Chapter 485: CH 483

My declaration caused unrest among the crowd. Reporters ceaselessly snapped away with their cameras; lower- and mid-rank Dokkaebis reporting the situation on their own channels were now carrying astonished expressions on their faces.

[Many Constellations find your statement quite interesting!]

[Great Dokkaebis are closely listening to your statement.]

[Every Dokkaebi from the is focusing on your words and actions!]

– What do you mean by that?!

– Representative Kim Dok-Ja-nim!

It was truly something else to witness the Constellations, Incarnations, and even the Dokkaebis carrying the exact same expressions.

With a friendly little smile on my face, I opened my mouth once more. [It’s exactly as I said. I simply can’t see the reason to save you all.]

– Are you saying you will throw away Korea?

– In that case, what will happen to all the Incarnations that supported you until now?!

Support, was it?

[How did they support us, then?]

Agitation spread out in an instant. My quizzical tone of voice caused the reporters to shoot up from their seats and start yelling at me. As expected, the power of media seemed to be mighty enough to even oppose a Myth-grade Constellation’s Status.

– Who do you think has been overlooking the ’s tyranny?!

– Didn’t everyone go along with your wishes until now?!

Overlooking the tyranny, was it….?

Before I could respond, though, Constellations chimed in first.

[A portion of Constellations are mocking the reporters’ statements.]

[Korean Peninsula’s ancient Constellations are in lamentation!]

[Constellation, ‘Goryeo’s First Sword’, is glaring at the descendants.]

Never mind whether it was a tyranny or not, I didn’t even know what exactly they had been ‘overlooking’ so far. Wasn’t there demonstrations against taking place every single day on the devastated Yeouido even now?

I quietly stared at the various shouting reporters, before asking them. [And what exactly were my wishes?]

– That is….!

[Have I ever asked any one of you to do something for me?]

Right there and then, the reporters shut their mouths and glanced at each other. Dokkaebis were now forming expressions of genuine interest. To them, even things like this should prove to be an entertaining Fable. Well, it was an event of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ forsaking his own land, after all.

What rescued the reporters falling into the pit of confusion was a group of Incarnations biding their time on the side of the [Industrial Complex].

– It’s only natural for the one possessing great power to shoulder the responsibility. And you are abandoning that responsibility right now.

An old man wearing a shabby hat suddenly stepped forward and said that out aloud. Shady, cunning glare in his eyes could be seen beneath the crooked rim of his headgear. I couldn’t immediately remember who it was, but that line, it also appeared in the ‘Ways of Survival’. I heard Yi Ji-Hye’s voice coming from behind.

“What the hell. That geezer also showed up here?”

It seemed that the group belonged to the alliance down in Busan. The hidden movers that took over the alliance while we were away from the Peninsula had finally revealed themselves, in other words.

Behind them, the clearly-visible flags of the veteran’s association waved by the ones wearing blue headbands. And then, alliance members from the countryside stood left and right of this group and angrily raised their voices.

– Demon King of Salvation, you must uphold the duty of the strong. Are you not the sole ‘Myth-grade Constellation’ active within the Korean Peninsula?

Some emphasized what my duty was, while…

– I beg of you, do not abandon the Korean Peninsula! If you behave like this, what will the poor citizens of this land do in turn??

….Some tried to appeal to my sympathy.

– Please, take us with you to the Final Scenario! Everyone who managed to survive until now has the right to be rewarded properly!

– No one among us wanted to become a part of the ‘scenario’! Are you planning to abandon all these innocent people? Can you even claim to be this Peninsula’s Constellation, then?!

In a certain way, they were right. No one among us wanted to be a part of the scenarios. Not initially, anyway.

[I see that the various heads of the alliances are present as well. That’s good.]

However, was the story still the same even now?

[I wanted to ask you all something. Just what exactly have you been doing until now, when the ‘Final Scenario’ is just around the corner?]

The alliance members all looked at each other when they heard me.

– We, we…. protected the Peninsula while you were away…!

– Are you looking down on all the hard work the alliances have performed?! It was us that protected our Peninsula during your absence!

I already knew what they had been doing, anyway. Meanwhile, I spotted a few alliance members exchanging glances with reporters.

⸢Publish the article – let everyone know that the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is giving up on the Korean Peninsula.⸥

Most likely, they were inciting the mass media.

⸢The ‘Demon King of Salvation’, revealing his true colours of a demon king.⸥

I could imagine the headlines already without even asking them. I knew why they were willing to go this far, of course.

⸢No need to be scared. The Demon King of Salvation is still a human in the end. He’s just another Korean, okay?⸥

⸢As long as he’s born in this land, there are some things he can’t go against.⸥

⸢Even if he now possesses great power and fame….⸥

They still believed in the system. They believed in the story of ⸢democracy⸥ upheld by humanity for a long time, the Fables like ⸢rationalism⸥ and ⸢institution⸥, or even something like ⸢majority decision⸥.

[Ancient Fables are now looking at you.]

I could see it now; everyone believed they held a share in these Fables, but in reality, no one did. Even before arrived on Earth, this place had been under the rule of a Great Fable. And those believing in this Great Fable were under the impression that they couldn’t be wrong. The alliance members continued to shout.

– Didn’t monopolise the scenarios from the very start?! What can we be expected to achieve under such unfair competitive conditions?!

[But, the Industrial Complex’s door is always open to you? All the skills and Fables we acquired are all publicly available, aren’t they?]

– No, but, because you people entered the scenarios first…..!

[There are plenty of people from other countries who entered the scenarios belatedly. Divisions led by Fei Hu or Ranvir Khan are home to many who have joined only a few months ago, but now find themselves in the latter half of the scenarios.]

– That’s the story for other countries! Our situation isn’t the same!

[They don’t have the ‘Industrial Complex’. Their support structure is focused on extremely few individuals, too. However, what is it like for Seoul?]

I snapped my fingers and Biyu created a panel in the empty air above. A shot of the [Industrial Complex]’s interior was displayed on it.

[We publicly made available the methods to clear the lower-ranked scenarios, and even released the list of ‘Great Fable scenarios’ as well. And we didn’t hold back with our support to those willing to diligently enter the scenarios, too. We didn’t place any restrictions on sex, age, race – none of those. Because what we were looking for were brave people willing to fight alongside us.]

The panel now displayed Incarnations going through repeated harsh training regimes, and my mother commanding them. The faces of both Jo Yeong-Ran and Yi Bok-Sun working as instructors could be seen next.

And so, they reached this far after going through hellish training and earned their own Fables.

[I’m talking about these people right before you.]

There were Incarnations possessing indomitable air and vigorous Statuses guarding the centre of the conference venue. They were none other than the ‘wanderers’ my mother had raised. The heroes that helped my mother stop the tsunami waves by the eastern shoreline were these very people.

[Is there anyone among you present today that received worse support than these people?]

No one replied. They were all overwhelmed by the fighting spirit emanating from the ‘wanderers’ right before their noses.

People faltering and biting their lips started shouting again.

– It’s not like we kicked back and enjoyed ourselves all this time! We, we’ve been preparing for various things! Maintaining the systems and infrastructures, and getting ready to rebuild our nation once you finish the scenario and come back…

[But, why are you getting ready for that? Do you even know what kind of ‘Conclusion’ is waiting at the end?]

– What??

[Why do you believe that this world’s ‘Conclusion’ will be peaceful?]

This world had changed a lot from the one found in the ‘Ways of Survival’. Yu Jung-Hyeok, Yi Hyeon-Seong, Yi Ji-Hye, Shin Yu-Seung – everyone had changed somewhat from what I used to remember.

However, some things didn’t change.

⸢Everyone Yu Jung-Hyeok had met all wished for things to go back to how they were.⸥

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Fluster was quickly dyeing the people’s expressions. Expressions of being betrayed by that one hope they had been holding onto. I knew very well what they wanted, of course.

⸢However, there were none among them that truly desired for ‘everything’ to go back to how they were.⸥

What this crowd wanted wasn’t peace for everyone, but for ‘individuals’.

They had experienced hellish scenarios and managed to survive. And those who experienced such ordeals definitely didn’t want to see everything go back to ‘how it used to be’.

Because the hell they lived through had become a part of their stories now.

⸢….It’ll be fine as long as the Final Scenario is over. I now possess power. At the bare minimum, I’m now in a position to act like a boss among the Incarnations.⸥

⸢I can’t go back to how it was. Just how hard did I struggle to get this far….⸥

⸢If only the wasn’t around….⸥

As the countless desires seethed under the surface, I slowly turned my head and looked at the outer edges of the conference venue.

The alliance members, and certain folks standing even further away than the reporters, were looking up at this side. Ordinary Incarnations covered in dust and wearing shabby, dirty clothes and equipment were standing there.

Among them, I saw a young girl. She was only as tall as Shin Yu-Seung during the initial stages of the scenarios. She was so young that it must’ve been a miracle for her to survive this far. And while standing in that place that cameras and channels didn’t even pay any attention to, she whispered to herself in a voice that only I could hear.

⸢Does that mean…. we are all going to die?⸥

The cameras and their shutter flashes continued to go off, but I only stared at that girl for a long time.

And eventually, I opened my mouth.

[I’m not a hero. From the beginning, I never planned to save any of you, and I’m not planning on doing that in the future, as well. However….]

I slowly looked behind to find…

[….It’s possible that the other ‘representative’ might be holding a different opinion than mine.]

….Yu Jung-Hyeok standing there.

*

A little while later, me and Han Su-Yeong were listening to Yu Jung-Hyeok’s speech from behind the stage.

– I also don’t know what the Conclusion that guy had been thinking about is like. However, even I too think about the world’s Conclusion that I wish to see.

In normal times, the extent of his vocabulary would be limited to “I’ll kill you Kim Dok-Ja”, but once he got going, he knew how to make a cool-sounding speech. He wasn’t the protagonist for nothing, after all.

Han Su-Yeong wordlessly stared at me while sucking on a lemon candy.

I spoke as if to make an excuse. “It’s not like I can step up to the front and command everyone forever, you know. Yu Jung-Hyeok suits such things better than me. Even back in the original, too.”

She began grinning, so I added something else.

“We need a much more trusty pivotal figure. And that’s not my role.”

“But, you could do it, though?”

“It’s time that we revert back to how things should be. I’m not a protagonist but a reader, remember?”

“Oh, my? Really? After coming this far?”

I hid my hands behind me and continued to clench and unfurl my fists. Indeed, even if this Kim Dok-Ja had become a Myth-grade Constellation, I was still ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ at the core. My palms were still soaked in sweat. Standing before the cameras was never an easy thing no matter the occasion.

“Is that the ‘proper conclusion’ you’ve been thinking about?”

“It’s the beginning.”

“What comes after this, then?”

I didn’t answer her.

“Hey, you.”

She strode closer, lifted herself up on the tiptoes, and grabbed hold of my collars.

“You haven’t forgotten about the promise to read my novel, have you?”

“Huh?”

“We promised. You forgot?”

I looked into her blazing eyes, and finally recalled the conversation we had in the past. Right, while exiting from the ‘Kaixenix Archipelago’, Han Su-Yeong did tell me that.

She said that she wanted to write a novel once all the scenarios had ended, and when the time came, she wanted me to read it.

“You were being serious back then?”

“You think I’ll lie about something like that?!”

I could only grin wryly. “I’ve got a high standard, so will it be okay with you?”

“Oh, a dude with a high standard kept reading trash like Ways of Survival for ten years straight??”

“I might end up writing a bad review, though? Pointing out that it’s got no probability, and say stuff like I’ll be dropping this series in my comments, you know?”

“Go ahead. You’ll see what happens next.”

I quietly stared at Han Su-Yeong’s face. She looked back at me with a serious face, not a hint of backing down visible on that expression. Right, she was originally like this, wasn’t she?

“….I might end up nagging you for more chapter uploads.”

“Not a problem. I’ve written ten chapters in a single day before, so it’s fine.”

My sense of reality seemed to weaken after I continued this tit-for-tat with her still holding my collars. The first time I met her, I never imagined that we’d end up as comrades like this. Han Su-Yeong who was once the ‘king of the prophets’.

– Once upon a time, I discriminated between those that needed to survive and people whose death didn’t mean anything.

We could hear Yu Jung-Hyeok’s voice drifting in.

– I always believed that some had to die, while some needed to carry on. I believed that was a necessity for the sake of this world. But now, I…

Both Han Su-Yeong and I stopped yapping while listening to his speech. Here was Yu Jung-Hyeok’s inner thoughts that he had never revealed to anyone directly. His inner side that even the ‘Ways of Survival’ failed to shed a light on could be heard now.

– But now, I’m not sure anymore.

The protagonist of the ‘Ways of Survival’ was speaking his heart.

Behind his back, the Fables of the regression turn we lived through flowed out.

He was the sole existence in this world who couldn’t forget the previous world – the protagonist wounded and hurt by betrayals from the distant past.

– I received help from those I believed to be evil in my previous lives.

We could see Yu Jung-Hyeok battling against Asmodeus next.

He then met his end after a fierce battle during the 2nd regression turn.

– Then, I fought on the same battlefield with the one who betrayed me before.

Anna Croft, helping us fight off the Apocalypse Dragon.

Yu Jung-Hyeok stared at those Fables for a long time before continuing on.

– I haven’t forgiven them. But that doesn’t mean I wish to seek revenge on them during this lifetime. Because my life this time is not the one I had lived before. Just like how this world is no longer the world that you used to know.

People were listening to Yu Jung-Hyeok’s story.

They were neither regressors nor protagonists. Even then, they all carried expressions of certain understanding.

– You surviving this far doesn’t mean everything will be permitted to you. No, it simply means you now have more responsibility. The sin of living on, the sin of surviving by trampling on someone else’s stories, the sin of using others’ Fables as your fertiliser and daring to spread your branches and sprouting new buds – so, if you’re alive, then be responsible for those sins.

Everyone that understood him, and even those who didn’t, they all looked completely absorbed in his speech.

These were the words of a human who lived his life cutting down Constellations in the battlefields. He spoke neither the friendly words of consolation nor of encouragement, but without a doubt, he was still reaching them.

His voice sounded far more sincere than the true voice coming from a Constellation like myself.

– I can’t make a promise of saving everyone. I merely try to survive the scenarios, and I certainly can’t live through them instead of you. So, there is only one thing I can tell you right now.

This was undoubtedly where Yu Jung-Hyeok should be.

– Until the scenario for every one of you ends, I shall promise not to die or regress.

Fin.

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