686 Episode 23 Fragments of God (1)

A strong feeling of a foreign object in my head. In the place where my consciousness should be, there was something—a story—sitting there.

It was ordering me.

The moment I heard the first syllable, I got goosebumps. Because I knew what kind of sentence it was.

The introduction of 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』.

The sentence I once wrote has now returned to me and become a curse.

It has been done.

The universe opened up before my eyes, and an image of dozens, hundreds, and thousands of meteors scattering all at once came to mind.

Whose wish is that? I didn't know where the sentence came from.

What is certain is that I never wrote it and there is no way Han Sooyoung wrote this sentence.

The fact that this story has this sentence probably means that this story also originates from 'Kim Dokja'.

"Inho-ssi!"

I saw Lee Dansu approaching nearby.

The 'thoughts' that were in the shape of a bracelet soon changed into the damaged bamboo suit of Master Samyeong.

The hand holding the bamboo pole was shaking.

I said, grabbing the wrist holding the bamboo pole with my other hand.

"Shut up."

I declared that I would definitely become Kim Dokja. However, that meant that I would shoulder Kim Dokja's duty, not that I would listen to the unreasonable orders of the story.

"Ahjussi—"

Maybe I, too, changed after meeting Kim Dokja, the 'Demon King of Salvation'.

Even if the world grabs me and shakes me, I will not be swayed by this irrational story.

If I don't control the story, the story will control me.

"You are my story. Listen to me."

I bit my lip as I looked at the readers running towards me.

This story was something I couldn't handle right now.

Kim Dokja's name was too heavy and the person I am now is too me.

I was weak.

"I."

But I swore. I made a promise to Han Sooyoung, who wrote the story.

"I am Kim Dokja.”

As if it couldn't hear me, my right arm began to gain magical power.

The story was controlling my right arm. I guess it’s planning to kill and take the readers with my right hand.

"I warned you."

I don't want to survive that way.

I'd rather—

"Oh, ahjussi! No! Ahjussi."

Shin Yoosoung seemed to have an ominous premonition and clung to my waist.

"It's okay."

I used [Incite] to change the 'damaged master’s bamboo pole' to 'Broken Faith'. The blade was activated with shining light.

As if it was trying to control me, the sparks sparked by the story tightened my entire body. I resisted it with all my magical power.

Okay, let's fight.

Either you win or I win.

I held back my 'Broken Faith' and stabbed the knife straight into my stomach.

.

.

.

Even in the distant pain, I did not lose consciousness. This is because if I let go of my consciousness, the story could control my body.

"Did he harm himself?"

"Snowflakes are flying wild all over his body."

"Please bring me a blood transfusion pack quickly!"

"A blood transfusion is not enough. Use this."

"This—"

"It’s my story."

Voices were heard above the surface of my fragile consciousness.

"Inho-ssi! Inho-ssi! No, why did Inho-ssi become like this!"

Okay?

"Save him right now. If you can't save him, I'll kill you all."

The sound of an explosion was heard intermittently.

"What's the matter? Suddenly—"

"Damn, an emergency scenario has begun!"

"Oh my god. Monsters—"

"There is not much power left here. The main focus of the seventh scenario is the United States."

"Then what should we do!"

"Let’s go to Gwanghwamun."

"But Inho-ssi—"

.

.

.

—Stand up, youngest.

When I opened my eyes, an excruciating pain came from my lower abdomen.

I exhaled several times, enduring the feeling of my stomach turning.

My mind slowly became clearer.

I felt that the presence of the story that had been controlling me until a moment ago had disappeared.

A sense of liberation slowly bloomed in my heart.

Kim Dokja's voice sounded as if he was dumbfounded in the air.

—Yoo Jonghyuk also doesn’t control the stories in that way.

"This was the only way."

The only way to stop the story.

Although it was a bit unconventional, it was the most powerful action I could take right now.

Considering that the story is quiet, it seems like it was successful anyway.

"What about other readers?"

—They're safe. But did you really have to use that method? You could have just used [Incite].

"Because it might not work."

—After thinking that far, you made a hole in your stomach?

"Now I’m a little bit like Kim Dokja."

—What the hell.

Kim Dokja's voice sounded like he was having fun. I also smiled bitterly.

When I slowly looked around, it seemed like I had been admitted to a ward in a temporary shelter. As I pulled out the IV in my arm, my fingertips trembled ominously. It feels like it will break into pieces if someone touches me.

The status of my being was shaking.

Was this how 49% Kim Dokja felt?

A thumping sound echoed from afar. The sound of a building collapsing. People were screaming and moaning. I walked through the tent of my temporary shelter and looked outside.

People who had been practicing repeatedly until the end were scattered throughout Gwanghwamun along with all kinds of monsters.

I quickly gathered my thoughts and asked.

"What happened?"

—The scenario has begun.

Almost immediately, a message log appeared in my mind.

It wasn't the main scenario.

It's probably one of the derivative scenarios of the 'main scenario'.

"If it’s a dragon, what level is it?"

—Minimum 5th grade.

My heart sank.

This is because in the fourth scenario, the memory of almost dying when hunting a '5th grade Poisonous Dragon' came to mind.

But the surprise quickly subsided.

Now that I think about it, it's the 'seventh scenario'.

During the time I was unconscious, my companions must have already faced 'catastrophe level' monsters several times.

In other words, the current group might be able to handle 5th grade or so.

—There is also a 4th grade one.

"4th grade?"

4th grade was a monster I had never faced before. Even if we say that it is up to 5th grade, 4th grade is on a different level. But.

"Where is Yoo Jonghyuk?"

I remembered Yoo Jonghyuk from the 41st round.

A monster with more overwhelming force than in the 3rd round.

Anyone who cleared all of the disaster scenarios while I was away would be able to deal with even a 4th grade species.

However.

"Aaaah! Stop it!"

"Save me! Please help me!"

"Aaaahhh!"

No matter where I looked on the battlefield, I could not see Yoo Jonghyuk.

—That guy was forcibly summoned to the final field of the 'seventh scenario' a little while ago.

"Ah."

Now that I think about it, the hour I promised with Yoo Jonghyuk has already passed.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the faces of the readers were not visible.

Dansu ahjussi, Killer King, Ye Hyunwoo, and Kyung Sein.

Yoo Jonghyuk's colleagues, such as Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung, Kim Namwoon and Lee Seolhwa were also nowhere to be seen.

It seemed like everyone had moved to the main scenario area.

"Then the people left here—"

—Only selected incarnations can participate in the main event of the seventh scenario. Those people...

People who were not chosen.

The problem was that it wasn't just one or two.

"Aaaahhh!"

Among them were some faces I recognized. For example, Bang Cheolsoo and the mother and daughter.

"Aaaah! Push on! If it continues like this, it will break through!"

"Dayoung! Stick this way!"

Sergeants Kim and Jung Eunho, who fought with me at Seoul Station, were also seen.

"There! There’s a hole over there!"

"I’ll take care of it!"

A pair of chopsticks thrown by Jung Eunho caused them to scream and fall down. Behind them, Shin Yoosoung was also seen summoning Nagak troops to cover the people.

"Fight! Keep fighting!"

They fell helpless before the fire of the Avatars.

However, there were more groups running after their own people. At the center of the group of monsters was a dragon that controlled the monster species.

"You can’t let them go to the shelter! Stop them!"

A woman stood in the center of the battlefield, confronting the dragon tribe.

After possessing a character in this world, it was the first member of <Kim Dokja Company> I encountered.

Every time Jung Heewon swung her sword, five or six cherubs died.

I watched Jung Heewon's fight, even forgetting to breathe. Over the past 45 days, I could see how hard she had trained.

One step. The balance of the battlefield seemed to be shaken every time the magic power contained in one trajectory caused a ripple.

Krarar La La Lag!

The panicked 5th grade monster swung its tail and counterattacked, but Jung Heewon's momentum showed no signs of stopping.

In an instant, Jung Heewon climbed up the tail and struck with a sword strike.

A sword equipped with strong magical power.

In less than five seconds, dozens of consecutive strikes pierced the 5th grade species' eyes and forehead.

Ahhh!

As one 5th grade species fell with a roar, the expressions on the incarnations' faces changed.

They got brighter.

"It fell down!"

"We can win! We can win!"

As the morale of the incarnations rose, the monsters hesitated and cried out in fear.

Jung Heewon ran toward the next dragon without hesitation.

What stopped her advance sweeping the battlefield was a monster the size of a 10-story building.

Howling, all the incarnations in the area screamed and fell down at once.

Even Jung Heewon stumbled, bleeding from her ears.

But Jung Heewon didn't sit down.

A destructive glow flashed in her pupils. The unique characteristics of the 'Mad Butcher' were protecting her consciousness.

"Everybody wake up."

At the sound of Jung Heewon's voice, people who had been rolling around on the floor stood up as if they were infected with madness.

They were all people who couldn't fight any longer.

I couldn't understand.

Why don't you run away?

There is no penalty for failure in this 'sub-scenario'.

That meant that they could let Gwanghwamun be destroyed without having to fight back.

Perhaps Yoo Jonghyuk knew that too, so he left here without taking any action.

"No way..."

—That's right.

Before I knew it, people were forming a circle around my temporary shelter.

—They’re protecting you.

I looked closely at the faces of all the remaining people.

Geumho Station, Chungmuro, Seoul Station. Faces that I have passed by at least once somewhere.

"Hey, Inho-ssi!"

A middle-aged man who spotted me exclaimed with joy.

"Everyone, look! The captain—"

Yes. With a sound, the man whose neck had been bitten by the monster fell down.

"Kim ahjussi!" A woman cried.

Before I could say anything, a crowd of people rushed in and covered the two of us. I held 'Broken Faith' in my hands.

Let’s use [Incite].

Let’s incite me to call myself Yoo Jonghyuk. No, Jung Heewon, and Kim Dokja. Anyone is good.

Anything is fine—

It felt like someone was hitting a gong in my head.

I was dying.

Maybe faster than them.

The flood of stories has subsided, but the penalty has not disappeared.

Yes.

I wanted to save them, but I couldn't think of a way.

I cannot do it.

Even though the people protecting me are dying before my eyes, there is nothing I can do.

ㅡYoo Jonghyuk made you his colleague.

My constellation’s voice came to my ear.

—And yet he left you behind. Why did he do that?

I slowly raised my head.

The reason Yoo Jonghyuk left me here.

"Did he think I could solve this scenario?"

Kim Dokja did not answer.

As my emotions slowly subsided, I could see the situation clearly.

There is no Yoo Jonghyuk.

People are dying.

I have 3 minutes left to live.

To activate a skill. I had to remove the penalty for this story first.

A penalty that only disappears if I eat 'Kim Dokja'.

Then, there was only one way to tell this story.

"Heir of the Eternal Name."

Giving Kim Dokja, the only person in this world who I can use as 'fodder' for my story.

I raised my right arm to my mouth and ordered the story.

"Eat 'me'."