When I finished reading that novel, I thought it was a beautiful story.
However, I also thought that I absolutely wouldn’t want to be the protagonist.
The synopsis is simple.
It’s a story about a young adventurer who had been listless after being told he had a year to live, meeting a young female adventurer who was living positively despite having only half a year left, and how they influenced each other as they desperately lived out their remaining time.
The protagonist’s family is a lineage of Light Magic users. They had built their wealth by using their power to heal people’s injuries and illnesses, and purify cursed items.
The protagonist had no talent for Light Magic and was kicked out of his home at a young age.
In such a harsh situation, he somehow managed to make a living as an adventurer.
However, at the age of fourteen, he was afflicted by a curse.
The magical doctors couldn’t remove the curse, and he was told he had a year to live.
He tried to beg his parents for help, but they wouldn’t even try to treat him with Light Magic, and instead, they beat him out, saying, “Didn’t we tell you never to come near us again!”
It’s only natural that he would fall into despair.
The protagonist, who was already listless, reduced his interactions with people even further. The small amount of ambition he once had disappeared, and he spent his days just earning enough to get by.
One day, the protagonist meets the heroine.
She is older than the protagonist, also an adventurer, and had only half a year to live.
The protagonist becomes interested in the heroine, who is much closer to death than he is, yet lives each day so cheerfully.
At first, he thought she was foolish for trying so hard when she was going to die anyway.
But after spending some time together, he had fun.
He realized that he was alive.
The heroine had a notebook called her “Bucket List,” which contained all the things she wanted to do before she died.
They accomplished each item on the list together.
It was like a normal boy and girl going on dates every day.
However, one day.
A giant monster took up residence near the town where they lived. Many people were killed.
The heroine told the protagonist, “Let’s fight the monster.”
“Will you fight and die with me?”
She, who had seemed to shine like the sun, was actually fighting the fear of death.
She wanted to escape the death that was approaching step by step, and was trying to throw herself into a place of death.
It was understandable. It was natural. If he could die with her, that would be fine too.
The protagonist thought so, but he overturned that idea.
He fought desperately against the monster, encouraged the heroine, combined their strength, defeated it, survived, and saved the town.
They couldn’t afford to die.
They still had a mountain of things to do on their bucket list.
The protagonist, who had always been encouraged by the heroine, now gave courage to the heroine and moved the story forward.
The protagonist, who had been listless even before being told he had a limited time to live, finally looked forward.
They vowed to live together again, but a few days later, the heroine died unexpectedly.
There was nothing strange about it.
She had half a year less to live than the protagonist. She just died as planned. That was all.
Even so, the protagonist doesn’t stop.
He clears the remaining items on the bucket list and interacts with people.
He continues to protect the town that he and the heroine had defended, as an adventurer.
As he does so, he realizes that he was actually quite liked by those around him.
Eventually, half a year after the heroine’s death.
The protagonist also died as planned.
He had completed all the items on the bucket list that the heroine had created.
The protagonist died holding a brand-new notebook that was full of blank pages.
From now on, the protagonist will go to meet the heroine.
From now on, they will add things they want to do to the notebook together.
The blank pages are infinitely necessary—
“I think it’s a good story. It’s a typical plot of a story about a limited lifespan, but it feels fresh because it’s set in a fantasy world. The scene descriptions and characters were also good. The idea of accomplishing a bucket list together before dying is common in this genre, but it still hit me hard.”
When I replied like that, Mizuha’s expression brightened, and she nodded her head vigorously.
“Right, right!? Ah, I’m so glad. I was worried about what I would do if Akito-kun said it was boring.”
“Why were you so nervous when you didn’t even write it yourself?”
“W-well, it’s unpleasant when someone close to you says something you thought was interesting is boring, right? And this book, the protagonist’s name is Akito, and the heroine’s name is Mizuha, which is just like us. It feels like this book was written just for us.”
As she said, it was Mizuha who recommended this novel to me.
Hospital life is a battle against boredom, so there is always a shortage of things to pass the time.
That’s why I borrowed it yesterday and finished reading it yesterday.
Mizuha came to my hospital room to hear my impressions, and she was waiting with a serious face for my reaction.
I don’t think a serious face suits Mizuha.
I want her to be laughing like she is now. However, the reason I praised the book she lent me was because it was genuinely interesting.
Mizuha is sixteen years old.
She is at the age where she should be attending high school, and she has apparently passed the entrance exam and has a seat, but she has been hospitalized the whole time, so she hasn’t gone to school even once.
I’m in a similar situation. I’m a middle school student, but I’ve only gone a handful of times. I don’t even remember the names of any of my classmates.
Mizuha and I have been hospitalized in this hospital for many years.
We are close in age, we both like to read, and it didn’t take long for us to become friends.
Because we are good friends, we can also give each other frank opinions.
“Well, it was interesting, but I wouldn’t want to be this protagonist.”
“Why? I’d like to have a wonderful love like that…”
“No. I don’t want to die. If I’m going to be the protagonist, I want to be a protagonist with a happy ending. If I were the protagonist of this story, I would awaken some cheat ability by any means necessary and save both myself and the heroine.”
“What’s that? Akito-kun, haven’t you been reading too much isekai fantasy? What kind of cheat ability are you talking about specifically?”
“Let’s see… In this story, both of them are afflicted by a curse, right? It’s like, if you’re going to purify a curse, it’s Light Magic, but I think a curse is an attribute of darkness. So, the protagonist didn’t have any talent for Light Magic, but he was actually a genius of Dark Magic, and he blows away all the curses with his awakened Dark Magic, how about that?”
“Hmm. You’re fighting poison with poison. That might be interesting. You’d use Dark Magic when everyone thinks Light Magic is effective, and you’d shock everyone around you. Then you’d remove the curse, and the two of you would live happily ever after.”
“No. The protagonist becomes super popular with his cheat ability and makes a harem with lots of heroines.”
The next moment, Mizuha slammed a pillow into my face.
“Akito-kun, you’re only fourteen years old, right!? Having a harem wish at that age means you’ve really been reading too much isekai fantasy!”
“It can’t be helped. I’d rather read a hopeful isekai cheat harem than a heavy story.”
“Oh… Well then. If you and I were reincarnated into another world and actually entered the world of this book, and Akito-kun became the protagonist… would you make me a member of that harem…?”
“That’s… If Mizuha is there, I might not need a harem… Mizuha alone would be fine…”
If Mizuha is there, Mizuha alone is enough.
That’s what I intended to say clearly like a man, but the actual pronunciation was trembling with embarrassment.
How embarrassing.
Mizuha also had a red face and was looking around.
“I-is that so…! Then, I might adopt that cheat Dark Magic happy ending as a backstory! Like, a different route or something!”
“Adopt it? What kind of authority do you have to say that so arrogantly? You’re not the author.”
“Be quiet. Akito-kun is younger and shorter than me, so you should listen to what I say!”
“I’ll grow taller someday. And if we’re reincarnated into another world, there’s a chance that our birth years will be different. I might become older than you.”
“That’s no good. I’ll always be the older sister. Akito-kun will always be small and cute.”
“What’s with that? I’ll definitely live until I’m taller than you. Just you wait.”
The same kind of banter as always. The same kind of days as always.
I wish it could continue like this forever.
But both Mizuha and I knew that the end was near.
A week after I gave my impressions of that book.
Mizuha’s condition suddenly worsened, and she passed away before me.
After Mizuha was gone, I learned that she had a hobby of writing web novels. That she had actually been published. That the one book she lent me was her debut work and her last.
I had the strange experience of presenting a fanfiction setting in front of the author herself, and having it adopted as a backstory.
And half a year after becoming a backstory creator.
My life also came to an end.