The Protagonist's Demise
Elly’s eyes widened in shock. “You… how on earth…”
The small figure that had wielded countless authorities through overwhelming divine power. When the robe was stripped away, it revealed an elf boy with pink hair she could never forget. He had been one of the test subjects she encountered during her final adventurer commission—the raid on a branch of Those Who Swallow the Twilight.
Does the Goddess of Love love even a child who knows nothing of love? To answer that question, the cult had gathered children of every race who possessed pink hair and systematically stripped them of all emotion. He was a victim of that insane experiment.
‘Yona was probably one of them, too.’
But that wasn’t why she remembered the boy so clearly. During the battle against the rampaging Layer Guardian that Those Who Swallow the Twilight had summoned, he had stabbed her in the back and taken her right arm.
The boy shook the sacred relic of the Beast God—the very dagger that had pierced Elly’s back—and spoke.
“Big sis can’t save us. If you really want to… then die by my hand. Please.”
“……”
Elly couldn’t say a word. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what horrors the powerless test subject had endured to become this strong. She had promised to save him, only to rob him of his reason to live and cast him into an even deeper hell.
What stood before Elly was neither a simple enemy nor an innocent victim. He was the embodiment of her past sins.
Her body trembled with guilt, yet she couldn’t simply offer her life. It wasn’t just because she didn’t want to die—more than that, Yona’s face flashed through her mind. Unlike this boy who saw her as an enemy, Yona saw her as a savior. Yona was the only child she had managed to save, and the only one she could still take responsibility for.
But if Elly died so irresponsibly here, what would happen to Yona?
With that thought, she knew she couldn’t die—no matter who her opponent was.
Just as she steadied her trembling body and resolved herself—
Thud.
Yona, who had appeared behind the boy without a sound, drove a dagger straight into his heart.
‘How?! I barely sensed any presence…’
Even while her mind was in turmoil, Elly’s strength as a high-ranking adventurer remained unchanged. Yet Yona had slipped past her detection completely. That alone was startling enough, but what Yona said next was even more shocking.
“You shouldn’t flirt with someone else’s woman.”
Yona had spoken in a low whisper, but Elly could hear every word clearly despite the distance. The line carried a far deeper, more intense emotion than any of Yona’s usual clingy remarks.
And then—
“Goodbye, Sina.”
“……!”
Yona twisted the dagger sideways, completely crushing the boy’s heart. The elf who had been called Sina gasped, his mouth opening and closing, before going limp and closing his eyes.
From Elly’s position, facing him directly, she saw it clearly—though it might not have been visible to others.
—Yo… na.
The boy called Sina had clearly spoken Yona’s name. And Yona had known his name as well.
Everything she had only half-suspected until now was now certain. Yona had once been one of the test subjects she had tried to save. And just now, Yona had killed the friend who had endured the hardest times together—for Elly’s sake.
Yona carefully laid the body down on the ground, wearing an expression Elly had never seen before—terrifying in its intensity. Placing a hand over the blood-stained chest of Sina, Yona bowed their head deeply. Shoulders shaking as if mourning a friend, Yona remained like that for a long while before slowly lifting their head.
“Yona…?”
Elly’s words caught in her throat. The pink eyes that had once sparkled with affection now burned with a violent flame that looked ready to set the world ablaze.
The world would surely call that flame revenge.
***
I killed the protagonist.
Well, technically, I killed the body that was supposed to become the protagonist.
It’s true that I cherish everything in this world, but there are definitely some things I hold especially dear. Elly, for example. She was meant to be the heroine of my novel, and I poured far more effort into her setting… and stuffed every one of my preferences into her. Naturally, I feel more affection for her than most.
The protagonist was the same. The center of events, the one who resolves everything, the ideal superhuman I projected myself onto. I was deeply invested in that character, and he was supposed to handle all the things I couldn’t in this harsh world.
But now, I’ve removed the protagonist with my own hands.
Strictly speaking, I killed the vessel, not the protagonist himself. I’m not particularly curious about what’s currently inside that body anyway—because the “protagonist” I recognize is the soul that was supposed to possess it someday.
Still, the fact remains that with the vessel destroyed, I’ll never meet the protagonist I knew.
“Ah.”
A sigh escaped me the moment I realized it. I slowly laid the body on the ground and began to think.
What happens to this world now that the protagonist is gone?
…
…
…
…
After thinking it over carefully, I came to a surprising conclusion.
Nothing. There’s no problem at all!
I never actually wrote any real story to begin with. All that existed were settings. There was never any world-ending crisis that only the protagonist could solve.
Of course, I did scatter plenty of dangerous elements so that problems could arise whenever I wanted, but… I’d already decided how to handle that part.
I’ll deal with whatever I can reach. That’s both my responsibility as the author to this world that’s become reality, and my honest feelings as someone who transmigrated into a world with no one to trust.
In other words, what I have to do hasn’t changed…!
If anything, it might even be a good thing. The real protagonist who was supposed to possess this body can now live peacefully on Earth.
Once that thought occurred to me, the brief gloom vanished, replaced by a strange sense of satisfaction.
Just as I stood up, ready to greet Elly with my usual grin—
“Gasp!”
I suddenly remembered the summoning conditions for the Layer Guardian. Still crouched, I quickly scanned my surroundings.
Countless monster corpses strewn about, and the still-warm elf body I’d just created.
All that remained was overwhelming resentment and a sincere prayer toward the World Tree.
…Weren’t these the perfect conditions?
Instead of standing, I closed my eyes and focused my mind.
Unfair. Unfair. Unfair…
In an instant, memories of every unfair moment from my past life flashed through my head like a revolving lantern.
The academy instructor who smacked my palms for “lying” about forgetting homework I’d actually done. The middle school teacher who made me read my secretly written novel aloud in front of the whole class. The high school teacher who tore up my light novel, saying it wasn’t a real book. My parents crying and worrying that reading dirty comics at home would turn me into a pervert. The credit card company that froze my card right before a gacha pickup ended because I spent too much at once. The web novel platform that went bankrupt right after I finally climbed the rankings. The 5,500-character hate comment from someone who mistook me for another author. The same small-time author who looked down on me for writing erotic novels. My favorite character getting power-crept after I maxed her out. The manuscript that vanished despite cloud backups. And finally, the mysterious explosion that killed me the moment I booted up my laptop to write a gender-reversal story.
By the time I reached the end, I felt blood rushing to my head as a scorching heat ignited deep in my gut. The flame coiled like a serpent, slowly rising until it consumed my entire body and reached the top of my head.
I lifted my head, eyes wide open.
The majestic form of the World Tree, supporting the sky, filled my vision.
“Ah…”
A hoarse voice that didn’t sound like my own escaped my lips.
Staring at the ancient mystery that looked down on us from on high, I poured every ounce of sincerity into my words.
“…I wish everyone except me would just die.”
As if in response, the World Tree’s vision began to glow green.