「I wanted to show the world. That even an ordinary folktale could become a great story.」

*

A buzzing tinnitus rang in my ears. It felt as if someone were grabbing my skull and shaking it.

「“Youngest.”」

Words flowed through my head.

Then scenes surfaced one after another.

The demon marquis of the Capitol. The Demon King of Salvation possessing him. Great-figure constellations rushing in. Ares, one of <Olympus>’s Twelve Main Gods, who had come to kill the Demon King of Salvation.

「“You have to do it.”」

In that dimming world, the sensation of the sentence I had written unconsciously was vivid at my fingertips.

「“I am Yu Joonghyuk.”」

[The constellations of the great nebulae are aghast at your achievement!]

Twisted plausibility.

The Demon King of Salvation charging toward Ares.

[Some mid-sized nebulae lower their heads gloomily at your existence.]
[Some constellations of minor nebulae begin to cheer for your existence.]
[The constellations of the Korean Peninsula worry about your future.]

Three Fate messages.

The resurrected Ares.

[Constellation, ‘Greatest Sword of Goryeo’ is proud of you.]
[Constellation, ‘War God of the Sea’ marvels at your achievement.]

Great nebulae. Falling meteors.

[Constellation, ‘Demonic Judge of Fire’ watches over your safety.]
[Constellation, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Coil’ nods at your courage.]

Ji Eunyu.

[Constellation, ‘Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss’ curses the cowardly great nebulae as…….]
[Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’…….]

And then—

[Your new tale has been born.]
[The new tale is shared with your backer constellation.]

I muttered blankly.

“Kim Dokja.”

I looked around.

“Kim Dokja.”

No one answered.

“Demon King of Salvation!”

Even if I shouted until my throat tore, my voice scattered weakly. A cold sensation brushed my cheek.

Snow was falling.

A white snowfield. Footprints someone had left ahead.

I followed those footprints. At first walking, then soon running. I suppressed my rising breath as I ran. I fell several times and rolled through the snow. My feet sank deep into the cold, stinging snow.

「“I will offer myself to <Star Stream>.”」

A strange sound—neither a scream nor a wail—spilled out from inside me.

Impossible. He couldn’t be dead.

That Kim Dokja, that Demon King of Salvation, couldn’t disappear like this.

I didn’t know how long I ran.

At last, I reached the end of the footprints.

A swaying white coat.

The person I had been desperately searching for stood there.

I stumbled toward him. The moment I slowly reached out and grabbed his shoulder, Kim Dokja turned toward me.

「Yeah.」

I stared blankly at his face. It was definitely the face of the ‘Kim Dokja’ I knew. The calm eyes, the gently smiling lips—undeniably Kim Dokja.

But he was—

「Not the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ I knew.」

Only then did my senses slowly return.

I realized where I was.

I had entered the snowfield.

“You—”

And the Kim Dokja standing before me was the ‘Snowfield Kim Dokja’ I had first met.

A Kim Dokja who felt somehow desolate, somehow unfathomable, somehow distant and unreachably far.

I asked him:

“Where is the Demon King of Salvation.”

Kim Dokja calmly took a teacup out of his coat as usual, poured tea, and took a sip.

Steam rose from the teacup, and he slowly lifted his gaze to the sky, following the dissipating vapor.

Falling meteors decorated the empty sky of the snowfield. Perhaps they were the great-figure constellations of the great nebulae who had perished in this battle.

「It was truly a fun story.」

A fun story.

「It’s been so long since I’ve seen the great nebulae get toyed with like that.」

It wasn’t strange that he was amused. Kim Dokja loved stories more than anyone in this universe.

Ordinarily, he and I might have talked for hours about constellations and tales.

“Kim Dokja. I asked you where the Demon King of Salvation is.”

But I wasn’t in the mood for that now.

“You saw it too. We all saw it.”

A cold fire churned ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) inside me—an emotion I had never felt before.

Snow around my feet was melting in a circle.

Kim Dokja looked down at my feet quietly, then asked:

「Do you remember what I told you before?」

What words.

「I told you to tell the story you wanted.」

Right.

「Is that truly the story you wanted to tell?」

“What are you—”

「Why did you make a contract with the Demon King of Salvation?」

Kim Dokja was looking at the sky, so I couldn’t see his expression. But I could tell from his tone.

He was angry.

「I thought you would make a wise choice.」

Why was he angry?

「You must not become the same kind of ‘Kim Dokja’ as them.」

His words sounded very strange to me.

All this time, I thought that whatever story I chose, he would support me.

But was it that he also had a story he wanted to see through me?

I didn’t know. And honestly, I didn’t have room in my mind to think about it right now.

“Kim Dokja. I’ll say it again. I want to save the Demon King of Salvation. Tell me how to save him.”

「I can’t help you.」

“Why?”

「He and I pursue different ■■.」

“What are you talking about? You’re both Kim Dokja. You—”

In that moment, a strange question rose in me.

Once, the Demon King of Salvation had told me this: the ‘Kim Dokja’ of this world line was split into several large clusters of modifiers.

“The Demon King of Salvation said he was the ‘first Kim Dokja.’”

If so, then which number was the Kim Dokja standing before me now?

“Which number are you?”

The Demon King of Salvation called me the “youngest.” Then this Kim Dokja before me must be an older brother.

Second? Third?

“Kim Dokja?”

But strangely, the more I looked at him, the more it felt like he was neither of those.

Which number was he?

He was—

「You must not become Kim Dokja’s ‘youngest.’」

“That’s for me to decide. If I really am Kim Dokja’s reincarnation—”

Even as I spoke, I startled myself.

I never thought those words would come out of my own mouth.

Was this the Demon King of Salvation’s influence?

Have I really come to think of myself as “Kim Dokja”?

「Hakhyun.」

Kim Dokja let out a soft sigh and reached out his hand toward me. But the moment I saw that hand, instinctive alarm rose. A thought hit me—that I must not let him touch me.

I stumbled back—

Thunder boomed again in the distance.

But Kim Dokja’s hand was fast. I couldn’t avoid it.

Crackle—

Sparks scattered in the air.

My hand moved on its own and grabbed Kim Dokja’s wrist.

A strange voice came out of my mouth.

“Disappointing. Are you trying to break the rules?”

Kim Dokja’s expression hardened.

「Do not interfere. Heav—」

Another thunderclap split the sky, and the scenery of the snowfield tore apart.

*

When I came to my senses, I was collapsed face-down on unfamiliar dirt, dry-heaving.

It felt like someone had disassembled me joint by joint and then forced everything back together.

Naturally.

I had maintained [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] for a long time, summoned the ‘Greatest Sword of Goryeo’ using [Bookmark], and even used the Third Blade. If the Scales of Plausibility hadn’t blocked the backlash, this body would have been shredded long ago. Surviving at all was a miracle.

After several ragged breaths, I squeezed out my voice.

“Is anyone there.”

No one answered.

[Transmission through the ‘Star Ladder’ has been completed.]
[A new Main Scenario will begin shortly.]

Even while fainting from [Daily Corpse], I had checked the battlefield through [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint].

Anna Croft and Christina had definitely carried Yu Joonghyuk and me up the Star Ladder.

“Is anyone there.”

Suddenly, I felt completely alone.

[Main Scenario #7 – ‘Demon Realm Invasion’ has ended.]
[Sub Scenario — ‘Beast Hunt’ has ended.]

When I thought about it, I had been alone ever since this world opened.

And yet, the reason I became aware—again—that I was alone—

“Backer-nim.”

—was probably because, for a brief moment, I hadn’t been.

[You have acquired a total reward of 600,000 coins.]

It felt like, at any moment, he would shout into my ear again.

That the youngest had earned so many coins. That he could finally buy the “Demon King modifier.”

[You have received a ‘Legendary Tale Selection Ticket’.]

That we had done it together.

[<Star Stream> announces your achievement.]
[<Star Stream> announces the modifier of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.]

That we had finally dealt a blow to those damn great nebulae.

[In recognition of your astounding achievement, the ‘Administration Bureau’ adjusts the Sub Scenario reward upward.]
[You have received an ‘SS-grade Skill Selection Ticket’.]

We would have checked the new rewards together. Argued over which tale or skill to pick.

“Backer-nim.”

No voice answered.
Instead, faint sparks crackled in the air.
A faint, unfamiliar sensation trickled in.

Relief washed over me.

「The Backer Contract hasn’t been severed.」

It was proof that somewhere in this world, he was still alive.

“Why.”

I wanted to ask.

“Why did you do that.”

Even knowing it was meaningless to question the ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ I wanted to ask anyway.

He had offered himself to <Star Stream> to save me.

Just like the Yu Seung of round 41 had once done.

He, who had fought stories all his life, had in the end become part of a story to save me.

“Why—”

Was I someone worth that?

“You… you’re the real Kim Dokja.”

If only one Kim Dokja were to remain in this world, shouldn’t it be him?

Buzz—

The sound came again. It wasn’t plausibility sparks.
The sound was coming from inside my coat.

A smartphone was vibrating.

A smartphone.

I reflexively pulled it out—
It wasn’t mine.

It was Kim Dokja’s phone.

The phone he had always been holding.

A screen popped up on the display. In the empty background, a single file sat alone.

I stared blankly at the file and, without realizing it, pressed it.

「There are three ways to survive in a ruined world.」

There was a star who had loved this story more than anyone.

The sentence he must have read countless times.

「I’ve forgotten some of them now. But one thing is certain.」

A sentence that had saved him from death again and again.

I read that sentence too.

「It is the fact that you, who are reading this right now, will survive.」

It was what he had left for me.

I read that sentence again and again, over and over.

Then I stood up and began to walk.