I Became the Savior of the Final Boss

Prologue

「Just…….」

Grace Euclid, once a knight of a fallen empire and a master of swordsmanship called the Weapon Master.

Amidst the vivid bloom of death, she was speaking.

「I wished you would look back at me…….」

She felt sorrowful that the gaze that had brushed past everything in the world never once stopped on her.

「That you would call my name…….」

Even when all the names of those by her side disappeared and she was left alone, she resented that you never once called those four syllables—Grace.

Absurdly, none of this might have happened if only there had been a single glance, a single calling of her name.

「…….」

Grace brought her hand to her hollow chest.

It wasn’t just a metaphor.

There was literally a hole the size of a fist pierced through her chest.

It was the most painful wound, made by the one she loved most.

Blood gushed from between her lips.

And over that, her tears streamed down.

Amidst the mingled tears of blood, Grace aimlessly.

Just aimlessly stared.

「……I wished.」

Only one person rose in Grace’s fading eyes as they lost their light.

The mage who brought down the empire she had devoted her life to protect—‘Michael Lippenstein’.

No matter how many times life was rewound, he was someone she could never reach.

Grace died loving him to the very end.

***

“What the hell is this…….”

I kept scrolling up and down.

No matter how many times I checked, what I had read didn’t change.

“What the hell is this?”

I replayed Grace’s death in my mind.

The development made no sense.

It was utterly unacceptable.

“You’re going to throw Grace away like this?”

This was an insult to the readers.

An insult to those who had supported the character ‘Grace Euclid’ while reading this novel!

“The author’s such a bastard……”

As planned, Grace should not have died like this—could not have died like this.

Grace was originally someone who sacrificed her life to protect the Empire of Habledown and its commoners.

If her life were a painting, she would be a portrait of a beautiful and righteous person, one who upheld peace and pursued benevolence throughout her life, without a trace of hatred or rage.

“I knew it felt unstable…… in the end……”

……The turning point for Grace came with the appearance of a new ‘heroine’.

The biggest victim of the so-called ‘heroine push’.

After the sudden appearance of a character named ‘Ariel Lippenstein’, Grace wasn’t just treated like air—by the middle of the story, she was twisted into a revenge-obsessed villain who killed indiscriminately, collapsing the setting altogether.

As for the novel’s protagonist, ‘Michael Lippenstein’?

He was a fellow graduate of the imperial sword-and-magic academy, ‘Springwind’, along with Grace.

They were even childhood friends who had been promised to each other in marriage by their families. And yet this bastard suddenly fell for some Ariel person and dumped his fiancée, getting all flirty with her……

“The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.”

Anyway, Grace should not have died like this.

“Shinsseun, you’re done for today. I’ll show you how terrifying a devoted reader can become when betrayed.”

This was no different from an author who, swayed by comments, threw a core character they had painstakingly built into the trash.

I opened the comment section and smashed my thumbs into the screen with fury.

[GraceRoyalGuard: I’m one of the readers who has been faithfully following this series. But did Grace really have to die? In chapter 137, she suddenly loses her left arm, and in 138, her disciples laugh at her because she can’t wield a sword properly anymore. In chapter 152, Grace turns into a vengeful spirit after finding out she was attacked under orders from the Noir family head. In 155, she massacred civilians as part of a contract with a demon. I endured all of that. But seriously, starting from the arm loss—what kind of Weapon Master loses an arm to a mere aura user? That’s a total setting collapse! Still, I kept reading. I thought since Grace was the main heroine, she wouldn’t be killed off. But you killed her. Today. Easily, at that. Is this really okay? I’ve endured the writer’s nonsense before, but today I can’t anymore.]

I poured out my fury like a drunkard vomiting while clinging to a streetlamp.

My anger, converted into words, filled an entire page of comments.

Then a notification popped up—someone had replied to my comment.

ㄴ[AdvanceTrooper999: And what if you can’t endure it? lol]

“This bastard?”

But that was only the beginning.

ㄴ[Muyaho: Today’s chapter was amazing. Maybe your taste is just weird???]

ㄴ[Yelled‘StatusWindow’onEnlistmentDay: It’s disgusting how toxic readers pretend to be critics. Don’t act like you’ve read everything when it’s obvious you haven’t. Tsk tsk.]

ㄴ[SlaveofDaisy: Honestly, I was a bit sad Grace died too, but after massacring civilians, it would’ve been weirder if she didn’t die.]

ㄴ[qRuRup: It’s been obvious Ariel was the main girl for a while lol]

ㅤㄴ[ArielRoyalGuard: Ariel! Ariel! Ariel! Grace out!]

Before I knew it, the comment section was flooded with people bashing me.

They said I didn’t read properly, that Ariel had always been the true heroine—ridiculous nonsense.

Fuming, I furiously typed out curse after curse.

But one person couldn’t take on the mob.

My comment was soon reported and blinded, and I was showered with all sorts of slurs while still conscious.

“Goddamn it!”

I slammed my phone down and collapsed onto the bed.

I couldn’t calm down at all.

Instead, Grace’s death and the readers’ reactions kept piling up in my head, making me feel nauseated with shame.

Some might laugh, saying why get so worked up over a web novel.

They wouldn’t understand.

But this novel,「The Genius Mage of Springwind」, wasn’t just some ‘web novel’ to me.

This novel, to me, was ‘one of those days’.

“……”

One of those days when I’d failed to land a job for the third year.

One of those days when I had never dated anyone and just filled seats at friends’ weddings.

One of those days when I finally got hired only to be stuck with a psycho senior who made every day hell.

One of those days when I stood dazed on the subway for over two hours, came home to a dark studio apartment, and fell asleep in messy loneliness.

Work I had to mess up to learn, no one ever taught me.

Mistakes that led to my senior calling me a worthless piece of shit.

Lunches spent alone with the same packed meal every day.

The endless repetition of those days.

This novel was my reason for living through ‘those days’.

It started by chance.

I just happened to notice it—by pure chance.

It only had about ten chapters back then.

That’s when I began reading Grace.

She desperately fought to save everyone.

I read about her while eating lunch.

I read her story in a subway corner after work.

I read about her in the middle of my messy loneliness.

I always read her.

She was in every moment.

Because of her, I endured.

Even on days when living felt unbearable, I’d go back to her bookmarked page and read it again and again.

Grace Euclid. She was the savior of my life.

Though made of mere text, her depiction engraved in my retina was vivid.

Sometimes when I closed my eyes in exhaustion or saw her in dreams, she lived and breathed before me.

So every time Grace fell, I too felt like I was crumbling.

……And you bastards killed my Grace.

***

[Grace is the protagonist’s fiancée. Plus, she’s beautiful.]

[Without Grace, who will protect the empire? Also, she’s beautiful.]

[I can’t even imagine this novel without Grace. I’m quitting—you go handle logistics.]

At first, most readers, including myself, responded with comments like these.

But a novel is the author’s world.

If the author wishes, they can turn a beloved character into a total scumbag in an instant.

When Grace, a Weapon Master, got ambushed and lost her left arm to mere aura-user Ariel, I quietly turned the page.

Because I believed it was part of the author’s build-up to give her new strength.

When Grace learned the truth and turned into a vengeful spirit, I turned the page quietly.

Because I believed her blade of revenge would strike true.

When she made a pact with a demon and massacred civilians.

When she clashed with the protagonist and shattered their relationship.

When she devoured her own disciples and turned into a monster.

When she still dropped hints of retaining her humanity.

When she had a chance to recover her old self but didn’t.

When it was revealed she was only a fake final boss.

When she suddenly joined the real final boss with no buildup.

When she abandoned everyone, and everyone abandoned her.

Only I never abandoned Grace.

Not even for a moment. I believed.

That my Grace would return someday.

Even if it was in the epilogue after everything had ended……I believed in you, you bastard author.

“Haa⸺”

A sigh of deep regret spilled from my chest.

The heat drained from my body, and I started to calm down.

I turned my smartphone back on.

Yeah. The novel wasn’t over yet.

It was a fairly popular series, so maybe in the epilogue, or at least a side story, Grace might come back……

The moment I logged in to delete my comment.

“Huh?”

A notification popped up.

I was about to dismiss it as another ad, but then I remembered my comment and checked.

[You have received ‘1’ message.]

A message?

[Sender: Shinsseun]

……It was the author.

The author of 「The Genius Mage of Springwind」, Shinsseun.

He sent me a message.

[Title: Hello. This is Shinsseun.]

It was my first time receiving a message from an author.

A guy who never even wrote a single notice—why now…… Did he read my comment?

[Would you like to change it?]

Change?

What.

[The fate of ‘Grace Euclid’.]

The fate of Grace……?

[I believe you might be able to change it.]

What are you talking about?

No, you’re the one who can change her fate!

You just have to revise it and Grace will……

[Please save her.]

……What?

Fwoosh

As if someone shut a book, my vision suddenly folded in half.

And when it opened again, a new world unfolded before my eyes.