Time passed.

The game was over.

I had finished reading an entire book.

I had watched a movie to the end.

And sometimes, I would think about it—

What happens to the people inside after the story ends?

I had seen a sad movie once.

The protagonist died a heroic death, and the extras were left behind, waiting endlessly.

It left me so overwhelmed that I sat in silence for a long time, lost in the lingering emotions.

I wondered how they kept on living after that.

Now that I was in their position, I think I understood a little.

"Welcome..."

"That’s right. Just greet them like that."

Lena had recommended the job, so I got a part-time position at a café.

"...I should smile brightly, right?"

"Yeah."@@novelbin@@

I had to survive.

I wasn’t dead, so I had to live.

I didn’t use the drugs meant for suicide.

The ones I used before—I could still get them, through various means.

They were dangerous, yet more widely available than I had expected.

But I tried to use them less, and by making an effort, I actually could.

Maybe the right way wasn’t to quit all at once but to cut back little by little.

It had been half a year since Shihu disappeared.

The world was more peaceful than I had expected.

To say that Awakened no longer fought would be a lie, but there were no longer the large-scale battles of the past.

Honestly, I wanted to die every day.

If I went to a doctor, I’d probably be diagnosed with severe depression.

One day, as I curled up in my room, a thought came to me—I had to pay off my debt.

I had to be ready to return the money I owed Shihu.

That thought stuck with me.

So I went outside again.

The moment I stepped out, I was hit with the realization of how utterly useless I was.

But at the same time, in a world where the Awakened had lost their powers, others had become just as powerless.

Maybe this world was one I could actually live in.

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