Chapter 274 - Giant Story (3)

Surya was beyond the last door. Yoo Jonghyuk’s fist struck the door and broke it down, revealing a pierced skyline with strong winds. The last train car with Surya was cut apart, as if it had been ripped out by something.

[You came sooner than expected.]

Surya stared at the sky and spoke with his back to us. A square space was visible beyond the cut train. The light of the divine being stretched out into the darkness. It was like a palm gathering sand on a vast beach.

I deliberately spoke in a polite tone, “Surya, let’s stop here.”

The divine light that couldn’t touch the providence of the universe looked at me. Surya’s eyes stared at me. They seemed to be saying that even if they didn’t understand the Star Stream, there was no way they couldn’t read everything about me.

[A man who knows the ending of all the worlds... it is a really wild story.]

Perhaps Surya had heard the sentence of my ‘giant story.’ Before I could answer, King Oedipus stood by Surya’s side and replied, [It is just a metaphor. A pun.]

It was rather fortunate if he thought so. I felt a bit uncomfortable since the story contents came directly from me.

[The constellation ‘Mass Production Maker’ is questioning your sentences.]

[The constellation ‘God of Wine and Ecstasy’ is wondering about your giant story.]

[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ is telling him to be nervous.]

[The constellation ‘Maritime War God’ is forming clenched fists.]

[The constellation ‘Secretive Plotter’ is looking at you.]

Surya’s gaze towards me was changing. I realized that no matter what I said, I couldn’t stop him.

[Come on child. The time given to you is 10 minutes.]

Surya’s four arms were raised in a fighting posture. His size gradually became bigger as he opened up his status. He didn’t use any weapons. Surya intended to exclude me simply using the pure power of stories.

[10 minutes later, this carriage will collide with the Demon World.]

There was no more need to delay and Yoo Jonghyuk rushed in first. A blue aura reminiscent of the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint emerged from Yoo Jonghyuk’s body. The Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship was spreading its light.

I wasn’t the only one affected by the giant story. Yoo Jonghyuk also had a stake in this story. Despite his injured body, Yoo Jonghyuk was now able to exert a power equivalent to a constellation.

There was the sound of a blade and a pole colliding. It wasn’t Surya who received Yoo Jonghyuk’s attack.

[Kuooh...!]

King Oedipus let out a pained groan as he confronted Yoo Jonghyuk.

[Kuaaack!]

Oedipus squeezed out power from an overheated incarnation body but he seemed to be having a hard time dealing with Yoo Jonghyuk.

“Kim Dokja!” Along with Yoo Jonghyuk’s cry, I leapt through Oedipus’ defenses and headed to Surya. In the air of the train, the several times larger Surya greeted me.

[The exclusive skill ‘Electrification’ Lv. 12 (+2) has been activated.]

I was surrounded with the light of Electrification and a blue-white energy struck Surya’s chest. The other time, Surya stopped my Electrification with one fist.

However, this time was different. Surya’s skin was touched by the blue-white energy and started burning. This was from a slight blow.

Surya’s eyebrows twitched with surprise. I flew through the air and collided with Surya’s fists. The shock shook my heart but I endured it.

[The power of the ‘giant story’ is working for you.]

The world’s sentences were swirling around me. The power allowed me to compete with the mighty narrative-grade constellation. This was a great story but Surya was still alive.

[I said it before. You can’t win with the skills you have stolen.]

Maybe it was as Surya stated. I always struggled with the skills of others.

“This isn’t something that I stole from others. I read it.”

[Read?]

As Persephone told me, an existence was a story. Memories of sentences that had been read for many years. Everything that I had read and seen now became me.

[The exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is strongly activated.]

On the Fourth Wall, the sentences of the giant story emerged.

「 This is the story of a reader. 」

I ran towards Surya. In the trail of my run was the countless hours I spent alone reading. It was an ordinary life. I sat alone in a dark room and read Ways of Survival. On the bus after my part time job was over, in the army, in the classroom, on the subway home from work...

「 At the same time, it is the story of Dokja. 」

I lived in that world alone. I entered the mind of countless characters and became different beings again and again.

[Only this story...]

Therefore, I was a regressor who had never regressed.

[The exclusive skill ‘Way of the Wind Lv. 11 (+1) is activated!]

A returnee who had never returned.

[The number three bookmark has been activated.]

[The exclusive skill ‘Beast King’s Sensitivity Lv. 10 (+1)’ has been activated.]

Maybe I was a reincarnator.

Surya’s face slightly distorted as he was confronted with my ‘status.’ Every time our statuses clashes, I could feel our bodies being destroyed. Surya was also pulling out all the power he could.

[This is too much! It is ridiculously insufficient to get the qualification of the end!]

I shook my head. “It seems like you are mistaken about something. It isn’t only the giant stories that can reach the end.”

Maybe Surya wouldn’t understand. I had only received enlightenment after learning from Yoo Jonghyuk’s myriad failures.

Surya’s face hardened and he concentrated his strength into his four arms. Perhaps this would be Surya’s last attack.

I didn’t back down and stood up to him using the power of Electrification. The glare of the sun that melted everything was fired towards me. The blue-white light couldn’t overcome the high temperature and was pushed little by little.

I had just taken a step or two back when a rough and solitary story wrapped around me from behind. It wasn’t necessary to see whose story it was.

The sparks between Surya and I became more intense. Slowly, the pushing stopped.

[The constellation ‘Master of Steel’ is looking at you.]

[The constellation ‘Master of the Skywalk’ is looking at you.]

Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah. There was also Jung Heewon’s story. The history of all those who struggled to survive was nestled inside me.

「 The woman who woke up from a long crouch and laughed while holding a sword to destroy evil. 」

They weren’t here but there were others who shared our history.

「 The boy who lost his mother and held the insect in his hand cried. 」

「 The man who built the castle roared for the family that wouldn’t come back. 」

Lee Gilyoung and Gong Pildu.

「 The woman who built up the truth by lying gladly became his shadow. 」

There was also Han Sooyoung.

[The exclusive attribute ‘Scenario Interpreter’ is activated!]

Everything I lived made their way into the story. Surya’s incarnation body was right in front of me. Surya’s weakness was something that couldn’t be read with the Duke of Loyalty and Warfare’s stigma. Yet strangely, at this moment I knew where to stab Surya.

[The exclusive skill ‘Reading Comprehension’ is activated.]

Unbroken Faith shone brightly and an intense white light pierced Surya’s chest. There was the sound of something breaking as I poured out all my magic power before flying through the sky.

Among the fragments of the story that poured through the air like a fountain, the collapsed Surya could be seen.

[Surya! The Supreme God of Light!] Oedipus shouted and the situation started falling apart.

Meteorites were oxidized in the atmosphere and Surya’s train collapsed. I was falling towards the ground.

“Kim Dokja!”

Yoo Jonghyuk flew like the wind and grabbed me while the chimera dragon picked up my falling companions. It was truly a narrow escape. A few fragments of the last car left a long trail as they fell towards the ground. The shattered debris wept. Fortunately, the industrial complex wasn’t going to be hit.

Shin Yoosung was watching me from the head of the chimera dragon. “Ahjussi!”

Joy could clearly be seen on the child’s expression.

The next moment, a voice was heard from the cloud of dust on the ground. [Not yet! Not yet!]

It was King Oedipus. The miserable looking existence shouted at us from among the fallen constellations.

[The Demon King of Salvation! I know that the succession of the giant story hasn’t ended yet! If you give us the story, we will leave here.]

The game was already over but he still hadn’t given up. It was Yoo Jonghyuk who replied on my behalf. “Why should we?”

Yoo Jonghyuk landed on the ground, dropped me down and took out the Black Demon Sword. Then King Oedipus spoke. [Otherwise, your precious world will disappear.]

“Do you want to talk about fate again? I know you don’t have enough probability left in the Demon World.”

[What if it isn’t the Demon World?]

He flicked his fingers and a huge panel appeared in the air. It showed a blue planet that we knew well.

Yoo Jonghyuk frowned. “It seems you’ve sold your pride as a constellation. Is this your last hurrah?”

At this point, it was impossible to destroy Earth even if all of Olympus’ probability was used. Yoo Jonghyuk was aware of this and wasn’t panicked at all. King Oedipus laughed.

[It’s impossible to destroy Earth. But what about this?]

He flicked his fingers again and the screen changed. At this moment, the faces of Yoo Jonghyuk and the party members hardened.

The Korean Peninsula was engulfed in flames.

***

“If I knew this, I would’ve gone to the Demon World.”

Han Sooyoung frowned as she gazed at Gyeonggi-do burning with red and blue flames. In fact, there was a reason why Han Sooyoung didn’t go to the Demon World.

[You are currently cursed by the demon king ‘Andras.’]

Han Sooyoung had been caught in Kim Dokja’s plot and cursed by the demon king. Thanks to this, she would become the meal of the demon king as soon as she visited the area. Lee Gilyoung stomped his feet beside her and shouted, “Won’t everyone be with Dokja hyung by now? I wish I was Shin Yoosung...”

“I guess so. However, that place will be harder than here.”

Han Sooyoung felt the disaster coming through the flames and gulped. After Kim Dokja’s group left for the personal scenario, the disaster scenario had come to the Korean Peninsula.

[The time limit for the disaster scenario is 30 minutes.]

The problem was the disaster that came this time were constellations.

“Damn Olympus.”

She didn’t know what type of back-door dealings they made with the dokkaebis of the bureau but the constellations of Olympus had come as the ‘disasters’ of this scenario. Due to the difficulty, the scenario would end after 30 minutes. In these 30 minutes, the Korean Peninsula was likely to disappear from Earth.

“What are you going to do now?” Gong Pildu asked while blowing out cigarette smoke.

The reason the Gyeonggi-do area had lasted so far was thanks to Gong Pildu’s Armed Fortress. Han Sooyoung replied, “Just hold on a bit longer. There is a way.”

“The opponents are the incarnation bodies of constellations. There are more than five of them. How are you going to win? You aren’t Kim Dokja.”

Their auras showed they were great-grade constellations. Perhaps they were ancient heroes or lesser gods of Olympus.

[There are only small people on this little land!]

Her head hurt from all the noise. Han Sooyoungcalmly pulled out a dark stone.

[Abyss Stone.]

It was an item Kim Dokja told her to collect before they separated. Thanks to this item, she could send the other party members to the Demon World despite lacking probability. She had used three so far and there were six remaining. The number was a bit lacking but this was the only way.

“This... I didn’t know I would use them catching bugs.”

As Lee Gilyoung’s insects protected the fortress and Gong Pildu’s fortress continued firing, Han Sooyoung started the descent ceremony by offering the Abyss Stone.

It was just for a short time but she could call an existence to balance this twisted scale.

Sparks flew and the Abyss Stones started to disappear one by one as an offering. It was a fearsome presence who could only use a portion of their power through the six Abyss Stones.

The sky of Gyeonggi-do turned dark and filled with thunder. A huge shadow was revealing itself behind Han Sooyoung. Han Sooyoung sighed lightly and slowly opened her eyes. “Black dragon. You can do whatever you like.”

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is grinning and revealing white teeth.]