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Chapter 372: Episode 70 – A story that can’t be shared (4)

As I slowly regained my consciousness, I decided to activate [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint].

⸢Sooo, the method to clear the ‘Middle Island No.4’ is....⸥

After managing to master the ‘Fable Control’, Jeong Hui-Won had finally entered the Middle Island’s scenario and began massacring other participants.

⸢....I dunno. Well, if they come at me, I’ll just kill them all.⸥

⸢Our general is also a Fable-grade, you know? Don’t you look down on us!⸥

Jeong Hui-Won activated [Hour of Judgement], while Yi Ji-Hye activated [Demon Slaying] as they ran amok in their battlefield; around the same time, the kids began clearing the Middle Island’s scenario in their own clever way.

⸢I’ve tamed the ‘Invisible Wisp’. Let’s steal that person’s Modifier using this guy.⸥

⸢But, we can just send insects over there, though?⸥

What a crafty method of clearing the scenario. So much so that I didn’t need to help them out at all.

⸢Keuh-euhk, keuheuk, groan...⸥

Yi Hyeon-Seong found himself alone on a different Middle Island and was being severely beaten up by other Constellations and Incarnations. He was in a foetal position while glaring at his enemies with sorrowful eyes, but then, he suddenly roared out like a huge bear.

⸢The one thing sadder then ending up all alone, is to get beaten up all by yourself!⸥

Powerful rays of light exploded out from Yi Hyeon-Seong’s body, causing the participants around him to explode en masse.

I was familiar with that technique. That was one of the special techniques possessed by the ‘Master of Steel’, [Impact Release], that released all the accumulated damage at once.

As expected, the folks from the original storyline were truly cheat characters. In any case, I got to clearly see that Yi Hyeon-Seong had become stronger as well.

⸢[Character ‘Jang Ha-Yeong’ has activated ‘Breaking the Sky Force Punch’!]⸥

As for Jang Ha-Yeong, she was clearing the scenario while displaying overwhelming strength. To me, she seemed to be on the path to truly becoming the master of the ‘wall’ she possessed. Well, she was a talented person from the get-go, and was also capable of absorbing the techniques of others rather quickly, as well.

⸢[‘Unidentifiable Wall’ is evolving!]⸥

Her ‘wall’ had become far more stabilised compared to before. She could chat to other Transcenders through her ‘wall’, and got to learn and understand their abilities. In a way, one could say there were some similarities between her method and me reading the book.

⸢[‘Unidentifiable Wall’ has sensed your presence.]⸥

My view was instantly filled with white noise.

[‘Unidentifiable Wall’ is staring at ‘The 4th Wall’.]

[‘The 4th Wall’ is staring at ‘Unidentifiable Wall’.]

The moment these two walls stared at each other, my view suddenly grew fuzzy, blurry.

[....The end of the world-line is approaching.]

As my view crumbled away, I could hear an unknown voice.

[Kim Dok-Ja, they shall come to find you.]

*

Vrrr...

The moment I regained my consciousness, I felt my smartphone vibrate. I switched the screen on without thinking too much about it, only to spot today’s date.

February 15th....

As we weren’t on Earth, the local weather report didn’t appear. All I could confirm was the date. Even then, I couldn’t say it was an accurate one, either. The space-time indicator had long lost its meaning after I moved around different dimensions willy-nilly, after all.

Everyone within <Star Stream> lived in a different time from the others. That was the case, but now...

15th of February, is it?

I fell into a bit of thought regarding this date, before giving up and placed the phone down. My head was in a disorganised mess, and almost every part of my Incarnation Body was aching painfully, too.

I blinked several times while looking down at my upper torso to find bandages tightly wrapped around my chest area.

....Where am I now?

The surroundings slowly filled my view. Firstly, the clean, white bedsheets, followed by the elegant Oriental décor of the room I was in.

A certain someone leaning against the window and looking outside threw a question at me. “You awake now?”

“You....?!”

Her eyes arched in a mischievous manner. “Ahh, so this is how it feels like coming back to life after dying.”

“But, didn’t you die.....”

“I did?”

Seeing Han Su-Yeong snicker like that, the inside of my head grew even more complicated. I immediately recalled the sight just before blacking out; the events of her dying at Yu Joong-Hyeok’s sword, me fighting against him, and then, passing out from his attack, and finally, sharing a conversation with Yu Sang-Ah inside the Library....

Han Su-Yeong approached the bed before I noticed it and pinched my cheek. “In any case, Kim Dok-Ja. You can be really adorable sometimes.”

Only then did I realise that she played me for a sucker. I took a closer look and found a small IV needle stuck in her arm, too.

“....Where are we?”

“The waiting room of the Main Island. The place where that ‘guy’ and his castle is.”

It was then, I abruptly remembered something else.

[‘Master of the Island’ is calling out to Incarnation ‘Yu Sang-Ah’.]

Back then when that guy was taking Yu Sang-Ah away, there was another message popping up in front of my eyes, as well.

[‘Master of the Island’ is inviting you.]

The King of Reincarnators. The third protagonist of the book ‘Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World’ had summoned us to their territory.

“But, I’m pretty sure that I failed to clear the scenario? Don’t I need to clear the Middle Island’s scenario in order to get here, so how.....”

“Nope, you did clear it.”

I quickly confirmed the message logs.

[You have cleared Hidden Scenario – ‘Snatching Modifiers’!]

[Reward handout is currently on standby.]

It’s true.

“But, how? I hadn’t collected the syllable ‘Vil’, so how.....”

Han Su-Yeong wordlessly pointed at the necklace hanging around my neck.

[Devil of Lust and Wrath]

The completed necklace of Modifier was emitting a soft glow. Something like this couldn’t happen, though. One of the syllables should’ve been missing on my necklace.

Han Su-Yeong spoke. “Yu Joong-Hyeok gave it to you before leaving, saying that it’s a leftover.”

....Yu Joong-Hyeok did?

But, why?

My thoughts were getting messy again. The things he said at the final moments rang vividly in my head.

– Yu Joong-Hyeok, a former Regressor.

Not the Regressor Yu Joong-Hyeok, but a former Regressor.

What was he thinking about when he told me that?

“Where is he now?”

“The next scenario.”

The sense of emptiness and relief brushed past me simultaneously when I heard her. He again went ahead before everyone in order to clear the scenario.

“....Who was his target, anyway?”

“You just woke up, but you’re already so full of questions. How annoying.”

I sat on the bed, eyes blinking like an idiot. She pointed to my chest again. Upon taking a closer look, there were two [Modifier Necklaces] hanging around my neck. One of them was Asmodeus’s Modifier, [Devil of Lust and Wrath], while the other one was....

[□□ of □□]

The places where my Modifier should’ve been were replaced by empty holes, instead.

“No way?”

“Yes, way.”

Well, at least he did leave behind ‘Of’. That son of a bitch.

“It’s my turn to ask questions now. Is Yu Sang-Ah still inside you?”

“....King of Reincarnators already took her.”

“....Did she say anything else before going?”

I unsteadily rose up from the bed and walked over to the window. While standing next to Han Su-Yeong, I stared at the unfolding cityscape.

Reincarnators were busy roaming the streets that possessed the unmistakable ancient Chinese vibe. Beings from other worlds were here; beings that had chosen to live a new life in this place, along with different names and different faces.

“She said, let’s meet again in the next life.”

To me, it’d still be this life but to Yu Sang-Ah, it’d indeed be the next life. She’d earn a new body, a new life, through the power of the ‘King of Reincarnators’.

She’d get to live a new life in this world, in other words.

Han Su-Yeong and I stared at the streets below without saying anything. It was as if we were searching for Yu Sang-Ah hiding somewhere within these nameless streets.

Han Su-Yeong abruptly opened her lips to speak. “It’s snowing.”

She was right; bits of snowflakes were descending from the sky.

Originally, this particular world didn’t have any snow. Yet, it was doing precisely that.

Snow fell like starlight. And beyond the tall skies where snowflakes continued to fall, Constellations were watching my tale. No indirect messages reached me, but I could still feel that they were looking at me. Probability they had gathered bit by bit until now was scattering gently in the skies.

I turned my head to the side to find Han Su-Yeong studying me. She grasped my [Modifier Necklace] and grinned. “I guess you’re no longer the [Demon King] of [Salvation]. Shouldn’t you get yourself a brand-new Modifier now?”

I began recalling the days I spent as ‘Demon King of Salvation’ while listening to her talk.

It hadn’t been that long, but those days were the most brilliant moments in my life.

As my vision grew wetter and blurrier, I could see Han Su-Yeong giggling away.

“Should I make one up for you, then? Mm.... What will sound nice on you, I wonder. How about ‘I Pass Out Too Often-Man’? Or, ‘Miraculous Piehole’.... Eh? H-hey, you are... crying?”

My face was reflected in her irises, her eyes widening in surprise.

Actually, I wanted to ask her, an author.

As she was a writer, maybe she’d be able to tell me straight.

Tell me that I did good until now – whether I made the wrong choices or not, whether I would get to see the desired conclusion when I reach the end of this story or not.

“Hey, why are you crying like that? I get it, okay? I get it, so stop. There, there.”

She must’ve thought up something, as she began rummaging through her pockets next. Soon afterwards, something sweet and slightly sour entered my mouth.

“Why are you crying on a nice day like today? I mean, it’s even snowing, too.... I promise to think up a nice Modifier later on, okay?” Said Han Su-Yeong, before avoiding my gaze to stare into the far-off distance.

Today was the 15th of February.

That’s what the smartphone said. However, the time of this place and that of Earth weren’t the same, therefore this indicator was simply an ‘error’. It was a coincidental date, with no meaning behind it.

Even then, what if there was some kind of a miracle and this date was indeed true?

Then, today would be my birthday.

Han Su-Yeong rubbed her eyes as she spoke. “I want to see the others already.”

I summoned up every ounce of my strength to make my reply. “....Yeah, me too.”

As if those words became the signal....

[Revised text has completed its update.]

A gift sent by someone arrived at my doorstep.

– Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World (Final Revision).txt

*

Inside the scattering, falling snow, Yu Joong-Hyeok was staring at the ‘Castle of Reincarnators’.

Most likely, Kim Dok-Ja had regained his consciousness by now. And Yu Sang-Ah would be in the middle of reincarnation, having met the ‘Master of the Island’ already.

‘....That woman.’

A deep frown crept up on Yu Joong-Hyeok’s face.

He’d never be able to forget the moment when his head rammed into that mysterious wall a few days ago. He got to forcibly observe that wall’s insides amidst the horrifying storm of Probability sparks. And that was where he bore witness to fragments of a tale he didn’t know before.

Some of them were as per his expectations, while some of them were definitely news to him. Some of them even took him completely by surprise, too.

It all happened for an instant, but he found the information he’d been searching for from that wall, as well as the answers he wanted to find. And now, he realised that it was time to put to practice the answers he found.

“Secretive Plotter.”

He raised his head to greet the gaze of a certain scheming Constellation.

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is looking at you.]

The ‘Secretive Plotter’, the Constellation that made its first appearance in this regression. And, an unidentified existence whose information or evidence couldn’t be found in any of the 1863 worlds.

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is looking at you.]

“Haven’t I played along with your schemes long enough now? I’m sure that I have the right to ask you a single question or two.”

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ didn’t reply for a brief moment. But then, a portion of the skies suddenly became dyed in darkness, and a ray of black light fell towards Yu Joong-Hyeok.

Tsu-chuchuchuchut!

As the sparks from Probability crackled all around him, the space-time within the near vicinity began distorting noticeably.

He was currently in the world ruled by the ‘Master of the Island’; no top-ranked Constellation would be able to exert that much Probability in this place. Yet, the ‘Secretive Plotter’ was an existence who could do exactly that.

A pitch-black shadow rose up within the darkness.

[What are you curious about, oh, the puppet of the most ancient dream?]

“Why did you show me that book?”

The shadow of the ‘Secretive Plotter’ wavered about as if to mock him.

Yu Joong-Hyeok continued with his questioning. “Did you want me to fall into despair? You wanted me to kill Kim Dok-Ja after reading that book?”

[Maybe. Maybe not.]

“Why did you plot something like that?”

[You think you can understand it after hearing the answer?]

Its arrogant voice was filled with the confidence of knowing that a lowly being like him would never understand, even after hearing the truth.

Yu Joong-Hyeok asked another question. “Why did you send Kim Dok-Ja to the 1863rd turn? Why did you order him to kill ‘me’ there?”

[Let’s just say that such a scenario would’ve been fun to observe.]

The shadow wavered around as if it was cackling.

Yu Joong-Hyeok remained calm and spoke his piece. “All of your schemes were to destroy Kim Dok-Ja.”

[Why do you think that? Do you have any reasons to believe that’s the case?]

“Maybe I do. Maybe I do have a pretty good reason.”

This Constellation, holding a mysterious animosity towards Kim Dok-Ja, and at the same time, didn’t exist in the ‘original work’, just like him.

Yu Joong-Hyeok had been chasing after this Constellation for a long time. And he had finally reached the answer to his pursuit in this very moment.

“Secretive Plotter. Are you the ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ from the future?”

< Episode 70: A story that can’t be shared (4) > Fin.