Something felt off.
My body felt like it was floating.
Yet, at the same time, it wasn’t.
Cold air slowly seeped into my lungs.
I opened my eyes.
Where am I?
I looked around.
A vast space.
An endless library stretched before me, filled with towering bookshelves.
There was no sky, no ground—only this infinite expanse of books.
Instinctively, I turned around.
Shelves stretched endlessly, stacked neatly with countless books.
No one was here.
Not a single sound could be heard.
And yet.
This place didn’t feel unfamiliar.
It was as if.
I had seen it once before.
It felt familiar, strangely comforting.
Am I dreaming?
I questioned myself.
How had I gotten here?
My memory was hazy.
I had definitely struck the Demon King.
On the battlefield.
And then.
Tap.
A soft sound echoed.
A bookshelf trembled slightly.
And footsteps approached.
I tensed instinctively.
Someone was walking toward me from beyond the shelves.
A figure draped in a long cloak.
Slowly, they stepped in front of me.
And.
“At last… the perfect ending has been written.”
A voice unfamiliar.
Yet somehow, the way they spoke felt oddly familiar.
I looked up at them.
Brilliant white hair.
An air of nobility.
A face that was neither distinctly masculine nor feminine.
A face—identical to mine.
I was staring at myself.
My eyes widened.
For a moment, everything around me seemed to freeze.
“…Who… are you?”
The figure simply smiled and opened a book.
Its cover was blank.
But as they turned the pages, words began to appear, one by one.
A powerful sense of déjà vu struck me.
“…No way…”
The figure nodded, their smile deepening.
“That’s right.
The story you built.
The fate you created—just for yourself.”
Snap.
They closed the book.
At that moment, the space around us distorted.
The shelves trembled, and the ground beneath me rippled unnaturally.
I instinctively knew.
This wasn’t just a dream.
“Congratulations.”
The figure whispered, gazing at me with an unreadable smile.
They looked at me as if they already knew everything.
“As of now, the story has reached its conclusion.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
The story… is over?
“What do you mean by that?”
I asked without thinking.
The other me standing before me flicked the book lightly with a fingertip.
The pages turned on their own, faint letters appearing across them.
Then, the figure spoke slowly.
“The story has ended. As a special courtesy, I’ll allow you to ask questions. Is there anything you’d like to know?”
I was caught off guard, but my mind was already flooded with questions.
This wasn’t just a dream.
If I had to accept this situation as reality.
I had to stay calm.
“…What do you mean by ‘story’?”
The figure let out a soft sigh and flipped another page.
“As I’ve explained before, it is your predetermined fate.”
The mention of “before” left an unsettling feeling in my chest, but I decided to listen for now.
“Of course, there was no guarantee you would follow that fate properly. But you have succeeded. Congratulations.”
They clapped their hands lightly.
I, however, still didn’t understand.
“So, what does that even mean?”
Still smiling, they tilted their head.
“It means that you are no longer a puppet of fate.”
“…What?”
They spread their hand, and the surrounding books trembled.
The shelves shook, and from within them, a small light emerged.
Then, they continued.
“The story is over. You have created your own path and completed your destiny.”
I stared at them, dumbfounded.
I completed my destiny?
But I had only.
“I don’t get it… Then what exactly is my power?”
I finally asked the most important question that had been circling in my mind all this time.
The figure chuckled softly and nodded.
“Oh, that? That’s Softness Power—‘Malrangryeok.’”
“…What?”
My mind went blank for a moment.
“Malrang?”
Had I misheard?
But the figure nodded with a completely serious expression.
“The softer you become, the stronger your power grows.”
“…What?”
“Exactly as I said.”
They continued nonchalantly.
“You can’t harm others, but you can push away negative emotions.”
“…”
Something felt… off.
This wasn’t the kind of explanation I was expecting.
The figure added calmly,
“Simply put, you turn a dark and tragic story into a warm and wholesome one.”
“…What is that even supposed to mean?”
“I’m not sure how else to explain it.”
What the hell?
I pressed my fingers against my temple, trying to process the nonsense I was hearing.
Seeing this, the figure chuckled and muttered.
“It’s fine. The others seem to understand.”
I frowned.
“…Huh? What do you mean others?”
But they only shrugged.
“It’s nothing.”
I pressed my lips together.
Something was definitely strange.
This person—no, this thing—clearly knew something.
But they had no intention of explaining it to me.
I let out a deep sigh.
Thinking too hard about this would only give me a headache.
For now, I decided to ask a different question.
“Then… where is this place?”
The figure slowly looked around.
“This is the furthest edge of your possibilities.”
I swallowed hard.
“In other words?”
They spread their hand,
And the books around us glowed, forming a massive phrase in the air.
[The End of a Story, and the Beginning.]
The figure smiled.
“This is a place you have never once looked toward… yet it was decided long ago.”
…What the hell does that even mean?
I stared at them, feeling unsettled.
“Then… if the story is over… what am I supposed to do now?”
The figure casually flipped another page and replied,
“You create.”
“…What?”
For a second, I thought I had misheard.
Create?
I hesitated before carefully asking again,
“…What exactly am I supposed to create?”
The figure glanced at me, then slowly smiled and said,
“Well, obviously, a child—no, wait.”
“………”
My face went blank.
…Did this bastard just—?
Instinctively, I took a step back.
The figure chuckled lightly and waved a hand dismissively.
“Just kidding.”
Then, with a knowing smile, they added,
“Think about all the karma you’ve built up until now.”
“…Karma?”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What do you mean by that?”
The figure simply shrugged.
“These things… tend to come full circle.”
He kept spewing cryptic nonsense.
This is so damn frustrating.
I wanted to press him for more details about what he just said.
But.
“Oh, looks like your friends are calling you. Off you go.”
The moment he waved his hand, the ground beneath me rippled, and space itself began to collapse.
“W-Wait…!”
Karma—what the hell does that even mean?!
You can’t just drop that and leave!
I shouted desperately, but my body was already being pulled away.
I tried to resist, but it was useless.
No matter how hard I struggled.
I was swallowed by the endless light.
And then.
I woke up.
The air was heavy and damp.
A faint flickering light danced in front of my eyes.
My head throbbed.
It felt like.
I had been drifting through a deep, endless dream, only to be forcefully yanked back into reality.
“…Ugh.”
I blinked, trying to gather my senses.
And then.
“Miss Eve!!”
A familiar voice.
Before I could fully regain my awareness, something warm suddenly crashed into me.
“Thank goodness…!
I’m so glad you’re okay!!”
It was Harp.
Her eyes were red, and she was holding me tightly.
Her warmth felt strangely overwhelming.
“…Harp?”
Still dazed, I looked around.
I was lying inside a tent—one of the makeshift shelters at the northern front.
The camp that had nearly been reduced to ruins.
But this place was no longer one of despair.
Soldiers clung to one another, embracing.
The wounded, the exhausted—everyone had miraculously survived.
Not only had they survived,
They seemed stronger than before, filled with a newfound vitality.
“Miss Eve, I’m so glad…”
Liel grabbed my arm tightly.
Tears welled in her eyes.
“You were unconscious for so long…”
I took a slow breath.
My head still felt foggy.
Like I had just awoken from an impossibly vast dream.
But as I watched Harp and Liel sniffle before me, I felt reality settle in.
“…How long was I out?”
“Two days!”
The moment I asked, Liel answered immediately.
“…Two days?”
I was so stunned, I momentarily lost my words.
“Y-You suddenly collapsed! We were really, really scared!”
“Even the medics didn’t know what to do,” Harp added, her expression worried.
“I see…”
Slowly, I pushed myself up.
Even now, my body still felt.
Light.
No matter how long I had been unconscious, there was no way my body should feel this refreshed.
Then, I remembered.
That place.
That strange being.
And the so-called “Softness Power.”
Is this because of that?
I looked down at my hand.
It was just an ordinary hand.
And yet, with this hand.
I had defeated the Demon King.
I had healed countless soldiers.
I had performed what some might even call a miracle.
Is this really my power?
A strength that grows the softer I become?
I thought back to that cryptic figure and their frustratingly vague explanations.
“…Something about this doesn’t sit right.”
Just then.
WHAM!
The tent flaps burst open.
And an all-too-familiar voice rang out.
“Miss Eve!!!”
Before I could react.
Sua launched herself at me, nearly tackling me back onto the bed.
“W-Whoa—?!”
Caught off guard by the sudden impact, I wobbled and collapsed back onto the bedding.
“Thank goodness…! Thank goodness…!! You’re finally, finally awake…!!”
Her voice trembled as she clung to me.
Like a lost child who had just found their way home.
I hesitated for a moment.
Then slowly reached up and patted her head.