Chapter 468

The unconscious Yu Jung-Hyeok didn’t want to wake up even after four hours passed by .

“Hey, you crazy idiot! Wake up!”

Han Su-Yeong and I took turns slapping his cheeks . Unfortunately, he still showed no signs of waking up at all .

Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!!

Also, his damn cheeks were so hard that even the concerted slapping from both of us failed to puff them up . Our palms went numb from pain, instead .

Han Su-Yeong spoke in a genuinely impressed tone of voice . “You know, this is kind of fun?”

” . . . . This is no time to crack jokes like that . “

[5 hours and 12 minutes remaining until the start of the Great Apocalypse Scenario . ]

We really didn’t have much time left . Soon, the ‘Great Apocalypse’ will commence, and the Outer Gods would start invading us due to the expanding Probability .

But now, Yu Jung-Hyeok was in this state .

I couldn’t even begin to guess what went wrong where . Was this related to my [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] somehow?

[‘Character List’ has failed to activate . ]

[Applicable individual is not a ‘Character’ . ]

I tried using [Character List] one more time, but the resulting message was the same .

There were a lot of ‘Yu Jung-Hyeoks’ in this universe, but that message only ever appeared with just one . That Yu Jung-Hyeok of the 1863rd regression turn, disappearing towards his own story . . .

When I got that far, I began thinking of something . But . . . could it really be?

Yi Seol-Hwa watching on from the side asked a question . “Should we feed him the [Life and Death Pill]?”

Not too long ago, she finally managed to perfect the ultimate recovery medicine, the [Life and Death Pill] . This elixir could apparently cure any and all fatal wounds when ingested .

“Have you already reached the level of mass-producing it?”

“No, not yet . I was only able to concoct a few . Didn’t have enough ingredients . . . . “

I could only sigh . Since we didn’t know what might happen, we couldn’t afford to carelessly waste the [Life and Death Pill] .

[Character ‘Yu Jung-Hyeok’s’ egos are colliding!]

On top of that, we weren’t sure if the problem of one’s ego could be solved by the [Life and Death Pill], either . It was then, a slight vibration reverberated throughout the Industrial Complex .

“Dok-Ja-ssi, we’ve detected movement . “

Yi Hyeon-Seong opened the sick bay’s door and hurriedly entered .

Han Su-Yeong and I looked at each other at the same time . I urgently switched the display panel on and the Pacific Ocean’s situation soon filled it up .

Ku-gugugugu!

The wave that swallowed up the American continent revealed itself once more . Transparent dome walls had stopped the wave, and it was steadily increasing its water level, instead .

The Probability was still restricting it, that was why .

Tsu-chuchuchuchut!

However, that Probability’s wall was being pushed back bit by bit . The border that crossed the vast Pacific was gradually widening its diameter . We could also see the ‘Outer Gods’ wiggling about in between the rising waves .

In five hours’ time, that border would reach the Korean Peninsula, and this land would disappear from the face of this Earth .

” . . . . . Kim Dok-Ja . A plan?”

“I do have one,” said I, before glancing at the unconscious Yu Jung-Hyeok and adding something else . “Although, it looks like I’ll have modify it a bit now . “

“Stop making me worried, alright? How did that thing get stopped back in the original storyline?”

“Nebulas all desperately fought together . Most of the Constellations were ground down to fine dust trying to stop that . “

“Where are those oh-so-mighty Constellations, then?”

“What do you mean, where?”

[Many Constellations are watching your judgement . ]

Most likely, they were busy spectating on our apocalypse .

[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is criticising other Constellations, asking them if the ideals of righteousness in have all withered away . ]

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is crossing his arms and shaking his head . ]

[Constellation, ‘Most Ancient Liberator’, finds the Constellations of the large Nebulas quite pathetic . ]

Even though Constellations from our side provoked them, they remained composed in their replies .

[A portion of Constellations argue that all of this was brought upon by themselves . ]

Some of them even began arguing that it was our fault, too .

[A small number of Constellations argues that it’s that stole away their shares first . ]

Now normally, such an argument was utter drivel with no leg to stand on, but for some reason, my mind remained calm even after hearing them . Because I roughly knew why they were acting like this .

Back when we went to visit , the monkey told me this .

– Many Fables that constitute Great Fables have all entered the path of stagnation similar to ’s situation . A certain Fable that has appeared in recent times have begun eating into the percentages of other Fables, you see . . . . . I’m talking about you people’s Fable .

Originally, the main actors leading this stage should’ve been the Nebulas that had been compiling their myths for a long time . However, several of them either lost the important Fables to us or got destroyed in the process . In the midst of all this, even decided to grandly label us as the ‘third strongest’ Nebula, so the sense of deprivation the existing stars felt must’ve been indescribable .

… . Of course, it didn’t mean that what these stars were doing right now was correct or justified .

Han Su-Yeong chewing on her nails asked . “Isn’t it better to give up on Earth? How about we come up with the way to reach the ‘Final Scenario’ with everyone, instead . . . . . ?”

“You know that’s not going to happen . “

Only the ones permitted could reach the Final Scenario .

Even if everyone on Earth was inducted into , the aftermath of the Probability’s storm caused by the nonsensical scenario jump would ensure our complete destruction .

“Goddammit . “

I could sense [Predictive Plagiarism] spinning its gears vigorously inside her head .

“You said that these Outer God Kings are beings from the 999th turn . How many are there, anyway?”

“From what I know, there are four excluding the ‘Secretive Plotter’ . “

” . . . . Are we going to fight all four of them at the same time??”

I shook my head and recalled the list of the ‘Outer God Kings’ I memorised back then .

⸢The ‘Living Flame’ that rises up from the east . ⸥

⸢The ‘Master of the Sunken Island’, the calamity of the world in the west . ⸥

⸢The ‘Monarch of the Great Abyss’, the ruler of the northern universe . ⸥

⸢The ‘King of Silverlight Heart’, the ruler of the interstellar space in the south . ⸥

The beings that became the ‘Outer God Kings’ after witnessing the ‘Conclusion’ of the 999th regression turn .

However, Even if this was the we were talking about, I wasn’t convinced that they’d insert every King into this scenario . They didn’t really like the scenarios that they couldn’t control, after all . Which meant . . .

“One has appeared in the Pacific Ocean . And when all of our forces start moving, one more should show up . That would make two Kings . “

“Okay, so one is the Pacific Ocean bastard, and the other will be Uriel from the 999th turn?”

“Correct . “

“How strong are they? I only saw for a brief moment back then . . . . “

“Well, Uriel from the 999th turn is responsible for leaving the ‘Secretive Plotter’ in that state, so yeah . “

” . . . . Son of a bitch . And something like that is going to show up with underlings, too??”

Han Su-Yeong clearly witnessed the power of ‘Secretive Plotter’ during the battle against the Apocalypse Dragon . So, her reaction couldn’t be seen as over the top .

“Constellations of our channel will definitely help us, right?”

“Even if they help us, there is no guarantee of our victory . Most importantly, we won’t be at our full combat strength with Yu Jung-Hyeok missing . “

My original plan was to split the companions in two to divide and conquer the Outer God Kings . However, if the main combatant Yu Jung-Hyeok were to go missing from the picture, then we won’t be able to rely on the 1863rd turn’s power to survive .

Kwa-kwakwakwa!

We saw the ‘wave’ gradually widening its area of influence through the display panel . It’d be too late if we started defending ourselves when the boundaries of the Great Apocalypse reached the Korean Peninsula .

I quickly came to a new decision .

“Let’s get moving . I’ll tell you what you must do . “

Five hours remained .

We needed to finish our preparation within this time frame .

*

While Han Su-Yeong was busy conveying my new plan to our companions, I went to talk to Yi Gil-Yeong . After hearing my summons, the boy quickly rushed into the reception room with a bright expression .

“Hyung! You called for me? What’s up?”

I nodded my head . “Please sit over here . “

He quickly sat down on the couch and looked up at me with his sparkling eyes as if he couldn’t wait to hear what I had to say .

I stared deeply into his eyes .

⸢The child who used to think of this world as a game . ⸥

Even now, the memories of the moments I first met Yi Gil-Yeong remained fresh in my head . It was a nightmare filled with the flickering overhead lights of the subway and grasshoppers all leaping up into the air simultaneously . If Yi Gil-Yeong hadn’t caught any insects that day, the one to die would’ve been me .

⸢The insect-collecting boy without a mother was now old enough to be a middle-school student . ⸥

I didn’t save his mother that day . What would’ve happened if I made a different choice back then?

For instance, what if my disgust towards humans was less intense? What if I didn’t notice the injuries on the boy’s arm while grabbing the grasshoppers? What if I didn’t have a habit of hastily guessing a person’s history with just a few circumstantial evidence?

What if I hadn’t read the ‘Ways of Survival’?

What if I . . . . wasn’t Kim Dok-Ja . . . . . ?

” . . . . . Sorry . “

Ng?

” . . . . I’m sorry, hyung . “

Yi Gil-Yeong had his head lowered, his shoulders trembling from trepidation like a child about to be handed down a scary punishment .

Was it because I looked scary? Or, was it because of some other reason?

Yi Gil-Yeong continued on . “But, but, I didn’t have a choice . . . If I hadn’t signed the contract, Shin Yu-Seung might have . . . . . “

Only then did I realise what he was trying to say .

⸢And this boy signed the contract with the devil in order to protect his precious something . ⸥

A certain moment from the ⸢Journey to the West⸥ brushed past my view . Right, I witnessed it clearly, didn’t I – the yellowish storm erupting out from the boy’s figure while being surrounded by the Nine Stars .

Yi Gil-Yeong was talking about that time .

“I, I do remember you telling me to never use my Sponsor’s powers! I swear, I didn’t deliberately break our promise! I, I really . . . . “

As the boy spoke incoherently, I placed my hand on his head . “You did well . “

“Eh?”

The boy’s eyes grew wider, so I spoke with more conviction in my voice . “You did well . Without you, we’d have all died back then . “

I was aware of how tough it had been for this boy . Because I also knew only too well the sorrow of watching your companions die before your eyes and unable to do anything about it . Yi Gil-Yeong must’ve felt the same .

“However, doing it again is going to be troublesome . You know this, don’t you? With your powers . . . . . “

” . . . . . I don’t want to . “

“What’s that?”

“If the same things happen again, I’ll make the same choice . I’ll rely on that power again . I’ll . . . I’ll protect Shin Yu-Seung and my companions . “

“But, Gil-Yeong-ah . “

He hesitated slightly before avoiding my hand . He raised his head, and I saw several complicated emotions swirling within his eyes .

It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who had made up his mind .

“I know you called me here to scold me . But, I came here to tell you this, too . I’m not a little kid anymore, hyung . I’m also qualified, you know . Just like everyone else, I reached this far by beating back all the scenarios . “

I inwardly swallowed back my gasps .

I knew this already . I did, but . . . .

[The 4th Wall]’s voice could be heard next, sounding thoroughly unimpressed by my thoughts .

⸢D on’t tre at him l ike a kid you are mo re l ike a k id . ⸥

‘Gil-Yeong-ee is still a kid . ‘

⸢Y ou ca n’t fig ht wi thout hi m an yway . ⸥

⸢Kim Dok Ja, ac ting l ike a ni ce per son do esn’t suit y ou . ⸥

I knew that . But still, that didn’t mean . . . .

⸢D on’t wo rry, my fr iend will he lp . ⸥

… . Your friend?

It was then, a transparent wall-like something wavered around Yi Gil-Yeong accompanied by ‘Tsu-chuchut’ noise .

[‘The 4th Wall’ is responding to its friend . ]

I cautiously reached out towards the empty air .

Something was there . This sensation of touching a wall – I was familiar with it . However, this ‘wall’ was still incomplete .

I finally understood several things just then .

… . So, that’s how it was . That ‘wall’ was now with this child . . . .

“H-hyung, even if you say no, I . . . . !”

He must’ve felt scared by my hand reaching out to the empty air, because he started shouting in a shaky voice . I quickly lowered my hand and held his . I remained still while holding his hands tightly, until his shivering gradually calmed down .

“You’re right, Gil-Yeong-ah . “

” . . . . . Hyung?”

“I . . . We, can’t see the Conclusion without your help . We need you during the scenario we are about to enter . “

I slowly blinked my eyes .

I couldn’t help it now . I had to acknowledge our current situation where I had no choice but to rely on a hurting child . I had to treat preciously the boy’s heart that had to mature far too quickly for his age, and his courage he had to display first .

And to reward that courage, I too had to become honest here .

“Even if that’s true, I won’t let you fight all alone . This is my desire, and I won’t ever back down from this . Can you understand that, Gil-Yeong-ah?”

Yi Gil-Yeong slowly nodded his head . He wiped his tears and smiled happily . My heart ached thinking about how I had to go to war with this child in tow .

Unfortunately, it was now time to cross ‘that’ bridge .

“I want to speak to your Sponsor . “

My words caused Yi Gil-Yeong’s eyes to quake quite noticeably .

” . . . . B-but, hyung . T-that guy, it’s . . . . . “

“Don’t worry . “

The reason why I didn’t want to use his Sponsor was because that guy was simply too dangerous .

⸢” . . . . Will you truly not come with me? You’ll become stronger much faster if you stick with me instead of him . Even then, you wish to stay behind?”⸥

Yu Jung-Hyeok must’ve known this too and that’s why he tried to take Yi Gil-Yeong away . What a fox-like sly bastard .

I gently grasped the shoulders of worried Yi Gil-Yeong and spoke . “Your hyung is now a Myth-grade Constellation, you know . “

If it was a few days ago, I’d have avoided making this choice if at all possible . But the story was different now .

I lightly sucked in my breath, and while looking up, spoke in my true voice . [I know you’re watching, so come out . ]

The moment the tone of my voice changed, a heavy reverberation spread out around us . Sparks completely inundated the reception room and Yi Gil-Yeong’s expression changed . As his brows furrowed in pain, his eyes became white next . I realised what was happening here so I quickly broke past the Probability’s storm and tightly grasped the boy’s shoulder .

[I don’t remember telling you to descend . ]

Tsu-chuchuchut!

The after-effects from the Probability’s storm lessened significantly and all sorts of pain rushed into my arm . But, I ably endured it . If I didn’t go with this much showmanship, then I’d not be able to negotiate properly with this guy .

[Your Status is suppressing the after-effects of a localised Probability’s storm!]

Yi Gil-Yeong’s expression regained its calm rapidly .

And right in the next instance, sounds akin to the beatings of insect wings came out from his mouth, currently looking as if empty darkness had taken over .

[I’m familiar with waiting, yet you have taken far too long . ]

This voice sounded as if millions of locusts were crashing in at the same time .

Fin .