Chapter 506: Episode 97 – The star that can’t be seen (3)

⸢The universe in the beginning was ‘one’.⸥

When I regained my wits, that sentence was floating in front of my eyes. I couldn’t tell whether that was just a line of text, or a memory of something taking possession of the sentence.

⸢The ‘one’ was truly omniscient and omnipotent in this world. Because, the ‘one’ was the universe itself, and the universe was the ‘one’. The ‘one’ was perfect. And it was perfectly alone.⸥

Right after that, a blinding explosion went off.

⸢And that’s how ‘one’ became ‘two’.⸥

That was the first explosion. People, later on, would call it the Big Bang.

⸢’One’ was no longer omnipotent afterwards.⸥

An incredible dizziness assaulted me, and I fell down on my hands and knees.

This was inside the door, the deepest part of the ‘Final Wall’. The wall didn’t try to suck me in anymore. Maybe, I had already been sucked in.

I looked around to discover Han Su-Yeong collapsed on the floor. I placed her unconscious figure on my back, and stood up. I raised my head to realise that Anna Croft was now standing before me.

[….Looks like you saw the First Fable.] The Wenny King currently possessing her was smiling in my direction. [I made the exact same face as you when I first saw it, too.]

I didn’t reply. I had no time to shoot breezes with him like this. Where did my companions disappear to?

Maybe he read my anxiousness, because he continued to speak to me.

[Aren’t you curious? Why does this thing called ‘Fable’ exist in this world?]

“….I didn’t come here to discuss such things with you.”

[However, it’ll be impossible to go any further without talking about it first. It was the same for me, you see.]

I could hear Han Su-Yeong’s breathing coming from my back. Her breaths soon became a Fable and unfolded before me. The world seemed to distort, and a passage decorated with display shelf-like things appeared next.

⸢The universe became ‘two’, and the ‘one’ grew lonely.⸥

⸢Things that weren’t necessary back when there was only ‘one’ began appearing.⸥

Figurine-like beings were engaged in combat above these display shelves. The history of ‘scenario’ that began in countless planets, including Earth, was on display right there.

⸢The ‘Good and Evil’ was created to differentiate the two.⸥

Agares and Metatron were bitterly fighting each other. That was the ‘Great War of Saints and Demons’, where angels and demons, even as they bled crimson-coloured Fables, never compromised on their ideals.

⸢The ‘communication’ was invented to soothe the two’s loneliness.⸥

Citizens were battling demons within the walls of the [Industrial Complex]. And I saw Jang Ha-Yeong trying to dissuade this battle between those walls.

⸢And ‘Samsara’, a wish to return to when it was ‘one’, was created.⸥

Next up was Sakyamuni gently stroking a certain Incarnation Body trapped within a water tank inside his chamber. It was the Incarnation Body belonging to the now-dead Tang Sanzang, who loved Sakyamuni once upon a time.

⸢However, ‘two’ could never go back to being ‘one’.⸥

All the Fables I had been reading were displayed here.

These battles were repeating themselves within the predetermined conclusion.

Han Su-Yeong must be slowly waking back up, because I could feel her tremble a little.

⸢The ‘two’ needed something to connect the divided two. An existence that would live through all the Fables, and act as a proxy to their good and evil, their communications, and their Samsara.⸥

My feet came to a dead stop just then.

⸢The ‘Character’.⸥

I couldn’t leisurely watch on anymore.

The ‘Wenny King’ walking next to me like a ghost spoke up. [It’s such a malicious joke, don’t you agree?]

He cackled before hiding within my shadow.

The number of individuals appearing on the display cabinet grew. Some were simply put on display like some plastic figurines, while there were some still trapped in the wall with only their faces exposed as if moulding hadn’t been completed yet.

“….Ji-Hye!! Yu-Seung-ah!!”

I recognised those faces.

I tried so hard to free them from there, but the more I struggled, the deeper their faces sunk into the wall.

I ran along the display shelf. Yi Seol-Hwa, Gong Pil-Du, Yi Gil-Yeong, Yu Sang-Ah…. everyone from <Kim Dok-Ja Company> was here. And also…

“….Yu Jung-Hyeok.”

Yu Jung-Hyeok’s figure revealed itself from beyond the thick fog. His entire body was currently tied up with copper-coloured chains, his eyes closed and unmoving.

And a faint silhouette could be spied below him.

⸢That was none other than the ‘King of the Stories’.⸥

The fog obscured his face, so I slowly walked over to him.

[You have encountered the ‘King of the Stories’!]

[End of the main scenario is here!]

There never was much info on the Dokkaebi King within the pages of the ‘Ways of Survival’. However, not appearing in the novel didn’t mean that no information regarding him could be found elsewhere.

Because, I knew of those that had met him already.

⸢However, none of them mentioned what the ‘Dokkaebi King’ looked like.⸥

At the end of the ‘Final Fog’, the ‘King of the Stories’ was waiting for me.

[The ‘King of the Stories’ is smiling at you.]

And then…

[‘The 4th Wall’ is intensely trembling!]

I had to doubt my own eyes next.

⸢This was from a very old memory.⸥

The head-pounding dizziness assaulted me as my vision shook greatly.

⸢There is no way. No, such a thing is simply impossible.⸥

[Finally we meet, the apostle of ■■….. No, wait.]

Small bits of sparks danced before my eyes and removed the filtering altogether.

[Oh, the ‘apostle of eternity and epilogue’.]

⸢Kim Dok-Ja roared out like a thunderclap and rushed forward.⸥

I didn’t even have enough time to think. I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. I wanted to choke him to death right here, right now – but for some reason, my hands wouldn’t listen to me.

⸢That man was tall. He always looked down on his son from high above.⸥

This man, he couldn’t be here.

⸢The man with an always-flushing face. Always drunk, and because of that, the son never really met gazes with this man. No, the son prayed that their gazes would never meet each other’s.⸥

[Dok-Ja-ya. Kim Dok-Ja.]

⸢The world would turn into a nightmare if their gazes met, that’s why.⸥

[I really did come up with a splendid name for you, didn’t I?]

Tsu-chuchuchuchut!!

I threw out a punch with all my might.

⸢His height that seemed so tall back then, was now about the same.⸥

The time seemed to be slowing down.

⸢Those protruding veins only served to make him look emaciated, instead.⸥

Tsu-chuchuchut!

⸢The son thought he could win now. He was not a powerless little child anymore.⸥

The fist I swung with all my power was stopped right before his nose.

Sparks exploding brightly illuminated the man’s face. The ‘Dokkaebi King’, his eyes glowing bright blue, smiled like a devil at me while standing there.

[What do you think you’re doing to your own father?]

I roared out. I was not cognizant of what I was saying nor even doing at that moment. [The 4th Wall] was crumbling down.

“Kim Dok-Ja! Get yourself together!!”

And then, a voice could be heard.

There was this warmth still pressing onto my back. Han Su-Yeong’s Fable was being transmitted to me.

⸢This was the dok-ja/reader’s Fable.⸥

The story that protected me.

“The 4th Wall! What are you doing! Wake up!!”

[‘The 4th Wall’ is strongly revitalised!]

[‘The 4th Wall’ is growing as thick as an impregnable fortress!]

It was then the expression on the ‘Dokkaebi King’ changed.

[You’re obstructing me?]

It seemed that he was now looking not at me, but the thing inside me.

[The last fragment of the Final Wall, your duty is now over.]

[‘The 4th Wall’ is viciously growling!]

[You have safely reached the end of the entire story. Along with the successor that meets all the requirements.]

[The 4th Wall] was speaking from inside me.

⸢Th at is for Kim Dok Ja to de cide⸥

I gradually regained my calm while listening to those words.

⸢This creature before me was not my father.⸥

The memories shared with my mother became a Fable and flowed right before my eyes. Her memories got swallowed up by [The 4th Wall]. Her sentences floated up above that wall and tried to speak to me.

⸢He died on that day.⸥

“….You are not my father.”

[How can you be so sure?]

“Stop with your pranks. It’s impossible for you to be my father, Probability-wise.”

[Probability, is it? Hahah, I’ve no excuses after hearing that. I thought it’d be the most natural thing to see this face at this point in time.]

The Dokkaebi King smiled even as I continued to grab him by his scruff. His face then began transforming.

[In that case, how about this face?]

He morphed into my mother’s appearance, and then…

[These faces aren’t too bad, either.]

And then, he even changed into Persephone and Hades.

I swung my fist one more time, but my whole body was flung away in the opposite direction as powerful sparks danced in the air.

“Show me those faces one more time and I’ll kill you.”

[Fufu. I guess my pranks have indeed crossed the line. My bad.]

“Change back! Show me your true appearance!”

[I’d love to, but I can’t. I have already forgotten what my real appearance is like a long time ago. I lived my life as far too many different beings, you see.]

He maintained Hades’s appearance and slowly blinked his eyes. When he did, Fables began leaking out from behind him. Fables that were somewhat familiar.

⸢On that day, the world’s most ancient demon ascended in awe.⸥

[I was a king of a Demon World once upon a time.]

⸢All the Archangels of <Eden> ceaselessly worshipped him.⸥

[I was also the messiah to the Archangels.]

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

These Fables, they were stories that I had heard before.

The vanished great Demon King, the messiah of Eden – I also sensed founding Fables of other myth-level Nebulas from him, too. <Emperor>’s Pangu, <Olympus>’s Cronus…. Hairs began standing up all over my body.

This existence before my eyes was on a completely different realm compared to every other Myth-grade Constellation I had encountered so far.

⸢The oldest existence in this world.⸥

I remained tense while gripping the [Unbreakable Faith] even tighter.

“All of those things, they were your doing? Even <Eden>, the <Demon World>, all of them? Is that what you want to tell me?”

My words prompted the ‘Dokkaebi King’ to vigorously shake his head.

[No. In the end, everything is simply reincarnated from the old stories. We are all nothing more than a part of the massive tale reincarnating itself. You, me.]

He was now staring at the flow of <Star Stream> in the distance. The sky where stars had fallen was spreading out in emptiness. That sky resembled a huge wall.

The [Final Wall], that seemingly stretched on forever.

This world was, in the end, a story taking place within that vast, endless wall. I saw faint stars falling down like ink spilt during scribbling. So many stars had fallen by now, yet there were still some remaining up there.

Stars that couldn’t be seen, unless one took a closer look. I remembered the names of those stars. And that reaffirmed what I came here to do.

“Release my companions.”

[They are just the means to an end that served their purpose. What meaning is there for you if I released them?]

“….They are my everything.”

The ‘Dokkaebi King’ slowly approached me.

Han Su-Yeong used [Midday Tryst] to talk to me as she stood at my side.

– Kim Dok-Ja.

She tightened the tattered bandages around her arm and began rousing up the last bits of her fighting spirit.

– I’ll count to three. We subdue him together on the signal. One, two…

[Stop whispering amongst yourselves. I can hear you clearly.]

We stood there frozen stiff and exchanged glances.

All settings found in <Star Stream> had to go through the ‘Dokkaebi King’ first. In other words, there was no sentence in this world that he couldn’t read.

Han Su-Yeong and I gripping my hilt tightly glared at him. Now that our plan had been outed, whatever we did couldn’t be called a sneak attack anymore.

The ‘Dokkaebi King’ stared at us as if he was greatly amused, before slowly extending his hand towards me.

[The successor of the stories. Only you have arrived here at the perfect timing.]

“….Wha? Son of a bitch, can’t you see that I’m also….!”

Along with the ‘Tsu-chuchuchut’ noise, Han Su-Yeong’s voice disappeared. Trapped inside what looked like a water tank, she began pounding on the transparent walls surrounding her.

[You have cleared all the main scenarios!]

[You will be recorded in the cosmos-spanning unified <Star Stream>.]

Accompanying the system messages was a sudden rise in the Status of my existence.

[You’ve already shown the world such a cool Fable, so how come you’re still stuck in the old-school mentality? You are in possession of the noble wall’s fragment, so I need to ask why you can’t detach yourself from this world and watch it from afar?]

The owner of the voice seemed to be criticising me. His awe of all these stories could clearly be felt within the depths of that very voice.

He gazed at the wall near his position. No, more correctly, he seemed to be imagining a certain something beyond the wall itself.

[There is no meaning in the things you treasure. This world is simply a story dedicated to the great, noble existence. Everything in this world is nothing more than a fleeting daydream to the noble existence.]

The great, noble existence’s daydream, was it?

“Is the [Final Wall] recording the dreams of that ‘existence’?”

[Correct.]

I figured out who that existence was. The instigator of all these tragedies.

I recalled the ‘First Fable’ I heard when entering this place.

⸢The universe in the beginning was ‘one’.⸥

The first ‘one’.

The existence who regressed Yu Jung-Hyeok, and also gave birth to all the ‘myths’ in this world.

“Is that bastard tls123?”

<Episode 97. The star that can’t be seen (3)> Fin.