A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 40.2
With a bitter smile, I stepped further into the greenhouse.
‘Anyway, I’m Edith now.’
If this is a space prepared just for me, why should I avoid it over a single traitorous bastard?
Careful to avoid the damp moss, I walked deeper inside and then flopped down onto the soft-looking foliage.
The plants beneath me were probably ornamental, but I didn’t care.
‘We’re rich anyway. It’s not like you can’t buy more plants to fill it back up.’
With that thought, I opened the book I had brought with me.
「 The First Awakener 」
Judging by the title, it sounded like a deep history book, but it was actually required reading for children in this world.
Books written for kids were handy for getting straightforward, intuitive information.
“Gate Wave. Gate Wave…”
Flip, flip.
I had no desire to learn who the very first Awakener was, so I quickly skimmed through the pages.
About halfway through, I finally found the information I was looking for.
「 〈 Gate Wave 〉
Refers to an unstable zone where gates appear and disappear irregularly at certain intervals.
The gates that occur in this zone are not much affected by whether monsters are defeated, and since their scale and number are completely random, no one can predict them. 」
「 A representative region for Gate Waves is the canyon between the Caspian Mountains.
From Horn Rock, about 17km downstream along the Silvaren River… 」
As I tried to understand Gate Waves, I furrowed my brow.
“…Is it like a respawn zone in a game?”
If gates could open endlessly, it really was a terrifying concept.
Fortunately, the text went on to explain that the first few Awakeners sacrificed themselves to set up a massive barrier and seal off the area.
It was a very ‘fantasy novel’ sort of setup.
“I wonder if you can get in using spatial travel…”
— And then this guy sent me. Teleported me straight into the Gate Wave.
Recalling what Male Lead #4 had said at the banquet, I couldn’t shake off a sense of discomfort.
“It sounds like a pretty important setting… why didn’t it come up in the novel?”
In <How to Save a Forsaken World>, there were plenty of incidents related to Gate outbreaks.
But no matter how hard I tried to remember, I couldn’t recall any chapter about Gate Waves.
Actually, I don’t think it was even mentioned at all…
‘If you really wanted a perfect happy ending, you’d probably have to resolve things all the way to this point, right?’
Maybe because the barrier prevented further damage to other areas, there was no need to deal with it.
There were so many things that didn’t show up in the novel anyway that it was pointless to nitpick further.
At that moment, I was suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu.
“Come to think of it…”
I read through the section explaining Gate Waves once again.
「 Not much affected by whether monsters are defeated, and scale and number are random. 」
That meant that even if you successfully suppressed a Gate, another could open right after.
“……!”
As soon as I realized that, my shoulders twitched.
Even in the modern era, there had only been one case like that.
“…That’s what happened to me right before I died.”
It was an unspoken rule that a place where a Gate had once closed would never have another Gate open again.
But that was broken. The same place had two gates open in succession.
That day, when Yoo Jihan abandoned me and ran away, and I was sucked into the Gate all alone.
“…So, that was a Gate Wave back then?”
I was confused.
I’d just thought of it as a strange anomaly, but wasn’t it practically the same?
“…Ugh.”
With a serious look on my face, I shook my head.
That was taking speculation way too far.
First of all, this place was a fictional world based on someone’s imagination, and I’d seen the actual book with my own eyes.
‘Besides, if Gate Waves existed in the modern era, it would’ve been a huge disaster. Everyone would have known long ago.’
If anything, the theory that someone put a curse on the book and trapped me inside it seemed more plausible.
“I’m living in a fantasy world, so I’m really starting to have all kinds of thoughts…”
Tap.
I closed the book I’d been reading and set it down beside me.
Then, covering my eyes with one arm, I savored a rare moment of peace.
Listening to the gentle sound of running water, I soon felt myself drifting off to sleep.
Just then.
Click—
Suddenly, I heard a presence at the entrance to the greenhouse.
“Nancy, could you get me some water?”
The only one who knew I was here was my personal maid.
So I naturally reached out toward the sound of footsteps approaching.
“……?”
But time passed, and no cool glass of water was pressed into my hand.
Finding it strange, I removed the arm that had been covering my eyes.
“Nancy?”
It was a silhouette far too large to be Nancy.
Silvery hair, shining like ripples in the sunlight, reflected brightly.
A man looked down at me with a somewhat awkward expression.
“…I didn’t have time to bring any water, unfortunately.”
“……”
“Would you spare me a moment of your time?”
It was Male Lead #1, Ethan Blake.
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