Omniscient Reader

“Are you all finished with your preparations?”

It was a regular morning like any other . The air was clean and fresh, and the complexion on the companions" faces wasn"t gloomy, either . If it weren"t for their current combat attire, I"d have totally believed that we were on our way to a picnic from their expressions alone .

⸢And that"s why Kim Dok-Ja was truly happy . ⸥

“Preparations were done a while ago . Besides all that, it seems like you have something to say to us, Dok-Jssi?”

When I snapped awake from my thoughts, I discovered Jeong Hui-Won pressing her face closer to me . As I momentarily remained at a loss with my lips bobbing a little, Yi Ji-Hye quickly b.u.t.ted in .

“I don"t want to hear it, though . He"s going to say some stuff about it"s too dangerous so we don"t have to go etc, etc, right?”

“Right . Since when was it not dangerous?”

“This time, it"s serious! It"ll really be dangerous~!… . ”

Yi Ji-Hye mildly raised her voice while mimicking my speech pattern .

Hang on a sec, since when did I ever speak like that… . ? I frowned deeply and opened my mouth . “No, that"s not it . This time really is… . ”

“See? I knew it . Cough up the 100 Coins, eonni . ”

Jeong Hui-Won pushed the Coins to Yi Ji-Hye with a dejected face .

Han Su-Yeong watched this spectacle unfold and shook her head before addressing me . “You better start learning, man . ”

“Learn what?”

“You can only make your companions promise you the same thing so many times . If you persist with this, what will they start thinking next? Ah, this guy, he thinks our pledge is some kind of a joke . He sees every promise we made is a pack of lies!”

“That wasn"t my intention at all . Everyone, I genuinely apologise if you misundersto… . ”

Having finished the hand-over of her 100 Coins to Yi Ji-Hye, Jeong Hui-Won suddenly asked a question . “By the way, what"s our plan this time? It looked like you were thinking up of one with Su-Yeong yesterday?”

“There isn"t one, actually . ”

Perhaps finding my answer suspicions, she pressed her head closer once more . “Really?”

“It"ll be different from how things had been so far . Even I don"t know what will happen during the Final Scenario . ”

“That"s weird . You aren"t hiding anything, right?”

“No, not at all . ”

[Character "Jeong Hui-Won" is activating "Lie Detection Lv . 5"!]

[Your statement has been confirmed as a lie . ]

“Wowsers, you now even lie with a straight face?”

… . Just when did she learn [Lie Detection]? Dammit .

I hastily made my excuse . “It"s difficult to give you a detailed story right now . Things might change later if I tell you something, you see . Regardless of what the scenario is, please choose what you believe to be the right decision . If we succeed, we will be able to survive together . ”

“And that "we" also includes you, Dok-Jssi?”

I quietly stared at Yu Sang-Ah before nodding my head .

“Yes . ”

“And we can all live together in a big house with everyone?”

“That"s correct . ”

“I haven"t even graduated yet, so everyone will come to my graduation ceremony, right?”

“That"s right . ”

“Hyung! In that case, can we go to a PC Bang…?!”

“We can . ”

[Character "Jeong Hui-Won" is activating "Lie Detection Lv . 5′!]

[Your statement has been confirmed as truth . ]

Only then the hints of relief brushed past their expressions .

I took a look at their faces one at a time – Yu Sang-Ah, Jeong Hui-Won, Yi Hyeon-Seong, Yi Ji-Hye, Yi Gil-Yeong, s.h.i.+n Yu-Seung, Yi Seol-Hwa, Gong Pil-Du, Jang HYeong, Han Su-Yeong… . .

“If we"re done here, let"s get going . ”

… . And even Yu Jung-Hyeok, too .

Different stories existed for each individual . The stories that I hadn"t had the chance to finish reading yet .

“Let"s get going, ahjussi! We haven"t even entered the scenario yet, so there"s no need to make the heroic determination and stuff now, right?”

I agreed with Yi Ji-Hye"s opinion . The Final Scenario hadn"t even begun yet . I slowly breathed in and out deeply, and raised my head to find a portal appearing on a spot high up in the air .

[Portal leading to "99th scenario" has been generated!]

Bihyung had created that portal .

“Let"s go . ”

We stepped through the portal . The surrounding view crumbled away in an instant, only to be resurrected just as quickly .

Behind us was the wide, expansive view of , while the front was dominated by the sight of Dokkaebis waiting for us .

“Uh? Didn"t we come here before?”

Here was the "Gate of Star Stream", the very last gateway that led to the final gate, and home to the , the headquarters of all Dokkaebis .

[, your entry qualification has been confirmed . ]

“… . It"s a straight pa.s.s this time . ”

Dokkaebis didn"t bother with any complicated procedures and let us pa.s.s without a fuss .

[The absolute majority of Constellations are watching your entry into the "Final Scenario"!]

[Many Nebulas are envious of your collective achievements!]

I sensed the Constellations and Nebulas watching us from among the darkness of the universe .

[Constellations within the "Final Scenario" are growing tense at "s entrance!]

[You and your Nebula have entered the Final Scenario"s location!]

When I opened my eyes again, I was treated to the sight of the galaxy swirling around in a vortex . Countless stars were continuously circulating around while generating auroras .

They were Final Scenario"s Constellations . Stars that had reached the "Myth-grade" a long time ago, or those that were receiving the graces of such beings .

However, rather than approaching us, those stars remained circulating on the skies high above an ancient castle .

“Isn"t that… . ”

And beyond the ma.s.sive, ancient castle where the stars were dancing around, was a wall so vast that we couldn"t even see its ends .

“Is that the "Final Wall"?”

I quietly stared at that wall .

It was as if that wall spread out within the entire landscape to arrogantly proclaim that this here was the end of this world-line .

⸢Everything within this world exists to be recorded on it . ⸥

["King of Stories" is now looking at you . ]

["King of Stories" has summoned you . ]

I was greeted by this jolting sensation that caused all the hair on my body to stand up . I could definitely sense it; a creature that moved the ginormous Fable called was waiting by the centre of that "wall" .

My companions must"ve sensed it too, since they all looked tense .

Only Yu Jung-Hyeok maintained that preternaturally calm expression of his . “I don"t see any Constellations . ”

It was as he said; although we could see the stars spinning around in the skies, not a single Constellation was walking around in their incarnated form . It was as if they knew we were coming so they had all run off to somewhere .

It was the Great Dokkaebis welcoming us, instead .

[Great Dokkaebi "Heoche" is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi "Harong" is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi "Haram" is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi "Horong" is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi "Noksu" is incarnating into the scenario!]

When Dokkaebis possessing mighty Statuses appeared all at once, even I couldn"t help but feel the oppressive weight from their combined aura .

[You"ve come, . ]

The Great Dokkaebi Heoche, the dude who intruded upon the in order to recruit us, spoke up . He continued on with eyes of disdain squarely locked on us .

[You have all earned the qualifications of the "Final Scenario" . Since there is no need to test you, it"ll be fine to simply enter the "Ark" . A detailed explanation will be provided afterwards . ]

“… . The Ark?”

Even before my question could end, a loud, visceral boom resounded out from the centre of the ancient castle . Its middle section opened up, and something began rising up from the castle"s foundation .

⸢And it was a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p . ⸥

The moment I saw that s.h.i.+p, deja vu brushed past my brain .

⸢It was the s.h.i.+p first seen during the Great War of Saints and Demons . ⸥

Indeed, its shape was of the vessel that saved us during the . It looked uncannily similar to the "s Ark that evacuated us away from the fierce battle between the Apocalypse Dragon and the Indescribable Distance .

The only difference being, this one was much, much bigger and st.u.r.dier-looking than the Ark from that time . Its hull, seemingly carved out from the broken fragment of the wall, emitted both the contrasting white and dark rays of light .

Great Dokkaebi Heoche continued on as he looked at that hull .

[Originally, this world-line was earmarked as the "Final World-line" . However, things started becoming distorted during the process, and the world-line"s distortion is now well beyond salvageable . The Conclusion of this world can"t unlock the "Final Wall" . Meaning, the epic tale that could satisfy the "Most Ancient Dream" cannot be completed anymore . ]

“What rubbish are you talking about??”

[You all shall become the "seeds" . ]

The seeds . I had heard of that term even back in the "Ways of Survival" . A term that denoted all the candidates of the "One Single Fable" .

Violent sparks intermittently exploded in the distant darkness of the universe; they were ominous noises that seemed to imply the end of the distorted world-line .

A portion of stars got sucked into those deafening booms and were scattered away in flames before falling to the ground as shooting stars .

The Dokkaebi continued on while looking at the falling stars .

[Think of it as a great honour . It was the will of the "King of Stories" that you were chosen as the "seeds" when you are responsible for ruining this world-line . You shall ride on the "Ark" and move onto a new world-line . And you shall be reborn as the core "Fable" that will become the next worldview . Just like how those crossing over from the previous world have done . ]

Only then did the things he was saying make sense . Basically, he was telling us to escape from this world .

“You… Are you really going to give up on this world that easily? You want to abandon this world-line and leave with everyone here? You think such a suggestion even makes sense???”

[Surely, there"s no need to be that surprised? It shouldn"t be such a bad suggestion for you people, too . Your goal is to reach the conclusion where "no one has been sacrificed", isn"t it?]

For a moment there, I became speechless .

[You have succeeded, "Demon King of Salvation" . You and your companions can now leave this world-line and survive together . ]

Explosion noises, mixed in with cracking thunderclaps, reverberated from the other side of the distant sky . It was the noise of the Probability the had been protecting crumbling away .

As I heard those noises, I belatedly began to understand several things .

Such as, why there were no Constellations to be seen nearby; or, how could the possess such a powerful influence even from the very start of the worlds .

“… . Just how many times have you been repeating this?”

[Is that really important?]

“What happens to those who can"t ride on the Ark? Those who didn"t get selected – what will happen to them?”

[You probably have guessed it already without asking us . ]

Heoche used his chin to point behind us . That"s where the [Turtle Dragon] Yi Ji-Hye had summoned earlier just in case was . And on top of that s.h.i.+p"s deck, four sealing spheres emitting sparkling light could be seen – the Outer G.o.ds, including the "Secretive Plotter" .

I stared at the characters from the original novel, currently sleeping within the spheres . Those that got excluded by the scenarios would either die or become Outer G.o.ds, instead .

[New Main Scenario has arrived!]

Type: Main

Difficulty: ??

Clear condition: Enter the "Ark" together with the comrades from your Nebula .

Time limit: 2 hours

Reward: You can cross over to a different world-line by riding on the "Ark" . Your "Fable" will start anew in that place, and the Fables you have compiled so far will be recorded on "s "Final Wall" to be pa.s.sed down for all eternity .

Failure: You will remain in the world being destroyed and die .

Fin .