Chapter 179

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 passed 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 space with no blood or flesh . It was natural since the outer god 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 space, 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 gods 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 gods’ 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 space 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 space, 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 shivered 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 god 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 gods 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 god 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 god 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 space 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 identity 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 shell 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? ]

…Fucking bastard .

I didn’t know what rank he was among gourmets but he was low among the outer gods . 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 .

“Shit, 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 god 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 hitting 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 hell 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 passing 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 hell 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 damn 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 space and lived for 8,000 years, realized it . 」

[ Kuooooooh… . ! ]

It was the scene where Yoo Jonghyuk first killed a ‘god . ’ 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