Han Sooyoung could not understand the situation that was unfolding in front of her eyes.
"What the hell is this?"
She looked down at Cheon Inho, who had collapsed in front of her eyes.
Blood flowed non-stop from the chest of the guy who was pierced by 'unbreakable faith'.
It was an irreversible wound.
There was too much blood flowing on the floor. It was a wound that could not be revived no
matter what action was taken right away, whether it was the 'spirit of Elaine Forest' or whatever.
"You, why the hell."
ORV's author of another world line with the face of Cheon Inho.
Han Sooyoung also understood his cause and his desire to save the readers.
"I... said I would do something."
This world was the
If the scenario starts, someone's sacrifice is inevitable.
The outcome of 'Destruction' was fixed, so Han Sooyoung decided to bring it to a quick
conclusion with minimal sacrifice.
She knew it could be harsh on the characters.
However, it was an episode that would lead to a bigger tragedy if left as it is, and if she tried to
change the ending, a catastrophe could occur in all world lines.
Han Sooyoung took on the role of a villain again.
She designed an ending with minimal pain.
In the process, the plan was to retrieve the souls of the possessors who were caught up in the
scenario without loss as much as possible, and somehow return them to the original world line.
Everything went smoothly until the guy in front of her appeared.
「If you are a writer, you would know.」
The words he had left echoed over and over again in her head.
「You're not trying to finish the story, you're giving up.」
Han Sooyoung gasped for breath as she felt the probability.
Why did the guy leave such a word, and he jumped in front of her.
「Did I ask you to convince me?」
He had no intention of killing. If he had intended to do that, he would have done it right away.
Nevertheless, as if stepping on the path of a predetermined tragedy, 'Unbreakable Faith' pierced
his heart.
「Are you ready to be persuaded?」
She tried to change the trajectory of her sword several times along the way, but her muscles
wouldn't respond. As if the world were forcing his death.
'No way.'
It reminded her of the achromatic landscape that had unfolded before.
What if that was this guy's 'skill'?
What if he had a skill where he had to pay probability in exchange for creating the events he
wanted? What if, in exchange for that probability, he sacrificed himself?
「Han Sooyoung knew someone who had sacrificed himself in this way.」
Han Sooyoung staggered in the dizziness that came over her, and bowed down toward the fallen
Cheon Inho.
She wanted to bury him before he died. Why the hell did he do this?
At that time, Cheon Inho's hand slipped out of his pocket with a click. In his hand was a lollipop
of a somewhat familiar shape.
Like a person who found an incomprehensible sentence written in an unexpected place, Han
Sooyoung looked down at the candy.
She slowly stretched out her hand.
Sparks flew with the sound of 'Tsutsutsu'. Narratives flowed from the lollipop he was holding.
Story?
It couldn't be. The third main scenario was just about to end.
Unless he is a special case like her, there's no way there'd be an incarnation that has already
acquired a story-
「"Why don't you prepare quickly? Did you forget where you were supposed to go today?"」
Something incomprehensible happened.
That's definitely what she said. It was her voice.
But why does this guy have a story related to her?
「"Is this pizza?"」
「"It's chicken, idiot."」
「Today was the first day of
The voices that came out were familiar. All were voices she knew. These were the sentences she
knew.
「"It's so cold, do we really have to eat at the Han River?"」
Her mind grew more and more confused.
「"Kim Dokja."」
「Huh?」
「"You don't read it that much these days."」
Memories that come to mind vividly.
Obviously, she had such a conversation with Kim Dokja.
「"Oh, yes. I have to read it."」
An outing to the Han River someday.
Huddled together with her party, she had a conversation with Kim Dokja about TWSA. She
asked Kim Dokja something about Ways of Survival.
「"But Kim Dokja."」
「"Huh?」
「"That kind of thing doesn't come out in the 3rd turn of Ways of Survival."」
Kim Dokja couldn't answer.
「"Hey. Who the hell are you?"」
Slowly, her heart was beating fast, and she was short of breath. When she first saw him, she
thought it was strange.
Who the hell is this Cheon Inho?
She knew that he was an author of ORV from another world line, but there were too many
strange things to ignore.
「"If you have 'Avatar', isn't there a very easy way to check it?"」
Han Sooyoung reached for the lemon candy with her trembling fingertips.
「"The person who will read my novel... is not you."」
Narratives flowed like blood from a broken wound.
It's a story that even Han Sooyoung, who wrote 'Ways of Survival', doesn't know.
「He walked toward his origin like that.」
It was a story that no one had ever read, existing between the lines of her sentences.
*
Few people remember the moment they were first born.
For me, it was the same.
「Kim Dokja.」
But people called me that, and I introduced himself that way too.
Alone and son.
I bear the name my father gave me. I lived up to my name.
I have always done everything alone, eating alone, working alone, sleeping alone.
Was it like that?
When I was not 'alone' for the first time, I heard strange words.
「"Hey. Who are you?"」
A colleague I had always trusted, the person I thought maybe who could understand me best in
the world.
It wasn't true.
She overpowered me lightly, then hit me on the cold floor.
She and her co-workers called me 'Avatar'.
I didn't understand.
Surely we ate together, laughed and chatted just a little while ago. Why are you suddenly saying
that to me?
The reason was simple.
That I couldn't remember a single novel properly.
Thinking it was a trivial misunderstanding, I said with a smile as usual.
「"Han Sooyoung. Sorry, I don't really remember. These days," I also said, "I don't read Ways of
Survival..."」
The woman's dagger flew through the air, and blood burst from his shoulder blades.
Her co-workers criticized the woman.
he's not fake Avatar defended him by saying he did not bleed.
Still, she did not back down.
「"If I cut your throat, I will know. Because the avatar moves even if I cut their throat."」
The moment I made eye contact with the confident woman, I got goosebumps.
And I thought.
「Maybe, I might not really be Kim Dokja.」
My memory of that day is not clear.
It's just that the wound was quite painful.
Even though it was a shallow wound, the blood did not stop..
It fell down.
Only such facts are vaguely recalled.
「"Dokja-ssi, are you okay?"」
Even after that day, my friends called me 'Kim Dokja'.
But whenever I heard the name, I felt rather distant from my own name.
「"I think he lost his memory because he was just tired. Do not worry too much."」
The whole time I was comforted, I was confused.
「What have I forgotten?」
I couldn't tell.
People who forget their memories don't remember what they forgot.
But from the moment I realize I 'forgot something'. I've got something wrong.
My complexion deteriorated day by day, and my vivid memories were also lost somewhere.
I became increasingly afraid.
「"Yoo Sangah-ssi, I am not a fake."」
「"Yes. I know."」
My colleague held my hand with a warm smile, but I felt that that smile was unfamiliar.
The colleague's smile was not directed at me, but rather seemed to be accidentally placed on the
empty seat where the 'real Kim Dokja' was.
The time I slept became longer, and I often listened to my companions in my hazy dreams.
「"Dokja-ssi, can you stand up for a second? If you keep lying down, your back will break."」
「"How about doing some gymnastics with me?"」
「"Would it be okay?」
The party members did not interrogate or accuse me.
But. They were just talking about a possibility.
「"Heewon-ssi, have you heard of Sooyoung's plan?"」
「"If the memories of Dokja-ssi were really divided, so if there was a real Dokja-ssi..."」
「"Do you think that is possible?"」
A colleague who first suspected me also visited my hospital room. Most of her visits were late at
night.
In my languid consciousness, I often felt a hand pulling up the blanket.
She stared at me for a long time in the dark, then quietly disappeared from my hospital room by
the time dawn came.
「"It's rice, Kim Dokja."」
Sometimes, when I woke up, there was someone who brought me food.
I thought as I hurriedly finished my meal in extreme hunger.
I must have eaten this kind of dish a few times while going through the scenarios.
Why do I have no memory?
「"Someone once said this."」
The man glared at me with his sullen face and said.
「"Every human being has amnesia."」
After saying that, the man looked at the clock in my hospital room for a long time.
I looked at the watch with the man. I watched the second hand move, then the minute hand
again.
「"You don't have to be anything. It only matters what you want to be."」
I don't know if the words affected me or not. However, when I woke up the next day, I said
something strange to the group.
「"I also want to help find the 'real Kim Dokja'".」
「Dokja-ssi, don't say that. Where is the real or fake? Dokja-ssi-"」
Of course, I didn't come to believe that there was a 'really real' thing.
I just wanted to know.
If the 'real Kim Dok-ja' does not exist, the fact that I am real will naturally be proven.
The story that I am an [Avatar], or the story that the real Dokja Kim is still dreaming about the
world line without getting off the subway in the last scenario, such nonsensical delusions will
naturally disappear from the heads of the party members.
「"Please join me in the plan."」
I did so with my co-workers.
I went over to the world line of the 1,965th round.
I didn't do a great job, but I watched my companions throughout the scenario.
Seeing my colleagues carry out hellish scenarios from scratch, I often felt an incomprehensible
feeling.
「"Wow, is that the way you used it?"」
My colleagues silently performed the scenario.
As the scenario progressed, they each found the 'Kim Dokja' they were looking for.
「"This recipe was told to me by the ahjussi."」
In every moment for them, there was 'Kim Dokja' whom I did not remember.
「Did he always do all this alone?」
While watching their story, I naturally realized a certain fact.
「This wasn't my story.」
It wasn't up to me to decide whether I was real or fake.
「Dokja-sso, are you okay? I'm behind you in a minute. Leave this to us."」
They were sympathetic.
「"This time, it's okay between us."」
I was taken care of.
「"Now it's our turn to give it back."」
Even that, perhaps, was not what I deserved.
After so many years, the party finally faced the end of the world.
I had a hunch, and for the first time I spoke my mind.
「"Another me might not want this. The story... ends there..."」
It was my last struggle and plea.
Please don't open it.
When I asked her not to open that door, the last car of the subway, the woman answered.
「"Let's meet another you and ask."」
In that moment, I sensed my role in the story.
「"If this is the story you all want..."」
Finally, the last compartment of the subway opened, and I finally faced the sight I feared.
「There was Kim Dokja, whom the party had been looking for.」
Kim Dokja changed like a child.
He is a Kim Dokja who, like me, was losing his memory. But the moment I saw Kim Dokja, I
realized.
「That Kim Dokja is the real Kim Dokja.」
「"Ah... Ah, I..."」
Like a satellite attracted by the gravitational pull of a star, my body moved towards Kim Dokja.
The memories I held were being shattered and being sucked into Kim Dokja in front of me.
Feeling the disappearing body, I thought.
Then who was I?
「Dokja-ssi!」
He was Kim Dokja.
「"Kim Dokja!"」
Bur mot the Kim Dokja this world wanted.
「"Kim Dok...!"」
The last moment I lost consciousness, I thought.
「If I could be born again.」
As the party members said, the real Kim Dokja's delusion.
「At least, I hope it's not as Kim Dokja.」
I imagined a very distant universe that could not be reached from this world, and an unknown
being born in that universe.
A creature that no one in
supervisor.
「I also want to have my own story.」
There was the sound of something exploding, and the next moment my consciousness was
shattered and scattered into space.
However, the largest piece of consciousness that formed my core did not completely dissipate in
the end and became a meteor.
The meteor set off on a very distant voyage. Crossing over and over the edge of the world line, it
flowed into the other side of the universe that no one knows about.
How much longer did I sail like that?
The meteor stopped sailing.
「There was a planet that looked just like I imagined.」
The meteor fell towards the planet, breaking into smaller pieces of the soul.
And it went into the body of a baby just born on the periphery of the planet.
「"Why isn't my child crying?"」
The voice I hear when I eat. I squeezed out my last strength and let out a weary cry.
Then someone hugged me tightly.
「"Oh, he cried!"」
I was quietly wrapped in a blanket and placed on the bed.
Maybe it's because I lost all my memories.
Or was it because the long trip was tiring? I immediately fell into a deep sleep.
And when I awoke again, people called me by a name I had never heard before.
「"Lee Hakhyun. Your name is Lee Hakhyun."」
Finally, my wish came true.