Ch 416: Ep. 79 - The Secretive Plotter, I

Two days passed by since the end of the 'Great War of Saints and Demons'.

The nightmare-filled 'Isle of Reincarnators' could no longer be seen; Constellations were gradually leaving the Ark for their rightful spots in the night sky.

– This stop is for <Olympus>.

Constellations from <Olympus> stood up from their seats after the ship made the announcement. Dionysus, standing as their representative, shifted his gaze over to Jung Heewon and addressed her.

"No, we'll be fine, thank you."

He lightly tapped her shoulder and soon, disappeared beyond the Dark Dimension while leading other Constellations. She stood there and silently waited until they were gone from her view before climbing down from the bow of the Ark. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she found a person waiting for her – Han Sooyoung.

"Dionysus?"

"He left."

"Both Cheok Jungyeong and the <Underworld>, too?"

"I think they'll be leaving pretty soon."

"And Uriel?"

Han Sooyoung continued to ask, and Jung Heewon continued to answer. Most of what they chatted about were trivial information, stuff like Hades and Persephone, Uriel, Cheok Jungyeong's abode, etc. Some who would be leaving, some who would be staying, some who would accompany them… A part of the info was about the matters everyone knew already. The thing was, though, it was not really important whether someone knew this or that.

"Hayoung-ie is still completely worn out and teacher-nims are helping her out by performing 'Chu-gung-gwa-hyeol¹'."

"And Jihye?"

"At the back, fixing her battleship."

"What about Lee Hyunsung?"

One would ask, while the other would answer. They walked on the corridors of the Ark and repeated this process. It was as if they wouldn't be able to hold back even for a second by not doing it.

"What about the kids?"

"Well, they…"

Before Jung Heewon could finish her sentence, they heard the kids' voices coming out from one of the cabins lining up the corridor.

– I knew it. I gotta sign the contract with the darkness right now so I can get my revenge for hyung…

– Revenge? What revenge? Ahjussi is definitely alive. I can feel it.

– …Well, uh, I also knew that. If it's Dokja hyung, he's definitely…!

– You need to wake up already. We need to come up with a sound plan right now.

Jung Heewon's and Han Sooyoung's steps came to a halt at the same time as if they had promised to do so. They listened to the kids' conversation. Those two were bawling uncontrollably only the day before. However, the two of them, as they appeared through the cabin's window, were…

"…I guess they will be fine, after all," said Jung Heewon.

Han Sooyoung waited for a beat before asking her. "What about you, then?"

The latter didn't reply. Instead, her gaze slowly faltered. The former stopped looking at her conversation partner, and shifted her own gaze lower, too.

Jung Heewon opened her lips eventually. "He asked me to save him."

"…"

"He pleaded with me to rescue him."

She tightly clenched her fist. They didn't need to stare at each other to feel this emotion resonating between them.

It sounded as if dry rain was falling somewhere; Han Sooyoung listened to that noise impassively, before speaking up. "We'll have a lot of things to do when we get back."

"…Right. I know." Jung Heewon rubbed her face with her sleeves and smiled weakly. "For the time being, we should go back to Seoul, right?"

"We should."

"There will definitely be some bastards aiming for Seoul now that Dokja-ssi has disappeared. And we'll have to sort out the law and order back home, too."

"Who'll tell Lee Sookyung, though?"

"That, well…"

The two women stopped talking and stared at the empty space for a while. The first person to break the silence was Han Sooyoung. "I wish we still had Yoo Sangah with us in times like these."

"…I miss Sangah-ssi."

They had lost far too much getting here.

Their gazes shifted outside the window to see the passing view of the Dark Dimension. They saw the stars on the faraway galaxies sparkle softly.

The universe wouldn't be destroyed just because a single star suddenly vanished. There was a countless number of them, and their light would continue to exist afterward, too.

But for those living on a certain planet, that particular star would be everything they knew about the light itself.

Han Sooyoung did her best not to look at Jung Heewon's reflection on the window. The latter muttered in the meantime. "Just what on earth has happened to Dokja-ssi?"

The former didn't reply and began walking again. Not too long afterward, they arrived at the last cabin in the corridor. They quietly opened the door and entered to find Yoo Joonghyuk wrapped from head to toe in bandages lying on a bed.

Han Sooyoung spoke as she rummaged through her inner pockets to find a lemon candy. "…We should be able to find out once this idiot wakes up."

This happened back when I was still in the middle of reading the 'Ways of Survival'.

I was scrolling down the chapter, fully satisfied knowing that I had completed the day's work, only to discover something written on the [Author's words] corner at the bottom.

– Dokja-nim, what do you think?

I've already forgotten what that question related to. It might have been about the plot development, or he might be implying something about the novel itself. Now, how did I answer him back then?

– Mm. Well, such a simple twist is a bit…

– You thought so, too?

I was startled anew by this portion of my memories. Did something like this really happen? I remembered so well about the 'Ways of Survival' itself, so why have I completely forgotten about this part of the memories? I couldn't understand it at all.

Right, now that I looked back, the author did chat with me every once in a while, didn't he?

As for me, I wrote comments to engage the author; most of the time, it was to cheer him on, or to ask questions regarding the next regression turn, but sometimes, I did try to tackle him over the novel, too.

I think it was around when Yoo Joonghyuk had just gone past the 600th turn.

I just couldn't understand something about the novel no matter how hard I thought about it, so I end up arguing with the author through the comment section.

– Author-nim. Was that a typo? How can Joonghyuk-ie smile brightly?

'tls123' replied back.

– Anyone would change like that after regressing over 600 times.

I thought that the answer kind of made sense after hearing it. And that must've been the first time that I began thinking earnestly about the number of times Yoo Joonghyuk had regressed.

Regressing over 600 times, was it. What did life even mean to a being that had to repeat such a life over and over again?

⸢Kim Dok ja, wa ke up.⸥

Dull pain pulsed inside my head and my consciousness returned gradually. My body felt lethargic, and terrible pain buzzed from all corners of my Incarnation flesh. I barely managed to tear my eyes open, and the faint rays of light pierced into my eyes.

And then, a familiar voice came flying in my ear.

"Looks like he's finally woken up."

Yup, he just couldn't be nice about it, now could he.

I smirked a little and shifted my head in the direction of the voice.

However, something… seemed off.

"So, this fool is that Kim Dokja?"

By the time I fully opened my eyes, I discovered myself surrounded by countless Yoo Joonghyuks.

I needed another ten minutes or so to regain my consciousness again.

I had blacked out once more, and after waking up, kept my eyes closed and tried really hard to figure out what the heck was going on here. At least, I needed to get a bead on the current situation.

Firstly, the 'Great War of Saints and Demons' was over.

I was certain of that; messages waiting in the log proved that fact, at least.

I had finally completed the 'One Single Story's Twist/轉. The energy belonging to an unimaginably enormous Story was now roiling powerfully inside me.

The Giant Story, the ⸢Season of Light and Darkness.⸥

It was my first time hearing about such a Giant Story. But that made sense – the collision of the Nameless Mist and the Apocalypse Dragon didn't occur in the original story, after all… With that as the starting point, the entire world-line should begin experiencing sudden and violent change.

The march towards the apocalypse had sped up, so it was only obvious that the rate of the entire scenario's progress would speed up as well.

Secondly, someone did rescue me.

My problem began from this point on. Just who did save me?

"It's no use pretending to be unconscious."

As an aside, the very last face I saw was that of Yoo Joonghyuk's, coming to save me. So, maybe it was obvious that I'd end up seeing his face now.

But, uh, the problem was…

"Not just his dumb looks, but it seems that even his head is dumb."

"Just like what I've heard."

…Why were there so, so many 'Yoo Joonghyuks' in this place??

Not only that…

In complete stupefaction, I gazed at the five, six 'kkoma² Yoo Joonghyuks' currently standing around on top of the bed. Without a doubt, they were Yoo Joonghyuks, but all of them were… big-headed chibis with short limbs and about the same size as Kyrgios.

…Am I still dreaming??

Right, this had to be a dream. Right, the stress he put me under every single day had piled up and must've caused this horrifying delusion. That had to be it. I hurriedly slapped my cheeks, prompting the kkoma Yoo Joonghyuks to speak one after the other.

"He must think this is a dream. Like a fool."

"He may need some time to figure out his current situation first."

"What an annoying bastard. Do we need to wait for him, then?"

I cleanly ignored them and scanned the room I was in. It was a huge circular-shaped room; everything, including the table, the chairs, the other smaller knick-knacks, and even the bed I was sitting on, was circular-shaped.

…Where the hell was I?

I thought hard and long, but nothing came up. A room with such peculiar furnishing would be more than memorable enough, but I couldn't remember ever reading about it in the 'Ways of Survival'.

Wondering if I stumbled into an area for a new scenario accidentally, I summoned the scenario window, only to be smacked in the head with the following message.

Meaning, there was pretty much nothing I could learn in my current situation.

"Looks like he's almost done with analysing his situation."

"I shall ask again. Are you the one called Kim Dokja?"

The kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk with a hot-tempered facial expression asked me. Now that I took a closer look, there were different numbered cards stuck to the chest of each kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk, and the one who asked me just now had [999] written on his.

I decided to answer them for the time being. "Correct. I'm Kim Dokja."

The kkoma Yoo Joonghyuks looked at each other and nodded their heads simultaneously. These little guys, even though they were much smaller than the original, they acted exactly the same as Yoo Joonghyuk.

"Looks like the correct one has been brought over, then."

Even the voice was the same, too…

I didn't know what was going on here, but by this time, I had to accept it. I was not stuck in a dream. And thanks to some unknown crazy whims of the Probability, I somehow ended up in a strange, fantastical kingdom where kkoma Yoo Joonghyuks lived.

"Who are you guys?"

I decided to ask them first. I knew that they wouldn't answer me straightforward if they were anything like the original Yoo Joonghyuk, but still. One of the kkomas began muttering out. "How pathetic. Can't you tell by looking?"

Yup, thought as much. If I was to be stuck in a world like this, then I'd have preferred to be surrounded by the kind, gentle kkoma version of Yoo Sangah, instead. I was wondering how should I retort back in order to hear a proper answer from these guys, but then, the 'Yoo Joonghyuk' with [888] written on his card spoke some rather unexpected words. "With your dull head, you'd never arrive at the correct answer no matter how long you agonise over it. So, I shall tell you. We are a part of the 'great Plotter'."

…Great Plotter? Could it be?

A chilly sensation flitted in and out of my head just then.

The 'Yoo Joonghyuk' with [777] on his chest must've interpreted my silence on his own way and spoke in a mocking tone. "Your pathetic intelligence shouldn't be enough to understand it now."

Right, these guys, they were definitely Yoo Joonghyuk. There was absolutely no doubt about that now.

"If you're fully awake, then get up. Someone is waiting for you."

"Who's waiting for me?"

"You'll see when you get there."

I got up unsteadily and followed after that kkoma. The round door opened up and a huge corridor appeared before me. The one to take the lead was the kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk number [999]. I followed him. The rest of the kkomas trotted after us, too.

I asked one of them. "What is this place?"

That prompted one of the Yoo Joonghyuks following me to speak up. "Eun gui ei soup."

"What was that?"

"It means, the N'Gai's Forest. You're supposed to be a prophet, yet you can't even tell that?"

What the hell. Why did you say that in English, then?

The kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk number [666] glared at me as if he was disappointed and turned his head away, obviously unhappy.

It was around then I began thinking that maybe, those numbers represented the regression turns each Yoo Joonghyuk had lived through.

…What did Yoo Joonghyuk do around the 666th turn? Was that when he partnered up with the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon?

I spotted the view of a silver forest outside the windows lining up the corridor. N'Gai's Forest, was it? Sounded familiar, as if I had heard about it somewhere. However, I wasn't sure whether this place ever appeared within the 'Ways of Survival'…

It was then when our group encountered another one walking towards from the other side of the corridor.

No, could I even describe their movements as 'walking'?

Overcome with the sensation of all the hair on my body standing up, I subconsciously gripped the hilt of my Unbroken Faith tighter.

Because 'Outer Gods' were walking towards us from the opposite side.

Existences that emitted auras incomparably more unstable and ominous than any Constellations. One of them sported a horse's head, while others were monstrous creatures covered in disgusting-looking tentacles. Those tentacles extending up to the air seemed to tilt their 'heads' for a bit, before shuffling closer to my direction. No matter who looked at that, they wouldn't be able to describe their intentions as friendly at all.

Unexpectedly, the one to step in their paths was none other than the kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk number [999].

"He's our guest. Don't even think about harassing him."

"I shan't permit it."

The kkoma Yoo Joonghyuk number [999] declared as thus, and unsheathed the miniature version of [Splitting the Sky Sword] from his back.

Following that, the kkomas numbers [888], [777], and even the number [666], they all unsheathed their weapons mounted on their backs and hips.

…These guys, could they even really fight? I mean, they all kind of looked like action figures, so…

Maybe the other party thought the same as me, because they began emitting stubbornly persistent hostile aura towards us.

As the stand-off quickly became even more volatile and the tentacles and the kkomas were about to start fighting, a loud 'Thud' resounded out from somewhere. Outer Gods busy wiggling their tentacles about suddenly all knelt down.

The only one among them still standing was the horse-head that showed animosity towards me.

Another 'Thud' resounded out. Finally, even the horse-head had to slam its head on the floor. Those tremors couldn't have been a simple shockwaves of an earthquake.

No, someone was intimidating these Outer Gods with incredible Status right now.

Outer Gods groaned in pain and moved out of the way. At the end of the corridor, there was an entrance leading to a huge hall. It was an open-type, with the massive circular ceiling decorated by the tumbling, roiling branches of trees. I walked into this hall accompanied by the kkoma Yoo Joonghyuks.

Thin rays of sunlight permeating in between the branches illuminated an ancient, worn-out throne right in the middle of that great hall.

No one needed to tell me, but I knew it right away. The being sitting on that throne, he was the king of this forest.

Not only that, I knew who he was already, too.

The scar on his face, revealed under the faint rays of the sun, and the exact same white coat as mine.

The being I thought I'd not get to meet again was sitting right on that throne.

*