Chapter 284: Episode 53 – Demon King of Salvation (6)
[Baat, baaat!]
“No.”
[Baaat!]
“Go back.”
The world inside the open door couldn’t be seen properly. After all, it was clearly a dangerous place. “Take care of the people.”
Perhaps this moment had been scheduled from the moment I found traces of ‘Indescribable Distrance’ from Surya’s train fragments. Perhaps I would receive little help from Ways of Survival in the place where I was going now.
Still, I had to go. If I endured it well this one time, I could return to the party members. With them, I could reach the end of all the scenarios. I slowly moved my feet and Biyoo screamed.
[Baat, baat…. baaaat….! Ah, ba, at…]
I stepped through the boundaries of the door and Biyoo’s voice suddenly faded away. I looked towards Biyoo’s fuzzy face and spoke words that couldn’t be conveyed.
「 I’ll come back. 」
[The Outer World Covenant is activated!]
[You have been deported from the Star Stream.]
[Your modifier will disappear from the “Star Stream>.]
***
Even after Kim Dokja disappeared into the portal, Secretive Plotter stared at the portal for a long time. An elderly man with two abnormally large lumps stood beside the Secretive Plotter.
[Great plotter. He is already gone?]
[ He just left. ]
[Too bad. I wanted to see what type of person he was… well, you must like him a lot. You sacrificed three fingers for him.]
Three fingers on Secretive Plotter’s left hand had disappeared. It was the price of the probability.
[No matter your ident.i.ty, it would’ve been a burden to borrow the Viceroy’s Dimensional Gate. Why didn’t you ask us?]
[ It is a fraudulent transaction that the probability of the wenny people can’t handle.]
The elderly man clicked his tongue.
[I can’t understand it at all. No matter the story, I wouldn’t do something like this.]
[ You can’t understand it. ]
In the shadow of Secretive Plotter, white eyes flashed in the air. The elderly man followed the gaze. It was as if he discovered something in the air.
[That troublesome person… did you intentionally send him?]
[ There will be no harmful effect anyway. ]
The old man laughed.
[Well, it doesn’t matter. If only I can deal one blow to that d.a.m.n Star Stream. But is there a chance?]
[ If he succeeds, he will be closer to the ‘result’ than anyone else. ]
[…Than anyone else? It is funny you are saying that when you have already seen the ‘result.’]
The old man grumbled.
[Whether he succeeds or fail, it will be a loss for you anyway.]
Secretive Plotter shook his head and replied,[ It isn’t me who will judge it. ]
***
[The ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking violently.]
As my consciousness flickered, a chill went down my spine.
[The Outer World Covenant is protecting your existence.]
I felt like I was going somewhere as I had a few dreams. It was a dream about the party members.
-Dokja-ssi is always looking at the smartphone. What is Dokja-ssi’s number?
-…We can’t call him anyway so what is the point?
-Just let me know. I’ll send him a game invitation later.
A game invitation. I really hoped I would get it in the future.
-Dokja-ssi seems to laugh more often after the fall.
-By the way, Ahjussi is a bit unlucky when he smiles.
-Isn’t it worth changing his mouth shape.
-I wish Dokja-ssi could’ve been my senior.
The second hand of a clock was ticking somewhere.
-I never hated Dokja-ssi like I do today. Come back.
The beginning and end of the unknown story were pus.h.i.+ng me. I relied on my memories like a small raft moving through a vicious current. In the endless void of the universe, only my memories were floating. Maybe this was how Biyoo… s.h.i.+n Yoosung of the 41st round felt.
Not longer afterwards, a message was heard.
[The Viceroy’s Dimensional Door is closed.]
[The Star Stream has noticed your presence.]
By the time I came to my senses, I was crouched on the floor and vomiting. I felt the touch of the hard ground and slowly opened my eyes.
[You have entered the new scenario area!]
[The dokkaebis of the bureau have doubts about your existence.]
The stiffened joints of my incarnation body screamed. I used Hit a Pressure Point to restore my body as quickly as possible. I didn’t know where this was but I had to be nervous from now on.
Secretive Plotter himself wasn’t in the original novel so Ways of Survival couldn’t help me with the things that happened here.
“Kuk…”
The places eaten by the Indescribable Distance were painful but I somehow recovered with a Great Return Pill. My horns and wings disappeared because the Demon King Transformation was over.
[It is impossible to use Demon King Transformation at the present time.]
I didn’t forget to thoroughly check the equipment and placed the necessary items in a position where I could use them immediately. The first thing I checked was the personal scenario window.
[You can’t launch the sub-scenario window.]
[The information for this scenario hasn’t been updated yet.]
…The scenario update wasn’t applied yet.
I looked around at the wreckage of the broken buildings. The collapsed high-rise buildings and the debris of the logos between them. The characters that made up the logo were familiar. There was Hangul and also English. The languages of second-grade tribes were also found.
I stopped for a moment and read them. Slowly, an uncomfortable feeling rose from the tip of my feet. Where was this place?
[The Star Stream has recognized your modifier.]
[Your position in the night sky will be refreshed!]
[The bureau is wary of your presence.]
[You have been a.s.signed a hidden scenario!]
[Hidden Scenario – World Adaptation has been acquired!]
[You have acquired a new story!]
…Don’t tell me? I started running through the streets. An unrecognizable ruined city. Even so, I was able to recognize this place. It was strange if I couldn’t recognize it. It was because my nightmares originated from this city.
The status of Yi Sunsin that only had the legs remaining and the destroyed Absolute Throne. The carca.s.ses of beasts scattered everywhere and the remnants of giant tentacles gave off a terrible stench.
“…Seoul?”
Nevertheless, there was no time to think. I heard the sound of an explosion and hide among the ruins in my area. A loud shout was heard. People were fleeing from something. No, looking closer, it wasn’t people.
They were constellations in incarnation bodies. The considerable number of constellations were shouting in their true voices.
[Run away!]
[Dammit…!]
Their words didn’t finish. The feet of an elephant descended from the air and the incarnation bodies burst like worms. I watched the scene breathlessly. The elephant’s feet contained an irresistible ‘status’ and dragged the dead incarnation bodies somewhere.
Crazy, what the h.e.l.l was this?
After the elephant disappeared, I carefully escaped through the ruins and headed cautiously towards the bodies. There were a few items to collect on the floor. I looked at the items and controlled my mind.
Stay calm. No matter how dangerous this place was, there was a chance of winning if I obtained information. If this was still a scenario area, Ways of Survival was still valid.
[The attribute effect has improved your memories of the pages already read.]
What type of scenario was this? The incarnation bodies of the constellations were present and the fragments of the outer G.o.d were scattered…
[The 95th main scenario is in progress.]
[The Outer World Covenant has replaced your lacking probability.]
[You aren’t a formal partic.i.p.ant of the scenario.]
[The Star Stream doubts your eligibility.]
Their hairs on my arm stood up.
…How many?
[The item ‘Arondight ‘ has been acquired.]
I stared blankly down at the item I had collected. A constellation’s star relic was rolling around on the streets. I… skipped a few years? I wondered how the party members were doing.
[The exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has been activated!]
.Jung Heewon. Lee Hyunsung. s.h.i.+n Yoosung.
[The exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ is cancelled.]
[You can’t connect with the current target.]
[The ‘character’ can’t be found.]
I tried to calm my trembling heart. I needed to be calm. Nothing was certain yet. I took deep breaths to control my mind and expressed the power of a constellation. I planned to explore the surroundings through a channel, if there was one nearby.
At this moment, a sound was heard in the area. It was the sound of a powerful strike along with the constellations’ screams. The moment I reflexively tried to hide between the buildings, I could see a black coat fluttering.
For a brief second, I felt my heart stop. Scarred muscles could be seen through the torn sleeves of the coat. I looked at the trajectory of the sword against the ground and emotions filled my heart.
He was alive, although he wasn’t exactly the same as what I remembered. His physique was a bit bigger, his impression was a bit sharper and there was a large scar on his cheek. There was no way I couldn’t know him.
“Yoo―!”
I opened my mouth but something faster than sound flew at me. I would’ve died instantly if I hadn’t invoked Bookmark and Way of the Wind. Even though I dodged, there was a big stab wound in my side. I covered the wound and looked at him with a confused expression. By the time I looked up, he was already in front of my eyes.
I was suffocated as he gripped my neck. My voice didn’t come out so I had to use my true voice.
[Hey! Yoo Jonghyuk, it’s me!]
Maybe too much time had pa.s.sed. It took me longer than I thought so he might’ve forgotten about me.
[Let me go. It’s me! You already forgot…]
A terrible pain hit my belly and I felt like I was going to fall unconscious. I thought it was a terrible joke. Or perhaps he was so angry that he was acting like this. Then Yoo Jonghyuk’s cold voice was heard. “Where is Arondight? Do you have it?”
At this moment, a cool sensation grazed my neck. The moment I first met Yoo Jonghyuk on Dongho Bridge came to mind. He had similar eyes. It was the eyes of a person who didn’t know me.
“I will kill you if you don’t answer within five seconds. Oh.”
Really, it was the eyes of a person who could kill me.
[The exclusive skill, Character List is activated.]
[There is too much information about this person. Character List is converted to Character Summary List.]
[A system error has occurred.]
“Four.”
[The information of the character can’t be summarized!]
[The information of the character can’t be summarized!]
Along with a terrible headache, a terrible amount of information started flowing in.
“Three.”
I groaned and changed the setting of ‘Character List.’
[The minimum number of items specified by the user is shown.]
I saw the information rising before my eyes and was upset. I thought I knew all the endings of Ways of Survival.
+
[Character List Summary]
Name: Yoo Jonghyuk.
Constellation Support: ???
Private Attribute: Regressor (1863rd round) (Myth), Ruler of Amus.e.m.e.nt (Legend), Iron Blood Supreme King (Legend), Demon King Slayer (Myth), Eternal Solitude (Quasi-myth), Horror of the Stars (Myth)…
Exclusive Skills: Sage’s Eyes Lv. ???, Hand to Hand Combat Lv. ???, Thoughts Vaccine Lv. ???, Hundred Steps G.o.dly Fists Lv. ???, Red Phoenix Shunpo Lv. ???, Breaking the Sky Swordsmans.h.i.+p Lv. ???… (Omitted).
Stigma: Regression Lv. ???, Transmission Lv. ???]
…..
* The skill level of this person can’t be converted to a numerical value!
* The stigma level of this person can’t be converted to a numerical value!
….
+
However, there was only one. There was one regression where I didn’t know the end. A man who lost all his colleagues and finally saw the final chapter of the story in front of him.
“Two.”
The monster whose emotions were worn out by countless betrayals and numerous regressions were watching me. Along with the pain that pierced deep into my chest, the words left by Secretive Plotter revolved in my ears.
[ Let’s say you reach the end of everything using your method and save the world. Then what about the other worlds? ]
[ What about all the worlds you didn’t save? ]
In the sky of the ruined Gw.a.n.ghwamun, the dying stars were s.h.i.+ning. This wasn’t the third round of the Star Stream that I changed. I changed the future and the worlds of the original novel were abandoned. Yoo Jonghyuk’s blade moved through the air.
“It looks like you aren’t going to answer. Then die.”
It was the 1863rd regression of Ways of Survival. This world was the last round of Yoo Jonghyuk that I knew about.