The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health – Chapter 360

Author: Asternkm

‘Ha… how did I end up like this?’

Clare clung tightly to Arellin as they walked straight into the heart of the magical storm, where even the slightest collision felt like it would tear their entire bodies to pieces.

Gulp.

‘No matter how I think about it, this feels completely insane.’

And yet, the person suggesting this insane act was right beside her.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of thing someone who wanted to quit life altogether would do?

‘Even if my sync rate drops, maybe this wasn’t the path I should’ve taken…?’

Only then did Clare blink and nervously check her status window.

【Current Sync Rate: 64%】

…At least it didn’t drop any further.

Feeling relieved for just a moment, Clare glanced sideways at Arellin.

‘Just who is this woman?’

She had thought of her as just an NPC, but now that she thought about it, everything felt strange.

Could it be… someone like me? A possessed person?

‘Did the status window bring in another player besides me?!’

Filled with a sense of betrayal, Clare glared at the status window, but unlike usual, it showed no response at all.

Still, there was one piece of good news for her.

She finally understood why this crazy woman wanted to bring her along.

‘Huh…?!’

It was strange. They had clearly entered a magical storm that raged like countless blades, yet around the two of them, it was calm—like a gentle breeze.

‘Why?’

As Clare tilted her head, unable to understand, Arellin muttered beside her.

“Wow… it actually works.”

“……”

Hey. You’re the one who said we should come.

Clare shot Arellin a sharp look at that irresponsible comment, but Arellin only shrugged and played dumb.

Still, the two of them stayed pressed close together.

‘I’m scared.’

Only the space around them was calm. What they could see was utterly devastating.

Buildings that had been perfectly fine just a few hours ago were ripped out by the roots, shattered into pieces, and swept along by the magical storm. It was awe-inspiring—but since she was inside the storm herself, it was terrifying enough to make her legs shake.

‘If that hits me, wouldn’t I just die?’

Even more frightening was how the scenery changed the deeper they went. The color of the sky shifted, the ground twisted, and the world itself looked warped, as if it were being rebuilt—like stepping into another dimension.

“Do we really have to go even deeper?!”

Unlike Clare, who wanted to stop and turn back right now, Arellin remained completely calm, as if she’d seen scenes like this countless times before.

“We’re still far. Let’s keep going.”

“More?! From here?!”

“Yeah. We don’t have time to drag our feet.”

“No, what’s even in there that you’re risking your life for?! Is it something super important?! Important enough to die for? Huh?!”

“My dad is in there.”

“…Dads are important.”

Swallowing back tears, Clare forced her trembling legs to move forward. The scenery, growing closer to the reverse world the deeper they went, clawed at her emotions and sanity.

Noticing her condition, Arellin spoke.

“Were you forced into possession? Or did you choose it yourself?”

【Current Sync Rate: 59%】

As soon as Arellin opened her mouth, the sync rate dropped sharply, and Clare shouted,

“Please stop saying things like that! Am I going to get sent back?!”

“Clare was originally my friend.”

Clare flinched without realizing it. Her eyes wavered.

‘The protagonist’s friend…?’

That was usually the helper role.

The person now possessing Clare’s body knew nothing about that.

But if that fact was the reason she got found out—!

‘Then what am I even supposed to say right now?’

Sorry for possessing your friend?

As Clare’s lips moved uselessly, unable to find words, Arellin asked in a heavy voice,

“Where did my friend go?”

Naturally, Clare couldn’t answer that question.

****

Seeing Clare’s reaction, I was certain.

‘So it really is game possession. I was already pretty sure after seeing something called Player Protection Rules.’

When I first tested her, I had considered the tiny chance that Clare had simply lost her childhood memories—but this conversation confirmed that wasn’t the case.

Clare stared at me with violently shaking eyes, like she was looking at the Grim Reaper, but I didn’t plan to do anything to her right now.

‘My dad is more important at the moment.’

But if she was possessed through a game, did that mean this novel had been turned into a game too?

Why…?

Author, did you finish the story in that timeline?

You probably did. Every author wants to finish their work.

…That kind of stings.

While one unfinished victim felt wronged, the scenery around us continued to grow more and more bizarre.

At some point, it looked so much like the reverse world that I wondered if I had crossed over without realizing it.

And at the very center of the magical storm—where only a gentle breeze remained, even without the Player Protection Rules—

I stopped and said goodbye to Clare.

“You can go back now.”

I had no choice.

Because at the center of the storm, there was only a single massive structure.

A giant wedge-shaped crystal, piercing from the sky straight into the ground.

“Y-you… you’re going in there?!”

Clare stared at me like I’d lost my mind, but after coming this far, I had no other option.

“Yeah. If we both survive, let’s meet again later.”

***

Pession had arrived at a safe zone where the magical storm was clearly visible, dragged along by Mehen. Exhausted from stopping Pession from chasing after Arellin, Mehen collapsed onto the ground.

“…?”

Staring intently at the center of the storm where Arellin had disappeared, Pession tilted his head.

“Didn’t it… get a little smaller just now?”

Mehen, who hadn’t seen it while panting for breath, couldn’t agree or disagree.

At Mehen’s indifferent shrug, Pession bit his lip.

“I should have gone with her.”

“I don’t think so. Wouldn’t you have just gotten in the way?”

At Mehen’s quick denial, Pession’s shoulders drooped.

“…Lately, it feels like I’m getting farther and farther away from Arel.”

Thinking about all the disasters that had happened before he could even celebrate Arellin’s return, he frowned deeply.

He had never thought of himself as weak or useless before, yet whenever it came to Arellin, he felt unbearably small.

Seeing Pession like that, Mehen understood. Being unable to do anything for someone you love and cherish was a truly awful feeling.

Mehen gently patted Pession’s shoulder.

“When Arellin comes back… greet her with a smile. Our Arel likes that the most.”

Was that really possible?

Just as Pession turned to Mehen with doubtful eyes—

Paat—.

Along with a heavy silence, as if something enormous had come to a halt, the magical storm that had been raging and swelling suddenly stopped.

“……!”

What appeared was a wedge-shaped crystal, as massive as a mage tower.

“What on earth is that…?”

The crystallized crystal looked like a simple gemstone at first glance, but in reality, it was a mass of extremely condensed energy.

‘Looks like high-density energy gathered by the mana storm.’

Energy that had torn open the reverse world, spilled into reality, and been forcibly gathered had solidified into such a beautiful form—an oddly striking sight.

The problem was that I couldn’t enjoy it as a carefree tourist.

‘I can go inside.’

My worry that it might be completely inaccessible vanished the moment I placed my hand on the crystal and felt a heart-like resonance.

Thump

I felt it.

That inside this thick crystal shell, there was an entirely different world.

‘I never thought I’d use my ability in a place like this.’

After Clare left, standing at the very center of the magical storm—still raging as if it wanted to devour everything except this one spot—I used Halbern’s ability, [Key Successor].

Giiiiing—.

A door opened, one that only I could pass through. The moment I slipped inside, I felt something change outside, but the door had already closed.

‘Well, the others will figure it out somehow.’

Right now, the biggest problem was me.

The world inside the crystal.

As I looked at the scenery of the world I had entered using the Key Successor ability, I was left speechless.

‘No… this is…?’

I had braced myself, but I never imagined something like this.

‘Why is there nothing here?’

The world inside the crystal was a true void— a world of absolute nothingness.