670 Episode 21 Kim Dokja (6)
A shadow lingered across the swirling Great Hall.
[The constellation 'Bald Commander of justice' wipes his head in astonishment.]
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' opens its eyes to the god of the other world.]
[The constellation 'Pig Living in a Brick House' hides in a brick house.]
[The constellation 'Dog that Threw Itself into the Flames' gasps and retreats.]
[The constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' frowns.]
[Multiple constellations are astonished by the intervention of the outer gods in the scenario!]
The constellations of the channel were agitated just by the flickering of a shadow.
[A few constellations prepare to leave the channel.]
There were even constellations preparing to flee.
It could have been so.
The outer god who has now revealed his presence in the sky is not a nameless one.
It was clearly 'named'.
[The constellation 'Jejeon Daeseong' stares at the founder of this absolute throne.]
The first owner of the absolute throne and the creator of the throne.
At one time, Kim Dokja swung the Death Sword against outer god and destroyed the absolute throne.
'Was that kind of guy that Kim Dokja was dealing with?'
Han Sooyoung also does not know specifically about the 'founder of the absolute throne'.
More exactly, she knew but she forgot.
Not long ago, when she met Lee Hakhyun,
she gave Lee Hakhyun the Ways of Survival she knew.
'That bastard. I don't know if he'll be alive.'
Lee Hakhyun wants to write the story of this world on her behalf.
Therefore, she gave him the most important story she knew.
Oooooooooooo-
The fear of something once known becoming unknown.
But Han Sooyoung was not affected by that fear. Even if she forgot the story, she was still a great writer.
The air rang menacingly. Looking at the shadows swaying beyond the hall, Han Sooyoung was vaguely able to gauge the level of 'God of the Other World'.
It wasn’t as crazy as the 'indescribable distance ' or the 'disaster' of the 999th round.
It was clear that it was at least at the level of the dream eater, and perhaps it was more than that.
Coo coo coo coo coo.
If that thing descends over Seoul, the Korean Peninsula will be destroyed. It's not just the Korean Peninsula. Maybe the Earth will become a ruin.
Nevertheless, Han Sooyoung made a shameless voice.
"Don’t bluff. You won’t be able to get over it."
As if, of course, such an ending would not come.
"Yes?"
The question was not directed to the constellations of the Emperor, nor to the incarnations on earth.
"Are you going to let it destroy your playground?"
The next moment, a portal was created in an ambiguous space neither on the ground nor in the sky.
What appeared beyond the comma-like portal was a gentleman in a black suit.
A being who refers to himself as 'Representative Kim Dokja'.
Han Sooyoung knew his true name.
"Asmodeus."
Representative Kim Dokja frowned with a light spark.
Han Sooyoung's eyes showed a strange light.
[Predictive plagiarism.]
Every sentence she read and wrote was projected onto her eyes, telling her who the being in front of her was.
"How long do you plan on playing Kim Dokja?"
【You...】
The 32nd master of the demon world, Asmodeus, the demon king of rage and lust.
In Han Sooyoung's world line, he is clearly the demon king who was destroyed by Kim Namwoon in the 999th round.
【It looks like you've already lost a lot of your memory, but my name must have been quite important, right?】
Asmodeus looked at the sparks flowing through Han Sooyoung’s whole body.
Her memories were shattering through the sparks.
"I remember it well."
【You are no longer the Han Sooyoung I met before.】
Han Sooyoung held out her hand.
"Shut up and give me the 'Death Sword' you have."
She doesn't know which world it is from, but in the last fight, Asmodeus used that sword to cut her avatar link.
"If you give it to me, I’ll give you what you want."
Han Sooyoung thought. All she has to do is somehow take away someone else's sword and cut off the Constellation's link that is bound to the 'Absolute Throne'.
Then, the 'God of the Other World' will lose its connection with this world, and its descent will naturally be cancelled.
To do this, she first had to persuade Asmodeus in front of her.
【Do you know what I want?】
"You don’t want this world line to proceed as it should."
From the first time she faced Asmodeus, Han Sooyoung kept scoring goals.
「 Why did Asmodeus move from the 3rd round to the 41st round? 」
Why did he find an unrecorded world line, rather than another world line, and live as a parasite?
「 Asmodeus wanted Kim Dokja, but was never able to obtain it. 」
「 Asmodeus used Han Myeongoh’s daughter as his incarnation. 」
「 Asmodeus wanted to leave his name in the great legend. 」
「 Asmodeus was a seeker of the end. 」
Countless information related to Asmodeus flowed through her mind in real time. [Predictive plagiarism] was triggered, and her consciousness flooded her mind, analyzing, synthesizing, and mixing the information.
「 Asmodeus is a character who read 'Ways of Survival'. 」
Han Sooyoung blinked slowly and asked.
"How did it feel to find out the identity of the world?"
Asmodeus' expression gradually hardened.
The moment she saw that expression, Han Sooyoung read the other side of that expression at once.
"You didn’t just read Ways of Survival."
Eyes that are slightly but clearly shaking.
Han Sooyoung was sure.
Asmodeus didn't just read Ways of Survival. This guy read up to Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
He read every sentence written for Kim Dokja and even confirmed his own death written there.
Of course, Asmodeus was not the only one who experienced such a thing. <Kim Dokja’s Company> also went through all of that.
However, Asmodeus was not <Kim Dokja’s Company>.
【What does that mean?】
He has never valued Kim Dokja, and has never dreamed of ending up with him. If such a demon king came to this world line, the reason was clear.
"You want to get out of our story, don’t you?"
【…】
"But if you stop me here, this world line will be doomed."
The course of this world is not written down, but the future is certain.
In the 41st round, Yoo Jonghyuk fails and the world line is destroyed.
And the incident in which Yoo Jonghyuk took the 'absolute throne' was the beginning of that destruction.
"You don’t want that either, do you? So help me. Let’s cooperate for a moment and I will destroy that throne, so give me the Death Sword you have."
【I don’t know what your plan is.】
After a while, Asmodeus opened his mouth.
【Why are you changing the plot now? Your purpose was to 'make this world met it’s end'.】
"…"
【Only then will your world line be safely preserved, because what you are looking for is 'Kim Dokja'’s return.】
Han Sooyoung was surprised. Because she never thought that Asmodeus would already know this far.
【Is it because you saw that fragment? It is the 'fragment of Kim Dokja that you have ignored and thrown away'.】
"You are a bit noisy today. So are you going to give the sword to me or not?"
【That's funny. Why are you now paying attention to Kim Dokja, whom you abandoned? It wasn't the 'Kim Dokja' you wanted, was it?】
"If you say one more word-"
【Isn’t the Kim Dokja you want, the Kim Dokja who was the 'Demon King of Salvation'?】
With the words of Asmodeus, stories arose around him.
【He is the watcher of light and darkness.】
Kim Dokja ended the Holy Demon War and became the 'Watcher of Light and Darkness'.
【He was the successor to 'The Prisoner of the Golden Headband'.】
【And finally dreaming of this world. He has become this world itself.】
Kim Dokja, who remained in the subway when everyone else had left, became the Oldest Dream.
【Are you going to gather all those Kim Dokjas? Do you think such a thing is possible?】
"…"
【Since you use avatars, you probably know this better than anyone else.】
Han Sooyoung closed her mouth.
The ones who got angry on behalf of Han Sooyoung were the other members of <Kim Dokja’s Company>.
[The constellation 'Lotus Blooming Under the Moonlight' glares at Asmodeus.]
[The constellation 'Sneaky Schemer' spits out quiet anger.]
Asmodeus spoke as if mocking <Kim Dokja’s Company>.
[Are you still willing to face Kim Dokja’s illusion?】
Kim Dokja of one hundred percent cannot exist. Just as she is not a 100% person now.
It wasn't a matter of whether she used an avatar or not.
All humans lose their memories every moment and become slightly different beings. The very word 100 percent was an illusion from the beginning.
So what exactly is the 'Kim Dokja' they are after?
【Or is it the will of the story that lies within you?】
Han Sooyoung looked down at her palm. It was the hand who wrote the story.
There was a story embedded in that hand.
【How are you different from the constellations you hated so much now?】
It continued to tell her story on her behalf.
[The story 'Kim Dokja’s Company' looks at you.】
<Kim Dokja’s Company> was a story of people who loved Kim Dokja.
It was a story about people who gathered together for Kim Dokja and were happy only because of him.
Therefore, those who had this story inevitably had no choice but to find Kim Dokja.
"It’s already past the point where we have to consider such things."
Han Sooyoung clenched her fist filled with stories.
"Of course I know that there is no such thing as a 100% Kim Dokja."
There is no way she wouldn’t know that.
There is no way that the woman who wrote this story, and her colleagues who lived the story together, did not know that fact.
【But why do you repeat such foolish things? Why are you continuing a story that will fail?】
When they lose someone, humans go through several stages to accept the loss.
They despair over the fact that that person will never come back, but they soon come to accept that fact, and eventually live a life after his absence.
They understand that this is the natural order of the world.
That's what ordinary mourning is like.
The problem is that neither Kim Dokja nor they were ordinary human beings.
"Because I know Kim Dokja’s story."
Kim Dokja has been brought back from the dead several times.
Was the revived Kim Dokja really the same Kim Dokja as before?
If a human being, once disassembled into particles, is reassembled, will he or she be the same person as before?
Han Sooyoung did not know the answer to such a philosophical question.
However, Kim Dokja died for his companions, again and again.
He survived to protect his companions.
That “will” was Kim Dokja.
It was a story called Kim Dokja.
[The constellation 'Sneaky Schemer' nods.]
The story lacked probability. There were many loopholes and the flow was not smooth. It was full of holes here and there.
[The constellation 'Lotus Flower Blooming Under the Moonlight' closes its eyes.]
Such stories protected <Kim Dokja’s Company>.
He gave everything of himself and completed the ending in which everyone in the group survived.
There was no way that those who had been saved like that would be able to do anything like ordinary mourning. Those who had witnessed miracles before their eyes over and over again, and those who had survived through such stories, had no intention of meekly accepting the end.
Just as Kim Dokja tried to protect all of <Kim Dokja’s Company>, <Kim Dokja’s Company> has no choice but to find all Kim Dokja.
"Like you said, we might fail in the end."
Even if their choice now means entering a never-ending cycle.
Even if the story for only one person continues far away
If it is for Kim Dokja,
"Then we will continue to fail. That is how we honor Kim Dokja."
They will be the 'characters' of this story forever and ever.