Chapter 540: Epilogue 4 – The Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (5)
Within the space of darkness, as if the curtains had come down on the last act.
Han Su-Yeong opened her eyes within this darkness. The [Eye of Truth] expanded and began emitting faint rays of light, and gradually, she could see her surroundings better.
....Just what happened?
[You have misaligned and broke the world-line’s deciding Probability!]
[Your actions have affected the ‘Most Ancient Dream’s’ ■■!]
[The ‘Most Ancient Dream’s’ ■■ is changing!]
Then, indecipherable messages floated up next.
But none of that mattered. What’s important was rescuing Kim Dok-Ja.
Han Su-Yeong focused her sight to the presence she picked up in front of her. When she did, something sooty, darkish could be spotted.
“Yu Jung-Hyeok, is that you?”
“Yes.”
Han Su-Yeong felt around like a blind and approached him, only to freak out and shout loudly. “Hey, you moron! What the hell are you doing, choking a little kid?!”
“This is not a little kid. It’s Kim Dok-Ja.”
“It’s kid-ified Kim Dok-Ja!”
She hurriedly snatched Kim Dok-Ja away from him and brought her finger closer to the small nose. She felt a very faint, shallow breathing.
But why was this? Something about his current state felt wrong. Just what was up with this feeling that he might shatter into pieces at any second....?
“What’s wrong with him?”
“His Fable has been damaged too extensively. I’ve already fed him the Life and Death Pill, but... It’s not working.”
They needed Yi Seol-Hwa. However, none of the presences of their companions could be felt nearby. It seemed that only Yu Jung-Hyeok, Kim Dok-Ja, and herself were trapped within this separate space.
With hostile eyes, Han Su-Yeong glared at her surroundings. There was only one culprit capable of doing something like this.
“The 4th Wall! Stop this and let us leave!”
Along with ‘Tsu-chuchut’ noise, a faint, blurry silhouette appeared within the darkness. A boy Dokkaebi wearing a fedora was standing there. Its face was filled with indescribable sadness and purity.
Han Su-Yeong studied [The 4th Wall] for a little while, before asking it. “....Is that your real appearance?”
⸢T hat s ri ght⸥
It no longer resembled the figure she had spied within her memories. Not a sign of a middle-aged Dokkaebi could be seen on that face. [The 4th Wall] addressed her.
⸢A rea lly l o n g ti me ha s pas sed by⸥
Han Su-Yeong thought about something. Maybe [The 4th Wall] was in the same boat as Kim Dok-Ja. It too could have forgotten everything and gradually turned into a child while enduring the untold length of time.
While fixing Kim Dok-Ja’s clothing, Han Su-Yeong asked. “You were protecting Kim Dok-Ja because of my order, weren’t you?”
⸢I th ink I w as⸥
“You gave Kim Dok-Ja the ‘Ways of Survival’ text files, right? You kept helping him out afterwards, too.”
[The 4th Wall] didn’t reply. No, it just stared at Kim Dok-Ja with vague eyes of someone digging through very old memories.
Han Su-Yeong’s voice now took on the subtle hint of anger. “But, why did you let Kim Dok-Ja end up in this state?”
⸢....⸥
“Say something! What were you even thinking to let....”
⸢You don’t know what the reader really wants.⸥
[The 4th Wall] no longer stammered its words.
⸢You all truly, truly do not know anything.⸥
“....We’ll be taking Kim Dok-Ja with us. We can’t sit back and watch this guy live his life as the ‘Most Ancient Dream’.”
At her attitude of willing to start a fight, [The 4th Wall]’s brows quivered. But rather than Han Su-Yeong clenching her fist in nervousness, Yu Jung-Hyeok stepped forward, instead.
“If we take him with us, will the position of the ‘Most Ancient Dream’ be left vacant?”
Han Su-Yeong’s shoulders flinched.
It wasn’t as if she had never thought about that problem.
The problem of ‘after Kim Dok-Ja is rescued, who will take over the position of the Most Ancient Dream?’
This world was maintained solely because the ‘Most Ancient Dream’ dreamed. In a universe operated only through someone’s sacrifice, someone had to become the existence who dreamed.
Yu Jung-Hyeok opened his mouth. “I shall take over.”
“What the?! Hey! What bullshit are you spewing now?!”
“I’m trying to say that I will become the new ‘Most Ancient Dream’.”
“How can you pull that off when you don’t even have an iota of imagination?! No, let me do it. I can do it so much better than this Kim Dok-Ja here. That’s why....”
Han Su-Yeong yapped on and on, even though she didn’t really understand what her mouth was saying. She simply blurted out only with the aim of stopping this crazy idiot. And fortunately enough, [The 4th Wall] wasn’t Yu Jung-Hyeok’s ally in this case, either.
⸢Puppet of the ‘Most Ancient Dream’, you can’t become the dream. Because, you don’t love this story.⸥
“In that case, I must-”
⸢It’s the same story for you, Han Su-Yeong.⸥
“Then who’s going to take over this guy’s role? I’m telling you this right now, but we’re definitely taking him with us, you hear? Even if it’s you, you can’t stop us.”
[The 4th Wall] stared at Han Su-Yeong and Yu Jung-Hyeok for a little while.
⸢Take him.⸥
“What’s that?”
⸢You can just take him. Even if you take away ‘that Kim Dok-Ja’, this universe won’t be destroyed anymore.⸥
As she didn’t expect to hear such a reply, Han Su-Yeong could only blink her eyes like an idiot. She glanced to her side, and even Yu Jung-Hyeok was making a similar face.
Just what was the Dokkaebi saying here? She had never thought of such an ending. Was it really okay to welcome a conclusion of this nature?
....No, that simply wasn’t possible.
This <Star Stream> was never considerate towards any of them before, not even once.
Han Su-Yeong’s face gradually hardened and she asked back. “Why won’t the universe be destroyed even after we take him away?”
⸢The ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ you know has scattered to the rest of the universe already.⸥
“What was that??”
She dazedly stared at Kim Dok-Ja currently embraced in her arms – at his frail figure, small enough for only one of her arms to wrap around.
It felt like a hammer had struck her on the back of her head. It couldn’t be, the reason why Kim Dok-Ja ended up in this state was...
“You... Just what the hell did you do?”
⸢This wasn’t my doing. It’s what he himself wanted. After all, he knew your group would do something like this.⸥
A subtle chill began running down her skin.
In order to save this world, someone must become the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. If Kim Dok-Ja was saved, then someone else must replace him.
Wouldn’t he... Would someone like Kim Dok-Ja really not know that?
⸢You all have done something terribly stupid. The conclusion the reader wanted was the only conclusion. Why did you try to change it?⸥
The expression of [The 4th Wall] staring at her gave her the creeps. A negative emotion that was neither hatred or resentment, not even sadness, was now directed in her and Yu Jung-Hyeok’s direction.
⸢You shouldn’t have been greedy. No, y o u sh oul d’ve be en con te nt wi th 49% Kim Dok Ja⸥
Along with the voice gradually breaking apart, the surrounding time and space began to distort.
⸢D id y o u re ally thi nk y o ur gro up w as spe cial? D id yo u hon es tly bel ieve th at a pro per con clusion wo uld wa it for y o u lot wh en y o u de str oyed the laws of th is uni ver se?⸥
Even before she could reply, the surroundings grew brighter.
⸢Y o u lot ha ve me ss ed up y o ur con clu sion, and y o u wi ll no w be com e mi se ra ble⸥
....
.......
.......
When Han Su-Yeong opened her eyes again, she found herself standing in Seoul – Gwanghwamun of the 1865th regression turn. The very location where her group readied for the scenario. Snow was drifting down on this landmark that had seen the last conclusion of the scenarios. She quietly looked up at the snowflakes falling one by one.
She slowly lowered her gaze and saw the small Kim Dok-Ja, still nestled within her embrace. His breathing remained rhythmic.
“Master!”
Yi Ji-Hye ran towards them from a distance. Even Yu Sang-Ah and Jeong Hui-Won urgently running next to her could be seen, too. The rest of the companions were safe.
“Su-Yeong-ssi! What about Dok-Ja-ssi?”
Even before Han Su-Yeong could say something, Jang Ha-Yeong quickly snatched away and hugged Kim Dok-Ja. “Kim Dok-Ja! His hand, it’s as cold as ice! Does anyone have gloves??”
The companions quickly surrounded Kim Dok-Ja. Each of them was drunk in their own emotions.
Jeong Hui-Won holding onto Kim Dok-Ja’s pale smooth cheeks were crying, while Yi Hyeon-Seong and his bear-like bulk were cautiously wrapping Kim Dok-Ja’s naked feet. Even Yu Sang-Ah couldn’t hold back her tears this time. Both Shin Yu-Seung and Yi Gil-Yeong seemed to be moments away from passing out, too.
The figure of Gong Pil-Du sitting on a nearby bench could be seen, busy puffing away at his cigarette as if such a spectacle was too ridiculous to even participate.
“....Is Dok-Ja sleeping now?”
Yi Su-Gyeong asked that, and Han Su-Yeong nodded as her reply. That small movement was all she could do after squeezing out every dollop of her remaining energy.
Companions finally managed to rein in their emotions and began to talk in turns. The first one to step up while rolling up her sleeves was Jeong Hui-Won.
“I’m really going to dangle him up this time. Right in front of the Industrial Complex, no less! I’m not joking here, so all of you, do not try to stop me!”
“Even still, the current Dok-Ja-ssi is a child....”
“By the way, will ahjussi remain in this state forever?”
“Hyung, wake up, please! You’re pretending to be asleep because of how embarrassed you are, right?”
“Did he get younger as a side effect of something?”
Yi Ji-Hye hesitating ever so slightly suddenly shouted out in a bright voice. “Who cares if he got younger? We can just raise him, right?!”
“Does that mean I can go to the same school as hyung?”
“Hey, you think ahjussi really became a little kid like you?!”
And so, for the next couple of minutes, they bickered and bantered like this. In the meantime, Yi Seol-Hwa was checking out Kim Dok-Ja’s current condition throughout his body, but as she did, her expression was slowly hardening.
“When Dok-Ja ahjussi wakes up, he’s going to remember us, right? It won’t be like, he’s lost most of his memories or anything?”
⸢Han Su-Yeong couldn’t say a single thing to such companions.⸥
She kept bobbing her lips up and down many, many times.
It wasn’t a certainty yet, they couldn’t trust everything that stinking wall said, that’s why they...
“....You two. Why have you been keeping quiet until now?”
Han Su-Yeong hurriedly avoided meeting the gaze after hearing Yu Sang-Ah’s question.
“Su-Yeong-ssi?”
Soon afterwards, Yu Sang-Ah’s gaze shifted over to Yu Jung-Hyeok. And then, she got to witness a shocking scene.
“....Yu Jung-Hyeok-ssi??”
Yu Jung-Hyeok’s expression was frozen pale-white. And as if he had lost a protective wall of his mind, he seemed to be muttering something to himself, too.
Yu Sang-Ah had seen such a sight before.
⸢Back in the 73rd Demon World, when Kim Dok-Ja ceased to exist alongside the ‘Outer God’.⸥
She quickly brushed past the companions and held Kim Dok-Ja’s wrist. It was so frail that it might break at any second. The pulse itself was faint, too. However, she wasn’t a doctor so this didn’t tell her much. She asked Yi Seol-Hwa next.
“Seol-Hwa-ssi, the current Dok-Ja-ssi, what’s wro....”
“....His soul has been completely damaged.”
His soul was damaged.
In that moment, a similar type of shadow was cast over the companions’ complexions. However, that didn’t last long. Jeong Hui-Won spoke up first.
“I’m sure there is a way, right? I mean, we cured something like that before.”
Indeed, they had experienced a similar event to this in the past.
The damage to one’s soul meant damage to one’s Fable – damage to one’s ‘theme’. Yi Su-Gyeong had survived such an illness before.
Shin Yu-Seung hurriedly followed that up. “There really is no problem, right? It’s not the same as back then! We can get help from this world’s Aileen. And we also secured a lot of star fluid ahead of time too, didn’t we?!”
Shin Yu-Seung continued to speak. She brought up all the ways she could think of without rest, over and over again. And then...
“....That’s why, that’s why....”
Tears formed on both of her eyes.
Shin Yu-Seung continued to shake her head in denial, saying this couldn’t be it. Yu Sang-Ah cautiously wrapped her arm around the girl’s shoulders and spoke.
“Please be honest with us, Seol-Hwa-ssi.”
Yi Seol-Hwa dropped her head lower, and placed her hand on Kim Dok-Ja’s chest. When she did, a small piece of Fable fragment floated up from his frail-looking chest. That was the last remaining Fable of Kim Dok-Ja.
[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, has reached his new ■■.]
His small Fable glimmered like a very tiny phrase.
[Constellation Demon King of Salvation’s ■■ is ‘Epilogue’.]
⸢And so, they had reached the epilogue no one had written.⸥
<Epilogue 4. The Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (5)> Fin.