1017 Episode 62 Snowfield Kim Dokja (7)

The X-Class Ferrari, speeding down the unpaved road, rattled slightly. Ji Eunyu, sitting in the passenger seat, was looking out the window. Outside, black rain was falling steadily.

"It's raining heavily."

Fragments of stories were clinging to the black rain. As she placed her hand against the windowpane, the story fragments, screaming as if they had been waiting for this moment, flowed right down.

As Ji Eunyu took a deep breath and removed her hand from the window, Anna Croft, who was holding the steering wheel, asked.

"Are you alright?"

Ji Eunyu nodded and replied.

"I'm alright."

How could she be alright? The world was ending. Lava erupted from the cracked ground and swallowed the living, and stars in the sky fell from the sky at thunder that struck from somewhere.

It was a situation where no one could say they were okay. Yet, the reason she could say she was fine was perhaps due to the power of the skill she possessed.

An exclusive skill that Kim Namwoon, one of the characters, also possessed.

Thanks to this skill, Ji Eunyu passed the first scenario and was able to calmly utilize the knowledge of this world she knew.

On the first day that the implausible event of a novel becoming reality occurred, she thought of the person who wrote this story.

Whether it was a misfortune or a blessing, she had once asked her assigned author the following question.

Perhaps because it was a question that the extremely realistic Ji Eunyu would never ask, her author pondered for a long time before answering as follows.

Perhaps it was because she pointed out the lack of probability every single day. As expected, her editor pondered the answer for quite a while before saying the following:

Normally, she would have shouted, "Not that ridiculous nonsense again!" but this time, she faithfully followed his advice. It was a matter of survival.

And so, her patron star became 'Moonlight Empress Yoo Sangah', a member of <Kim Dokja Company>. Had the editor been by his side, he likely would have shouted this with his characteristic cheesy gestures:

Even after that, she recalled his advice every time she made a choice. Whether clearing a scenario, obtaining a reward, or going through a growth event.

Ji Eunyu often wondered. If they met again, would he give the same answer? Even in this world where the novel had truly become reality, would he give the same advice as he did back then?

In the story, Kim Dokja warns about the 'Covenant of the Other World' several times. However, both Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung made that covenant. And they survived.

Although both of them pay a terrible price because of it, Ji Eunyu nevertheless considered it an adventure worth attempting.

She made the 'Covenant of the Other World' with the Wenny clan.

She obtained the power of a 'Recorder of Fear'. Having become able to revise [Fate], she also acquired the qualification to trade with the Nebulae. There were crises several times along the way, but whenever a crisis arose, she endured by thinking of the person who wrote this story. What would he have done? What development would he have written next? What choice would he have made?

Some memories grow while being ruminated, and some bonds deepen when apart.

While living in the world he recorded and struggling to survive, she dreamt a lot about her assigned writer.

Immediately after finishing the main story, her writer said that.

After pondering for a long time again, her writer finally gave a wry smile and said.

What other ending had her author dreamed of? Ji Eunyu had come this far thinking about it.

"Cloud Mountain."

Was she lost in thought too deeply? Ji Eunyu realized a little late that Anna Croft was calling her.

"Yes."

When she answered, Anna said.

"I have heard a lot about you."

"From whom?"

"The stars."

Anna Croft's eyes emitted a brilliant red light.

"I heard that only those who have seen the end of a world, or at least those who have achieved equivalent feats, qualify as 'Recorders of Fear'. But I hear you have already earned the title of 'Recorder'."

"…"

"I heard that you were the one who gathered the incarnations for this 'Ragnarok'."

Instead of answering, Ji Eunyu surveyed the vehicles behind her in the side mirror. Hundreds of vehicles were following them from behind. They were forces of incarnations from various nations.

The Korean forces that followed Cheon Inho. And even the overseas incarnations who had received help from him at least once.

"I never thought a single incarnation could accomplish this. You are truly amazing."

"No, not at all. You're the amazing one."

Ji Eunyu knew how Anna Croft had made it this far.

"You're the only one who survived after fighting so many preliminary battles for 'Ragnarok'."

"If he hadn't helped me, I would already be dead."

Ji Eunyu also knew who 'he' Anna Croft was referring to.

After a moment of hesitation, Anna Croft spoke again.

"Kim Dokja has spoken about you."

"What did he say?"

"He told me to find you first, no matter what, once the scenario begins."

Ji Eunyu nodded, saying 'Ah', then urgently asked back.

"Is that all?"

Perhaps noticing the strangely disappointed look on Ji Eunyu's face, Anna Croft quickly added.

"He also said you are the person he trusts the most."

"...You haven't heard from him yet?"

"Yes."

The two were silent for a moment. Although no words were exchanged, they knew that at that moment, they shared the same thought.

"It will be alright. Because he is a strong person."

"You trust him."

"If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have been able to come this far. It is the same for you."

Anna Croft nodded. She took two torn tickets from her bosom. They were scalped tickets Kim Dokja had given her. Because of these tickets, she was able to come as part of the 'Army of Calamity' and meet Ji Eunyu, who had chosen the same faction.

"How is [Future Sight]? Do you see anything?"

"I see nothing."

The amount of black rain falling through the car window had increased compared to before. It must mean that many stars are falling from the sky.

Anna Croft asked again.

"Are you really going to push ahead like this? Wouldn't it be better to wait for Kim Dokja or Yoo Joonghyuk to arrive?"

Even if it was unavoidable that Kim Dokja was out of contact, it was worth waiting for Yoo Joonghyuk, who had stepped away for a moment. However, Ji Eunyu shook her head.

"It is right for us to move immediately, even if it is just us. The mythical constellations of the Round Table have vanished. An opportunity like this probably won't come again."

For reasons unknown, the 'Round Table' of the constellations had lost its power. This caused a massive power vacuum in 'Ragnarok', bringing the battlefield into a temporary lull.

Now was the only time to change the fate of this world.

"You have arrived."

With a light pause, Ferrargini came to a halt. Ji Eunyu and Anna Croft instructed the party behind them to wait briefly before walking forward. Anna Croft muttered softly,

"Up close, their power is immense."

Even within the same 'Army of Calamity,' there are differences in strength between factions.

The place they had just arrived at was one of the largest groups within the Calamity faction of this 'Ragnarok'. The Calamity side refers to this faction as follows:

The presence of terrifying Outer Gods was felt from within the Nest of Calamity, which seemed to be settled in a pure white ash.

However, they were all deeply asleep. As if waiting for their master, or as if they knew it was not yet time to wake up.

Ji Eunyu and Anna Croft waited for a while at the back door of the camp. Anna Croft asked.

"Will he really help?"

"He will help."

"But I heard he has been with this faction for a long time."

"Since he has been with us for so long, he has no choice but to help. Because he was the one who wanted to become 'Kim Dokja' more than any of us."

Not long after, the back door of the camp opened. The man who appeared was someone Ji Eunyu also knew well.

"Ye Hyunwoo-ssi."

The man was Ye Hyunwoo. Now a young man after eight years, Ye Hyunwoo greeted the two with a somewhat tired expression.

"So you finally came."

Ji Eunyu nodded.

"Because the promised time has come."

Ji Eunyu, having pulled the cape she had prepared in advance over her head, asked.

"Has Snow White woken up?"

The Snow White. A being known among the Recorders of Fear as 'Snowfield Kim Dokja'.

Ye Hyunwoo bit his lip softly at that nickname and replied.

"He is still asleep. But he will wake up soon."

"Please guide us."

"Are you two going alone?"

"If he hasn't woken up yet, there is no point in causing a commotion."

Ye Hyunwoo let out a light sigh and began walking ahead. As if orders had been given in advance, he headed toward the core of the camp.

Meanwhile, no one stopped them.

Ye Hyunwoo glanced at Ji Eunyu's equipment and asked.

"Do you have a plan in mind? Even if he is asleep, using your power incorrectly on him could backfire."

"If he really is asleep, there is a way."

Ji Eunyu took an apple out of her bosom. Ye Hyunwoo's eyes wavered greatly upon seeing the apple. It was because he recognized what kind of object it was.

"If he really is 'Snow White', it won't be easy to escape the 'Stage-ization' effect of this apple."

Ye Hyunwoo stared at the apple for a moment then asked.

"Do you really have to do this?"

"Yes."

"He is also a part of the 'Kim Dokja' we know. Isn't there a way to try persuading him one last time?"

Instead of answering, Ji Eunyu stared at Ye Hyunwoo for a moment. Then, she replied in a calm and clear tone.

"You should know better than I do what kind of 'Kim Dokja' he is."

"…"

"He is the one who tore apart other Kim Dokjas with his own hands. Because of him, all this tragedy unfolded. If he had been someone who could be persuaded, the other Kim Dokjas wouldn't have ended up like that."

Ye Hyunwoo listened to her story silently. It was a story both of them knew by now. How this world was created, and why this tragedy began.

"You know what will become of this world if we let such a Kim Dokja become 'the one and only Kim Dokja'."

Ye Hyunwoo did not deny Ji Eunyu's words. Instead, he gazed at the tent visible in the distance. A tent where a pale flag waved. It was the place where their goal lay dormant.

Ye Hyunwoo, who had been walking ahead, stopped abruptly and spoke.

"I clearly agreed with your will, so I will not stop you. However."

He glanced at Ji Eunyu, who stood beside him, and added.

"Keep this in mind. Not every reader shares your thoughts."

The next moment, the curtain opened, and a man and a woman appeared as if they had been waiting. Ji Eunyu gazed at the man standing further forward and spoke.

"Second Apostle."

Then the Second Apostle—Killer King—nodded and replied.

"Lord of the Apostles."

It was the moment when the two people who had read this story more than anyone else in this world faced each other.

The two looked at each other for a moment, as if gauging the world they had read and lived in—or the end of the story they had read.

It was Killer King who spoke first.

"Have you come to kill Kim Dokja?"