The moment I heard that name, my heart sank.
「 Yoo Jonghyuk knows Kim Dokja. 」
But how did he know his name? Yoo Jonghyuk in the 41st turn must have never seen or met Kim Dokja.
He may have met Kim Dokja in the 0th turn, but Yoo Jonghyuk did not know that he was Kim Dokja, and all his related memories were lost in the next turn.
Then how…
「 "There were a lot of weird guys from the beginning of this turn." 」
Come to think of it, Yoo Jonghyuk must have heard the name from the beginning of this conversation.
「 "I'm sure they were nothing until the last turn, but they suddenly came up to me and said strange things as if they were writing something." 」
There must have been readers who approached him, referring to themselves as Kim Dokja. It's obvious what those readers would have said, but..
「 "Someone said he needed a companion to pass the 46th scenario, he said he was a prophet. There was also a guy who said he would take me to the end of this world." 」
At first, he might have thought they were ignorant people, but now, of course, he must have changed his mind.
He must have known of the existence of the apostles by now.
Maybe he overheard the fight between me and Han Sooyoung while suffering from 'regressive depression'.
Even if he hadn't heard, the timing was enough to overhear what the apostles were saying.
「 "Is there really Kim Dokja in this world?" 」
「 "I don't know. But I heard he was on the roof of the theater dungeon?" 」
The roof of the Theater Dungeon. The only people there were me, Yoo Jonghyuk, Han Sooyoung, and Jung Heewon.
"Are you 'Kim Dokja' by any chance?"
I shook my head hurriedly as I saw Yoo Jonghyuk having a big misunderstanding.
"Absolutely not."
Yoo Jonghyuk's expression became even more serious.
"Then, who the hell is Kim Dokja? What the hell is he doing so everyone is talking about his name?"
"That..."
Who is Kim Dokja?
I couldn't come up with an exact sentence as to what kind of answer I should give.
"Kim Dokja... It's just the name of a person who likes stories more than anyone."
"Stories?"
"He's been reading a single story for a very long time."
"What do you mean? Are you talking about a constellation?"
"Therefore—"
When I said one or two sentences, sentences came to my mind like firecrackers exploded in my head.
「 "What kind of person is ahjussi? Ahjussi is..." 」
A girl's voice echoed in my head. Her nostalgic blonde hair rippled like waves.
「 "The strongest constellation in the universe." 」
The boy's brown hair playfully scattered beside her.
「 "What? Don't ask me difficult questions. But after talking about it, I suddenly have a craving for squid. Master! Where is Master!" 」
Along with the faint smell of the sea, my mind became more and more confused.
「 "I found that expression in a book I read a while ago. He's like a childhood friend I've never met." 」
It seemed like there was a mild library smell coming from somewhere.
「 "The world I want to protect." 」
It seemed like there was a bloody smell mixed with the smell of iron.
「 "Are you talking about Kim Dokja? That's... um, did I mention I lost my bulletproof helmet before?" 」
「 "Hyunsung-ssi, please do it in only one paragraph." 」
A familiar joke leaked. Then came a sweet typing sound, like a soft crack.
「 "The child who decided to read more than three thousand chapters." 」
It wasn't a sentence I wrote. So what are these sentences? These sentences,
「 "A stupid bastard." 」
Where did these memories come from?
The world was dizzy, as if somewhere the blood vessels in my head were clogged. My irregularly beating heart hurt.
I staggered while covering my head.
「 Who is Kim Dokja? 」
Along with a throbbing headache, sentences were erupting like a volcano.
「 Why is he still reading this story? 」
When I came to my senses, blue sparks swirled around me.
When I raised my head in a daze, I saw Yoo Jonghyuk. Yoo Jonghyuk was shouting something.
「 Don't listen. 」
But no voice was heard.
Instead, what I heard were words from the far side of time.
「 You should be happy. 」
My head was covered with pure white lines like volcanic ash, and I lost consciousness.
A light traditional sound coming from the distant sky.
Han Sooyoung realized that the sparks surrounding her had opened up.
'The aftermath of probability has weakened.'
Looking at the traces of the probability aftermath that shimmered faintly at her fingertips, Han Sooyoung remembered what had happened on the roof of the Theater Dungeon a few days ago.
She went there to finish this story, where she met Yoo Jonghyuk of the 41st turn.
Yoo Jonghyuk was strong.
It wasn't just strong, he was incredibly strong.
At this point in just the 41st turn, it's to the point where she can't understand how strong he has become.
She fought to the best of her ability and even managed to subdue him with expedient methods.
Up until there it was as planned.
Afterwards, Jung Heewon came out and it was fine until an unknown writer from another world line appeared.
It was a common occurrence when she was writing.
A forgotten foreshadowing pops up, or a character does something different from what the author thought.
Her writing was always about judging her raging unconscious, so she was used to dealing with unpredictable situations.
This is because she was a professional writer who had already completed numerous stories.
However, the story of the man who came to her was something she could not handle.
「 Another Kim Dokja she forgot was there. 」
Han Sooyoung stumbled at her momentary headache and placed her hands on the outer wall.
There was twilight beyond the shady alley. She saw the landscape of Seoul through the alleyways, as if the horizontal map of Seoul had been cut into a single section.
Bodies of people scattered all over the place. People who died while running away from a fight. The familiar smell of blood.
It was a story she never wanted to go through again.
Nonetheless, she returned to this story once again.
She had no choice but to do so.
Because this story was for her only reader.
"I'm tired."
She knows that the scenery is not all of this world. The line spacing is always wider than the sentence. Therefore, there will be precious stories left between the lines that this alleyway did not contain.
But she didn't have the energy to read between the lines now.
She told herself that the world right now is just one hell of a reflection at the entrance of an alleyway.
"How's the year, Kim Dokja?"
Kim Dokja, who would answer the question, was not there.
Han Soo-young, who had been looking up at the sky in a daze, took a deep breath and stood up from her seat.
"After..."
Terrible muscle pain spread all over her body.
Her incarnation body was greatly damaged.
It must be so.
It was a miracle that she was still sane after wasting so much of her probability on the rooftop.
Thanks to the temporarily weakened probability aftermath, it was now barely possible to maneuver.
"Someone is having an accident somewhere."
Seeing the sky twinkle in the distance, maybe someone is doing something great to steal
"Lee Gilyoung."
She called his name, but there was no response. Han Sooyoung pressed her lips together once, and then began to slowly move her steps while holding on to the outer wall of a nearby building.
She couldn't stay here.
She has to move.
[The constellation 'Lotus that blooms under the moonlight' looks at you.]
Han Sooyoung hesitated for a moment, then she moved her steps again.
[The constellation 'Lotus that blooms under the moonlight' advises you to rest now.]
"Noisy."
Sparks flickered lightly in the air at that bluntness. It's her star getting mad at her.
"Don't waste your chance on something like that, Yoo Sangah. Where are Lee Gilyeong and you?"
[The constellation 'Lotus blooming under the moonlight' says that Lee Gilyoung is eating now.]
Someone is about to die here, but someone seems to be able to eat well.
[The constellation 'Lotus that blooms under the moonlight' asks if you are okay.]
What?
[The constellation 'Lotus blooming under the moonlight' says that your complexion looks bad.]
For Han Sooyoung, it was a small burden.
Perhaps Yoo Sangah would not have seen the roof of the Theater Dungeon because the relay channel was closed at the time.
Han Sooyoung was about to say something, but shut her mouth again.
What would Yoo Sangah look like if she knew that 49% of Kim Dokja, whom they had turned away from at that time, was now here?
"What world line did you go on? Are you done recovering Kim Dokja's fragments already?"
[The constellation 'Lotus Blooming Under the Moonlight' says that she is roughly finished.]
"Then, now really only this place is left. How about Yoosung?"
[The constellation 'Lotus that blooms under the moonlight' says that Yoosoung is preparing to deploy soon.]
"Are there any other kids? Aren't Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon all over?"
[The constellation 'Lotus blooming under the moonlight'...]
It was then that Han Sooyoung turned her head. The moment she reflexively bent her back, a dagger flew and pierced the spot where she was standing.
A blade filled with pitch black magic.
Han Sooyoung asked, frowning.
"What kind of bastard… Come out."
Then black figures appeared simultaneously on both sides of the alley.
They weren't human.
Shepherd-like dogs, three or four times her size, bared their fangs at her.
Monstrous species?
No. It was different from the usual monster species.
[A 7th-class demon species, 'Keeper of Cognition' reveals its teeth.]
Demon species.
Han Sooyoung bit her lip secretly.
"Demons, it's not the time for hell magicians to appear yet."
Then the dog in the middle of the pack opened its mouth.
[It's been a while, Han Sooyoung]
The moment she heard its voice, Han Sooyoung got goosebumps from it.
It was a mantra with a lot of noise, but it was a tone she had heard somewhere.
"You know my name?"
[Whoops, is there anyone in this universe who doesn't know you?]
Han Sooyoung did not hesitate and brought out an Unbreakable Faith.
'I don't know who he is.'
A blade of white light that burns white. As it was, she stepped on the wall of the alley and leaped like a shot, decapitating the demon dog in front of her.
'It's over in no time.'
No matter how demonic it is, there is no 7th grade monster in the scenario that can deal with the current Han Sooyoung.
Surely it should be.
Tsutsutsut.
With a light spark, the head of the demon dog that had been severed was reattached.
Han Sooyoung did not miss the unprecedented story.
"A deity from another world?"
The dogs looked up at the sky and let out a long cry at the same time.
The sky around the area was dyed black, and one of the lights around it was turned off and darkness flowed.
Something bit her calf in the dark with a gurgling sound.
Followed by arms and waist, Han Sooyoung thought as she calmly blew off each of the devil's heads.
'Someone else.'
A deity in another world who commands demon species and knows her name. Can such an existence exist in this 41st turn?
'Must I use the Giant story?'
If I borrowed more tales from here, she would be hit with a probability aftermath again, but there was no other way for now.
In order to deal with the divinity of the other world, she had no choice but to pay the price.
[Are you going to use the Giant story?]
As if it had read her thoughts, she heard an eerie laugh.
Han Sooyoung started acting without answering.
[The Giant story 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』 begins its storytelling.]
But at that moment, a sudden light flashed before her eyes, and the story was interrupted.
She spit out the rising blood. Regurgitated stories mingled with her breath. Once again, a shady voice was heard.
[Unfortunately, that ability won't be usable here.]
An unbreakable conviction wielded reflexively, it came up with something.
It was impossible. The activation of the tale wasn't confirmed?
Why?
In the pitch black darkness, she was called once again.
In an instant, Han Sooyoung had a strange feeling. She knew the owner of this laugh.
[Did you forget?]
"You-"
[You know that I have a stake in
Ominous flow of magic. In that madness, a story she knew well was wriggling.
[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint]
…How?
The dogs around her burst into her tune. They seemed to welcome her back to this hell once again.
[You are no longer the author of this story.]
In an instant, a hand made of stories appeared in the darkness. Before she had time to escape, a hand gripped her neck.
With the light of 'Unbreakable Faith' fading, the shadow of a swimmer floating in the air was reflected on the wall of the alleyway.
As if fixing a struggling shadow, a voice came to put an end to a story.
[Please die here, Han Sooyoung.]