The fortress burned, and the world moved on without him.Flames crawled up the walls like they'd rehearsed this moment a thousand times. Soldiers screamed, arrows flew, monsters tore through men.
Han Jaemin sprinted through the chaos, waving, shouting no one saw him.He slammed into a soldier, bounced back, and watched the man charge right through him.
"What? Hey! I'm right here!"No reply. No glance. Nothing.
Then the world itself blinked.
[Warning: Unregistered entity detected.][World correction in progress.]
The stone rippled under his feet. His footprints disappeared.Jaemin stared at his fading reflection in a puddle. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm a ghost in a story I already read."
A roar split the sky.A blade of light descended the Hero's Sigil.
Aserion Valeheart stood in divine brilliance, cape torn, eyes fierce. He swung his sword and obliterated the beast with righteous fury.Exactly like Chapter 4. Word for word.
Jaemin's throat tightened."I know this scene… and I know who dies next."
He turned. There the lieutenant who'd take a spear to the chest. The priest who'd kneel beside him. The saint who'd try to heal both and pay the price.He'd read it. Watched it. Cried over it.And now, he'd live it.
But this time he couldn't look away.
[Observer Function Activated.][Access Granted: Fate Threads.]
Jaemin blinked as the world shifted into gold and silver lines, strings connecting every person in sight.The saint's thread flickered weakly. Aserion's glowed like the sun.
"What is this…"He reached out, brushing the faint, trembling thread.
[Do you wish to interfere?][Warning: Destabilization risk – 99%.]
He laughed, dry and shaky. "Risk? Buddy, I've already died once just reading this book."
He grabbed the thread.
[Confirm: Yes / No]
"Yes."
The world cracked.A blinding pulse surged through him like every heartbeat he'd ever had was being rewritten.
The saint gasped, suddenly alive again. The monster missed its mark. The priest didn't die.The story shifted.
Aserion turned sharply, sword raised, eyes darting through the smoke. "Who's there?"Jaemin froze.The hero could feel him.
"I said, who's there! Show yourself!"
Jaemin stepped forward, light flickering off him like static. For a heartbeat, he looked solid. Real."I'm… nobody. Just a mistake in your story."
The hero frowned. "Then why did you save her?"
"Because you wouldn't have."
Their eyes met—one blazing with divine certainty, the other hollow with exhausted defiance.
Jaemin's voice cracked. "You think you're the protagonist? Fine. Then I'll be the one who fixes the parts you ruin."
The ground trembled. The golden threads screamed and snapped one by one.
[World deviation: 0.8%.][Correction sequence initiated.]
Aserion took a step forward. "What are you?"
Jaemin smiled faintly. "Someone who's tired of watching everyone die on schedule."
Then he vanished.
The fortress fell silent. The soldiers blinked, confused.No one remembered the shadow that had stood between life and death—but the saint clutched her chest, whispering through tears,"Thank you… whoever you were."