When night finally fell, I didn't go to sleep. Instead, I pulled an all-nighter, staying alert while recording the day's events in my diary under the thin light of the chandelier.
Lumina, who was terrified of the dark, couldn't sleep either. She lay down very close to me until she eventually drifted off.
While she slept, I was busy estimating the timing of my Safe Zone's destruction, using clues from the Main Plot regarding the massacre of Lumina's race.
I realized that my current timeline was perfectly aligned with the main plot. Therefore, the destruction of my Safe Zone is estimated to occur around Chapter 250–300.
However, that is a chapter count, not a day count; a single chapter could easily contain a time skip of a week or more. If converted into actual days, I estimate it will happen in about one and a half to two years from now!
I stopped my pen mid-sentence, staring at the clear countdown to my death.
'About two years, huh?' I gave a wry smile. 'Sigh, at least I have a certain timeframe now. I just have to train even harder.'
Even after realizing that, I didn't stop writing in my diary. Writing is the only identity I have left from Earth: being a Webnovel Author.
Other than that, I've lost everything—my face, my body, and my name—because everyone now knows me as Adrian, not Nathan. Even my memories of my old world are being slowly eroded by Adrian's existence, bit by bit, until I've started to wonder if I ever really existed.
Who am I?
Am I Adrian with future spoilers? Or am I a writer named Nathan who entered his body?
It's completely blurred. I don't know the answer, and I don't even know who is currently asking these questions in my heart.
I've been dealing with this internal struggle since I first arrived in this world. I always avoided the question because every time I thought about it, I felt an urge to claw at my own skin. But now, I have to be brave enough to face it so my heart can find peace.
Thinking it over, there's no point in claiming I'm just one individual, since Adrian's memories feel just as much like mine as Nathan's do. So, instead of continuing like this, I've decided to consider us as two entities that have merged for mutual benefit.
Adrian gains my knowledge, and I gain the family I never got to experience in my previous life.
Simple, right? Our goal is the same: to protect our family.
Suddenly, I felt an incredible sense of relief wash over me.
'Damn, why didn't I think of this sooner?' I smiled wryly while shaking my head.
"Mmmph..." Lumina suddenly groaned weakly in her sleep. She rolled onto her back with her hands resting on either side of her head, causing her chest to stand out beneath her plain, slightly transparent white dress.
Despite her child-like behavior, there was no denying her perfectly developed physical proportions.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't get an erection!
'Good grief, does she have no idea she's sleeping next to a man?' I slowly took my spare robe and covered her chest. My skin crawled with a nervous shiver as I did it.
Then, I shifted my body further away from her.
"Fuh..."
After several boring hours spent reading the guidebook I had brought along, my head and eyes began to feel incredibly heavy. Finally, I couldn't fight the drowsiness any longer.
Just before I drifted off, I felt a very faint vibration in the ground. However, I was far too sleepy to process it, and I finally fell into a deep sleep.