Chapter 39: Chapter 31: Kim Dokja, King in a Kingless World (4)

A/N: This chapter feels weird, ngl.

"Before I get to that, why are you standing there?" The man gestured to the space we were standing at.

For some reason, Na Bori looked ashamed of herself, blushing slightly in shame.

"...it's because master told us to stand guard." Perhaps Na Bori was having a guilty conscience, because her words came out more softly.

But she was with me? I thought to myself, and then suddenly realized Na Bori abandoned her post to meet me.

That made me feel touched, and not at all felt like I had wronged Yoo Junghyuk.

The man then looked past Na Bori at the ticket gate for the station, a contemplative expression adorning his face.

And then his gaze rested on me.

"And she is...?" He asked.

Na Bori and Lee Jihye drew a protective stance around me, causing me to feel puzzled by their sudden hostility toward the unfamiliar man.

"She's a friend." Na Bori shuffled a bit closer.

"Hey, guys-" I wanted to ask them why they were being this wary toward the man.

"None of your business." Lee Jihye spat aggressively, her hand drawing her sword again.

The man backed down, raising his hands to show he was harmless.

But something about his smiling face looked like a scam.

"I am here to ask for help." A more serious expression showed on his face.

"Help?"

"Today, I will shatter Gong Pildu's party."

It was a confident statement, despite the calm way the man said it, as well as the neutral expression on his face.

The two beside me flinched, trying to study the man before them and discern the truth in his words.

"...Are you serious?" Lee Jihye spoke in disbelief.

"Who is to say you're not lying?" Na Bori looked at him distrustfully.

With an assessing gaze, Lee Jihye spoke coldly,

"You aren't enough. You won't be able to get rid of them."

"Even if you help me?"

Lee Jihye's head jerked at the challenge.

Na Bori touched her friend's shoulder.

If things went according to the original story, Lee Jihye, seeing the injustice of the system, as well as getting into trouble, tried to pick up the pieces of her pride and trauma at killing her friend.

Unfortunately, she was a weak, unblossomed talent at the time, and had no chance against Gong Pildu, one of the great ten evils.

If it wasn't for Yoo Junghyuk who had ulterior motives for Lee Jihye, she would have died.

But now, Na Bori is alive.

They were both stronger than before, and arrived in Chungmuro ahead of time, perhaps even before Gong Pildu established himself.

How different were things now that I had messed up the storyline?

Just like the countless other readers preying on the world with butterfly effects, how bad was mine?

"I have a way. I can do it if you help me." The man looked Na Bori and Lee Jihye in the eye.

"...Master told us to stand guard. Besides..." Na Bori started.

"...how come our friend had a bad reaction as soon as she saw you? Shady ahjussi." Lee Jihye finished.

"Ah." I let out a sound.

No wonder they were so protective. They noticed something.

I smiled self-deprecatingly. How...bad.

Clearly my throat to get everyone's attention, I stated, "You misunderstand. I don't know this mister. What is your name, by the way?"

I shifted the subject to the mystery man.

"Kim Dokja." He nodded.

At the statement of his name, despite myself, I felt a sharp throb of my head, and couldn't help flinching at the unexpectedness of it.

Lee Jihye and Na Bori looked at me, concerned.

"If that guy's blackmailing you-" Lee Jihye pointed her scabbard at Kim Dokja, "You don't need to lie. Don't be afraid."

"Hey..." Kim Dokja grumbled, eyeing the scabbard.

No, I'm not being blackmailed, not lying, and not afraid. I thought in exasperation.

However, it seemed my presence was detrimental to the negotiation process.

"The time is ticking. Many people are going to die if you keep this up." Kim Dokja took back the reins of the conversation, effectively pulling Na Bori's and Lee Jihye's attention back at hand.

Na Bori opened her mouth to speak, a sad light in her eyes,

"...People will die anyway, no matter what we do."

"Is that what Yoo Junghyuk said?" Kim Dokja pressed, his face shaded.

Something was overlapping. Reality and fiction were superimposing on each other.

This scene was so familiar.

But where had I seen it before?

I can't be here right now.

Something in the fiber in my being told me I was a foreign existence.

I shouldn't be here. This time and place and I...was only disharmonious.

"The boy-" Kim Dokja was about to continue his assault at prying open the girls' state of mind, but I was no longer going to be here.

"Have a nice talk you guys," I interrupted rather harshly, "But I still have some things to do, so I'll be going first."

"Huh?" Na Bori made a noise as I departed from their side.

"Where are you going?" Despite her master's orders to stay at the spot, Lee Jihye walked a few paces forward as she watched me go, wanting to grab my arm.

Subtly avoiding it, I watched as Lee Jihye no longer made any advances, only continuing to look at me in concern.

"This is so sudden. Why are you leaving?" Na Bori clenched her shirt, eyeing Kim Dokja with a glare in the meantime.

I looked at Na Bori.

It was natural to question my dubious state. To be honest, I was elated at meeting again after our separation, and of course, if I were in her shoes, I would also feel a little hurt and confused at a friend suddenly acting this way.

The throbbing in my head was getting worse.

So I gave them a big, reassuring smile.

"As I said, there are a few things I need to tie up. Once that's over, I come back to visit. Seriously, I'm sorry to go so soon. I would have really liked to stay a little longer."

"How about we go with you?" Na Bori quickly said.

There was a look in her eyes that told me, 'you are doing this again', which pricked at my guilty conscience.

But...

"You guys still need to guard the entrance for your master, right?"

"Uhng..." Na Bori and Lee Jihye flinched.

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but laugh at their reactions, causing them to look at me strangely.

"It was nice to meet you guys again. See you later-"

"Hold on." Kim Dokja interrupted.

What now?

"I have a few questions to ask." The special charisma of this man was no joke. I even stopped to listen to him.

Still, I only looked at him to signal that I was listening.

"First of all, this is the first time I've seen you, let alone heard someone mention you. In fact, you are acting very suspiciously, almost like you used a certain hypnotizing spell."

"What?!"

"That's absurd!"

Kim Dokja, at one point in time, had gotten closer to me, towering over me with his superior height.

Although, if he tried that with Yoo Junghyuk, it wouldn't work. Instead, he would be the one to crane his neck upwards.

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Looking into those pitch-black obsidian eyes, they looked similar to the ones the star messenger possessed.

In a pressure I hadn't felt when facing anyone else thus far, not even Jung Youngho, he spat out three words.

"Who are you?"

"Ugh!"

That's what I want to know.

My head hurt. The migraine was so bad I wanted to bash my head against the wall.

Still, I felt a sudden sadness swelling up at being looked at like a stranger.

"Leave her alone, you brute!" Lee Jihye gave a shout, and raced over impulsively to my rescue.

At the Lee Jihye who was pointing her sword at Kim Dokja and forcing him back, and the Na Bori who also shortly appeared beside me in a ready stance, Kim Dokja decided to back off.

"Alright, that's not my main purpose to be here today."

"..."

Lee Jihye and Na Bori remained silent.

Kim Dokja looked at me again.

"It was nice meeting you." He smiled, a crafty light in his eyes like he figured out something about it, "Isn't that right? You read a certain story."

He is...?

"And you also changed it."

Why did I feel so guilty when he said it?

"Now that I recall, I watched the scenario you were in."

What?

"It was a video of your classmates fighting each other in class. Unlike the others, however, you seemed to know what was going on."

My eyes widened. Thoughts racing, I recalled that Lee Jihye had made an entrance at the beginning of the novel through a broadcast of the first scenario.

Of course, it was the moment Lee Jihye strangled her best friend to death.

"You are the kind of person that won't leave others to die, right?" Kim Dokja said this with conviction.

I felt an uneasiness creeping in as he continued to spin his proposition.

"All of you are people who won't leave the others."

"Bogus." Na Bori snorted.

"Well, if that were the case, you wouldn't be listening to me in the first place."

"..."

"But since I'm talking, there is one thing I would like to say. If you turn away today, you will regret it for the rest of your life. Forever."

Na Bori and Lee Jihye glanced at each other, shaken, and then turned back to look at me, like they were waiting for me to speak.

But what was I supposed to say?

"Okay. Let them hear your plan." I spoke before I could think about it. "Whether they help you or not, will be their decision."

"Hey, what?" Lee Jihye screeched, sounding offended.

Na Bori, on the other hand, heard something in my words.

"You sound like you're not going to be with us again."

I looked at Na Bori, deciding on speaking some of the truth.

"Na Bori, it's best if I don't get involved in this station. It's related to a 'scenario' that makes it so I can't interfere."

"Huh?"

"Besides, I wasn't lying when I said that there are things I need to do. If I don't, something's going to happen, and it won't be anything good."

I thought about what I wanted to say.

"Oh! And also, if you want to find me, just ask about 'the Wanderer King's spokesperson'."

"H-huh?" Na Bori couldn't keep up with my words.

Taking one last look at my companions, I regretfully bid my farewell.

"Sorry to be abrupt, but see you later. Seriously, this time."

"Wait!-"

However, I was already very far away before I could finish listening to what she wanted to say.

Sorry.

For being a coward.

Honestly, I was scared to be near the intimidating man.

I was also scared at the strange occurrences popping up in my head, as well as the feelings that didn't seem my own.

The familiarity, longing, grief and incongruence made me very, very afraid.

It made me doubt everything.

Made me want to clutch my head, claw at my heart and scream.

To assure myself that I existed, that I was 'me'.

As soon as I increased my distance, to my relief, the throbbing in my head subsided, and my limbs stiff with tension relaxed somewhat.

[Sorrowful Heart of Silver is concerned about you.]

It had been a while since I heard from this constellation.

"I'm okay now, don't worry."

It was rare for a constellation to care about the incarnations, so I was surprised at the fact that there was a constellation who was concerned for me.

Then again...

"No, actually, I'm probably not."

Showing a sign of weakness in-front of constellations was dangerous, but it may also get some constellations off in the case of getting jealous of incarnations who were too 'flawless'.

Not that I was one of the impervious incarnations, though.

"But I'll be okay. Just give me a moment."

With dull eyes, I studied the ground.

It's as I thought. I can't remember the time in the hidden dungeon very clearly either.

When I met Kim Dokja, I began to doubt my memories, whether they were being tampered with or not.

...And that had a high probability.

A/N: Oh no.

Honestly, this situation sucked.

[The achievement, "Listener Liberator of the Forgotten", is quiet.]

Did my achievement know all along that I couldn't exactly remember the forgotten?

Still, it had helped me. Why?

[The achievement, "Listener Liberator of the Forgotten", asks if you will listen.]

I felt its gentle intention.

That was right. As long as a story was read, it would never disappear or be forgotten.

So as the achievement told its story, I listened to it back. To every existence contained within its words, and for itself, as well.

[Great King Heoncheon Hongdo Gyungmum is doubting your authenticity.]

And there it was, the constellation that shattered the mood.

"Alright, hold your horses, and keep your eyes peeled. Besides, you've already ridden the tiger and can't get off now. I'll get a move on now."

I smiled.

Things may not be fine, but I don't have to deal with them today.

Call me a procrastinator, but it's okay to run away until you're ready to face it.

And who knows? Maybe things will work out before you need to do anything.

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