Han Sooyoung sank down.There was no blood left in the man’s hand. Letters, crumbling like powder from his fingertips, were whispering in her ear.「He had once been Kim Dokja.」It couldn’t be.But no matter how many times she shook her head to deny it, the reality before her eyes did not change.「Forty-nine percent of Kim Dokja—the one she herself had cut down.」When Kim Dokja’s fragments scattered across the universe, she had thought that perhaps such an existence might be out there.Perhaps the Kim Dokja she had thought to be an [Avatar], too, had broken into small fragments and been reborn on the far side of the boundless cosmos.「“Oh my, our son is so brave.”」In that universe, he would live a new life under a new name.「“Honey, I think the baby likes books.”」「“Aiming to be a scholar or something?”」Unlike Kim Dokja, he would grow up in a warm home, receiving his parents’ love.「“Waaaah.”」He would have wept over the loss of his first love.「“Kuh. Kuh. Kuh. Love… only makes people weak.”」He would have indulged his youthful pretensions and created a black history of his own.「“Hakhyeon, what’s your dream?”」Perhaps he even found that new dream he so longed for.「“A writer.”」And he would have worked toward that dream.「Announcement of the 24th New Writer’s Prize. Winning work: ‘The Origin of Memory.’ Author: Lee Hakhyeon.」At times he must have slammed into the limits of reality and despaired.「“I’m sorry, author. As you know, the paper book market isn’t great these days…”」「“How about trying web fiction? These days, that field is…”」But in the end, he did not give up on the dream.「“Author, you can’t write it like this. Have you read your own dialogue out loud?”」「“Um… can I really make a living writing?”」As the price for not giving up on his dream, he met the man from inside the dream.「“You look like a web novel author.”」At last, he reached his lost origin.「“Editor-nim. I think I might just be the guy.”」「“What’s the title of this new piece?”」「“Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.”」Han Sooyoung read and reread his fable, broken and spotty as it was.An existence who refused to be born again as Kim Dokja.One who had helped his companions search for his lost memories.That man, who had once been a ‘reader’ who forgot this story—「I want to have my own story.」—had now become a ‘writer’ and returned into the story.Han Sooyoung held his hand for a long time.“Get up.”His limp body swayed without strength.“You didn’t come here to die.”It wasn’t a wound that could be treated.“After all that hardship, you left to find the life you wanted.”Why had he had to come back here?Han Sooyoung didn’t know the answer. Perhaps that answer would have to be found by Lee Hakhyeon himself.Instead, Han Sooyoung summoned every sentence she knew of the ‘Annihilation Method,’ and of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.But no matter how much she thought, ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ there was no way, in ‘this world,’ to treat his wound right now.Drawing a small breath, Han Sooyoung lifted her head. Staring into the darkness for a while as if searching for stars in the night sky, she slipped her hand into her coat.Tzutzuzuzut.[ is watching you.][Some nebulae are observing your actions.][Some constellations are wary of your actions!][The Administration Bureau is considering a “Plausibility Conformity Judgment” on your actions!]The channel shook violently, and she could feel the harbingers of plausibility backlash.In , saving someone costs far more plausibility than killing someone. All the more so if the person’s death has already been confirmed.A moment later, a small pill rested in Han Sooyoung’s hand.A Life-and-Death Pill.The ultimate elixir created by Physician Lee Seolhwa, and an item that ‘does not yet exist in this world.’She hadn’t expected that the emergency medicine she’d brought just in case would be used here.[A considerable number of constellations doubt the existence of the item you have produced.][The Administration Bureau is preparing to intervene in the scenario!]If she used this item, she would likely be struck by plausibility backlash.Because this was an item that should not exist in this world right now.“He wasn’t the [Avatar] meant to be sacrificed here, but…”Han Sooyoung pushed the Life-and-Death Pill into Lee Hakhyeon’s mouth. With a gentle warmth, his entire body soon became suffused with a faint light.There was something she wanted to ask.But now she had no time. With a burst of white sparks, her avatar began to fade away. The plausibility backlash was starting to roll in.At the last moment, she gripped the lemon candy in Lee Hakhyeon’s hand and said,“Tell him I received it.”***Soft snow brushed my cheek.When I opened my eyes to a pure white sky, I understood at once where I was.「Kim Dokja!」As I sprang up and shouted, a voice that had been waiting came from behind me.「Over here.」In the middle of the snowfield, Kim Dokja was crouched down, reading something.Was it the ‘Annihilation Method’? Or had someone written him a new novel in the meantime?The moment I thought that, I felt a pang of guilt.The lemon candy.「Sorry. I couldn’t keep the promise.」Kim Dokja smiled without a word.Feeling sheepish, I tried to cover for myself.「But I couldn’t help it. My pride as a writer got in the way.」「How was Han Sooyoung?」I thought for a moment and answered.「Strong.」Kim Dokja had faced such a Han Sooyoung again and again. He fought her, and fought her again, and in the end they became comrades.「And, a superb writer.」Feeling a little relieved, I added,「Honestly, it felt like that worldline could do just fine without me.」The Theater Dungeon had been cleared, and my part was done.If it was that Han Sooyoung, she wouldn’t stubbornly cling to the same ending even after watching me die.She would find a way, one way or another.To seal Yoo Joonghyuk, perhaps, or to reach an ending that didn’t sacrifice readers.The method I couldn’t find—she would find it.「Han Sooyoung doesn’t seem to think so.」「Hm?」I tried to parse what he meant. Maybe I was too tired. My head wasn’t working.「This is your story.」My story.Suddenly I felt dizzy.「I’m just an extra villain. All I’ve done is incite myself into being someone other than me.」Throughout the scenarios, time and again I had to become Kim Dokja, had to become Yoo Joonghyuk. I forced my way through the scenarios like that—and in the end, I died.Probably because I wasn’t truly Kim Dokja or Yoo Joonghyuk.「You’re Lee Hakhyeon.」For some reason, the moment I heard that, I felt like crying.「And right now you’re Cheon Inho.」「…」「The name isn’t what matters. What matters is that you were telling your story there.」Somewhere, I felt like I’d heard similar words before.But I couldn’t remember from whom.Bit by bit, my consciousness began to drift.Was it because I would soon die?Fighting sleep, I asked Kim Dokja,「You…」I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know what to ask. There were too many things I wanted to ask.Were you not exhausted?Enduring those long scenarios, that story, those years—didn’t you ever want to quit?Why haven’t you returned to your party yet?Kim Dokja opened his mouth.「When it’s hard, I have a chant I recite.」I knew what that chant was.We spoke at the same time.「I am Yoo Joonghyuk.」Names aren’t what matter.For a moment, I felt like I understood those words.From the start, hadn’t we endured life by borrowing each other’s stories, over and over?「I tried that too, but saying it didn’t actually make me the real Yoo Joonghyuk.」「That’s true.」The expression on Kim Dokja’s face as he nodded at that—I couldn’t forget it for a long time.「But after I say it, I feel a little more like ‘Kim Dokja.’」***With a lancing pain running through my whole body, my eyes flew open.I figured I should use the chant I’d just heard.“I am Yoo Joonghyuk.”I didn’t use [Incitement]. Even so, I felt a little strength return.Gasping for breath, I pushed myself up and saw the rooftop of the Theater Dungeon laid waste.I felt a faint magic at the edge of my heart. Flesh had grown anew where my chest had clearly been pierced through.「I survived.」I had no idea how this was possible.I had fought Han Sooyoung, and my chest had been run through, and I had died.The last sentence I wrote ended with my death. The title of that scene had been ‘Death of a Villain,’ and that was a fact that couldn’t be changed.「And yet I was alive.」With a soft slither, something slipped from my shoulder.The white coat Han Sooyoung had been wearing.Clutching the coat, I rose to my feet and looked around.I saw Yoo Joonghyuk and Jung Heewon, both unconscious. Judging by their steady breathing, neither seemed to be gravely injured.Where had Han Sooyoung gone?Dawn was breaking.A host of meteors crossed the boundary of the sky.Belatedly, I remembered that this was the Theater Dungeon.Kim Dokja and the others must have seen that sight too.Only now did I truly feel, in my skin, what Kim Dokja had said as he watched a meteor shower with eyes cold as ever.「The scenarios were only beginning.」We had only just reached the third Main Scenario, and I had already lost my life.The cold sensation of death still hung vivid before me.I survived by sheer luck this time—but would I next time?The scenarios to come would be far more terrifying than the ‘Theater Dungeon’ could ever be.Could the readers who came with me endure all those trials and survive?「This is your story.」Could I protect them?Dizziness surged and I pressed a hand to my brow.Footsteps sounded in the distance. With the scenario over, people who had escaped the movie were coming up to the rooftop one by one.At last the rooftop door burst open and someone stepped out. Then they asked me,“Kim Dokja?”I reflexively looked around, but there was no sign of Kim Dokja.Understanding arrived a beat late.The strong dawn backlight behind me. The deep shadow falling across my face. The hand pressed to my face from the wave of dizziness.The ‘external reinforcement suit’ the original Kim Dokja had worn.And the white coat in my hand.I could guess what they were seeing—and how they were misunderstanding it.Smiling, I was about to say I wasn’t Kim Dokja.But the moment I saw faces that looked ready to crumble at any second, every word inside me lost its strength and faded away.People who read stories, who loved stories.People who endured life by watching the stories of the characters they loved—rejoicing, grieving.From behind, I heard those farther back asking the ones who had come through the door first,“Ki—Kim Dokja?”“Kim Dokja? Really?”Desperate words dredged up from the depths of despair.A wish that, beyond the door they had flung open, the Kim Dokja they sought would be there.「In that moment, I understood Kim Dokja.」From far away came the sound of a small meteor striking down.Quietly, I looked down at the coat Han Sooyoung had left.「I am the writer Lee Hakhyeon, and the agitator Cheon Inho.」Perhaps this was something only I could do.[‘Ideation of Almost Everything’ imitates into ‘Thousand-Changes Stealth Garb’!]With my eyes closed, I calmly pictured a man’s face.[The effect of ‘Thousand-Changes Stealth Garb’ is activated!]A man with a pale face, grinning at people.A person who bore alone the ending of this world and wanted to see the epilogue of a single novel.The protagonist of this story.The white coat fluttered in the wind blowing over the building.Slowly, I lowered my hand from my face, and at the sight of my face, people broke into tears.“See? He really—he really existed.”“I told you! I told you he would!”Just from confirming someone’s existence, hope bloomed across their faces.“Kim Dokja!”Once, hearing that name would make my chest ache with a cold pang.But not now.「This world still needs a Kim Dokja.」I don’t know whether there truly is a Kim Dokja in this world or not.「Even so, this is still a story about Kim Dokja.」Fortunately, lying is what I do best.With a bitter smile, I raised my hand and waved to the people.「But it is not about just one person’s Kim Dokja.」

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