It is a bit sudden, but when people are asked what kind of ending they prefer, the majority would say a happy ending. I was among that majority, of course. But when it comes to happy endings that were haphazardly thrown onto stories by stubborn authors, I couldn't help but hate them.
After all, a well-written bad ending was infinitely more compelling than a nonsensical good ending.
It was a fleeting thought. I nodded to myself.
''Mhm...''
''Yukina.''
''...''
''Yu-ki-na!''
Hearing the voice dangerously close to me, I snapped out. It took me a second to realize where I was—the university's cafeteria. The spacious, rowdy, and somewhat cozy interior slowly registered in my mind.
Right. This was my first day at university.
Amidst the flocks of enthusiastic freshmen and the depressing lines of weary senior students, a girl stood in my way, pouting. I recognized her face. She was my high school classmate, though we weren't that close. Her name was... hm... I forgot.
Nonetheless, from the looks of it, she seemed relieved to see me. Indeed, university could be overwhelming at first.
That wasn't the case for me, but I was clearly different from my peers. I was a so-called bookworm. I read a lot. All day, even. Most of the time, if I weren't reading on my phone, I would be listening to an audiobook.
Cooking? Audiobook. Doing chores? Audiobook. Jogging? Audiobook.
Technology was a wonderful thing.
The point is, I wasn't just a bookworm, but a super bookworm. Naturally, I paid less attention to other things in life. Still, I considered myself to be quite a proper individual, with fairly good grades and a promising career ahead.
I also considered myself lucky. My reading comprehension, reading speed, and general memory were better than average.
''Y-Yukina...? Can you hear me? Was that not your name...?''
Oops. I zoned out again.
The girl probably wanted to get closer to me. Having friends in an unfamiliar environment alleviated lots of issues, after all. Not bad.
After casually conversing with her, I swiftly finished what I had to do at school and returned home at once. I boarded the train, mindful of the new route I had to follow, but my attention was somewhere else the entire time.
In short, I was the kind of worm that liked to chew on junk food. Instead of classical literature or 'serious' books, I preferred the clumsy, messy web novels from unknown amateurs. I admit my tastes were bad, yet that was what I was born with.
No helping.
In any case, most of what I read was objectively crappy. The majority of them, I couldn't even see the conclusion since the authors cancelled their books halfway through. Still, the enjoyment was real.
And on this day, the final volume of a story I had been following for the longest time, 'A Lone Girl's Requiem', was set to be published. The title was generic enough, but its content was surprisingly well-written. Sometimes I wondered why it had so few views.
The book was essentially a naive girl's survival tales in a fantasy world following her nominal guardian's sudden death. Written in a rather solemn tone, not too wordy, I found it approachable.
It was far from being the best in my mind, but the mere fact that it actually had an ending excited me. So, I spent the evening carefully chewing on the words; snacks and drinks prepared...
''...Are you kidding me?'' I couldn't help but mutter in disbelief. ''Did the account get hacked?''
This was the series's highlight—the climax. I had expected countless ways it could end, but certainly not this. Not... this crappy. The protagonist, instead of defeating the ultimate evil with her cultivated strength and the power of friendship, was suddenly rescued by a never-before-seen savior who appeared out of nowhere.
Throwing out all the character developments she had until this moment; throwing out the entire cast with colorful powers and clear roles. It went from 'about to be compelling' to 'what in the deus ex machina is this?!' in one volume.
I sat in a daze for a long time, my food untouched.
It was... impressive. I mean, the screw-up was impressive. How could one blunder this badly?
After the initial disbelief came awe, and then anger. Naturally, I felt as though my time was thoroughly wasted. A bad ending could ruin the whole story—nothing was a more suitable example of this saying than this piece.
So, I did what I had to, spending another hour deep into the night to craft a critical review for the series. No one read this anyway, but out of respect for the earlier volumes, I poured my heart into it.
''Tch...''
The more I wrote, the more emotional I became. Perhaps, unknowingly, I resonated with the protagonist and her struggles being left alone a lot. My words were possibly excessive at some points, but I wasn't in the mood to correct them for the mental well-being of this heartless author.
Once the three-thousand-word review was finished, I pressed [Send] and flopped onto the bed. My mind was filled with regret for the protagonist, who could have finally broken out of her shell and taken a step toward the future with her own strength.
I let out a sigh.
''What a sad day,'' I muttered.
In the unlit room, I stared blankly at the ceiling. I always had lots of thoughts after finishing a book, lots of emotions to process. Sometimes, words even appeared on the ceiling...
Wait, no. That was a bit wrong. Words on the ceiling...?
''...''
I wasn't a visual learner. It took me a full minute to realize that there were really words—words that glowed a faint blue stuck to the otherwise spotless ceiling.
[Are you confident?]
Confident? In what? If it were about making up a random ending for 'A Lone Girl's Requiem', I would be absolutely confident. Who could possibly write something worse than that?
As if reading my mind, the characters then scrambled, some vanished, some emerged, forming a new sentence.
[Do you wish to try?]
I wasn't sure what had gotten into me. Facing this obvious anomaly, I felt rather calm. Only a swelling desire, the pure sympathy for the girl whose future was stolen, remained.
''Of course,'' I challenged.
It was a strange moment. My heart beat faster, perhaps in anticipation, but my eyelids grew heavier rapidly. The last thing I saw was those little words, dancing gracefully, as if someone was giggling beyond them.
And then—
''—Charge!!''
''Damn it! Don't let them through!!''
''Someone... someone help me!''
I was nearly engulfed by the sudden heatwave. I quickly found myself unable to move, lying weakly in a giant basket.
...No, it seemed I was... turned into a baby.
As my vision gradually became clearer, I left my chubby arms and focused on the surroundings. The sky was tainted with an ashen red, the color of fire, and pillars of smoke billowed, under which were crowds fleeing for their lives.
Screams of terror, ones sounding too raw for my faint heart, tugged at my nerves violently.
But I was powerless. A crawling fear encroached on me. Tears unknowningly pooled at the corners of my eyes, flowing in beads.
''H-Huh?! A child??''
In that chaotic moment, I was suddenly picked up by someone. The figure, through my unfocused view, looked disheveled. They were trembling more than I, a baby, clearly frightened.
Yet... I felt unexpectedly safe in their arms as they scrambled away from the chaos.
Too exhausted from everything that was happening at once, I slowly fell asleep.