as if it had buffered.

His voice sounded as if he had woken up from a deep sleep.

―I, I apologize. I don’t understand what you’re saying. Due to the change in the ending of Tiarozetti Isol, the traveler must start the journey again.

“What do you mean? What do you mean the ending changed?”

―I’ll help guide you through your questions!

With the guide’s cheerful voice, the book unfolded.

For a while, the spine of the book vibrated and settled down.

[The reset is complete.]

The new main character of [The Opponent of the Evil Dragon] is ‘Tiarozetti Isol’.

From now on, you will have to defeat the evil dragon in place of ‘Lexion Sparrow.’

The evil dragon is stronger than before.

[To fight the evil dragon, ‘Isol’s hidden secret’ will be revealed as a buff for the main character.]

“What!?”

As soon as I read it, I screamed and smashed the book.

The guide complained.

―Oh hoo, traveler. A book is not a ball. Please don’t throw it away, treat it with respect.

I was still numb, unable to calm my startled heart.

The book came closer to me.

My eyes were focused exactly on?‘ You have to kill the evil dragon’.

My hands were trembling.

I didn’t understand why this world always placed a heavy burden on me.

In my previous life, I tried my best and I was faithful to the role of Tiarozetti Isol as the guide told me.

The feeling of replacing someone’s life was not so pleasant.

So I rebelled from time to time, but I was the first to raise the white flag to the penalty that always continued.

So, as in the original story, I even died while treating Lexion.

I did it.

Now you’re telling me to kill the evil dragon on behalf of Lexion.

This was a scam.

It was very different from what was promised.

I shouted with my face flushed.

“That’s not what you promised!”

―Sometimes this happens. We call this ‘reset’.

“I don’t care!”

I shouted, pushing the book.

But the book didn’t budge.

It was even more difficult to understand.

Who asked for an explanation?

I was just telling them to return me to my original world as promised.

Everything became futile.

I couldn’t believe all the things I’ve done so far have gone without regard to my will.

I opened the next chapter of the book with some hope.

It was a naive expectation that the same content might remain.

However, the content of the story I had achieved had already disappeared completely.

Moreover, it was nowhere to be found the blurry text that became clear whenever the novel was successfully developed.

A complete blank paper.

I was puzzled by the lack of content in the book.

If it was a novel, the content must be written in a blur to follow it, but nothing was written there.

As if there was no future.

Just like that.

On the blank paper, only the development from the time I returned was written, and the words [Continued to the next chapter] below.

And even though I tried to flip the back page, it didn’t turn over.