Chapter 191: Episode 36 – Story Horizon (3)
This sentence appeared in Ways of Survival.
「 The great demons who live in the ‘horizon of the story.’ They aren’t demon kings or demon species, they are great demons. They are those who hate the dokkaebis as much as they seek and crave stories. 」
Yes, this sentence.
「 If you are expelled from the scenario, there is only one thing to look forward to. It is to hope for mercy from the Great Demon of the Horizon. 」
The Fourth Wall made it clear for me and I had nothing to say. I looked at the Great Demon of the Horizon.
He gave off a very old impression. At first glance, I feel like a vagrant but it wasn’t hard to recognize them. It was because every Great Demon of the Horizon had a big lump on their cheek. Due to that, some people called them the ‘wenny man’. (TL: wen=growth/swelling on the skin).
Light sparks appeared in the air and the wenny man stepped back.
“...It is unusual. I can’t see your information with the Great Demon’s Eyes.”
There was a yellow glow in the eyes of the wenny man. It was an attempt to dig up my personal information.
Great Demon’s Eyes. Anna Croft had the same eyes as the wenny man. It was natural. I’m sure that he was the one who gave Anna the information on the Great Demon’s Eyes.
The Great Demons of the Horizon were incomparable dangerous compared to Bihyung. I would be eaten if I underestimated him even a little bit.
I deliberately delayed before opening my mouth. “My information can’t be read by the prophet. Isn’t your information network a bit slow?”
The wenny man frowned like his ego was hurt. “...Did you know I was coming?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You probably came to grab this.”
I pulled out the dokkaebi egg. The wenny man’s eyes shook. He knew what this egg contained.
“The soul is mine.” At the same time, the great demon’s lump started to swell ominously. “I sent this soul here from another parallel dimension. I have ownership of the soul.”
He took one step closer while I stepped back.
“What are you talking about?”
“...The soul should’ve returned to me from the Underworld. You intercepted it. I hope you return the soul before it is too late.”
“Return? What was this bullshit? Is there a method to handle lost items in the Star Stream?”
The wenny man still stayed in the distance as he stared at the egg with deep greed in his eyes.
I looked down at the egg. The presence in this egg was the Shin Yoosung from Yoo Jonghyuk’s 41st regression.
In a sense, the Great Demon of the Horizon was right. The person who turned Shin Yoosung into a disaster and sent her to this dimension was the wenny man in front of him.
The wrinkles on the wenny man’s face increased. “If you want to play with words...”
“Let me ask her directly. This kid has her own free will.”
I didn’t hesitate to tap on the surface of the egg and ask, “Yoosung, he is your master. What do you think?”
The egg shook steadily. “Hrmm, I see. It is a no?”
“...Hey.”
I ignored the wenny man and asked the egg again. “Then who are you?”
The egg shook even more. I nodded as if I understood.
“Yes, a soul can’t belong to anyone. Just like no one can be the master of the story.”
No one could be the master of the story. A sharp look crossed the face of the wenny man who heard this. The Great Demon’s Eyes were spinning. He smiled like he found it interesting.
“How funny, Demon King of Salvation. Do you intend to negotiate with me now?”
I was caught. I smiled and replied, “That’s right.”
“...Okay. Your behaviour so far has been interesting. However, if you want to negotiate, give me the egg first.”
“Don’t you know what a negotiation is? This is a problem. I need this kid.”
“You don’t know the value of that egg.”
“No, I know.”
The egg was glued tightly to my hand, like it didn’t want to leave. I lightly patted the egg.
“Beings born from this egg can make a channel.”
“...Do you know what that means?”
“It means I can broadcast outside the authority of the bureau.”
The wenny man faintly shook at my words. His confused fingers were heading for his beard.
I added, “In other words, this egg has the power to make countless stories. Isn’t that why you want this egg?”
The wenny man was extremely surprised and he was silent for a moment. It felt as if he was trying to search my heart. However, he couldn’t find see inside me when even the Great Demon’s Eyes couldn’t see anything.
“...Are you going to rebel against the Star Stream?”
“Rebel? Who knows? Does the bureau manage all of the Star Stream?”
“Sometimes a part is the same as the whole.”
“I don’t think that is true but... okay. If it is an answer you want...”
The eyes of the wenny man were turning like a camera lens. I knew what he wanted so I pointed to the night sky and deliberately spoke like a revolutionary.
“I will destroy the world of the fucking dokkaebis.”
The face of the wenny man distorted. I knew what this creepy expression meant. This was his ‘smile.’
“I like it.”
It was simple to gain the favour of the wenny man. I just had to blame the dokkaebis.
***
The most widely known story about the Great Demons of the Horizon, or the ‘wenny man’ was probably the story about the ‘old man with a wen.’
It was a story we all heard at least once in our childhood.
A good-hearted wenny man got rid of his growth thanks to the dokkaebis while a bad-hearted wenny man got on more lump of growth because of the dokkaebis. (TL: Korean folk tale. You can watch the following video if interested. It is in Korean but you can get the gist of the story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvYueaBHBU)
I looked at the lump on the wenny man and asked, “Then are you on the good side or the bad side?”
“Humans always wonder about it. There is no guarantee I will take your side just because I am good.”
“Well, you have a lump so you are naturally bad.”
“That folk tale has spread across the world. Stories handed down aren’t always accurate.”
“It is becoming increasingly clear that you are bad.”
The wenny man shook like he was having a seizure. According to Ways of Survival, the ‘lump’ acted as a warehouse for storing stories. Countless tales inside that lump were waiting to find a new owner.
The wenny man looked at his system window that shook like a pendulum and told me, “You asked for two things.”
I nodded.
“One is to go back to the scenario. The other is to acquire a new ‘incarnation body.’
“That’s right.”
The ‘wenny man’ acted in places the dokkaebis’ channels couldn’t reach and played a role similar to the Star Stream’s black market trader.
They got rewards for sending the exiles back to the scenario and they also saved unique items that the channel couldn’t obtain. Of course, the price was very expensive.
“I can help you with both.”
“Okay, then help me.”
“Give me the egg in return.”
“No.”
“Then I can’t help.”
Damn, it was back to the start. It seemed that they were firmly attached to the dokkaebi egg. I decided to firmly hammer in the nail.
“I told you, I can’t give you the egg. You can’t use it even if you take it. The kid will only listen to me.”
“Don’t tell me... the egg grew by eating your story?”
“That’s right.”
“Mixing a dokkaebi with your stories, you are a filthy person.”
“Shut up. I’ll give you something else.”
“What can you give me?”
“A story. Isn’t it something you want in the first place?”
Only the ‘stories’ were valuable in the Star Stream. Therefore, the wenny man received ‘stories.’
“...You are very confident. What type of story can you give me?”
“I’ll show you.”
I opened the list of my stories.
+
[List of Stories]
King of a Kingless World.
Person who Opposes the Miracle.
One Who Showed Contempt for a Streamer.
One Who Hunted the King of Disasters.
One Who Killed an Outer God.
Demon King of Salvation.
...
Silla Allied Forces.
Bug Slaughter.
+
I never thought I would’ve collected so many stories. Of course, there were only six that were legendary grade and above, but it was a start.
Perhaps I was the only one who had collected this number of stories by the 10th scenario.
In fact, the wenny man showed a hint of admiration. “I knew you were great but this is... really amazing.”
He didn’t hesitate to admire every story, like a guest in a luxury store. In particular, his eyes were filled with a deep ‘greed’ when he saw the legendary stories. The colour of the lump was red, seeming to show his excitement.
“It won’t be hard to replace the egg.”
“Of course.”
“Do I have to pick only one?”
“For now.”
Of course, it depended on the value of the story. There were some I had no intention of trading all of them. That was equivalent to giving away everything that made me a constellation.
Then the wenny man picked a story without hesitating. “Then I will pick One Who Killed an Outer God.”
“...Do you have no conscience?” It is the only semi-myth that I have.”
The value of a semi-myth grade story couldn’t be converted into coins. No matter how important the deal with the Great Demon of the Horizon, I couldn’t give him the semi-myth grade story.
Moreover, One Who Killed an Outer God would be useful when meeting another outer god.
The wenny man smacked his lips like he knew he had made an excessive demand. “Then this one isn’t bad either. I will choose King of a Kingless World.”
I shook my head. “It is my birth story. I can’t give it to you.”
“I see. Then Demon King of Salvation...”
“You want to give me to give you what made me a full constellation? My status will be demoted.”
“...It is unfortunate. Then how about Person who Opposes the Miracle?”
“There is a place I have to use that later. I’m sorry.”
The dumbfounded wenny man stared at me with frustration. “Then what story are you going to give me?”
“I’ll give you this. Silla Allied Forces.”
It was a history-grade story that I got from helping Lady of the Brocade Sleep and the Silla constellations. The wenny man’s face wrinkled. “Giving me that isn’t worth anything.”
...Wasn’t this too much? The Lady of the Brocade Sleep would shed tears if she heard this. It was a great story where Silla joined hands with the Tang Dynasty to hit at the Han ethnic group.
“Then how about Bug Slaughter?”
“It is better than before but it is still a common story.”
“I’ll give you both of them. If necessary, the other history-grade stories as well...”
“Can I take it that you have no intention of trading with me?”
Damn, he wasn’t an idiot like Bihyung. Bihyung was the one who changed the compensation rate from 10% to 0%.
I continued to hesitate and the wenny man smiled vaguely. “I don’t know how you are still holding onto your existence but do you have enough time left?”
I could feel that my body temperature had dropped more than before. The interval between the Fourth Wall’s words was gradually increasing.
[Your body is collapsing.]
I hadn’t gained as much as I could from the wenny man and my existence was in a fairly precarious situation. This collapse would accelerate unless I returned to a scenario right away or at least received a new body.
「 The stupid Kim Dokja thought: Damn, what story should I give him? 」
...I was feeling frustrated so don’t bother me at this time.
「 At that moment, a story caught Kim Dokja’s eyes. 」
What caught my eyes... eh? I momentarily hesitated. Come to think of it, there was this story.
“Then how about this?”