Chapter 473: 473

“Nice work, Sun Wukong!!”

The clearly-excited Han Su-Yeong cried out .

Along with the ‘ku-ru-ruk’ noise, bloody foams rose up above the ocean . Not too long after, 999th turn’s Uriel revealed herself on the water’s surface . She must’ve ripped apart the surrounding aquatic creatures before rising up, because her entire figure was bathed in a crimson hue .

Rather than betrayal, it was the sense of wonderment filling up her expression .

[[… . I can’t believe it . Great Sage, even you’re taking their side?]]

Eventually, that wonderment changed into a longing .

The Great Sage detected that change and asked her . [Who might you be, acting as if you know me?]

[[I’m simply recalling a comrade-in-arms I lost in the past . I don’t have any desire to fight against you . Get out of the way . All I want is the ‘Secretive Plotter’ . ]]

For sure, no will to battle could be felt from her voice .

However, the Great Sage still shook his head . [I also dislike that dour bastard, but . . . . ]

As he smiled indifferently, incredible aura exploded forth from his entire figure .

[Our maknae will be troubled if that guy dies, you see . ]

[Constellation, ‘Most Ancient Liberator’, is revealing his Status!]

He was the existence who finally liberated his Status previously restricted by the headband, and he even acquired the powers of an Outer God after a partial ‘Outer God Transformation’ had taken place .

Yogoes that fought together with him during the ⸢Journey to the West Remake⸥ were exiting from the portal to descend on the Pacific Ocean .

[Monkeykingmonkeykingmonkeyking]

‘Outer Gods’ worshipping different kings got into scuffles with one another . The ocean soaked in blood tumbled over violently, and the 999th turn’s Uriel began gasping out .

And finally, the taut equilibrium began tilting to one side .

“It’s working! Keep pushing!”

Along with Han Su-Yeong’s voice, ’s great Fables began telling their stories at the same time .

[Great Fable, ‘Demon World’s Spring’, has begun its storytelling!]

[Great Fable, ‘Torch that Swallowed the Myth’, has begun its storytelling!]

[Great Fable, ‘Season of Light and Darkness’, has begun its storytelling!]

[Great Fable, ‘Liberator of the Forgotten Ones’, has begun its storytelling!]

Although the main shareholders Kim Dok-Ja and Yu Jung-Hyeok were missing, other members still possessed not-too-shabby percentages of the Great Fables’ shares . And also, there were some others who had finished getting ready and were itching to unleash the final strike .

[Only one sun in the sky is enough . ]

First, it was Surya appearing along with his train . And then . . .

[Cutting down Outer Gods have become quite a habit now . ]

[Let us combine our strengths, Breaking the Sky Saint . ]

“I’m also coming!”

The Breaking the Sky Sword Saint and Kyrgios, plus Jang Ha-Yeong, all joined in .

And so, the 999th turn’s Uriel was pushed on her back foot . Her expression was gradually being dyed in confusion .

[[How . . . . How can all of you be together? What kind of a world-line is this . . . . ??]]

She was panicking at the Great Fables rushing in; their sizes were quite large, but their contents proved to be even more problematic . Just how was it possible that such a Fable existed?

Just how . . . ?

Three Transcenders riding on the train penetrated past the sun’s heat barrier . Then, an attack containing the outrageous amount of power that combined [Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship], [Lightning Transformation], and even [Breaking the Sky Force Punch] shot out .

Just as that strike was about to sneak in through Uriel’s opening and land on her . . .

A chilling sensation suddenly enveloped the nape of Han Su-Yeong’s neck .

“No, stop!”

[Fable, ‘Predictive Plagiarism’, is urgently revising the story!]

The powerful sensation only she could feel in this whole world arrested her . And right next second, the noise akin to the time/space of the surrounding dimension being squeezed dry rang out loudly .

Ka-dudududuk .

Han Su-Yeong couldn’t tell what was going on before her eyes .

[[What’s this? Where is ‘me’ in this regression turn? Could I have been killed already?]]

That rebellious voice sounded as if a portion of the abyss had been taken away to mould it into reality .

The Transcenders approaching the rear of the Outer God to land the final strike were falling to earth along with the destroyed train . Indescribably dark [Black Flames] were burning on the ends of their clothing .

A lone man was standing amidst the gloomy, dark clouds in the sky . He was someone Han Su-Yeong also knew . She knew him so well that goosebumps were breaking out on her skin .

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is warning you of danger!]

The man slowly opened his mouth . [[Chet . I thought it was Ji-Hye, what with this much rampaging Status and all . Made a mistake since it’s been so long and all . ]]

The sun of the ‘Living Flame’ emitted blinding rays of light . However, the darkness belonging to the man grew even thicker in response, just like the shadow lengthening against the light .

The 999th turn’s Uriel spoke . [[‘The Monarch of the Great Abyss’ . Just who summoned a bastard like you to this world-line?]]

The nape of Han Su-Yeong’s neck grew icy; she remembered what Kim Dok-Ja told her about the ruler of the northern universe, the ‘Monarch of the Great Abyss’ .

[[Hahaht . You finally called me with that title . Besides all that, you look like you’re in a bit of trouble? Should I help you out?]]

The sun’s corona flared up as if it was convulsing .

[[I don’t need it . Help from a scoundrel like you is . . . . ]]

[[Don’t be like that . We’re ‘comrades’ from the same regression turn, after all . ]]

The man cackled insidiously .

He was none other than the Demon of Delusions Kim Nam-Woon who also witnessed the 999th turn’s ‘Conclusion’ .

And the moment his gaze moved, Han Su-Yeong felt a chill run down her entire body .

[[I also wanna see the Black Dragon’s face, since it’s been a while . ]]

Kim Nam-Woon was already right by her face and he began studying her with a nefarious gaze .

*

When his eyes slowly opened up, Yu Jung-Hyeok realised that he was wandering within the darkness alone .

The last thing he could remember was him researching the sure-kill attack with Kim Dok-Ja . Something went wrong in the middle of that, and he lost his consciousness . . .

[Your soul form is currently in an unstable condition!]

[Fable, ‘Hellscape of Eternity’, is currently in an illegible state . ]

⸢When is that idiot Yu Jung-Hyeok’s birthday, again?⸥

Fragmented memories occasionally drifted in . He heard a voice in between his blurry consciousness . No, rather than a voice, it was far closer to letters, instead .

Yu Jung-Hyeok quickly recognised whose speech pattern it belonged to .

⸢ . . . . The regression turn mentioned for the first time is . . . . ⸥

That silly manner of speech capable of irritating a person to no end – only Kim Dok-Ja spoke like that in the entire world .

⸢Ee-ya~, this part was really entertaining, wasn’t it?⸥

Sentences on the pages Kim Dok-Ja was reading brushed past his eyes . Yu Jung-Hyeok saw himself fighting against Constellations right there .

⸢The 1st regression turn, 41st, 666th . . . . ⸥

Kim Dok-Ja’s fingers tracing the letters suddenly stopped . The information on a certain regression turn could be spied in between his fingers lingering on for the longest time .

⸢The 999th turn . ⸥

Even Yu Jung-Hyeok was aware of the events that happened during that regression turn . The ⸢Hellscape of Eternity⸥ was informing him of the time he couldn’t remember through all the texts Kim Dok-Ja had read .

The latter seemed to be muttering softly while reading about that regression turn .

⸢”I’m Yu Jung-Hyeok . . . . . “⸥

The real Yu Jung-Hyeok didn’t know anything about the life supported by that lame declaration .

‘Yu Jung-Hyeok’ as read by Kim Dok-Ja; his history remained like soot in between the flow of the pages . Ostracised within school, tormented in his part-time workplace by a boss busy stealing his wages, and going on a forced march until soles of his feet became a bloodied mess during his army days – Kim Dok-Ja endured them all by calling himself Yu Jung-Hyeok .

The latter simply couldn’t understand the former .

He had no idea what it meant for the time he had to endure ending up saving someone else living in a completely different world . He just didn’t know what it meant for a person to become more courageous by reading about someone else’s battles .

Not only that, Yu Jung-Hyeok even found his own self as seen through those texts utterly unfamiliar .

⸢”I can still fight . “⸥

Did he really say that?

⸢”Doesn’t matter whether it’s a hundred times or thousand, I shall continue to be reborn to kill you all . “⸥

Was he really the kind of a person to say something like this?

The voices of the companions that trusted him could be found among the countless texts .

⸢Captain . ⸥

⸢I only trust you . ⸥

⸢You must save the world in the next turn . ⸥

The world-lines kept vanishing, the only things left behind being those sentences . And as the volume of the words that tormented him increased, the value of life itself became cheaper .

Just what did they see in him to fight alongside him?

‘Who am I?’

Yu Jung-Hyeok was overcome with emptiness as he stared at the words outside his ability to comprehend .

1864 lifetimes .

He already knew what sort of a world he had to cross to get here .

However, he couldn’t understand it at all .

⸢Is this really everything of me, these memories?⸥

Yu Jung-Hyeok grew curious . If he was really nothing more than a ‘character’ just as Kim Dok-Ja said, then what happened to the ‘time’ he couldn’t remember?

Where was himself not among the pages that Kim Dok-Ja had read?

Or, did he not exist from the get-go?

[Your Sponsor is looking closely at you . ]

Could he really be able to say from where his life had ‘existed’ and where it ended?

Tsu-chuchuchut . . . .

He reflexively looked back at the emptiness as soon as he felt the chilling sensation . He found someone else other than him there .

[[Are you doing an introspection of yourself? You don’t have the time to waste like this . ]]

Yu Jung-Hyeok immediately recognised who it was .

‘You shouldn’t be able to move still . ‘

He glared at the ‘Secretive Plotter’ . He instinctively reached out towards his [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword], but the familiar hilt was nowhere to be found .

This place was his imagined world . Items didn’t exist here .

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ stared back at him and shook his head in disappointment . [[At this rate, all of your comrades will be annihilated . ]]

‘Annihilated?’

Cold sensation crept down his back .

His companions were about to enter a dangerous battle against the ‘Outer God King’ . He could definitely sense the ominous aura flowing around in the surroundings .

He needed to wake up at once . He needed to get out of here, and . . . .

[[There’s no point in going with your current state . If you can’t utilise the power of the 1863rd turn, then you won’t prove to be any help whatsoever . ]]

‘So what? What are you saying?’

Yu Jung-Hyeok growled menacingly, yet the Secretive Plotter remained unruffled . [[You have another way of utilising the power of the 1863rd turn . ]]

Right away, he deciphered the meaning behind those words .

The only reason why he could regain the power of the 1863rd turn for a short moment was due to Kim Dok-Ja’s Fable, ⸢Hellscape of Eternity⸥ . And the one who gave that fool his Fable was . . . . .

Yu Jung-Hyeok gritted his teeth and asked .

‘You expect me to trust you? And why are you trying to help us?’

[[I was asked for a favour . ]]

‘… . A favour?’

[[I’ll lend you my powers just this once . I hope that you learn something from this . ]]

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ reached out from the darkness . There was no time to dodge, and the cold palm of a boy touched Yu Jung-Hyeok’s forehead . And then . . .

[‘Disconnected Film Theory’ is activating!]

Accompanied by pain severe enough to blank out the inside of his head, a humongous Fable flooded in . These were memories he already knew . However, they were also the ones he failed to understand . Every Fable of ‘Secretive Plotter’ coursed within his bloodstreams while emitting white-hot heat .

The 1st turn, 2nd, 3rd, 4th . . . . and then, 1863rd .

Countless Yu Jung-Hyeoks were waking up within him .

All of them were Yu Jung-Hyeok . Each of them was Yu Jung-Hyeok . But at the same time, Yu Jung-Hyeok was just one person .

The one person, who managed to live through 1864 lifetimes .

He began remembering things one by one .

Such as, who he was .

What he lived for .

Fables were circling around his vicinity . Within the Fable, someone was asking this .

⸢”By the way, when is Captain’s birthday?”⸥

That prompted Kim Dok-Ja to reply .

⸢Ah, I found it . It was over here . Third of August . ⸥

Right . He was born in the summer . A hellishly hot and humid summer, when horrible storms were lashing out .

He could remember everything so vividly now .

His birthday that no one celebrated or congratulated him for . All those anniversaries that lost their meanings as he went through 1864 lifetimes .

Yu Jung-Hyeok slowly opened his eyes . The energy of Fable completely saturated his whole body . This feeling was something he had not felt before during this ‘3rd’ turn .

He raised his head and sensed the hot rays of the sun .

Even so far away, he could still clearly sense it – the ‘Outer God’s’ presence calling out to him from beyond the faraway horizon . However, he didn’t feel scared .

He slowly raised his body up and confirmed the condition of his Incarnation Body . Every single part of it was operating at a near-perfection .

Fables he had compiled so far were permeating within every fibre of his being .

⸢In that very moment, Yu Jung-Hyeok felt as if he was reborn . ⸥

[Great Fable, ‘Pilgrim of the Lonely Apocalypse’, has recovered its complete Status . ]

This was the true power he originally possessed, the Status of a being who reached the final turn of the world and witnessed the ‘Wall’ by himself alone .

[‘Disconnected Film Theory’ is currently activating in an abnormal manner . ]

[Connection between films is incomplete . ]

[The entire film may cease to exist if this connection is forcibly maintained . ]

He could only rely on this power for a brief time . However, it was more than enough for him . Yu Jung-Hyeok raised his head and looked up at the sky .

The heavens were screaming out . The flashes of lightning strikes vividly illuminated the scars engraved on his face every so often .

[Fable, ‘Hellscape of Eternity’, has begun its storytelling!]

[Attribute, ‘Terror of the Stars’, is activating!]

His glare caused the stars to run away in fear .

Yu Jung-Hyeok stared at them for a moment, before his figure flashed towards the distant sun .

Fin .