The Status Window Opened on the First Day of School (6) Maximilian had been a Possession victim.
And apparently, there had been others.
Setting aside the fact that Ivan had never even heard such a thing before…
what had become of them?
The Hero had disappeared.
He had secluded himself somewhere deep in the mountains of Thyles, abandoning his wife and daughter.
No one could understand such a decision.
But Ivan felt like he could.
Did he…
go back…?
Ivan lowered his head, his face deathly pale.
Could you really return?
Was the condition killing the Demon King?
Then what about me…?
What was my condition…?
Smack!
His vision flashed white as his head snapped to the side.
The pain came a heartbeat later.
Feeling the sting spreading across his cheek, Ivan slowly turned his gaze.
Enrique was looking at him with sorrowful eyes.
“Get a hold of yourself.
I’m not finished talking.” “…Enrique.” “Good.
You recognize me.
That’s a relief.” Enrique sank deeply into the sofa and let out a weary sigh.
This kid hasn’t had enough sleep.
No…
He hadn’t had enough rest.
Now she finally understood why.
It wasn’t simply trauma from the war.
He was living in a state of contradiction.
He recognized this world as reality, while desperately wishing it wasn’t.
How could someone like that ever truly rest?
For all those long years…
Alone.
Chewing through the loneliness of every night, tormented by the absurdity of every day.
Possession victims.
Drifters who had been dragged here from another world.
Enrique pitied them.
And among them all…
She pitied this quiet, twisted madman the most.
Looking straight at her disciple, she began speaking once more.
“They all said they came carrying stories of their own.
Very few historical records remain, but that’s how it was in most cases.
For some it was a story.
For others, a legend or a myth.
Some came from novels.
Sometimes even plays.
There were even cases involving entirely different kinds of tales.” “…They were all…
different…?” “That’s right.
Every one of them had their own story.” There was no common thread explaining what kind of stories had drawn them here.
The only thing they all shared…was the certainty that they had fallen into a story they had once admired.
No one knew what had triggered it.
Or how it happened.
“…What happened to them…?
To the Possession victims…?” That was the question weighing most heavily on Ivan’s heart.
What ending awaits me?
“Some disappeared again.
Some died.
Others stayed.” “And the Hero…?
Maximilian?” “As you know, he retired into seclusion.
Whether he went back or had another reason…
who knows?
It’s not like anyone can just go ask him.
No one even knows how to find him.” Ivan lowered his head, dizziness washing over him.
Everyone had a different story.
Everyone reached a different ending.
Then what will mine be?
Would he remain trapped in this world forever?
Was there no way home?
Surely death wasn’t the only possible ending…
He wanted to believe that.
Bang!
Enrique slammed her hand against the desk.
When Ivan looked up, she was watching him with mournful eyes.
“So…
what are we to you?” “…What?” “Are we nothing more than supporting characters from a novel in your world?
Just ‘characters’ consumed as lines of text, like you said?” “That’s…” “No.
That can’t be right.
Isn’t it obvious?” If ten thousand stories were woven together into one world…
If there were ten thousand protagonists…
Then should each protagonist view everyone else as supporting characters?
No.
Of course not.
They were simply the protagonists of their own stories.
Which meant…
“Then is your world fundamentally different from this one?
Is that place reality while this place is merely a fragment of fiction?
No.
I’m alive.
I breathe.
I hate sunlight.
I hate blessings.
I drink blood.
I enjoy tea.
I live…
just like you do.” “Enrique…” “You’re worried you might only be someone’s supporting character?
Don’t be ridiculous!
You’re the protagonist of your own life, and I’m the entirety of mine!” Her eyes burned fiercely enough to swallow him whole.
Ivan silently stared at her face.
“You don’t want to be a supporting character?
Then what have you been thinking of us?
What have you thought of me?
Ivan.
Little Ivan.
Did you look at the late king you respected so much and think he was nothing more than a supporting character in someone else’s story?
When you said, ‘Do not mourn those who departed before us,’ were you secretly laughing at us inside?” “No.
I would never…” “Then live.
Live your story, and finish your story.
Whatever ending awaits it isn’t something decided by fate or by the world.
That’s something you have to decide.” Every story had its own ending.
And the road leading there…was not necessarily predetermined by destiny.
Even if the journey of the Hero’s Party had become legend…
The people who made up that legend weren’t mythical heroes.
They were simply living, breathing individuals.
Enrique grasped Ivan’s hand tightly and looked him straight in the eye.
“Do you want to go home?” “…Yes.” “Then don’t sit around waiting for fate to end your story.
My disciple…
turn the pages of your own book.
With your own hands.
All the way to the end.” “And at the end…
will there be something I can choose?” “The choice to keep turning those pages has always belonged to you.
Just like everyone else.
Every person in this world…
and yours.” The Hero, Maximilian, always smiled.
Always.
Smiling, he took one more step forward.
Remembering those days when hope had been desperately scarce, Enrique quietly reflected.
He had longed for home.
For the lover and parents waiting for him there.
Whenever he spoke about the comfortable life he had left behind, or the wondrous civilization of his world…
Enrique pitied him.
A poor castaway.
A wanderer between dimensions.
An outsider.
And yet…
The Hero smiled.
He said that ordinary meant the same thing, whether in his world or this one.
So he wasn’t a castaway.
Nor an outsider.
He was simply…an ordinary man.
Bearing countless burdens upon his shoulders, he took another step forward.
Another step toward the “ordinary” future he believed in.
Step by step…
Toward the darkest hell on a continent where hope had vanished.
Becoming a lighthouse for those who lacked the courage to walk ahead.
One step at a time.
His courage lay within the ordinary life he believed in.
That was why he became the Hero.
Not because of blessings, talent, or destiny.
But because he continued pursuing the ordinary life he believed in.
Without end.
Whenever others called him extraordinary…
He would simply smile and reply, “I’m only doing what any of you could do.” “If only I’d met you a little sooner…
If only I’d taken your story more seriously…
it wouldn’t have come to this…
I’m sorry, my disciple.” “Enrique…” “I’ll stand watch.
Get some sleep.” “…Stand watch?” “I can tell just by looking at you.
You haven’t been able to sleep soundly anywhere because you never felt safe.
At least four years.
Maybe even longer.
Maybe your entire life.” There wasn’t a single bedroom in this room.
He had probably spent every night dozing at that desk…
Or on that sofa.
What if the protagonist of this world suddenly erased a supporting character?
What if the story ended while I could do nothing?
Such petty fears had tormented him endlessly.
He had treated others like supporting characters…
Yet stubbornly refused to accept becoming one himself.
Even while believing he could never be the protagonist.
“If necessary…
I’ll stand watch for you every single night.” Ivan didn’t refuse.
He was simply…
Too exhausted.
Kim Seonwoo quietly closed his eyes.
He had been wrong.
This world wasn’t a strategy simulation.
Nor was it a classic RPG.
It may have been someone else’s story.
But it wasn’t his.
He wasn’t just another nameless soldier in a strategy game.
Nor was he merely a scout from the Hero’s Party.
The story of Ivan Petrovich…
The story of Kim Seonwoo…
Hadn’t even opened its first page yet.
Thirty years had passed since the prologue.
Now…
The prologue was finally over.
The name of this story wasn’t a genre.
It was…
Life….Though maybe it really is an academy story.
Reflecting on his situation, Ivan chuckled quietly.
That sentence no longer made him angry.
He was too tired.
Too exhausted.
The hand patting his shoulder felt warm.
He finally…..felt safe.
*** He was sixteen.
It had been two years since he’d first stepped onto the battlefield.
Kim Seonwoo grit his teeth as he rolled across the ground.
His issued sword had broken.
He had run out of bullets.
And the Demon Race had finally broken through the defensive line.
When his sword broke, he scrambled across the battlefield to grab a spear.
When the spear shaft shattered, he smashed enemies with a shield.
He seized an axe.
Swung a greatsword.
And kept fighting.
Even he had never imagined he could fight like this.
He was far more adept at using his body than he’d ever expected.
And strangely…
He hardly seemed to tire.
Though perhaps that was only because the adrenaline flooding his body drowned out the exhaustion.
Considering his physical abilities, he should have collapsed from fatigue long ago.
Yet Ivan kept rolling across the battlefield.
Picking up swords.
Grabbing spears.
Swinging axes.
Driving enemies back with shields.
How much time had passed?
His body still moved.
His vision remained sharp.
The only sounds he heard were his own ragged breathing…
And the pounding of his heart, which felt ready to burst.
His nose had long forgotten every scent except blood.
He simply…
Blocked.
Pushed back.
Swung.
Survived.
Then…
Silence came.
Only then did Kim Seonwoo notice the enormous shadow looming over him.
“You fought well.” A deep voice echoed above him.
Looking up, he saw a military banner.
The banner of House Krasilof.
Our side…
His shoulders relaxed.
Judging by the horse, the man was someone important.
And with the banner above him…
He had to be the commander.
“What is your name?” “Ivan Petrovich, sir.” “Your age?” “Sixteen.” “Your rank?” “Conscript.” The man stood with the sun behind him, his face hidden in shadow.
The sunlight formed a halo around him, almost blinding to look at.
“Turn around.” Obeying the command, Ivan turned.
He assumed he was being ordered back toward the main force.
Instead…
He saw corpses stretching as far as the eye could see.
Bodies of humans and members of the Demon Race alike.
Countless dead.
As Kim Seonwoo frowned— “Raise your eyes.” “Look at those who are still standing.” Only then did he notice them.
Not corpses.
People.
The survivors.
Wounded soldiers.
Men barely standing while leaning on broken spears.
Trembling…
Yet somehow still alive.
“This battlefield was originally destined to be lost.
We had to commit our strength elsewhere.” “…Your Highness!!” The attendant behind the commander cried out in alarm.
Ignoring him completely, the large man continued.
“And yet they survived.
Ivan Petrovich…
look at the people you saved.
Hold your head high.
You saved them.
You saved the villages behind them.
You saved their families…
and the people waiting for them.” The commander dismounted and gently ruffled Ivan’s hair.
His hand was enormous.
“So stand proud…
Little Ivan.” “…I’m not little.” He was taller than the average person of his era.
Even the commissar had mistaken him for an adult.
“When I was your age, the name I earned through battle was Ivan the Great.
Surely you don’t expect to share the exact same name as me?” “Your Highness!!” The attendant shouted once more.
The broad-shouldered man merely patted Ivan’s back before climbing back onto his horse.
“Treat him.
Train him.” “Will you take him under your wing?” “I’d sooner keep a lion in a zoo.
Just make room for him.
If he climbs high enough to stand on his own…
then perhaps we’ll meet again.” Ivan met that man again…
Five years later.
By then…
He had joined the Royal Guard.
From that day onward, he was known as Little Ivan.
It was…
A title of immense honor.
*** That night…
Ivan had no nightmares.
The late king he had seen again was every bit as magnificent as he remembered.
And for the first time in a long while…
Ivan slept deeply.
*** [“???-Rank Quest” — St.
Jansk University’s Gardener — CANCELLED] [Miraculous luck has stopped your dice.
You survived.] [Objective: Eliminate St.
Jansk University’s Gardener, Ivan Petrovich — CANCELLED] [Optional Objective: Recruit Ivan Petrovich — CANCELLED] [Optional Objective: Conceal the information — CANCELLED] [Additional Objective: Survive — CANCELLED] [Failure Penalty: Death — CANCELLED] “What the hell is this…?
Seriously, what the hell is going on?!
Explain it already!!” Yevgeny—Yujin—stared at the glowing blue display and screamed.
Naturally…
The damned Status Window offered no answer whatsoever.