VIP Chapter 233: “Am I the biggest obstacle in ‘fate’?”
Tsimat Town.
Will greeted the first rays of sunlight.
He carefully lifted the old blanket with a dusty scent from himself, trying not to make a sound as he got up from the sofa.
He glanced over stealthily, and Shuna, covered by the blanket, seemed to have her back to him, sleeping soundly.
“Great!”
He had noticed before that Shuna was being vague about his next destination, and he felt like she was determined to follow him.
Of course, she was strong. While taking her to the Royal Palace might incur Treya’s jealousy, if a crisis truly arose, he could certainly rely on her strength.
“Sigh…”
But all this was based on the premise that “Shuna is a character who doesn’t exist in the book.”
Now, there was no doubt about it…
She was “Shu,” and he himself… possibly because he had written her a letter and established a peculiar “friendship,” he was now 99% likely to be in the “bro zone.”
It wasn’t surprising that her affection was flowing towards him. The protagonist wasn’t on the right path at all; he hadn’t even met those three people!
Then…
Traveling with Shuna meant significantly increased risk.
The “bro” in the original work had died during a dungeon exploration with her.
He absolutely didn’t want that; the uncontrollable flags were piling up!
However, throughout this journey, including the years of correspondence with “Mr. S,” he had indeed come to see Shuna as a “special person.”
That was why he wanted to sneak away while Shuna was asleep.
Because he didn’t want to say no to Shuna again, after she had already left once and they had reunited.
That would be too cruel.
But what was more cruel to him was…
That Shuna was indeed the protagonist he had meticulously planned to defeat with his “blackened losing dog” Plan B—it wasn’t surprising that this was his second layer of fear.
He left a letter, still addressed to “Mr. S,” under her luggage yesterday while Shuna was bathing.
In that letter, he signed off anonymously as “W” and still addressed the recipient as anonymous “S.”
If he could just stop here, return to the very beginning, he felt he could very easily deceive himself!
Deceive himself into believing that the “protagonist” had disappeared, and from now on, the story’s focus would be him, and he would no longer be trapped by fate because of the protagonist.
After all, he was the one who had to truly face those who had their affection maxed out for him—just like facing Liya.
This way, he could deceive himself…
That the women who felt affection for him were all…
The heroines who, on the last page of the “Quest System” rewards, were written as not belonging to the story, not belonging to “fate,” and not belonging to Shu.
Only then could he find the motivation to reciprocate their feelings.
Will glanced back one last time at Shuna’s retreating figure.
“Goodbye, I’m going to complete my own story now,” he whispered softly.
“…You’re not the protagonist, I can pretend you don’t exist…”
However, as he turned around after saying that.
It felt as if some memories with a sense of déjà vu suddenly flooded his mind—
—Do you look forward to a heroine…
—She is a powerful and mysterious heroine.
—She is a heroine born for you!
…
Strange.
Will stopped.
For the first time in his vast memories, a mixture of two lifetimes, he felt a memory that he “remembered” but couldn’t recall where he had seen it.
And it was a very clear memory. Such a distinct memory shouldn’t be surfacing for the “first time.”
“Who did you say doesn’t exist?”
Then…
The moment Will turned around, he felt as if he had seen a “horror story.”
Shuna was leaning against the doorframe, her fingers holding the letter he had given her.
“Ah?!”
Will turned his head. Just then, the pillow, seemingly having lost its balance, slid off the sofa in disarray.
“I usually wake up quite early—you’ve been staying in the same room as me for so many days, when have you ever woken up earlier than me? You’re quite confident.”
Shuna’s words seemed to be true.
Every morning, he saw the sunrise.
And Shuna watching the sunrise.
He had no idea when Shuna woke up, so how could he have woken up earlier than her?!
Even if he took out the mechanical alarm clock hidden in his ring, it would be useless!
“As soon as I woke up, I saw you wrote me a ‘W’s letter,’ and I felt you had some ill intentions, so I waited here for you.”
She said it casually, but Will knew she had probably guessed.
The fact that he intended to leave without saying goodbye…
“…Never mind, pack your things, let’s set off first. The Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild will be here to open for business soon.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will walked down the street with Shuna, like a child caught doing something wrong.
The sunlight was behind them—the capital was located in the central-western part of the Entak Empire. If he were to go to the capital, he would have to walk west for a while, reach a road, and then catch a carriage.
But… Will wasn’t in the mood to think about how far he had to walk. He watched Shuna’s retreating figure, unsure of what she was planning to do.
Shuna had taken all his luggage onto her back. Her strength was truly considerable; she could easily carry the luggage of two people.
However, as he watched her retreating figure bathed in sunlight, wearing the same hoodie as him, she suddenly stopped.
“From here, we’ll be leaving the village.”
Tsimat Town was located halfway up a mountain. Outside the village entrance, a winding mountain road descended, extending to the distant river where the sun seemed to set.
It had only been a short while since sunrise, and he could see the light shimmering on the river.
“Shuna…?”
“If you’re going alone, be careful on this path. But now, you should be able to handle ordinary mountain bandits, right?”
“Yeah.”
Will felt something was amiss…
“Also, don’t underestimate Treya too much. Based on what we discussed before, I feel like you and she aren’t getting married, but rather like equals playing a strategic game on opposite sides of a chessboard—and if it’s a strategic game, you must be careful, you won’t always be the one in control of the situation.”
“Saying such profound things, don’t worry. Last time… it’s just that I didn’t anticipate this move and was caught off guard. This time, I’m already prepared and won’t have any trouble.”
“Mm…”
Shuna affirmed softly, then seemed to hesitate before finally asking—
“So, am I the biggest obstacle in the ‘fate’ you’ve been dreaming of?”
“…?!”
Since when did she know?
No, no, his behavior had been quite obvious.
Will lowered his head, wanting to avoid her gaze.
He didn’t want to say this out loud.
After all…
He was the only one who had ever treated the “protagonist” as an enemy. Shuna had accompanied him this far, protected him in dungeons, and even saved him from Liya.
He couldn’t possibly say something like, “In my dream, you are the protagonist I once tried so hard to torment.”
“You don’t need to explain. You’ve been avoiding certain things, and I saw it at a glance.”
Shuna, before him, lowered her hood, letting the wind tousle her long hair.
She faced the sunlight, and Will could clearly see the faint redness around her eyes.
Come to think of it…
When he left with her, they had also watched the sunrise on the train.
At this moment, Will seemed to grasp some of Shuna’s subtle emotions.
It wasn’t that she saw him, standing in the “bro zone,” as a “bro,” but rather as…
“Here, Captain of the Shining Star, go bring our team’s princess back—just don’t get yourself killed.”
She sighed, handed the luggage back to Will, and placed it heavily into his hands.
“If we meet again, I’ll tell you about my past stories. Be sure to live long enough to hear them.”
She patted Will’s shoulder and then walked past him.
“However, since you see me as someone like that, this time, if you get caught again, I won’t be saving you.”
Author’s Note: The word count for this chapter is 2333!
