806 Episode 39 Rumor (5)

Namgung Sega sent me a divine spirit as promised. The divine spirit, who was examining my condition, was impressed and suddenly said a word.

"It's the first time I've seen such a damaged incarnation in half a century. Did you participate in the Holy Demon War?"

"I've been through something similar."

"Your mouth is still alive."

"That's fortunate."

"It seems like your mouth is the most damaged."

The divine spirit groaned and stroked my arms and legs, then took out a brush and activated a skill.

A bright ray of light and a tickling sensation came over me, and soon I saw my broken incarnation's body being repaired wherever the divine spirit's brush touched.

Is this the 'story repair' I've only heard of?

It was truly a mysterious power.

Of course, it didn't seem easy for even such a divine spirit to repair my incarnation. The reason was clear.

"That's right."

"Just stay still, you punk."

Yoo Jonghyuk, who had been watching the treatment, opened his mouth.

"I didn't know the doctor was an elf."

"Is it strange that an elf is here?"

"There's nothing strange about it in the current Murim."

After Murim was opened, various races flowed into the 'First Murim'. From elves, orcs, gnomes, goblins, and other races to demons and non-humans.

The doctor, Lowellin, was also a doctor who flowed into the 'First Murim' right after the 'Outer God Incident'.

"Whew, the outline is over."

"You didn't paint it enough."

When Yoo Jonghyuk, who was checking my condition from the side, pointed it out, the doctor clicked his tongue and said.

"That was left there on purpose. In order to maintain the self-sustaining power of the story, the rule is to leave at least a 'hole'."

I couldn't quite understand it, but I felt like I knew what he meant.

Yoo Jonghyuk, who was next to me, also seemed to have gained some kind of enlightenment from those words, and suddenly sat cross-legged and began to practice.

The doctor, who was watching Yoo Jonghyuk, continued speaking.

"As you know, this treatment is only a temporary measure. There is a limit to enduring the 'exile penalty' by repairing stories."

As expected, the doctor had figured out my condition.

"If you don't enter the main scenario, your incarnation body will eventually collapse."

"Yes, that's right."

The doctor scratched his cheek with a trembling expression, perhaps because my reaction was unexpected.

"This is the first time I've seen such a calm exile. Aren't you afraid of death?"

"Of course I am."

Suddenly, I was afraid that the constellations of the giant nebulae would descend, and I was afraid that an unexpected scenario would hit me in the back of the head. There were many times when I suddenly got goosebumps at the fact that I could die at any moment.

But, somehow, as time passed, I felt like I was getting used to that fear.

It was like the 'me' who was afraid of death and the 'me' who was reading this story were separated.

I was afraid of death, but I was still curious about the next story. I was curious about the sentence that would be written next.

As I continued to fight with my curiosity, sometimes my death didn't feel like such a big deal.

After all, isn't this something that Kim Dokja and Yoo Jonghyuk have experienced many times?

"Looking at your eyes, you don't seem to be in your right mind, so you should suspect that stories are controlling you!"

"What story do you think I'm being controlled by?"

"I don't know. To be honest, I've never seen an incarnation that has chosen stories as bizarre as yours."

The doctor continued, lightly dusting the grains of stories into the air.

"And even if I'm a story expert, it doesn't mean I know all of the stories. The 'following' that we mortals can understand are nothing more than the dust of the universe."

"There's a story that says that dust can make a mountain, right?"

The doctor frowned as if he didn't like my nitpicking.

"There is a story like that. It's the fate of mortals to somehow grab hold of the dust and make the universe possible."

"From what you say, it seems that even the doctor is controlled by those 'following'."

"You really don't lose a word."

"You seem to have barely changed my mouth."

"What do you really want to ask?"

I thought of the description of the doctor Lowellin described in the 'Ways of Survival'.

It wasn't easy to accidentally encounter such a 'story expert'. Even Yoo Jonghyuk, who had been through countless rounds, could only count on one hand the number of times he had met such people in person.

I decided to seize the opportunity to talk to a person who was not sufficiently described in 'Ways of Survival' or 'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint'.

"There is a story I want to tame."

"What kind of guy is it?"

"It is a guy who wants to dye the entire world the same color."

The story expert smirked at my answer.

"I know what kind of guy it is."

Heir of the Eternal Name.

That damn guy who tried to control my body whenever he got a chance since the days when Kim Dokja's content was low.

It's been quite a while since I've been through thick and thin with this guy.

However, since absorbing the power of the 'Demon King of Salvation' a while ago, his condition has been unusual.

The story, who was already born as a 'quasi-mythical level'. There was a high possibility that this guy would become a 'mythical level story' once the evolution process was over.

I was excited, but also scared.

Even now, he doesn't listen to me at the quasi-mythical level, so I can't even imagine how much trouble he'll cause when he becomes a mythical level.

The story expert laughed heartily as if he understood my fear.

"Everyone has a story like that. In order to control that story, you have to know the story well. How much do you know about that story?"

At that moment, the story expert's question sounded like the following to me.

"How much do I know about Kim Dokja?"

I thought about it carefully and answered honestly.

"I thought I knew it well, but these days, it seems like I don't know it at all."

"You'll look at the stories often."

"I've already seen them a lot, but will it help if I keep looking at them?"

"Even stories you've already seen look new when you look at them again."

Read again.

This was something that Kim Dokja often said.

"Stories are mysteriously incomparable. Even though I believed I had interpreted it correctly, when I looked at it again, new interpretations poured out."

It wasn't that much of a new insight.

I thought that even if I were a story expert, I couldn't punish him, so the story expert asked again.

"Why do you want to control the story well?"

"I want to become stronger."

"You seem strong enough already."

It may be true depending on how you look at it. I'm already stronger than most martial artists. If only the stories could be restored, I could easily fight against the great-grade constellations, and if I could draw out the power of the Kim Dokja fragments, I could even have power comparable to that of the 'Demon King of Salvation.'

But that's not enough.

While being chased by the giant nebulae, while facing the outer gods—while watching the myth-level constellations and Jaewhan, I realized it clearly.

I'm ridiculously weak right now.

If a myth-level constellation really snaps its fingers, I'll be destroyed.

In my current state, even if I die and wake up, I won't be able to see the ending.

"I have to become much stronger."

"You want to become stronger."

The god who muttered that thought for a moment, then suddenly wrote "Hoo-hoo" in the air with a brush.

"What does this look like?"

"'Hoo-hoo'."

"So what does that mean?"

"What does it mean? Isn't it just a bad laugh?"

It's my personal taste, but I don't like people who laugh "Hoo-hoo." That's because all of those who laugh like that have a bad side.

"It might seem that way to you now. But what about someone else? For example, how would someone with hot food in front of them interpret this word?"

After a short thought, I answered.

"I'd think it's breath trying to cool the food down."

"What if someone was thrown into a cold snowy mountain and their hands were frozen?"

"Well, it's like trying to warm their hands..."

Only then did I think I understood what the god was trying to tell me.

"If you look into the story with one desire, the story might not tell you much new."

At that moment, I felt like I would forgive the story expert if he laughed, "Haha."

"Then what should I do?"

"I don't know either."

"Huh?"

"First, look into the story a lot. Look into it while you're eating, look into it while you're sleeping. Look into it when you think of it while you're doing something else. As time goes by, your stories of looking into those stories will pile up again. The story will help you."

I nodded in admiration at his words. I thought it was a good idea to talk to him again, and I also thought that the <Star Stream> is really wide and deep.

Even characters who are not well described in 'Ways of Survival' or 'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint' interpret the world with their own insights. Perhaps the first thought I should abandon is the prejudice that 'I already know this world'.

"If I have a new interpretation of the story, will I be able to become as strong as I want?"

"I don't know how much you want, but there is a saying. 'Sometimes a very small interpretation of the story can change the entire universe.'"

"Good. Is that what a constellation said?"

"That's what a Recorder of Fear said."

A Recorder of Fear.

I never thought I would hear that name here.

"Do you know about the Recorders of Fear?"

"Those who repair the final records at the forefront of the stories. All 'story experts' have heard their stories at least once. Why, are you interested in them too?"

There are brief mentions of the 'Recorders of Fear' in the 'Ways of Survival' as well.

However, some of the content was so abstract, and some was so difficult that it was difficult to figure out what was 'useful information'.

No wonder even 'Kim Dokja' knew almost nothing about Recorders of Fear.

But who would have thought that a story expert knew information that even Kim Dokja didn't?

"Actually, I've met one of them."

"You've met a Recorder of Fear?"

This time, the story expert was surprised.

"Yes. It was a short meeting."

'Lycaon', whom I met at the 'Recycling Center', said that he was the lowest of the 'Recorders of Fear'. And told me to find the other Recorders and find the loss of the world.

So I thought.

The doctor checked the stencils on my face again, as if he was shocked by the fact that I had encountered a 'Recorder of Fear'.

"Are you saying that you are still sane after encountering them? What on earth did you talk about? Did this snout get damaged at that time?"

"We didn’t talk much. But is it really surprising that I met them?"

"You, it seems like you really don’t know anything about the 'Recorders of Fear'."

The story expert shook his head and added.

"I don’t know much about the Recorders of Fear either. There are just a few commonly known facts."

"What is it?"

"One is that they are trying to record the 'Primal Fear'."

Primal Fear.

I thought for a moment about what that might mean.

"And?"

"The two are that none of those who encountered them came back to their senses."

"Why is that?"

"Well... no, you said you met them?"

"That's true."

"Haven't you witnessed 'horror'?"

In the first place, I didn't know what 'horror' he was talking about, so it was difficult to answer.

"Well, that's okay. This is my first time seeing someone like you."

"Is there a third one?"

"Actually, the third one is the most interesting."

I didn't know what the first two were talking about, but I wondered if hearing the third characteristic would make any difference.

However, the moment I heard their 'third characteristic'.

"They usually appear in this world in the form of 'possession'."

A shiver ran down my spine.

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