EP 3 - Error Corrector
The man in the black coat did not come closer.
He stood at a distance, just within the range of threat.
That attitude was even more unsettling.
It wasn’t that he could fight,
but rather that he seemed to think there was no need to.
“An error corrector, huh.”
I slowly took a breath and spoke.
“Is that a new title from the royal knight order?”
The man shook his head.
“That’s an internal mechanism of the story.
I’m the one who intervenes from the outside.”
Outside.
With that single word,
the vague discomfort I had felt until now was clarified.
“Then you’re not from this world.”
The corners of the man’s mouth lifted slightly.
“That’s not entirely incorrect.”
He raised his hand.
In an instant, the air twisted.
Even though there was no sound,
the surrounding scenery felt like it had briefly shaken.
I instinctively took a step back.
‘This isn’t… magic.’
At least,
it was different from the systems used in the Arken Empire.
“It’s better to give up on the idea of running away,”
he said.
“With your current state,
you’ll be taken care of before moving to the next scene.”
“Taken care of.”
I smiled bitterly.
“Just because I’ve deviated from the script,
does that mean I’m immediately on the deletion list?”
The man did not respond.
That silence felt more like an affirmation.
“Then let me ask one thing,”
I said.
“How many times have I died so far?”
His eyebrows twitched ever so slightly.
That reaction was enough.
‘Right. There was a repetition I didn’t know about.’
I gritted my teeth.
“If I fail again this time,
is it back to square one?”
“Usually, yes.”
Usually.
That word provoked me.
“Then why not make this time an exception?
An error has already occurred, after all.”
The man’s gaze turned cold.
“Errors are corrected.”
As he lowered his hand,
the shadow beneath my feet stretched abnormally.
Something was coming.
I no longer hesitated.
I lowered my body and
threw myself into the alley beyond the wall.
In that moment,
I heard the sound of air being torn.
The wall behind me cracked,
and stone fragments flew.
‘I avoided a direct hit.’
But there was no time to relax.
As I ran deeper into the alley,
my mind raced.
‘If I fight, I’ll lose.’
‘If I keep running, I’ll eventually be caught.’
That left only one choice.
—To further disrupt the rules of this world.
I deliberately made a loud noise.
I didn’t hide my footsteps.
I wanted the guards nearby to notice.
“There they are!”
Someone shouted.
Lights turned on,
and the movement of people increased.
In the script,
this would be the worst choice.
A fugitive
drawing attention to themselves.
But this time was different.
‘You intervene from the outside.’
That meant
avoiding conflict with the characters inside the story.
And indeed, that was the case.
The man in the black coat stopped as the guards approached.
“Annoying,”
he muttered quietly.
I didn’t miss that opportunity.
I dove into the crowd.
I threw off my coat
and moved with my head down.
After turning a few corners,
I no longer felt his presence.
I leaned against a wall, gasping for breath.
I was alive.
This time, truly.
But I didn’t feel safe.
‘He won’t give up.’
Error Corrector.
An entity that intervenes from outside the script.
And what he said.
—You are now the most dangerous being in this world.
I lifted my head.
The night sky of the Arken Empire was visible.
“Alright.”
I murmured quietly.
“Then let’s become dangerous until the end.”
If there is a script,
I will try to ruin it completely.
If that is the only way for me to survive.