Chapter 14
≪<CHOICE 1> Who will Sola choose to be with?
Crown Prince – Leonard
Duke – Tyren
Merchant – Julio
Hostage – Luciel
Holy Knight – Fedwin
Other – etc.≫
The first “husband selection” gate in this medieval world was undoubtedly one of the cruelest moments for the player, and it started by having them choose from a lineup of male characters meant to sway their fragile heart.
Now that the steady stream of male characters had calmed down a bit, Seung-eon stared at the holographic choices hovering in front of her and let out a groan.
If it was true that Seung-eon had met her real-life boyfriend through “Echo”…
Then he had to be one of the five characters who had visited her in prison up until now.
But then why did all of these options display character names?
‘Didn’t it say the one I chose was a hidden character?’
If she made a choice now… would that reveal one of them to have been the hidden character all along?
‘But I’m not drawn to any of them.’
All the male characters listed were undeniably good-looking.
But strangely, they each seemed to be missing a screw. In real life, she wouldn’t have liked their reckless personalities or their extreme religious devotion.
‘Are you sure my boyfriend is among them?’
Just as she was about to pout from not liking any of the choices—
‘Huh?’
It was still the dim dawn, before sunrise.
The cold air of that hour filled the damp prison cell completely, and suddenly, Seung-eon’s body began moving on its own.
‘What the—!’
Right now, Seung-eon could still think freely, but she couldn’t speak or act by her own will.
This was a “replay” — a reenactment of a scene from a past game event.
Her uncontrollable body moved toward the iron bars of the cell.
Gripping the seemingly sturdy bars tightly, she tried to push them sideways with force.
“What are you doing?”
A blunt guard who had been observing her closely spoke.
Before she could even feel embarrassed, Seung-eon’s lips moved on their own again.
“I’m trying to get out of here.”
The guard’s eyes flickered slightly at her words.
“On your own?”
Instead of answering, Seung-eon simply raised the corners of her eyes. The guard glanced around before speaking again.
“Isn’t someone going to help you? You’d be better off waiting.”
Seung-eon smiled faintly and shrugged.
“I don’t need anyone’s help.”
Then the voice escaped her lips.
“If I can do something on my own, I do my best within those limits. That’s my principle.”
Finishing her sentence, she seemed to feel no need to continue talking. She grabbed the bars again and tried to force them open.
Clank!
That’s when it happened.
Creeeak.
Suddenly, with the sound of metal, the prison door rattled and opened. The guard, who hadn’t budged even when many male characters had demanded the door be opened, had opened it himself.
“Go ahead.”
Seung-eon looked at him in disbelief.
“Wasn’t that door only supposed to open at sunrise?”
The guard replied,
“I changed my mind.”
As he said those words with a faint smile, a new holographic choice appeared before Seung-eon.
≪USER 【Seung-eon】, Hidden Character no. 928 discovered!≫
≪USER 【Seung-eon】, would you like to escape the prison with Hidden Character no. 928?≫
⦙
Seung-eon’s hesitant finger moved.
“Captain, that way! They went that way!”
“Hurry!”
“I heard His Highness the Crown Prince and the Holy Knight Commander are fighting!”
“What?! What are those two doing?! Dammit. You follow me, and you two go with Greg!”
When word spread that the “witch” who had charmed many men and been sentenced to death had escaped right before her execution, the palace erupted into chaos.
But the accused “witch,” Seung-eon, seemed unfazed and was already passing through the palace gates.
Clop clop.
Neigh!
Seung-eon sat in a small carriage and slowly turned her head to look at the man holding the reins beside her.
The man with golden hair, now revealed under his helmet, was staring straight ahead.
‘Hidden Character no. 928…’
Back when she had participated as a beta tester, her game log included the following entries:
[20XX-10-19 06:06:45] PlayerID:11221111 Initiated ‘Prison Break’
[20XX-10-19 07:04:10] PlayerID:11221111 Accompanied ‘Hidden Character no. 928’
She had thought he was just a unique guard NPC.
But the man she’d assumed to be a mere extra turned out to be a hidden character.
‘Wait.’
Come to think of it, with this character…
[20XX-10-19 10:02:11] PlayerID:11221111 Kissed ‘Hidden Character no. 928’
They kissed too, didn’t they?
As Seung-eon watched the sharp-jawed blond guard driving the carriage past the palace—
“Is something wrong?”
In both past and present, her unrelenting stare seemed to have caught his attention.
Without turning his gaze away from the road, the blond guard spoke.
And right on cue, Seung-eon’s lips moved again without her consent.
“Why did you follow me?”
The guard’s dark eyes flickered. Past Seung-eon, curious as ever, continued her questioning.
“You could’ve been branded a traitor for helping me. You might even lose your life.”
Of course, this was a romance game where the player wouldn’t die. But in-game characters could die at any time.
Wasn’t he afraid?
After a moment of silence, the guard finally replied.
“Seemed like fun.”
Not exactly a normal line.
‘Is that why I chose him?’
While following the traces of her own mysterious past decisions, Seung-eon felt the corners of her mouth twitch.
“Well… I’m not known for being boring.”
At her confident reply, the guard let out a soft snort.
“Oh, right. I forgot to ask the most important thing. What’s your name?”
She’d spent more time with him than any other male character in Echo—
And yet, she never even knew his name.
‘Maybe his name holds a clue!’
Admiring her own cool-headedness in the past, Seung-eon waited for the silent guard to finally speak.
“…Theo.”
After a brief pause, the name finally came out, etching itself into her memory.
“Theo.”
The golden-haired guard, hair glimmering like ripened grain, was looking at her.
‘He looks just like…’
Someone.
But her mind was still cloudy, as if filled with fog.
Clunk!
At that moment—
Seung-eon’s body jolted upward. The carriage must have hit a rock.
“Te—”
As her slightly lifted body fell back down, she noticed—
The man next to her had turned his face toward her.
And the distance between the two, which had been safely maintained until now, suddenly closed as the carriage shook again beneath a golden sky.
Seung-eon’s eyes widened.
‘Ah… No, wait!’
Surely not…
‘They’re not going to kiss just like this, right?’
Seriously? Just because the carriage bounced?
Even for a game, this was ridiculous—
But Seung-eon didn’t get the chance to finish that thought.
There was no time to resist.
Her body, no longer under her control, fell straight toward the man.
“Mmph!”
And so, in midair—
Their lips met.
