TL/Editor: Butter Cat

    Status: 4/week mon-thurs

    Illustrations: none

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    And so, the two of us, the girls named Han Sia and Aris Akaia.

    Cried and wailed bitterly while holding each other in the empty greenhouse.

    Falling asleep holding each other''s bodies on the flower bed, overcome by the fatigue that washed over us.

    Ending with an incomplete story, riddled with holes, where we didn''t fully understand each other''s hearts.

    Quietly, but warmly. We promised to face the unknown future with courage.

    In front of everyone who had come to greet us, worried about our late return.

    With an expression warmer than anything else, neither crying nor smiling.

    "Sis Sia is an idiot."

    "...Haha."

    "...An idiot who doesn''t know the hearts of others."

    We were hoping.

    Nothing had been resolved.

    The truth hadn''t yet been revealed, and the darkness created by the endlessly repeating cycle of reincarnation still lurked deep beneath the surface.

    But because one small candle, its faint light that could easily be extinguished by the wind, shone brightly in the darkness. Sear?h the N??elFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    In that place where only zero had existed, one could finally be established.

    One, called life.

    **

    Episode 4. Reunion(Meeting?).

    The End.

    "This ending is so irresponsible, it can''t be called either happy or sad, huh."

    Nothing, not a single thing has been properly resolved.

    But because it''s so irresponsible, because no one knows.

    That''s why this ending could finally be called——hope.

    Like a magical box.

    Where you don''t know what''s inside.

    So you can imagine that anything could be in it.

    ** (Author’s Thoughts. Btw, read the one in " " separately from the non dialogue ones, I think the dialogue one is Aris talking? And the non dialogue one is the author talking. This feels like both the author’s thoughts and Aris’s thought, but they don’t interact. IDK Man)

    "This bittersweet story, ends here."

    Hello, this is the author ????

    "Did you enjoy the story of a girl who didn''t value her life, and four girls who once lost their value but regained it?"

    I''m very happy to be concluding the novel like this.

    "What happened to the child after this?"

    About eighty chapters. Four parts of a novel.

    It was a long, long time for me, but it might have been a short time for you, the readers.

    "What did the people left behind do after this?"

    Not a single day since I uploaded the first chapter have I put down this novel. Even on days when I didn''t write, I spent every moment thinking about the next chapter.

    Although I let go of it at times, and it was a novel with many shortcomings, but I want to thank everyone who has been with me so far.

    "I, too, don''t know."

    From Aris, to Sia and Elli, Remi and Anna.

    Everyone who appeared in this writing was all my persona, myself.

    "It could be that everyone becomes broken like in the very first ending, or that everyone is happy for a while like in the second ending, or they might experience both like in the last one."

    They were born solely for me, and I too was born solely for them. When they acted, I wrote it down, and when I wrote it down, they acted.

    It was exactly as the author of Don Quixote said.

    I loved them.

    "Because they could do anything."

    The plot of this novel started from a single, small hypothetical question, just like I wrote in the first chapter: what would happen if everyone was reborn with memories of their past lives?

    The value of life, diminished to its extreme.

    I wanted to portray a person who, like someone risking a broken arm to save another''s life, would sacrifice their own life to prevent someone else''s arm from being broken.

    Well, it might be because I''ve lived that way.

    "Because they can do anything, both what they want and what they don''t want. Whatever they choose, it''s their freedom."

    To speak honestly, I never thought this story would gain so much attention. I wanted to write what I wanted to write, to put my life into it, so I thought no one would be interested in this strange and jumbled story.

    "It might sound irresponsible, but why does that seem more beautiful and feel like true happiness than an ending that simply says ''and they lived happily ever after''?"

    But as I saw the readers'' interest, support, encouragement, and advice pour in one by one, then two by two, I could feel my perspective changing.

    The idea that if you sincerely write the novel you want to read yourself, it will work out.

    "Perhaps it''s because that is, more than anything, real life."

    The unknown.

    Though it''s terrifying more than anything else, it''s also a good thing.

    "Now."

    Now.

    "Here, the story of those five comes to an end."

    The novel ends here.

    "Aris, Elli, Sia, Remi, and Anna will all go on to live their own paths."

    Although there might be epilogues or side stories in the future, the story of the girl named ''Aris'' ends here.

    Well then.

    "To all the readers who have disappeared while reading my novel."

    To all the readers who have been reading my novel for a long time.

    "Thank you very much."

    Thank you all.

    **

    **

    Tap, tap.

    Over the deserted city, a dark bluish twilight was settling in.

    The time when scavengers prowling the streets like hyenas rummaging through garbage cans, vagrants glaring from dark alleys hunting for victims, all return to their dens and firmly lock their doors as if they had all agreed to.

    The twilight hour, when the world was consumed by darkness and humanity disappeared, had begun.

    Wanderers with nowhere to call home, like moths drawn to a flame, would gather under the streetlights emitting their faint glow, huddling together and praying with their eyes closed for this night to pass.

    In the old town where rules and order ceased to exist.

    The day there, too, was nearing its end.

    But unfortunately.

    Very much, unfortunately.

    —Tap, tap!

    "——Ha, ah."

    My day had only just begun.

    With each step, each footfall, the pain renewed itself.

    It would be nice if I could get used to it.

    This agony, like being repeatedly pierced by a burning hot skewer, like someone''s hand tearing into my stomach and rummaging through my insides, was the kind of pain that I could never get used to, no matter how much I wanted to.

    Anyone who says they''re used to this pain must be either physically (sensory) deranged or mentally deranged, one of the two for sure.

    In the end, unable to endure the persistent wooing of pain any longer, my lips, which had been tightly shut to avoid making noise, parted, and a groan escaped from within.

    A small cry of "Haa".

    A sound that would have been lost and vanished, buried under the sound of the wind, if one hadn''t listened carefully.

    But what was unfortunate for me was that for those who called the silent streets their home, it was the greatest guide.

    —Tap, tap!!

    "───She''s close by!!"

    "......?,?."

    Fucking, crazy bastards.

    It was just a small groan that had escaped.

    Hearing the approaching footsteps like a horde of zombies from all directions, I chewed on curses in my mind, unable to spit them out of my mouth.

    What came to mind at this moment is the face of that damned bastard.

    ''...You....you, bas…tard!?''

    ''Haha. This really works like a charm? Well, I guess even noona is human. Even if it’s noona, what can you do if you get stabbed with a knife—you die, of course.''

    With a squelch.

    The bastard who had been calling me ''noona, noona'' and swearing loyalty to me just moments before, suddenly grinned and stabbed me in the stomach with a knife, I was so taken aback by the sudden change.

    Even at the moment when the knife entered my stomach, I didn''t feel any pain, probably because I was so dumbfounded.

    No.

    What I felt might have been betrayal.

    Don’t know whether I should call it lucky or unlucky that this kind of thing even happened in the first place.

    Since luckily, thanks to the help of a few nearby subordinates, I was able to escape that place, but apparently that crazy bastard was more prepared than I had thought.

    God-damn, how long had he been planning this.

    A year ago? Two years ago? Or maybe from the moment we first met?

    As time passed, the number of people chasing me was only increasing, not decreasing.

    Fuck.

    "....?....?."

    According to rumors I heard, there had been many suspicious things said about him, but I hadn''t been distrustful of him because he had been working well as a capo by my father''s side for the past ten years

    And then, to pull something like this right after my father passed away.

    I should have seen it coming when I thought his smiling face started to piss me off—

    —Tap!

    ".....!?"

    Ah.

    —Thud!

    "....?, ku?…!?"

    I accidentally tripped on a rock and stumbled, and unable to maintain my balance, I fell straight to the ground.

    At the edge of the unmaintained park, overgrown with tall weeds that reached an adult''s waist.

    Fortunately, the ground was made of a rubber-like material that absorbed the impact, so there wasn''t much damage, but even that small shock felt like a huge impact to my body.

    And of course, the pain was also fully transmitted to the wound in my stomach, where I had forcibly stopped the bleeding by stuffing my hand in.

    —Wriggle, wriggle.

    "....?....??!!"

    Like an earthworm twisting its long body after being stepped on, all I could do was writhe on the ground, showing my pain.

    Fuck.

    Motherfucking.

    When I get back, I''ll kill them all.

    When I get back…. everyone…!

    "......?!...?!"

    —Crunch.

    I bit my tongue hard to drown out the pain with more pain, desperately trying not to make a sound.

    And I, worried that they might hear the sound of me falling and track me down, crawled into the thickly grown flower bed

    This pitch-black darkness would hide me, at least for a while.

    Unsurprisingly, there wasn''t anything convenient like a cell phone for me to call for help.

    That bastard, probably having thought it through, had asked me to hand over my cell phones at the entrance.

    I had doubts, but since he didn''t take away weapons or anything, I had assumed it was just for security reasons and let it slide. That was the fatal mistake.

    Well, even if I had a cell phone, I''m not sure if I could operate a phone or send a text in this situation anyway.

    "........."

    My hands were covered in blood, trembling uncontrollably.

    And from my mouth, only faint groans escaped.

    Let alone holding a phone, even gripping one would be difficult.

    I looked down at my stomach.

    The once-white dress shirt was already torn in several places, and right in the center, it was stained with flowing blood and dirt from rolling on the ground.

    Even though no vital organs had been hit, with a wound like this, I would no doubt collapse soon.

    And those back-alley hospitals that could save my life would undoubtedly be surrounded by that bastard''s men.

    Well, at least he''s smart.

    Damn smart, that one.

    "........"

    I mentally accepted my death.

    I accepted the end that would come, indifferently.

    Even though I knew that I was pretty much admitting defeat, I couldn''t do anything about it.

    Although I wasn''t born with a genius-level brain, I wasn''t born with a dull brain either.

    I realized that there was no way to overcome this situation, no matter how I thought about it.

    And I had accepted the fact that no matter how much I burned with rage, no matter how much I let hatred fuel my movements, there was no way to solve this hopeless problem.

    "...The stars are bright, fuck."

    So, instead of regretting, I lifted my head and looked up at the sky.

    Here, where the faint glow of dusk had completely vanished, with no light source to interfere, I admired the stars dotting the sky.

    Inwardly vowing to wait for that son of a bitch in hell first.

    Promising to secure the hottest spot with the best view and wait for him.

    Matching each constellation to that bastard''s features, chuckling, feeling a sense of satisfaction, if only in my imagination.

    "....Haa."

    Like that.

    I slowly waited for death to come upon me.

    And to me in that state.

    "—Unni, what are you doing there?"

    "—?!"

    A somewhat young.

    A girl''s voice that shouldn''t be heard in this place reached my ears.

    That was my first encounter between me and that child.

    ["Hey…! Ugh!! How is this, in any way… a hospital..!? Ah, fuck it hurts like hell!! At least, not going to a hospital was… a good decision, but…!!"]

    [".....Hmm? Isn''t this a hospital too?"]

    ["This is an ''animal hospital''...! Ugh, fuck…! Was there even a place like this…?"]

    The one who, though nameless for now, said she wanted to be called ''Aris''.

    ["...Aris. What did you bring back today?"]

    ["Heehee, Mihyang unni~ I brought a sick animal!"]

    ["The day before yesterday it was a leopard cat, yesterday a wild boar, and today… a person. I keep wondering what you''ll bring tomorrow… Haa, anyway, just bring that person inside."]

    ["Okay~"]

    ["...You''re not even asking for my opin——ugh!?"]

    My encounter with a somewhat unique, or to put it badly, a girl who seemed a bit mentally off.

    ["Unni~!" "Aris unni~!" "Noona, are you hurt anywhere!?" "I brought a weird unni~!" "And next to her is… who is that…"]

    ["──This place is my treasure."]

    [".....You."]

    ["It''s my very own ''orphanage'', for abandoned and discarded children!"]

    That was the beginning.

    **

    * * *