I Became A Side Character Fated To Suffer-Chapter 27:Your Nightmare Has Just Begun

My remaining hand trembled uncontrollably.

The pain was gone and that was the worst part.There was no sign of throbbing nerves, nor any burning flesh.

Just the warm, wet sensation of blood dripping steadily onto the floor.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Noel rested his chin on his palm, watching me like a scientist observing a lab rat adjusting to a new environment.

"See?" Noel said lightly. "You’re adapting already. That’s good. I appreciate growth."

My thoughts were in complete chaos.

Okay.

He knows.

He knows about developers.

He knows about transmigration.

He cut my hand off like he was slicing a cake.

He healed the pain.

He enjoys this.

This is not a random cliched guy that they had designed to suffer.This was the fucking final boss walking at the front step wearing the face of losses.

Noel snapped his fingers again.

The blood on the floor stopped spreading.

It froze in place.

Literally.

Like time refused to let it move further without his permission.

"Now," Noel continued casually, "we establish terms."

He stood up and began pacing slowly in a circle around me.

Each step was deliberate and measured, as if done to create more chaos and fear.

"You said yes," Noel reminded me. "Which means you are the developer."

He stopped directly in front of me.

"Developer of what?"

I hesitated and just then I saw his shadow twitched.

That sight made me wonder if his shadow was even alive.

Noel smiled wider.

"Careful," he whispered. "My patience regenerates slower than your pain."

I forced myself to breathe.

"It’s... it’s a game."

Noel tilted his head.

"A game."

"Yes."

Silence stretched.

Then—

Noel laughed.

"So," he said, eyes gleaming, "you’re telling me my life is some fucking stupid downloadable content for others to enjoy?"

"Fuck..That’s deep and saddening."

I swallowed.

"I didn’t.. I mean.. it’s not like that—"

Noel suddenly crouched down to eye level.

"Am I coded to suffer?" he asked pleasantly.

I froze.

"...Yes."

The word slipped out before I could stop it.

The room went still.

Even the shadows paused. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Noel blinked once.

Then twice.

Then he started laughing.

This time louder.

"Hahahahaha—"

He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, that is rich."

He stood up and stretched his arms slightly.

"So all that tragedy... all that blood... all that so-called destiny..."

He looked down at me.

"Was because of some stupid fucking code?"

My heart pounded violently.

This was bad.. It was very bad.

Not because he was laughing, rather it’s because this guy was taking it too well.

He’s taking it way too well.

Noel suddenly grabbed me by the collar and lifted me slightly off the ground.

"Tell me," he said, voice low now—no playfulness.

"Was I supposed to die?"

My mind blanked.

Don’t lie.

Don’t lie.

"...Yes."

The temperature in the room dropped.

Noel stared at me with a piercing gaze..

"When?"

"After you arrive here."

A slow smile spread across his face.

"Oh."

He gently set me back down.

"That explains so much."

He turned away, running a hand through his hair.

"So I broke the script."

His shoulders began to shake slightly.

Not from anger.

From laughter barely contained.

"I wasn’t supposed to survive."

He looked over his shoulder.

"And yet here I am."

Shadow thickened behind him like wings.

I wanted to say that you were alive at this point in the game but I am afraid to even say it.

"Tell me something, Mr Developer."

His voice dropped into something far more dangerous than before.

"When I kill you..."

He stepped closer.

"...does the system crash?"

My breath hitched.

System?

He thinks there’s a system?

"No— there’s no system like that—"

Noel’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You don’t have the power of the system."

He tapped his chin.

I flinched and shouted wildly.

"I am telling the truth.. I don’t have any system.. I fucking swear.. So please stop with your hysteria.."

That word felt worse.

Noel’s smile returned.

"Well.. Then what is your special golden finger.."

I was about to think when Noel—

He picked up my severed hand again and casually tossed it up and down like a ball.

"Its the laptop.."

"Laptop?" Noel asked, looking at the table.

"That.."

"Yes there is a laptop but you can’t see it.. I swear it.." I roared.

Noel paused, thinking deeply, and asked, "Wait a minute..."

He thought for a moment and decided to ask and confirm if it’s similar.

"Is it similar to TNE and I will kill the Author!"

"Yes... Absolutely.. Ye—" I paused in the middle of speech and looked at Noel in absolute horror.

What?

No..

This doesn’t make sense.

It’s impossible but..

"Wait... Don’t tell me you too.."

There was no hard and first rule that I am the only one.

Instead of answering, Noel cast a catchy devilish smile that made my heart jump wildly.

"Congratulations."

He stopped tossing it.

His gaze sharpened, and he snapped his finger.

The next moment, a blinding flash erupted.

"GAGGGGGGG!" I screamed in panic and jumped, only to fall down smashed onto the floor with a heavy slam.

"Ouchh!"

I groaned softly as my body felt heavy, as if someone had smashed me with a hammer and then politely put me back together afterward. Slowly, I pushed myself up from the floor.

"...Ugh."

My vision was still slightly blurry, and the room spun for a moment before stabilizing. Then something strange caught my attention.

My hand.

I froze as my eyes widened while staring at the wrist that had been brutally severed minutes ago.

It was... there.

Perfectly there.

There were no stitches, no scar, no blood, and no sign of a cut.

Nothing.

My fingers moved once, twice, three times, and they worked perfectly.

Sweat began pouring down my face as I slowly rotated my wrist, inspecting every inch of it as if expecting the limb to suddenly fall off again.

"What the hell..."

My voice trembled as I grabbed my wrist with my other hand and squeezed it.

It hurt.

Pain.

The pain of being alive.

Not missing limb pain.

My breathing quickened.

"Is that... a dream.."

My eyes darted around the room.

The floor was clean. There was no blood, no severed hand, no frozen droplets, and no shadow blades.

Nothing.

The chair stood quietly near the table while the window curtains swayed gently in the night breeze.

Everything looked normal.

Too normal.

My heart pounded harder as I wiped the sweat dripping down my face and slowly exhaled.

"Did I... sleep?"

"...Ha."

A weak laugh escaped me.

"Right... of course. Stress hallucination. That makes sense."

I rubbed my temples and muttered to myself.

"Getting my hand cut off by a psycho side Character... yeah, that’s definitely the brain coping mechanism."

I was just about to sigh in relief when a voice suddenly cut through the air.

"Cut the crap."

The voice came from behind me.

It was so cold and familiar that it almost made me cry.

Why now?

"Kyaaa—!"

I jumped up in pure terror, nearly slipping as I spun around.

My eyes locked onto the bed.

And there he was.

Noel sat casually on the edge of the bed with one leg crossed over the other and elbows resting on his knee. His expression was completely serious, and his eyes were staring directly at me, watching and waiting like a predator enjoying the moment its prey realizes it never escaped.

My face was drained of color.

"Y–You—"

Noel tilted his head slightly.

"Don’t think that it’s over."

His voice was quiet, but it carried a weight that pressed against the air as the faint shadow behind him slowly stretched across the floor.

My stomach dropped.

Noel’s lips curved into a small, chilling smile.

"Your nightmare," he said calmly, "has just begun."

"And so do others.."