[We aren't]
"..."
As expected, he wouldn't call me his companion. I cleared my throat and continued, "Anyways, when are we going to perform the ritual?"
We can't perform the soul link ritual right after deciding. There should be a gap of about a week or so in order to convince the Great God of Link to attend the ritual.
Void stood unfazed and looked at his screen.
[We'll see.]
"You are going to talk to the Great God?"
[That's right.]
As expected, he wouldn't let me talk to a Great God too. Anyways, why would a Great God even talk to a lower being, a dreamer like me?
Maybe I should try my shot.
"..Can I talk to him too?"
[Are you stupid?]
I knew it!
Great Gods are going to make their presence in the Endless Dream later. Until then, there's no chance that they would see a dreamer in front of them. Wait, maybe Void was a Great God too.
"Weren't you also a Great God?"
[I was.]
As expected, Great Gods are the candidates for achieving the top position of this dream 'Maker.' So it makes sense that he was also a Great God.
Maybe he was the Great God of Emptiness.
Void seemed to be messaging someone on his screen. Maybe it was the Great God of Link. Slowly, slowly, I walked and got in range to see their chats.
Let's see what type of talk these Great Gods do.
Huh?!
My eyes widened as I was seeing their chats.
- Yesterday
Void - Come over, I've something for you.
Link - Yes~ I was waiting for this.
- Today
Void - I want to pe...
The system screen closed and I blinked constantly while looking at the blank space.
I looked up at Void, who was looking at me with rage.
Fun fact, I was able to read his expression this time.
The shadow of Void was pouring down on me as sweat went down from my face to the floor.
"..Do you guys get along?"
Void gritted his teeth in rage. He bitterly smiled.
[Let me tell you properly.]
The legend says that Kang Hong was brutally tortured and was told to keep his mouth shut about what he saw.
I was sitting on the ground in a respectful manner like Japanese people do. There was a respectful smile on my face. I rubbed my hands as I opened my mouth,
"Oh great Void-nim! Is there anything I could help you with?"
Void was sitting on a dark chair floating in the air. He was busy chatting with the Great God Link.
[Shut up.]
I closed my mouth while still giving the same smile. How'd I get stuck in this situation..?
[Stop this act.]
Void jumped from the chair and landed on the ground. In this jump, his clothes again changed to the murim dress. My respectful smile disappeared, and I sat on the ground casually.
"So did you get a reply?"
[Two days.]
"Hm?"
[Ritual will take place after two days.]
Two days, hmm, okay, it's not that long. Until then, I need to survive properly. I opened my mouth, but before I could say anything, Void interrupted.
[Survive for two days. For the next two days, you're going to be alone.]
I sighed in relief. This guy... can't he just let me stay with him?
The expression on my face changed and I looked at Void. I guess it's the best time to ask this. I was holding back this whole time, but now is the best time to ask him this.
"Void."
He looked straight into my eyes, keeping his expressionless look. I continued,
"In the glitched dungeon, why did your connection get lost when that Murim guy appeared?"
"Or in simple words, why did you leave me on my own in the glitched dungeon?"
I was dying to ask him this since that incident. Void suddenly disappeared when that Murim guy appeared, and after that, he came back when I was in another dungeon.
Him vanishing completely seems really suspicious.
Void took some time, but he surely opened his mouth.
[It wasn't like I abandoned you. It was just that I was caught up in some affairs that needed to be resolved quickly, including the guy you met.]
Affairs...
"Who was he?"
Void closed his eyes and answered,
[A colleague of mine.]
Impossible. Void lost all his colleagues in the original novel. There shouldn't be any remaining. Besides that, I never mentioned Void getting another colleague, so it's just impossible!
My expression hardened and I quickly tried to open my mouth.
"Impossible! That's impossible! You lost all your—"
My eyes widened at the scene.
"Khh.."
The wall had appeared again. The wall of my writing was blocking me from screaming 'you lost all your colleagues' to Void. My writing was becoming like a curse to me.
I-It's impossible... it didn't appear before, then why now?! Is it supposed to spawn randomly?
The sentences I wrote in Desired End were written on the wall. A lot of sentences. The wall seemed to continue forever, both vertical and horizontal.
My vision was getting blocked by the wall, but I was able to see a part of Void. I was able to see his upper body.
I got near the wall and started punching it.
I shouted.
Void! Void! Fucking tell me who that person was?! Void!!
My voice couldn't come out of my mouth. I was constantly moving my mouth, but no words came out. Multiple papers with words written on them came toward the wall from a vast distance. They started sticking to the wall, blocking my vision.
They were constantly getting stuck to it, and Void's body started to hide behind the solid wall.
My eyes went over to some sentences written on the paper.
「Kang Hong punched the wall in a desperate manner.」
A story was being written on the wall. A new story.
「Shouting multiple words to Void, but none reached Void, who was standing on the other side of the wall.」
This story wasn't Desired End. It was something other than Desired End.
「Kang Hong stopped for a moment and looked at some of the pages on the wall.」
My own writing style. It was my writing style, but it was being written by itself. I looked at Void. Multiple pages had now covered my vision, and only Void's mouth was now visible.
Between the small gaps, I narrowed my eyes and looked at the man standing behind the wall.
「Kang Hong looked at Void through the gap.」
The words kept being written over the pages. These were the words from the novel where I was the main protagonist.
Funny, right? A novel where me, the psychopath, is the main protagonist.
Void's mouth moved. No sound came from his mouth, but he was saying something. He was saying some words which started being written over the pages.
「Void moved his mouth and said,」
I didn't look at the pages. I was looking at Void and was trying to interpret his mouth movement.
「Your fate is the same as this dream, Destruction.」
My eyes widened as I successfully interpreted his words and quickly looked over to the pages. My mouth hung open as I saw the words.
I interpreted... it correctly?
I looked back at the gaps, but before I was able to see anything else, the remaining pages covered the gaps, and the whole wall was now covered with multiple writings. They were all mine.
There was sheer silence in the whole place. I looked over to the multiple pages sticking to the wall.
They were all the writings of Desired End.
They all had Anna's story written. They were beautifully written.
...My fate is the same as this dream, huh? Is destruction the fate of this dream? Why is my fate the same as the dream? Is it because I'm the author?
Multiple questions swirled around my head. It was obvious for me to have such trivial questions. This dream had already started to twist so much that it was becoming hard for me to keep up with the story.
I looked at the darkness away from the wall. It was a place in the vast distance. I don't know what type of place it was, but maybe it also had some history to it.
I narrowed my eyes and was barely able to see, but I saw that there were some fragments flying across the darkness and a dim light was coming.
This dark place was now tearing up in fragments, leaving nothing behind. It was too quiet, which made me doubt that this actually is the same dream I'm living in.
The place tore up more in fragments, and the wall behind me turned to dust. Soon, I was standing back in the same dungeon I was in before.
Multiple messages started showing up on my screen.
[The Endless Dream has noticed that you still haven't acquired any dungeon.]
[You'll be kicked out of the Endless Dream if you don't capture a dungeon within 48 hours.]
[A new quest has arrived.]
[Side Quest #1]
[Acquire a dungeon]
[Difficulty - D]
[Time remaining - 48 hours]
[Reward - A new title 'Master of a Dungeon' will be acquired]
[Failure - Elimination from the Endless Dream]
Master of a Dungeon... it's a good title. I guess it has three levels. The third one is a rare title, so I guess acquiring this will be perfect for my social growth.
Next thing is... finding a dungeon. I can't finish a dungeon alone. I need a party, but...
Images of Anna and Seonyeon flowed through my head. Anna only looked for her benefit in the early stages of the dream. She started caring for others when she started losing companions continuously.
I clenched my fists.
I need that version of Anna. I'll go to any extent to change Anna.
For now, I should start moving out of this cave. I looked at the way leading to the exit of the dungeon.
I started walking toward the exit. I'm still weak. But there is one thing I'm sure of. I need to break this wall—the wall that's stopping me from using my knowledge. I'll make cracks in it until it disappears from my sight.
That's my goal for now.
I was in the passageway leading to the exit of the dungeon. The scenes from before repeatedly flowed in my head.
The wall randomly spawning, Void saying something about my fate at the end—none of it makes sense at all.
Why was a new story being written on those pages, and why was it sticking to the wall that only had Desired End on it?
...Were those pages a revision of Desired End?
I didn't even realize when I had already come out of the dungeon. I realized only after coming about 100 meters away from it.
I looked back over to the dungeon and saw multiple footsteps on the ground. All those footsteps seemed to go inside the dungeon, but none of them were coming out of it. All of them were massacred by Void's aura.
None of their remains were even left. I gave a small smile over the scene and continued walking.
My tattered cloak was still flowing in the wind. I saw some glowing golden words floating in the air.
「Kang Hong continued walking while carrying the thoughts of the wall and the words of Void with him」
I read the words and smiled. A new story was being written, and it was the fragments of that story. In order to acquire the authority over the story, I needed to burst through that wall and reach this story, which was being written by an unknown author who had the same writing style as me.
Maybe it was me, maybe it wasn't.
I was now a part of a story that was being rewritten by its author, just for its author.