757 chapter - Yu Joonghyuk (5)
757 chapter - Yu Joonghyuk (5)
“Dokja! I heard you passed 80 percent support?”
Gyeong Sein and the rest of the party had each been going around different parts of District 13 to secure additional support, so they didn’t know the details of my “negotiation” with the bear beastfolk.
“Wow, how in the world did you persuade those dumb bears?”
“I don’t know if you can call that persuasion.”
Not all of the bears had been persuaded.
Their boss, the ‘Bear Who Lets You Live If You Play Dead’, rejected my agitation and vanished.
The beastfolk who inherited his tale and became the new boss of the bears said this.
“The boss fulfilled his mission. He felt this place was his ■■.”
■■.
Is there a dead end even for someone who has lost their dream?
“Don’t you go feeling guilty. All the boss did was entrust us to you. You just keep your promise.”
After hearing my story in full, my companions all wore solemn expressions.
“I don’t know what to say. I guess you really can’t force the same dream on everyone.”
The bears had been enemies we were fighting just a few days ago, but there was no trace of hostility left in Gyeong Sein’s tone.
Whether ally or enemy, in the end, everyone is just a part of this enormous tale. That was the lesson we learned while piling up tales here.
“Kim Dokja. When are we leaving?”
At Killer King’s question, I checked the “system messages” floating in the air.
[You can attend the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’.]
[By midnight tonight, select the companions who will attend the ball with you.]
[Upon attending the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’, the eighth scenario will automatically end.]
“Midnight tonight.”
Midnight tonight.
We were finally going to meet the constellations of <Twelve Zodiac>.
Maybe she was nervous about going to a new scenario area, because Gyeong Sein asked with a stiff expression.
“Is it okay when Yu Joonghyuk still hasn’t woken up?”
“It’s fine. If he doesn’t wake up, we’ll just smack his butt to wake him.”
“Like the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint?”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“By the way, what exactly is the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’?”
“It never appeared in the Revelation.”
Just as Cha Yerin said, the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’ was indeed an event that didn’t appear in ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’.
We could only guess it would be something like a “Feast of Constellations.”
“It wouldn’t hurt to gather some information in advance.”
“How?”
I jerked my chin toward one corner of the inn. In that corner was a small rat beastfolk, tightly bound.
[Constellation, ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ trembles as he looks at you.]
*
Kim Sugyeom first became aware of the possession phenomenon half a year ago from now.
‘A strange ceiling.’
The moment he realized that, Kim Sugyeom shuddered.
He had already absorbed the repertoire of “possession stories” well enough through comics, novels, and animation, so although the appearance of a strange ceiling surprised him, it didn’t fluster him.
‘I’ve been waiting for this moment.’
For a repeat test taker—for him, who had retaken the exam only to fail the CSAT and was now facing a third try—this possession felt like a kind of salvation.
The problem was the target he had possessed.
[Squeak squeak.]
Of all the things he could have possessed, it had to be this.
[Squeak squeak.]
The one and only consolation was that this “squeak squeak” wasn’t “squeak squeak” but [Squeak squeak].
[Constellation, ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ squeak-squeaks.]
The moment he read that something-constellation floating in the air, Kim Sugyeom realized which world he had possessed into.
[You came, Sugyeom.]
[Squeak squeak… huh?]
What was even more surprising was that his friends had possessed first.
[I knew you’d come too.]
There were two friends who had possessed alongside Kim Sugyeom.
Their modifiers were as follows.
‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’.
And ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’.
And ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’.
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Gyeong Sein : Wait, you’re saying you were originally friends with the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’?
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Kim Sugyeom was thrilled.
He wasn’t alone!
He wasn’t the only one dropped all by himself into this damned worldview!
Since they had possessed as constellations, they decided to call each other by their constellation names.
The ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ was Tiger.
The ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’ was Pig.
And Kim Sugyeom was Rat.
He didn’t like the title, but it couldn’t be helped. Tiger was the one who decided it.
[But why did we have to possess into this novel of all things?]
At Tiger’s question, Rat answered.
[Because of you. You liked this novel.]
[You read it too.]
[I didn’t like it that much.]
No matter how much they brooded over it, there was nothing they could do to change the possession itself.
[What scenario is everyone on right now?]
[I’m on the 69th. Rat says he’s on the 63rd.]
[I’m on the 71st. I’ve gone the farthest. But honestly, judging by the scenario difficulty, I don’t think we can reach the final scenario on our own.]
[That’s how it was in the original too.]
[Ugh, why did we have to possess into animal constellations. If we were gonna do this, it should’ve been someone like Sun Wukong or Hades.]
[So what are we going to do now?]
[We have to find Kim Dokja.]
But it didn’t take long before they realized.
[I think we’re ■ed.]
There was no “Kim Dokja” in this world.
But they didn’t give up.
If there was no Kim Dokja, then what? Then you make a Kim Dokja.
[What do you think? Who should we sponsor?]
[How about that guy over there.]
[Isn’t he originally a villain?]
“He is a villain, but… huh? Hey, doesn’t that look weird?”
[Uh-oh? Uh-oh-oh?]
[Squeak squeak!]
The moment they saw Cheon Inho, who had survived at Geumho Station after the end of the first scenario, the three friends realized.
[We choose you.]
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Lee Dansoo : Ah, so back then, during the ‘backer selection’…!
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From that moment on, Kim Sugyeom and his friends began their sponsorship campaign.
Unfortunately, all three of them failed to become Cheon Inho’s backer constellation, but anyway, it wasn’t really their place to hope for, since they were only great-person-grade constellations.
In the midst of that, they learned that there were other constellations in the same situation as them.
[Constellation, ‘Primordial Cow’ shrugs his shoulders.]
They also learned that there were constellations plotting some wicked scheme.
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Cha Yerin : Misreader Alliance.
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What more needs to be said.
The two factions soon came into direct conflict.
It was inevitable. One side wanted to sponsor the protagonist party and see the ending, while the other wanted to massacre the protagonist party and become this world’s protagonists themselves.
[Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ roars!]
[Constellation, ‘Snake Who Cuts Off Its Tail’ lets out a shriek!]
[Constellation, ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’ builds a brick house.]
[Constellation, ‘Rat Who Brings Disaster’ starts gnawing on the bricks.]
Since they fought every time they met, the constellations finally decided to gather in one place and hold negotiations.
Of course, there was no way such “negotiations” were going to go well.
[Snake. I’m warning you. Don’t interfere with the story at will. Not unless you really want to die.]
[Pathetic. Are you really going to let those humans snatch away control of the story? We’re constellations. If we’re constellations, we should act like—]
[You bastards who just pirate-download stuff have nothing but mouths—]
[Oh, and you bought every single book then?]
[Of course we—]
[Swear on <Star Stream>. Swear you’ve never once read a novel on an illegal site.]
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Killer King : So who was it that refused to swear?
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Like that, they ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) spent months clashing, feuding, and grabbing each other by the collar.
In those few months, a lot changed for them. They started to speak like constellations, think like constellations, and act like constellations.
[Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ cheers for Cheon Inho.]
Come to think of it, it wasn’t that strange of a change.
[Constellation, ‘Primordial Cow’ marvels at Jung Heewon’s might.]
Hadn’t they lived in a similar way even before becoming constellations?
[Constellation, ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’ feels frustrated with Yu Joonghyuk.]
They took joy in watching the scenarios of incarnations, sometimes felt sorrow or anger, and were at times moved.
And at some point, they forgot about the scenarios they themselves had to clear.
Some friends even exceeded the plausibility allotted to them to help the protagonist party.
The ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ was one of them.
In particular, after he sponsored the “demon-species core” as material for “Unbreakable Conviction,” the state of the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ began to noticeably deteriorate.
[Tiger. Are you okay?]
[Hm? Rat. Is something wrong?]
“I’m asking because you look pale.”
Like that, one week, two weeks, a month.
Time continued to pass.
Not wanting to be left out among friends who laughed and cried, Kim Sugyeom occasionally wrote indirect messages. But every time he wrote a message, he had the feeling that something was going wrong.
[Tale, ‘Rat Who Covets Incarnations’ urges you to find a new incarnation.]
[Tale, ‘Back-alley Thief Rat’ orders you to lick up the tales that have fallen on the floor.]
[Tale, ‘Gluttonous Rat’ wants to devour new tales.]
When had the tales started speaking to them?
Or had they been speaking from the very beginning and they just hadn’t noticed?
Was sponsoring the protagonists and devouring their stories all at the tales’ command? If so—
[Tale, ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ looks at you.]
weren’t they now being devoured by the “tales”?
Terrified, Kim Sugyeom threw away his own tale and ran. Wherever he went, the tales chased after him, but thankfully, he was a rat who had mastered the art of fleeing. The fastest “Rat” among the Twelve Zodiac.
But unfortunately, his friends were not “rats.”
*
After listening to the rat’s story all the way to the end, Killer King nodded.
“So that’s how it was.”
Only after hearing the story could we understand why the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’ had changed like that.
Probably not just the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’—most of the animal-type constellations up there were in a similar state.
They were no longer “Readers.”
[I-I came to tell you this. Never come up above. The stars of the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’ are all insane. And the ones who used to be Misreader Alliance—]
At that point, the rat’s mouth suddenly froze.
[Constellation, ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ screams!]
With the rat’s terrible scream, a tremendous spark swept over the rat’s incarnation body.
[Constellation, ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ receives massive damage and exits ‘District 13’.]
It happened in an instant, without giving us any time to react.
I looked down at the small claw left in the place where the rat had been.
Killer King asked,
“Was that just now…?”
“It’s hard to see it as simply being devoured by a tale.”
Even if he had lost his “rank”, he was still a “great-person-grade constellation.” If he had disappeared like the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’, being dominated by a tale, there would have been some other symptoms.
I looked up at the night sky, which had already grown dark, and said,
“There is someone.”
It was definitely the work of something that exists in an upper scenario. A being capable of wiping out the great-person-grade constellation ‘Rat Who Eats Nails’ in a single blow.
「There exists in the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’ a being equivalent to a ‘tale-grade constellation’.」
Normally, this would have been the timing for Gyeong Sein or Uncle Dansoo to speak up in terror. But this time, no one said anything. Because we already knew there was a powerful enemy up there.
“Let’s get ready to go up.”
*
Exactly one hour later, we finished our preparations and gathered in the central clearing of “The Fox and the Crane.”
A small bonfire was burning at the center of the clearing. The crane owner must have prepared it in advance.
We naturally sat around the fire.
“So this is the end of District 13.”
Everyone’s eyes were sunk in their own thoughts. Once again, it was Gyeong Sein who spoke first.
“Dokja, I have a question.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“By any chance… did you become a constellation?”
I replied with a wry smile.
“I’m just a proxy.”
“Proxy? That’s possible?”
I briefly explained the situation I was in.
“Then for the time being, you can act as a constellation.”
“You could say that.”
“Are you okay, Dokja? Do tales ever talk to you like those constellations earlier…”
“Oh, I—”
[Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’ grumbles at you.]
“There are some guys who pick a fight with me from time to time, but it’s fine. It’s about the same as what Kim Dokja went through.”
After hesitating for a moment, Gyeong Sein added,
“No wonder things are developing similarly to Revelation. I think Kim Dokja also obtained constellation qualifications around this time, in Revelation.”
That’s right. It definitely was around this time.
“If you’re playing Kim Dokja’s role, then I guess we each have our own roles too, right? I’m probably Lee Hyunsung. And Uncle Dansoo is… Han Myungoh?”
“No, Sein.”
“Of course, Yerin is Jung Heewon, and then…”
Gyeong Sein hesitated for a moment.
She was probably thinking of Ye Hyeonwoo.
Killer King cut in with perfect timing.
“I, of course, am Yu Joonghyuk.”
“Sure. And you, Second Apostle, are probably Kim Namwoon.”
“You brat.”
My companions burst into light laughter.
Uncle Dansoo spoke up as if to wrap things up.
“We’re just us. I don’t think there’s any particular need to compare ourselves to other people. And it’s definitely not because I don’t like being compared to Han Myungoh.”
He was right.
We could not become <Kim Dokja Company>.
Embarrassed, Uncle Dansoo rubbed his knees and added,
“Still, honestly, at this point I don’t think we’re any worse than <Kim Dokja Company>.”
That was also true.
Above all, every one of my companions had learned [Wind’s Path]. Even if you looked at them one by one, their growth wasn’t bad.
Gyeong Sein could now tank as powerfully as Lee Hyunsung of the same period, and she had far more agile reflexes.
Uncle Dansoo had the ‘Sinister Schemer’ as his backer constellation, and even had ‘King of Non-killing’ as his trait.
There was no need to even mention Cha Yerin, that bundle of talent who had been the first to master [Wind’s Path].
And Killer King was—
“Kim Dokja. You’re looking at me with an unpleasant gaze.”
Above all else, we had the Yu Joonghyuk of the “41st round.” Our protagonist, whose combat power, in terms of potential alone, was more terrifying than that of any other round.
“We’re not exactly lacking friends like Jihye or Hyunsung, Heewon, and Yuseung either… Isn’t this round pretty impressive?”
I had briefly forgotten about them.
If you considered it carefully, we had key figures like Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung, and Kim Namwoon, so we could be proud that the 41st round’s fighting power was stronger than any other round.
Come to think of it, where had other characters like Jung Heewon or Shin Yuseung gone? There was no sign of Ms. Ji Eunyu or Anna Croft either.
Judging by the situation, it seemed they had fallen into regions other than District 13…
If we participated in the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’, we might meet them.
[Tale, ‘Between the Lines of Truth and Lies’ looks at you.]
The humming tale was speaking to me. Judging by the feeling, it seemed Yu Joonghyuk had woken up.
It was a sign that it was about time to depart.
Sensing the aura of the tale, Killer King asked,
“Is that a new tale you got?”
“Yes.”
His eyes looked somehow envious and somehow full of longing.
Killer King kept gazing for a long time at the tale hovering above my head. Then, after moving his lips several times, he slowly spoke.
“My name is Cha Sungwoo.”
Cha Sungwoo.
At that low voice, my companions looked at one another.
The person Killer King possessed was named Kang Ilhun. But Killer King said his own name was “Cha Sungwoo.”
“My name is Noh Kyunghwan. As you all probably know.”
The next to speak was Uncle Dansoo. We already knew his real name, but somehow the weight of that name sounded different now.
As the sparks of the bonfire lightly flew up, someone else took the baton.
“I’m Sung Minwoo.”
JudgeHeewon—alsdn0905.
The one who had been called “Gyeong Sein” until now smiled shyly.
“It’s the first time I’ve said my name.”
As he scratched his cheek, embarrassed, the person beside him, LiteraryGirl64—Cha Yerin, spoke.
“I’m Cha Yerin.”
Cha Sungwoo, Noh Kyunghwan, Sung Minwoo, and Cha Yerin.
The names of the people who had gone through Geumho Station, Chungmuro Station, Gwanghwamun, and all those long, drawn-out scenarios together.
As I hesitated, Cha Yerin spoke to me.
“You don’t have to tell us your name. We just wanted to tell you ours.”
The moment I heard those words, I realized something.
「They know.」
Since when? I didn’t know.
But they knew who I was. Even so, they had never once asked. Who I was, where I came from, what I was with them for.
There is only one name permitted to me in this world.
“I am…”
But could that name, to the people in front of me right now, serve as a sufficient explanation of who I am?
I looked down at my hand. Through the fingertips that wrote sentences, the warmth of the bonfire flowed.
All the stories of this world are a fiction that exists for a single person.
Even so, the warmth of this moment was in no way a lie.
I opened my mouth.
“My name is…”
Time will pass, and the bonfire we sat around will turn to ash.
This warmth, this scene, the fact that we shared this story together, everything will be forgotten forever.
Even so, it’s okay.
“I’m Lee Hakhyun.”
At least in this moment, we are reading this story together.