996 Episode 60 Star Fragments (4)

The place where he opened his eyes was a pure white room. A room so white it made his eyes ache, reminiscent of a sterile room. Inside that room, he lay there all alone, like a person who had suddenly come into existence.

Watching the sentence floating in the air, he realized it was a description of himself.

Three days had already passed since he first entered this place.

The Third knew exactly which story he had read. On the floor where he had slept, the book lay upside down, its spine exposed.

『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.

He spent his time in this white void devouring that story. He slept when exhaustion took him and read the moment his eyes opened. He felt no hunger here.

The books stored on the simple bookshelf were classified by language editions from various countries. Since Korean was the only language he could comprehend, he had chosen the Korean edition.

He had been overwhelmed by a torrent of thoughts while devouring the text.

Certain parts of the book made his heart tremble, while others filled him with a terrible, hollow sadness.

At times the prose was tender; at others, it carried a heart-wrenching longing.

He also felt an endless, aching desire to see someone.

When he finally reached the last chapter, he inadvertently stopped.

Why? He felt as though he shouldn't read this story to the very end. It felt as if he wouldn't be able to compose himself if he finished the final page. Swept away by the wave of stories surging from an unknown source, he feared he would never be able to rise back to the surface.

It struck him once again that he had remained here for far too long.

The image of Wukong wandering around, searching for him with a grim expression, flashed through his mind.

By now, the house must be turned upside down. Not just Wukong, but Hyunsung and Heewon must be looking for him as well.

After deep contemplation, he put down the book and looked up.

"Huh? Aren't you going to read any further?"

He wondered when it had started. Someone was looking down at him. The man had pure white skin that matched the space and wore a neatly draped white coat.

"That is where the truly touching part begins."

The Third opened his eyes wide.

He was surprised for two reasons: the man looked remarkably similar to himself, and his attire perfectly mirrored the protagonist from the novel he had been reading.

"Who are you?"

He asked after a moment of hesitation.

Although he had arrived here, he did not know who the owner of this place was. The man who had initially brought him here was a completely different person.

The person who had revealed the secrets of 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』 to him. He, too, had been a trustworthy person, and for that reason, the Third had followed his advice without suspicion. He had lost consciousness while searching for the location described in the book, and when he woke, he was here.

"This is my house."

"Your house?"

The Third looked around slowly before speaking.

"It is a very big house."

"That is exactly the sad part."

He looked intently at the man. He bore a striking resemblance to himself. As he gazed quietly into the man's eyes, he felt as though he were being sucked into the distant, cold reaches of the universe.

"You are..."

"I'm Kim Dokja."

Kim Dokja—that was his own name as well. Yet, for some reason, when this man said 'Kim Dokja', the Third felt as though his name had been stolen. The name seemed to suit the man before him much better than it did himself.

"It's the same name as mine."

"Not the same."

Kim Dokja grinned.

"Because I am 'Snowfield Kim Dokja'."

"Snowfield Kim Dokja?"

"The guy I like calls me that. You can call me Snowfield if you prefer."

As if pleased with the nickname, Snowfield nodded and asked.

"What should I call you?"

"I..."

Reading the sentence floating in the air, he decided on his title.

"Please call me Third."

"Alright."

Snowfield and the Third looked at each other for a moment.

The Third was the first to speak. Looking down at the book he had stopped reading, he asked.

"You are the protagonist of this story, aren't you?"

"No, I am someone who wanted to be the protagonist."

The Third couldn't understand what that meant. Snowfield shook his head lightly, as if it were of no consequence, and asked.

"What about you?"

"Me?"

"Didn't you want to be the protagonist while reading?"

The Third pondered for a moment.

Certainly, while reading the story, the Third felt like he had briefly become the lead. He had cleared the scenarios and stood with his companions, feeling like he had become the Kim Dokja within the pages.

"I didn't want to be the protagonist."

"Really? Aren't you resentful?"

"Resentful?"

"Why should the protagonist be another 'Kim Dokja' instead of me? Don't you feel that way?"

The Third found it difficult to grasp those words. Instead, he gave a different answer.

"I actually prefer watching other people."

"Watch?"

"This story is like that, too."

The Third continued speaking while looking at the folded spine of the book.

"The protagonist is Kim Dokja, but actually, Kim Dokja reads and watches over the other characters."

The Third spoke briefly about the latter part of the story's ending. The protagonist splitting into countless fragments, and the characters struggling through the scenarios to reclaim him.

"The protagonist gave up his place to make others the protagonists."

As if finding that interpretation interesting, Snowfield nodded slightly.

"But did the protagonist really want to give up his place?"

"Huh?"

"He finally knew the warmth of that position. He barely understood what it meant to be loved. Do you think he really wanted to step down from it?"

The Third remained silent.

The two Kim Dokjas looked at each other once again. The Third's eyes slowly widened. He asked in a trembling voice,

"You are 'that Kim Dokja'."

Snowfield remained silent. His silence was his affirmation. The Third asked,

"Did the scattered Kim Dokjas return at the end?"

"The end of that book is an open ending."

"Wait a minute, that's a spoiler."

"You would have found out anyway."

Snowfield chuckled and began walking leisurely around the white space.

"I wandered the universe collecting various editions of this book. I was curious if I might see a different ending in another universe."

Only then did the Third understand why so many different editions of the book were shelved on the white bookshelf.

"So, was there an ending you were looking for?"

"No."

The Third felt a distant resonance in that answer. It was a resonance transmitted from a primordial source he was unaware of.

"That is why I felt I had to write it myself."

"You?"

Snowfield did not answer. In that silence, the Third felt an inexplicable threat. This white space, which he had initially perceived as merely peculiar, began to feel alien and dangerous.

"Why did you bring me here?"

"Because I need you to complete the story."

"Because I, too, am one of the countless fragmented Kim Dokjas?"

Snowfield nodded. Watching that nod, the Third recalled the actions of his brothers that he had been unable to understand until now.

His brothers had been trying to protect him from this story. They had been making efforts unknown to him to block this information and keep him safe in a sheltered world.

"In the end, you found me."

"Yes."

"Am I going to die now?"

"No, you are going to read the book."

Saying this, Snowfield picked up the volume the Third had set aside.

"You are going to finish this book."

"I don't want to read it."

The Third shook his head and pleaded.

"Please send me back. I want to meet my brothers."

"Your brothers are all here."

Saying this, Snowfield took off his coat. His chest was visible through his black shirt. Sentences etched like tattoos within his skin were rippling deeply.

"Your brothers—who had to endure a terrible scenario and become sacrifices to dreams while you were hiding here—are all here."

The metallic scent of blood wafted from somewhere. The Third recoiled in fear. But his feet kept sinking deeper and deeper, as if he were walking through a heavy snowfield.

Snowfield approached him.

"You must read the book for everyone. You must finish Kim Dokja's work."

The book he had stopped reading unfolded right before his eyes.

"And imagine the dream we have longed for so much."

The Third struggled desperately to escape. But his gaze was already fixed on the pages. Like someone born to read it, his eyes greedily devoured the sentences. His breathing became ragged, and his heart beat with a strange, frantic rhythm.

The page turned of its own accord. As the unfolded sentence seeped into his vision, the Third froze. All he could do was read. Read and read again.

And so, he finally reached the final chapter of the story.

The moment he read that sentence, the Third shed tears. Deeply accumulated longing and sorrow festered and flowed. Why does the story end here?

Why is an open ending not open to him?

Dazzling rays of light streamed from the Third's entire body. It was a light so brilliant and beautiful it was astonishing to think such a thing had been hidden within him.

He felt the world creaking and the universe twisting.

"Next."

The Third asked.

"What will happen?"

The Third understood everything now. The reason Snowfield had sought him out, the reason Kim Dokja fragments existed, and the tragedy unfolding across the entire universe as a result.

Snowfield asked.

"Are you curious about the ending?"

The Third hesitated. Depending on his answer, the fate of the universe would change.

"Can I see the ending too?"

"It is possible if you help me. Then what happens?"

"The scenario will begin."

Snowfield said with a smile.

"All the Kim Dokjas will gather, and finally, a single dream will be born again."

A single dream.

The Third slowly closed his eyes and imagined a certain scene. As if adding color to that landscape, Snowfield whispered.

"Everyone Kim Dokja loved will gather here."

A thud echoed from somewhere. The Third snapped his eyes open. It was not a sound coming from inside this room.

Thump.

The sound echoed once again.

Snowfield stared toward the source with a strangely hardened expression, then let out a deep, low sigh.

"The person we've been waiting for is coming."

As Snowfield lightly waved his hand, a small screen appeared in the air.

At the entrance, which appeared to be the first floor of the building, people were fighting against men in suits. The first to catch his eye were Wukong and Heewon.

Wukong was recklessly fending off the men in suits while repeatedly calling out a name.

Following them, other figures came into view. An old man wearing a Marine Corps cap spitting water, an old man scattering seeds, and another zapping people with a stun gun.

And at the center of those old men stood a man who bore a striking resemblance to Kim Dokja.

"The protagonist."

The Third blurted the words out without realizing it. Snowfield nodded in response.

"Our brother will arrive soon."

The air shook violently. The space distorted uneasily, and something was trying to cross over into this place.

Snowfield said with a dazzling smile,

"Let's build a 'big house' for everyone."