944 Episode 55 Giant Tree (10)

I accompanied Yoo Joonghyuk on his second round of swordsmanship in the memories of Breaking the Sky Sword Saint. I saw Yoo Joonghyuk sweating profusely, repeatedly slashing every day.

Watching Yoo Joonghyuk practice his swordsmanship while being beaten on the butt by Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, I suddenly remembered the first time I learned swordsmanship from Kirgios.

Of course, Kirgios didn't hit my butt like Breaking the Sky Sword Saint (if he had, he would have recorded it), but he didn't spare specific insults to 'large creatures' whenever I made a mistake.

Perhaps both Breaking the Sky Sword Saint and Kirgios learned from the same teacher, so their teaching methods were similar.

Some memories flowed quickly, others slowly. Perhaps this is what Yoo Joonghyuk remembers—and the stories Breaking the Sky Sword Saint read. This tree was showing me that story once again.

"Go to Changcheonbong Peak in the <First Murim> and pick a white rhododendron."

Yoo Joonghyuk's journey to master [Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship],

"Jang Bodo has appeared in the <Fourth Murim>. It's the 'Secret Land of Master Hyeonhak'. Enter the secret land and retrieve the elixir left behind by the master."

At the orders of Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, he went to Changcheonbong Peak, visited Master Hyeonhak's secret land, and visited the Demon Cult.

"Go to the Demon Cult of the <Third Murim> and retrieve the Everlasting Ice. It's been so hot lately, I haven't felt the motivation to teach martial arts."

Most of Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's requests were absurd, but Yoo Joonghyuk readily carried out her outrageous orders.

"Go to Shaolin and steal the Daehandan. Beware of the Ddaengjung."

I also saw Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been captured and rendered bald by the greatest Shaolin monk, Shin Seung. Seeing that Yoo Joonghyuk in person was a remarkable experience, but it didn't make me laugh.

While Yoo Joonghyuk was going through all that, I could do nothing. All I could do was keep my eyes wide open, trying not to miss a single moment of the memories he had experienced and the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint had preserved.

After watching their story intently, I realized why Breaking the Sky Sword Saint had entrusted Yoo Joonghyuk with such a tiresome mission.

Every life is precious because it's only once. Once a choice is made, it never comes back, and it becomes a story.

But what about Yoo Joonghyuk?

For him, who can change his choices countless times, what meaning does life have?

Seeing the empty sky for the first time in a world plagued by the gaze of the stars.

Witnessing the symbiosis that exists in Murim of Dosan Geomrim.

Yoo Joonghyuk carried out the orders of Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, discovering scenes he had previously missed in the world of scenarios.

"Breaking the Sky Sword Saint."

And in the process...

"Why?"

"No."

Perhaps Yoo Joonghyuk gained a better understanding of the world he sought to save.

Living means connecting with this world, forming connections. Saving someone and being saved again.

For the Regressor, who, in his quest to save this world, lived a life unrelated to its people, that experience was essential.

Time can be short, or long. It can be written in a single sentence, or even a book. They spent such time together—

Finally, they became master and disciple.

Snow was falling from the sky.

Perhaps this would be the last winter of the second round that Breaking the Sky Sword Saint and Yoo Joonghyuk would spend together.

I sat on the veranda next to Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, watching Yoo Joonghyuk practice his sword.

Breaking the Sky God. Yoo Joonghyuk, shirtless even in the middle of winter, swinging his sword. Watching the sweat that had formed in his veins crystallize and drip down, I thought of Kim Dokja.

Sometimes, knowing the ending of a story can be painful. Even knowing that it would ultimately end in tragedy, Kim Dokja read it again and again.

And like Yoo Joonghyuk, who struggled to save the world, Kim Dokja must have constantly considered the possibility that this story wouldn't end in tragedy.

Just as Yoo Joonghyuk ultimately couldn't reach the ending he desired, Kim Dokja also faced the same tragedy time and time again.

Faced with a predetermined tragedy, all humans can do is explore its meaning. To somehow prove that this entire world wasn't meaningless.

If Yoo Joonghyuk's job was to fight the world, Kim Dokja's job was to fight meaninglessness.

"What are you thinking about?"

I wondered if it was because I was so lost in thought. When Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, sitting next to me, spoke, I quickly looked up.

"I asked you what you were thinking about."

Only then did I realize Breaking the Sky Sword Saint was asking me.

The question, "Since when—" flashed through my mind, but that wasn't the point.

This world of memory was realized by Breaking the Sky Sword Saint.

It was only natural that she discovered me, intruding into her memories.

"I was thinking you were a truly sad person."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint turned her head and looked at me. Sensing her gaze, I continued speaking.

"You must have been watching this landscape alone for a very long time."

Snow must have fallen in her world for a long time. Recalling this landscape, she must have searched for clues her disciple hadn't discovered in the previous round.

"You must have seen this world countless times."

"But it only happened once. There's no turning back, no turning back."

That's right. We reread that one-time story over and over again. Reading it, we live our lives anew.

"Did you know I was coming?"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint nodded slightly and replied.

"I heard your story from the Outer Gods of the Fear Realm."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint didn't stay in the Fear Realm with me. She only participated in the final battle, so she wasn't fully aware of what I had done in the Fear Realm.

"What were they talking about?"

"They said you seemed like someone who wanted to embrace every story in the world."

I pondered that for a moment before replying.

"I’m no one like that. I just write what I want to write and read what I want to read."

"In the stories you want to read."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint turned her head again, looked at Yoo Joonghyuk, and added,

"Is that child included?"

I paused for a moment before answering.

"Yes."

It was a confident answer, surprising even myself. I didn't even have to wonder if it was Kim Dokja's or mine. Perhaps, at that moment, every Kim Dokja in the world was thinking the same thing.

Listening to the soft falling snow, I asked Breaking the Sky Sword Saint,

"Is there something you'd like to ask me?"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint was now an Outer God, and she must have learned some of the secrets of this world, and perhaps even understood her own fate and that of her disciple. Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's lips moved slightly, as if shaking a giant tree.

"How many more regressions will my disciple experience?"

I couldn't readily answer. Perhaps I could have said something like this:

But was that really the future that 'that Yoo Joonghyuk' would experience?

The Breaking the Sky Sword Saint before me was the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint of the '41st' round, and the Yoo Joonghyuk she spoke of was the Yoo Joonghyuk of the '41st'.

"That guy..."

And I already knew what kind of end Yoo Joonghyuk of the 41st round would meet—what he would lose at the end of this world.

"He's failing, isn't he?"

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint spoke, her voice laced with deep sadness.

"Even after enduring such a terribly long time, he can never find happiness."

"I don't know yet."

I bit my lip, as if erasing a sentence already written, then opened my mouth again.

As she had said, the ending of the 41st round had already been written. But—

"I came here to rewrite this story."

Only after I had said it out loud did I realize how desperately I had longed for it.

"I will do whatever it takes to make that guy reach his desired ending."

"Even if that ending ends in failure?"

"Breaking the Sky Sword Saint."

I met Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's piercing eyes. The power of chaos pulsated within her clear, ethereal eyes.

Feeling the tingling energy of the Outer God suffocating my entire body, I managed to speak.

"I know why you became a 'tree'."

Breaking the Sky Sword Saint had been with Yoo Joonghyuk's life, more intimately than anyone else.

She was a mortal who understood others' emotions better than anyone else. Unlike Yoo Joonghyuk, whose emotions gradually wore away with each round, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint must have had to relearn the past rounds of 'A Newly Encountered Disciple' with each round.

And she must have had to accept that her disciple had already been her disciple forty times, and that she had lost him forty times.

Therefore, the reason she became 'Fear' is simple.

"You don't want your disciple to suffer from 'stories' anymore."

The Constellations said it. Breaking the Sky Sword Saint absorbed the D-coins herself.

The meaning was simple.

I continued, watching the stories flowing from her body.

"The stories of this world—all scenarios—are created through 'conflict'."

Since the constellations love conflict, all scenarios are born from it.

"Conversely, if 'conflict' disappears from this world, the scenarios will disappear."

All characters who seek to prevent the world's tragedy share similarities.

The Second Kim Dokja opened the 'Fear Realm' for the forgotten, ultimately attempting to turn the entire world into a 'Fear Realm'.

To protect those he loved, he 'killed' everyone around him.

Han Sooyoung, who had been created as an 'avatar' in the 1,863rd round, and Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, who now forces an 'Impossible Justice' on all beings, were the same.

Even now, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's tree is probably covering the 'New Murim District' in real time. Having grown by devouring everything in the city, it will soon break through the upper scenarios and engulf the <Star Stream>.

Finally, the tree, which has become a single world, will impose only one 'consensus' on its forest.

"Breaking the Sky Sword Saint."

The foreign narrative flowing from Breaking the Sky Sword Saint's body began to intensify.

There stood the master, who had grown from the tragedy of her disciple. Her disciple, who had dedicated his life to saving the world, but ultimately failed.

There was only one thing the master could do for her disciple.

"Are you planning to destroy all 'scenarios' in the <Star Stream> for Yoo Joonghyuk?"