Finally, it was the end.

Slowly and meticulously, he had completed the entire plot. Playing his role as tragic lead villain perfectly, not a mission failed. It had taken years, but finally, all the hard work was going to pay off. Soon he will be able to go home.

‘One last mission,’ Asterius’s thinks, staring out across the rolling hills of Midran. He had been living here since he left the heavens 3 months ago. He was fated to die after all, better to disappear in the mortal realm than stir up trouble among the Celestials with his sudden disappearance. Though he wasn’t even a god anymore, would they really care if he died up there instead?

‘One person would,’ a voice in his head says softly, as a memory of unreadable silted red eyes fills his thoughts, ‘he would care.’ Yes, probably Cadeyrn would care, but not because he wanted Asterius alive, but because he couldn’t do the deed himself. Still… no, best not to think about bridges already burned.

[Host!] His cheery System says, the blinking holographic green screen appearing in the air and hovering in front of him.

It had been with him the whole time in this strange world, shadowing his steps, scolding him for acting too out of character and assigning him detailed missions to help advance the plot. Despite all of that, a smile flickers across Asterius’s face, it’s been his only true friend in this novel. He would miss it, even if it did act like a spoiled kindergartener at times.

[Host!] [Host!] [HOST!] The System repeats, the window getting closer to his face each time.

“I’m here System,” he says with an amused, already wistful chuckle, “No need to yell.”

[Host wasn’t paying attention to System!] It complains, the corners of its window diming in a familiar sign Asterius knows is its version of a pout. [Host will be leaving soon, yet Host is too busy watching the evil sun to talk to System!]

“I was just lost in thought,” Asterius clarifies, making a point of turning away from the sunrise to better face the holographic screen, “and since when is the sun “evil” System?”

[Solveig is the sun god, Solveig is mean to Host, being mean to Host is evil, so the sun is evil!]

“You can reason your way into the sun being evil, but you can’t be bothered to use your encyclopedia of knowledge to find the right word for a Panda?”

[Host Said He Would Never Mention That Again!] The message reads in a large, bolded font, [Host is being mean to System!]

“I’m sorry,” he says with a chuckle, as a brisk cold wind runs through the valley, tossing around Asterius’s long silvery hair. With a sigh he wrangles it back under control, carefully braiding it back out of his face, something he wasn’t ever allowed to do while in character, but soon he won’t need to be Asterius anymore.

Hmm, it would probably be better to stop thinking of himself as Asterius then, wouldn’t it? Soon he will be back in his original world, able to live under his real identity, “How much longer System?”

There’s a pause, Asterius-William- he corrects in his thoughts, can almost hear the System’s non-existence gears turning, as a green window pops up.

[5 minutes and 23 seconds.]

He hums, bending down and taking a seat in the fresh dew-covered grass, it stains the edges of the light blue robe he is wearing, hopefully, the original wouldn’t mind too much when he got back. How fitting for a romance novel to end on the first day of Spring.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“What will you do when it’s over System?” he asks. They had talked about this before, was something they spoke often of, but it felt important to address it again now, everything that he had worked for was finally going to happen. How strange to be mourning a journey that isn’t even over yet.

[System will advance!] the text box reads, fake holographic confetti fluttering around them, [System will be in charge of larger and larger worlds, and then System will team up with a creator and make a new world!!!] the bolded font is a telling sign of the System’s excitement, [What will Host do?]

“Go back home,” he says staring out over the mortal world, it was odd being a god for so long, it would take time to relearn being human again, to stop looking at mortals as something to protect instead of well- just humans. “I’ll give my mom the biggest hug I can.” William says, trying to recall his mother’s face, it alludes him now, having been in this new world almost as long as he lived on Earth, maybe even longer, time is funny when you are an immortal, “I’ll probably hug Beth too, even though she’ll complain about it and call me sappy, but as soon as I’m done being thankful I’m back, I’m banning her from ever reading a romance novel again.”

[System will remind Host once again that reading the novel is not-]

“Yes, yes,” William says with a sigh, watching the Royal Sun fully crest the horizon, the sky turning a thousand shades of gold. The sunrises were so strange in this world, it is odd how quickly one can get used to seeing three suns in the sky. “This is really the end huh?”

[2 minutes and 32 seconds remaining until the end of the Epilogue.]

There’s a pause, then a very dim text box appears at his elbow, something the System does when it's unsure, [Does Host not wish to say goodbye to the others?]

A sad smile stretches across his face, he had debated it, almost done it a few times, but he was a coward in the end, William wasn’t really Asterius, it felt wrong to say sorry in his place. “They will be fine, the real Asterius will come back once I go right?”

[That is what System’s database says.]

“Then what would be the point? Sure, maybe I’ve gotten… a little attached,” he confesses, shaking his head to ride himself once more of that crimson gaze, he should really stop thinking about Cadeyrn. It was stupid to ever look at a demon as a friend. “This was never my life. Best to ease the transition for the original.”

[System thinks Host is too nice.]

William can almost hear the blunt unamused tone in that message, it’s probably a good thing the System can only type and not speak, “I’m not nice System, just being a bit polite that’s all.”

[System would like to repeat [System thinks Host is too nice]].

He can’t stop the small chuckle that slips out, even as he waves the screen away, breaking the text box and sending thousands of little pieces of holographic code to flutter about like a dandelion, “Hush you, floating code”

The fractured pieces of static quickly regroup back together a new message appearing, [Does Host want System to count down?]

“Sure,” he says as the sudden memory of the last New Years he spent before coming here resurfaces to the front of his mind. His mother had gotten off work for the next day, and had surprised them by coming home early, carrying a half chocolate half vanilla cake(the only kind they ever bought since he and his sister could never agree on a flavor) and a bag of dollar store party hats and poppers. Fingers covered in frosting and a bit tipsy, they had all gathered around the small tv in the living room, chanting loudly as the seconds till midnight ticked away, “I’ll count with you.”

The System gets a few shades brighter, becoming a soft pastel green.

[Okay!] And a little analog clock appears in the air, counting down to midnight, even though it's somewhere around 6 am, seems System had remembered when he told that story last time, it both warms and cools a part of his heart to see the care. [53!]

“Wait, there’s still a minute left?”

[Host said he would count with System! Count with System!]

He laughs but complies, slowly counting down the numbers as the Blood Sun finally crests the edge of the horizon. Watching the little second hand of the clock tick slowly by, it’s a beautiful peaceful morning, William couldn’t think of a better ending.

[5]

[4]

A new message suddenly blinks to life next to the countdown, small and dim, [System will miss Host]

[3]

He smiles, feeling the sudden sense of loss twist higher in his throat, he really had gotten attached to this world, “I’ll miss you too System.”

[2]

Another message, blinking right next to his face, [Bye.]

He holds a hand out as if to cradle the flicking window of code, “Bye”

[1]

“1”

William takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.