Chapter 2
“…What’s going on?”
As they followed Suhyuk’s outstretched finger.
“Why is she still there?”
There stood Diel Yekaterina.
“What on earth is she saying?”
Characters within dimensions couldn’t possibly see the headquarters beyond.
“What did the video team mess up this time?”
But why?
Diel Yekaterina’s gaze was clearly directed towards them.
“Wait a moment, senior. That thing Diel’s holding….”
At that moment, Suhyuk pointed at something in the video.
“It’s the relic from <I’m the Protagonist!>, right? How does Diel have it?”
Simultaneously, Ju-ah noticed it too.
The mirror emitting a mysterious light in Diel’s hand.
It was none other than the relic from the neighboring novel, <I’m the Protagonist!>.
But Diel was a character from <Everyone’s Afraid of Me>.
How did she obtain a relic from another dimension? Could it be that dimensions are getting mixed up?
Even Juah, the most senior among them, was witnessing this situation for the first time.
“If it’s this kind of error, will the gate open? Check it and open it quickly.”
At that, Suhyuk moved urgently.
The button to open the gate was rapidly flashing red.
With trembling hands, Suhyuk pressed the button.
“Senior! Be careful!”
The air seemed to ripple and warp for a moment. Then, a large circle unfolded.
“You have to come out within 5 minutes!”
Suhyuk shouted towards Ju-ah, who was leaping into it.
Now, the worlds of these two were completely changed.
“Diel Yekaterina, what are you doing right now?”
With a sudden shift in the air, Ju-ah approached Diel.
“Where did you get that? It’s dangerous, so hand it over.”
Medieval-style rooms and props indicating a change in dimension.
In the midst of it all, Baek Ju-ah, dressed in modern headquarters uniform, seemed out of place.
“Yeah, it’s you.”
It seemed as though a ghost had suddenly sprung from the void before Diel.
“Is this where the novel unfolds?”
However, Diel laughed without hesitation.
“I was created for the protagonists of this novel.”
“…!”
Diel knew everything.
That this world was a novel, that his life moved according to predetermined settings and storylines.
“No matter how hard I tried, nothing changed. It was my fate…”
Diel’s murmurs carried a peculiar expression. It seemed both melancholic and relieved.
“Baek Ju-ah.”
The name echoed clearly.
“No, Agent Baek Ju-ah.”
And then…
“You should experience the same.”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
“Diel Yekaterina!”
What he clenched in his hand was an absolute relic.
Thump, thump!
“No!”
When Ju-ah tried to stop him, it was too late.
Through the shards of the burst mirror, a dazzling radiance erupted.
The ground shook violently.
“What’s happening…”
At the same time.
With a crackle, Diel’s body turned into particles of light and shattered.
From his blood-red hair to his pallid skin, everything.
“Ugh!”
Ju-ah, who had been watching the scene dumbfounded, staggered.
“Senior! Senior Ju-ah!”
Thump! Thump!
The surroundings began to shake wildly.
“Senpai! The dimension is collapsing. Hurry, come out!”
What? Ju-ah, who suddenly came to his senses, turned his head.
‘Insane.’
The circular opening that sliced through the air was shrinking.
The figure of Suhyuk beyond it was becoming fainter.
“I have to bring him back! Suhyuk!”
The gate connecting headquarters and the dimension was closing.
“Suhyuk!”
Ju-ah reached out his hand and ran with all his might.
‘Please, no!’
But.
“Ugh!”
Clang! The gapless void forcefully bounced Jun-ah away as it sealed shut.
