775 Episode 35 Demon King Qualifications (1)

A chill passed over the nape of my neck.

It started with 'Heir of the Eternal Name'.

The stories I possessed were reacting to that being. It was warning me.

To eliminate that being in front of me.

If I leave that being alone, it will threaten me.

But I shook my head.

"If you can't control stories, you will live according to the stories' will."

More than anything, I knew who that 'Kim Dokja' was.

"Goo Seonah-ssi." The moment I called her name, a loud thunder rumbled in the sky.

Was someone else in the distance overdoing the probability?

A pitch-black darkness was flowing out from the sky that was cracked as if it would break at any moment.

In any case, it made it easier for me.

As the worldview constraints weakened, the restrictions on speech loosened. Now, I could have a free conversation with Goo Seonah.

"Goo Seonah-ssi. Let's stop now."

Goo Seonah. I recalled the information I knew about her. There might be some clue left inside me that could convince her.

Her ID is strawberry1137.

Reader level 46.

Reading count 8 times.

Judging from her ID, she's probably someone who likes strawberries. 1137 might be some kind of anniversary.

For example, March 7th of the 11th year. I shook my head. This wasn't enough. I needed more information about her.

A skill that I didn't use often because I felt uncomfortable looking at other people's comments. But now, there was no other way.

When I activated the skill, the comments she had left came to mind one by one.

He's back, right? He's back, right? He's back? She smiled brightly! Sooyoung can't be so bright if it's not the case! —(Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Chapter 551)

Somehow it didn’t feel real.

I thought of Goo Seonah I saw in Chungmuro. Her expression was somehow poisonous and her eyes were strong. She didn’t trust people easily.

The Goo Seonah in the Internet comment window was different from the Goo Seonah I knew. Her comments were lively, her joy and sadness were clear, and I couldn’t sense even a shadow.

I read and reread the last comment she wrote. Then, a conversation suddenly came to mind.

To be exact, it wasn’t my memory, but the memory of the acting person 'Kim Kyungsik' that I had absorbed.

In my memory, the two of them were sitting on the platform in Chungmuro ​​and chatting away.

The memory was damaged, so I couldn’t hear most of the conversation well, but I could hear a few words from Goo Seonah clearly.

Goo Seonah's expression as she said those words was also vivid.

Maybe this is why I can't ignore her.

Her life is not here. So I have a duty to send her back to her own world. I've always thought that way.

"Goo Seonah, what on earth have you done?"

Goo Seonah, whose eyes met mine, had a face that was even more like 'Kim Dokja' than 'Jung-chul'.

She tilted her head with a subtle smile.

Her gaze fell on the floor. There were the mortal bodies of the incarnations that were limp.

I've never talked to them directly, but they were all faces I knew.

Students from Class A.

They were students who were the terminal incarnations of <Twelve Zodiac Signs>.

The screams of the constellations echoed in my ears.

Goo Seonah, who has become even more like 'Kim Dokja' than before.

The incarnations that are dropping as if they are dead.

The constellations are in pain.

"I just made it easier for you."

Goo Seonah was saying.

"You know that too. These guys, they barely have any 'reader' egos left. So I'm going to cut out that part and put it in a bag."

"Then the readers—"

She smiled brightly and pointed at herself with her thumb. The intense and ominous feeling felt from her whole body,

She had absorbed the 'Kim Dokja fragments' that the constellations of <Twelve Zodiac Signs> had.

"Why are you looking at me like that? They're the ones who harassed us. You must have had a hard time because of them too."

That's right. I had a hard time because of them too.

In particular, when I met the 'Tiger Eating Rice Cake' in the <Twelve Zodiac Signs> scenario, I almost died.

But they weren't hostile to me from the beginning.

The 'Tiger Eating Rice Cake', the 'Pig Living in a Brick House', and the 'Nail-eating Rat' were the same.

At Geumho Station, at Chungmuro ​​Station, and even during 'The Sponsor Selection(?).'

They were the constellations who cheered me on the most. Maybe that's why I was always reluctant to confront them sincerely.

Even if they had almost no 'Reader' soul left, even if only 1 percent of the soul fragments remained, it was okay. For that 1 percent, I could have thrown myself at them over and over again to save them.

But.

"I just did what you did. We're the same."

I unconsciously took a step back as I watched Goo Seonah calmly spread her arms.

"So let's just be one, Kim Dokja."

Until now, I believed that there was a minimum level of good. I wanted to believe that she would at least not touch the same 'reader'.

But she crossed that line as if it were a joke.

"You're really good at talking like Nirvana."

It was only one step.

In that one step, Goo Seonah's white hand, which had come close to my nose, reached out toward my neck.

I reflexively swung my 'Unbreakable Faith' and swatted her hand away. Even though it hit her hand, there was a sharp, metallic sound.

Her entire hand was shining like a fresh fingernail.

I looked into the story.

The story of the 'nail-eating rat'— 「The cornered fingernail」. A story that strengthens a part of the body to a level close to a sacred relic.

I swung my sword once more. Her nails and the sword clashed several times, and the magical power that came into contact was canceled out and turned into a loud noise. Judging from the level of recoil, the amount of magical power and physical strength that each of us had were similar.

Goo Seonah smiled brightly.

"I will kill the 'Daemajok'. You just get out of here."

"Why on earth are you doing this?"

"I didn't start this. You started this."

"You haven't even heard my story yet! You didn't even ask what happened between me and Kim Kyungsik-ssi, or what you saw!"

Goo Seonah's nails that had been clashing fiercely stopped for the first time.

"Kim Kyung-sik."

I nodded.

Finally, my chance to speak had come.

What she saw that day was a misunderstanding, and while it's true that I absorbed Kim Kyungsik-ssi's soul, I never killed him. That's what I tried to explain.

"I forgot. Did you think I was doing this because of that old man?"

It wasn't because of Kim Kyungsik?

Then why on earth does Goo Seonah have such strong hostility toward me?

The crackling sound erupted once again, and we simultaneously took three or four steps back.

Goo Seonah stared at me with clear eyes. Then she frowned as if she was displeased.

"You really don't know?"

"What do you mean?"

"You made everything happen with this and forgot about it yourself?"

Goo Seonah let out a strange laugh and raised her hand. Soon, she snapped her fingers.

My heart felt cold.

The soul she had absorbed, 'Christina Page's' special skill, had been activated.

But the moment I activated [Incite], I realized something was strange.

I was not the one on whom she activated [Daily Corpse].

"I'll make you remember."

At the same time, incarnations came out from all over the bushes, trembling.

They were all familiar faces.

Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Kim Namwoon, and even Shin Yoosoung.

Perhaps due to the influence of [Daily Corpse], the four people's eyes were empty.

Lee Hyunsung moved at the same time as Goo Seonah's nod.

Lee Hyunsung's huge fist slammed into the ground. The dirt floor flipped over as if there was an earthquake, and a ringing sound was heard. While my senses were disturbed, Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon rushed forward, piercing through the dust.

Kaga River!

I held 'Unbreakable Faith' and 'Sain Chamsagum' in pairs and struck back at the two's attacks. My palms were tingling from the heavy blows.

Next came Shin Yoosoung. The 8th-grade sea creatures controlled by the child began to play together.

However, the Naggak Ensemble was not toward me, but was rising in a completely different direction, creating dissonance.

Goo Seonah frowned and said.

"Shin Yoosoung, do it right."

As I watched Shin Yoosoung's trembling shoulders, a strange dissonance arose in my heart as well.

I wanted to save up some strength for the final battle. But now I had to admit it.

Goo Seonah is strong. If she can control such strong characters at will, she might be considered superior to the 'higher-level demons'.

She has collected that many 'Kim Dokja fragments'.

If it had been before, it would have been a power that I would have used after watching the situation. But now that the world's gaze is focused elsewhere, it would be okay.

Story, 『'Bug Slaughter』.

It was the story that the 'Demon King of Salvation' obtained after defeating the demon count 'Tentachio' in the Dark Castle.

Of course, Lee Hyunsung was too strong to apply this 'tale'. Kim Namwoon, Lee Jihye, and maybe even Shin Yoosoung were incarnations who could easily overwhelm me with their immediate performances.

But there was something they could never surpass me.

Hmm, I took a deep breath and immediately put a stop to the strength that I had been holding back.

The movements of Lee Hyunsung and his party stopped in their tracks at the sudden release of strength.

I didn't miss that moment and activated my skill.

In fact, I didn't want to use this skill on people I knew. But now, there was no other way.

I placed my hand on Lee Hyunsung's shoulder as he rushed toward me.

Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.

Maybe dreaming isn't just about the 'oldest dream'.

Yoo Jonghyuk, Cheon Inho, Asmodeus, Goo Seonah, and Ye Hyunwoo. They all have their own dreams. They also fight to bring the characters to their own dreams.

Perhaps, I am the same.

However, as always, there is something you must do first to dream a new dream.

"Hyunsung-ssi."

Wake up from the 'old dream'.

"Do you remember the trumpet sound?"

Lee Hyunsung's shoulders began to shake like crazy.

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