Normal End
A wind blew once. Then, nothing.
The cold sensation in my hand faded, the dagger's chill dimmed, and the earthy smell around me grew distant. I closed my eyes and cautiously opened them again, greeted by a familiar ceiling. Turning my head left, I saw buildings beyond the small window. Skyscrapers and gray concrete.
I was back.
I stared at the ceiling for a while. I couldn't move. Dust had gathered on the fluorescent light, and faint cobwebs clung to the corners. I hated that I could see even that. My eyes were too sharp now.
Slowly, I sat up, and the thin blanket slid off. Only then did I notice something off. Or rather, it felt wrong because it wasn't unfamiliar. My hands were small, my arms slender. My body felt incredibly light.
……I needed to see a mirror.
The studio apartment's bathroom was less than three steps away in the corner. A mirror hung above the sink. I stood before it.
Silver hair. Red eyes. A girl stared back at me from the mirror.
Not my original self. This girl was Ailin.
When I raised my hand, the girl in the worn mirror raised hers. When I clenched my fist, she did the same. When I thrust it toward the mirror, she thrust back.
……I'd come back, but this body hadn't.
Crash. Glass shards scattered, a sharp pain lancing through me. Proof that this situation was real. Back in my original world, yet trapped in this girl's body.
I stared at the blood dripping from my hand, then turned away from the mirror. Long silver hair draped down, transparent red eyes gleaming beautifully. Several such girls glared back at me now. With sad expressions.
Not that I was still hallucinating from mental illness…… Just that the mirror was broken.
“……It hurts.”
The voice was familiar. And this face no longer felt awkward to me. Of course…… That made sense. Whatever my past self had been, I was Ailin now.
The blood wouldn't stop. It trickled between my fingers, down to my wrist. I turned on the faucet and washed it away. The cold water stung the wound, but compared to cracked ribs, it was nothing.
I wrapped my hand in a towel and looked around the room. Cramped. A floor blanket instead of a bed, one desk, one monitor. Clothes strewn across the floor.
This was my original world. Where I'd wasted time staring at screens, doing nothing of note. Too lazy to meet people or go out, just gazing at that thin panel all day.
I'd told Adelaide it was a boring past. That I'd been a boring person.
……It was true. Coming back here made it even clearer.
My smartphone caught my eye on the desk. The screen lit up with piled-up notifications. Missed calls, messages, app alerts. I checked the date. No idea how long it'd been, but I could see the month. I set it down without reading any. Didn't check who had called.
I unwrapped the towel and inspected the wound. The bleeding had mostly stopped. It stops even without golden light to heal it, huh. I bit my upper lip. Pointless comparison.
I opened the closet. Clothes that no longer fit hung there. Ailin's frame was different from my original body. Smaller, slimmer.
I picked a large hoodie and pulled it on. The sleeves overhung my fingertips, but that was better. It hid the wound.
I rummaged for a hat. A black baseball cap sat on the shelf. Even pressed down deep, silver hair poked out the back, but the front was covered. Adelaide would've tied it so it wouldn't.
I opened the front door. Empty hallway. Down the stairs, out of the building. A car passed. The traffic light changed. People walked by.
I entered a convenience store. Grabbed two triangle rice balls and a canned coffee, set them on the counter. Tuna mayo, one bulgogi. The clerk scanned them, gaze lingering briefly. Silver hair peeking from the cap. Probably saw the red eyes too. She seemed about to say something, then just read the total.
I swiped my card. Payment beeped.
Leaving the store, I muttered under my breath.
……People.
Obvious, but why did I need to confirm? There wouldn't be any NPCs here anyway. There never were. They were all people from the start.
I walked aimlessly, wherever my feet took me. These should be familiar streets, but none felt right. Cars sped by, buses stopped, people crossed at the crosswalk.
I tore into a rice ball while walking. The rice mashed in my mouth, tuna mayo salty. Ate while walking, walked while eating. Passersby glanced, but I didn't care. Silver hair and red eyes? They'd think cosplay. This face wouldn't blend anywhere. Not here, not there.
I popped the tab on the canned coffee and took a sip. Bitter aftertaste lingered. Ate the second rice ball too.
Waited at the crosswalk. People beside me. Students, office workers, elderly. No one carried a sword. No one held mana. No one feared shadows.
The world I'd come from was ordinary, after all.
The light changed. People moved, so I did too. Staring at my toes as I walked. With Adelaide, it was always half a step. Never agreed on it verbally, but that distance was our unspoken promise.
Now, without her to match, my stride faltered. Still, no one beside me at half a step.
Gazing at the Han River, a memory surfaced. Our two faces reflected side by side on the water's edge. Not much to look at for a Demon King and Hero, maybe not. Casual talk as we dipped our feet in.
The water had been cold then. Currents tickling between toes.
Now, only one face reflected on the surface. Blurry at that.
The canned coffee was lukewarm when I sipped. “……Not the sea, though.”
I'd suggested we go see the ocean. Sudden, but Adelaide agreed. A promise unfulfilled. It would've been nice, she'd said in past tense.
Why hadn't I asked more? Why hadn't I held her then? Even though I'd sensed she was preparing.
Wind blew. Silver hair fluttered from under the cap. Long strands down to my shoulders. The ones Adelaide tied every morning. A routine: tucking stray bangs, tapping the top of my head, then turning away. Now broken. No one to tie it.
I took off the cap and set it aside. No point hiding anyway. Let the silver hair whip in the wind. Let passersby stare.
Finished the coffee, set the can on the bench. The river still sparkled. And everything around was people. Not NPCs.
I sat for a long time. The sun dipped, shadows lengthening.
Shadows.
The one at my feet was ordinary. I focused on my fingertips. No response.
If the shadows had remained, could I have stopped Adelaide?
I stood. Tossed the empty can in the trash and retraced my steps home. The room was dark when I returned. No lights on.
I dragged a chair over without taking off the hoodie. Not to the desk, but to the center of the room.
Stood before it and looked up. The ceiling loomed close. I climbed on.
No thoughts came. Not sad. Not angry. Not lonely.
Just…… no reason to be here.
Adel's death was my fault. The Hero gripped her sword backward to revive the Demon King. Everything I'd started ended with her.
The one unworthy of life came back alive. Wearing this face. Standing here, belonging nowhere.
I missed Adelaide. Her face when we first met, proud as a knight. The glint in her eyes drawing her sword as Royal Guard vice-captain. The defiant jawline even as a dragged slave. The expression when I first asked what she wanted to eat. Her voice nursing me: Don't get hurt more, or I'll suffer again. Her face mourning subordinates without ever blaming me. Leaning against a rock, holy sword on her lap, standing watch. Her hands, steady from some point on. The knight's resolved grip.
Never again.
Adelaide, I'm coming to see you.
……If I can.
Sunset filtered through the window. The shadow of me on the chair stretched long, nearly touching the ceiling.
I kicked the chair.
Silver hair spilled over shards of the broken mirror. Ailin walked in the air for a long time. To meet her beloved.
Normal End. She returned among people. To meet the one she longed for again, she set off on her journey.