A Horror Novel’s Supporting Character Wants to Live as a Human

Chapter 303

Chapter 303

Forgotten?

Him?

Aphoom-Zhah's words flew at him with the weight of a stone hurled by a siege weapon.

But no matter how hard he tried to remember, only that wouldn't come to mind.

"N-no. I couldn't have forgotten. There must be some misunderstanding."

[I see. Let's combine the memories the believer has with the memories this body has obtained one by one. Only then can we look back on one complete person's life.]

"This place is inside the novel my younger sibling wrote. Now he's writing stories in place of Hastur. But I definitely thought it only existed in print."

[But it came to actually exist. I still don't know the reason, but in the place the believer came from- those called 'readers' extremely despised this world.]

"He was always at home. That kid's name, I can't remember it now."[That was the decision of the human who was the believer's younger sibling. While you labored to cover living expenses and travel costs, he devoted all his energy to constructing this world.]

"Why did it turn out that way? What was the reason?"

[In that world, there were only the believer and the believer's younger sibling. All other people remained as nothing while being superficial and extremely abstract impressions. Though touching, they were bound to each other and stagnated, rotting and festering as they were.]

"Why did I come here?"

[Even the believer couldn't know that yet.]

"Did my younger sibling put me here?"

[That too couldn't be known. For now, we only know that Hastur was very pleased with the believer's younger sibling and that he was drawn here. But believer, think about what the believer experienced in this world.]

Aphoom-Zhah's cool palm covered his eyes.

In the completely dark world, only a peaceful and calm voice could be heard.

[The believer witnessed harsh things in this world and was harmed by them. However, this body's believer did not go insane, did not despair, and lived through repeatedly repeating time while uncovering the secrets on the other side of the stars.]

"...Yes."

[This body's believer is the savior who will illuminate again the stage buried to the ends of the earth, the excellent actor chosen by 'The Unspeakable One' after long wandering, and the Deus ex machina who can cover up the mistakes of a terrible playwright.]

"Me?"

[Of course. Isn't that natural? A human chosen by two gods simultaneously is not common.]

When Aphoom-Zhah said this to him, he felt strange.

No one had ever said such things to him, so this first divine recognition he had obtained was warm and sweet.

[Believer, my foolish and glorious believer. Originally this body had no interest in ants that live and die in an instant, but being with the believer, I finally realized.]

"What did you realize?"

[The believer taught this body, who lived in silence and numbness for eons, infinite joy. This body burned down countries, created other apostles, made sand in Dreamland, and waited, all because of just one human.]

"Mm-hm."

[I saved and punished others in a human body. I mercilessly hunted beings that nearly became the same divine status and felt exhilaration. All of that could be felt because the believer was human, and because this body could keep a human by its side.]

"It's a bit embarrassing when you say it like that."

[This body is only speaking the truth. Believer, the believer gave this body precious joy that cannot be exchanged for anything.]

His hand was removed. When he blinked, Aphoom-Zhah was still looking at him with a smiling face.

But there was somehow a strange sense of discomfort, and as he kept looking for a while, Aphoom-Zhah soon finished his praise.

[I really don't want to return to before meeting the believer. ...How is it, do you feel a bit stronger?]

"I hate to admit it, but I feel incredibly strong."

[That's good. Then your intention to save your younger sibling at the end of this story hasn't changed?]

"I still can't believe I forgot that goal. But if that kid is remaining here, I should save him."

He could barely remember things from where he came.

Moreover, since time jumped by units of hundreds of millions of years, even memories gradually weathered away in his head.

Still, he vaguely recalled meeting his younger sibling who was crying while writing books after entering this world.

"We should go back together."

[Hmm.]

Aphoom-Zhah frowned after hearing his answer and asked seriously.

[This body won't give you memories even if the believer returns. Can you survive there if you return having forgotten everything?]

"I have to try. Still, even if I have to start over from having nothing, it's fine."

[Why?]

"I'll be returning with that kid. Then even there, there's still someone who will be with me. That alone is enough."

[That point resembles the ancient species' waste that went outside. Clinging saying it's good as long as you're beside them. Does the believer have a complex about family? If the believer's younger sibling hadn't been alive, you wouldn't have felt as strong as now. Isn't that right?]

Though Aphoom-Zhah was being sarcastic, it didn't matter. This guy didn't know because he had never had family.

A god wouldn't know about things like the head of household's responsibility or an older brother's duties.

...But why did he feel like he had made some mistake? It felt strangely unsettling.

He thought he might have indigestion from eating Yurik and was rubbing his solar plexus when Aphoom-Zhah looked at him and spoke as if he had decided something.

[This body will go to Asgard.]

"What? You'll go? Voluntarily?"

[Believer, even if this body is a god who completely lacks social awareness, I understand this much. To find the believer's escort knight, you must remain beside the ancient species' waste, mustn't you? And you can't be disliked right now.]

"Give me a little time. Yurik is just sensitive because I just died and woke up. So if we talk again a bit later."

[The waste's mind probably won't change. But since this body would be troubled if the believer dies, this body will also devise methods.]

He couldn't believe it. Aphoom-Zhah, why was he being so good to him today?

Was he sorry for using his body freely and causing it to explode from overload? Or was he grateful because he was digging tunnels?

Whatever the reason, it was good. Since Aphoom-Zhah was supporting him with such wholehearted effort, infinite waves of emotion swept over him.

He believed in Aphoom-Zhah. He believed in the Lord of the Extreme Realm!

"When you go to Asgard."

[Hm?]

"I'll pray three times a day until you return and keep my faith strong."

[Oh... Believer, that's the most admirable thing this body has heard.]

"My faith increases when my god treats me well. You understand?"

[Hmph. This body has always been good to you. It's just that my unbeliever didn't know it.]

Even Aphoom-Zhah's snorting seemed amazing. But if he said this, Aphoom-Zhah would become arrogant beyond being proud, so he decided not to say it.

Anyway, thanks to Aphoom-Zhah, he had gained an optimistic outlook that some sunlight might enter his future.

* * *

"Aphoom-Zhah, I'm going to send him to Asgard as you said."

After he spent the whole night with Aphoom-Zhah in a hard and strange place,

Only when day broke could he learn that it had been the bathroom of the Prince's palace.

He tried to meet Yurik right away, but Aphoom-Zhah said that meeting Yurik in the current state would only be awkward for both sides and hid himself.

Thanks to this, he had to meet Yurik alone in the small library of the Prince's palace.

The Prince's palace library. Or perhaps the name study would be more appropriate.

Yurik, who was leaning against the window frame holding a book in one hand and turning pages, looked particularly intellectual.

At his feet and on the nearby table, thick books were already stacked forming small towers.

His forearms revealed by casually rolled-up sleeves had the effect of making him look more suited for martial arts,

But surrounded by books, it seemed like Yurik would actually be more suited for the role of sitting at a desk.

When he came, Yurik only glanced at him at first,

But as soon as he said he would send Aphoom-Zhah to Asgard, Yurik closed the book he was holding.

Seeing such an openly relieved attitude made him a bit annoyed.

He thought that if he had said he wouldn't send him, Yurik would have continued reading and ignoring him.

"You thought well. It's better to keep such a guy as far away as possible... Yesung, are you angry?"

"I'm not angry."

"But you look like it."

"I said I'm not angry. I just feel a bit bad. But I have absolutely no intention of taking it out on you. I don't take such emotions out on children."

Perhaps it was because last night he had suddenly become aware of the existence of his younger sibling that he had completely forgotten.

He didn't want to needlessly vent irritation in front of Yurik and other humans.

After all, they were all humans much younger than him, and rather than showing the unsightly behavior of crying, laughing, and getting angry in front of such humans, it was better to restrain himself.

But when he answered like that, Yurik opened his eyes wide, then stood up and grabbed his hand.

"Yesung. You were hurt by what I said like that yesterday."

"......"

"I'm sorry for forcing you like I was pushing because I was surprised too. But I wasn't trying to blame Yesung's choices or mistakes."

"You already shouted asking who makes such contracts."

"My thinking was short. I wasn't mentally prepared, so without realizing it."

"Not all things come when you're mentally prepared."

"I acknowledge that. Because it's true. But I react sensitively to everything related to hyung. You're my only family."

Yurik fidgeted with his fingers that he was holding.

He hung his head briefly as if feeling guilty, then looked up at him sideways.

"I'm afraid that thing will take hyung away from me."

"Aphoom-Zhah will take me away? What would a god want with a human body?"

"Normally I would think so too. But hyung wasn't in the Acheron Empire so you wouldn't know, but that thing was trapped in a human body for too long."

"That's not a real human body. It's something Aphoom-Zhah shaped with magical power."

"What I mean is, that guy acts like a human and thinks like a human even though he's not human. I know that even when he traveled with Grand Mage Eibon, he maintained human form. He even did so until he was buried in Asgard."

It seemed Aphoom-Zhah had never shown Eibon his flame form.

Well, considering that anyone who saw it might go insane, it was natural.

Before guilt about confining Aphoom-Zhah in human form could come, Yurik continued.

"A few years, he might have been able to forcibly maintain human form. But living mixed among humans for thousands of years means that guy found amusement in it, doesn't it?"

"Amusement?"

"If he didn't feel interest in living as a human, he couldn't have done such a thing. Hyung, I... I understand that I can't become one with the people of this era."

"Yurik."

"They die too quickly and are born too quickly. The world always changes. Everything becomes dizzyingly fast. But I remain as I am. Would there be any human who could understand the sensation of eras changing when you blink? It's absolutely impossible except for hyung."

Ah. When he said it like this, he seemed to understand a little.

He had easily passed tens of thousands of years wandering with Aphoom-Zhah, holed up with Eibon in deep mountains, or melted and mixed with Shub-Niggurath.

But Yurik couldn't do that.

He had spent countless time alive and fully awake.

It would have been quite a serious matter for him too.

Yurik now rested his forehead against the back of his hand. He seemed lost in thought, then spoke as if convincing himself.

"So a guy who lived like that pretending to be human for thousands of years is dangerous. I can know because I wasn't human either. ...You'll understand, hyung."

He was asking him to understand his anxiety, his absurd suspicion that his only family might be taken away.

Yurik was saying that.

He had been troubled by Yurik's selfish and arbitrary decision.

If Aphoom-Zhah hadn't stepped forward and said he would go to Asgard, he would probably still be agonizing between Yurik and Aphoom-Zhah.

But.

"I understand. I'm letting it slide just this once. If you decide on your own and throw a tantrum again next time, then you'll get nothing."

"Hyung."

"I'm cutting you slack because you're my younger brother."

While roughly messing up Yurik's fine hair with his empty hand, he repeated to himself.

Even if his younger sibling's created world was going crazy, he should be a bit generous.

Anyway, this Yurik was also a character that kid had created... and at least he hadn't killed him yet.

And it wasn't that he couldn't understand the heart of Yurik who was speaking like this now.

He and Yurik had really many similarities. Even the point of being obsessed with their only family was the same.

When he stroked his head, Yurik looked up at him with confusion but joy, as if he had expected him to get angry or disappointed without any solution.

Seeing that, he just laughed.

"What do you mean you like hyung?"

Yes, really.

If he returned with his younger sibling, he would have to tell him what he had done in that kid's story.