Yoo Jonghyuk"s expression slowly changed as he held me by the neck. Previously, I would already be falling through the air.
Now everything was the opposite. I flew through the air instead of falling. Yoo Jonghyuk had thrown me as hard as he could.
Yoo Jonghyuk was watching me. His expression showed he was certain that I wouldn"t die. I didn"t hear his voice but I could tell what he was saying.
"Feed him one blow, Kim Dokja."
The moment I was about to answer, the tentacles blocked my gaze.
The attack of the tentacles missed me by a hair"s breadth and I landed on the Eater of Dreams body. I used the strength remaining in my arms to grab the body and move towards the wound.
This guy was a life-threatening presence just through touch. If I was still an incarnation, I might"ve already pa.s.sed out or died. If he finished his descent... it was scary to think about what might happen.
I threw my body into the wound.
[...I"m sorry. I can"t go with you.]
Power drained from my body and I felt Cheok Jungyeong"s strength scattering. I didn"t panic because I had already expected it.
Soon afterwards, the wound connected to the outside completely closed.
I floated in the air, like a person floating in the universe. The inside of the Eater of Dreams was as dark as the sky. It was a s.p.a.ce with no blood or flesh. It was natural since the outer G.o.d wasn"t a living thing.
Dung... dung... dung...
I heard the sound of drums coming from somewhere. Then there was a whispering. Someone gazed at me. It wasn"t hard to breathe despite there being no air. Perhaps the moment I entered this s.p.a.ce, my very existence was transformed.
Then after a while, all sounds disappeared. The screams of the incarnations and the messages of the constellations were gone.
Instead, there were unknown characters and images. This was the stomach of the Eater of Dreams. It was a place where all the stories he had eaten were gathered.
「■■■■■■■...」
「 #%&^#$^ 」
There were some stories I could recognize. Perhaps they were from Founder"s Mother.
「 It is my fault. The foolish history was too long... 」
「 I have to protect this land from the nebulae. However, now there is no one in Hongik. Where have all the G.o.ds of creation gone? 」
「 Hwanung... I want to see Hwanung. 」
Then a story with a small light came up to me and shouted,
「 What are you doing? Why are you here? Run away...! 」
The light flickered. Thank you but there was nowhere for me to run away to.
The "outer G.o.ds" were existences rooted in the distant outer universe. Half of his body was connected to the second floor of Dark Castle while the inside of his body was directly connected to the outer universe.
Thus, his stomach was like outer s.p.a.ce to me. It was a world of sheer emptiness, only filled with the desire to eat.
The Eater of Dreams wanted me.
The scattered letters gathered together and started to form a shape. In this empty s.p.a.ce, eyes and a mouth were created. In fact, I wasn"t sure if they were eyes or a mouth, but I had to think of it in these terms since I was a human.
He seemed to be saying something but his voice wasn"t heard properly. After a while, the letters s.h.i.+vered and started to transform into words that I could understand.
[ The smell of an interesting story... ]
The moment that two eyes looked at me, I gulped without knowing it. This was the presence of a G.o.d who caused fear in even the narrative-grade constellations.
[ The presence of an inferior scenario... how... do you hear me? ]
[The exclusive skill "Fourth Wall" is extremely active!]
The Fourth Wall became more active than it had ever been so far. I felt like a wall was growing on my skin.
It meant this enemy was dangerous.
He wasn"t even a "great old ones". I couldn"t imagine what the G.o.ds such as "The Fear of Sarnath", "Horror from the Hills" or "Master of R"lyeh" would be like.
I took a deep breath and slowly opened my mouth. "Eater of Dreams. You are a great G.o.d of another world."
[ Ohh... ]
The letters of Eater of Dreams twitched like he was surprised by my words. In this guy"s eyes, I wasn"t even a bug. I was a strange toy he could erase at any time.
Strong sparks occurred around me and the letters started to revolve. There was something that wanted to penetrate inside me. However, as soon as it reached my side, it was bounced off.
The letters of Eater of Dreams spoke in a subdued manner.
[ What... are you? Are you under a special protection? ]
This guy had attempted to mentally invade me. Then he had been bounced off by the Fourth Wall.
I would"ve been destroyed if I didn"t have this skill. I controlled my heart and looked at the Eater of Dreams.
As I said before, the Yoo Jonghyuk of the 136th regression was eaten by him. However, Yoo Jonghyuk didn"t die. In other words, my current basis was his 136th attempt.
I slowly opened my mouth so that I wouldn"t be caught by his boundaries.
"I came to tell you a story."
[ Story! I like stories. ]
The outer G.o.d reacted immediately. The monstrous greed caused him to become fuzzy.
"Among all the stories you have eaten, there are those belonging to Lee Sookyung. Please send her back."
The face looked puzzled.
[ This... isn"t a story? ]
"I will tell you a story in exchange."
[ What story will you tell me? ]
I pointed to myself without speaking. It was obvious what I meant. I was making a bet with my existence at stake. The big eyelids slowly blinked.
[ Small constellation... ]
"Yes."
[ Do you intend to make a deal with me? ]
The moment I was going to open my mouth, shapes appeared in the air. It was an image made up of the stories that Eater of Dreams had devoured.
[ The bear doesn"t talk to the fish. ]
The image shown was a giant bear, reminiscent of Founder"s Mother. The bear looked around with foolish eyes and caught the fish flowing through the empty universe.
The Eater of Dreams looked at the bear and said, [ Human, I don"t negotiate with bugs... ]
I hadn"t been properly recognized yet. A half-constellation couldn"t deal with a cosmic deity. It was a natural story.
However, I shook my head.
"If bugs talk like humans, think like humans and act like humans, they can"t be called bugs anymore."
I glared at the two huge, black eyes.
[ You... aren"t qualified to make a deal with me. I can take away everything you have at any time. ]
"Then why are you talking to a bug instead of taking it away?"
[······.]
The bear eating the fish looked at me. The bear raised its paws in a threatening manner, as if it was going to hit me right away. I stared at the bear and said,
"The bear knows how to eat fish but it doesn"t know how to eat them deliciously."
The bear"s paw hesitated.
"The feet are damaged by the scales, the claws are dirty after taking out the guts of the fish and it just fills its anger."
[······.]
"Just as I"m not a bug, you"re not a bear. Isn"t that right?"
The letters in the s.p.a.ce jumbled together and the Eater of Dream"s face became bizarre. Usually, I would be terrified but I had read the original novel.
I started grinning. This situation was too pleasant for me to bear.
"All the stories will be damaged if you forcibly take them. If you trample on me right now, you won"t get a "perfect" story. I will tell you a story that you can eat in its best condition. You"ll always be able to eat it."
Dung... dung... dung!
Once again, I heard a drumming sound. It was like a giant beast"s pulse. The tempo of the sound became increasingly faster.
Dung! Dung! Dung! Dung!
I had read the original work and knew the ident.i.ty of this drumming sound.
[ I want to eat you. ]
This sound was the Eater of Dream"s hunger. I gulped and raised both hands. "If you keep your promise, I will give you a lot."
The letters turned into smoke and started to form a shape. After a while, it took on the appearance of my mother.
[ Is this what you want? ]
I nodded.
[ This story has some interesting corners. I saved it because it smelt more delicious than the sh.e.l.l of the constellation I ate along with it. I want to eat you very badly but I can"t afford to give you this story. ]
"Are you a beast who can"t control your hunger?"
[ Is there anyone who would be offended by the insults of bugs? ]
...f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
I didn"t know what rank he was among gourmets but he was low among the outer G.o.ds. The letters formed a brutal smile.
[ The conversation with you ends here. I will eat all of you. ]
The image of the bear who caught the fish flew towards me baring sharp teeth like a piranha. There was no place to run away. My legs couldn"t move and in any case, I was in his stomach.
"s.h.i.+t, fine. If you want to eat then eat as much as you like." Instead, I spread open my arms and greeted him. "Be sure to eat all of it."
Hundreds of fish started to eat at my body.
They bit at my arms, my legs, my back and my face. I felt a terrible pain but no blood came out. Instead, it was letters. The stories and histories I had built up started to leak out after I was bitten by his teeth.
[ Ohhhhh....! T-This is? ]
The G.o.d shrieked with joy at the heavenly delicacies. My consciousness was blurred and there was a pounding in my head. Nevertheless, I held on. I had to hold on until he ate the part I was thinking about.
[ Ohh... oh? ]
The next moment, something poured out of me like a waterfall. He had touched something.
[The exclusive skill "Fourth Wall" has reacted to the vibrations. .h.i.tting the wall.]
The moment I was waiting for had finally come. The letters poured into his stomach, creating a torrent. It was an enormous amount of stories.
[ You, what the h.e.l.l are you...? ]
The baffled Eater of Dreams cried out to me but I didn"t have the strength to answer.
I was hard to keep my sanity with all the stories pouring out. I looked at the sentences pa.s.sing in front of my eyes.
「 Yoo Jonghyuk looked at the mouth of Eater of Dreams and spoke. 」
It was the contents of Ways of Survival.
「 "Yes, if you want to eat me, eat as much as you can." 」
It was the 136th regression Yoo Jonghyuk. Yoo Jonghyuk was eaten by the Eater of Dreams and had been in the same situation as me.
[ This, what the h.e.l.l is this...! ]
Yoo Jonghyuk of Ways of Survival replied on my behalf.
「 "You will know. You will experience what it is like to have lived 136 times. You will know all the loneliness, sorrow, anger and hatred towards this d.a.m.n world that I felt during this awful time." 」
[ K-Kuaaah...! ]
「 "You think of humans as worse than bugs. If so, feel it from now on. 」
[ Wait, wait a minute...! ]
「 "The pain that bugs suffer. Feel the history of the bug that you can"t handle. If you have the confidence to eat me, then eat and eat as much as you can!" 」
The stories pouring all filled the stomach of the Eater of Dreams with continuous explosions. The Eater of Dreams ate Ways of Survival and struggled with the pain.
Somewhere in his stomach, cracks started to appear. Ways of Survival spoke as if laughing at the confused Eater of Dreams.
「 It was the moment when the Eater of Dreams, who was born in s.p.a.ce and lived for 8,000 years, realized it. 」
[ Kuooooooh....! ]
It was the scene where Yoo Jonghyuk first killed a "G.o.d." I had read it over and over again, almost memorizing it. I paraphrased the following sentence on behalf of Ways of Survival.
"In this world, there is a story that should never be eaten."
TL: Rainbow Turtle