Don't Want to Be Ordinary Even Though I'm an Extra Character

I knelt beside the small wooden shelf beneath Old Man Oldan's bed, my hands trembling slightly as I pulled out the wooden box he mentioned before taking his last breath.

The box was small, simple, with a silver lock that seemed like it hadn't been used in years.

I took the key I had found in Old Man's pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. With a soft turn, a faint clicking sound echoed. Slowly, I opened the box.

Its contents were modest: a few neatly stacked silver coins and a small, weathered book with its leather cover showing signs of age. The coins were probably the small savings he had painstakingly accumulated over the years, but my eyes were immediately drawn to the little book.

I stared at it for a moment before carefully picking it up. The surface was rough, the edges frayed. "What's this…?" I murmured softly.

Closing the box and setting it aside, I sat cross-legged on the wooden floor. Slowly, I opened the first page of the book.

It was Old Man Oldan's diary.

The first few entries in the book began with a story I had never imagined: how Old Man Oldan found Arkan—a young orphan abandoned at the edge of the village.

"He was small, scrawny, and terrified," Old Man wrote in slightly shaky handwriting. "I don't know why I decided to take him home. Maybe because I knew that in this world, a boy like him wouldn't have a chance of surviving on his own."

I held my breath as I read that line. I could feel the weight of that decision in every word he wrote. Old Man had never spoken about Arkan's past, never explained how or why he chose to take him in. But here, in his writing, I caught a glimpse of the reasoning behind his actions.

The following pages were filled with small grievances that brought a bittersweet smile to my face:

"That boy is so lazy! Every morning, I have to yell at him just to get him out of bed and start working. Sometimes, I wonder why I even bothered bringing him here."

Yet, amidst those complaints, there were small lines that revealed another side of him:

"But even so, I can't bring myself to hate him. He has sharp eyes, full of curiosity, even though his body is too frail to do much. I know that if he's given a chance, he could become something greater."

Another entry recounted how he began teaching Arkan to read and write:

"That boy is smart, even if he's lazy. Every time I teach him a new letter, he learns it quickly, but as soon as I look away, he runs off to play outside. Sometimes, I think about giving up on teaching him. But every time he manages to read a new word, his face lights up with such a bright smile… and somehow, I end up smiling too."

I covered my mouth, trying to hold back the wave of emotions building inside me.

As I continued reading, the diary felt even more personal. There were notes about his struggles to maintain the herbal shop, the pressures of life in this small village, and how he slowly grew to feel proud of Arkan.

"He's lazy, no doubt. But somehow, this boy managed to create soap—something I had never even thought about making myself. Watching him work so hard makes me think… maybe he's finally growing into the kind of man I can be proud of."

I couldn't stop the tears rolling down my cheeks. Old Man had never said these things to me, never openly praised me. But through the words in this diary, I could tell he was proud of me.

The final entry was written with hands shakier than ever:

"If one day I'm no longer here, I just hope he knows that I never regretted my decision to take him in. He's a good boy. Even though he's lazy and stubborn, I believe he has the strength to face this world. My only wish is that he never gives up, no matter how hard this world tries to knock him down."