836 Episode 43 Transcendent Alliance (5)

I looked into those innocent eyes and let out a sound without realizing it.

"Ah.”

However, he seemed to not recognize me and clung to Asmodeus with a fearful expression.

Then Asmodeus smiled.

The book he had been reading just a moment ago fell from the little boy's hands.

I blankly looked down at the title of the book.

『The World After The Fall.』

My head was dizzy. Memories of the times he and I spent together flowed through my mind for a moment.

Somehow, I felt like I could understand everything.

The reason I had met 'Jaehwan-ssi' a while ago, and the reason Jaehwan-ssi's colleagues were in this Fear Realm.

It was as if all those events were tied together by a single inevitability.

"Hyung."

The person who always emphasized fate to me. The one who said that no matter what, the protagonist should be given a chance.

However, the one who declared that this time he would write without using chance.

He looked up at me with a face that seemed to have found the real chance this time.

"Giyeon-hyung. Are you my hyung?"

Even though he had become a kkoma Kim Dokja, I could definitely recognize him. Just as I could recognize Gu Seonah or Kim Kyungsik, I could recognize him in the same way.

It was definitely Giyeon-hyung. The one who wrote 『The World After The Fall』 with me.

As I took a step closer, Giyeon-hyung took a step back.

Asmodeus, who had gotten up from his seat, spoke as if to stop me.

"What on earth did you do? You. Why is Giyeon-hyung here?"

"Answer the question."

In an instant, an image appeared on the screen with the sound of tsutsutsutsu.

It was a very old memory.

A voice in a hazy memory.

Everything felt like a lie.

The memories that had been fading away in my head bloomed all at once like flowers blooming in season.

A story before the scenarios began, even before the existence of 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.

A time when both Hyung and I were poor. The life of those days when I just liked writing, and that’s why I called myself a writer.

I stood blankly in the center of the theater and watched the story of those days. And I thought.

Where on earth does this universe connect from and to?

What else do I have to sacrifice to finish this long story?

"What do you want, Asmodeus?"

I slowly turned my head and saw Asmodeus’s face smiling.

Asmodeus sat back down on his seat in the theater and took another deep sip of his Zero Cola.

"That depends on what you do."

In the main story, Asmodeus was hit in the back of the head by Kim Dokja several times. And even the ending wasn’t so good. He called himself the 'Seeker of the End' and planned something meaningful, but he met a vain end.

I stopped thinking about that. Now that I think about it.

Everyone in the <Star Stream> has their own ■■.

That must have been the same for Asmodeus. What kind of end did he dream of?

I don't know for sure, but what's certain is that he hasn't yet reached the ■■ he dreamed of.

"Do you also want the interpretation of the Natural Disaster-level Fear that I got?"

The story that he mentioned while giggling was 'Heir of the Eternal Name'.

Asmodeus knows how that story was created, and who it sacrificed to be born.

"You'd better be careful of what you say. If you don't want the movie theater to be destroyed again."

"Are you going to threaten me with Giyeon hyung?"

I glared at him quietly and said.

"Well. You wouldn't do something like that."

"Because you don't look like that kind of villain."

I slowly looked back at the kkoma Kim Dokjas' faces. They must have been locked in this theater for quite some time already, but for some reason their expressions didn't look that dark.

It didn't seem to be simply because of the snack display case on one side of the theater or the sleeping bags lined up on one side of the seats. I can't quite understand it, but what can I say?

Some of the kkoma Kim Dokjas were even standing next to Asmodeus and glaring at me as if they were reprimanding me. I waved my hand lightly at them and asked Asmodeus.

"What on earth is your purpose?"

I began to think that it was time to have a proper conversation with this guy.

No matter what had happened and how things had gone wrong, both he and I had already come this far. I couldn't deny that.

"If you're a 'Recorder of Fear,' you must have an 'One Sentence' that you want to write. Why on earth did you come up with something like this?"

As I watched the guy babbling, I recalled the moment when I first met him.

The day I was first summoned to his theater, he had been surprised to see me.

In other words, at that time, he didn't really know who I was.

After he found out who I was, he began to plot some kind of evil scheme, making me the 'main character' of this world line.

It was a plan to use me to change the story of the 41st Round to my liking and ruin <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

"If even a guy like you can become a 'Recorder of Fear', then this <Star Stream> is really generous."

"You know? Your plans have all been a mess. They're inconsistent and never really succeeded."

"Your goal isn't just to make <Kim Dokja’s Company> despair."

The day I first met him at the theater, my readers and I received a sub-scenario from 'Asmodeus'.

When I opened the old log page, the scenario I received back then was printed out once again.

Maybe when I first received this scenario, I should have noticed that he was the 'Recorder of Fear'.

"You want something at the end of this worldline. That's why you gave me and the readers this scenario."

"Is this scenario something that you agreed on with the other Recorders?"

Asmodeus's lips trembled slightly at my question.

I continued to ask.

"How many Recorders of Fear are there who act as 'RepresentativeKimDokja'? How many fragments of Kim Dokja have you kidnapped in this way?"

"It's strange if I still don't know."

In this world line, in the 41st Round, a lot of strange things happened. And those 'strange things' started from the incident where 'a large number of readers possessed characters'.

It's clear that the 'Recorders of Fear' were behind that situation.

If it weren't for these guys who freely cross world lines and interfere with the story, such a large-scale treasonous act would not have been committed.

"Stop kidnapping the kkoma Kim Dokjas. You've done enough nonsense. Now let's slowly send the readers back to their original places."

"Fine. Let's make a deal, Asmodeus."

"You haven't even heard the terms of the deal yet?"

"I'll help you write the 'One Sentence' you want."

A short silence flowed. Maybe it was because of his mood, but Asmodeus's mood had become a little sharp.

The air in the theater had settled down quietly.

Asmodeus asked.

"I know."

I stared into Asmodeus's eyes.

I could see things that I hadn't seen when I first met him.

Maybe it's because my rank has increased.

Maybe it's because my understanding of the 'Recorders of Fear' has increased.

Of course, he's still stronger than me. Of course, he's a Demon King, and a 'Recorder of Fear' with the power of an Outer God.

Even so.

"You don't seem 'terrible' to me anymore."

I wasn't scared of him anymore.

The guy's records began to float before my eyes in real time. From the moment Kim Dokja and Asmodeus first met, until the guy who had been wandering the Dark Dimension died.

In that distant history, I understood Asmodeus.

The guy's eyes were trembling as he looked at me. The guy who became a 'Recorder of Fear' knew. That I was reading him right now.

That all of his history was intertwined with me, one by one.

Asmodeus, who had finally grabbed Giyeon-hyung by the collar, growled at me.

I released [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] and asked.

"Do you have any intention of making a deal now?"

"That's right. You are the Demon King in reality."

A brightly lit theater.

Our shadows stretched out and fell on the white screen.

We looked at each other's shadows for a moment. Two beings with different wants and different ways of living.

Even so, both shadows looked like Demon Kings.

After a while, we made a contract through the 'Existence Oath'.

"That's right."

The guy said. He said he couldn't give me all the 'Kim Dokja Fragments' that he had. However,

A kkoma Kim Dokja who suddenly rose up sat on my shoulder.

At first, the little boy kept turning around as if he was uncomfortable, but soon he settled down and placed his chin on the book he was reading on my head.

"Giyeon-hyung."

There was no response when I spoke to him.

Sometimes he would tremble as if he was reading a certain passage, and sometimes he would laugh quietly as if he was having fun.

If possible, I wanted to protect him by putting him in the [Fourth Wall], but for some reason, he refused. Maybe he had a scene he wanted to see while staying next to me.

"Tell me."

To be honest, I was nervous that he would suggest ridiculous terms, but surprisingly, Asmodeus's terms were not bad.

"Okay. If that's all."

According to the interpretation of the prophecy, the 'King of Fear' he was talking about meant 'Second Kim Dokja.' It was obvious that he would show up and do strange things, but if it was just that, it wasn't a bad condition.

Asmodeus curled his lips as if he had read my thoughts.

“Don’t you know that if I hear something like that, I’ll definitely survive?”

"Who is that?"

When did it start? The scenery in the movie theater was gradually becoming blurry.

I suddenly realized something.

Ah, I see.

Asmodeus’s laughter was heard.

It was finally time to meet Cheon Inho from the 40th Round.

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