863 Episode 47 King of Fear (7)

Why is the 'Second Kim Dokja' here? I didn't think long.

The 'Snowfield' is Yoo Joonghyuk's inner self.

Maybe not only 'Snowfield's Kim Dokja' but all Kim Dokjas have their own way of entering and exiting this space.

"Hello."

I greeted him first. Of course I had to greet him. I had to speak in a voice that was as affectionate, simple, and polite as possible. Because he said that the 'Second' was a sad guy.

Why am I thinking so many useless thoughts?

I felt like I would go crazy if I didn't think about this. Hair stood out in every pore of my body, and the chills running up my spine wouldn't stop. My legs were shaking so much that I felt like they would give out and collapse at any moment.

The thought that I had to kneel dominated my mind. I felt tens of thousands of plankton wriggling in my frontal lobe. I wanted to sit before him and swear an oath.

I will swear allegiance. Great King of Fear who defines Fear. Born from the gap between understanding and incomprehensibility. Lover of existence and non-existence. Lover of light and darkness. And—

Tak.

It was the touch of a small hand that cut off the branches of my thoughts that were spreading out in a mess. As I lowered my head, Giyeon’s small hand was holding mine.

I blankly looked at him, then held his hand tightly in return. Our trembling was transmitted through our large and small hands. His fear protected me.

Thank you, Giyeon.

I muttered to myself and took a deep breath. Then I slowly opened my mouth.

"I’m sure you already know about me."

Looking at the head of the Second Kim Dokja, I was finally realizing what it meant to face a Transcendent being without the [Fourth Wall].

"I am the Youngest Kim Dokja."

After [Inciting] myself, the trembling of my whole body gradually subsided.

I am Kim Dokja. I am Kim Dokja with the [Fourth Wall]. There is nothing in front of me that can harm me.

After thinking that over and over again, the distracting thoughts that had been boiling in my head gradually subsided.

I continued speaking.

"Oh, of course you are also Kim Dokja. Can I call you my Second Brother?"

The Second Kim Dokja did not answer at all. I regretted it later.

Damn it. I should have asked the First one more about the Second's tastes.

It was then that the Second Kim Dokja's pupils flashed like the compound eyes of an insect.

I got goosebumps, but I tried not to show it. Instead, I smiled and accepted his words.

"So, what you mean by 'how' is 'how are you going to convince me not to cause the Apocalypse?'"

The Second Kim Dokja nodded his head silently. Fortunately, this level of communication is possible. If so, there is still a possibility.

I briefly considered using [Incite], but if I failed and provoked the Second’s anger, there was a high possibility that everything would go wrong.

I decided to approach it the right way first.

"I will appeal to sympathy."

Second Kim Dokja tilted his head as if he did not understand the meaning of my words.

"You said you don’t like being sad."

When I became one with Cheon Inho’s soul, I also witnessed everything that had happened through Cheon Inho’s eyes.

The Second Kim Dokja spoke clearly, 'I don’t like being sad.'

I said, reaching out to the snow falling from the sky.

"If you cause the Apocalypse here, sadness will increase in this universe."

I felt the stories clinging to my fingertips. There was a voice there, desperately screaming, as if it didn’t want to melt away.

Most of them were voices I didn’t know. But not all of them were like that.

A familiar low voice.

There were scenes that flashed before my eyes without me asking who they were.

Killer King Cha Seongwoo and other readers.

Kyung Sein.

Dansu ahjussi.

Ji Eunyu and Yerin.

Ye Hyunwoo, Gong Pildu, and Bang Cheolsoo.

The people who endured the scenarios together were standing their ground without fail.

It seems that the door of Fear has already opened in the scenario area. Perhaps a large number of Outer Gods equivalent to a 'Natural Disaster' may have crossed over to the Korean Peninsula.

The Management Bureau may be able to buy some time using the excuse of probability, but there will be a limit to that.

After all, those guys end up making everything into a scenario.

In other words, if I can't convince the Second Kim Dokja right now, the 41st Round will end here.

"You've already been through a lot of sad things."

"You know that too, right? You've been watching all of this, haven't you?"

The Second Kim Dokja is also a 'Kim Dokja'. So he must have been reading my story here.

"They are not the <Kim Dokja’s Company> that you love. But—"

I did not miss the slight change in the expression of the Second Kim Dokja at the moment when I mentioned <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

"You love more than just <Kim Dokja’s Company>, right? That’s why you created this 'Fear Realm', right?"

The Second Kim Dokja listened to me silently.

"You wanted to trap everything that was being forgotten in the 'Time Fault', right?"

The 'Fear Realm' was the 'great sorrow' that the 'Second Kim Dokja' had collected.

The reason why the collected stories became 'Fear' was also clear.

In this Star Stream, 'Fear' soon becomes an important material for stories. War. Famine. Death. Murder… Once something is recognized as 'Fear', it does not easily disappear from the subconscious and is deeply imprinted like a brand. Second Kim Dokja made things forgotten over time into 'Fear' and preserved them in a giant formalin bottle called 'Time Fault'.

Even though it was just a light fluttering of wings, it had a strong persuasive power.

In the story, the Outer Gods that had finally returned to the scenario were howling.

They were taking revenge on the world that had forgotten them. Even if they were still nothing more than Nameless Fears, they were fully enjoying themselves recorded in the story.

Even if it was in the form of the 'End'.

"It doesn’t have to be recorded like this."

I said as if protesting.

"It doesn’t have to be the End."

The Second Kim Dokja shook his head weakly. With the fluttering of wings, the Second Kim Dokja’s body rose into the air. The small dust flowing out of his body became fables and stuck to me. Those fables spoke.

Perhaps that was the answer that the Second Kim Dokja came up with after watching the <Star Stream> for a very long time.

The Second Kim Dokja looked very sad as he said those words.

I couldn't figure out what he meant by 'greater sorrow'.

Suddenly, Cheon Inho's words came to mind. Cheon Inho said,

<Kim Dokja’s Company> and Han Sooyoung, whom I first met, had said something similar. If this world line isn't destroyed, other universes might be destroyed.

I also understand their justification a little.

"King of Fear. No, 'Watcher of Light and Darkness! Aren't you the 'Kim Dokja' who likes happy endings more than anyone else?"

Even so, I still think.

Is the ending of this world line really only 'destruction'?

Is there no way to protect this world from destruction and other universes?

"I will stop it. Even if this world does not perish, I will prevent a greater sorrow from occurring."

"Just like you did someday."

The modifier of the 'Second Kim Dokja' is 'Watcher of Light and Darkness'.

He fought in the 'Great Battle of the Holy War' and obtained that modifier through a third choice that was neither absolute good nor absolute evil.

He is where he is now because he chose a path that no one else has taken.

"Second brother, please stop the End."

The Second Kim Dokja still did not answer. The moment his eyes once again gleamed like compound eyes, the wings behind him spread wide. Dust began to pour out from the wings. I instinctively thought that I should not touch it, but there was no space to escape.

The moment I touched the dust, my vision became blurred and my heart raced. When I opened my eyes again, I saw the back of Kim Dokja.

A white coat and a white face. A unique smiling expression. The Kim Dokja I had written, the Kim Dokja I remembered.

I unconsciously walked toward him.

When I looked closely, he was standing among people. People he liked. It was <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

That's right. I wanted to see that. This scenery. I wanted to write that into the ending of this world. I wanted to see everyone I had made unhappy become happy again. I—

I coughed violently along with a feeling of my stomach turning inside out. The dust escaped from my body, and the illusions that had been before my eyes were all shattered.

Within a hair's breadth, the [Fourth Wall] was restored, and the power of 'Second Kim Dokja' was shattered. When I raised my head, the Second Kim Dokja was about ten meters up in the air, spreading his wings and arms wide and scattering dust on the world.

The dust he had scattered was rising into the sky like snow falling backwards.

At that moment, I realized something important.

This was Yoo Joonghyuk's 'inner world'.

What was in front of me right now was the soul of the 'Second Kim Dokja'.

Then where was his true self right now?

The snow fluttering in the air solved my question.

Joy. Trembling. Exaltation. Joy. A storm of snow flurries mixed with all sorts of positive emotions was blowing.

In the midst of that storm, one incarnation muttered.

The snow flurry that touched my fingertips was vividly recreated. The scene of the scenario was right before my eyes. The 'King of Fear' who had finally escaped the 'Fear Realm' had revealed himself to the people.

The incarnations approached the Second Kim Dokja as if possessed, and inhaled the dust he had scattered. And—

Ooooooooooo!

The people became 'terrified'.

The Fear Realm was expanding in real time. And that was the Second Kim Dokja's answer to my question.

An opponent I couldn't communicate with.

So that was the end of my expectations for brotherly affection.

I took a deep breath and leaped into the air.

"I know why your soul is in this 'Snowfield'."

This is a place free from the constraints of probability. As long as his soul is hidden here, he can protect his soul from the external probability aftershock.

"But you're not the only one who isn't limited by probability."

Of course, even if I wasn't restricted, it was impossible for me to stop him with my current strength.

But I was 'Kim Dokja'.

And like all 'Kim Dokjas', 'Kim Dokja' never fights with his own strength.

I didn't hesitate and called the character I had previously designated in the bookmark. No matter how much I thought about it, the only character who could handle 'Kim Dokja' in this situation was this 'existence'.

A character who couldn't be called with [Bookmark] originally.

However, I met this character at the 'Recycling Center' a while ago, and I gained a small amount of understanding of him.

A strong person who is restricted even in the 'Snowfield', where there are no restrictions on probability.

I felt the Second looking down at me in surprise. He must have known which bookmark I had taken out.

But it was already too late.

At least as long as the opponent was an 'insect', I was confident that I wouldn’t lose to Kim Dokja right now.

I reached out to the Second Kim Dokja without hesitation.