751 Episode 31 Yoo Joonghyuk (3)

Little Yoo Joonghyuk slowly raised his head and looked at me.

I looked down at Yoo Joonghyuk.

The height of the gaze was unfamiliar. Whether as an adult or a child, Yoo Joonghyuk was always someone who looked down from above. But the current Yoo Joonghyuk was a little different.

An expression that makes you feel like he has truly become a child.

Did he lose his memory so much that he ended up in that state?

I wanted to ask. How long have you been here? I wonder how long he has endured this cold alone.

"This is the first time someone has been here."

The first to open his mouth was little Yoo Joonghyuk. Little Yoo Joonghyuk raised his head, and for a moment, there was something like a faint vitality in his eyes.

"You’ve finally come to get me, right?"

Little Yoo Joonghyuk raised his finger and pointed behind me. I don't know why, but white wings were fluttering behind my back.

I found out what kind of story it was.

It seems that the 'unidentified fragment' that the 'Tiger Eating Rice Cake' had was these 'Wings of the Demon King of Salvation'.

"You can take me with you."

Little Yoo Joonghyuk said.

"Is it over now? What is heaven like?"

Heaven.

Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to really believe that such a thing exists.

"You’re an angel. You know what heaven is like, right?"

I answered hesitantly.

"Heaven may not be as beautiful a place as you think."

"Then what kind of place is heaven?"

I don't even know what heaven is like. The heaven I knew was just one of countless worlds of Constellations.

"It is."

I thought of the Archangels from the <Star Stream>.

The Archangels are bored with Metatron's instructions, long for deviation while adhering to principles, and love their beloved incarnations.

"It’s just a world where Angels herding sheep live."

"What is it?"

"If I could tell you in detail…"

I slowly bent down and sat down next to little Yoo Joonghyuk. Fragments of stories could be seen floating by little Yoo Joonghyuk’s side. These were all memories of Yoo Joonghyuk.

There was also an Archangel who sacrificed himself for Yoo Joonghyuk.

There was also an Archangel who prevented Yoo Joonghyuk from becoming the Demon King.

There was also an Archangel who defined Yoo Joonghyuk as 'evil'.

There was also an Archangel who was pessimistic about his life.

In just 41 regressions, Yoo Joonghyuk heard so many stories.

So this child already knows what heaven is like. He knew it, but now he has forgotten it.

"No. You don’t have to tell me."

"What? Why?"

"I don’t want to be disappointed. I’ll definitely be disappointed if it’s similar to where I used to live."

"Where did you live?"

"Huh."

The place where Yoo Joonghyuk lived.

When I think about it, I didn't know much about Yoo Joonghyuk's childhood.

This is because, like Kim Cheolyang and Bang Cheolsoo of Geumho Station, there were no remaining records about Yoo Joonghyuk's childhood.

The protagonist's childhood was not properly dealt with in 'TWSA' or 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint'.

When I thought about that, I felt strange.

Although Han Sooyoung wrote so much text, she did not write properly about Yoo Joonghyuk's childhood.

"What was it like where you lived?"

Therefore, in a sense, Yoo Joonghyuk's childhood does not exist 'yet'.

"Where I lived…"

Little Yoo Joonghyuk frowned. The child said, rubbing his forehead several times with his small hand.

"I don’t remember."

I looked at the pieces of stories floating like dust around Yoo Joonghyuk.

Stories that have been around for too long without anyone reading them, some of them have been damaged beyond reading, and most of the content of others has disappeared. Or, it seemed like there was no content from the beginning. It's like a novel that only has a title but isn't written properly.

I opened my mouth.

"So do I."

"You don't remember where you lived too?"

"I remember, but only sporadically."

"Sparsely."

"Yeah, sparsely."

Whether it's the main character, supporting actor, or extra, perhaps it's the same for everyone. We all move closer to death, consuming our memories.

No one remembers their entire life in the process. As time goes by, we eventually become forgotten, even by ourselves.

So we talk.

I say it like I do now to remember things that were gone.

"The place where I live is a place with many stars. People explore the world with those stars. We all hunt monsters together and find new items."

"…"

"Some people may be praised by the stars and become great beings."

Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes were shining as he listened to me. How much of the story remains inside this guy?

"A great being."

"Yes, a great being."

Yoo Joonghyuk shook his head at my words. Then he crouched down. Looking closely, I saw that Yoo Joonghyuk was covering his stomach.

"Will I become an Angel like you?"

"I am not an Angel."

"Then?"

I couldn't speak honestly to Yoo Joonghyuk, who looked up at me with pale eyes.

I am a Demon King.

So I said this.

"I am a writer."

"Writer?"

"A person who writes various stories. Funny stories, sad stories, difficult stories, even stories that should not be written. A person who writes various stories to survive."

"A person who writes stories."

Little Yoo Joonghyuk blinked slowly and smiled faintly. I wondered what he was thinking to himself.

This was my first time seeing little Yoo Joonghyuk smile, and I looked down at him in fascination for a moment.

"Then you are a god."

Instead of answering, I slowly stretched out my hand and tried to trace little Yoo Joonghyuk's stories.

The speed at which the story flowed was slow. As expected, he was dying.

"If I were God, I would be the most powerless god in the universe."

"What’s the greatest story you’ve ever written?"

"That story."

I started talking.

That was the story I could tell best.

A story about a man whose novel he had spent his entire life loving becoming reality.

A story of monsters appearing, stars watching, saving someone, making friends, and running to see the epilogue of a world.

The child heard the story.

I thought as I watched the child listening to the story.

Kim Dokja was once saved by the story of Yoo Joonghyuk. He survived through his story and eventually survived.

So what about Yoo Joonghyuk?

When he was driven to the brink of his life, when he stood at the edge of a cliff where no one could save him. What saved him as a child?

I couldn't figure it out.

His world is just a vast snowy field.

A world that I cannot read or write about. A beginning that perhaps not only me but anyone else cannot know.

The origin of this entire universe.

In 『Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World』, Yoo Joonghyuk was able to clear the scenarios by receiving information from Shin Yoosoung from the 41st Round.

And again, in 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』, Kim Dokja was able to see the end of the world based on the information of the 'Ways of Survival'.

The whole story started with Yoo Joonghyuk in front of me.

The whole story became possible only because he survived, fought, and ultimately failed.

"It's fun."

Young Yoo Joonghyuk smiled and slowly closed his eyes.

"But now I’m feeling sleepy."

Little Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulders shook as if he was getting chills. Meanwhile, the child was covering his stomach.

I carefully removed the child's hand and checked his condition.

Little Yoo Joonghyuk had a hole in his stomach.

It was the same as when Shin Yoosoung was dying in the 24th Round. Yoo Joonghyuk-ah's stomach had the same scar as Shin Yoosoung's, who had asked him to come to the graduation ceremony.

If this wound is left alone, Yoo Joonghyuk will die. Even if he returns, his soul will be forever ruined.

Little Yoo Joonghyuk asked.

"Now are you going to take me to heaven?"

"I’m not taking you to heaven. I’m not an Angel."

All I can do is make him continue to live like that.

But I knew his ending.

A life that will ultimately fail and become food for other worldlines.

In order to keep the promise of the 0th Round, he went back and forth and ended up on a dead end—I knew that the end of this world would be a 'road without a road'.

That's why I couldn't recommend life to him. He was already extremely tired, so I couldn't tell him to live a life destined for failure.

"If I live a little longer."

Nevertheless, Yoo Joonghyuk spoke once again.

"Can I hear the story you wrote again?"

I looked down at the child, not knowing what expression to make.

And I barely muttered.

"If you want."

Everything I've written is just a copy of one person's life.

That one person nodded his head.

White snow was falling on the Snowfield.

There was a world where no one had left any footprints.

A void that not even Han Sooyoung touched.

Only then did I realize why I had to come to this 41st Round.

The reason why I possessed Cheon Inho’s body.

The reason I had to become the incarnation of the Demon King of Salvation, the reason I had to collect the fragments of Kim Dokja.

The reason why I had to come into this 'Recycling Center' and repaired my story.

"Yoo Joonghyuk. Let’s promise."

And the reason Kim Dokja had to see this world.

"Never give up on life."

Just as the universe was born one day, Yoo Joonghyuk was born.

"As long as you don’t give up on life."

In return, he will have to walk for eternity again.

But unless he gives up, this time he won't be alone.

Probably not.

“I’ll keep writing for you.”

Yoo Joonghyuk, who was looking at me, slowly nodded.

As if answering his call, I took the first footprints to fill this Snowfield.

Writing that sentence, I understood Han Sooyoung, who wrote about the destruction of the world for one person's life.

Even if only one person lives in this world, even if everyone eventually forgets it and it is destined to crumble and disappear—I will not give up on this story until the end.

Finally, the Snowfield's sky opened.

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