1028 Episode 63 Ragnarok (2)

I blinked my eyes again. Then, the record flashed before my eyes once more.

It felt like I had had a short, terrible dream. The sensation of rising from a pile of pure white ashes. Fortunately, the condition of my incarnation was not bad.

Looking around, my situation came into view at a glance.

I retraced my memories.

The fight to reclaim the third Kim Dokja. The Nameless Mist and the myth-grade constellations. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who chose to seal me to protect me, and me, trapped in his relic and being swept away.

And…

I saw a single strand of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven's hair, which I had been holding in my hand, scatter in a messy mess. It seemed as though my hair had lost its vitality from conveying memories.

Why Snowfield Kim Dokja started the scenario, and why I came to this world. I couldn't understand everything clearly, but I could at least confirm a vague outline.

Above all, the greatest gain was learning the past history between him and Cheon Inho.

Looking at that scene, I thought. What if Snowfield Kim Dokja hadn't known the story of the outside world?

If that were the case, could he have lived peacefully with Cheon Inho forever within the snowfield?

Companion of the Snowfield—this must be Cheon Inho's story. As I was examining that story for a moment, a message echoed in my head.

—No, what do you mean by waking up now? Do you know how long I spent waking you up?

It was the voice of the Demon King of Salvation.

I smiled awkwardly and asked back.

"How long did I sleep?"

—About a week.

My heart sank. It felt like I had only fallen asleep for a moment, but a whole week had already passed? The faces of the people I needed to look after belatedly flashed through my mind. What had become of Yoo Joonghyuk or Jung Heewon, who had escaped with me?

I hurriedly looked around inside the 'Yangjiokjeongbyeong' and saw the little clones of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven sprawled on the floor, having reverted back to hair. It certainly seemed that a lot of time had passed.

—There were a lot of guys looking for you.

I quickly checked the backlog of messages. The first one I checked was Yoo Joonghyuk's.

—Kim Dokja. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ well ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ joined ■■■■■■.

It was a message sent via 'Midday Tryst'. Perhaps because I was wandering the outskirts of the scenario within the 'Yangjiokjeongbyeong', the message was not received properly.

Still, roughly interpreting it, it seems to mean that he is fine and will join soon.

Since Jung Heewon will be with Yoo Joonghyuk, there shouldn't be much need to worry.

In addition, I saw invitation messages sent by various constellations, including Dionysus.

…

Some nebulae had noticed that I was returning to the 'Ragnarok' scenario and had sent invitation messages to recruit me into their factions.

It wasn't strange. After all, the constellations had swarmed in to rush my recruitment even when I had just finished the preliminary battle.

Suddenly, I remembered what Bakarine had said back then. Will the other Dokjas be okay? Even as I thought they would surely be fine, I couldn't shake off the strange anxiety that was welling up inside me.

What happened to Kim Anna?

I had given Kim Anna a separate ticket for the 'Disaster Side'. If my predictions were correct, Kim Anna would have become a key figure in the Disaster faction by now.

As I recalled my colleagues' faces one by one and checked the invitation messages, one message in particular caught my eye. It wasn't an 'invitation message' from a specific faction.

Archives.

Hearing that name for the first time in a while brought many memories to my head.

Come to think of it, I hadn't used the 'Archives' much since becoming a 'Recorder of Fear'.

"When did this message arrive?"

—Three days ago.

Three days ago is already quite a bit of time. The person who sent the call from these 'Archives' must have already left. However, the 'Demon King of Salvation' seemed to have a slightly different idea.

—Still, wouldn't it be better to check? It might be a pretty good time to gather information at this point.

Come to think of it, I don't really know how the main stage of 'Ragnarok' is heading right now.

Judging by what the first one said, while I was staying in this 'Yangjiokjeongbyeong', the Kim Dokjas inside the [Fourth Wall] hadn't really heard or seen any other stories either.

Judging by the scenario message in the void, there is still some time left before re-entering 'Ragnarok'.

"Then I'll be right back."

Whether the caller from the archives was still there or not, it was well worth the visit. Even if I couldn't meet the caller, I could still get information from other recorders.

—Right. Call us if anything happens.

Although he said that, the Demon King of Salvation didn't seem particularly worried. After all, at this point, beings that could pose a threat to me are extremely rare.

A faint noise could be heard from inside the [Fourth Wall], as if the Kim Dokjas were holding a strategy meeting among themselves. Since they were about to enter the final scenario, it seemed there was much to discuss.

"I accept the invitation from the Archives."

As soon as I answered, the surrounding scenery changed, and I felt my soul connecting to somewhere.

It had been a long time since I had entered Bicheonhori's Archives.

Who could have summoned me?

It could be Bicheonhori himself, or it could be Asmodeus.

Or it could be the 'Unchanging One' whom I had taken in as a subordinate recorder. Or perhaps it was 'Moraleok' whom I had encountered at the Archives sometime ago.

It could have been a trap, or a message requesting cooperation.

In truth, I felt that it didn't matter which it was. I don't know why, but that was the case. Perhaps it was the confidence gained from gathering three Kim Dokjas.

That was the only explanation I could offer at the moment.

From the moment the Demon King of Salvation, the Great King of Fear, and the Prisoner of the Golden Cage entered my [Fourth Wall], I became something different.

The 'Archives', which I had entered for the first time in a long while, was quite different from the scenery I remembered.

The 'rooms' where recorders used to gather to revise [Fate] were nowhere to be seen.

Instead, what unfolded before my eyes was a massive library.

I slowly approached the bookshelf and pulled out a book. As soon as I opened it, someone's dialogue burst out.

I paused and silently followed along with the dialogue.

I knew exactly whose dialogue it was and in which passage it appeared. Examining the book's cover, I saw the title I had expected.

『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Chapter 371_3rd Proofreading』

Main Story Chapter 371.

This passage depicted the scene where Yoo Sangah, on the verge of reincarnation, shared her final conversation with Kim Dokja inside the [Fourth Wall].

Perhaps it was because it had been a long time since I had read a manuscript.

I kept turning the pages as if under a spell.

Yoo Sangah asked, and Kim Dokja answered. The two talked in a space strictly for the two of them.

They talked about impossible dreams, and about a future that might have been possible in another universe.

My heart ached the entire time I was reading that conversation.

For every reader, 're-reading' meant facing one's past self.

Although I was clearly reading the story of Kim Dokja and Yoo Sangah right now—

At the same time, I was thinking of the me who wrote that story long ago—the person who used to read the story I had worked so hard to write.

At that moment, a single white finger appeared over the proofs.

"Ah, a parenthesis is missing here. Argh, I checked it so carefully!"

The moment I heard her voice, I turned to look beside me in delight. Standing there was the person I had longed for for so long.

"Editor-nim!"

It was Ji Eunyu.

"I should be called 'Cloud Mountain' here."

The moment I saw Ji Eunyu reply so nonchalantly, I could not suppress my joy. Only then did I realize who had summoned me to these 'Archives'.

"Surely not Editor-nim—"

"That's right. I called you. You were arriving so late that I was thinking of leaving, but here we are. I'm glad I waited."

To my surprise, Ji Eunyu did not look like Min Jiwon. She looked exactly like the 'Ji Eunyu' I remembered from long ago.

Short bob hair. The white cotton T-shirt and long jeans she usually wore.

With her hands clasped behind her back, Ji Eunyu turned toward the bookshelf and spoke.

"This is my 'archive'."

Ji Eunyu's archive?

"I learned how to make one from Bicheonhori."

Was it possible to apply that in this way? I followed her, marveling anew.

"Then all the manuscripts here are..."

"They are manuscripts you know well, too, Author-nim."

The manuscripts occupying this bookshelf were all countless proofs of 「Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint」.

From the first draft to the fourth. Live serialization version and the second version, paperback version and hardcover version…

In one corner, a bookshelf containing only discarded manuscripts was also visible.

Hiding the emotions welling up inside me, I approached Ji Eunyu.

Ji Eunyu had taken a book from the bookshelf and was reading it.

"It was really tough back then. Do you remember?"

I nodded as I read the passage Ji Eunyu pointed to. It happened to be the part where Kim Dokja dies.

"Ah, that's right. I suddenly got sick and was hospitalized while writing this part..."

"You remember! You know how hard it was for me to take care of you back then."

"You mean the time you came all the way to the hospital to pressure me for the deadline?"

Ji Eunyu continued to chatter away, with the face I knew so well.

"Do you remember this part? You cried after writing this, didn't you? Saying you felt like you wrote it completely wrong."

Once again, it was the part where Kim Dokja dies. Thinking to myself, "Have I killed this guy off too often?" I replied.

"I never cried."

"Wow, you're denying it now."

We giggled as we shared stories not written in the manuscript. It didn't feel real. That all that time had passed. That the stories we had written and revised had become dozens of books.

After finishing one volume, we walked to another bookshelf. Was rereading a story with a written ending always this enjoyable? I wanted to read other scenes together right away. I wanted to chat. Before all these stories vanished. I wanted to talk a little more while this blank space allowed us.

But.

"Author-nim."

The moment I saw Ji Eunyu stop abruptly, I realized that this joy had come to an end.

"So much has happened, hasn't it?"

Before I could even fully nod, Ji Eunyu stood on tiptoe, pulled a book from the shelf, and handed it to me. I thought it might be the part where Kim Dokja dies again, but the title of the book seemed a bit strange.

『Killer King— Cha Seongwoo』

I stared down at the book for a long time, unable to say a word. For some reason, the hand holding the book was trembling.

It felt as though if I opened this book and read it, everything would become irreversible.

When I looked up, Ji Eunyu was looking at me.

"I'm sorry, Author-nim."

I couldn't ask what she was sorry for. Perhaps I didn't want to know. I didn't want to open this book. Even so.

I opened the book.