Chapter 486: Episode 92 – Final Scenario (5)
Companions all looked dumbfounded after confirming the scenario’s details. It was such an incredibly simple clear condition. As a matter of fact, it had to be the easiest out of all the scenarios we experienced so far.
All we had to do was follow the Great Dokkaebi’s words and climb aboard the Ark and then, leave this world-line.
“Dok-Ja-ssi.....”
[What are you waiting for? There can’t be a better scenario than this one for you.]
I heard the voices of the Great Dokkaebis floating in the air.
[Know that many Constellations opposed you lot being chosen as the ‘seeds’. We chose you even if we had to go against the flow of those stars.]
Bihyung, his lips pale-blue, was lowering his head amongst his peers.
My head became complicated. Why did the ‘King of Stories’ suddenly suggest such a scenario? The me currently couldn’t figure it out.
One thing’s for sure, though – by listening to their suggestion, the survival of my comrades would be guaranteed.
⸢<Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s Fable would be recorded on the ‘Final Wall’. Along with all the other Fables he hated.⸥
I turned around to find my companions staring at me.
“Everyone.”
I tried to say something, but it wasn’t easy.
A truly easy path was now available before eyes. If we choose this method, then we might not even need to resort to our plan.
None of my companions would die, too. And they wouldn’t become ‘Outer Gods’, as well.
We simply had to get on that ship and cross over to another world-line, and then, live our new stories as if nothing had ever happened. We just had to become the rulers of the new world-line with our Fables.
Just like the top gods of <Olympus> and <Asgard>, we’d simply live on while enjoying all the pleasures the scenario offered in sheer comfort.
“Dok-Ja-ssi.”
My gaze met Yu Sang-Ah’s as she looked squarely at me.
⸢However, would we be able to happily live in a big house in that place?⸥
Yi Ji-Hye was grasping the key ring attached to [Twin Dragon Sword] tightly, and...
⸢Would we be able to congratulate Ji-Hye’s graduation with genuine smiles?⸥
....Shin Yu-Seung and Yi Gil-Yeong were holding onto the ends of each other’s clothes.
⸢Would I be able to go to a PC Bang with Gil-Yeong-ee and play games with him, and....⸥
⸢And, go to the Han River with Yu-Seung-ee and share a pizza with her?⸥
Finally, Yu Jung-Hyeok was glaring at me.
⸢Just like erasing the graffiti scribbled on the Final Wall, could we really pretend that everything that happened to us meant nothing at all?⸥
The apocalypse had begun, and that couldn’t be turned back.
[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is waiting for your decision.]
Just like how the dead pair of Agares and Metatron couldn’t come back.
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is observing your decision.]
[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is observing your decision.]
We couldn’t erase the Apocalypse Dragon’s second coming as if it had never happened, and just like how we couldn’t change Yu Jung-Hyeok’s past regression turns...
⸢Everything that happened in this world was already a part of us.⸥
Han Su-Yeong opened her mouth. “Kim Dok-Ja, what are you hesitating for? You already know what needs to be done, don’t you?”
Yi Hyeon-Seong approached me even before I realised it and placed his hand on my shoulder. As if he knew what I was about to say.
“My thoughts are the same as you, Dok-Ja-ssi.”
The Fables we’ve earned together, and the things that might get left behind, were all telling our story.
People back on Earth. My mother and the ‘wanderers’. Those who shared the story with us, but not here with us right now.
[Every Fable of the Nebula <Kim Dok-Ja Company> is now looking at you.]
[‘The 4th Wall’ is strongly vibrating!]
Some time ago, the ‘Secretive Plotter’ said to me this:
[[When we meet again, I hope you’ve become the proper master of that ‘wall’.]]
Jang Ha-Yeong possessed the ‘Wall of Impossible Communication’, while Yu Sang-Ah possessed the ‘Wall of Samsara’ she inherited from Sakyamuni. Agares and Metatron possessed the ‘Wall that Divides Good and Evil’.
And all these ‘walls’ each possessed a Fable that would be written on that particular wall.
⸢In that case, what is the Fable that should be written on [The 4th Wall]?⸥
[The 4th Wall] said this to me earlier – that I was the ‘last’ of that ‘Final Wall’.
⸢The finale of all these Fables.⸥
For the last time, I looked at my companions before I spoke my piece. I was trying to confirm whether we were making the wrong choice or not.
I couldn’t tell. There was no sure-fire way to figure out the truth. However...
⸢Do what you believe is the best, Dok-Ja-ssi.⸥
⸢Ahjussi, we’ll die together when the time comes. Got that?⸥
⸢Rather than the shameful survival, I much prefer the righteous end, actually.⸥
Their voices gave me courage.
The Fable boiling up from the deepest part of my body permitted my true voice to come out.
[We shall not be boarding the Ark.]
It felt as if I could just about see the full stop to a story I had been pondering for the longest time.
The Great Dokkaebis were staring at me with frozen expressions. Every Constellation within this world-line was focusing their gazes only on me.
As I felt each and every one of those gazes, this indescribable sense of freedom washed over me, too.
⸢And at that moment, Kim Dok-Ja realised what the story not written yet in the ‘Ways of Survival’ was.⸥
I had read every regression turn found in the ‘Ways of Survival’. I still remembered them all. However, there was one part that even I had failed to read.
⸢The Epilogue.⸥
From the 0th turn to the 1863rd. Every Fable that I read was now gathering in one spot.
The stories from the nebulas flowing within the heavens were being integrated into this world-line. I sensed the Constellations in the distance making their moves behind the scenes, too.
Something was approaching here.
[Do you understand the brevity of what you just said?]
The Great Dokkaebis were asking me.
Some carried expressions implying that they already expected this outcome, while some looked quite flustered, instead. Actually, neither should matter to them – after all, everything was simply ‘Fable’ to these creatures.
Everything was the will of <Star Stream> to them, after all.
[<Star Stream> is proposing the names for your final Great Fable.]
[You can now choose between two proposed ‘Conclusions’.]
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1. Vagabond of the Destroyed World-line
2. Ruler of the Despairing Starlight
.....
+
The names of the last ‘Great Fable’ we had completed floated up. I stared at the choices of ‘Conclusion’ given to me. Both of them sounded rather grandiose.
⸢And both of them couldn’t contain their story in its entirety.⸥
[I won’t be accepting the Fable names you have proposed.]
[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, has rejected all the choices proposed by <Star Stream>.]
Tsu-chuchuchut!
[I shall not be completing the ‘Conclusion’ you’re talking about.]
I slowly unsheathed the [Unbreakable Faith] from my waist. Most likely, this moment in time had been set in stone as soon as I first grasped this sword.
[Every Fable of the Nebula, <Kim Dok-Ja Company> has begun their storytelling!]
Yu Jung-Hyeok unsheathed the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword], while Han Su-Yeong undid the bandages off her left hand.
Jeong Hui-Won raised her [Judge’s Sword], followed up by Yi Ji-Hye grasping the [Twin Dragon Sword] with both of her hands.
Yu Sang-Ah spread out her lotus pedestal, and Shin Yu-Seung’s Chimera Dragon began roaring on.
Gong Pil-Du installed the [Armed Fortress] faster than anyone, and I spotted Jang Ha-Yeong standing at the very top of this fortress while releasing the Status of a Transcender.
And finally, Yi Hyeon-Seong stepped forward as if to protect everyone.
They were speaking through their actions. That’s why I could tell my story as well.
[I shall not let any one of you abandon this world-line. Properly witness the end of the story you have created. Witness with your own eyes.... what kind of an end awaits for the world of your creation.]
The Status of the Fable exploding forth from my entire body travelled on the [Unbreakable Faith] and extended forward.
[Stop this!]
The startled Great Dokkaebis also made a move and withstood my Status. I unhesitantly shot out the second, then the third, shockwaves from the Fables.
[<Star Stream> is responding to your group’s action!]
[<Bureau> is activating the Probability!]
Even as the vicious storm of sparks tightened around my body, I didn’t step back. All the Fables we had created together were roaring on under the pain akin to our Incarnation Bodies being torn apart.
[Great Fable, ‘Demon World’s Spring’, has begun its storytelling!]
[Great Fable, ‘Torch that Swallowed the Myth’, has begun its storytelling!]
[Great Fable, ‘Season of Light and Darkness’, has begun its storytelling!]
[Great Fable, ‘Liberator of the Forgotten Ones’, has begun its storytelling!]
[Your Great Fable without a name has begun its storytelling!]
What determined a story’s ‘Conclusion’ were the Beginning, the Development, and finally, the Climax that had come before it. Nothing else besides could determine what the ‘Conclusion’ would be like.
I swung my fist towards the sparks before me over and over again. I even threw the [Unbreakable Faith] into the ripples of the blinding aftermath’s storm.
[Your action has caused <Star Stream> to....]
[The possibility of the predetermined ‘Conclusion’ is....]
[■?■■....■?■■?]
The predetermined texts were shattering right before my eyes. The once-legible words were changing to something illegible as if cloudy dust had settled down on them.
And when that dust eventually cleared, what I saw next was the utterly wrecked front hull of the Ark.
Kwa-aaaaaah!
I was aware of what would happen by doing something like this.
[‘King of Stories’ is now looking at you.]
[The Wenny King is greatly pleased by your action.]
Even then, this was the best answer I could come up with.
⸢The method of finding the ‘Conclusion’ not seen before in the original.⸥
⸢The method of saving everyone while resolving the distorted Probability.⸥
Reaching the end of this world through the predetermined ‘gi-seung-jeon-gyeol’ was impossible. Because it was simply the template for the predetermined ‘Conclusion’.
Meaning, this story wouldn’t be able to cross the ‘Final Wall’.
⸢And that is why Kim Dok-Ja refused the ‘Conclusion’ handed out to him.⸥
A giant rupture was being generated in the world.
[Your actions have crumbled the predetermined rules of the ‘scenario’.]
[A portion of <Star Stream>’s plot is crumbling away!]
[<Star Stream>’s emergency sequence is activating!]
The surrounding view suddenly began changing. I sensed the <Star Stream> trying its best to shoe-horn me into its own ‘Conclusion’.
⸢In the end, everything will become a scenario.⸥
Maybe, the Great Dokkaebis didn’t know. Or, maybe they did know, yet had no choice but to simply carry on. Within this great ‘scenario’, even the storytellers would form a part of the scenario itself.
[<Star Stream> happily accepts your actions.]
[<Star Stream>’s Final Fable is waking up!]
Just like how a scenario happening outside of scenarios would still remain a scenario in the end; however, if everything would end as a scenario anyway, then I should be the one to decide which scenario to live in.
So... take a good look.
[Main scenario has been updated!]
“....Dok-Ja-ssi!”
Comrades standing in my near vicinity all stared at me with dazed eyes.
My Incarnation Body was changing along with tingling sensation. And also, the ominous aura of exclusion rose up above my body, too.
I knew exactly what sort of a scenario this was.
[Mak-nae-ya.]
The landscape of war spread out before our eyes.
And opposite us, Constellations were being summoned. Our enemies, and comrades we once fought together, they were all there.
Anna Croft, China’s Fei Hu, India’s Ranvir Khan, Japanese Alliance’s Asuka Ren, <Olympus> and <Asgard>, and other Constellations from not just <Emperor> but other large Nebulas were all incarnating under the <Star Stream>’s Probability.
⸢Every Constellation of <Star Stream> was gathering here.⸥
Stars that kept amassing were burning brightly enough to illuminate the entirety of the universe. They were illuminating me as if they’d not permit even a single speck of darkness to exist in the cosmos.
⸢This was the <Star Stream>’s final battlefield.⸥
Tsu-chuchuchuchut!
This was none other than the ‘stage’ the 1863rd turn’s Yu Jung-Hyeok had fought on – the place where he had faced off against the seething Outer Gods and their ‘Outer God Kings’.
If there was one thing different from back then and now...
The enemy to be fought this time wasn’t the ‘Outer God King’.
[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is....!]
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is....!]
[Constellation, ‘Goryeo’s First Sword’, is....!]
Indirect messages flooded in among the blinking stars.
I heard Uriel and Black Flame Dragon’s true voices, as well as my companions calling out to me.
The sensation of chaos completely filling up my view caused dizziness to nearly overtake me. I blocked my ringing, deafened ears while slowly blinking my eyes.
[Main scenario has been updated!]
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<Main Scenario #99 – Enemy of the Story>
Type: Main
Difficulty: Indeterminable?■
■?■?■?!■?■?■■■■■■.....
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The scenario message was being restructured in real-time.
Although its content couldn’t be seen, everyone instinctively knew.
They knew that, if this scenario ended in failure, the <Star Stream> would be destroyed.
A short while later, the ‘clear condition’ everyone’s been waiting for finally showed up. For some reason, I couldn’t help but recall a certain sentence from the ‘Ways of Survival’ when I read the condition slowly rising up before my eyes.
⸢There are three ways of surviving a destroyed world.⸥
Comrades were shouting something while looking at me.
The author of the Ways of Survival did say this – there were three ways of surviving this horrible world. Three ways.
I began thinking.
⸢Three ways didn’t mean that only three people would survive in the end.⸥
I looked back at my companions and grinned brightly.
*
Clear condition: You must kill the ‘Enemy of the Story’, Outer God King Kim Dok-Ja.
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Finally, this world’s epilogue had begun.
<Episode 92. Final Scenario (5)> Fin.