875 Episode 47 King of Fear (19)

My 'real name'.

The moment I heard those words, various emotions surged at once.

Is my brain slightly accustomed to the surging waves of the Apocalypse? Or maybe I just thought that this time I might really die.

I smiled at Yoo Joonghyuk, who was staring blankly at me.

"My name is Kim Dokja."

Yoo Joonghyuk ignored my words and clenched one of his fists. Then, a piece of shining story blossomed in his hand.

"You're the only fool who would put your own name in a dumpling."

"..."

"I'll give it back."

"Thank you for your offer."

I hesitated for a moment and then added.

"I don't think I should take that name back now."

I felt like my resolve would waver if I took that name back again.

If I had insisted on putting my name in a dumpling, there must have been a reason.

Before I knew it, the flame wave had surged up to my nose.

Yoo Joonhyuk took out his Hwangcheonwolgeuk. Yoo Jonghyuk in the main story used his [Yeolhwasingeom] skill to neutralize the shock wave of the second phase, 'Flame Wave'.

If my guess is correct, Yoo Jonghyuk in the 41st round would have the same skill.

"[Yeolhwasingeom] is a sword technique. It is not suitable for use as a spear."

"[Yeolhwasingeom] is not used."

At the same time as those words, a magnificent white flame rippled over Yoo Joonghyuk's spear technique.

I opened my eyes wide in surprise.

How could Yoo Joonghyuk use that 'Stigma'?

The next moment, the dazzling light of the 'Stigmata' enveloped my hands as well.

I bit my lips as I looked at the flames of the stigma dazzling on my fingertips.

Not all the sentences I wrote through [□□] are necessarily reproduced in the 'form I have determined'. For example, the sentence I wrote this time was as follows.

While writing that sentence, can I really say that I didn't know she would come?

Deus Ex Machina. An event where the constellation intervenes in the scenario at the cost of a huge probability.

I looked up at the sky.

"Uriel."

I spoke to her on behalf of the Demon King of Salvation and the Watcher of Light and Darkness, or on behalf of Kim Dokja.

"I won't die."

My words were true.

Because the ending of this 'Fear Realm' has already been written.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who was ready, spoke.

"30 seconds. That's all I can hold out for."

"That's enough."

"Find a way in there."

The moment Yoo Joonghyuk collided head-on with the flying flames, I started to seriously push the door behind him.

Kkiiyi.

Thanks to Uriel's protection, the door was able to withstand the heat.

But there was a bigger problem.

The door wouldn't close.

Upon closer inspection, the door's hinges were melting and cracking due to the heat wave. If any more time passed, it might become impossible to close the door. There was no time to hesitate.

"Heir-ah."

"Help."

The guy grumbled but also took out the skill I wanted.

I immediately put a character in the empty bookmark.

"I am Lee Hyunsung."

Both hands overflowing with brute force.

I started pushing the door again with a lot of strength.

I used Lee Hyunsung's exclusive attribute and thought about the scene where he opened the subway door.

Lee Hyunsung's biceps swelled as if they were going to burst as he grabbed the door.」

Back then, he opened the door to survive, but now I had to close the door to survive.

Squeak.

The door started to move little by little. However, it was too slow. At this rate, it was impossible to close the door within the 30 seconds Yoo Joonghyuk had said.

Yoo Joonghyuk shouted, his whole body burning like a moth in the heat wave.

"Hurry!"

"I'm doing my best!"

And at that moment.

The reinforcements I had been waiting for arrived.

Jang Hayoung, who had come through the lightning wave, stood next to me and started pushing the door together.

Jang Hayoung originally had no skills related to 'Flames'. However, both of Jang Hayoung's hands were wrapped in bright red strong energy.

It seems that she had traded skills through the 'Wall of Unknown Identity' in that short time.

Jang Hayoung was an incarnation that reached a certain level of skill proficiency faster than any other incarnation of the <Star Stream>.

With that level of proficiency, it would be difficult to offset the 'Flame Wave', but it seemed possible to push the door together with me.

Jang Hayoung was smiling even as her head was covered in lightning waves and her whole body was accustomed to the flame wave. As if she was enjoying this situation very much.

As expected, it was a sentence I didn’t write. I tried my best, but in the end, I couldn’t write. On that blank space, a character who found their own role was smiling brightly.

"…"

I looked at Jang Hayoung for a moment and nodded with all my might.

"It’s cool."

"But that side story, it might not be written by Han Sooyoung."

"That—"

With a kududu sound, the heat wave grew stronger. We stopped talking and focused on opening the door again.

When the door was more than half closed, I called Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk used [Jujak Shinbo] to quickly evacuate behind us after canceling out one of the waves of the approaching flame wave.

"All right! Close!"

The flame wave flowing in gradually decreased, and finally the door closed.

But.

Kukukukukuku.

Even though the door closed, the flame beyond the portal did not disappear. The passage leading to here was not completely blocked.

Jang Hayoung muttered with a grave expression.

"Damn, the automatic locking mechanism must be broken."

Even though Jang Hayoung and I were pushing the door with all our might, the door was rattling menacingly.

"Isn't there a way to fix it?"

"There is one, but—"

Jang Hayoung didn't tell me how. I already knew the method that Jang Hayoung didn't tell me.

"That locking mechanism, isn't it on the inside of this 'door'?"

I could see Jang Hayoung flinching. Her expression was like, 'How did you know?'. It was inevitable for me to know.

Because when using the 'Time Fault Door', you always use the 'key' on this side to enter, so the lock must be on the opposite side.

Kim Dokja thought. 'Is this how it's going to turn out?'

The opponent was originally the 'Final Dragon of the Apocalypse'. This means that even if Yoo Joonghyuk and Jang Hayoung joined forces, it wouldn't be a disaster that could be stopped.

To deal with such a disaster, simply blocking this 'door' would require an enormous probability.

I was in a situation where I couldn't invest in additional probability, so I had to figure out a way to close this 'door' without additional probability.

Jang Hayoung grabbed my arm. Very firmly, with a strength that I could never release with my own strength.

"…"

"Hayoung-ah."

Jang Hayoung’s startled power weakened for a moment.

"Jang Hayoung."

Those words weren’t my language. They were the language of the 'King of Fear' that had awakened inside me.

The creaking door was slowly opening again. I could feel the heat wave rushing in.

"This is the only way to close the door."

"Your [Heat Yang Shingong] won’t be able to withstand the heat wave. And if you go over, there won’t be anyone to manage the Fear Realm."

I shook my head.

"No matter where this is, I’m the only one who has a chance of coming back alive. If it's a 'different world line' like you said, then even more so."

Jang Hayoung, who lowered her head, moved her lips several times. I carefully grabbed her wrist and let her speak. Jang Hayoung couldn't resist.

"Don't worry. Coming back from the dead is my specialty."

The strength she had just used to grip my arm was the last strength she could muster. Having endured the first phase of 'Tail of the Apocalypse' alone, she was already on the verge of exhaustion.

Yoo Joonghyuk took Jang Hayoung's seat as she sank to her feet.

"You can't do it alone."

"I guess so. But you can't help me this time, can you?"

I felt Yoo Joonghyuk flinch. It was natural. Because.

This 'Time Fault door' is only visible to certain beings.

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't show it, but he probably couldn't see the 'Time Fault door' right now.

It must have seemed like the shock wave of 'Choi Huryong' was just coming from the air.

That's why Yoo Joonghyuk couldn't close the door like Jang Hayoung.

"Please survive, Yoo Joonghyuk."

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded and started to move away with Jang Hayoung.

When they had grown a certain distance apart, Yoo Joonghyuk’s voice was heard.

—You must come back to get your name back. It's useless to me.

That was our last greeting.

I jumped into the gap in the open door. The explosive heat of the flame wave melted my entire body. I rushed forward with momentum.

Fortunately, Uriel's [Hellfire] and the function of the [Fourth Wall] protected me.

I immediately closed the door with [Mt. Taesan Push] and pushed the lock from the inside.

The 'Time Fault Door' swirled and disappeared in the empty air.

The problem was this.

The last dragon's tail was still wagging. To make matters worse, when Uriel's protection disappeared, my body soaked in the heat wave began to disappear.

…

With a tsutsutsu sound, I felt the existing channel being cut off. With the messages rushing into my head, I began to fall down. Suddenly, the number written next to the nameplate came to mind.

If that number was correct, I was still in the worldview of the 'Ways of Survival'.

I don't know what the 1,863rd round of this worldline is like.

The 1,863rd round is the last time of Yoo Joonghyuk's 'Ways of Survival'.

Perhaps this place was a state where humanity was extinct. Or it could have been a world where Yoo Joonghyuk had already seen the ending and left.

From here on out, it was an unknown space that I had not written.

A moment later, I felt my incarnation body collide with the floor. A terrible pain surged through my entire body as if my bones were broken, and my breathing flowed out through my completely darkened vision.

A message came into my head.

A sigh escaped with difficulty.

But I couldn't move a single finger. I didn't feel any sign of anyone. I felt a terrible coldness piercing my heart. I wanted to open my mouth and ask if anyone was there. I had an ominous feeling.

What if it was the world where all the scenarios ended?

What if destruction came, the channels disappeared, and the management bureau and constellations disappeared?

So if there was no way to return to the original world,

Kuk.

How—

Kuk.

Huh?

Kuk.

I felt someone poking my head. If my guess was not wrong, it felt like a person’s foot.

"What is this?"

A human voice came from somewhere.

"I wondered why the Apocalypse Dragon was acting up again… What are you?"

When I slowly opened my eyes, a faint light penetrated my vision. I saw a white coat fluttering beyond the beam of light.

A coat that looked just like Kim Dokja’s.

The cigarette she had in her mouth fell to the floor.

The moment I saw that cigarette, I realized where I had come to.

"First..."

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I opened my mouth with difficulty.

The '1,863rd round' that I could come to was already set.

"Nice to meet you."

She was the one who alone saw the end of the 1,863rd round in the world that Kim Dokja had left.

She lightly stepped on the cigarette that had fallen on the floor and put it out, then looked at me quietly and asked.

"You... look a bit like someone I know?"

That was the first meeting between Han Sooyoung and me in the 1,863rd round.