Jeon Kwonoo.
In a future known as the "genius of women".
Despite being a virgin.
I've said it before. I never liked the idea of my novel being 'famous.'
And to this day, I'm not sure why I created it.
Spending time with Liam Yoon Hee, training with her and helping her with new potions, I was able to learn a little about what her life was like before she came to the same world as me—the world I created; she didn't go to high school like I did.
She doesn't remember her name very well, perhaps because her transmigration was so recent.
But, something that caught my attention was the fact that she wanted to give this story a happy ending.
And it's...weird.
I was always a coward, and maybe what I feel is fear.
"Ji Noo. I'll use the poison on you again. It'll work faster, so if you can't handle it..."
"If I die, I will regenerate again," I said, "I don't feel pain, after all."
I feel pain, but it's not like it bothers me that much.
Liam threw a potion at me, the bottle breaking with my body, and soon a rash began to appear on my arms—my skin was starting to turn red, my arms were going numb, and soon I would be unable to move them.
"It works, although it's not deadly."
The girl sighed, adjusting her glasses and then offering me a bottle. "Okay! Thanks, Ji Noo! Drink this potion."
"…"
"Oh, that's right...you can't feel your arms, can you? S-Sorry, sorry..." She scratched her cheek nervously, then gave me the bottle to drink.
My arms were slowly regaining mobility; the potion was already taking effect.
During my stay, while Liam Yoon Hee finished recovering from the stabbing that happened, she insisted on Anser to be trained.
Anser accepted.
Well...I had to convince him for two whole days...
"She wants to train! You're the best teacher she could have, think how happy you'll make her!"
"...I don't want to."
After chasing him day and night, he accepted. And at the same time, he offered me a place to live in his condominium.
He pays for everything: my food, my clothes, my expenses...
And not only does he pay me that, he also pays Liam's services, and also he pays her a salary!
This man doesn't mind spending his money!
However, what really matters...
"…"
Lately Raum, the demon that lives with my soul, has been trying to take control of my body.
He stops doing it when I help Liam as a guinea pig to test his potions, where of course, most of the time I end up dying; whether from poisoning, burns, or infections...
And really, I wouldn't like to describe the other deaths I had.
However, I'm no longer able to control it much...
One month left until Walpurgis Night.
I don't know if I can wait a month...
The best thing I can do is go to the Rosicrucian base and ask to see the exorcist Mandeleine.
It's my only hope...
"Ji Noo!" At Liam's scream, I turned to look at her, and as I did, I could feel my breath catch. I grabbed my neck, but it was too late…
I died.
Sigh…
Something else is that Liam's regeneration potions haven't worked on me either.
I have to die if I want to regenerate.
"Again?"
A voice, far away, yet so close at the same time, called; it was Raum.
"Yeah…"
"I'm tired of seeing you every five minutes, you should take care of yourself...you don't want me to possess this body, do you?" He laughed, "Even beings like me hate being alive, if you keep dying, you'll eventually reach your limit."
It's true.
Another thing Raum mentioned in one of my many guinea pig deaths was a 'death limit'. He said that if I reached the 1000th death, I would lose the ability to regenerate my body.
Also, if I keep dying in a row, my regeneration will be slower.
But, I doubt I'll reach that many deaths, right now it must be death number 45 or 46, I doubt he wants to go past the 100th death.
Besides, if that happened, I could just switch bodies to someone else around here, not that it would be a big deal.
"I know. You'll never get my body, demon~"
PUFF!
I reappeared back on the ground, now with my arms and skin in better condition, and soon, I stood up from the ground, making Liam sigh with relief.
"You scared me..."
"Sorry, it was sudden…I thought for a moment that Raum would want to try to possess my body."
Liam crossed his arms, then wrinkled his nose. "You shouldn't be so confident that Mandeleine can exorcise him…"
I never wrote that Raum's exorcism was effective, but...
It's the only hope I have left.
"You know that right now...it's not a novel, right?" She commented, "There is no writer who can make that exorcism 100% effective…"
I know. I've lived with that thought every day of my life.
I would have liked to have been a filler character in a novel. At least they don't have as miserable a life as I did.
"I know."
Maybe...
The worst decision I could have made was to have believed that writing something to express my displeasure with myself and my life.
Maybe that's why I hate my own novel so much.
"Maybe we can do something about it…" Behind me, I heard another voice, it was Anser Ciro, the protagonist of my novel. "I know of another exorcist just as good as Mandeleine."
"Huh?" Another exorcist? Mandeleine is supposedly the only exorcist I've written...
Are there really more exorcist than just Liam's family?
-
We got out of a car, arriving at a building with a black façade; It was the base of the Ace Sect, people who are supposed to be one of Anser's enemies, at least in the novel.
As soon as we entered the building, we were greeted by a group of members, who showed us the way to Sherly's office.
Everyone was incredibly kind, both Liam and I were confused by such kindness towards what was supposed to be one of Anser's enemies...
But, that doesn't matter now, we're already in a new...story, right?
Soon, the three of us entered the office; inside, there was a desk full of empty glass cups, papers scattered beneath them, a bar with a bartender included in the background, a small meeting room, a small bowling alley, and several darts stuck into the walls.
Plus a few empty vodka bottles on the floor.
"W-Woah!" Liam almost fell with one of the bottles, managing to hold on to Anser to avoid falling, who looked at the man who was sitting in the chair in front of the desk.
Slowly, the chair turned around, there sitting the Ace Sect Leader— Sherly; he had long, dark hair tied in a ponytail, blue eyes with dark circles under his eyes, dressed in an ill-fitting shirt, formal pants, and...summer sandals…
"You finally decided to come see me...Ciro," He stood up from his chair, lighting a cigarette and putting it to his lips, then walked over to Liam and put his arm around his shoulders. "Are he still having that crisis or are he cured, Yoon?"
I blinked slowly, did I hear correctly? "Huh?"
No, I'm not talking about Anser's crisis, I'm referring to the fact that Liam knows Sherly too!
"Well…I won't be able to tell you exactly how he is..." she murmured, slightly nervous, "But we didn't come for that!"
Sherly took a drag on his cigarette, then crossed his arms. "So?"
Anser pulled my arm, bringing me in front of Sherly. "He absorbed a demon. Exorcise him."
He says it so easily…
"Oh whoa, stop right there dude, It's not like I have those Bibles inside my underwear," he said, then took another sip of his cigarette and came closer to my face. "He's not that affected by the demon yet, so I guess I can lend you one of my exorcists to help him..." He said, then blew his smoke in my face, "And who is this boy? Hm? A new friend?"
Soon, Sherly took out an Identifier, the same one that Anser had used when we first met, unlike Anser's, Sherly's Identifier was a little more...worn out.
Soon, he put it in front of my face, and seeing the screen, he smiled slightly, "Ji Noo..." Then he threw the machine aside, perhaps that explains how worn it is... "That's a funny name, where do you come from Ji Noo?"
That was a good question...
"Huh…" Anser glanced in my direction, and noticing his curious gaze made me a little nervous; after all, I couldn't tell Elmetron's origin, much less my own... "I don't really have a place to live...I travel around looking for my master..." Yes, that's something Elmetron would say.
However, it didn't seem to convince Sherly too much, but at least it made him stop insisting on the subject.
After all, Sherly knows Elmetron's 'master': Renato.
Of course, Renato was also his leader before he could have his own cult, so I know he would know who I'm talking about if he tried to explain it a little more.
After all, once a Sect member manages to make good use of their leader's power, they will be able to possess their own power, and use it in the same way.
There are exceptions, however; like Sherly, her Leader power can be shared and developed independently by her members. But, then there was the power of Joakim Hans' Leader, which only serves to command and give orders, but, his members could not use that power, they were just warriors, and their leader was their unlimited force of energy and without him commanding, no one else can gain any benefit from that sect.
"Well, that doesn't matter..." he said, turning around, and then sitting at his desk, "Go to my training room, that exorcist should be there, although, if he isn't, he's probably out hunting."
Liam and I looked at each other; hunt?
As far as I wrote, the exorcists were not expert hunters...
So, I'm kind of curious to meet this damn exorcist, and see what he's capable of.
_
I had too much faith in him.
He never arrived.
Sherly personally apologized to me, and especially to Anser, who was still angry about it.
Although it doesn't really affect me, I mean, after all, I've already lost hope of even being able to keep this body...
"This...is very difficult..." Liam muttered, "Does that mean you'll die soon, Ji Noo?"
I snorted, mildly offended by that insinuation; die? Me?
"I will not die." I said, crossing my arms, and then starting to think...
How could I get rid of this demon?
"What if we try to do rituals to attract Raum somewhere else?" Liam proposed, imitating me and standing next to me.
His proposal was tempting, but we are still not sure if Raum would really be willing to abandon a body like Elmetron's to go somewhere else that might be worse than this body.
"Opening up and examining your soul can help..." This time, Anser proposed, imitating me and standing on my other side.
Why is this man so addicted to opening me up?
"No, Anser…no, that's not how it works..." I sighed, patting him on the shoulder, as he continued to think.
Seeing him like that, he looked a bit silly.
Liam snapped her fingers, then pulled me down to her size, as she began to whisper in my ear; "If there's an exorcist working for Sherly... capable enough to go hunting alone and return who knows when... doesn't that mean Mandeleine could already be here?"
Maybe Liam is right; if history changed so much that even Sherly already had an exorcist...that meant that maybe Mandeleine was available.
The only problem was...
"…?"
Anser.
At this point and throughout the novel, he never got along with Randy Bornman, never saw him at sects meetings, and on top of that, he hated the fact that Randy used his members as bait to attract demons.
And I'm sure it's not just me who still thinks the same. Liam thinks so too, she who has spent more time with him and knows his movements and Anser's strange personality...
"Anser, how do you get along with the Rosicrucians?"
***
A clean and shiny floor.
Roses here and there in the hallways, fine curtains falling softly until they dragged on the floor; some members wearing long, red robes with golden roses—important members, apprentices of the great Rosicrucian lord; Randy Bornman.
Or at least, those were the 'apostles' of the god of this world.
"Master Bornman," A smaller apprentice walked towards the tall figure of someone covered in completely white cloths, "You have a visit from Mr. Detective, from the Sect...well, from the Fifth Sect."
He said, then the man touched his head, causing him to lift it, seeing the smiling and benevolent face of Randy Bornman; his leader.
Long blond hair, almost albino complexion, and eyes closed in the absence of some, and with a kind smile that almost never faded; That was the First Leader, the most powerful Leader of all; the Rosicrucian Lord.
The 'god'.
"I know, let them in and wait in my office, okay?"
The little one nodded, then ran back the way he came.
Of course he knew! He was Mr. Rosicrucian, he knew everything.
Once he arrived at his office, he sat down at his large desk; it was surrounded by a transparent white cloth, making it impossible for others to see who was inside, or from inside to know who was outside.
Soon, footsteps appeared; they were three people, apparently.
They stopped, perhaps three meters away from his desk, two of them bowed to him, except one.
Ah, of course, it was the proud Anser Ciro.
His humble and shy companion Liam Yoon Hee.
And…
"What do you need?" asked.
I knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him.
"I ask your permission to see the Exorcist Mandeleine," said Anser, surprisingly polite.
But it wasn't him he wanted to talk to.
"…" He thought about the proposal, he knew they were looking to exorcise a demon, Raum, the demon of destruction and their main enemy as demon hunters and Sect Leaders. "Of course."
He could hear Liam's squeal of joy.
But what does that matter?
"But," He interrupted the celebration, "First, I want to interrogate him."
The three looked at each other, the other boy nodded, causing Anser and Liam to leave the office.
Being alone together, he gave a little laugh.
"There's no need to be nervous…" He leaned back in his chair. "…Elmetron."
The boy's eyes, 'Ji Noo', opened wide.
"I'm not Elmetron, I'm…"
"No." He interrupted, rising from his chair, and stepping out from under the cloth covering his desk. "You're not, he died as soon as he entered the city, didn't he?"
Ji Noo gulped, according to him, no one should know...only…
"…Did you send him?" Asked, "You asked him to come, knowing there were wild demons running wild outside? Demons stronger than him?!"
He couldn't help but get upset, after all, he had to take on the role of his 'character'.
"I didn't do it." He said, really innocently, "My men went hunting, and I could see Elmetron passing through them…" he explain, as he stand in front of him, dwarfing Ji Noo with his imposing height, "I knew that if the antagonist attacked now...what would happen to this world?"
What. How do he know?
"…You...are a..."
"…" He didn't answer, he knew I wanted to ask him if he was reincarnated like him, but on the contrary, he knew it was from a novel. He became self-aware faster than those around him.
No, there was no other soul inside him, he was...he.
"This story doesn't have an ending, you know that, right?" He said, walking towards the window, and watching the rays of the demonic sun enter the room. "For you, this is a second chance..."
He turned to look at him.
Ji Noo gulped.
"For me too."
Ji Noo took a step back, for the first time, truly scared. He was the author of this novel, of course, he knew that Randy Bornman didn't know it, but...that courage to be the 'author' and to know more than the characters in his novel...
He had greatly underestimated his characters.
Especially this one; Randy Bornman.
"Anyway..." he returned to his friendly tone, approaching him again, "You want me to lend you Mandeleine, right? Of course I will, but under one condition."
Ji Noo frowned, suspicious. "What is?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He approached her ear, to whisper; "Make sure you find an ending to this story…"
Wait...that would mean Randy knows that...?
"Jeon Kwonoo."
He immediately walked away, completely surprised, more than that, terrified...
There was no way he could have known...
Randy Bornman's Leader power was supposedly being able to see through his Sect members.
And the old man who recorded it was not even a member of the Rosicrucian Sect...
So how did he know?
He swallowed.
He was cornered...
If he was discovered, people who might have been reincarnated and knew his novel, could lynch him for never giving an end to the story, and on top of that...they would think that he caused it.
But, of course, that wasn't the case. He died of a heart attack, and he wasn't even aware of any disappearances before his death, so...it was strange.
"That means you accept, right?" He said, with his smile that was now more terrifying than friendly. "Mandeleine returns in a week." He turned around, back to his desk, "I don't guarantee that the exorcism will be successful, but we can seal the demon, and that will make it unable to use your body. Anyway, you already know what happens if such a strong demon makes use of such an efficient body, right?"
Ji Noo nodded, without many options; it was risk his body and the future of history, or risk being lynched by everyone.
So if Randy wanted an ending, he would seek it.
I would give an 'ending'.
Be it good or bad.
"I understand." He said, then turned around, and started walking to the door, before leaving, turning to look at him, "I will wait for your call, and I will give you news of this 'ending' that I am planning."
Randy gave a chuckle, then said; "Of course."
And soon, he left the office.
Right now, he had two options: go to the exorcist Mandeleine and ensure that the demon would never break the seal, or wait for the dubious exorcist from Sherly.
However, he would still have to seek that ending he promised.
"Did everything go well, Ji Noo?" He looked at Liam, but she wasn't the one who said that, it was Anser. "Sherly promised that his exorcist would return in three days."
Three days?
He wouldn't stand holding the demon back another day.
"Damn it…" he scratched his head, "And Mandeleine will be back in a week..."
Liam and Anser looked at each other, then looked at Ji Noo.
"…" Anser stretched out his hand, then placed it on his shoulder.
Liam and Ji Noo looked at him, Liam surprised, and Ji Noo, confused.
"Sherly said he was hunting, he must be in the woods."
He didn't use any more words to explain himself, but it was enough to understand his plan…
"Are you planning to look for him?" Liam asked.
Anser nodded, grabbing Ji Noo's arm and then pulling him out of the Rosicrucian Sect base.
At least now, he didn't have to wait so long, right?
***
We ended up walking through the woods.
After the terrifying encounter with Randy, and discovering that he knows my true identity...
Damn.
However, it's not as if Randy was reincarnated as me or Liam, but rather that he still looked like a character in my novel.
He doesn't lose his character, like me or Liam, he is...him.
That's what makes me terrified if there are other characters like him.
That would be problematic.
Very problematic.
"How will we find him, Mr. Detective?" Liam asked, as she walked beside Ji Noo, with Anser leading the way.
We jumped over a log, then collided with Anser's back.
"What happened?" I spied over Anser's shoulder, and I saw…
"AAAAAAH!" Liam's scream deafened Anser and me, and then she hid behind Anser. "What is that?! Is it a demon?!"
Well, not exactly...
It was a tracking demon; it had the appearance of a rabbit, however, it had a long horn on its forehead. But, it was not dangerous, it only fed on poisonous plants, at least mostly; being constantly hunted by humans in ancient times, they fed on poison to kill them and avoid be hunted for consumption.
I stood in front of them, before Anser could kill him, grabbed the demon and pulled him away from Anser.
"No! Wait! It's not a dangerous demon!" I said, then walked in front of them, "It is a tracking demon, it can even help us find the exorcist we are looking for, either by an image, or by its smell, they are very intelligent!"
Anser looked at me, then looked at the fluffy demon in my arms.
"…" Then, he sheathed his sword again, with no intention of attacking him. "Really?"
I nodded, grabbing his arms and putting the demon in them.
Anser tensed for a moment, but when I stroked the demon's head, he seemed to calm down.
Then he mimicked my movement, also caressing it.
I sighed, at least I didn't kill something that would be useful to us.
"Do you have any images or traces of the exorcist?" I asked Anser, and then he looked at me and deny with his head, "…So how will we know who we're looking for? Were you planning to search for him by instinct?"
A minute of silence, and then he looked to the side.
This idiot was planning to look for him by instinct?!
Poor man, I must have given him more brain cells than strength...
"Maybe we could find it with the Identifier…" Liam murmured, still hiding, and scared by the demon, "We could look up his Identifier in the Ace Sect database…"
"Hm, It's true."
Grab the Identifier of Anser, while he was busy petting the demon. Soon, Liam and I started searching for the 'exorcist'.
"I found it! It's called..." Liam stopped mid-sentence, then opened her mouth, shocked and in disbelief at what she was seeing.
I looked at the device, and got the same reaction.
The exorcist was...
"F-Frederick?!"
One of the main characters in the novel, who is supposed to no longer belong to the Ace Sect but to the Anser Sect…Frederick L.
A genius who, in addition to loving painting, loved creating things. One of his inventions was his magic arm; he had lost his arm as a child, so he was one-handed, until when he joined the Ace Sect, he used the power that Sherly lent him to create an arm, instead of a full-body defense.
Something that was incredible, since no one in the Ace Sect has been able to control it like that, except him and the sub-leader.
However, it was not in the original novel that he would be an exorcist.
I already said it, he only knows about painting and technology.
He knows nothing about exorcism...and yet...
"We will bring flowers to your funeral, Ji Noo…"
Yes, that meant that the exorcism would probably fail 97% if Frederick were to perform it himself.
"…" I sighed, "Thanks."
Right now, I've already lost hope.
I'm going from bad to worse...
What's good about the worst, huh?!