What a Disaster
I'm doomed.
I mean, it's not like I'm some wretched stray dog that picks up scraps from the countryside.
I devour any and every web novel—romance fantasy, modern fantasy, classic fantasy, wuxia, sci-fi, whatever. That's exactly what I am.
So I went for it. Every genre, no matter what.
Even if the title was something like **SSS Regressed Goblin Became the Empire's Princess**, I still clicked. If it was boring, I cursed and quit. If it was good, I stayed up all night.
Who else but a true dog like me would do that?
Woof.
Woof.
...
Maybe, in the end, I really did fall in love with you—perhaps from the very first moment, that was just our predetermined fate.
Beneath the crimson sunset, Crown Prince Cedric pressed a kiss to the back of the hand belonging to the girl with cherry-blossom-pink hair, Isabelle.
All trials and hardships that had once stood in our way had vanished without a trace.
Before them lay only a brilliant path of flowers.
**End.**
---
"..."
Ugh...
It felt completely saccharine.
I shivered involuntarily.
Even though it was a romance fantasy, that line was way too over the top.
It should've been butter. Not one stick, but ten full tubs.
"...Still, though, it was fun."
As expected.
Watching someone else's romance was always the most entertaining thing in the world.
"You watching that again?"
I looked up at the familiar voice.
In front of me stood a massive, three-headed old man with a thoroughly fed-up expression.
Whenever he had a moment, he would go on and on about how nothing good came from watching people date.
Just a grump in his later years, nowadays.
"Ahjussi doesn't understand my heart at all."
"What? Ahjussi?"
"You have to watch things like this to keep your condition in check."
"You really believe that?"
"It does."
It really did.
When I watched peaceful daily life, my mind cleared.
Some people wouldn't get it, but this had been my routine for a very long time.
I didn't feel like explaining the reason in detail.
"If I were your face, instead of watching people date..."
"...Grump."
"Whoa, this guy..."
Here we go again.
One word and he fires off a dozen in return.
Classic grump traits, isn't it?
"You two."
Fortunately, the leader's voice rang out.
The leader of our team walked over.
"Break time's over. Equipment check. It's the final layer now."
The surrounding air instantly fell silent.
The teammates who had been laughing and chatting all stood up one by one.
Some checked their swords.
Others chambered their guns.
Some quietly closed their eyes and prayed.
We were standing right beneath the very top floor of the tower that humanity had finally reached.
The tower that had no end in sight.
An apocalypse that had toppled countless cities, slain billions, and rewritten the entirety of human history.
Its end was now right before our eyes.
"Everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded without a word.
Even amid the heavy silence, the tension in our hands holding the gear was taut as a bowstring.
The leader slowly scanned our faces with his signature golden eyes, as if he were taking a final portrait of us.
"Some of you will make it home today. Some of you will meet your end right here."
"But the only reason we've come this far..."
"...is to break the last wall humanity could never overcome today."
The leader broke the deadly silence and added.
"I won't say pointless things like 'die miserably.' So, all of you—fight like hell and live however you can."
Finally, the leader looked straight at me.
"Rowoon."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Put your phone away."
"Ah, right."
"It's the final floor."
"Got it."
With a reluctant heart, I slipped my smartphone into the spatial pocket.
I'd read the main story all the way to the end, but I felt a tiny bit sorry I hadn't read the extra.
Well...
We'd save the world first. Then I'd read it.
He probably wouldn't run away anyway.
...Don't die.
At that moment, the old man next to me poked me.
"What are you gonna do after this is over?"
I thought for a second.
The tower had been built when I was fifteen.
School, friends, youth—everything had ended there.
So...
"I wanna live my life a bit this time."
"Live what life?"
"Go to school, hang out with friends..."
The old man stared at me in silence.
"When you're around my age, everyone else is already in college, drinking and partying..."
"..."
"I wanna go to festivals, take exams, join clubs... I don't wanna do homework, though."
A soft chuckle escaped me.
"Anyway! Be human."
"Just be human! Be a student! I wanna live."
The old man laughed along.
"Yeah. Students should live like students."
I nodded too.
That was right.
The tower would end.
Humanity would regain peace.
Then I wouldn't have to fight anymore.
"Let's go."
The leader stood before a massive gate.
The one-hundredth floor of the tower.
The ultimate battlefield where humanity had spilled rivers of blood to reach.
Beyond that door lay salvation or another hell—none of us could know.
But there was nowhere left to retreat.
We gazed into each other's faces, as if this might be our last.
Some smiled silently, hiding their fear.
Others met each other's clenched fists in a silent promise.
'Hmph... When I get home, I'll have to watch the extra first.'
I stood before the gate.
Red light flickered slowly.
...Huh?
Originally, it hadn't been this red.
A strange, inexplicable unease slid down my spine.
"Rowoon!!"
"Back!!"
Both the leader and the old man shouted at the same time.
At once, the entire field of vision flashed crimson and was dyed red.
The world spun wildly and our bodies were violently yanked into the air.
I struggled, reaching out desperately to hang on. Someone far away tried to grab my hand, but it slipped away.
And...
I...
Fell into the most absurd place in the world.