It was on the final days of autumn, only a few days before the sky would shift and the world would change.
That was when I traveled to China to receive an award for online literature.
Standing before thousands of people, I held the hand of someone who was only seventeen or eighteen and led him onto the stage.
My younger brother, James, received that award together with me.
In front of hundreds of cameras and the audience below, we bowed to thank everyone.
I picked up a microphone, tapped it lightly twice, then began to speak.
We—more precisely, I—started talking about the past.
The past that belonged to the two of us.
Long ago, our parents couldn't have children. My mother suffered from a strange illness that made the chance of giving birth almost nonexistent.
Unwilling to accept a life without children, they decided to adopt me.
I was an orphan, abandoned in a brick kiln where my grandfather happened to find me. After that, I was adopted into the family.
My name is Jothane Joe. That was the name my grandfather gave me.
As for my younger brother, James Jothane, he was born to my mother two years after they adopted me.
It shocked the entire family, but that happiness only lasted for a short time.
He inherited the same illness from our mother. Unfortunately, that meant death was always closer to him than to anyone else.
And something even more tragic happened—my father died.
No… not exactly. He became a vegetable after an accident at the factory.
Then our mother passed away when I was seventeen. From that moment on, I had to support two people by working.
Fortunately, at nineteen, I managed to get a relatively easy job—working in customer service for a large company.
However, that job gradually began disappearing because of the rise of AI.
So we shifted toward the entertainment industry.
I brought my brother to charity channels and aid programs so we could receive support. I also wrote an online novel and relied on my brother's popularity to make money.
And then…
I turned toward the figure who had collapsed on the stage at some point without me noticing.
But darkness had already covered him, and it seemed no one was paying attention to my brother anymore.
At that moment, only one thought appeared in my mind:
My brother still needed to attend another program in two hours. What should I do now?
It has been a long time since then. I've gradually forgotten the exact feeling I had in that moment.
But there is still one thing I can remember clearly.
Nausea.
…
James fell into critical condition.
More precisely, it was exhaustion.
But why didn't I notice it sooner?
I was always by his side.
I rarely say this, but I often consider myself someone sensitive to emotions.
When I was younger, people called me slow or stupid.
But somehow, I could sense emotions through the smallest expressions.
Or at least, that's what I believed.
I reacted slowly, not because I was stupid, but because my mind was often drifting inside my imagination.
Even now, it's the same.
Everything is just an illusion.
I believed those illusions were real, and they carried both me and my brother away.
…
But I still couldn't accept it.
I still wanted to keep moving forward.
I used to work in customer service as a consultant.
I often had to meet customers face to face.
I saw hundreds—thousands—of smiles.
But their eyes never smiled.
People smiling in search of satisfaction, believing themselves to be good.
Why am I saying this?
I don't know.
I only know that when I saw those smiles from strangers—the eyes hiding contempt, the noses lifted proudly after receiving praise—it made me feel…
Fortunately, AI arrived.
It replaced my job.
Unfortunately, that also meant I lost my job.
I had no degree.
And I didn't want to return to the days of being enslaved by work again.
Disgusting.
Disgusting with myself.
The whole world kept moving forward, while I remained greedy and pathetic.
What am I even talking about?
I don't know.
Ah, right.
I received a contract.
According to it, an AI would replace the doctors and perform surgery on my younger brother. Luckily, I would only have to pay half of the original cost.
I hesitated for hours before finally signing my name as his guardian.
…
A few days later, a newspaper reported that AI had replaced medical doctors and successfully performed ten surgeries.
Ten out of ten were successful.
And my brother was not among those ten.
…
Disgusting.
I committed suicide the next day.
I was sitting at my desk in the online novel publishing company. I had come there to talk about my brother.
That was also where I posted my suicide note.
…
"So what happened to that Joe guy?"
Janeus asked while eating a steamed bun.
"Don't tell me the story just ends like that."
She looked at me.
"No," I said. "That man was reincarnated. Or rather, he transmigrated into an online novel."
"In that world, he probably believed he would be saved. That he would become a hero. That he could forget the past."
"A completely new world. A new life."
"…And then?"
"I'm still thinking about the next part. This is only the beginning."
"But I think his new life won't be very pleasant."
"It will probably be quite painful."
"I might even make him kill himself out of despair."
"…What a foolish story," she said.
"I suspected as much when I heard the first half."
"But whatever."
"I know you didn't ask me out just to waste time chatting."
"Just like how noble rituals always involve a polite exchange before the real discussion begins."
She glanced at me, then toward the distant clock tower.
"…You're right," I said.
"I want to keep a promise."
"A promise about a story that was never finished."
"About the royal family, the nobles, Belem… and about my own Gift."
"…I'm only interested in half of that," she replied.
"You'll become interested in all of it."
I turned toward her.
The flower in my hand turned with me.
"But it won't be free."
"You have two choices."
"First: become a Level 2 member of One Line as my student. I'll tell you the story as part of your lessons."
"Second: you can leave."
"And if a royal happens to see you…"
"You'll be killed."