MIIS 6

Chapter 6

“Azel.”

When I called his name in a calm, composed voice, the black back of his head—already familiar to me by now—slowly turned toward me.

“What are you?”

After a brief moment of eye contact, Azel’s first words were cold, as expected.

“You said you came here to save me? It was novel, I’ll give you that—but that’s as far as it goes.”

It sounded like he’d been waiting for me to show up, because the moment he saw me, he began pressing me for answers.

What is he, some overly wary alley cat?

I bit my lip, choosing my words carefully—when Azel continued.

But what he said next was something I hadn’t anticipated at all.

“What’s really strange is this—no matter how much I search, your identity doesn’t come up.”

“…What?”

Doesn’t come up—what doesn’t?

“No records. No testimonies. I can’t even find out when you started waiting for me in that plaza. Every single record is blank.”

“…!”

“It’s as if you just fell out of the sky.”

His thorny voice questioned me coldly, yet I remained at a loss for words.

No records? So this wasn’t just an ordinary possession?

My mind instantly spiraled into chaos.

“What are you.”

“……”

“What’s your purpose in approaching me.”

But this wasn’t the time to stand there panicking like an idiot.

If I let my guard down even a little, he’d tear me apart.

“I don’t really know what my identity is. But I do have a purpose—saving you.”

“That again. I’m starting to get sick of hearing it.”

“Even if you’re sick of it, it can’t be helped. That’s all there is.”

The moment the words left my mouth, Azel’s handsome lips twisted sharply.

A silence of a completely different dimension settled between us.

“You? By what means?”

His low voice cut through the stillness.

“I was watching to see just how far you’d go. Turns out, you really have no sense of limits.”

“You don’t trust me.”

“How could I? The words of a woman I’ve never seen before.”

“…!”

“What’s with that look? Are you still going to insist that I forgot you?”

You bastard.

He wasn’t wrong—which somehow made it even more irritating.

He was definitely choosing the cruelest words on purpose, just so I’d hear them.

But I wasn’t about to be shaken by something like this.

Sorry, but I don’t have the luxury of backing down.

He underestimated me. If I were going to get scared by something like this, I wouldn’t have started at all.

“Just now, I thought for the first time that I’m glad you forgot me.”

“…What?”

“If you knew you’d said something like that to me, the you I know would definitely regret it.”

“…!”

Drop. Drop.

Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes and spilled down my cheeks as soon as I finished speaking.

You didn’t expect me to play this card, did you.

When I looked at him with hollow, wounded eyes, Azel finally reached the end of his patience.

“That look again…”

His expression twisted with an irritation he couldn’t quite name—then he finally snapped.

“…It’s annoying.”

“Azel.”

“Why do you keep looking at me with those eyes?”

The atmosphere grew even colder—but I wasn’t about to back down just because of that—

“…I’m sorry.”

Right.

…To be honest, that part was a little scary.

I avoided his gaze and offered what sounded like an excuse.

“You don’t have to trust me. That’s fine. But there’s only one thing I can say. I came here to stop your regression, and even if you don’t believe me, I’ll still do everything I can.”

There was a bit of a lie mixed in—but I truly did intend to save Azel.

So it wasn’t a complete lie.

But then a problem arose.

Azel’s reaction was… strange.

“End my regression?”

Unlike my vague talk about “saving” him, directly mentioning regression seemed to hit a trigger.

“Regression. You’re saying you’ll end my regression.”

“Azel…?”

Confusion, hatred, fear, ridicule—

Raw, unrefined emotions stormed within his red eyes as he stared at me.

“How could you possibly end it? What are you, anyway? How dare you stand in front of me and spout that kind of nonsense.”

Azel closed the distance between us in an instant. He looked like a completely different person from just moments ago.

“I don’t know what you think you can do, but fine. Go on. Let’s hear this brilliant plan rattling around in that tiny head of yours.”

“I can’t tell you. Not right now.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“I can’t tell you the method. But believe me. I wasn’t lying.”

“Don’t make me laugh! You tell me nothing, and expect me to believe you?”

Even to my own ears, it sounded absurd.

But game-Azel was always bound by a bizarre, almost religious belief that he would simply regress again.

To make someone like that believe, you’d need undeniable proof—and I couldn’t provide that.

Because I’m a damn extra.

So I had to use another approach.

“If you knew, you’d get hurt.”

When I calmly spouted nonsense, Azel finally lost it.

“It’s annoying! Everything about this is annoying! You saying you’ll save me, acting like you know me, even the way you keep looking at me with those eyes—it all pisses me off!”

His furious shout poured out like blades.

Faced with an explosion of emotion I’d never seen before, my fingers trembled instinctively—but I couldn’t retreat.

Azel, breathing roughly, looked dangerously unstable to anyone.

“Calm down, Azel! Just breathe for a—”

“Get your hands off me! Drop the disgusting act and answer me properly!”

At this rate, he was going to pass out!

Thinking something terrible would happen if I left him like this, I hugged him without thinking.

“…!”

His chest, swollen with ragged breaths, felt tense beneath my arms—but instead of running away, I stubbornly pressed my cheek against his heart.

“What are you—!”

“I’m sorry. For not being able to tell you. For making you doubt me. For hurting you.”

The sound of a heart pounding wildly filled my ears—I couldn’t even tell whose it was.

“But I promise you. You don’t have to lose anything anymore. I’ll give you your life back.”

I’m an extra, so I can’t use in-game clues.

But this place was no longer a game.

It was reality.

And because I’m an extra with no fixed role, I can free Azel from his curse in my own way.

“Just one month. Stay with me for one month. Then you’ll be able to escape this eternal hell.”

And according to my plan, one month would be enough.

“When everything’s over, I’ll leave quietly. Like someone who never existed. So please—just this once, trust me.”

And when it’s all over, I’ll leave this place.

I have no intention of staying by the side of the final boss for long, either.

“If you fail…”

“Then kill me.”

“…!”

“If that happens, I’ll willingly die by your hand.”

So please—just for one month, let yourself be fooled by me.

I’ll save you. And when it’s all over, let’s never meet again, Azel Viots.

I was confident.

And exactly ten minutes later—

I was sitting alone on a cold stone floor.

“…Is this for real?”

My muttered words echoed off the surrounding walls.

The chill rising from the floor numbed my backside, but it was still better than looking up at iron bars.

“No, seriously. Is this right?”

Yes. This was a prison.

Being thrown into jail just ten minutes after being so confident—what an astonishing achievement.

“…Fuck.”

I think I’m screwed.

Sure, I said some unpleasant things—but was it really necessary to throw me straight into prison?

It felt even more unfair because the 분위기 had been pretty good just before that.

He’s already as fragile as a fish—leaving him alone was worrying enough.

That’s why I’d planned to stick close to him until everything was resolved. I never imagined I’d be locked up like this immediately.

So what now?

“…Okay. Let’s escape.”

—

“Unni, are you actually insane?”

—

For some reason, I thought I heard my younger sibling’s voice—but it was obviously just my imagination.

This was a perfectly rational decision!

I mean, what choice do I have?

Azel awakening on his own would be the worst-case scenario—but so would being locked up here and never let out.

Hesitation was a luxury. I immediately started knocking on the prison walls.

There should be some kind of escape mechanism around here…

I used to be called a “rotten veteran” of this game—escaping prison should be obvious to me—

Tap, tap, tap…

“…?”

Obvious…

Tap, tap, tap!

“Huh?”

…It should be obvious?

At this point, I should’ve heard a hollow thunk from a loose brick—but unbelievably, there was nothing.

“……”

I think I’m really screwed this time.