1001 Episode 61 Prisoner of the Golden Headband (1)

—Architect of the False Ending

People were gathered in a pure white space resembling a snowfield. They were people who had guarded a single world for a very long time.

Watching people take their seats one by one, Yoo Sangah counted in her head. One, two, three... At some point, the numbers stopped going up. How high was the number originally supposed to go? Or, how high was the number capable of going?

Yoo Sangah could not remember.

"Everyone is here, Sangah-ssi."

At Lee Seolhwa's words, Yoo Sangah looked up. As she slowly looked around, she saw the faces of the people who had been nothing more than numbers in her head. They were people she could recognize no matter where they were in this universe.

Deep shadows cast over their eyes. An indescribable weariness was etched on every face. It was the price for recklessly traversing worldlines and twisting the probability of other universes.

Watching this story continue despite everything, Yoo Sangah wondered. Where would the end of this story be?

"Unnie."

As she turned her head, the bravest girl she could remember spoke.

"Please make a decision quickly. I am ready to leave right now."

The time to call her a girl had passed. Nevertheless, Yoo Sangah clearly remembered the face of the girl who had slayed Specters in Chungmuro.

"The time to worry about probability has already passed."

Lee Jihye is now called the 'Monarch of the Great Sea'. She has become such a formidable incarnation that even those fearsome outer deities make way for her ghost fleet. It was not just Lee Jihye.

"We’ve come this far, so there is nothing to be afraid of. We don't have much time left anyway. And above all—"

The voice of a boy who had gone through puberty. The boy, now with a fairly masculine jawline, was speaking.

"I have entered that world."

Every time the boy spoke, a hallucinatory sound of a swarm of insects crying could be heard from somewhere. It was likely the Demon God 'Abaddon's'.

The will of the ancient Demon God, who still protected the boy, was responding to his courage.

"I am confident I can enter it again and again."

Lee Gilyoung had already nearly died once in the 41st round. Falling into Asmodeus's scheme, he almost lost his life on a manipulated stage. Nevertheless, Lee Gilyoung said he would make the same choice once again.

Yoo Sangah, and everyone else present, knew why Lee Gilyoung was acting so strongly.

"We have to find Shin Yoosoung."

"…"

"The signal keeps weakening. You know what will happen if we delay any longer, don't you, noona?"

The other members of <Kim Dokja Company> also seemed to agree. They had already lost precious comrades several times over. And if they delayed any longer here, they might lose another comrade.

"Right now—"

The moment Lee Gilyoung sprang to his feet, an intense ringing in the white space echoed. A ringing that seemed to come from a very distant place. It sounded like a baby crying, or perhaps someone muttering.

"Did you just hear that?"

As Lee Gilyoung spoke, the other members of <Kim Dokja Company> nodded as well.

"Something is calling us."

Lee Seolhwa activated the central control unit as she spoke. Then, the coordinates of the location from which the crying came appeared on the large screen.

Lee Jihye asked.

"Which way is it? 'The 41st round'?"

"It's not the '41st round'. It is true that you can enter via that round, but..."

The crying was heard once again. This time, it was clearer. Listening closely, it wasn't crying, but a story.

Long, echoing sentences. At that moment, everyone at <Kim Dokja Company> realized.

Just what kind of being was calling them from beyond.

Lee Gilyoung asked in a trembling voice.

"Can we go there?"

Lee Seolhwa nodded. The next moment, a shimmering portal appeared next to the central control unit.

Tsutsutsutsu.

A passageway where the aftershocks of probability were raging. Passing through that passage would lead to where the story had come from.

Lee Seolhwa spoke again.

"But safety..."

"I told you. The time for nitpicking about such things has passed."

The moment Lee Gilyoung walked toward the portal without hesitation, a large hand grabbed the boy's shoulder.

"Stop."

Lee Gilyoung turned around, his expression contorted. It was Yoo Joonghyuk.

"You must not go."

A low but heavy voice. Just as Lee Gilyoung was about to speak again in defiance, Yoo Joonghyuk added.

"I'll go."

"How long are you going to act as you please—"

Lee Gilyoung stopped speaking there and fell silent. He realized he had no right to say such things to Yoo Joonghyuk.

Come to think of it, it was actually he who had acted selfishly. It was none other than Yoo Joonghyuk who had indulged his childishness when he jumped into the 41st round just to see Kim Dokja.

"Let's go together."

At Lee Gilyoung's words, Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes wavered slightly. Lee Gilyoung continued.

"I said let's go together. You haven't fully recovered yet, either."

A long, pitch-black scar remained on Yoo Joonghyuk's neck, the result of the fierce battle with Odin.

Lee Jihye stepped forward and spoke.

"Um, I don't know if I'm mistaken, but..."

It was a voice mixed with surprise, bewilderment, and a hint of anticipation.

"I can feel the power of Hyunsung ahjussi and Heewon unnie over there."

At Lee Jihye's words, the others in the group also heightened their senses to verify the story. Lee Seolhwa nodded and said,

"That's right. The two of them are being confirmed inside there, too. And the Great Sage Equal to Heaven—"

"Shin Yoosoung is there too!"

If everything being confirmed now is true, then beyond that portal, the entire <Kim Dokja Company> they knew might be gathering.

And above all.

Everyone here felt a gravitational pull stronger than ever before. Every story of Kim Dokja's life was vividly conveyed across the vast universe.

The Demon King of Salvation. The Watcher of Light and Darkness. The Prisoner of the Golden Cage. And the Oldest Dream.

All the names Kim Dokja had lived by were swirling beyond that portal, calling out to them.

Yoo Joonghyuk gazed at the portal for a moment before speaking.

"Make your decision."

Everyone looked at Yoo Sangah. Receiving the gazes of the group, Yoo Sangah quietly closed her eyes.

What if Han Sooyoung had been here? What would she have said? For the sake of the group, what final sentence would she have left behind?

Yoo Sangah could not know. Because she was not a writer. She was merely a friend to the readers. Someone who listens to the readers' impressions and listens to their words. Someone who converses with the readers.

But here, there were neither readers nor writers. What was here now was—

A summoning message flickered in the air. Yoo Sangah immediately checked the sender of the message. It was a Recorder she knew well.

"Sangah-ssi?"

As Yoo Sangah’s silence grew longer, Lee Seolhwa called out to her with an anxious expression. However, Yoo Sangah remained silent for quite some time. She simply read the record before her eyes over and over again. How much time had passed like that? A determination flickered in Yoo Sangah’s eyes.

"Let’s go."

I was confused. Was Han Sooyoung really writing all these sentences?

Blocking Snowfield's punch, I thought about Han Sooyoung. I had no idea why she was participating in the 'Record' of this worldline, or why she didn't say a word to me.

However, if it was certain that she had indeed intervened in the story as a 'Recorder'—

Snowfield smiled white.

"You look like you don't understand. Why I am benefiting from the 'Record'."

That's right. I didn't understand. But on the other hand, I understood better than anyone.

The last Han Sooyoung I saw carried a heavy sense of guilt toward Kim Dokja.

If that record is meant to save 'Kim Dokja,' she will write it over and over again.

I calmed my mind with a light deep breath and opened my mouth.

"Aren't you being too overconfident? Just because Han Sooyoung is recording you doesn't guarantee she's on your side."

"What?"

"Think about it. Has the protagonist of any of her novels ever been happy, even once?"

Snowfield frowned slightly.

"This time it will be different."

"Yeah, I hope so too."

"..."

"If the story ends with another sad conclusion, I think it would be really hard on my heart, too."

A light breeze brushed between us, and Snowfield lowered the fist he had raised. Then, he spoke in the calm and quiet voice I knew.

"Then let's stop here. You've done enough."

Snowfield's Kim Dokja, who had no choice but to leave 'my story' outside because he loved it. Even though I had left that story behind, his expression remained warm. For a moment, I felt a desire to entrust all my fragments to him and become a single Kim Dokja. I simply wanted to be at ease. It was a temptation I might have succumbed to in the past.

"Not yet."

Nevertheless, I could not stop here.

The history I had lived through was sustaining me.

Snowfield looked into my story and asked.

"What is the reason you want to become 'the one and only Kim Dokja' to such an extent?"

The reason I want to become the one and only Kim Dokja.

"If you have read my story so far, you should know."

"I want to hear it directly from your own mouth."

"I want to set everything right."

Once I uttered those words myself, I felt my goal become somehow much clearer.

Wiping my blood-stained lips and catching my breath, I continued speaking.

"I want to create an ending where no one becomes unhappy."

Snowfield shook his head.

"That's impossible. You know that, too. That isn't a proper 'story'."

Snowfield looked up at the night sky. Since the constellations could not see this world, not all the starlight floating in the night sky belonged to the constellations.

"No star wants a story like that."

I know now what kind of beings the stars are. Beings who endlessly cheer for someone, yet in reality observe their tragedy. Beings who crave someone's survival while feeling intense ecstasy at their death. Beings who want the ending of this story more than anyone, yet in reality want the story to continue.

"The ending you dream of won't convince anyone."

"..."

"So just admit it. You aren't Kim Dokja."

Saying that I am not Kim Dokja. Perhaps it was an easy thing to do. Nevertheless, I said this.

"We aren't the ones deciding that."

As if he hadn't expected to receive those words back, Snowfield opened his eyes wide.

"Yes, that's true."

We looked at each other for a moment. Our faces covered in blood. We resembled one another, as if facing a mirror.

Snowfield opened his mouth with a faint smile.

"Then, let's call the person who can decide that."

"What?"

At the same time as my question, the air split open. What emerged from the rift was a small girl. She collapsed forward, appearing to be unconscious.

From a distance, the mournful cry of a 'Chimera Dragon' could be heard.

Judging by the power of the story flowing out, she was undoubtedly Shin Yoosoung of <Kim Dokja Company>. Just as Dansu ahjussi had said, she had been in this world with us.

"That child will surely figure out which of us is the 'real Kim Dokja'."

I saw Shin Yoosoung slowly open her eyes with a small groan. The story inside me was humming and reacting to her. It was the same for Snowfield. The history of 'Kim Dokja' that we possessed was calling out to her.

I realized it instinctively. The events about to unfold were the 'final probability' that would shape the conclusion of this world.