Chapter 534

Han Su-Yeong continued to write .

The short period of time given to her during the wee hours was completely devoted to Kim Dok-Ja .

“Hey, Dokkaebi King . “

“Yes, my dear god . “

” . . . . I told you to stop calling me that . Anyways . The ‘Ways of Survival’ will be published seven in the evenings from now on . The website doesn’t have the feature to schedule the chapter releases ahead of time yet, so you hold onto the manuscript and upload them on time for me . If I upload them during dawn, that kid is going to stay up late and wait . He won’t get any sleep . “

“I shall do as you command . “

Han Su-Yeong spat out a lengthy groan and shifted her gaze back to the manuscript she’d been working on .

⸢Yu Jung-Hyeok examined the events of the previous regression turn . ⸥

She couldn’t possibly write a life that lasted for 1863rd regression turns . 3149 chapters were simply too short to contain a life lived for 1864 times . She had to omit some regression turns, while some others had to be greatly reduced in length .

She knew that life didn’t really work that way . But at the same time, she had to acknowledge that some lives could only be written in such a manner . Once she came to accept that, writing those lives didn’t prove to be too difficult for her .

The life of 1863rd turn Yu Jung-Hyeok was given to her in its entirety, while she also possessed information from the 3rd turn Kim Dok-Ja, as well . Most importantly, though, she was an excellent writer .

The margins she couldn’t fill up, they would instead be lived out by Yu Jung-Hyeok himself .

Yu Jung-Hyeok, who’d take his breaths among the flowing contexts of the words, and step above the hard ground covered by the pitch-black letters .

All she could do was to deliver such Yu Jung-Hyeok’s story .

Every time she wrote a single chapter, Kim Dok-Ja’s life was extended by yet another day . As one sentence after another was compiled and recorded, her own time also ticked forward little by little .

The 13-year-old Han Su-Yeong became 14 . Then, 15 years old .

⸢A serialisation that would last for ten long, arduous years had begun . ⸥

It was tough . She didn’t have enough stamina, and her young body was simply too frail . Even then, Han Su-Yeong endured . She thought about Kim Dok-Ja beyond the computer screen, also getting older like her . Kim Dok-Ja, who hadn’t died, hadn’t given up, and was still enduring his life .

– Dear author-nim, Today, Jung-Hyeok did . . .

Are you really enjoying a story like this?

Although half in doubt, Han Su-Yeong still continued to write the story .

⸢”The information I gave you will come in handy later down the line . So, take a look whenever you have time . “⸥

The story would not end as long as someone was reading it .

That’s how it was with the 1863rd regression turn, once thought to be the last .

– Author-nim . I’ve been thinking, how about creating a new character by using this opportunity . . . . ?

She checked the comments Kim Dok-Ja left behind every day . As she was active only around the early hours, communicating with him in real-time was difficult, but she did reply to the questions that seemingly required one .

– Should I create another main character?

– If possible, might as well as make her a pretty female character . . .

– Aha, you mean a beautiful young girl .

⸢Facial features more than enough to slap Yu Jung-Hyeok’s cheeks twice . A beautiful young boy with brilliant blonde locks glared at Yu Jung-Hyeok and shouted out . “Hey you, dumpling man . “⸥

– … . But, author-nim??

Kim Dok-Ja, 16 years old . 17, 18 .

He’d consume this story and grow older, and eventually, become the ‘Most Ancient Dream’ . Despite knowing that fact, Han Su-Yeong still enjoyed this time period . A world of a pure-white snowfield where letters were wandering around freely . Above this world existed Kim Dok-Ja, and so did Han Su-Yeong .

– Author-nim . I was wondering if Jung-Hyeok-ee is suffering way too much lately . . .

Sometimes, she’d put Yu Jung-Hyeok through the wringer . It only happened because of her desire to realistically copy and paste the story she already knew . While writing the novel in this manner, she’d fall into a pit of confusion every now and then .

Did this event really happen in the past?

Couldn’t it be more like, it happened because I wrote this?

Whatever the truth was, she still gave it her all . She took pride in her work . But at the same time, she had to admit that it was impossible for her to completely rule over her own work .

⸢With a pair of seething, boiling eyes, Yu Jung-Hyeok glared up into the heavens . ⸥

Sometime in the future, Yu Jung-Hyeok created by the tips of her hands would meet that Kim Dok-Ja for real . Just thinking about that event nearly made her go crazy from time to time .

– Unprecedented hit novel! ⸢⸢SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor⸥⸥!

Around that time, the ‘daytime ego’ began working as an author in earnest, as well . Of course, she had stolen the nighttime Han Su-Yeong’s talents wholesale, so there was no way that her novel would fail . Not only that, the ‘daytime ego’ even went to the trouble of creating an anonymous account to leave behind a toxic comment on the ‘Ways of Survival’, too .

– I’m really worried about the life of the dear author-nim actually writing this junk .

… . What was even more flabbergast-inducing was Kim Dok-Ja’s DM .

– Author-nim! Do know about the novel called SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor? That novel’s setting is exactly the same as the Ways of . . .

Han Su-Yeong smirked and began typing her reply . She thought, right, the dude writing a DM like this accused me of being a plagiarist during the 1863rd turn, did you?

– I’m happy that my viewcount has gone up thanks to the exposure, actually .

When she was finished typing the reply, the faint rays of the daybreak had cast onto the world outside the window . Starting from a while ago, she didn’t feel refreshed even after waking up . She’d often use up all of her allotted time on writing the novel, and there were times when she couldn’t endure the fatigue anymore and fall asleep despite the self-regulated activity period not having ended yet .

To make matters worse, her memories were gradually deteriorating, as well .

Information she heard from Yu Jung-Hyeok, and received from Kim Dok-Ja – she couldn’t recall them well . Things that happened back in the 1863rd turn were getting blurrier . And also . . .

[Your Fable is being consumed . ]

Even the length of her self-regulated activity period was decreasing gradually .

*

The time continued to tick by, and Han Su-Yeong continued to write almost every day .

At times, she couldn’t wake up and ended up wasting an entire day . And due to the worsening fatigue, the number of days she couldn’t read Kim Dok-Ja’s comments increased as well .

– Author-nim . I’ll be joining the military the day after tomorrow . Looks like I’ll be sent to the frontlines .

– It’s Kim Dok-Ja . I’m here at Yanggu .

– Jung-Hyeok-ah . . . I wonder, have you ever shovelled snow before?

20 years old, 21, 22 . . .

371st turn, 621st, 972nd . . .

As Yu Jung-Hyeok’s regression turn numbers grew higher, so did Kim Dok-Ja’s age . Kim Dok-Ja feeding on Yu Jung-Hyeok’s tragedy became a high school student, then a university student and eventually, a soldier .

Han Su-Yeong observed the growth of such a man .

Her free time decreased even more as the ‘daytime ego’, now an adult herself, began staying up during the dawn as well . As the time to polish up the novel gradually dissipated, the Dokkaebi King’s role also naturally grew much more substantial .

“Please don’t worry . I shall fix all the errors,” said the Dokkaebi King .

“Do you even know anything about grammar?”

“Yes, I do . I’m planning to earn my living that way . A publisher was looking for a part-time proofreader, so I confidently applied for the position . “

This guy still came across as somewhat unreliable, but she couldn’t get anyone else to help her, anyway . She definitely couldn’t get the help from the ‘daytime ego’, for instance . A lot of her strength had been exhausted and her forgetfulness had worsened greatly in recent times so it took a lot out of her just to post a reply to Kim Dok-Ja’s comments .

⸢And just like that, a few more years went by like fleeting magic . ⸥

While writing that sentence, Han Su-Yeong thought that her life wasn’t all that different from Yu Jung-Hyeok’s, in some ways .

Sometimes, a life really did get omitted like this . However, that didn’t mean a life omitted as such left nothing of itself behind, either . That’s what she thought while staring at the novel numbering over 3000 chapters currently compiled before her eyes .

On a certain day before the completion, Han Su-Yeong opened up the platform’s chat window in order to write a comment as usual .

– Please don’t give up, dear reader-nim .

… . Did I post a comment like this before?

Initially, she figured this was a result of her typing some random things while half-submerged in drowsiness . However, there was more than one post that she couldn’t remember ever posting here .

– To answer your question . . .

Just when did she post such replies before? No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t recall . Not only that, the timestamps of the posts were weird, as well .

– Actually, rather than a mistake in the setting, it’s . . .

Han Su-Yeong summoned the Dokkaebi King right away . When she did, the creature wearing a fedora appeared from the thin air accompanied by the ‘Tsu-chuchut!’ noise .

She asked . “Did you write this?”

“Yes . “

“On whose authority?”

“I sincerely apologise for not getting your permission beforehand . You seemed very tired lately . “

Han Su-Yeong quietly stared at the Dokkaebi King .

This creature came to this world searching for its ‘god’ . And it now knew who its creator was .

“Just what are you aiming for?”

“I am merely a ‘storyteller’ . And as it is with every storyteller, I love to tell a great epic . The world you have created, of course . “

“There is only one reader of this story, though . “

“Do you really believe so?”

She narrowed her eyes and shot back . “I already know what you’re scheming, okay? You’re planning to turn my novel into a ‘paid service’, aren’t you?”

Ever since arriving in this world, she constantly thought about ‘that day’ .

The novel she wrote would become the ‘scenario’ that would go on to destroy this universe . However, who would dare to do something so horrifying like that? The answer was quite simple when she thought about it .

There was only one existence capable of doing something like that in this world-line, after all .

“You brought me here for that very purpose, didn’t you?”

“I won’t deny that . Even though it hadn’t been long since I realised what my true role was . “

Faint sparks were dancing all over the Dokkaebi King’s body . That was the evidence of the system’s Probability growing stronger . Also, it meant that this Dokkaebi was gradually regaining the power of the King of the storytellers .

Han Su-Yeong stared at the dancing sparks before speaking up . ” . . . . So, then . The apocalypse will really begin, is that it?”

“Yes . “

“Honestly, I don’t get it at all . You know the chronological sequence doesn’t make sense, either . “

” . . . . The chronological sequence?”

“The only reason why I can write this is because Yu Jung-Hyeok will live his life in the future, and Kim Dok-Ja had read the novel . But for me to write a novel that Kim Dok-Ja will read, that’s . . . . “

” . . . . The time paradox . That’s what humans call this . However, there are universes that do operate on that principle . A universe where the future is written before the past, and the cause is created for the purpose of the end result . I’m sure you’re already familiar with such a universe?”

Han Su-Yeong frowned as if to ask, what on earth are you talking about?

The Dokkaebi King grinned and lightly tapped the computer monitor . “Aren’t you currently writing one?”

The stray thoughts and fragments of letters she had thrown around could be found in there .

Countless scenes existing outside the time itself, outside the world, waiting to be connected as one . Some scenes became futures despite being written earlier, while some scenes, despite being written later, became the past . Han Su-Yeong’s eyes trembled . ” . . . . . Are you saying this whole universe is just a novel?”

“If I am to compare it, then yes, something like that . “

The letters within the screen seemed to ripple . Letters wishing to be loved by someone were flowing outside the monitor after forming pairs and groups with each other .

Sentences, that sparkled like the stars .

Some sentences willingly became the darkness for other sentences, while a certain sentence became light only through those dark words . Some sentences existed for the next sentence, while the next sentence gained its meaning because the first sentence existed .

“There is no ‘before and after’ in this universe . And that is precisely the reason why the ‘First World-line’ is being completed very last . ” Within this giant, endlessly connecting chain, the Dokkaebi King was smiling rapturously . “The universe was created just now, but at the same time, it has existed for the past billions of years, as well . And a certain beginning only appears after the apocalypse has commenced . “

Sentences cascaded like a meteor shower .

was singing towards its god .

Because Han Su-Yeong wrote the Ways of Survival, Kim Dok-Ja got to read it .

Because Kim Dok-Ja read the Ways of Survival, Yu Jung-Hyeok began his regression .

Because Yu Jung-Hyeok began his regression, Han Su-Yeong was able to write the ‘Ways of Survival . ‘

She might have written them, but these words were completed only after leaving her hands .

⸢The story that would save someone, destroy, and help him live . ⸥

Han Su-Yeong stared at the horrifying trajectory drawn out by those words and became acutely aware of the fact that she had been thrown into this neverending cycle .

She might be the author responsible for creating this world, but she was also a powerless god . A god that couldn’t even save a single reader . A god who was simply a part of this vast, boundless story .

[ is smiling in your direction . ]

“Now, behold . Isn’t this a truly perfect story?”

Fin .