1041 Episode 63. Ragnarok (15)

With a sensation of hair standing on end, I and the other Kings also turned that way. The first to speak was the Handsome Monkey King.

There were the Myth-grade constellations of <Huangdi>.

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. The Myth-grade constellations representing <Huangdi>—five of them were there.

Fuxi.

Shennong.

Nüwa.

Huangdi.

Zhuanxu.

But something was strange. The five constellations, who possessed a distant status, had not descended in their normal incarnation bodies.

A bizarre spherical shape in which the heads of the five constellations were stuck together like organic matter was slowly rotating, spanning across space like a surrealist sculpture.

In that moment when everyone was lost in thought, the face of the frowning Shennong opened its mouth.

Next, Fuxi, who was shedding tears of blood, said,

Nüwa, whose lips were twisted, and Huangdi, whose eyes were rolled back, also spoke.

The last to speak was Zhuanxu, whose tongue was cut off.

The chorus of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors began.

The warship's defense system was activated. It was a story barrier that blocked all story waves in the area.

The moment the Mass Production Maker shouted a warning, a heavy roar echoed throughout the warship. A huge storm of status swept through the area.

Even though the warship's barrier was fully operational, the historical-grade constellations who witnessed the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors rolled their eyes and fainted on the spot. Most of the constellations who remained awake were also trembling convulsively, venting stories from their entire bodies.

Their souls could not endure just hearing the sorrowful screams of the maddened Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

I bit my lip hard. It was clear why the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had ended up in such a state.

"Dokja-ssi."

Jung Heewon spoke in a fearful voice for the first time. It was not a voice of fear toward the monsters that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had become. I was also looking at the same place as her. Standing beside that horrible Myth-grade monster was an existence we knew well.

As if he already knew I was coming, he was looking at me. The mouth of the bastard, on which an ominous smile was hung, slowly opened.

My heart beat strangely. It wasn't even this kind of feeling when I saw the deformed Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. A sensation as if an indescribable gaze of eternity was scanning us. It felt like time had stopped. A chilling sensation spread down my spine. The moment I felt I had to shut his mouth—

The sound of a book closing was heard from somewhere. A feeling of something breaking and sliding down. A sensation of all the scenery before my eyes being erased at once. My body creaked and wouldn't move well. I turned around with all my might. Just in time, Jung Heewon was also looking at me.

"Dokja—"

Her figure was gradually fading. It wasn't just Jung Heewon. The Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, the Mass Production Maker, the Handsome Monkey King, and all the stars aboard this warship as well.

The constellations began to disappear with screams. The scenery slid down, and everything in my field of vision began to turn into blank spaces. As if they had never existed from the start, as if no story remained there anymore—

I looked down at my hands. I could see my hands gradually disappearing. More precisely, the components that made up me, the stories that read me, were scattering.

"Hee□-ssi—"

All the characters are erased, and the scenery where they stood disappears. The darkness, our light, is lost. Soon the stars surrounding us disappear, and the status and individual perish.

Our stories were no longer being read. The number of blank spaces gradually increased, and soon everything became a blank space.

Yet, even after witnessing such an overwhelming authority, my mind was strangely peaceful.

In the distance, I could see my brother, who was staring at me, slowly turning his head. He did not take his eyes off me and him. I looked into his side, his back. Looking at him, looking at his stories, sensing his authority, looking at that story, I was reading the whole world.

And I recalled.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I.

I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I.

Boom!

In an instant, the surrounding scenery flipped.

Tsu-chuchut!

The scattered stories began to return.

Tsu-chuchuchuchut!

As the recording restarted, the stars that had been excluded from the story regained their original light.

The scenery of space returned, and the outer wall of the warship was restored. The constellations collapsed on the floor spat out their held breath.

Jung Heewon stumbled as if dizzy, and the Mass Production Maker also caught his breath while leaning on his cane.

The Abyssal Black Flame Dragon frowned in anger, and the Handsome Monkey King let out a hollow voice as if reminiscing about the previous wonder.

As if staring at a mountain of a distant height that he couldn't reach, the Handsome Monkey King asked in a trembling voice,

I stared at my brother in the distance and answered in a calm voice once again.

As if responding to my answer, messages floated before my eyes.

...

In the distance, 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' was seen turning his back and disappearing. The deformed body of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors also disappeared somewhere following him.

By that, I realized.

If so, that must have been his first greeting before the final scenario.

...

Sensing the gazes of the recorders waiting for the final record of this world, I stared blankly at the back of my retreating brother.

There were many things I wanted to ask. What happened to <Kim Dokja's Company> who had gone to find him, and what happened to the other readers. What do you hope to achieve by becoming 'the only Kim Dokja' to this extent.

But I did not ask. Because there was not much whitespace left in this world anyway.

Along with the gravity of the scenario pulling us, the warship began to accelerate again. And finally, the scenery of the 'main battlefield' unfolded before our eyes.

*

In the darkness, Kim Dokja slowly opened his eyes. The place where he opened his eyes was a pure white, ash-colored room. He always fell asleep in this room, and woke up in this room again.

Only in this room could he dream. The dream of reading a universe full of bright stars. The dream of new stars rising and setting. The dream of a wonderful protagonist, and the dream of a man who was not a protagonist becoming a protagonist. And the dream of a single reader who reads all those stories.

Leisurely rising from his seat, Kim Dokja drew the curtains of the window, and the dark sky of the <Star Stream> looked down at him.

Pachuchut.

A small spark. Something dripped from his mouth. A line of story was formed at the corner of his mouth reflected in the window. The excessive use of probability had put a burden on his incarnation body. But Kim Dokja wiped the corner of his mouth as if he didn't care at all and asked,

"You saw it too, right?"

In a tone that made it unclear who he was speaking to, he continued,

"That guy finally came all the way here. He gathered all the fragments and rose to the final scenario."

A somewhat excited monologue echoed in the solitary room. Kim Dokja shook his head as if he didn't hate such silence, then muttered to the air with a bitter smile,

"The stage that you recorded and I created. Han Sooyoung."

As if responding to his words, a small spark momentarily lit up in the air.

Kim Dokja smiled quietly.

"Do I look like that?"

Kim Dokja silently read and read the sentences written for him. While reading those sentences, Kim Dokja could also forget many things. The conclusion of this world, and the cold sorrow that suddenly welled up.

Taking a light breath, Kim Dokja spoke again,

"Soon the final chapter of all stories will begin. Are you ready to write?"

Then, a spark flared in the air once again. Kim Dokja stared at the spark, then spoke again,

"Yes, I haven't forgotten the promise. As long as you write me until the end, I will definitely keep the promise."

Saying that, Kim Dokja slowly closed the curtains. Then, as he lightly flicked his finger, a passage opened on one wall of the white room.

Kim Dokja walked toward the passage. Beyond the elongated oval door, there was a long hallway. It was also a hallway painted in a white close to ash.

Peculiarly, on the sides of the hallway, objects reminiscent of coffins were displayed. On top of the translucent coffins, the names of the individuals inside were written.

Kim Dokja looked at the individuals in the coffins with nostalgic eyes.

Those names were once called by a single name.

"Kim Dokja Company."

Tsu-chuchut, and a spark flared in the air once again. It was a far more fierce spark than before.

"Don't be so angry. It's just a joke."

Tsu-chuchut.

"Since I was always the only one in a coffin, I just wanted these people to feel the same way at least once."

Inside the translucent coffins, besides the individuals themselves, ash-colored stories were filled and sloshing. Perhaps they were dreaming a deep dream inside those coffins. A sweet dream where no one needed to be buried, and thus there was no reason to grieve over unforeseen losses. Perhaps in that dream, they were living in the big house they wanted so much.

"Please endure it a little."

Kim Dokja looked at those individuals, muttered something softly, and passed the coffins one by one.

Eventually, Kim Dokja's gaze stopped at the last coffin. The moment he looked at the coffin, the individual inside also opened his eyes and glared at him.

Kim Dokja silently received that burning gaze. Enduring the gaze that seemed ready to break the coffin, step out, and cut him down—a gaze containing distant anger and sorrow—Kim Dokja stood there for a long time. And he muttered with a very faint smile,

"Yes, you have the qualification."

Eventually, as Yoo Joonghyuk closed his eyes again, Kim Dokja said in passing,

"...Thank you."

Lastly, he looked back at the white hallway he had walked. On that hallway reminiscent of a snowfield, not a single footprint remained.

"Do you really think so?"

Kim Dokja nodded. Now the end of that path was before his eyes. As he walked to the end of the hallway, a hall welcoming him appeared.

With his appearance, the Outer Gods who were wandering around the hall roared.

The Outer Gods of the forgotten galaxies, those who were once the terror and tyrants of a world. Existences that were once great stars but had fallen into Outer Gods were also seen. Their stories were erased over long years, and they were howling after even their names were taken away.

Kim Dokja walked on the soft carpet with a smile as if to soothe them. At the end of the carpet was a throne reminiscent of an absolute throne.

The Outer Gods bowed their heads along the path he walked. As he ascended to the closest place to the throne, the deformed body of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors nearby let out a resentful cry.

Kim Dokja, who lightly stroked the forehead of the deformed body, slowly turned and looked down at the world.

The stage and characters were all gathered. Now, only one remained. In a voice containing a cold chill, the Snowfield Kim Dokja sitting on the throne said,

"Let's begin the final story."