818 Episode 41 Sophistry (2)

Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon.

The two chose a 'different ending' from the others. It was obvious what ending they chose.

The two would head to 'the world where Kim Dokja is'.

Lee Jihye licked her lips.

"Then...we won't be able to see each other anymore?"

Yoo Sangah hesitated for a moment before answering.

"It's not certain. It's similar to the fact that the world line branched off. We might meet again.

"That's not certain either, is it?"

Yoo Sangah didn't answer.

Lee Jihye muttered, accepting the silence as affirmation.

"If we had made that choice..."

"Then we wouldn't have met the ahjussi of the 41st Round."

Shin Yoosoung's strong voice cut off Lee Jihye's words.

"Heewon-unnie and Hyunsung-ahjussi chose the best for themselves, and we chose the best for ourselves."

No one in the group blamed Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsung. Rather, they hoped that they would be happy for having made different choices.

The fact that each of the group chose different endings was simply a matter of how they understood Kim Dokja. The 'Kim Dokja' they chose was different, but the fact that they all liked Kim Dokja remained the same.

"Maybe that's the same for Dokja ahjussi."

The group responded to Shin Yoosoung's words. They all stared at the screen on the wall. The records of the 'Recycling Center' were flowing out on the screen.

Now, the 41st Kim Dokja, who has become the 'Demon King of Salvation'.

His squinted eyes, which made it impossible to tell what he wanted to see or where he was looking, were reflected all over the screen.

Lee Jihye muttered.

"If that's ahjussi's choice and the world he wanted to see..."

Even without saying more, everyone already knew what she would say next.

"Maybe we're characters who don't fit in this story."

The one who broke the deep, short silence that had fallen for a moment was Yoo Jonghyuk.

"You're still saying such pathetic things. I'm not curious about what kind of story he wants to see."

"Why is the master trying to intervene in that story?"

"Let's find that guy who made things so complicated..."

Is it because Yoo Jonghyuk has changed a little now that he doesn't say until the end that he will kill him?

Yoo Jonghyuk frowned as if he didn't like the original price and looked back at Yoo Sangah and urged her.

"What about the second news? Didn't you say you have two things to tell us?"

She already said one piece of news. The whereabouts of Jung Heewon and Lee Hyunsoung.

But there was still one more thing left.

Instead of telling the remaining one right away, Yoo Sangah looked at the group and said this.

"I also agree with what Jonghyuk-ssi said. I respect the life of Dokja-ssi, but I think it's too early for us to give up."

"Do you think we still have a role to play, Unnie?"

"I don't know about that..."

Yoo Sangah continued speaking while looking at the squinted eyes of Kim Dokja, who was slowly growing bigger in the 41st Round.

"If this world is the dream that Dokja-ssi is dreaming, I think there must be a place for us too. I don’t know if it’s a villain or a good guy.”

"If it’s Sooyoung, I think she’ll use us as villains."

Lee Seolhwa added cheerfully, and the group smiled bitterly.

Yoo Sangah nodded and continued.

"The second news is about Han Sooyoung."

“Is Sooyoung awake?”

Han Sooyoung hadn’t woken up since fighting the Outer God to save Kim Dokja in the 41st Round.

"Not yet."

"Really? Where is Sooyoung right now?"

"I don’t know exactly, but… It seems certain that something happened to Sooyoung."

Yoo Sangah took out her notebook from her bosom. Everyone here knew what the notebook was.

It was Han Sooyoung's notebook.

Han Sooyoung used it to write the story of Kim Dokja and <Kim Dokja Company>.

At the moment when the eyes of the group were filled with longing, Yoo Sangah, who had picked up the notebook, opened a file.

The story of Kim Dokja that Han Sooyoung had written some time ago.

Familiar letters that they hadn't seen in a long time were unfolding before their eyes.

"Huh?"

But the condition of the manuscript was strange.

The content was covered in noise.

"W-why is it like this all of a sudden? Is the computer broken?"

It wasn't just a feeling of a breakdown. Yoo Jonghyuk said, checking the sparks fluttering faintly on the manuscript.

"The story is contaminated."

Story contamination. It was a symptom that often appeared in old stories. The context of the story becomes tangled or parts are lost.

But what does it mean that the contamination occurred in this manuscript of all things?

"When did it start like this?"

"Since the start of the 41st Round."

"What caused it?"

Yoo Sangah sighed lightly at Yoo Jonghyuk's question and opened her mouth.

"From now on, it's my hypothesis, so don't take it too seriously."

"Tell me."

"You all know how this world works, right?"

Lee Jihye nodded, scratching her cheek.

"Well, Sooyoung-unnie explained it to me once before..."

"I heard that Sooyoung-unnie wrote about Jonghyuk-ssi, and that Dokja read it, and that's how the world came to exist. Isn't it?"

Lee Jihye tilted her head at Shin Yoosoung's words.

"Then does that mean that Sooyoung wrote the book first and that this world existed?"

"No. Sooyoung went back in time and wrote the book based on the things that happened with Dokja-hyung, so Dokja-hyung read it first."

"What are you talking about? How can he read a book that no one wrote?"

"He can read it because he's a god."

Yoo Sangah said, stopping the bickering children.

"There's no point in measuring who's late and who's early. As you know, this world is made so that you can't tell the beginning and the end."

One day, Han Sooyoung said something similar.

This world is a 'square circle'.

A world that exists only as a 'text' that humans cannot imagine, with a continuity that is impossible in terms of time and space.

"So what does that mean?"

"A story that starts later can be placed on a faster timeline."

A story that starts later can be faster. The group already knew the example of that.

"Like Jonghyuk’s 1,863rd round."

"The story of Kim Dokja, who existed after the 'Ways of Survival', changing Yoo Jonghyuk's last round."

Lee Seolhwa nodded as if she understood.

"Is something similar happening in the 41st Round right now?"

"That's right. To be exact..."

Yoo Sangah scrolled down and turned the pages of the manuscript.

Chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, chapter 4…

The pages that kept turning stopped at some point.

Chapter 551. That was the last chapter of Kim Dokja and <Kim Dokja Company> written by Han Sooyoung, and the end of that world.

But the moment she turned the next manuscript.

"Huh?"

A page that had never existed before appeared.

The bewildered group asked.

"Wait a minute. What is this?"

The manuscript that had clearly been blank after the conclusion was filled in with letters.

Yoo Sangah said.

"The story of the 41st Round is being written."

"Is Sooyoung-unnie writing the latter part?"

Even the manuscript was being written and erased repeatedly.

If Han Sooyoung had said that she would always be a writer for one person, there was a possibility that she was continuing to write this manuscript somewhere.

"Some parts seem to have been written by Sooyoung. But not all parts are like that."

"There was someone else who wrote the manuscript besides Sooyoung?"

"When you read it, the writing style is not consistent in each part. The theme is also subtly different. I don't know how to express it exactly, but..."

Yoo Sangah paused for a moment to think about her words before opening her mouth again.

"It looks like several writers are competing over a single manuscript."

Yoo Jonghyuk thought for a moment and asked.

"Who and why did they do that?"

"I don't know that much, but this is what I think."

Yoo Sangah read the latest sentences that were being written in real time.

Looking at the lines being written in real time, Yoo Sangah thought.

Is this something she's writing because she's saying it? Or is it something she's saying because it's already been written?

"There are people who want to steal the 'stories' we've built."

It didn't matter either way.

What was certain was that this gave her and <Kim Dokja Company> something to do.

"To be exact, I'm talking about 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』 written by Sooyoung."

I read Han Sooyoung's 『Guide to Fear Spirits That Even a Squid and Sunfish Can Understand』 with Kim Dokja.

As the title suggests, It was a 'setting book' written in easy-to-understand sentences.

However, there was one catch.

For example.

Similar traces remained throughout the book. It felt as if multiple editors had intervened in a single manuscript and modified or deleted parts here and there.

— It seems like someone edited the manuscript written by Han Sooyoung.

Kim Dokja had a similar opinion.

The question is who would do such a thing.

Of course, we had a hard time guessing the answer.

— They must probably be someone who records 'Fear'.

But why did they touch Han Sooyoung's manuscript?

Why was this manuscript in [Fourth Wall] in the first place?

As of now, there were almost no clues that could be guessed. Since there were no clues, it was time to read what we could find out

—Though there was no time to read everything.

"But let's take a look at the basics one by one."

If Kim Dokja was next to me, he would have smiled his signature grin. I could picture it. We are the second-best type addicts in this universe, so

"What should we check first?"

—We need to first examine which Fears are weak and which are strong.

"If we don't want to die."

That's what I said, but in fact, there was another reason.

Who are we? Aren't we just fragments of Kim Dokja, who drew 'Ways of Survival Power Balance Diagrams' during every break?

According to the 'Guide to Fear Spirits that Even a Squid and SunfishCan Understand', the 'Fear' of Fear Spirits is broadly defined into four levels.

Fear of a Catastrophe.

Fear of a Disaster.

Fear of a Natural Disaster.

Fear of the End.

The 'Traffic Lights' and 'Uniformity' of that I encountered before are the most primitive Fears.

It was a 'Catastrophe-level'.

"It was based on a story after all."

It was only then that the overall picture of the Fear began to gradually become clear.

The stories that were not properly covered in the main story, those stories came together to form one huge world, and that is this 'public forum'.

Then, it felt like a cluster of letters waiting for the surrounding pale darkness to be called out.

Disaster-level Fear is a legendary story.

So that means that 'Shark-Head', or 'Tooth Fin', is a Fear based on a legendary story.

When I looked back, the Tooth Fin stopped and shook its large tail, looking at me.

I don't know why, but right after eating the story I gave it, it had been following me at a certain distance. Fortunately, it didn't seem to have any hostile intentions.

I continued reading the book. I read it.

According to the records, the 'Tooth Fin' that tried to destroy Murim was also temporarily recorded as a 'Natural Disaster-level.'

If the destruction of Murim is a 'Natural Disaster-level,' then what about the next level, 'End-level,' will it be? Will Jaehwan-ssi, an outsider, appear?

Unfortunately, most of the descriptions about 'End-level Fear' were covered with ◼️.

It seems that the recorders of this contest controlled the description, and it seems that they couldn't control all the descriptions in the picture, so there was one piece of advice that I was grateful for.

"If Han Sooyoung wrote this much..."

—She means you absolutely must not go.

"Since it's so clear, I feel like I'll definitely go, so I'm worried."

—That's always the case with Ways of Survival.

"Can't you at least tell me that I don't have to go?"

Kim Dokja giggled.

—But you still have to go to the Middle Area. That's how you can find the Second.

The Middle Area.

Even in the beginning area, there's a monster like 'Tooth Fin', so if I go to the Middle Area, there'll definitely be something worse.

"Can't I just call him again?"

—No.

"Why? Did you fight with the Second?"

—That's...

It must be because of the reason he mentioned before.

The Demon King of Salvation said so. The other Kim Dokjas didn't agree with the 'First Kim Dokja's' intentions. If that's the case, there must have been some kind of misunderstanding and conflict. It's important to resolve that.

"This is what I think. Kim Dokja and Kim Dokja need to talk."

—That's a good point.

"So let's talk."

—He has to answer the phone to talk. I told you that you can't make a phone call here.

"It worked just now, right?"

—That's okay because he called, but if we want to call, we have to go somewhere else.

"Where else?"

—You already know that place.

I thought for a moment and then asked.

"Is it the Time Fault in the dark dimension?"

—That's right.

Is that the place?

The place where the Supreme King Yoo Jonghyuk, the fallen swordsman Namgung Minyoung, and the Paradoxical Baekcheong Kyrgios were reborn as 'Transcendents'.

The cradle and grave of the martial artists who dream of the stars in the sky.

—The entrance to that place is from the 'Middle Area'.

In the end, I have to get to the Middle Area anyway.

I thought it was far away. I had passed countless Traffic Lights and all sorts of Catastrophic Fearrs on my way here. I had almost died several times. How many more times would I have to go through something similar in the future? Should I experience it?

That was when a bright light shone from afar.

A long object approached with a dull roar and a rattling sound.

Wait, that thing…

—Hmm. That’s it.

A subway was running in the darkness without even a railroad.

If you think about it, there is a world where Fear related to 'Traffic Lights' exists, so it’s not strange that there is Fear related to the 'Subway'.

That’s certainly understandable.

The problem was the announcement that came with the approaching subway.

The moment I heard the announcement, my bones throbbed and my stomach rumbled.

The appearance of the train seemed somehow familiar. The moment we saw the train name brightly shining on the front, Kim Dokja and I muttered at the same time.

“Really. It's driving me crazy."

—I agree.

That train was the very same train that Kim Dokja and Yoo Jonghyuk rode in the 'First Scenario.'

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