Fianna's Diary

I pressed 1.

The screen changed.

I pressed Home.

The cozy space where Siren had lived for fifteen years. Naturally, Siren wasn’t there.

I pressed Field.

“They’ve really piled up.”

The place was bustling with respawned monsters. The character was supposed to sweep them away periodically, but I never had.

I checked the other stages too.

“Wow, I still remember every single one.”

I wandered through the previous stages. Even though I’d once cleared over a dozen in a single day, the maps came back to me one by one.

“I really blasted through them.”

Each stage consisted of nine normal maps and one boss map. Clearing a stage meant breaking through ten maps total. It was the result of devoting every spare moment after my exhausting porter work to raising the hero. Of course, it was only possible because of the shutdown announcement.

After the shutdown notice went up, every item in the shop dropped to one-tenth its original price. A total fire sale. And like an idiot, I’d bought that garbage business model like a madman. Looking back now, it wasn’t a storm discount—it was a “get rinsed” discount. Still, I don’t particularly regret it. I would’ve done the same even if Siren had never come looking for me.

“I barely managed to take down one of the Four Heavenly Kings on Stage 96. Three left.”

One each on 97, 98, and 99. Stage 100 would be the Demon King.

I’d quit with only four stages remaining until the ending, but I didn’t feel any real regret.

“There was no way I could clear it anyway.”

The guy I’d barely beaten was supposed to be the weakest of the weak among the Four Heavenly Kings… I hadn’t given up for nothing.

Anyway.

I still didn’t know why I could log in, but thanks to it I’d enjoyed a pleasant trip down memory lane.

“Guess I should drop by once in a while.”

I was hammering the back button to exit the game when another name in the waiting room caught my eye.

“Hmm. Fianna. Right, that was her name.”

At first glance, the title Raise the Hero made it sound like you only raised one hero, but it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actually a game where you nurtured an entire hero party. It had the companion system typical of idle games, and that system was responsible for the bulk of its revenue.

Most players raised a total of five characters including the main one. The fact that I’d gone all-in on Siren alone was the unusual part.

If not for the event, I probably never would have created a companion character at all.

“Was it the double event?”

The event name was hazy, but the details were so insane that they remained crystal clear in my memory. Any business-model item you bought for the main character was duplicated and given to every companion.

“Looking back, it was pure sales manipulation.”

Buy an Lv. 70 item for the main character and the companions received identical copies. Since companions were usually far lower level than the main… the message was obvious: Hurry up and raise them. You’ll need to spend money to do it.

It was even worse with job-specific equipment like weapons. They were handed over without requiring a class change, so when you really analyzed it, the event wasn’t user-friendly at all. A trap card through and through.

And I was the sucker who happily stepped on that trap.

I lived by the principles of frugality and self-sacrifice, yet I couldn’t resist the double event…!

So yes, I’d spent some money back then. Aside from the period right after the shutdown notice, that was probably the biggest lump sum I’d ever dropped in such a short time.

I spent heavily on Siren, and to keep up with her growth, I spent a lot on Fianna too. Of course, after Siren vehemently refused to share a room—or rather, form a party—I’d basically abandoned Fianna.

“I wonder if she’s here.”

I clicked [2. Fianna].

“She’s gone too?”

The fact that she wasn’t at home suggested the server had simply reopened while the data was reset…? I couldn’t be sure.

Fianna’s house had the same cozy atmosphere as Siren’s. Even though I’d been hooked by the sales tactic, I had raised her from childhood, so she was genuinely cute.

Then my eyes landed on a frame.

“Oh. This.”

It was a picture hanging on the wall. A crookedly drawn face. It was me. Fianna had drawn it, claiming it was a portrait of me.

“Maybe I should have invested a little more in her…”

For small spenders, selection and focus were essential. If I’d had the budget, I would have given her plenty of support too… but there was nothing I could do about it now.

Anyway…

I explored Fianna’s room. I actually spent more time there than I had in Siren’s space.

The feeling I got from Siren’s room was one of warm, nostalgic memories. Fianna’s room, on the other hand, felt like digging up long-buried recollections, and the dopamine hit was intense.

Ah! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠That’s right! There was this too! That kind of rush.

“Oh. It’s a diary.”

The same excitement hit me when I found the diary on the bookshelf.

The diary system. By reading it, you could learn what the character needed, what they wanted, their current mood, favorability, and more.

I opened the diary.

How cute.

The handwriting was wobbly, but hearts filled every space above and below the letters. Even the simple content felt so childlike that I couldn’t help smiling.

I flipped a few more pages.

I kept turning pages.

Next page.

“Yeah… she was that kind of kid.”

If Siren was feminine, Fianna’s charm was her energetic spirit. Both were adorable in their own ways.

Still, Fianna’s diary shouldn’t have been very long. I remembered the entries becoming sparse around the time I gave up on raising her.

But.

“What the… why is there so much left?”

There was still a lot remaining. What was going on?

…I kept reading.

These parts didn’t ring any bells at all. After Siren stubbornly refused to party up, I stopped checking the diary. I barely logged in. I was going to delete the character anyway. The last time must have been when I stopped by to organize items on the day the event ended.

……I turned the page.

The sentence “I won’t cry” was surrounded by especially heavy tear stains. My conscience stung sharply. That must have been the last day I ever saw Fianna.

“…I’m scared to keep reading.”

Still, I turned the page. The sound of flipping paper suddenly felt eerie.

Next page.

It was too painful to read, so I skipped several pages.

After that page, Fianna stopped looking for me. She devoted herself to swordsmanship. She grew. Slowly but steadily, she caught up to Siren’s progress.

As I turned the pages, Fianna’s handwriting became neater. As if she had grown used to being alone, words like “lonely” and “sad” gradually disappeared.

But I knew that wasn’t true. Although her handwriting and content had changed, the tear stains remained. Eventually even those vanished.

Around that time, I appeared in the diary again. Ironically, that entry was on the very last page.

“…I think I made a really big mistake.”

I closed the diary and left her house. Only then did I notice that Fianna’s Field was also open.

“She caught up quite a bit.”

Even though I knew she was just data, my heart grew heavy.

…No. Since Siren was alive, that meant Fianna was a real person too.

…What the hell had I done…?

“…I just hope she’s living happily.”

Just as the guilt began to crawl up my throat, Siren appeared.

“Hyun~”

“You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠worked hard.”

At the same time, Lee Seon approached and spoke.

“Thanks to Siren, it looks like we’ll be able to resolve the gate quickly.”

“That’s a relief.”

We briefly exchanged thoughts on our future plans before leaving Bukhan Mountain. And then—

“Ah! Over there!”

“Lady Lee Seon! Lady Siren! Just a moment for an interview—”

“Move! I was here first!”

“Is it true that Siren joined the Bukhan Mountain Gate Project because the person in charge, Lady Lee Seon, lacks the necessary ability—”

“There is criticism that too many personnel are being invested in sealing the gate. At least one of you should be reassigned elsewhere for the defense of South Korea—”

Clickclickclickclick—!!!

A massive barrage of camera flashes exploded as the reporters swarmed us.

“Ugh.”

“Siren, let’s get out of here fast.”

“Shall we fly, then?”

“…Yeah. No choice.”

“Hehe. Carry me, please.”

I lifted Siren in a princess carry. Soon my body rose into the air and we left Bukhan Mountain behind.

“Lady Siren! Just one word!”

“Take the picture! At least get that!”

“Lady Lee Seon! At least give Lady Lee Seon an interview—”

Clickclickclickclick—!!!

The noisy sound of camera shutters chased after us like a tail, but it quickly faded into the distance.

“Whoa, insane.”

“She really is pretty.”

In a busy district of Seoul, today’s top story was playing on a massive digital billboard attached to the top of a tall building.

Photos and videos taken by the reporters who had been waiting at Bukhan Mountain. The sight of two of Korea’s greatest mages together was more than enough to draw people’s attention. Siren’s stunning appearance acted as the perfect catalyst, so every passerby looked up at the display.

However, a super-large billboard whose advertising rates changed by the minute had no reason to show news topics. Sure enough, it soon switched to a commercial. People went back to their own business, and the billboard continued its cycle of using the two archmages collab as clickbait before switching to ads.

Before long, people no longer stopped even when Siren appeared.

Except for one person.

From the moment Siren appeared—more precisely, from the moment the man holding her appeared—a person stood frozen in place.

Red hair peeked out from beneath a hood.

“…So you really were here.”

When she lifted her head, red eyes the same color as her hair came into view.

“…You must have been happy.”

And.

“While I was suffering.”

Even the emotions the color of red.