ISTV 20

To be honest, I was completely frozen.

I’m terrified of cockroaches—so seeing a monster almost as big as me paralyzed me completely. I couldn’t do anything.

Once again, I had to thank my “grace and dignity.”

If it weren’t for that, I would’ve collapsed and burst into tears right then and there.

Garen chuckled.

“This is fun.”

Dark energy flickered around Garen’s fist. He seemed thrilled at the prospect of fighting the monster.

A horrifying thought struck me, and I shouted,

“Stop!”

But it was already too late.

As Garen began swinging his fist violently, the entire blue rose garden turned into a disaster zone.

Ah… it’s over.

When a blue rose stem breaks, the blue liquid inside leaks out and turns into a monster.

Until just a moment ago, there had only been one.

But now, blue liquid was pouring out from numerous broken stems.

There must be dozens now.

This was it. The smell of “imminent death” creeping in again.

This time, it was stronger than ever.

Even with Garen here, there was no way he could protect me from this many monsters.

I wanted to scream for help, but thanks to that cursed “Right to Die Beautifully,” I couldn’t even shout.

Wait a second.

A sudden thought came to mind.

This doesn’t make sense.

How could monsters be born in the Dvernon family’s garden, protected by layers of magical barriers?

It was completely illogical.

And yet, there was one insane person who had once suggested this absurd idea.

Dad’s son?

Dad’s son used to throw out the most ridiculous ideas to me.

“Hmm? So in this scene, how about when you break a blue rose, blood comes out and it turns into a monster? It’d be a cool ambush, and it could lead to Selah’s death, which you love so much.”

It was so ridiculous I let it go in one ear and out the other.

I wasn’t the one doing the actual programming, so I just scolded him to at least try to consider narrative consistency.

Did he actually sneak this in? Behind my back?

This definitely wasn’t something I or our writing team had created.

Lee Juhwan had always ignored my input and just babbled on.

“I think it’d be cool if a dwarf with a sword appeared. Oh! Since it was born from a rose, let’s have a rose bloom from its head. I’m gonna go design the monster.”

It had always felt off.

I was one of the biggest fans of Her and Her Story, and had cleared countless routes—but not once had I seen a dwarf monster sprout from a blue rose.

And yet now, out of nowhere?

As if someone was trying to kill me?

This is insane.

Before I knew it, the monsters had formed a legion and were closing in on us.

There was no escape route today.

Never before had the stench of death felt so strong.

Without realizing it, I shouted.

—Lee Juhwan, you lunatic!!!

“Lee Juhwan, I told you to care about narrative consistency!”

Since Lee Sohyun had gone missing, Lee Juhwan hadn’t shown up at the company.

He spent day and night trying to find her.

But as if mocking his efforts, no clues about her disappearance surfaced.

Even experts were saying it was like she either flew into the sky or was swallowed by the earth.

“Where the hell are you?”

He still believed that one day, his sister would return—and to fulfill what she had wanted so badly, he sat down in front of his computer.

“Selah’s acting up again.”

She was fixing her actions too rigidly in this world that had been meant to provide almost infinite freedom.

Selah’s choices were becoming “canonized,” solidifying the narrative.

“This isn’t the Her and Her Story Sohyun wanted.”

So, he decided to give Selah another threat of death.

You cussed me out so much when I suggested this before.

He didn’t mind being yelled at now.

He wished she’d show up and scold him—tell him this ridiculous setup was ruining the whole quality of the game, slap his back, and call him out.

“Where’s the blue flower dwarf monster code again…”

He sat in front of the computer, inserting the code in real time, creating a deadly crisis for Selah.

“She’s gonna die again here.”

From a developer’s standpoint, there was no way for Selah to survive this.

In a few seconds, she’d be dead.

But just then, a voice rang out.

“Lee Juhwan, I told you to care about narrative consistency.”

Lee Juhwan’s eyes widened.

Chills spread over his entire body.

Did I just imagine that?

Even if he did—it didn’t matter.

The voice sounded different, but the tone was unmistakably Sohyun’s.

“What… what was that?”

It made no sense.

How could Selah Dvernon utter the name “Lee Juhwan”?

In the world of Her and Her Story, it was a name too foreign to even pronounce.

No way.

Could it be? That Selah Dvernon was Sohyun? Or that there was something of Sohyun in her?

“Cancel! Cancel! Cancel!”

Panicking, he banged the keyboard to delete the monsters.

To be honest, I felt death looming.

Wow… I’m really going to die here, huh.

There was absolutely no escape.

Still, I couldn’t just die helplessly, so I broke off a tree branch nearby.

Should’ve brought a sword instead.

I could’ve bought myself more time.

Maybe even increased my chances of survival.

But there were limits to what I could do with a tree branch.

Soon enough, the monsters had surrounded me and were creeping closer.

Maybe I looked like tasty meat to them—some were smacking their lips, drooling.

Despite everything, I maintained my dignified posture and sat down neatly.

What the hell am I doing?!

Apparently, this cursed body had decided that dying with grace like a noble was better than struggling.

Against my will, my mouth opened.

“I have the right to die beautifully.”

Wait, hold on.

I have zero desire to die, okay?

“To think that death was this close all along…”

I raised the sharp end of the tree branch. Apparently, this body intended to stab my own throat.

Wait, this is definitely that scene—Selah’s death scene.

No, this isn’t right!

I was losing my mind.

I didn’t want to die, and yet I was choosing death myself. The whole situation was grotesque and terrifying.

I don’t want to die!!!

And in that moment, I could feel—just a little—what Selah must have felt.

So this is how she always felt.

Maybe because it was my final moment, time seemed to slow down.

As a developer, I had tried to kill Selah.

But Selah had wanted to live.

She’s had to face countless deaths, against her will.

No matter how hard she tried, she’d die again and again.

Ah…

All the strength left my body.

This time, I couldn’t escape the “constant threat of death.”

An indescribable despair and helplessness filled me.

No. I can’t die like this.

I desperately searched for a way out.

Right! It’s disgraceful not to control one’s own body. I need to regain control.

The moment I thought that, my body stopped—as if by magic.

Luckily, the suicide attempt halted—but that wasn’t the end.

The monsters were now right in front of me.

Some licked their lips, some sniffed my scent.

Others raised their swords.

How can I survive this?

I closed my eyes.

From the outside, I must’ve looked like I was calmly accepting death. I couldn’t even scream because of that stupid “right to die beautifully.”

Time passed.

Huh?

There was no pain.

Was I in shock, too numb to feel it?

I cautiously opened my eyes.

Huh?

The monsters were turning into blue dust and scattering in the wind.

Like a sandcastle washed away by the tide.

They’re all gone? What on earth…

I couldn’t understand any of it.

Lee Juhwan wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Huff… huff… finally made it.”

It was a bit of a stretch, but he managed to delete the code and save Selah.

After confirming that she opened her eyes, he collapsed onto the floor.

“Thought my heart was gonna stop.”

Only after a while did he calm down and begin piecing together what happened.

“Selah, just what are you?”

If he was being honest—he wanted to believe Selah was Lee Sohyun.

That Sohyun had become Selah, and was somehow trying to save her and make it to “a world filled with all things beautiful.”

“But that doesn’t make sense.”

Then again, Sohyun disappearing from the middle of Seoul didn’t make sense either.

So cleanly, without a trace.

“Is it possible for Selah to say ‘Lee Juhwan’?”

The thing about the blue flower dwarf was something only Sohyun knew.

He might have acted all easygoing around her, but he was the CEO of J&S Games—and not by playing around.

He didn’t suggest ridiculous ideas like the blue flower dwarf because he actually believed in them—it was just fun to watch Sohyun freak out.

“The only person in the world who would mention me the moment she saw that monster… is Sohyun.”

It didn’t make sense—but he chose to believe it anyway.

It was the only straw he had to cling to.

“She entered the game? How?”

And so, he began to think.