1011 Episode 62 Snowfield Kim Dokja (1)

A faint sound was heard from afar. It sounded like a heavy object being dropped, like a sturdy door closing, or like a thick book being slammed shut.

And I knew what that sound was.

With an explosion of light, all the stories I knew were sucked into somewhere and turned into a single point. Beyond that point, reminiscent of a period, the screams of unwritten stars could be heard.

...

The point emitting a faint light soon scattered beyond a distant vanishing point.

I reached out my hand toward that vanishing point. My hand was blocked by the smooth inner wall of the gourd and could not advance any further. A hollow and profound silence caught between my fingers.

My head was spinning. It was difficult to keep breathing. Perhaps this emotion belonged to the third Kim Dokja. Nevertheless, right now, I truly shared in the pain the third was experiencing.

Just by reading a story by chance, a person can feel terrible sorrow. They can sense the despair of losing a loved one, the pain of losing something precious, as if it were their own.

I opened my mouth as if speaking to the third.

"I'm sorry."

I failed to keep it again. I failed to properly keep any promise. And all that remained for me was the record.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven knew that I was not his youngest. Nevertheless, he entrusted that role to me.

As the hazy sentence became clear, the doubts I had been putting off until now surged all at once.

I came this far by constantly brainwashing myself. I believed I could do it. There was a reason why I had to. There were 'Dokjas' who believed in me. There were people who entrusted everything to me and watched this whole story from beyond the [Fourth Wall].

"I am."

For them, I opened my mouth once again.

"Kim Dokja."

I repeated [Incite], which had now become the hardest thing for me to believe in myself.

I must act as Kim Dokja so that no one other than myself knows that fact. And thus, I must ultimately deceive even this <Star Stream>.

The fragments of stories that had been seething in my head subsided. When I opened my closed eyes again, a message was floating in the air.

—What? Are you having a self-awakening event or something?

It was my eldest brother.

"Demon King of Salvation."

I answered in a voice mixed with joy and surprise.

Is it possible to contact someone like this? I thought we could only communicate via smartphone.

—I can contact you now without the Holy Relic. We’ve gathered enough fragments, and the library has grown quite a bit.

Until now, contact with the 'Demon King of Salvation' was only possible through his Holy Relic, the 'smartphone'. However, it seems something changed when the third Kim Dokja was brought inside the walls.

—So you’re saying you can handle this level of probability now?

I gave a wry smile as I listened to his strangely triumphant voice.

"It doesn't sound like exactly good news. That this level of probability is allowed—"

—Right, it also means the end of the scenarios is near.

Finally, the end of the long journey was before my eyes. Although I hadn't gathered all the Kim Dokja fragments, I now had three Kim Dokjas with me.

The Demon King of Salvation.

The Great King of Fear.

And the Prisoner of the Golden Cage.

Excluding 'Snowfield Kim Dokja', I had gathered all the 'largest Kim Dokja fragments' I could collect right now.

Was it because I thought the end was near, or was my heart softened by hearing the voice of the Demon King of Salvation for the first time in a while?

My mouth opened before I knew it.

"Do you think I can do this well?"

I regretted it a little after I spat it out. Given the Demon King of Salvation's personality, it was obvious he would scold me, saying, "The ending is right around the corner, and you're still spouting such pathetic nonsense?" But...

—So what if you're not good at it?

I was slightly flustered by the answer that followed and asked back.

"Huh?"

—Kim Dokja isn't exactly the type of guy who's good at anything.

The Demon King of Salvation paused, as if deep in thought, before continuing. Through that gap in silence, the stories of Kim Dokja's life surged up.

—He's a human whose only redeeming quality, if you can call it that, is his love of reading.

With his characteristic nonchalant sarcasm, the Demon King of Salvation described Kim Dokja.

—Is that all? He's a born slacker, and his mental strength isn't particularly strong either. On the contrary, he is a guy who despairs more deeply than anyone and gets hurt more easily. He gets sad at the slightest provocation, and then rejoices like a fool.

Thinking that perhaps this wasn't entirely a story about 'Kim Dokja', I asked.

"Was it like that for you, too?"

The landscape of the universe was reflected beyond the transparent gourd. The world where the Great Sage Equal to Heaven lived was no longer visible.

Nevertheless, somewhere in that universe, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven surely exists. Sealed beneath the massive Mount Five Elements, he must be asleep, bearing the weight of all the tragedy.

—That was true.

The Demon King of Salvation answered, looking at the same universe as I did. We were looking at the same universe, yet imagining different landscapes. I was imagining the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and as for the Demon King of Salvation.

He must be thinking of 'Uriel'.

"How did you overcome it?"

I wanted to know. How did the Demon King of Salvation—Kim Dokja—endure the sorrow of losing Uriel in the final scenario?

—I couldn't overcome it.

"…"

—I always lost to stories.

We watched the flowing universe, the <Star Stream>, together. The final scenario was drawing near.

—Youngest.

"Yes."

—I believe you are already a sufficient 'one Kim Dokja'.

Caught off guard by those words, I bit my lip for a moment and asked back.

"Why do you think so?"

—Because only Kim Dokja can doubt the fact that he is 'Kim Dokja'.

"…"

—Because only 'Kim Dokja' will think about what 'Kim Dokja' is. In that sense, you are already an excellent Kim Dokja.

Speaking as if continuing a calm narrative, the Demon King of Salvation continued to speak.

—There might be more painful things ahead. Perhaps terrible stories are waiting for you. But there will be joyful things too. You will laugh or cry like a fool again, and get hurt.

I saw stars twinkling in the distant universe.

—And all of that becomes a story.

Without understanding why those words were comforting, I listened to him.

—No matter what anyone says, you have a story left. It’s not a Zen riddle. Look, there is a story left even now.

Only then did I look around. The contents of the gourd came into much clearer view belatedly. The Demon King of Salvation was right.

I was the only one here, but strictly speaking, I was not alone.

At first, I thought it was dust. But when I looked closely...

It was someone's hair.

With my mouth agape in a daze, I gazed at the scene where golden hairs were scattering like snow.

Then, at a certain moment, a strand of hair touching my fingertips stirred up a small cloud of dust with a 'pop'. Soon after, I felt something stick firmly to my shoulder.

There stood a baby monkey.

A tiny baby monkey, reminiscent of little Kim Dokja.

"Great Sage Equal to Heaven."

As I called his name, the baby monkeys gathered around me as if in response. As story fragments gathered in one place, a warm, cozy atmosphere enveloped the area.

The memories the Great Sage Equal to Heaven cherished were here.

The next moment, one of the baby monkeys lingering nearby lightly grasped my hand.

The moment I heard that familiar voice, I felt dizzy. It felt as if I had met the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's eyes. An old memory surfaced in my mind.

I was certain I had seen that message sometime before. It was on the day I had analyzed a large volume of hair on the 'Scales of Settlement'.

I hurriedly checked the name of the story fragment that had grabbed me.

Only then did everything feel like it made sense.

This was the memory of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

On the day I felt the Great Sage's gaze through the 'Scales of Settlement', the Great Sage had indeed gone to meet the Wenny King.

The Great Sage retorted in a sharp voice toward the strangely cocky Wenny King.

Unlike me, who had carefully chosen my questions, the Great Sage spat them out without hesitation.

The Wenny King smiled wryly, finding the Great Sage Equal to Heaven amusing, and opened his mouth.

At the Wenny King's question, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven nodded after a brief silence.

The Wenny King spread his arms wide like an actor performing an exaggerated act. His arms creaked and moved like a scale. As if trying to measure the value of the star right before his eyes.

The Great Sage Equal to Heaven glanced at the Wenny King, then stared once again at me beyond the scales.

He asked in a clear and distinct voice.