957 Episode 56 Myth (9)

I couldn't answer anything to the Wenny King's question.

All I could do was listen helplessly to the story's trailer, like a prisoner in a cage eating a rationed meal.

Only 8 years. During those eight years, my brother accumulated numerous stories.

In that story, my brother liberated the Demon King of the Demon World.

He went through the giant story of <Olympus> and liberated the giants of Tartarus.

It wasn't just that. He killed the 'Endbringer' group and prevented the outbreak of the Great War of Good and Evil during the Demon World event— 'Blue Witch's Night', which is one of the precursors to the Great War of Good and Evil.

He also personally led the Outer Gods who invaded the Constellations of the nebula and sent them back to the 'Island of the Reincarnation'.

Those who saw his stories revered or worshiped him. Or there were people who were jealous or in awe.

And in the end, they were overwhelmed by one emotion.

A story blinked before my eyes. It was a story that deserved to be called an epic.

A being that all the stars and incarnations of this <Star Stream> will envy, having cleared a number of 'giant story scenarios' in just eight years and reached the realm of 'myth'—

My brother has become that kind of person in scenarios over the past eight years.

The greater the sense of déjà vu felt in the story, the greater the sadness.

Why do I feel sad reading this story?

When I raised my head, the Wenny King was still waiting for me.

A story that shines as if asking me to read it in more detail.

Perhaps if I read this story to the end, I will be able to get an important clue about my brother. And by absorbing this story, I will be able to get one step closer to the brother waiting for me in the higher scenario.

Nevertheless, I couldn't readily reach out to the story.

"I."

What would Kim Dokja do. No, as a reader before I am Kim Dokja, I wonder what I want to do with this story.

The light of the story was getting stronger. Finally, seeing how the story couldn't stand it anymore and was about to start its storytelling, I also opened my mouth.

It was Jung Heewon who greeted me as I escaped from the residence of the Wenny King.

"Dokja-ssi."

Jung Heewon, who hurriedly ran, held my hand and asked.

"Where on earth have you been? You suddenly disappeared into the scales, and no matter how much I searched, I couldn't find you—"

"You’ve been waiting a long time, sorry."

Jung Heewon's right hand was fluttering with a golden sword. She looked back at the 'Settlement Scale' and said.

"I was just wondering if I should just destroy it."

Looking at Namgung Myung pouring out cold sweat behind Jung Heewon, it seemed like if I had come back a little later, the scale would have been split in two.

"Why do you look at me like that?"

"Nothing."

I thought, avoiding Jung Heewon's gaze with a embarrassed face.

Even though we reunited for the first time in 8 years, we couldn't talk much about small things with Jung Heewon. We just kept each other's backs in the implicit belief that we had the same goal.

With Bicheonhori's consideration, I witnessed part of her life record, but that may not be all of the last eight years she spent.

Maybe it's because I went to the residence of the Wenny King. Complex thoughts never stopped. I thought I had done my best so far, but I wasn't sure if the path I had taken was really the right path.

"Who bullied you again?"

"Huh?"

"You look like you've been bullied by someone."

Jung Heewon was looking at me with a serious look. I looked back at her. Over the past eight years, faint scars had formed on her face. They were scars that were hard to spot unless you looked closely.

"Who is it? The Constellations? Olympus? Asgard? Vedas? Who should I beat first?"

"Heewon-ssi."

I'd merely called her name, but Jung Heewon suddenly frowned.

"Why? Are you saying something strange again?"

"Huh?"

"Aren't you in a desperate state, alone, like the tragic male protagonist?"

"..."

"That's right. Like, 'Now, it's really dangerous. We might have to risk our lives.' Will you still go with me?' That's what you're going to ask, right?"

Honestly, it was so direct that I couldn't say anything in response. Perhaps my expression was quite amusing. Jung Heewon's expression softened and she spoke.

"Why are you even asking? You already know the answer. You're just asking because you're genuinely curious. Or—"

Jung Heewon sighed as I hesitated, my lips quivering.

"Okay. Ask again. If you need confirmation, I'll give you the same answer as many times as you need. Until you feel safe."

"..."

"Until you can trust me. I'll answer you again and again until you trust me as much as I trust you."

What makes a person's heart? How can someone with such a strong and shining heart exist in this tragic world?

No god, no Constellation can shape a person's heart.

The experience of risking her life for someone else. Her history of unwaveringly drawing her sword in the face of injustice, big or small, and protecting or failing to protect what was precious. Every choice she made must have made her shine so brightly today.

The portal promised by the Wenny King swirled in the air.

We exchanged brief greetings with Divine Doctor and Namgung Myung, who had come out to see us off.

"Then shall we go?"

I said.

"Let's go."

Jung Heewon replied.

Stepping into the portal, we entered an elevator resembling a small capsule.

It seemed like The Wenny King, too, had his own 'Orbital Elevator'.

However, perhaps because the equipment was older than the Constellations', the elevator creaked the entire way up. Perhaps the noise was amusing? Jung Heewon said.

"Didn't you ever feel that way when you were young? I was always afraid of falling when riding an elevator."

"I wonder if I could survive if I jumped when it fell. I often wonder that."

"Did you feel that way too, Dokja-ssi?"

"But these days, elevators are equipped with advanced safety devices, so they say they never fall."

"Really? They always fall in movies."

"That's just a movie."

The moment I said that, the elevator's jolt intensified. I wondered if it was really falling, but a cosmic landscape appeared outside the elevator window.

It wasn't the Star Stream we knew.

Scattered throughout the universe were not Constellations, but legends. Perhaps we were currently riding the 'Orbital Elevator' and passing through the domain of the 'Wenny King'.

Soon, legends came flooding back to me like a scene from a movie. They were legends collected by the Wenny King.

Surprisingly, some of the legends I recognized were familiar.

Contemplating an ending so distant it was almost invisible, I was at Geumho Station that day. The events that had occurred with the Life Cult leader, Kim Cheolyang. My story began there.

And then I met Jung Heewon. There was no way that story would just flow by at that exact moment. This must be some prank by the mischievous Wenny King.

Looking back, Jung Heewon was also watching the story drifting outside the window.

Among them were stories of our shared journeys, where we had overcome life-threatening hardships together.

He simply read this story, and was the spectator brought here.

And yet, on this tragic stage, he spoke the single line he had rehearsed all along.」

There were also scenarios where, despite my best efforts, I couldn't protect anyone.

Jung Heewon's father. Hearing the final words of Sergeant Jung Moonho, possessed by a reader, I called out Jung Heewon's name once more.

"Heewon-ssi."

Jung Heewon turned to me. I thought, watching the stories flowing across her eyes.

We've already overcome countless hardships together, and we know how strong the other is. We understand what they want to protect. And yet—even though we know each other—we still can't help but ask each other.

"Are you okay?"

I didn't ask if she was okay. Because I knew she wasn't. And she, knowing my feelings, answered.

"I'm okay."

We're not okay. Because we weren't okay, we asked each other if we were okay, and we answered yes. Whenever there was a void between us, we willingly filled it with each other's words.

That entire series of actions became a solid record of our actions.

"Since I first started following you, I've never regretted it."

That's probably how we ended up here.

"But you've got a strange story."

"That's because you keep making people angry."

We snickered at each other. I spoke again.

"Eight years have passed, and you're still the same, Heewon-ssi."

"It's only been eight years."

"Eight years is a long time."

What was going through her mind when she heard me say that? Jung Heewon stared blankly at my face and then said in a very serious voice.

"Yes. It's been a long time. Maybe it's enough time for someone to change."

It was as if she'd read my mind. Perhaps it wasn't I who possessed the [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], but her.

"But just because someone changes doesn't mean it's necessarily for the worse. You've changed, too. And so have I."

"That's certainly true. Perhaps I'm no longer the person the group remembered me as."

"So it'll be okay. You, me, and everyone else. Even though time has passed, even though we've become different people, the history we shared together hasn't changed."

Only after hearing those words did it occur to me that perhaps I'd asked if it was okay because I wanted to hear those words. Perhaps it was I who truly wanted it to be okay.

"Let's believe in that history."

"Thank you."

I recalled the story of 'Snowfield Kim Dokja' that the Wenny King had shown me.

To the Wenny King's question of whether I'd read it, I shook my head and answered.

Perhaps we'll go through the same things again. We might fight, get hurt, and lose something precious.

We asked each other repeatedly if we were okay, sharing trivial stories.

"You seem so resilient most of the time, but at times like this, you secretly—"

Jung Heewon, her lips pursed, was about to add something when suddenly, The elevator felt like it was tilting.

"Dokja-ssi," said Jung Heewon, her face flushed.

I felt an unusual vibration in the elevator. I nodded, watching the floor sway precariously, as if it might fall at any moment.

"It looks like we've entered a movie."

"I don't think there's any safety measures in here. Can I survive if I jump the moment I fall?"

"You're still joking, so I guess you're really okay."

"I like movies."

Then, the pressure of the upper scenario began to press upon us.

Constellations twinkled in the distance. Their starlight, at first glance, was unfriendly. All that could protect us from this terrifying threat was an old joke.

"Then you might hate it from now on."

And then, from somewhere, a story's voice came.

The mere hearing of the immense story's awe-inspiring power was dizzying. The final chapter of the Great Destruction scenario, where even Mythical Constellations couldn't guarantee life or death.

'Ragnarok' awaited us.