How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World
chapter-191

Throughout my past life and present one, there have been experiences that were so chilling I couldn’t even scream. In a previous life, there were moments like coming home, turning on the lights, and having a cockroach fly right in front of my eyes, or my parents using my computer without permission, and so on.

In my current life, there was the incident where I, overflowing with clumsiness, showed Marie a steam locomotive drawing. Fortunately, I drew it like a child’s artwork, so she didn’t catch on. Well, looking back now, it didn’t hold much significance, so I don’t dwell on it. However, I vividly remembered how my face changed in real-time.

“Author Xenon?”

And now, back to the present, I felt my heart race once again. It was none other than the pink-haired girl in front of me, Cherry. I’m not sure why she’s keeping my hair so carefully, but regardless, the crisis remained unchanged. As I’ve mentioned before, red hair is extremely rare, to the point where it’s rarer than diamonds or mithril. There’s a legend that it’s a symbol of a fallen royal family from the past, but I don’t know for sure.

“Why is the name Xenon suddenly coming up?”

“Well, I wonder?”

At the moment, appearing confused was the most important thing. It would be one thing if it were just Cherry and me, but Elena was also there, and students who’ve finished their classes are milling about in the corridor.

Responding with a tense demeanor to Elena’s question, I looked at Cherry. She was still tilting her head, her eyes lacking any sign of life.

Earlier, did she mention that there was a strand of hair in the letter? Since I had been diligently replying to her fan letters, it’s possible that a strand of hair accidentally got in there. However, keeping that strand of hair in a glass jar… that’s definitely not normal. To say such a thing made me feel sorry for her, but it’s clear that something is off mentally.

With a gulp, I asked Cherry, who still had my hair gripped in her hand, gently.

“Cherry, can I ask why you referred to me as Author Xenon?”

“Red.”

When I asked, Cherry briefly answered, showing me the strand of hair in the glass jar. There was only one strand, but it displayed a vivid shade of red.

Though her response was brief, I seemed to understand what she meant by “red.” Perhaps it was because the hair in the letter and my hair were the same color.

However, there’s one thing she didn’t notice from all of this. Pretending to contemplate for a moment, I questioned Cherry.

“You mentioned that this strand of hair appeared in the letter earlier, right?”

Nod, nod.

“In that case, did you conclude that I’m Xenon because my hair color matches this strand of hair?”

Nod, nod.

Cherry nodded in response to my consecutive questions. Even so, she still held onto my hair tightly. I looked at her expectant expression, then pointed to the hair she was holding onto and began to speak.

“However, Student Cherry. Just like you see, my hair isn’t long, is it? The hair here is short.”

“…Huh?”

That’s right. When I replied to Cherry before Mora played a prank on me, my hair length was ordinary. However, now my hair has grown long enough to reach my waist. Even for women, it takes at least a few months to grow hair that reaches the waist, so what about a guy?

Cherry seemed to realize that too, belatedly, as she blinked her eyes slowly and compared the length of my hair with the hair inside the vial.

“And there are other people with red hair in the world, besides me. Isn’t it too hasty to label me as Xenon just because our hair colors match?”

“…”

As I pointed this out in a faint voice, Cherry’s grip on my hair loosened. Her eyes, which hadn’t been lively to begin with, grew even darker. In that moment of her anxious reaction, as I was getting uneasy, Cherry lowered her head and murmured softly in a hesitant voice.

“…Or is it not?”

“…”

“Red isn’t really… there…”

Can a person be this eerie? Hearing Cherry’s murmur, I felt a sensation of dryness creeping into my mouth.”

If I weren’t Xenon, it might be understandable, but since it’s true, I couldn’t easily let it go. I have to find a way to detach Cherry, but it’s not easy to do so. However, fortunately, there was someone who could bring this situation to an end.

“Cherry, are you not going to the next class? Even if it’s just orientation, you should attend, shouldn’t you?”

It was Elena, who had been watching the situation from the side. She pushed up her glasses and spoke to Cherry in her characteristic professional tone.

Her words essentially meant not to be stubborn and to go to class. In response to her words, Cherry slowly lifted her head that had been lowered.

After exchanging glances with Elena for a while, Cherry opened her mouth with her unique melancholic voice.

“…Where are you?”

“Huh?”

“The office…”

Is she referring to the study room? It seems she’s trying to gather suspicions and then come find me.

After hearing the question, Elena pondered for a while and then looked at me with an expression that asked what I would do. I was extremely embarrassed, but it didn’t seem like I could just refuse outright.

This female student named Cherry gave off a strong vibe that she would follow me even if I refused. She might even skip the next class and follow me.

I sighed deeply at the increasingly complicated situation, then opened my mouth with mixed feelings.

“I’ll draw you a map. Come over there. It’s a building called the History Hall.”

“Thank you…”

After expressing gratitude, I took out a notebook and a magic pen that she always carried with her. By the way, I wonder when she’ll let go of my hair. As I was thinking about this, I was drawing a map on the notebook when I felt a strong gaze from the front. Most likely Cherry, but it was strong, almost too strong.

As I lifted my head to meet her gaze, I couldn’t help but feel startled. Her hazy and unfocused gaze, like that of a fish, remained the same, but for some reason, she was smiling in a creepy way. Her gaze was fixed directly on my hand.

“That’s right…”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

She mumbled something and pointed her index finger towards the back of the notebook, not the page where I was drawing the map. Curious, I flipped the notebook over.

On the back of the notebook, there were simple and mundane records that had nothing to do with Xenon’s Biography, such as things I needed to do today or important appointments.

At first glance, it might be difficult to notice, but I couldn’t help but realize as I listened to Cherry’s following words.

“The handwriting…”

“… …”

“It’s just like the letter…”

Just as people have different personalities, handwriting also varies. Even deliberately trying to forge handwriting requires a lot of effort.

And my handwriting is beautiful enough to earn praise from my mother. Since I had been writing novels by hand, I put effort into making my handwriting beautiful.

However, due to the handwriting, it made me feel stifled and congested. Perhaps it’s because we’ve been exchanging letters, but contrary to her appearance, she seems to possess keen observational skills.

Gulp

I didn’t respond to Cherry’s confirmation and tore up the map, handing it to her. Upon receiving the map, she cradled it in her hands as if she had received a treasure.

Her expression had also noticeably changed – the corners of her mouth lifted slightly, and her cheeks had a faint blush. However, the lifeless gaze in her eyes was no different from before.

Though I shivered at the sensation that the doll was smiling, I tried my best not to show any reaction.

“You can come here. At least stay until 6 o’clock and finish your classes before you come. Got it?”

“Yes…”

“I’m not sure what misunderstandings student Cherry is having, but for now, I’ll say it’s not true. I’m not that person.”

Just in case, I continued to deny it until the end. It seemed like she had already halfway figured it out, but I had no choice but to try to shake it off as much as possible.

However, Cherry seemed to interpret my strong denial as affirmation and responded with a subdued smile. Despite her pretty appearance and an equally impressive figure as Cecily, those eyes were undermining everything.

Just as I was about to turn around with a somewhat uneasy feeling and take a step, suddenly—

Thud—

Cherry unexpectedly grabbed my right hand and brought me to a halt. While it was fortunate that she didn’t grab my head, my body still jolted uncomfortably.

Finally, as I subtly squeezed my impression, I looked at her as if asking what was going on this time. A peculiar sensation could be felt in my right hand. The callus on the middle part of my right index finger. Isn’t she touching the pen hook I had for a long time?

“Pen hook…”

“… …”

“I have one too…”

Cherry spoke while showing her own right hand. Her fingers were long and slender like almonds, but the notable point was her middle finger. Just like me, there was a pen hook on the middle part of her index finger. Does she often write like in the letters?

However, Cherry’s expression was unusual, more than anything else. Somehow trying to smile, yet the corners of her mouth trembled faintly. From that, you could vaguely sense that she was afraid of something.

I had a hunch that uttering cold words would be the last thing to do, considering how unstable she already seemed emotionally. I couldn’t be unkind to someone who already seems mentally fragile, right? With a smile, I spoke in a gentle tone.

“Seeing that you also have a pen hook, Cherry, you must have put in a lot of effort.”

“Oh…”

“I might not know what kind of effort you’re making, but if you keep working hard, you’ll see results in the future.”

I’m not sure if my words became a warm comfort.

“So, please don’t give up. Alright?”

A faint light returned to Cherry’s eyes.

*****

“Haah… Haah… Haa…”

Isaac and Elena had left, and Cherry, without attending the next class, rushed somewhere in a hurry.

With her pink hair fluttering in the wind, even running was difficult due to her unnecessarily large chest, but she still moved her two legs quietly.

Pedestrians passing by looked at her strangely, but they averted their gazes and went on their way. Eventually, Cherry arrived at the girls’ dormitory.

“Haa… Haa…”

After entering the dormitory assigned on the day of the entrance ceremony, she closed the door tightly and caught her breath. Her ample chest rose and fell repeatedly, and her pink hair, due to the rushed run, was sticking from sweat.

After calming down somewhat, Cherry lifted her head calmly. With eyes that seemed brighter than before, she quickly looked around the room.

As if representing her unstable mental state, nothing was organized, and even the clothes she had worn when she entered the academy were scattered everywhere.

The bag containing casual clothes, not the uniform, was the same. After swallowing her saliva, she walked towards the bag.

Rustle, rustle…

After fervently digging through the bag as if possessed, what emerged at the end was a substantial amount of paper. However, its condition was far from ideal.

It seemed as though someone had torn it apart and then clumsily reassembled it with adhesive, like patching together shredded pieces. There were even traces of rough treading, as if someone had stepped on it with force.

Even at a glance, the damage was severe. The reassembly effort was impressive in itself, considering the state it was in.

“… …”

For a while, Cherry gasped for breath as she stared at the paper intently. This paper wasn’t just ordinary paper; it was in the format of a manuscript suitable for writing novels.

And within that manuscript, there was a story written. The damage was so extensive that reading it properly was difficult, but it was evident that someone’s strenuous effort and affection were poured into it.

As evident as the fact that someone had ruthlessly torn apart that effort and affection.

[Instead of wasting time on this trash, you should read another book on philosophy.]

As she gazed at the manuscript, a male voice echoed in her mind. In response, her small body started trembling.

“Ugh… Sniff…”

With all the effort, affection, and even her heart brutally torn apart, the day that came to her mind caused tears to roll down Cherry’s eyes drop by drop.

Like expelling all the suppressed emotions within her, the droplets gathered into distinct streams and clung to her chin.

“Please…”

She muttered in a plea.

“Just say it… Please say it…”

She wept softly, resembling a person teetering at the edge of a precipice.