616 Episode 12 □□ (7)

Han Sooyoung collapsed to the ground.

The man’s hands were drained of all color, and the sentences, crumbling like dust from his fingertips, whispered in her ears.

It couldn't be.

Yet no matter how many times she shook her head in denial, the reality before her eyes did not change.

When the fragments of Kim Dokja scattered across the universe, she had considered the possibility that such an existence might exist.

That the Kim Dokja she had thought was an [Avatar] might also have been reborn somewhere far beyond the distant reaches of the cosmos, reduced to a tiny fragment.

In that universe, he would live a new life under a new name.

Unlike Kim Dokja, he would have grown up in a warm family, cherished by his parents.

Maybe he cried after losing his first love.

He would have indulged in youthful recklessness, creating embarrassing memories.

Maybe he even found that new dream he had longed for so deeply.

And worked towards that dream.

At times, he would have hit the limits of reality and fallen into despair.

But he never abandoned that dream.

As a reward for not giving up on his dream, he faced the man from his dreams.

Finally, he reached the origins of his lost self.

Han Sooyoung read and re-read his stories that were infrequently cut off.

He is the one who refused to be reborn as Kim Dokja.

The one who helped his comrades recover his lost memories.

That man, once a ‘reader’ who had forgotten this story,

had returned to the story as a 'writer'.

Han Sooyoung held his hand for a long time.

"Wake up."

His limp body swayed helplessly.

"You didn't come here to die."

It was not a wound that could be healed.

"After everything you went through, you left to live the life you wanted."

Why did he have to come back here again?

Han Sooyoung did not know the answer. Perhaps Lee Hakhyun himself would have to find it.

Instead, Han Sooyoung recalled all the sentences she knew of 'Ways of Survival' and 'Omniscient Reader'.

However, no matter how much she thought about it, there was no way to heal his wounds in this world now.

After taking a light breath, Han Sooyoung lifted her head. Like someone searching for stars in the night sky, she stared into the darkness for a long moment, then slipped her hand into her coat.

Tsutsutsutsutsutsutsu.

The channel fluctuated violently, and the approach of a probability aftermath could be felt.

In the <Star Stream>, saving someone requires far more probability than killing someone. Moreover, if death is already certain, there's no need to say more.

Moments later, a small pill was held in Han Sooyoung's hand.

The Life and Death Pill.

It is the ultimate medicine created by Lee Seolhwa, and an item that does not yet exist in this world.

She hadn’t expected to use the emergency medicine she brought along just in case here.

If she used this item, a probability aftermath would inevitably strike her.

Because it was an item that should not exist in this world.

"This wasn’t the [Avatar] meant to be sacrificed here, but..."

Han Sooyoung pushed the Life and Death Pill into Lee Hakhyun's mouth. Along with the cozy warmth, soon his whole body was dyed with a soft light.

There was something she wanted to ask.

But now she had no time. With white sparks, her avatar faded little by little. The aftermath of probability began to roll in.

At the last moment, she squeezed the lemon candy in Lee Hakhyun's hand and said.

"Tell him that I received it well."

Soft snowflakes brushed against my cheeks.

When I opened my eyes to a pure white sky, I immediately realized where I was.

As I jumped up and shouted, a familiar voice answered from behind me.

In the middle of the snowy field, Kim Dokja was crouched down, reading something.

Ways of Survival? Or has someone written a new novel in the meantime?

The moment that thought crossed my mind, I felt like I wanted to die.

"Sorry, I couldn’t keep my promise."

Kim Dokja laughed wordlessly.

I looked around with a feeling of embarrassment.

But I couldn't help it. My pride as a writer was also hurt.

I thought for a while and replied.

Kim Dokja fought against such a Han Sooyoung several times. After fighting again and again, they eventually became friends.

Feeling a bit relieved, I added a word.

The theater dungeon had been cleared, and my role was finished.

That 'Han Sooyoung' wouldn't insist on the same ending after witnessing my death.

If it's her, she would find a way somehow.

An ending that won't seal Yoo Joonghyuk or sacrifice the readers.

A method I couldn’t find, she would find.

Huh?

I wondered what that meant. Was it the fatigue? My head wasn't working properly.

My story.

I suddenly felt dizzy.

Throughout the scenarios, I became Kim Dokja again and again, and Yoo Joonghyuk as well. I forced my way through the scenarios like that, and in the end, I died.

Perhaps, it's because I wasn't the real Kim Dokja or Yoo Joonghyuk.

I don't know why, but the moment I heard those words, I felt like crying.

It felt like I’d heard something similar before.

But I couldn’t remember who had said it to me.

My consciousness slowly began to fade.

Maybe because I was about to die.

Struggling against sleepiness, I asked Kim Dokja.

I wanted to ask him something, but I didn't know what. There were too many I wanted to ask.

Weren't you tired?

Enduring that long scenario, that story, all those years... didn’t you ever want to give up?

Why didn't you go back to your party members yet?

Kim Dokja opened his mouth.

I knew what the spell was.

We spoke at the same time.

The name is not important.

For a moment, I felt like I could understand what he was saying.

In the first place, hadn't we endured life by borrowing each other's stories over and over again?

I couldn't forget the look on Kim Dokja's face as he said those words and nodded.

With a dizzying pain radiating through my entire body, I snapped my eyes open.

It felt like I should use that phrase I’d just heard.

“I am Yoo Joonghyuk.”

No incite was used. Even so, I felt a little energized.

Breathing out and raising my upper body, I saw the roof of the theater dungeon in ruins.

I felt a faint magical power swirling near my heart. New flesh had sprouted on my chest, where a hole had clearly been pierced, as if nothing had ever happened.

I couldn't figure out how this could be possible.

Obviously, I fought with Han Sooyoung and died from being pierced through the chest.

The last sentence I wrote ended with my death. The scene was titled 'Death of the Villain,' making that outcome irreplaceable.

Something slid down my shoulder with a gurgling sound.

The white coat Han Sooyoung had been wearing.

Holding onto the coat, I stood up and looked around.

I saw Yoo Joonghyuk and Jung Heewon lying unconscious. Their breathing was steady, so it didn’t seem like their injuries were serious.

Where did Han Sooyoung go?

The dawn was slowly breaking.

A meteor shower streaked across the sky's horizon.

It belatedly reminded me that this was the theater dungeon.

Kim Dokja and his companions must have seen that scene too.

The words of Kim Dokja, who had been watching the meteor shower with infinitely cold eyes, were finally felt through my skin.

I had already lost my life on only the third main scenario.

The chilling sensation of death was still vivid in front of me.

I was lucky enough to survive this time, but will I be able to do that again next time?

The scenarios to come were so terrifying that they could not even be compared to the theater dungeon.

Will the readers who came with me be able to endure all the trials and survive?

Can I protect them?

I pressed my hand to my forehead, trying to fend off the dizziness.

I could hear people's footsteps in the distance. After the scenario ended, the people who escaped from the movie were climbing up to the rooftop one by one.

Finally, the door on the roof burst open, and someone took the first step and asked me.

"Kim Dokja?"

I glanced around absentmindedly, but Kim Dokja was nowhere to be seen.

Understanding came a little too late.

Behind me, the strong backlight of dawn cast deep shadows across my face. My hand pressed against my face as a wave of dizziness washed over me, and I realized the exterior reinforced suit worn by the original Kim Dokja was still with me.

And the white coat clutched in my hand made everything clear. I knew what they had seen and how they had misunderstood.

I laughed and wanted to say I wasn’t Kim Dokja, but seeing the faces of people on the verge of collapse, every word inside me lost its strength and vanished.

People who read stories and loved stories.

They watched the stories of their favorite characters and endured life with joy or sorrow.

I heard people behind me asking the people who came through the door first.

"Hey, Kim Dokja?"

"Kim Dokja? Really?"

Desperate words from deep despair.

Beyond the door they opened, they hoped that there would be the Kim Dokja they were looking for.

The sound of a small meteorite falling in the distance was heard.

I quietly looked down at the coat Han Sooyoung had left behind.

Perhaps this is something only I can do.

I quietly closed my eyes and recalled a man's face.

A man who grinned at people with a blank face.

A person who wanted to see the epilogue of a novel while knowing the end of this world alone.

The protagonist of this story.

A white coat fluttered in the wind that blew over the building.

When I completely removed my hands from my face, the people who saw my face burst into tears.

"So he really, really existed."

"I told you! I knew he would be here!"

Just by confirming someone's existence, hope was blooming on people's faces.

"Kim Dokja!"

At one time, when I heard that name, one side of my chest hurt.

But now it wasn't like that.

I don't know if there really is Kim Dokja in this world or not.

Fortunately, lying is what I do best.

I smiled bitterly and waved at people.