His head felt blank, as if he had been shot.

“Gilyoung.”

A voice Lee Gilyoung remembered.

The man who moved in the way he had wanted to emulate was speaking with a sword in his hand.

“You have to remember.”

Watching the Demon King of Salvation as he walked toward him, Lee Gilyoung couldn’t move a single step.

The Demon King of Salvation slowly drew his sword and leveled it at him. A blade falling like the hand of a clock. Just as the blade finally reached the space between Lee Gilyoung’s brows—

“What are you doing?!”

Someone shoved him away as they shouted.

It was Ye Hyeonwoo, whom he had thought had fainted.

The breath that had been blocked in his chest released with a jolt, and he rolled hard across the floor before pushing himself up. He saw Ye Hyeonwoo lying on the ground, retching.

Pale-faced, Ye Hyeonwoo looked up at Lee Gilyoung and spoke in a desperate voice.

“Get a grip—”

With those as his last words, Ye Hyeonwoo lost consciousness again. Looking down at Ye Hyeonwoo, Lee Gilyoung bit his lip.

Right, he had to get a grip.

Lee Gilyoung once more looked at the Demon King of Salvation.

That wasn’t Reader-hyung. There was no way Reader-hyung would attack him.

Then the Demon King of Salvation smiled.

“So you remember now.”

The resolve he had barely managed to gather wavered in front of that smile.

Lee Gilyoung’s senses were telling him. That expression, those eyes, that gait. It was unmistakable. That was the “Demon King of Salvation” he remembered.

「Has Kim Dokja never attacked him?」

That wasn’t true.

Just once, Lee Gilyoung had already experienced this fight before.

In their tenth scenario—the “73rd Demon King”.

“Why… why on earth?!”

Repeating the same words, Lee Gilyoung gripped Cheonchongungom (Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds and Rain). Even so, he couldn’t swing his sword.

“I don’t want to. I don’t want to fight. Reader-hyung! Please!”

What if the heavens shattered at the swing of his sword? If the stars hanging in that sky fell, what was he supposed to do?

[Great Demon King, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, unleashes his grade.]

A sword strike flew in when he wasn’t prepared. “Unbreakable Conviction” was right before his eyes.

Recalling the moment he had faced Yu Joonghyuk, Lee Gilyoung reflexively blocked the sword. The heavy impact made it feel as if his wrist were shattering.

「“You all remember how to face a Demon King, don’t you.”」

He remembered.

He clearly still remembered even now.

But he didn’t want to remember.

「“From now on, you all have to hunt me.”」

The memory of having to kill the person he liked more than anyone.

“How am I supposed to remember that?!”

Lee Gilyoung shouted in desperation.

The Demon King of Salvation smiled without a word.

「“Gilyoung. Just this once, you can think of it as a game.”」

A game. Kim Dokja always said it. That this world was a game. That he could think of it like a game.

Lee Gilyoung followed that teaching.

He carried out scenarios without guilt. He exterminated monsters, and sometimes, he even killed people.

He survived.

As the price of surviving like that, there was something he learned.

This world was not a game.

「“I’ll come back to life even if I die. I promise.”」

Watching the wavering figure of the Demon King of Salvation, Lee Gilyoung shook his head over and over.

“I don’t know anything about how to kill you. I forgot all that crap!”

To push away the approaching Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung struggled with all his might. He released the magic power he had gathered and swung his sword in a clumsy trajectory.

[Constellation, ‘Ruler of the Bottomless Abyss’, roars!]

In the end, to protect Lee Gilyoung once more, Abaddon used his power again.

Demonic energy burst forth like a storm.

In response to that demonic energy, the Demon King of Salvation likewise released his own grade.

[The grade of Great Demon King, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, is increasing!]

Chchchchch—along with that sound, sparks of Plausibility crashed down. The sky, which had lost both day and night, flashed on and off, and through the fragments of shattered firmament, the pitch-black darkness of the universe spread.

[The restricted channels of the ‘Recycling Center’ are temporarily opening!]

The sky of the Recycling Center was collapsing.

[Constellations from external channels are temporarily flowing in!]
[Constellations of nebula, <Olympus>, are gazing at the ‘Recycling Center’!]
[Constellations of nebula, <Veda>, are gazing at the ‘Recycling Center’!]
[Constellations of nebula, <Asgard>, are gazing at the ‘Recycling Center’!]
[Constellations of nebula, <Hongik>, are gazing at the ‘Recycling Center’!]
……

Through the gaps of the split sky, constellations’ gazes seeped in. Stars that had been unable to see the ‘Recycling Center’ due to the taboo were peeking into the hidden world.

「This is the place where all stories are recycled.」

Under the pouring gazes of the stars, Lee Gilyoung swung his sword.

“I…”

Drawing out a clumsy trajectory that wouldn’t cut down a single star, he shouted.

“What I remember is…!”

Cheonchongungom and Unbreakable Conviction clashed once again. The grating sound flowing from the meeting sword-energies. From the subtext left behind by sword and sword, a fable blossomed.

「“Excuse me for a moment.”」

The person who had first put a grasshopper into his hand.

「All of Lee Gilyoung’s stories began at that moment.」

With that one insect, Lee Gilyoung gained a life and received a life.

He was born again.

That was why the boy’s birthday was the day all those tragedies began.

Every time the grating sound rang out, a fable trickled down.

「“Hyung, are you a god by any chance?”」

The person who had once been his god.

Now, Lee Gilyoung knew too.

He was not the god of this world.

「“I’m neither a god nor a protagonist. I’ve always envied the protagonist instead.”」

Lee Gilyoung now understood the heart of Kim Dokja, who had said that. He had grown old enough to say he understood, just a little.

[Constellation, ‘The One Who Brought Ten Lambs’, cannot continue speaking.]
[Constellation, ‘Dragon That Lies Down’, lets out a sigh.]
[Constellation, ‘Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss’, falls silent.]

What Lee Gilyoung remembered was Kim Dokja’s small back as he left the party behind.

The back that had protected the party as he stood against the falling meteor shower.

「“Hyung, aren’t you going to make a wish?”」

That day, watching the meteor shower fall on the theater dungeon’s rooftop, Lee Gilyoung made a wish.

He wished, please, that the man would not die. That he would be able to see the end of this world together with him.

「And <Star Stream> granted Lee Gilyoung’s wish.」

Because the man was not a god, he died over and over. Because he was not a god, he came back to life over and over.

Within that death and resurrection, the man became a myth.

People praised him, and the stars sang of him.

But Lee Gilyoung knew.

「“I wished to see the epilogue of a certain novel.”」

In truth, he was just an ordinary man who liked stories.

“Hyung! Please!”

Remembering that man, Lee Gilyoung swung his sword. To get that man back, he released his magic power.

Every time the magic power piled on his sword surged out like a wave, Lee Gilyoung felt as though he were being pushed away somewhere, or perhaps leaving for somewhere.

He hated that feeling, so he swung his sword harder, more desperately.

「The child who had liked insects was now on the verge of adulthood.」

As if a hidden talent were blooming, Lee Gilyoung’s demonic energy flooded out in all ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) directions.

From the sword-energies, Abaddon’s demonic energy blossomed.

Having driven the Demon King of Salvation into a corner in an instant, Lee Gilyoung unleashed the momentum of [Heaven-Shattering Sword Path] like a storm.

Lee Gilyoung-style imitation.

Heaven-Shattering Sword Path ultimate technique.

Heaven-Shattering Meteor Technique.

Just as a tree that has grown again and again stretches out its branches, Lee Gilyoung’s fully blossomed talent encroached upon the starry sky.

The Heaven-Shattering sword technique swept past the Demon King of Salvation’s entire body like a grazing wind. Unbreakable Conviction fell to the ground, and unable to withstand the impact, one of the Demon King of Salvation’s knees buckled.

Steadying his trembling breaths, Lee Gilyoung walked toward him.

“Hyung.”

Looking down at Kim Dokja looking up at him, Lee Gilyoung likewise slowly went down on one knee.

Their gazes on the same level.

The star that had seemed so far away was close by. Now he could ask. He could bring out an old question.

「Why did you save me back then.」

But when he actually met Kim Dokja’s eyes, what came out of his mouth was something entirely different.

“I want to make that wish again.”

From the cracked sky, meteors were falling. Somewhere, stars were dying. Watching the tails of those stars—

“I don’t care if hell starts over again. I don’t care if it’s not a happy ending. I don’t care if I can’t see you often. Even so, it’s fine, so please—”

“……”

“Won’t you become an ordinary person?”

He prayed to the man who had now truly become a god.

“Even if it’s just for one single day, just as an ordinary person…”

He prayed, over and over, as he pictured the man who had liked this story.

He saw a few more stars fall from the sky.

The Demon King of Salvation, who had been looking up at that sky, opened his mouth.

“There really are a lot of stars.”

The moment he heard that voice, Lee Gilyoung realized.

“Just say okay.”

He had known even before he spoke. That his wish could not be granted.

Because that wish was a story the stars did not want.

Because it was a story that went against this damned Plausibility of <Star Stream>.

Watching the Demon King of Salvation’s sorrowful smile, Lee Gilyoung thought.

Maybe Reader-hyung hadn’t really wanted to die back then. Maybe he had wanted to breathe his last inside the story he loved.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t remember how to kill you.”

With a clear sound, Cheonchongungom fell to the ground.

The only thing the boy who had grown up watching Kim Dokja knew was Kim Dokja’s way.

[You are ‘Old School’.]
[You cannot perform the decisive role of this Main Scenario.]

To someone like that, the Demon King of Salvation answered.

“Gilyoung.”

The Demon King of Salvation rose to his feet and gripped Unbreakable Conviction.

“Stand up.”

“……”

Seeing Unbreakable Conviction slowly aimed at him, Lee Gilyoung shook his head.

“No, it’s over.”

He had probably come all the way here for this moment.

To be forgiven for the sin of failing to save Kim Dokja from eternity.

“My scenario ends here.”

[Constellation, ‘Ruler of the Bottomless Abyss’, protects his incarnation!]

As the “Blade of Conviction” moved, Abaddon’s demonic energy flowed out from his heart, forming a barrier.

The “Blade of Conviction” struck the barrier. With a kkagagak sound, the sword-energy burrowed in. At the very moment it was about to reach his heart, Lee Gilyoung felt as if time had stopped.

The scenery of the world turned monochrome, and someone’s voice was heard.

「Lee Gilyoung.」

A way of speaking different from the Kim Dokja he knew. Even so, Lee Gilyoung could feel Kim Dokja from him.

「Breathe slowly. Breathe in, then out. That’s it. Slowly.」

As if under a spell, Lee Gilyoung listened to his words.

He felt someone lightly hug him and pull him away from the Blade of Conviction.

Breath that felt close by. It was a breathing method Lee Gilyoung knew well.

「Do you remember when you use this breathing method?」

Lee Gilyoung nodded.

“Before reading a story.”

「Then now we have to read a story.」

“No, my story is already over.”

「You haven’t met the ‘ordinary Kim Dokja’ yet.」

Lee Gilyoung tried to answer.

There is no such Kim Dokja.

This world doesn’t allow that kind of Kim Dokja.

Then the voice said,

「It just hasn’t been written yet. That’s why you couldn’t read it.」

As his consciousness faded, Lee Gilyoung lifted his head. His heart began to beat again.

Just who could it be.

Who was this person who said such cruel words, words that reignited a hope that had already gone out.

「So just wait a little.」

Another Kim Dokja was there.

「Because I’m going to write that sentence now.」

Lee Gilyoung nodded.

*

[You are leaving the ‘Snowfield’.]

Cough—along with that sound, the fable scattered from my breath.

Lightly wiping away the fable at the corner of my mouth, I laid the Lee Gilyoung I had been holding in my arms down on the floor.

Lying side by side with Ye Hyeonwoo, Lee Gilyoung looked just like a brother.

Brother.

When I slowly raised my head, I saw the face of the star I had been searching for all this time.

[Many constellations are watching you.]
[The ‘Recycling Center Head’ is watching your choice.]
[Constellations of nebula, <Olympus>, are……]
[Constellations of nebula, <Asgard>, are……]
……
[The amount of ‘Loss’ you have collected has reached a certain level!]
[Your incarnation body cannot withstand your fable!]
[Your fable is reacting to your emotions!]
[Due to excessive authority usage, your incarnation body is in a dangerous state!]
[The fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, is warning you!]
…….

Ignoring the messages coming in in real time, I endured the searing pain with the power of [Agitation].

Even the sorrow, anger, and pain that surged up so violently were pressed down beneath a single sentence.

「I am Kim Dokja.」

I greeted the only man in this world who would understand this pain.

“It’s been a while, hyung.”

Then the Demon King of Salvation nodded.

“Youngest.”