801 Episode 38 Chance (7)

"A seal."

Listening to Jaehwan's indifferent voice, a sense of anticipation suddenly rose.

What if Jaehwan, the strongest of the 《Phantom Tree》, could break that sealing ball of the Apocalypse Dragon?

"Do you think you can trap me with something like that?"

Jaehwan was confident. As if he was certain that no world could trap him.

Metatron nodded.

That was right. Unless the 'Holy Demon War' breaks out right now, the story of that 'sealing ball' won't be able to display its original power of sealing the 'Apocalypse Dragon.'

"I still have the power to wipe out the likes of you."

Only then did I realize what Metatron was after.

An ominous thought ran through my head. What if Jaehwan escaped from the sealed area and the constellations had already defeated Yoo Jonghyuk and me?

Looking at Metatron, who was smiling eerily, I whispered to Jaehwan.

"Jaehwan-ssi, let’s just kill those two, including that Michael, and leave. Can you do that? I’ll buy you a hundred Murim dumplings."

This time, I wanted to see Jaehwan looking back at me with a bewildered expression and stabbing those guys coolly.

However, Jaehwan’s expression when he looked back at me wasn’t that bright.

When did it start? A faint spark was flowing through Jaehwan’s entire body. It wasn’t probability.

The world he didn't belong to was squeezing his body more and more tightly.

As if he noticed that, Metatron gently soothed him.

"…"

Jaehwan raised his head without saying anything. His eyes stared into the void once again.

I thought I knew what he was reminiscing about. That was why I couldn't intervene in his return.

That memory was his alone. Now, no one but him would be able to share that world's memories.

"I know. My world is already over."

Perhaps he finally felt like he could communicate. Metatron's momentum as he summoned the sealing sphere weakened.

A heavy silence swept over the surroundings once again. I slowly retreated to the side of little Yoo Jonghyuk, ready to run away at any moment.

To be honest, Jaehwan had no reason to protect us anymore. In the first place, the fact that he had protected us until now was a strangely excessive favor.

Jaehwan, who had been thinking for a moment, opened his mouth again.

"My world is over, but I am not over."

Metatron tilted his head as if he was guessing what that meant and replied.

"Of course, you are not my 'world'."

Jaehwan looked back at me.

"But these guys are different."

The moment I met those indifferent eyes, something welled up in me without me knowing.

I knew it instinctively.

Metatron opened his mouth urgently, perhaps sensing something ominous.’

"I don't need a justification."

Before I could say anything, a pitch-black light began to condense from Jaehwan's sword. It was a stabbing stance.

No, wait. But why are you looking at us?

Jaehwan then turned to little Yoo Jonghyuk and said.

"That pale guy said that if you regress 1,863 times, you can become stronger than me."

"What are you trying to say?"

"If it's something that can be done only by regressing 1,863 times, then you can do it without regressing any more."

"What—"

Jaehwan's blade spurted fire.

Stabs poured down on us.

I instinctively grabbed little Yoo Jonghyuk by the back of his neck.

"Yoo Jonghyuk!"

The stabs that seemed like they would destroy us at any moment unexpectedly wrapped us gently and shot off into the distance. As if we had boarded a rocket, the surrounding scenery quickly became distant. From a distant location, constellations were seen shouting at us.

…

Before we could even say our final greetings, Jaehwan's figure disappeared into a small dot in an instant.

Following that, a bright light burst out from afar. The fight had finally begun.

Will it be okay? Even so, could he deal with the Archangels and Demon Kings using the 'Sealing Orb' while bearing the probability penalty of the <Star Stream>?

"This is not the time to worry about others."

Yoo Jonghyuk was right.

Jaehwan's stabs were pushing us back with incredible force, but there were still enemies targeting us from all sides. The constellations of the small and medium nebulae were waiting for us at the outskirts of the galaxy, avoiding Jaehwan.

Fortunately, Jaehwan's thrusts were much faster than the constellations were chasing us. It seemed to be accelerating even more.

I said while carrying little Yoo Jonghyuk on my back.

"Hold on tight."

The galaxy's scenery was passing by so fast that it was breathtaking. It was probably a scenery I would never see again.

I asked little Yoo Jonghyuk, who was shaking slightly on my back, while holding him so he wouldn't be thrown away.

"How many story imprints did you use?"

Yoo Jonghyuk's difficulty was a side effect of the 'story imprint'.

However, as he gradually got used to the side effect, I hadn't seen him as a kid recently. However, the fact that he was a kid meant that he had expended a great deal of mental energy fighting Jaehwan.

"All three."

"Are you in your right mind?"

In this round, Yoo Jonghyuk carved a total of three imprints on himself.

I had seen the first two used before, but I had never heard of him using the third imprint.

That was because 「Binding of Life」 was literally a legend imprint that cost one’s life.

Yoo Jonghyuk shook his head calmly and said.

"No problem. The 'life' of the third story imprint can be divided and used."

"No, can you have multiple lives?"

"It means that the lifespan can be divided and used."

Ah, so the price is calculated by lifespan.

It seems that 「Binding of Life」 has a similar price to Yoo Jonghyuk’s special trait in the 0th round, 'Life of Power'.

"How many years have you used?"

"It’s none of your business."

"No, it is, so tell me quickly. It would be a problem if you fought hard and then suddenly died."

Yoo Jonghyuk didn't answer.

After a little more time passed, I heard a soft breathing sound from my back.

I was a little taken aback.

"Are you asleep?"

"..."

"Listen."

Maybe it was because he was still a kid.

He must have decided that he should sleep a little longer in order to recover quickly.

Thinking that he really was a strong-willed guy, I muttered in a small voice.

"Get some sleep."

No matter how many years of life he sacrificed, the reason he used the imprint was to protect me.

Even if it was ultimately to achieve his own goal, it was never easy to risk your life for someone else. Especially if that person was 'Yoo Jonghyuk'.

Anyway, looking back, I suddenly felt regretful. I missed the scene where the two main characters with different worldviews fought. If I had come to my senses, I might have been able to write a better sentence. I imagined the two protagonists swinging their swords at each other, then looked back at the direction Jaehwan was in.

Despite so many things that had happened, the darkness of the <Star Stream> remained firmly silent as if nothing had happened.

As if only Jaehwan's proud stab proved that he was still alive, he carried us and drifted somewhere leisurely.

Damn, that was a good moment.

The message in my ear woke me up.

Judging by something wriggling on my back, it seemed that Yoo Jonghyuk had also come to his senses.

"Kim Dokja. Come to your senses."

I looked around hurriedly, and I saw constellations approaching us from a very far away place.

There was no one left to protect us anymore. If we encounter <Asgard> or <Olympus> here, this time it’s really over.

"It’s weaker than before."

To make matters worse, the momentum of the stab that sent us flying has also weakened.

What happened to Jaehwan?

There was nothing we could know at the moment.

"It doesn’t matter. It’s about time we came to 'that area'."

Is it because of my mood? Since he met Jaehwan, Yoo Jonghyuk also felt strangely changed.

It seemed as if he had made up his mind about something.

"Do you know where this is?"

"I know."

Since when did he activate [Sage’s Eyes]? Little Yoo Jonghyuk rolled his golden eyes and opened his mouth again.

"We’ll be there soon."

As soon as I heard Yoo Jonghyuk’s words, the constellations that had discovered us from afar began to rush in.

<Olympus> and <Asgard> are visible. There were great-grade constellations and narrative-grade constellations. I suddenly realized that there were too many constellations in the <Star Stream>.

"Get off here."

At the signal from Yoo Jonghyuk, we escaped Jaehwan's stab. Then, I felt the gravity of the story pulling us towards it.

The narrative-grade constellations that emitted a terrifying air current were on the rise.

A single weapon that flew through the air grazed my cheek.

Meanwhile, I and Yoo Jonghyuk continued to fall towards the scenario area.

Then, a soft curtain-like thing enveloped us.

'Void Curtain.'

The probability of the <Star Stream> protecting the scenario area was activated.

The constellations chasing us stopped as if they were angry. They, who were radiating their original power, could not enter the Void Curtain.

Then, what about us?

For a moment, I felt the gaze of the distant universe looking at me.

Fortunately, the curtain did not block us.

The next moment, I felt the world turn upside down.

A much greater backlash than before surged into the incarnation body. It felt like my stomach was turning inside out.

I heard some kind of message in my ear, but I couldn't hear it at all.

How long had I been retching like that? I heard little Yoo Jonghyuk's voice.

"Kim Dokja. Get up."

"Just 10 minutes."

"I told you to get up."

"Just 5 minutes. I can't get up because I'm dizzy."

"Overcome it with your mental strength."

"No, there are things you can do and things you can't do."

I cursed inwardly and got up. As I looked around while staggering, I saw a pile of rice in a corner.

The place where we fell was a barn.

And before my eyes was little Yoo Jonghyuk glaring at me with a sharp gaze.

"You said you were going to see the 'end of the world' with that much determination?"

"..."

"Why are you laughing?"

Of course, little Yoo Jonghyuk with a rag on his lips was talking desperately. I opened my mouth, feeling like I could write a short story called 「Little Yoo Jonghyuk at the End of the World」 right away if I had a keyboard.

"Where is this place?"

Yoo Jonghyuk looked at me with pitiful eyes and opened his mouth.

"Maybe."

Yoo Jonghyuk doesn’t use the expression 'maybe' often in the story.

Nevertheless, the fact that he used it must mean that we were in a difficult situation.

It means that Yoo Jonghyuk, who prefers certain options, was pushed to the point where he had no choice but to rely on expectations.

Nevertheless, Yoo Jonghyuk’s follow-up words weren’t so bad, to be honest.

"The place where the only person who can help us is."

Dear Readers! Are you enjoying your read? Please consider donating to help keep the ORV-Reader running! Thank you for your support! (My rent is due TwT)

• Support ORV-Reader