Chapter 161: Episode 31 – Tomb of the Scenario (5)

Translator: Rainbow Turtle

‘I will die and Paradise will be destroyed?’

After Kim Dokja left, Reinheit looked down the hill with a blank expression. He had laughed when he first heard the words. However, he had to stop laughing when Kim Dokja’s expression didn’t change.

Reinheit was annoyed.

Kim Dokja might be a constellation but this was crossing the line. He wasn’t the strongest in the Star Stream just because he was a constellation. It wasn’t uncommon for the 72 demon kings to devour fledgling constellations in the Star Stream.

In addition, Kim Dokja was only a half constellation.

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is warning you not to ignore the words of ‘Kim Dokja.’]

That’s why Reinheit was surprised when the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon came out to defend Kim Dokja.

Who was the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon? He was the most famous of the absolute evil system that even the 72 demon kings didn’t want to get tangled up in.

Reinheit looked at the scenery below the hill and naturally became nervous. Thus, he acted like he wasn’t.

‘Paradise won’t perish.’

Reinheit was old but still alive. He had been watching this place alone for 700 years. Thus, this place would be fine in the future. This scenario might be full of poisonous people but he wouldn’t lose if he fought in Paradise.

‘Rather, the dangerous thing…’

Kim Dokja didn’t yet know how terrible the stories that entered Dark Castle were.

The rotten fruit of Perpetual Motion fell off and Reinheit disappeared.

***

I didn’t know what would happen if a battle took place on the spot but fortunately, Reinheit didn’t attack. It was obviously that Paradise would be turned upside down if we fought here.

Of course, I had no intention of fighting. Things would be smoother if I defeated Reinheit here but I would be badly damaged and the incarnations of Paradise would develop a grudge against me.

I couldn’t let that happen. If Paradise collapsed, it must be due to the anger of Paradise itself, not an external enemy. The incarnations would end up in the same predicament if I acted without revealing what was wrong.

“…Is it over?”

“Yes.”

Jung Heewon was waiting for me below the hill. She still had an unclear expression. Maybe she was struggling with her loyalty to me and the comfort of Paradise.

I decided to relieve a bit of her worries. “Heewon-ssi. Do you want to go shopping for a while?”

We walked along the street. Noise came from the bustling shopping district.

“…It has been a while since I’ve walked like this.”

“Me too.”

As the awkward silence continued, Jung Heewon decided to speak first. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“What do you want me to ask?”

I know what to she wanted me to ask. However, there were some things I didn’t ask because I already knew the answer.

“Um… my favourite colour or favourite food,” Jung Heewon replied.

“Those are questions that wouldn’t be asked even in blind dates.”

“…Has Dokja-ssi been on a blind date?”

I ignored the slight hit to my pride and asked, “Are you disregarding me?”

“No… it just doesn’t seem like Dokja-ssi’s style. I feel like you would want a fateful meeting.”

I felt like I had unexpectedly been stung. In fact, I had never been on a blind date. Jung Heewon continued speaking. “We have never talked about our past before. Aren’t you curious?”

“…”

“How did you live before and where did you go to school?”

I quietly listened to her.

“What was your phone number and where did you live? In addition…”

The scenery passed and Jung Heewon’s voice gradually died down. As she was speaking, she would’ve discovered it. Maybe it had been too long to tell such a story.

The area she lived would’ve been destroyed and those who remembered her history… probably wouldn’t be alive. These things happened to us in just a few months.

Jung Heewon was silent for a long time before wondering, “Even if we go back… it won’t be the same Seoul, right?”

“It won’t.”

At the end of the 10th scenario, Seoul Dome would be broken and the incarnations liberated.

Still, this was just the beginning of another hell. It meant the scenarios that were limited to the capital city domes would expand to the whole world.

“Then… why do we have to continue with the scenario? None of the things we knew are still remaining. There is no going back.”

This was why she wanted to stay in Paradise. The woman from Geumho Station, Pink Kid Kim Yongpal… Paradise was the place where lost people came.

Jung Heewon’s head hung down. I opened my mouth while deliberately not staring at her face. “Heewon-ssi is a good sword.”

Small breathing sounds could be heard.

“You are calmer in front of the fire than any of us. In particular, you are sensitive to the tyranny of the strong.”

I slowly started the ‘story’ that I knew.

Just because Jung Heewon didn’t appear in the original novel didn’t mean I didn’t know her. It made me work harder to read her.

“You always fought at the head of the party and never complained about how difficult it was.

Jung Heewon listened to me with her mouth shut. I continued speaking, “You didn’t tell anyone when you were hurt and even if there was something suspicious, you chose to believe in that person.”

I thought of Jung Heewon. The Jung Heewon who trusted me despite my suspicious actions. The Jung Heewon who fought for me at Geumho Station.

“You might distrust humans more than anyone else but you are actually filled with affection. You are the first to come running when our party is in danger.”

Jung Heewon was the one who desperately searched for the party when the dokkaebi separated them. Jung Heewon always joked around but she was careful to make sure we wouldn’t be offended by a little joke.

“…”

“If so, don’t I know a bit about Jung Heewon-ssi?”

Jung Heewon’s head remained lowered as she spoke, “I’m not like that.”

“This is the Jung Heewon that I see.”

Jung Heewon carefully avoided my gaze.

“No one has ever told me that… Dokja-ssi would be good at blind dates. By the way, why are you saying this all of a sudden?”

Jung Heewon looked up at me and smiled faintly, as if nothing had happened. It wasn’t a moment where she should smile.

“This is the Jung Heewon-ssi that I saw because you continued the scenario.” Jung Heewon’s lips, which had been halfway open, stopped. “That’s why I believe you should continue the scenario.”

There was no place for us to go back. There might not be a place for us to stay. Still, at least the story was continuing. As long as the story continued, there were more things that we could barely see.

Jung Heewon carefully opened her mouth. “…I don’t understand because it is too hard. I told you before. I didn’t do well in school…”

“I’m not saying this in the hope that Heewon-ssi will act. Heewon-ssi should live according to your own way.”

I opened the Exchange while talking.

[The item that you commissioned to be made has arrived.]

The timing was good. The item that I sent to be produced had come. It was made from the bone of the fire dragon, the heart of a demon and the nucleus of some monsters.

It was an item that only Jung Heewon could use. In the original novel, only the ‘three original judges’ were able to use the item. I paid 100,000 coins for it to be produced and received the item.

[You have given the ‘Sword of Judgment’ to Jung Heewon.]

The surprised Jung Heewon accepted the sword.

“This…?”

“Didn’t we decide to go shopping together? This is my gift. Isn’t your old sword broken?”

“I don’t deserve this.”

I slowly shook my head.

“Nope, only Heewon-ssi is eligible for this sword.”

***

“Kim Dokja has a really bad personality. Are you actually going to leave like this?”

We moved away from Paradise. Han Sooyoung kept looking back as she spoke.

I replied without looking back. “The things here are finished.”

“What is finished?”

If it went according to the original novel, Paradise will probably be destroyed. The peace of the incarnations would be ruthlessly broken.

Should I stop it? I couldn’t do that. This scenario would never end as long as Paradise existed.

“Paradise isn’t for me to get involved in.”

“Ah, you are leaving it to the original flow of the novel… why can’t you do it yourself?”

“Reinheit is too hard to catch right now and I will gain a bad story if I do beat him. He has too many supporters.”

Stories didn’t only have ‘good effects.’ Some stories would cause your strength to drop.

Han Sooyoung knew this and bit her lips. “Well, it is like this. Then what about the mental state of the companions left behind?”

“They should get some rest.”

“What? Rest? Tell me honestly. Aren’t you actually angry? You have done a good job but they fell for a demon they met for the first time. In particular, Jung Heewon…”

“…Jung Heewon deserves it. It has been hard for her so far.”

Han Sooyoung scoffed. “Don’t make me laugh. Don’t you know what you have done? Paradise will soon perish. She received the sword and likes you without knowing anything.”

“She chose it herself so she should be responsible for herself.”

“You demon…”

Some wounds destroyed us but some made us stronger. It couldn’t be helped, even if I was called a demon. This was my path. Han Sooyoung grumbled for a long time before suddenly saying. “Hrmm… by the way, Kim Dokja.”

“Why?”

“Why are you taking me?”

“You will help me.”

Han Sooyoung bit her lips and suddenly summoned her clones.

…Their faces seemed to resemble me. This reminded me that she could change the faces of her clones.

“What are you doing?”

“Training.”

It was more like a one-sided assault than training. Furthermore, she focused on hitting a place that was extremely painful. Han Sooyoung beat me up for a long time before asking, “What are you going to do now?”

“I’ll set aside the scenario for three or four days and gather stories while searching for hidden pieces.”

Han Sooyoung smiled at the words ‘hidden pieces.’

“Why? Aren’t you the type to be focused on the main scenario?”

“This time I will leave it to other people. It has been hard for me to do it alone up to now.”

When I thought about it, I tried too hard to do it alone. That jerk Yoo Jonghyuk seemed to be working hard but he wasn’t helpful at important moments. It would’ve ended at the Disaster of Floods or Peace Land if I hadn’t helped. As I was working hard on the scenarios, he went around finding hidden pieces.

Thus, it was time for him to work properly. I smiled and said,  “We will now pretend to be the regressor.”