855 Episode 46 Big Joke (6)
Since Lee Gilyoung visited the 'Recycling Center', there has been a slight change in the routine of <Kim Dokja’s Company>.
"The 41st world line circuit is unstable. It will probably be difficult to enter directly for the time being."
"So we won't be able to visit ahjussi in the future?"
Lee Seolhwa answered Shin Yoosoung's question with a dark expression.
"Since Biyoo is in the process of restoring the circuit, there will be another chance."
<Kim Dokja’s Company> has been unable to enter the 41st world line in the form of 'Possession' for the time being.
The only connected circuit is the 'Sponsor Circuit' used by Yoo Sangah.
"Sangah-ssi, please refrain from exercising your authority as a sponsor if possible."
Yoo Sangah's circuit is the only channel through which <Kim Dokja’s Company> can currently influence the 41st world line. If even this passage is blocked, <Kim Dokja’s Company> will not be able to intervene in the '41st Round' at all.
"And Joonghyuk-ssi. You shouldn't sneak near the Void Curtain again. If you do that again... Joonghyuk-ssi?"
Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been by her side until a moment ago, was nowhere to be seen.
When Lee Seolhwa let out a light sigh, Yoo Sangah comforted her.
"Joonghyuk-ssi would have understood."
"Right?"
"He isn't that stupid."
Although he sometimes acts like a real fool, the two barely swallowed the gossip they knew about each other.
At that moment, the door opened and Lee Gilyoung and Lee Jihye came in. The 'kkoma Kim Dokja' was on top of Lee Gilyoung's head, and judging from his appearance, he seemed to have come from a short walk nearby.
Lee Gilyoung, who had been taking a quick look at the atmosphere, sat down on Han Sooyoung's laptop on the table and asked. "Noonas, is it serialized today?"
When Lee Seolhwa nodded, Shin Yoosoung and Lee Jihye also gathered in front of the laptop.
The only hobby of <Kim Dokja’s Company>, which recently lost the means to interfere with the 41st Round.
It was reading the story of the '41st Round' newly written in the manuscript file of 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』 left by Han Sooyoung.
"Wow, it's real. The volume has increased again."
"Is Sooyoung unnie really serializing it?"
"I don't think so. The writing style is strangely different."
"Lee Gilyoung, do you know what her writing style is?"
"Don't ignore people, Shin Yoosoung."
Shin Yoosoung ignored Gilyoung's words and checked the subtitle of the newly serialized story.
"A Big Joke... What does it mean?"
"Someone must have told a really funny joke."
"How stupid. Is that really true?"
As Lee Gilyeong and Shin Yoosoung were bickering, Lee Jihye grabbed their shoulders and said,
"Both of you, step aside. If you're not going to read, let me read."
"You don't read novels, do you?"
"Don't I read Soooyoung unnie's novels?"
The three of them sat with a small chair between them for a while, then soon started scrolling and turning the pages.
After reading several pages like that, the three of them let out a short breath and said,
"Ah, the story of Cheon Inho will come up soon."
"But does it make sense that Cheon Inho lived this long in the 40th Round? We also went through a lot of hardship and to get over the [Final Wall]."
"It will be revealed in the next chapter."
The three of them who were mumbling glanced at each other almost simultaneously and fell silent. Even without saying anything, they could tell that they felt the same way.
「 Did Dokja-ahjussi always feel this way? 」
As if he had heard that thought, the kkoma Kim Dokja who was on top of Lee Gilyoung’s head came down on the table and put his hand on Han Sooyoung’s monitor.
A light spark flew out of the laptop.
"Huh?"
Is it an error? Suddenly, the laptop’s power blinked and the document was distorted.
Shin Yoosoung was surprised to find that the font of a certain character’s name was broken.
"Hey, Lee Gilyoung. What did you press?"
"What did you say? Didn’t you break it?"
"Unnie, did you see that too? The last time he pressed the keyboard, Lee Gilyoung-"
Instead of answering Shin Yoosoung, Lee Jihye stared blankly down at her own hands.
Lee Jihye slowly opened her mouth.
"That’s strange. Am I already getting presbyopia?"
Lee Seolhwa asked with a bitter smile.
"What are you talking about?"
"No, isn't that... a little strange? Are my eyes dim?"
"Dim?"
At that moment, Lee Seolhwa's expression changed. Yoo Sangah also had a very serious expression on her face.
Lee Jihye, who hadn't seen their expressions yet, tilted her head and muttered.
"Something about us... doesn't it seem a little blurry? Is it an illusion?"
The laptop blinked again and a new sentence appeared.
「 And so, one of the extras who had no presence finally reached the end of the world. 」
「 And so, one of the extras who had no presence finally reached the end of the world. 」
It was the story of a narrow-eyed man wearing a crimson coat.
「 The world finally remembered his name. 」
Some called him the 'Evil Sophist', and others called him the 'One Who Deceived The Stars'.
However, his real name, as given by the world, was one.
「 His name is 'Cheon Inho'. 」
Cheon Inho, who had cleared the Last Scenario, was almost out of breath. He had lost his right arm, his left leg showed his bone, and his cheeks were torn long enough to reveal the inside of his mouth.
Even so, he was smiling. As if smiling like that was the only way he could mock the world.
'How did I get here?'
It had truly been a long and arduous journey. If he were to explain everything that had happened during that time, it would take more than ten volumes of a historical novel.
Cheon Inho thought this and smiled bitterly.
As he slowly walked away from the crashed ark, a distant fog rolled in as if it were enveloping him.
'The Final Fog.'
Cheon Inho had also heard the name of this fog.
The fog seen in the memories of Myth-grade Constellations, the mysterious veil that envelops the area where all scenarios end. At the end of this veil, there must be a secret that the Star Stream has been hiding.
Cheon Inho walked and walked through the fog. How long had he walked like that? When he came to his senses, he realized that a huge obstacle was blocking his path.
It was a wall.
[The 'Final Wall' is looking at you.]
「 The Final Wall. Cheon Inho repeated the name of the wall to himself. 」
The moment he put his hand toward it, wondering what this was, the wall bounced him off with a strong spark. As if he had no right to touch it.
The moment Cheon Inho frowned and tried to say a word, a voice was heard from behind him.
[If you touch it again, you'll die this time.]
"..."
[What a strange guy. How did you get here?]
As Cheon Inho slowly turned around, a large dokkaebi looked down at him. The eyes that intuitively saw the beginning and end of a world were there. Cheon Inho looked up at his eyes and opened his mouth.
"Finally, we've met."
The dokkaebi's eyes flashed with a strangeness at the sight of him, who was not at all intimidated.
Cheon Inho added as if enjoying the strangeness.
"It's nice to meet you. The 'Dokkaebi King' of this world."
[You recognize me.]
"Wouldn't it be strange not to recognize you? Rather, you came and went in person before me and finally came to give me the final scenario reward."
[Final scenario reward?]
The Dokkaebi King rolled his large eyes as if he was wondering what that meant.
[You cleared the 'Final Scenario', didn't you?]
"Wouldn't you know since I've come this far?"
[No way...]
The Dokkaebi King hurriedly looked at Cheon Inho, examined something, and added.
[That's strange, that world line is already an 'abandoned' place?]
"Abandoned?"
[It means a world line that no one looks into, that has no value. And yet the scenarios are still continuing?]
Cheon Inho tilted his head with a puzzled smile as if he couldn’t understand that, and then asked back.
"Does it really matter whether someone looks into my story or not? I cleared all the scenarios you set."
[I can’t believe you cleared the scenarios normally.]
"If you really doubt it, why don’t you look into my stories?"
The Dokkaebi King hesitated for a moment and extended his thick finger. Soon after, Cheon Inho’s story began to be read with the tip of his thick finger.
And after a while,
[This… I can’t believe it. You…?]
The Dokkaebi King sighed with faint astonishment.
[How can you use the 'Great True Story' of the great castle gate in this way… Did you follow the 'Direct Sweep of the Oldest Dream'?]
Cheon Inho proudly spread his arms and nodded.
"I did use some tricks, but I guess you can believe that I cleared the Last Scenario now."
[Interesting, really interesting, and it's a shame, if the 'Oldest Dream' was still watching this world line...]
The Dokkaebi King was absorbed in something for a while, then looked at Cheon Inho and asked.
[What kind of reward do you want?]
"What kind of reward can you give me?"
[Anything.]
Anything.
Cheon Inho's expression filled with an inexplicable joy, as if he had been waiting for those words.
The Dokkaebi King continued to speak.
[If you want eternal life, I will give you eternal life. If you want endless wealth, I can give you endless wealth. If you want to become a god of a world, I can make it happen, and if you want to revive someone precious, I can revive them.]
"If I revive someone precious, is that person the same 'precious person' that I remember?"
[Yes. I will revive them exactly as they are in your memories.]
"That's right. Then I will just be getting a replica of the 'precious person' in my memories."
[You could think of it that way. Indeed, it's a thought worthy of someone who has come this far.]
The Dokkaebi King chuckled as if he was happy.
[Tell me what you want in return.]
"The reward I want is."
Cheon Inho took a deep breath and said.
"To get to meet 'Supreme King Yoo Joonghyuk' once again."
The Dokkaebi King's expression changed subtly.
[By Supreme King, are you referring to the 'Puppet of the Oldest Dream'?]
"The Constellations also call him that."
[Why do you want to meet him again?]
"I want to fight that guy again."
[Oh, such a romantic reason.]
"And after I beat him again, I'll say this."
A strange madness spread across Cheon Inho's expression.
"Look at this, I finally made it in the world where you failed."
The Dokkaebi King looked at Cheon Inho's face for a moment.
The Dokkaebi King's expression slowly distorted. Only after a moment did Cheon Inho only realize the meaning of that expression.
The Dokkaebi King was smiling.
[Little Incarnation, you will never meet him again. He was born different from you.]
"What does that mean?"
<!@[Hmm… yes. Since you came this far, you are qualified to confirm 'that'.]
The Dokkaebi King stared into the air for a moment as if pondering something, then snapped his fingers.
<@>[Look.]
With a light finger snap, sentences appeared before his eyes.
「 Yoo Joonghyuk thought. This round will never fail. No, it must not fail. I cannot repeat the last round again. I will not repeat that despair, that sadness. In order to do that, first… 」
Cheon Inho muttered as he watched the endless story in the air.
"What is this?"
[It’s a story.]
"I know that too. What I’m asking is—"
[A story that uses him as a 'character'.]
As the Dokkaebi King lightly extended his hand, the flowing sentences quietly lingered along his hand.
[To be more precise, it could be said to be the most important 'story' in this entire universe.]
The sentences danced around the Dokkaebi King, and were soon sucked into the [Final Wall].
[All the stories of this world line exist for the completion of that 'story'.]
"What on earth is that story?"
[You originally had no right to confirm that name… Well, what does it matter? This world line was abandoned anyway.]
The Dokkaebi King smirked as if nothing would change even if the likes of Cheon Inho found out the truth.
[Now, this is the truth of the universe you’ve been struggling to live in.]
When the Dokkaebi King’s palm opened, there was a book there. A gust of wind blew from somewhere and turned the pages.
Cheon Inho began to read aloud the sentence written on the first page of the book.
"There are three ways to survive in a ruined world."
The moment he read that sentence, Cheon Inho was overcome by an inexplicable sense of discomfort. His instincts were warning him. He shouldn't read this story. It was the truth of a world he didn't need to know. Even so, Cheon Inho couldn't stop.
"I've forgotten some of them now. But one thing is certain. That is... the fact that you, who are reading this now, will survive."
Cheon Inho absentmindedly reached out and checked the title of the book. The name of the world he had lived in was written there.
『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.
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)