1057 Episode 66. The Wolf That Swallowed a God (5)
Yoo Joonghyuk's voice toward Snowfield Kim Dokja carried a strange hostility. I examined the coffin where Yoo Joonghyuk had been lying until just now. Chills ran down my spine. This bastard Kim Dokja—don't tell me he was keeping Yoo Joonghyuk locked up here all this time.
「 "He isn't someone who can be locked up just because you want to lock him up, is he?" 」
As if reacting to my thoughts, Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "Would you like to have a cup of tea for a moment?" 」
Snowfield Kim Dokja abruptly turned his back and walked toward the table in the center of the room. Looking at his defenelessly exposed back, Yoo Joonghyuk slowly raised his story. Did he feel that murderous intent? Snowfield Kim Dokja, who was walking ahead, stopped dead in his tracks and spoke.
「 "I know you can cut me down right now. You have the power to do so." 」
As if daring him to cut him down, he continued to speak without looking back.
「 "But before that, aren't you also curious? Why I went out of my way to release you, and..." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk approached Snowfield Kim Dokja step by step. Hearing the sound of his footsteps, Snowfield Kim Dokja added:
「 "Why I drew you all in at the end of this worldline." 」
The sound of Yoo Joonghyuk's footsteps stopped. Standing right behind Snowfield Kim Dokja, he was silent for a moment. Very slowly, Yoo Joonghyuk's murderous intent began to dissipate. Staring at Snowfield Kim Dokja with burning eyes, he soon passed by him and stepped into the empty room.
「 He is right. 」
Perhaps because I was inside Yoo Joonghyuk's memory, I could hear Yoo Joonghyuk's inner thoughts in real time.
「 I can cut him down at any time. 」
In the desolate white room, there were indeed a white tea table and two chairs. Yoo Joonghyuk stared down at the tea table.
「 A tea table I have seen somewhere before. 」
I also felt a strange sense of déjà vu as I looked down at the table. Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "It seems you recognize it. It's a product of the 73rd Demon Realm." 」
The '73rd Demon Realm'. I heard that in this worldline, Snowfield Kim Dokja had already visited that Demon Realm. He must have liberated the Demon Realm in his own way there, and obtained a story fitting for it.
Snowfield Kim Dokja passed by the blankly standing Yoo Joonghyuk and sat in a chair.
「 "It brings back old memories. Doesn't it?" 」
「 "Old memories?" 」
As Kim Dokja lightly flicked his finger, two teacups appeared on the tea table. They were teacups I had also seen before.
「 "Back then, we also drank tea like this in the Demon Realm. Have you forgotten?" 」
I immediately realized what story Snowfield Kim Dokja was trying to tell. Once, when Kim Dokja fell into the 73rd Demon Realm, Yoo Joonghyuk had visited the 73rd Demon Realm to save him.
「 Yoo Joonghyuk also remembered it. 」
Immediately after defeating the Dukes of the Demon Realm and finishing the battle with Asmodeus, Yoo Joonghyuk visited Kim Dokja's hospital room. That day, Yoo Joonghyuk spoke a lot, which was unlike him. It was about the well-being of their companions after Kim Dokja left. He spoke about Lee Hyunsung, about Jung Heewon and Lee Jihye, about Yoo Sangah and Han Sooyoung, and about Gong Pildu, Shin Yoosung, and Lee Gilyoung.
「 "Everyone is talking about you. You said so." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk was silent for a moment. Very old memories were flowing through his mind.
「 "Do they still talk about me a lot?" 」
Yoo Joonghyuk did not answer. Then Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke once again.
「 "Even back then, you said 'let's go back to Earth'. Just like not too long ago." 」
Watching Snowfield Kim Dokja lightly sip the tea, I felt an indescribable sadness.
「 "Are you still planning to take me 'home'?" 」
Yoo Joonghyuk fell silent for a moment, then asked back instead of answering:
「 "Where are our companions?" 」
Yoo Joonghyuk slowly looked around. Faintly but surely, he could feel their companions' stories in his sensory perception.
「 Our companions are definitely somewhere here. 」
Yoo Joonghyuk clearly remembered the fierce battle with 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' not long ago. That they lost to Snowfield Kim Dokja was by no means because they were pushed back in status.
「 They lost because of a certain story Snowfield Kim Dokja showed. 」
The moment they saw that story, everyone in <Kim Dokja's Company> trembled, despaired, and at the same time, resigned.
「 "They are in a safe place." 」
「 "Bring them here." 」
「 "That is difficult." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk raised his status without a word. The tea in the cup trembled violently.
「 "At least, the Kim Dokja I know doesn't do things like this." 」
「 "Things like this?" 」
「 "That guy—" 」
「 "A person who can use the party members as tools to achieve the purpose he wants." 」
In a voice imbued with a subtle twist, Snowfield Kim Dokja continued.
「 "A person who doesn't care about the wounds his companions will receive just to complete the conclusion of the story he wants to see. The 'Kim Dokja' I know is that kind of person." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk could not reply. Perhaps it was because Snowfield Kim Dokja's words were true to some extent. Kim Dokja's gaze is lonely. Even when he is with his companions, he ultimately sees the conclusion of this world alone. Yoo Joonghyuk had also felt that fact all along. In fact, in that sense, the 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' before his eyes resembled the Kim Dokja he knew.
「 "You have no right to say such words." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk cut him off with a cold expression, as if he had no intention of listening further. Then Kim Dokja asked:
「 "Why do I have no right?" 」
「 "You—" 」
「 "So you also know. That the 'Kim Dokja' you were looking for is not me." 」
「 "I will count to three. Bring our companions within that time." 」
Before he knew it, the 'Black Heavenly Demon Sword' was held in Yoo Joonghyuk's right hand. Staring at the story dwelling in that 'Black Heavenly Demon Sword', Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "I will also count to three." 」
「 "What?" 」
「 "If you don't sit in that chair within three counts, you will lose your companions forever." 」
There was no way the Yoo Joonghyuk I knew would yield to such a threat. Nevertheless, Snowfield Kim Dokja counted.
"Three."
Yoo Joonghyuk stared silently at that Kim Dokja.
"Two."
Yoo Joonghyuk's entire body was becoming even more fierce.
"One."
An explosive status surged from Yoo Joonghyuk's entire body as if he would tear the Kim Dokja before him to pieces right away. And in the next moment, all of Yoo Joonghyuk's murderous intent scattered like magic. Watching Yoo Joonghyuk collapse into the chair, Snowfield Kim Dokja laughed.
「 "Are you afraid of losing your companions?" 」
「 "I know you won't do such a thing." 」
「 "How do you know that? I am—" 」
「 "Because you are also 'Kim Dokja'." 」
Snowfield Kim Dokja was silent for a moment. Picking up the teacup with his long fingers, he drank down the remaining tea. Then, frowning as if displeased, he retorted:
「 "Did you think I would be touched if you said that?" 」
「 "What is it that you want?" 」
Yoo Joonghyuk asked straightforwardly, as if he would drag time no longer. However, I could tell that his question was a sort of smokescreen. Because even while they conversed, Yoo Joonghyuk's sensory perception was expanding in real time. He was searching for his companions by tracing back the story of Snowfield Kim Dokja that dominated this entire area.
Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "You already know what I want. Because what I want resembles what you once wanted." 」
「 "I remember the story you showed." 」
The reason Yoo Joonghyuk and the party members had no choice but to be captured helplessly. Recalling the story he saw that day, Yoo Joonghyuk asked:
「 "Just what on earth was that?" 」
What Yoo Joonghyuk witnessed that day was the essence of this world. The 'certain conclusion' shaped by the 41st round—no, perhaps by all the universes of this <Star Stream>.
「 "That is—" 」
「 "Shh. That story is not written yet." 」
As if someone might listen, Snowfield Kim Dokja said, bringing a finger to his lips.
「 "That story is what the writer who wrote the first sentence of this story left for me." 」
The writer who wrote the first sentence of the story. Yoo Joonghyuk also knew who that was.
「 "If you saw that story, you would know that in the end, it is not bad for you either. Because when that story is completed, the 'single Kim Dokja' you search for so much will also return." 」
「 "The single Kim Dokja." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk muttered, as if speaking the name of an old ghost.
「 "We also know that is impossible—" 」
「 "Do not lie." 」
'Snowfield Kim Dokja' shot back sharply.
「 "If you really thought that was impossible, you wouldn't have come here." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk did not answer his anger. Satisfied with that silence, Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "What I want is simple. You drinking the tea placed before you. That is all I want." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at his teacup shimmering on the tea table.
「 "Drink that tea, and save me just as you saved Kim Dokja in the Demon Realm." 」
It was at that moment that the presence of the party members was felt by Yoo Joonghyuk's sensory perception. Surprisingly, their companions had already been released just like him. And with a somewhat dazed appearance, they were waiting for something in a room that looked identical to this space.
Yoo Joonghyuk asked, gritting his teeth:
「 "Just what on earth did you do to our companions?" 」
「 "I only fed them tea." 」
「 "What does that—" 」
「 "None of them drank that tea by force. And now you are the last." 」
Along with his words, stories began to cry inside the teacup. A very old wolf's roar heard from somewhere. Yoo Joonghyuk realized what was contained in the tea. The moment he sprang up from his seat, Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "Swallow it, Yoo Joonghyuk." 」
Like a modifier commanding its incarnation, 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' was speaking. Along with a tzztzztzz sound, a certain binding force began to control Yoo Joonghyuk's body.
「 "Become the 'Wolf That Swallowed a God' for me—" 」
As if possessed by something, Yoo Joonghyuk's right hand moved toward the teacup.
「 "And destroy this worldline." 」
At the moment his hand finally grasped the teacup, Yoo Joonghyuk opened his mouth.
「 "I." 」
Yoo Joonghyuk's burning eyes stared at 'Snowfield Kim Dokja'.
「 "Will not drink the tea." 」
A voice as firm as the day he first refused 'regression'. But as if mocking such a regressor's will, Snowfield Kim Dokja spoke.
「 "If you don't drink that tea, you will never reclaim 'Kim Dokja'." 」
Along with a tzztzztzz sound, Yoo Joonghyuk's right hand began to tremble once again.
「 "The memories of his old companions were calling him." 」
What was contained in the teacup was not just the story of the 'Wolf That Swallowed a God'.
「 Inside that teacup was the 'Kim Dokja' he remembered. 」
Why did Kim Dokja have to choose to become the 'Oldest Dream'? Why didn't Kim Dokja give them a choice until the very end? Why did Kim Dokja have to start all these stories once again even though he knew the consequences the scenario would bring?
「 "I—" 」
Yoo Joonghyuk only then realized the reason why the party members had no choice but to drink this tea. All the history they had accumulated soon became a [Fate], binding them.
「 Ultimately, all stories are already written, and at the same time, are being written. 」
Yoo Joonghyuk muttered the name of the writer who wrote their records.
「 "Han Sooyoung." 」
As if his body refused his control, his right hand moved.
「 "Just why." 」
That was the end. At the moment the tea was sucked into Yoo Joonghyuk's mouth as if swirling, the light in Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes went out.
I even knew that I could not change this memory, but I reached out my hand toward Yoo Joonghyuk. Of course, my hand did not reach him. And Snowfield Kim Dokja simply looked on at all those moments with silent eyes. And he spoke:
"There's no need to feel so sorry. It's already a written story. There is nothing you can do in this memory."
I started, turning to look at Snowfield Kim Dokja.
「 Snowfield Kim Dokja is here. 」
The 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' in the memory was looking at me. Only then did I also realize. The moment I entered this 'memory', Snowfield Kim Dokja had also entered here.
I spoke to Snowfield Kim Dokja.
"But the story that will unfold from now on is a story that has not been written yet."
At my words, Snowfield Kim Dokja laughed.
"Yeah."
My heart beat loudly, and Yoo Joonghyuk's memory began to scatter. In the faintly rising scenery of the battlefield, only two people knew what would happen from now on.
「 There were two Yoo Joonghyuks there, and two Kim Dokjas watching them. 」
We activated the same skill at the same time.
[Exclusive skill, 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' is activated!]