After a few deep breaths, I slowly came back to myself.
Consuming all my mana at once had caused me to suffer from mana deficiency.
For a few seconds I could only blink my eyes as if paralyzed.
At that moment, spending all my mana had turned into regret.
I pulled myself together and stood up, my gaze fixed on the girl on the ground.
Pheniyet was next to Sofia on the ground.
Sofia regained consciousness and started vomiting. She kept throwing up everything she ate and drank. She looked frantic, like she was coughing up blood. I empathized with her in that horrible scene.
I was as scared as she was.
I knew what Sofia was feeling, she was having one of the panic attacks she would have throughout the novel.
She was feeling these attacks now, which would normally start later in the novel.
What triggered it was confronting her mother's murderer, but I didn't know what to call it. Meeting the Djinn, a human with a demon pact, reminded her of her past. Was I supposed to focus on how to put him back together after that?
The novel I was writing was derailed in the first mission.
The first djinn shouldn't have been so powerful. Arthur should have easily defeated him and Sofia should have admired Arthur's strength.
Now one of the side characters was experiencing early personal growth. In a bad way, of course.
Arthur was beaten up, Sofia was on the verge of death. Pheniyet had become a skalker.
Sofia looked tough and cold on the outside, but on the inside she was still a sheltered woman.
It would only be much later that she would be able to overcome her sensitive nature.
"...."
Arthur remained silent next to Sofia while I was thinking these thoughts.
He moved closer to stroke her back but she pushed him away with the back of her hand.
Arthur reluctantly stepped back.
I knew about Sofia's past, how could I not know that it was me who had written it for her.
She had watched her mother slaughtered by a demon when she was a very young child. It was none other than her older brother who saved her from that. Then she entered the Dome as a cold and lonely woman.
She had only one goal, to avenge her mother's death, but even coming face to face with the demon, let alone that, would cause her to have a stress disorder and panic attacks.
There was nothing Arthur could do in this situation, except wait for his brother to come and comfort Sofia.
"Leave her alone. I'm sure her dear brother will come to comfort her."
I said impulsively because I remembered what was going to happen. First her brother would come. Then her father would come to clean everything up, but Sofia apparently took my indifference as an insult.
"Eughgggh!"
A meaningless hum came out of Sofia's mouth.
Did she want something or someone to blame?It was understandable.
Unlike Eleine, Sofia was a real lady.
Even if she smelled something she didn't like, it could ruin her whole day.
"... You."
Arthur looked at me puzzled, trying to say something. For some reason his face hardened. Pheniyet was also looking at me with her eyes wide open.
I ignored it and turned away, I needed to think too. The Djinn's power was much greater than I had given them credit for.
I needed to find out why.
"I'm leaving, I've done enough already. "
I said, and I left them.
.
.
.
I managed to find a seat on a bench next to a curved telephone pole.
The bench was half broken and a car had overturned on its side right behind me. It felt very strange to sit quietly in this chaotic environment. There were already many people running around in fear. The attack was over and even though the Djinn had been killed, the fear they had left on people had not ended.
Watching my story with an outsider's face felt really different.I wasn't sure if I should call it my story that I wrote anymore....
The story had changed.
[Mission: a Djinn has appeared in the museum. Help kill it.]
[Reward: improvement in weapon specialization]
[Failure: Death of Sofia Lyons and Arthur White]
I was reminded of the mission I had just finished.
Indeed, if I hadn't helped complete the mission, I wouldn't have had a chance to complete the story.
It was equal to total uncertainty.
If I hadn't been there, Sofia would have been killed by a Djinn. And that meant continuing the main story without Sofia.
Not to mention Arthur, I'm not even sure what the world would be like without him.
If that had happened. Would humanity have won against the demons?
It wasn't just a side character who died. If this world was the world in my novel, it wouldn't have happened.
Of course there was the oddity known as Vayne Salas, but his role was minimal. So far so good. I had done absolutely nothing that could have affected me... not even the Phenomenon, who were just using their powers in this war. 3 characters couldn't defeat a common villain?
"....."
A lot of thoughts went through my mind.
Something I've never accepted, but something I've suspected in my heart...
Ahh right, it's not even my novel anymore, I'm just helping to rewrite it.
Why was I so comfortable all this time!
* dizzz
At that moment I felt a shooting pain in my head, as if my whole body was shaking.
The sensation was so strong that for a moment I felt like dying.
[Error detected!]
[Vayne Salas has joined the main storyline. Enemy power is being updated.]
[Enemies in missions have to be balanced against the anomaly.]
[Enemy strength will change according to Vayne Salas' effectiveness.]
[The main storyline is being updated. Vayne Salas has to do the specified missions.]
[Let's.... Together..... Make..... The.... Best.... Story.....]
The text was running through my brain like static, and I had to read it even if I closed my eyes.
"Damn it, ...."
"So everything has gone wrong because I'm here. This world now sees me as an anomaly."
My story was no longer there.
Seriously, to move forward, I had to obey this voice echoing in his brain.
"Shit! What the hell am I gonna do now?"
.
.
.
-today at noon, an act of terrorism took place at the Silver City Museum. The attack was caused by a Djinn and his mana monster. Leaving 7 dead and 200 wounded.
As Geralt listened to the news of today's events, he used his left hand to caress the brown-haired, auburn-skinned girl lying on the bed. Her relatively pale skin pierced his father's heart.Soon he would graduate from the Dome and become a hero.
And yet Sofia, lying on the bed, was a little girl to Geralt Lyons.
-There were many teams responding to the events and the attack was stopped before it could escalate further. Inferno is thought to be behind the attack. The Council is expected to make a statement on this matter.
"Hmm."
Sofia opened her almond eyes as Geralt called for a doctor.
"You're awake. How are you feeling?"
....Good."
Sofia barely lifted her weak body.
A doctor came running to check her pulse, but Sofia smiled and pushed him away.
"I'm fine, dad....."
"Really?"
"Of course. I'm not hurt. Didn't the doctor tell you?"
"It could just be shock, sir."
The doctor spoke involuntarily.
The person in front of him was one of the most powerful figures in the country. He was an [SS] level sorcerer.
"He looks fine. You can go."
"Yes, sir."
The doctor quickly left. Sofia spoke as the door closed.
"... Daddy."
"Yes, honeybug."
Geralt spoke as he brushed back the hair that had fallen into his daughter's face.
"About my brother."
His sad voice was a reminder of a dark past she wanted to forget. Remembering his son always caused a sharp pain in his heart. Geralt took her hand with a gentle smile.
"You can tell me what is wrong."
"Do you think he is still alive?"
"....."
Sofia bowed her head at her father's silence.
What else could that be but a yes.
Then she realized how ridiculous this question was.
She had reopened the pain that her father wanted to forget. What father would want to see his daughter lying unconscious after the disappearance of his son.
"Don't worry, honeybug... your brother is too lazy to die. I'm sure he'll come back one day. "
"You're right... So can I go to my mom's. The dome doesn't let us out on school days and I'm not sure when I'll see my mom again."
"Of course you can."
Sofia rested her head lightly on her father's shoulder.
At that moment she felt as if her father's shoulders were the only shelter in the world.
The only place where that djinn's hands couldn't reach.
Sofia was startled when she remembered what had happened in the museum.
She was scared.
She waited for death, unable to move, just like the day her mother was killed. She couldn't do anything but wait for the demon to kill her too.
Then she remembered the voice in the museum talking about her brother.
Sofia's anger suddenly flared up again.
"By the way, dad..."
His voice was full of determination.It carried a heavy emotion.
"Yes, my Sofia."
"It was nothing, Dad."
He hated someone from the bottom of his heart, but he couldn't tell his father how he felt. He thought about how his throat felt like it was on fire from the Djinn poison spell. Even as she writhed in pain, she could hear him clearly.
- Surely her beloved brother would come to comfort her.
He had spoken openly about his brother...
That boy!
Didn't he know?
No, that was impossible. The WHOLE human domain knew.
4 years ago everyone in the world knew about the closing of the dungeon and the disappearance of his brother. He didn't even have a chance to feel sad then.
From that day on, he carved his brother's name deep in his heart and he became an untouchable subject.
As a student of the Dome, this boy should have known about his brother's situation. And yet he had spoken of his brother in this way.
Sofia suppressed the anger in her heart and etched the boy's name in her head.
"VAYNE SALAS! VAYNE SALAS! VAYNE SALAS!"
From that day on, Sofia would never forget that name.