The Uninvited Father

Dylan Brown. Elisha Brown's adoptive father and the true mastermind behind everything. A man who held dominion over Elisha by exploiting her fragile mind.

Sohee swiftly masked her alarm and stepped out from behind the front desk to greet him.

"This way, please, sir."

Even as she smiled and welcomed him, her thoughts were tangled into a hopelessly complicated knot.

So this was the man she'd wanted to tell Elisha to cast off—told her, in effect, to regress and take her revenge on.

Focus. He's a guest.

Thankfully, Sohee knew her duty well. Every supporting character who came seeking Hoe-Bing-Hwan was a precious guest, and these were people who had merely moved as an author intended. If they had chosen to come here instead of dissolving into Oblivion, she owed them gratitude and respect.

…At least, that was how it was supposed to work.

"Hoe-Bing-Hwan? Ha! Why on earth would I do something like that?"

He stretched himself out along the sofa with a bored expression.

"I have no business with this establishment. I came to see Elisha Brown. That girl."

"……"

"Don't bother telling me she's not here. She came here, of that I'm certain."

She has a reason to go back, that one.

Dylan smirked, as if he'd already deduced everything down to Elisha's state of mind.

"I'm afraid I can't confirm who is or isn't staying here. And even if she were, you wouldn't be able to meet her."

"Ha. I took you for a child, but you've got a rotten core, don't you."

He plucked a heavy ring from one of his stubby fingers and tossed it carelessly onto the table.

"We both know she's here, so that's enough. Consider that your fee for showing me to her room."

Sohee stared at the ring, studded all around with gems—jewels of every hue glittering brilliantly. Noticing how her eyes simply wouldn't leave it, Dylan swallowed a sneer.

Tch. Greedy little thing. She'll pocket it anyway.

Dylan Brown had dealt with plenty of public officials who liked to keep up appearances in exactly this fashion. To spare himself the wait, he braced his cane and heaved himself to his feet.

"Lead the way. I really must see her."

"Sir."

Sohee lightly blocked his path as he moved to step past her.

"What is it now?"

"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible."

"What?"

"I'm saying you can't go in."

Dylan could hardly believe his ears. The owner of the weakest, poorest motel in all of Wicheon, standing in his way? Just because he happened to limp, this skinny scrap of a woman thought she could stop a man of his build?

He thrust his cane out and waved it back and forth in front of her.

"Move."

"……"

"Honestly, what a nuisance!"

When Sohee still refused to budge, Dylan's famously short patience ran dry in an instant.

"You won't step aside?"

Sohee's shoulder lurched sideways. He had laid hands on the motel's manager.

At the front desk, the staff huddled together lifted their heads.

"Did you see that? He shoved her shoulder just now, right? He touched her first!"

Riri shot up from her seat, beside herself.

"Yep. He definitely touched her."

"I saw it too."

Dylan raised his hand once more at Sohee, who still would not step aside. With a push of negligible force, she slid a step to the side.

Riri gasped, horrified.

"…What do we do?"

Her eyes were already glistening with tears. Beside her, Kuku shook his head slowly.

"I know. What's that man going to do with himself now?"

In the next instant, Dylan's enormous body spun through the air. He had no idea what had happened; by the time he collected himself, he was already flat on the floor, the back of his neck pinned firmly beneath Sohee's hand.

"Ugh—urk! Hey, let go of me, will you?!"

"Breaking and entering is not permitted."

"Breaking and—? I came to see my own daughter!"

His face had gone crimson from the pressure on his throat, and he thrashed with all his might. Sohee held him down without the slightest waver, and calmly informed him of what would happen next.

"Leave quietly now, and you won't be dragged off to the Wicheon security force."

"How dare you! Do you think I'll just take this lying down? Assaulting an innocent character!"

"If that's your position, then by all means, let's call the security force. Tell them you were assaulted. I'll tell them I acted in legitimate self-defense."

"I only gave you a little shove!"

"So did I."

Since becoming the motel's manager, Sohee had gained exactly one ability: the frail manager had been granted the physical strength and speed needed to protect the motel.

True, it could only be used within the motel's walls—but for guarding the building and its guests, it was an extraordinarily useful power.

"Let go! Let go, I said! I won't go in, so get off me!"

Without mercy, Sohee slowly lifted her hand from where it had been pressing into the back of his neck. Groaning, Dylan clutched at his nape and somehow managed to haul himself upright.

Sohee picked up the cane he'd dropped and handed it back to him.

"Are you quite all right, sir?"

"Is— is this woman out of her mind?!"

At the sound of Dylan's thunderous roaring, Elisha flinched and shrank into herself.

Riri had come upstairs just moments ago and told her who had arrived. From that instant, Elisha had been peering out the window, revealing nothing of herself but her eyes.

Why did he have to follow me all the way here?

She pressed her hands over her ears against Dylan's bellowing voice.

"Elisha! How dare you defy me! After everything I did to raise you!"

"It's all for your sake, my dear. Finish this one thing and you'll have everything you ever wanted. Even Cedric Pattinson, the man you desire so desperately!"

And that day, her trembling hands had been given a small vial. Inside it swirled a violet liquid said to drain a saintess of her holy power.

"…I can't."

Elisha's hollow eyes shook violently. Her nails rose out of long habit, and she raked them roughly across the back of her hand.

"…I can't do it. I just… can't."

"You foolish girl! All you have to do is what you're told! To have so little faith in me after all the years we've lived together—what was it all for? If you refuse, then go back to the Belor convent this instant!"

"No—no, please, don't make me…."

Crushed beneath the surge of agonizing memories, Elisha squeezed her eyes shut.

The back of her hand, which she'd been scratching raw, was on the verge of bleeding now. Her breath came short and her head swam. The air in the room seemed to be drying up around her; her chest tightened until she could hardly breathe, and cold sweat poured down her like rain.

And then—

"I take full responsibility for everything that happens inside these walls."

A firm voice drifted up from outside the window. Barely clinging to her fading consciousness, Elisha turned and looked out.

Dylan Brown was glaring at Sohee, his face contorted in a deep scowl.

"So? Am I to understand you think I'm planning to do something?"

"……"

Sohee simply looked him dead in the eye. His face flushed a shade darker, and he barked at her.

"Absurd! Do you have any idea what happens if you cause trouble in Wicheon? Character Deletion, that's what. Deletion!"

Character Deletion meant being wiped not only from every work one had ever lived in, but barred from appearing in any new story ever again. It meant being unable to become so much as a Village resident—erased completely from the works, and from the memories of readers.

Which was why, no matter how bitter a history two characters shared within a story, once they arrived in Wicheon they were expected to wash away every lingering grudge. Go your way, and I'll go mine. It was wretched knowing you—let's never meet again.

If that rule did not exist, more than half of those who came to Wicheon would arrive half-mad with the need to kill each other.

Dylan clutched his head. No bribe worked here, no power held sway—so what was he supposed to do? He decided to try the old approach.

"You have no idea how my daughter and I parted ways, do you…? How dear it all was, once."

"One glance at a Life Record tells me very clearly what sort of father and adoptive daughter the two of you were."

"…Fine. I'll admit I didn't treat her well. But surely that means I deserve time to air old grievances and bid her a final farewell, before she dissolves."

Sohee regarded him steadily.

"Apologies are made before death, sir. The most foolish apology of all is the one made at a graveside—spoken to a person who isn't there to hear it, purely so the one apologizing can sleep at night…."

"Well, really! Have you no shame at all? This is a dying person's final wish!"

"If she's dead, why would you grant her wishes?"

Sohee glanced briefly toward the staircase. From the very beginning, she had asked Riri to let Elisha know who had come—so that if she wished to speak with him, she could come down on her own.

Plenty of time had passed now, and Elisha had not shown herself. That was her choice. Which meant it was time for Sohee to send this unwelcome guest on his way.

"Everyone who comes here sheds the character they've been and prepares for a new beginning. The same goes for you, Dylan Brown. Your story is finished now—forget the past and leave. The proper way."

"……"

"Then do travel safely."

Sohee bowed her head deeply. Surely even he would leave now. And even if he tried to seek out Elisha, so long as Sohee stood here, he would never be permitted to.

"And where exactly would I go?"

When she raised her head, he was leaning back against the sofa again, his face suddenly restored to ease.

"I've changed my mind."

"…I'm not sure I follow."

"I intend to undergo the Hoe-Bing-Hwan. As for my final decision—well, I'll hear the counseling first. The grace period is one week, correct?"