Han Sooyoung sat down.
There was no more blood in the man's hands. The sentences that flowed like powder from his
fingertips were whispering in her ears.
「He was once Kim Dokja.」
It couldn't be.
However, no matter how many times she shook her head and denied it, the reality in front of her
did not change.
「49% of Kim Dokja cut with her own hands.」
When the fragments of Kim Dokja were scattered into space, she thought that there might be
such an existence.
Perhaps KimDok-ja, whom she thought of as an [Avatar], was also reincarnated as a small
fragment and was reincarnated on the far side of the universe.
「"Oh, my son is great."」
In that universe, he will live a new life under a new name.
「"Honey, I guess he likes books. He will become a scholar, right?"」
Unlike Kim Dokja, he would have grown up in a warm family and been loved by his parents.
「"Ahhhhhh."」
He must have cried after losing his first love.
「"Kuu. Kut. Kut. Love... only makes people weak."」
He must have made a dark history by radiating his youth to his heart's content...
「What is Lee Hakhyun's dream?」
Perhaps he would have found his new dream as well.
「"A writer."」
He would have worked towards that dream.
[Announcement of the winners of the 24th Rookie of the Year Award, the winning work Origin
of Memory: Author Lee Hakhyun.]
At times, he would have despaired of bumping into the limits of reality.
「"I'm sorry, author. As you know, the paper book market isn't good these days..."」
「"How about writing a web novel? These days, that's..."」
In the end, he never gave up on his dream.
「"Writer. You can't write like this. Did you read the lines you wrote out loud?"」
「"I... Can I make a living by writing?"」
As a reward for not giving up on his dream, he faced the man of his dreams.
「"You look like a web novel writer."」
Finally, he reached the origins of his lost self.
「"Editor. I guess I have an idea in mind."」
「"What is the title of this new work?"」
「It's 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』."」
Han Sooyoung read and re-read his stories that were infrequently cut off.
He is the one who refused to be reborn as Kim Dokja.
The one who helped his comrades find his lost memories together.
The man who was once a reader who forgot this story
「"I also want to have my own story."」
Now, he's a writer and he's back into the story.
Han Sooyoung held his hand for a long time.
"Wake up."
His limp body swayed helplessly.
"You didn't come here to die."
It was not a wound that could be healed.
"After all that hardship, you left to find the life you wanted."
Why did he have to come back here again?
Han Sooyoung did not know the answer. Perhaps the answer will have to be found out by Lee
Hakhyun himself.
Instead, Han Sooyoung recalled all the sentences of 'Ways of Survival' she knew and of
'Omniscient Reader'.
However, no matter how much she thought about it, there was no way to heal his wounds in this
world now.
Han Sooyoung, breathing lightly, raised her head. She stared into the darkness for a while, as if
looking for a star in the night sky, then put her hand inside her coat.
Tsutsutsutsutsutsutsu.
[The
[Some nebulae watch your actions.]
[Some constellations are wary of your actions!]
[The Administration Bureau determines the 「Probability Conformity」 of your actions!]
The channel fluctuated violently, and the foreshadowing of a probable aftermath was felt.
In the
Moreover, if death is already confirmed, there is no need to mention it.
Moments later, a small pill was held in Han Sooyoung's hand.
Life and Death Pill.
It is the ultimate medicine created by Lee Seolhwa, and an item that does not yet exist in this
world.
She didn't know that she would use the emergency medicine she had brought with her.
[Many constellations doubt the existence of the item you took out.]
[The Bureau prepares for scenario intervention!]
Perhaps if she uses this item, she will face the aftermath of probability.
This is because it is an item that should not exist in this world right now.
"It wasn't an [avatar] to sacrifice here."
Han Sooyoung pushed the Life and Death Pill into Lee Hakhyun's mouth. Along with the cozy
warmth, soon his whole body was dyed with a soft light.
She had something to ask.
But now she had no time. With white sparks, her avatar faded little by little. The aftermath of
probability began to roll in.
At the last moment, she squeezed the lemon candy in Lee Hakhyun's hand and said.
"Tell him that I received it well."
*
Soft snowflakes brushed my cheeks.
When I opened my eyes and faced the pure white sky, I immediately realized where this place
was.
「Kim Dokja!」
As I jumped up and shouted, the voice I had been waiting for came from behind.
「I'm here.」
In the middle of the snowy field, Kim Dokja was squatting and reading something.
Ways of Survival, is it? Or has someone written a new novel in the meantime?
The moment I remembered that thought, I felt like I wanted to die.
「The lemon candy.」
"Sorry, I couldn't keep my promise."
Kim Dokja laughed wordlessly.
I looked around with a feeling of embarrassment
But I couldn't help it. My pride as a writer was also hurt.
「How was Han Soo-young?」
I thought for a while and replied.
「She was strong.」
Kim Dokja fought against such a Han Sooyoung several times. After fighting and fighting, they
eventually became friends.
「And, she was an excellent writer.」
Feeling a bit relieved, I added a word.
「Honestly, I felt like I didn't need to be in that world line.」
The theater dungeon has been cleared, and my work is done.
If it were Han Sooyoung, even after seeing my death, she wouldn't insist on the same ending as
before.
If it's her, she'll find a way somehow.
An ending that won't seal Yoo Jonghyuk or sacrifice the readers.
The way I couldn't find, she will find it.
「Han Sooyoung doesn't seem to think so.」
Huh?
I wondered what that meant. Is it because of fatigue? My head didn't work properly.
「Because this is your story.」
My story.
I suddenly felt dizzy.
「I'm just an extra villain. All I've done in the meantime was to incite myself to be someone other
than myself.」
While the scenario lasted, I had to become Kim Dokja several times, and Yoo Jonghyuk. I've
been through the scenario like that, and I died in the end.
Perhaps, it's because I wasn't the real Kim Dokja or Yoo Jonghyuk.
「You are Lee Hakhyun.」
I don't know why, but the moment I heard those words, I felt like crying.
「As well as Cheon Inho.」
「...」
「Your name is not important. The important thing is that we are talking about yourself there.」
I think I've heard something similar somewhere.
But I can't remember who told me about it.
Little by little, my consciousness began to fade.
Is it because I will die soon?
I asked Kim Dokja, enduring sleepiness.
「You...」
I wanted to ask, but I didn't know what to ask. Because there are so many things I want to ask.
You said it wasn't hard.
Didn't you want to quit that long scenario, story, enduring the years?
Why didn't you go back to your party members yet?
Kim Dokja opened his mouth.
「There is a spell I say out loud when I am having a hard time.」
I knew what the sentence was.
We said at the same time.
「I am Yoo Jonghyuk.」
The name is not important.
For a moment, I felt like I could understand what he was saying.
In the first place, we endured our lives by borrowing each other's stories over and over again.
「I tried that too, but it didn't really make me become Yoo Jonghyuk.」
「That's right.」
I couldn't forget the look on Kim Dokja's face as he said those words and nodded.
「But after saying that, I felt a little more like Kim Dokja.」
*
I opened my eyes with the dizzying pain felt throughout my body.
It seemed that I should use the sentence I just heard.
"I am Yoo Jonghyuk."
No incite was used. Even so, I felt a little energized.
Breathing out and raising my upper body, I saw the roof of the theater dungeon in ruins.
I felt a faint magical power drifting from around my heart. My chest, which had obviously been
pierced, was sprouting new flesh as if it had never happened.
「I lived.」
I couldn't figure out how this could be possible.
Obviously, I fought with Han Sooyoung and died from being pierced through the chest.
The last sentence I wrote ended with my death. The title of the scene was Death of the Villain, so
that was an irreplaceable fact.
「Still, I was alive.」
Something slid down my shoulder with a gurgling sound.
It was the white coat Han Sooyoung was wearing.
Holding onto the coat, I stood up and looked around.
I saw Yoo Jonghyuk and Jung Heewon, who had lost consciousness. Both of them seemed to
have stable breathing, so no serious injuries seemed likely.
Where did Han Sooyoung go?
The dawn was coming soon.
A cluster of meteors crossed the border of the sky.
It belatedly reminded me that this was the theater dungeon.
Kim Dokja and his colleagues must have seen that scene too.
The words of Kim Dokja, who had been watching the meteor shower with infinitely cold eyes,
were finally felt through my skin.
「The scenario has just begun.」
I just hit my third main scenario and lost my life.
The cold sense of death was still vivid in my eyes.
I was lucky enough to survive this time, but will I be able to do that again next time?
The scenarios to come were so terrifying that they could not even be compared to the theater
dungeon.
Will the readers who came with me be able to endure all the trials and survive?
「Because this is your story.」
Can I protect them?
I put my hand on my forehead in the feeling of dizziness.
I could hear people's footsteps in the distance. After the scenario ended, the people who escaped
from the movie were climbing up to the rooftop one by one.
Finally, the door on the roof burst open, someone took the first step and asked me.
"Kim Dokja?"
I carelessly looked around, but Kim Dokja was nowhere to be seen.
Understanding came a little too late.
The strong dawn backlight behind me. A deep shadow cast over my face. The exterior reinforced
suit worn by Kim Dokja in the original hand with his face pressed against his face with
dizziness..
And a white coat in my hand. I seemed to know what they had seen and misunderstood.
I laughed and tried to say that I was not Kim Dokja.
However, the moment I saw the faces of people who looked like they were about to collapse, all
the words inside me lost their power and disappeared.
People who read stories and loved stories.
There were people who watched the stories of their favorite characters and endured life with joy
or sorrow.
I heard people behind me asking the people who came through the door first.
"Hey, Kim Dokja?"
"Kim Dokja? Really?"
Desperate words from deep despair.
Beyond the door they opened, they hoped that there would be the Kim Dokja they were looking
for.
「That moment. I understood Kim Dokja.」
The sound of a small meteorite falling in the distance was heard.
I quietly looked down at the coat Han Sooyoung had left behind.
「I am a writer, Lee Hakhyun. Instigator Cheon Inho.」
Perhaps this is something only I can do.
['Thoughts about almost everything' mimicked with 'Ever-changing Stealth Suit'.]
I quietly closed my eyes and recalled a man's face.
[The effect of 'Ever-changing Stealth Suit' is activated!]
A man who grinned at people with a blank face.
A person who wanted to see the epilogue of a novel while knowing the end of this world alone.
The protagonist of this story.
A white coat fluttered in the wind that blew over the building.
When I completely removed my hands from my face, the people who saw my face burst into
tears.
"It was, really, really, really."
"I told you! I knew there would be!"
Just by confirming someone's existence, hope was blooming on people's faces.
"Kim Dokja!"
At one time, when I heard that name, one side of my chest hurt.
But now it wasn't like that.
「Still, this world needs Kim Dokja.」
I don't know if there really is Kim Dokja in this world or not.
「Nevertheless, this is still a story about Kim Dokja.」
Fortunately, lying is what I do best.
I smiled bitterly and waved at people.
「However, it is not a story about only one Kim Dokja.」