828 Episode 42 Destination (4)

The most memorable sentence among the descriptions of Kyrgios Rodgraim, the White Blue of Paradox, is this.

There's also this.

Do you see what's repeated?

That's right.

That was Kyrgios's alpha and omega, his core element.

A Transcendent being from Peace Land, where only tiny people live together. He even overcame his complex of 'smallness' and reached a particularly great enlightenment.

That's how the Kyrgios I knew was.

So how should I explain the man I see before my eyes right now?

"Disaster-level Fear... White Blue of Paradox?"

"Cheon Inho, are you really crazy?"

No matter what Anna Croft said, I had no intention of taking back what I had already said.

Because there was no other way to explain it than 'Fear.' If the smallest is the greatest, how should we interpret Kyrgios, who has grown a little… no, a lot? Should we see him as having become a little less great?

Of course, our teacher, who is still great even if he has become a little less great, was walking lightly toward me with his characteristically dignified steps.

—I’ve seen all sorts of strange things after living a long time.

Leaving behind Kim Dokja, who kept spouting nonsense toward the true teacher, I finally faced Kyrgios, who had arrived in front of me. It was a moment that made me feel quite tense.

I had a history of pretending to be Kyrgios’ disciple and betting on Baekcheong-mun’s name while dealing with the Dragon Head Arc of the Beggar Sect at Seoul Station.

Maybe, just like Cheok Jungyeong, it’s possible that Kyrgios knows me.

It was a situation where I could end up in trouble if I made a mistake with my tongue, but even so, all I could use was my damn tongue.

"White Blue of Paradox, Kyrgios Rodgraim. Is that right?"

"Who are you?"

"Yes. I am..."

What should I say?

Should I say Kim Dokja?

While I hesitated, Kyrgios asked again.

"How do you know that martial art?"

Come to think of it, I was still activating [Baekcheong-ganggi].

It was already too late to release the skill, and since it had come to this, I had no choice but to go with the 'Kim Dokja Strategy'.

"I'm late in greeting you. A disciple outside the Baekcheong-mun clan is meeting the elder of the clan."

Kyrgios looked down at me blankly and said.

"Baekcheong-mun clan has already been destroyed."

"I know. I learned from the last survivor of Baekcheong-mun clan."

It wasn't exactly a lie.

In fact, I learned [Baekcheong-ganggi] from someone who had mastered it secretly.

"I've heard a lot about the master. I've always wanted to greet you properly someday, and I'm honored to meet you like this."

I thought I was being polite, but Kyrgios's reaction was strange. I glanced around and saw several people who had appeared with Kyrgios muttering.

"The Captain of the First Division is still popular."

"Is it Kyrgios again?"

"I told you. There are a lot of people who want to become that friend's disciples."

There were a lot of people who wanted to become disciples?

—Oh.

The moment I heard Kim Dokja's voice, I got goosebumps.

I'm an idiot. Why didn't I think of that?

—It seems there was one here too.

The readers of this world possessed various people in various places. So wouldn't there have been readers who possessed others near Kyrgios?

"Is your name 'Kim Dokja' too?"

I smiled bitterly.

Fortunately, unlike the other Kim Dokja, I had a way to prove myself.

"You're the first to learn [Baekcheong-ganggi]."

Thinking about it, it was natural.

In this world, I and Literary Girl 64—Cha Yerin were the only ones who learned [Baekcheong-ganggi].

—You survived thanks to Yerin.

Her name suddenly came to mind and I felt a strange longing.

I wonder if Yerin is doing well. What happened to Killer King? Ji Eunyu or Dansu ahjussi. And Kyung Sein…

A voice from behind interrupted my short thoughts.

"Kyrgios. That’s it."

A man was walking towards me from a distance with his upper body naked. It was Goryeo’s best swordsman, Cheok Jungyeong, who had been fighting the Dream Eater until the war.

"That pale little one is my disciple. Don’t let your eyes lightly fall on him."

"Your disciple?"

Cheok Jungyeong patted his chest again at Kyrgios’s question full of doubt.

"Yes. He is my disciple. Judging from your reaction, it seems you have recognized the talent of the little one."

"..."

"But it’s too late. He is my swordsman."

The two people's gazes were subtly intertwined in the air. At that moment, when I wondered what was happening, a loud noise rang out from far away.

Kukukukukuku!

Ten Transcendents were surrounding the Dream Eater and attacking together.

At least the power of a 'Spear Master'.

When they gathered together and performed a passing technique, even that powerful Outer God staggered and retreated.

It was an unbelievable sight.

No matter how strong the Transcendent were, they were not enough to defeat that 'Dream Eater'?

"Tsk tsk, that's not how you cut."

"…"

"Hey! 2nd Division rookie! You have to stab faster! Do you want to get stuck in the Time Fault for another hundred years?"

"…"

"No, that's not how you do it!"

When did it start? A small old man standing right next to me was lecturing them. To me, it was just an amazing martial art, but it seemed to be nothing special in the old man's eyes. The old man added a few words to the combined attack of the Transcendents for a while, then suddenly turned to me.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"Oh, me."

"A newbie?"

The atmosphere of the old man laughing vainly felt familiar.

What should I say? He seemed like someone who had long since transcended the 'scenarios' of this world.

The old man glanced at me with profound eyes and let out a small exclamation.

"There are only a handful of newbies who have come up here alone, but you're quite a guy."

"What's your name?"

"I'm Kim Dokja."

The old man smiled in an unknown way at my words.

"That's a strange name. I like guys with strange names."

A feeling of longing flashed across the old man's expression as he spoke.

Soon, I saw the 'Dream Eater' retreating with a gurgling sound from afar.

When I saw Kyrgios and Cheok Jungyeong standing in their center, my heart started pounding for no reason. Perhaps there are still many stories in this world that I do not know.

Those who do things that even the Constellations cannot do with their human bodies.

The old man looked at them and said.

"Kim Dokja. Welcome to the 'Transcendent Alliance'."

Transcendent Alliance.

"No, wait a minute!"

I was captured by the Transcendents and dragged straight to the Industrial Complex.

The building that I thought was Kim Dokja's 'Big House' was surprisingly their headquarters.

I was even dragged to the ward and given a blood transfusion of stories.

I looked at Anna Croft, who was hospitalized next to me, and asked.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. How about you?"

"Do you think this looks okay?"

"I don't know what the situation is."

It seemed like it was a situation that even Anna Croft's [Future Sight] couldn't see. It seemed like she was trying to activate [Future Sight] several times, but the situation wasn't going smoothly.

Maybe it was natural. If I were to guess, we're 'very close to the Second Kim Dokja'.

Yes, this is the 'Big House' you were thinking of, Kim Dokja.

"What do you think the purpose of capturing us is?"

"Well. If they didn't mistake us for 'Fears'..."

My smartphone was buzzing at that moment, so I checked, and the guide had been updated.

I was honestly surprised while reading the guide's explanation.

There were two reasons why I was surprised.

One, there were people I knew who were happy to be alive in that terrible 'End Zone'.

And two, they were ultimately annihilated by the 'Great Old Being.'

The Great Old Being. There were some names of Outer God that came to mind, but I couldn't figure out what kind of being they were fighting against and being annihilated against.

My eyes kept closing.

It seems that this is the effect of this ward.

I heard someone screaming in my head several times. I couldn't tell if it was my scream, Anna's scream, or someone else's scream.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already morning.

A large man greeted me.

"Are you awake? Disciple."

Cheok Jungyeong was there, smiling with his teeth exposed.

I was introduced to various places in the Transcendent Alliance by Cheok Jungyeong.

It seemed that the Transcendent Alliance only used the first floor of the 'Industrial Complex'.

Cheock Jungyeong spoke in an unusually kind tone and explained in detail the sleeping rooms, bathrooms, and training rooms in the building.

"And from today on, you are the youngest of the Third Unit."

"Hey, Master."

"Why are you doing that?"

"I didn't say anything about joining the Transcendent Alliance."

I couldn't understand. All I had been through for a day was being forcibly admitted to the ward.

But I was forced to become a member of the Transcendent Alliance as soon as I was discharged?

Cheok Jungyeong's lips twitched slightly, perhaps because my reaction was unexpected.

"Disciple. Didn't you come here because you wanted to become a Transcendent?"

"That's true."

Becoming a Transcendent was the only way for me to become stronger now.

However, I didn't come here to become a Transcendent and die. I didn't know when the 'Great Old Beings' would attack, but if I stayed here, it was only a matter of time before I would die with them.

"If you work hard here, you can become a Transcendent. Just like this body."

"Isn't the Master a Constellation?"

"For someone as strong as me, such a concept is not important."

I decided to interpret the situation positively.

Anyway, I have to find the 'Second Kim Dokja' here, and this is the safest place in the End Zone.

Will the Great Old Being attack? No. Can't I just run away before the attack?

And most of all.

"Okay, that's it."

Here, I can use the 'Time Fault' that I've only heard of.

"It's the famous 'Time Fault'."

In a space wider than a playground, small doors were densely packed in all directions. In front of the doors, there were small monitors attached, and the scenes that quickly flowed inside the monitors seemed to be videos taken inside the Time Fault.

In some monitors, there was an incarnation exploring the edge of darkness, and in others, there was an incarnation that fell from the bridge forever. I could also see the Constellations trapped in Tartarus, the Prison of the Underworld.

Everyone was struggling in different places, different times.

I could also see the numbers attached to each monitor.

2-3 Rounds. 4-11 Rounds. 5-33 Rounds. 6-77 Rounds…

"What are these numbers?"

"Ah, that’s it."

Cheok Jungyeong scratched his cheek and answered.

"I think it’s probably the order in which the Time Faults were created, but I don’t know exactly."

I checked the scenes on the monitor and sank into silence.

Cheok Jungyeong’s thoughts were right in some sense, and wrong in some sense.

And only I understood what that 'Round' was.

Yes. Those Time Faults—

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