Chapter 211: Episode 40 – Hatching (2)
I suddenly let out a breath. It felt like somebody had taped up my mouth and then ripped it off.
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is looking at the Syswitz Industrial Complex.]
My field of view widened and I saw things that couldn’t be seen by incarnations. The industrial complex seemed like a giant circular dome from up high. A circular city centred around the Factory. All incarnations within the city were looking at the sky.
“T-This...!”
“A channel! A channel is open!”
Perhaps they received the message that a temporary channel had opened.
“A dokkaebi has come! Our Demon Realm is finally receiving attention!”
Their faces looked thrilled. It was natural. This was a place where people excluded from the scenario gathered. The incarnations, who once hated the constellations and coins, entered the Demon World and became the ones who missed them more than anything.
“Hey! Are you okay? Did you hear the message just now?”
I barely managed to stand up with the support of Jang Hayoung.
[Entry into the temporary channel has temporarily delayed the collapse of your incarnation body.]
I sighed with relief. A channel was an important device that formed the core of a story. My stories started recovering just by entering the channel. Of course, the exile penalty wasn’t completely removed but... I could earn some time with this.
[Enter the main scenario to prevent the breakdown of your stories.]
I had to kill the real revolutionary in order to enter the main scenario. I touched my broken arms and legs as a test. Fortunately, the core stories still seemed safe. The broken parts could be somehow repaired.
[Your current incarnation body is severely damaged.]
[You need more stories to repair it.]
The list wasn’t confirmed yet but many stories were taken from the nobles. Most of them were history-grade with a few legendary grades mixed in. In any case, I had to move fast before the temporary channel closed.
I asked Aileen who was approaching from the distance. “The injured people?”
“...There are more than I thought.”
Aileen’s expression was dark. At first glance, dozens of people were lying down on the ground. Considering that many of them were critically injured, it would be hard for a lot of them to survive today.
“Dokkaebi Bag.”
A familiar holographic window appeared in the air. It had been so frustrating when it was missing.
This was the feeling of a rich person who couldn’t spend money. I briefly checked if any useful items had been received and then spent 3,000 coins to buy a large amount of Ellain Forest Essence.
“Give this to the people.”
“T-This... how did you get this?”
“Don’t ask me anything more.”
The startled Aileen received the essences with wide eyes. It was natural to be surprised. It was because the Ellain Forest Essence was something that could only be obtained through the Dokkaebi Bag. It wasn’t available in the Demon World where there wasn’t a channel.
[The duration of the temporary channel is very short.]
I pulled the Dokkaebi Egg out of my bag. The surface of the egg had fine gold cracks.
Signs of hatching. A temporary channel was a type of fetal movement for a dokkaebi. It was like breathing exercises.
I lightly stroked the egg and a small vibration was felt inside the shell.
[The ‘Dokkaebi Egg’ will soon hatch!]
[Consume a healthy story.]
I quickly pulled out a few story fragments and gave them to the egg. The egg shivered and made some noises.
[The Dokkaebi Egg is satisfied.]
[The Dokkaebi Egg wants the warmth of parents.]
It was really fussy. Come to think of it, Bihyung had said something.
-I’m telling you just in case the egg hatches. Before the hatching, you have to carry the egg in your arms.
-What? Why?
-I don’t know for sure. But that is how healthy dokkaebis are born. Thus, I did it.
I thought it was strange that the dokkaebis believed in such a superstition but there were reasons for superstitions in this world. It was because this was a world where all stories came true.
I looked towards the Factory in the distance. Since the two marquises had died, the Syswitz Industrial Complex had now turned completely towards the path of revolution. I broke both limbs and gave a good warning at the end, so the Factory side wouldn’t act rashly. I couldn’t face them in my current state so this situation would last for a few days.
“Aileen. Close off the council’s residence from now on.”
“Huh?”
“The nobles won’t move for a while. Thus, we should take a break and get ready.”
I looked down at the egg, which was shaking more and more. From now on, the duke wasn’t the only problem. Once the channel opened, the real monsters would appear.
I needed to prepare some things before then.
***
Thanks to the help of the others, I set up a room in the council’s residence with the proper temperature and humidity. Aileen checked my body’s condition and sighed. “Don’t move today. Your body is in bad shape.”
“Understood.”
“Don’t speak carelessly. You really almost died. This is the first time I’ve used five history-grade stories for the repair...”
I wasn’t happy with the cost to my body. I could barely survive by using good stories. Still, it was better than dying.
“I still have the legendary stories so it’s fine.”
I confirmed the legendary stories I had acquired from killing the marquises.
[The legendary story ‘God of the Dice’ has been acquired.]
The legendary story, God of the Dice. According to Ways of Survival, the story was roughly like this:
「 One of the stories held by the King of Gambling. The owner of this story said he was about to freely choose the scale of the first dice roll. 」
Sometimes it was unknown why certain stories were considered legendary grade. It might be a legendary grade but how could it compare to my ‘King of a Kingless World’...
Aileen had an astounded expression on her face as she opened her mouth. “Are you going to use a legendary grade story as a fragment to repair your body? Don’t you know how much it is worth?”
“...”
“No, how the hell have you survived so far? Even with the protection of the story...”
The protection of the story... It was a greeting often used by the dokkaebi.
“Stop nagging. In any case, I can’t move today because of this child.”
I touched the egg in my arms. All future plans could be implemented if this child hatched well. Jang Hayoung stared carefully at my arms and asked, “What is that?”
“An egg.”
“Egg? What egg?”
“A dokkaebi egg.”
Jang Hayoung and the other group members had wide eyes at my words.
“What? Really?”
I nodded and looked down at the egg. Every time the egg shook, the temporary channel was opened and closed.
[Number of constellations who have entered the channel: 1 person.]
It was currently a lonely number but it wouldn’t be long before the channel was full. I would surely make it happen.
“Wait! This is a real dokkaebi egg? It’s not a joke?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“...The channel is open because of this egg?”
“Yes.”
Unlike the stunned Jang Hayoung, Aileen was making a serious expression. “Wait a minute, if this is really a dokkaebi...”
“I just want to give the Demon World a chance. You can’t remain as slaves of the industrial complexes forever.”
Aileen bit her lips at my words. In fact, she also knew. I pointed out something she was thinking in her heart.
“Are you afraid the next scenario will be worse?”
A scenario was always waiting after the current scenario. The scenario might be better than this or the worst one they had ever experienced. Aileen spoke like she didn’t want to admit it. “A world without it is the best.”
“You need to think if an uncertain life is truly worse.”
“I’m very thankful for your revolution. But you...!” Aileen stared into my eyes and paused. I didn’t know what she saw or felt in this brief encounter. “...What are you doing this for?”
She ended up asking.
“Some people want to see the ending of the story.” I replied as always.
“That... do you intend to reach the end of the scenario?”
“It is similar.”
Then Aileen muttered, “A Seeker of the End...”
“...?”
“I heard a story from the constellations of my home planet. There are constellations seeing the ‘end’ of the stories.”
Seeker of the End. That reminded me, there were those guys in the Star Stream. It wasn’t yet time to move in earnest but the story was already circulating on Aileen’s home planet. Aileen fell deep into thought while Jang Hayoung opened his mouth. “If that is a dokkaebi, won’t it become like the ones we know eventually?”
“I won’t let that happen. Not all dokkaebis become the same streamers.”
“Indeed, it is the same with people. How did you obtain the egg? I never heard anything about this from the wenny people.”
“That...”
I hesitated as I wondered how to explain it. Suddenly, Han Myungoh looked between the egg and I with strange eyes. “It must’ve been hard. Childbirth is a painful thing.”
“...I think you are misunderstanding something. I didn’t give birth to it.”
“I understand.”
It seemed that an uncomfortable consensus was formed. I wanted to explain that I never received the demon king’s curse. Then the cracks in the egg became stronger and a dim light started leaking out.
[The egg’s hatching is imminent.]
The moment I had been waiting for finally came.
[The Star Stream is watching the birth of a new streamer.]
I looked down at the creature that emerged along with Han Myungoh, Jang Hayoung, Mark and Aileen. There was something wonderful about the birth of life. A small back could be seen through the breaking shell. Jang Hayoung made a helpless expression as he stared at the back covered with white fur.
“...I really hate the dokkaebi. I feel it once again.”
However, this birth wasn’t blessed. The newborn dokkaebi cried with a wrinkled face. It was as if just being here was painful. I recalled one paragraph about the Dokkaebi King spoken of in Ways of Survival.
「 “Listen. They are born with fate and are inevitably poor people who have to live while loving the story.” 」
The newborn dokkaebi kept crying. She was born in this world and as long as there were stories in this world, she had to love it.
Yes, I made you like this. Thus, blame me.
[The baby dokkaebi is looking at you.]
[The baby dokkaebi recognizes you as a parent.]
[The soul of the baby dokkaebi is communicating with you.]
Then I heard a voice.
-I’ve been waiting for a long time Ahjussi.