Chapter Text
The Dark Stratum had an unreadable sky. Even so, when traveling between worldlines, there were certain probabilities that were allowed or even favored. The mode of travel from world to world depended on stories. It also depended on the existence of boundaries between the worlds so you could measure your journey in years, in distance, or otherwise. Because of that, every now and then Han Sooyoung's [Cloud System] stigma would turn on and two incredibly distant people would get to come together again for a little while. In some ways, the conversations they wrote into the margins were the most important boundaries by which the journey would be measured.
[CLOUD SYSTEM]
Y.J.H.
"Han Sooyoung. I've been your incarnation for a while now and I remember the 0th round. And you signed on with the Abyssal Black Dragon. It's only him who's never taken a contract. Do you ever wonder--?"
H.S.Y.
"What would have happened if he signed with that Outer God bastard?"
Y.J.H.
"Or if there's a world where it could have been you."
H.S.Y.
"I think the first one's more interesting. Is it a long way to the next worldline, that you're asking questions like this?"
Y.J.H.
"I'm not bored. Just curious."
H.S.Y.
"I'll keep you entertained. Nobody can say I don't pay my employees. A story from my pen is the most valuable of awards."
Y.J.H.
"Maybe I'm not that curious."
H.S.Y.
"It's cruel to give an author inspiration and then take it back, Yoo Joonghyuk. Don't you know there's only one person who's ever received a gift like this from me?"
Y.J.H.
"...Go ahead then."
[You have been deprived of the title of 'King of No Killing'.]
Kim Dokja stared at the corpse in front of him. There was no shortage of bodies here, of course. The fourth scenario's 'false map' battle was going at full tilt, Anti-Tyrant King Alliance versus the Tyrant King, all here based on the first disciple's so-called revelations. The Supreme King would be arriving any minute now to reduce the number of remaining kings down to five. But this corpse. This one body.
A woman grabbing his blade and screaming. The man on the ground behind her, who Yoo Sangah was already moving to finish off. The man and the woman's matching weapons, their rings. Kim Dokja's sword pulled into her stomach by her own hands, making a sacrifice that had saved perhaps one or two more people from his attacks. It wasn't so unusual of a story.
「Kim Dokja thought: Will I still be able to reach the end of the story in this world?」
By the end of the fifth scenario, it was clear he would not.
--
"You can't save anyone, Captain. This is where your third round ends."
Those words were exactly what Kim Dokja was fighting against. Of course he had moved. Of course he had tried to save Yoo Joonghyuk from the man's own stupid assumptions. There was an ending he wanted to see where nobody would ever say those words again. 'You can't save anyone,' hah-- and now he was lying on the ground, probably in shock even with the Fourth Wall active. There was a lot of blood all around from the Disaster's attack. Well, who needed intestines anyway? It was almost a relief to die this early, knowing what some of the later scenarios were like. Really, he'd been foolish for ever thinking he could make it through a world like this...
A system message hovered between him and the protagonist who was definitely saying something. He could only sort of see that guy's face through the words.
[
Special Event! End of the Story Bookmarks Unlocked.
Select:
1. The Regressor, Yoo Joonghyuk
2. ???
3. ???
]
What was the protagonist yelling? 'It's not too late,' was that it? Kim Dokja reached up towards Yoo Joonghyuk. He could barely raise his arm halfway.
"You're right for once, you bastard," Yoo Joonghyuk managed to look even more shocked at this, "It's not too late. I definitely, definitely won't give up on this story. I absolutely won't..."
--
It was the third round, and it was also the second round. Kim Dokja could already imagine the changes he would need to make to his old diagrams to track this development. He's getting to touch the story, to try to change the ending, and to be honest, even failing the first time through can't make him any less excited about it. So, it turns out that King of No Killing is a delicate attribute, that's not so strange. Selena Kim was the only one who managed to maintain it in the original Ways of Survival. He'll just need to rely on his allies a bit more... he has some new ideas about how to make them stronger this time around, especially Jung Heewon, that prize he didn't even know was waiting to be found.
That's exciting too, how there's new secrets to discover in this world that he already knows so well. The further he goes off the beaten path, the more he'll learn about this world. It's almost better than an epilogue. Thinking that, Kim Dokja's eyes flicked guiltily to the next train car. No, actually, the joy of exploration can't compare to reaching the end, of course it can't. The perfect story is definitely the one where Yoo Joonghyuk gets to make it to the end without losing anyone important. It's Yoo Joonghyuk's story. It's Yoo Joonghyuk who deserves a happy ending. He just needs to be a bit more careful to guide him there.
--
The third round which is also the second round ends at a party. Kyrios Rodgraim was playing music atop the walls of Castle Veronica. King of No Killing had been spent the way it was meant to be spent. Kim Dokja had a glass of constellation-infused alcohol and was taking tiny golden sips of it, thinking about his next move. The Eight Lives attribute should give him a lot more leeway going forward. He just needs Lee Hyunsung to watch over his body as he drinks the [Ancient Serpent's Blood]. The three day resurrection penalty is definitely the best tradeoff of all his options here--
Kim Dokja goes down with a knife in his back and another in his guts, both blades ripping at him as he falls. He could barely see his attacker out of the corner of one eye: someone from the Japanese party? The assassin's hand grabbed at the Grass-Cutting Sword at his belt. Instead of trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was taking the sword, Kim Dokja's eyes locked on the sight of his own party running towards him: Lee Hyunsung in front, and Yoo Joonghyuk right behind him with that crazed look on his face, like it was the end of the fifth scenario all over again. He couldn't look away.
He felt, rather than saw, the blue pages of his skill unfolding above him. The Fourth Wall was blocking the pain, but that same system message was there again.
[Special Event! End of the Story Bookmarks Unlocked. Select...]
It's good that the kids won't remember this, Kim Dokja thought.
--
At the beginning of the third round, Kim Dokja gave in to the urge to curl up into a little ball right there on the subway, even in front of Yoo Sangah. His thoughts drowned out whatever concerned noises she was making. It's like there was a curse balancing out everything he knows about the story. Who would have enough probability for that and who would have a motive? The Dokkaebi King seemed like the most obvious choice, that self-declared guardian of the Star Stream, but why would the Dokkaebi King know that Kim Dokja even exists? There's not supposed to be any Kim Dokja in this story.
There wasn't supposed to be any Jung Heewon in this story either, or any Yoo Sangah. Ways of Survival never said anything a pair of lovers working for the Tyrant King, and tls123 never wrote about an assassin in Peaceland. Narratively, it would make sense if some of these things were connected. Any unexpected element of the story could be the butterfly flapping its wings that leads to a failure down the line.
Kim Dokja held his head in his hands and groaned as the clock ticked past 7:00 and Bihyung started the announcements. Was he going to have to deal with regression depression himself now? That last thought sounded way too familiar. There are a few ways in which he's never wanted to be Yoo Joonghyuk and that's definitely one of them. There was always a path for Yoo Joonghyuk in the end though. This was a world that ran on stories; it was like that. He just had to figure out what sort of story was needed. It might not be exactly the ending he had dreamed of for years, but the end of the 1863rd round hadn't been that either and he had still devoured it and asked for an epilogue too.
The first step would be understanding everything that had to change when you added 'Kim Dokja' to the story. There was one very obvious point of investigation here at the beginning of the scenarios. A new character who might even know about things like 'the Dokkaebi King' or who might be motivated to find out under the right conditions.
Kim Dokja uncurled from his seat and took control of the first scenario for the third time. The blood was still on the window of the subway by the end, but it felt different. He was going to make a new choice. He was going to fail this round because of that choice, but he was used to failure anyway. If all he could carry from round to round was information, then he would pay for that information and lean even deeper into the story he had been given.
The sponsor selection screen came up as expected and he quickly tapped an option.
[Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter', has become Incarnation 'Kim Dokja's Constellation backer!]
[Incarnation, 'Kim Dokja', has inherited the Stigma, 'Transmission'.]
Oh.
It didn't have to be 'just' information then.
Kim Dokja looked up at the sky, feeling a new presence reach down to him. 'There was always a path,' wasn't that what he had just thought? But what did it mean that he was being offered this path? And that he was being offered it by a vision of long graceful fingers and cloth-of-stars that had never been named in the original novel? He shivered under the observation of this constellation he had agreed to bind himself to for the length of one regression. He had been so certain that the reset happening through [Bookmark] would let him get out of a sponsorship contract, but now...
[The story "Hell of Eternity" is waiting to be read.]
[CLOUD SYSTEM]
Y.J.H.
"So, it'd be that story again."
H.S.Y.
"It's not like that version of you is known for his gentle nature. He definitely tried to cast himself as the villain for most of the 1864th round. I'm just revisiting that choice."
Y.J.H.
"And what about if it was 'The Architect of the False Last Act'?"
H.S.Y.
"It wouldn't happen. The 'me' who's outside of the third round isn't that constellation or even an outer god. At the beginning of the story, I'm only the author of SSSSSS-Grade Infinite Regressor, not someone Kim Dokja would sign a contract with even if I beat him to becoming a star. And the writer's relationship to the story isn't like that anyway. I don't need to make him more of a 'character.'"
Y.J.H.
"But you've thought about it. Being his sponsor."
H.S.Y.
"Yeah, and you don't get to take credit for the idea asshole. I've thought about it. What sort of help could an 'Omniscient Author' offer? Or what if I didn't write such a crap novel, could I have spared us all? Of course I've thought about it. But I think if I changed the story, it wouldn't have been the story Kim Dokja loved. We could have lost him from the very beginning."
Y.J.H.
"There isn't a way of knowing that."
H.S.Y.
"It wouldn't have been a story for him. It'd be a story for me."
Y.J.H.
"You should tell it anyway."
H.S.Y.
"What, you're really that short on fuel out there? You'd better promise to burn this one before you get back. If that reader also finds out I'm the sort of idiot who thinks about inserting myself into my own stories... Anyway, it would go like this."
"Hey," said Kim Dokja.
"Who the hell are you?!" replied the young woman in the purple hoodie. She reached out as she said it and caught the package of lemon candies that tls123 had told him to grab along the way. Not a bad catch, this early in the scenarios. He'd thrown the package with plenty of coins already invested into his speed.
"I'm someone here to tell you not to use your skill like that," he replied, looking at the mystery woman's unfinished avatar beside her, an avatar which was apparently somehow more dangerous than anything the protagonist could be doing right now, "...and also to start running."
Whatever snappy retort the woman had for him was cut off by a distant unearthly howl, the sound of something unquestionably outside of the second scenario's level range. Kim Dokja had been warned, but it was still terrifying-- a Hound of Tindalos, this early? None of these 'disciples' that tls123 had described would have even encountered the name. Even so, her ignorant eyes locked on his, full of blame.
"The fuck kind of crazy scenario did you just set off?"
"It's not a scenario," They were both running now, so he had to gasp out an answer as he also reached for the other items he had brought, the ones from his own plan. "It's from outside. An enforcer of the paid service."
"Which makes you what, a game-modder trying to get around the DRM? A pirate? Haha, I hate you already!"
Well, at least this brat tls123 had sent him to find could run fast.
--
They landed in a river and the disciple's language hadn't gotten any better by the time they'd struggled to the shore.
[You have temporarily left the main scenario area.]
[You must return to the scenario area within 24 hours, Earth time.]
[You may not return by the same method you used to arrive.]
[If you don't return in time, you will be disposed of according to the scenario rules.]
"What the fuck was that-- a dimensional rift?"
"Yep. It's the only way to escape one of the Hounds Chasing After the Abyss at this point. The Hounds exist to fight some of the strongest existences. They only appear when there's a danger to the story that can't be controlled through probability. That avatar of yours, you should probably be glad I interrupted it." Actually it was the opposite. That avatar must have been really vital to the 'story' to cause a disruption like this. Otherwise a Hound was complete overkill for anything in the second scenario.
"You sure know a lot." Kim Dokja's new companion managed to make this sound halfway between an insult and a threat, which was pretty respectable.
The two of them were stretched out on the river bank, just outside of the shadow of a majestic forest There was no sign of the monster that had been chasing them, but then, why would there be? The majestic forest was barely six feet tall; it was a truly bizarre sight and one that made it very clear that they'd left Earth. This was Peaceland, the location of the sixth scenario. It wouldn't be relevant to the story for some time yet, which made it a perfect place to hide from the system. Nobody had ever gone from Seoul to Peaceland at this point in the scenarios in all of Ways of Survival. You really needed a tip from the author to find a dimensional rift; it was secret knowledge that even Yoo Joonghyuk would never have found. That is to say, it was incredibly suspicious, and if he wanted to get this person to cooperate with him without digging up all his (probability-destroying, hound-summoning) secrets, he was going to have to distract them from how suspicious it was as quickly as possible.
"By the way, I'm Kim Dokja."
"So, Kim Dokja, do you know how to get back to the scenario area? Since you're the one that trapped us here."
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"
Her eyes narrowed. "Han Sooyoung. But considering how you burst in on me with no forewarning, are you really going to say you didn't already know that?" She was still holding the package of lemon candy. She definitely had a lot of reasons to be suspicious right now.
"I read a lot of web novels, so it shouldn't be surprising that I know your name." She seemed a little mollified by this, "It's actually your attribute as an [Author] that I need here."
Han Sooyoung said, "Let's not do the cliche where you hold back important information to create tension. If you need my skills in this place, then tell me your entire plan and throw in how you found me in Seoul during the apocalypse while you're at it." After speaking, she brushed more water out of her short black hair and moved to hang her damp hoodie up on a branch of one of the small trees. It wasn't as if she was relaxed; Kim Dokja thought. It more like she was turning her back on him to show she wasn't intimidated by the situation. She had a beauty mark under one eye and a delicate build, but did she really think she was that recognizable? It wasn't like webnovel authors were stalked by the paparazzi. Still, the flattery seemed to be making her more cooperative.
"I have a way for us to go back, and I know a lot of secret pieces we can collect on the way. However, the problem is... it will take more than 24 hours."
"I'm not eager to be disposed of by the scenario, so that's not a plan."
"Well, the artifacts are key to returning to Seoul, so they can't be skipped over. Instead, we need to find a way to extend our time penalty."
Happy not to be dealing with a rude response after that, Kim Dokja continued speaking, "Have you heard of the <Star Stream>'s black market? It's run by those who wander through the ruins outside of the scenarios. They have an unmatched number of tricks for evading the Dokkaebi and manipulating their stories. Right now, we're outside of our scenario and can't be seen by the constellations. Additionally, we traveled across dimensions and escaped one of the strongest enemies that fights on behalf of the Dokkaebi and the <Star Stream>. I think this sort of situation should be very interesting to the black marketeers... the Great Demons of the Horizon."
As it turned out, the reason Han Sooyoung hadn't interrupted was because she was putting all her energy into staring at Kim Dokja like he was a crazy person.
...or maybe they were doing the cliche where she was actually looking at someone behind him. Kim Dokja propped himself up on one arm and turned to look at the figure walking across the river, stepping light-footedly across the water like none of it was quite real. Full-sized, so not a resident of Peaceland. The intruder looked old, like someone who creaked when he walked, and had a giant lump on his right cheek. It was definitely the person Kim Dokja had been expecting, just coming from an unexpected direction. One Wenny Man, baited and hooked.
The Wenny Man pulled himself up onto the river bank without acknowledging their stares and then bent and stretched his back, like he really was an old man.
"You incarnations. You want to buy a couple of hours? Normally I wouldn't expect such low level players to have anything worth selling, but you're right that this situation is a bit interesting. I have a couple of constellations that would pay very very well to know why a Hound of Tindalos went rampaging through Seoul."
"We can't tell you that," said Kim Dokja as quickly as he could. He wished Han Sooyoung was standing closer so he could also elbow her in the side right now. It would ruin everything if she sold this piece of information.
"Oh well, I can afford to wait a few hours and see if you change your minds... You aren't going to have any worthwhile stories to trade me at this point." The Wenny Man was definitely black market material; he was happy to let the scenario penalties turn the pressure up for him.
"We can offer you something else. A share in our future stories."
"Who says you'll have any future stories? Incarnation bodies are fragile. You might die tonight or tomorrow." For example, if Han Sooyoung explained about the Hound and then another one started chasing them. The Wenny Man would get away with his profit, but they could definitely die right here.
"We'll definitely have strong stories, because you'll sign a sponsorship contract with one of us to get your shares. Ow!" At this point, Han Sooyoung elbowed Kim Dokja in the side.
"One of us?" she hissed at him, "Is this why you brought me along, you bastard?"
"Don't you want a strong sponsor?" asked Kim Dokja, holding his side and wincing, "I have a skill for this. I know you don't have a backing constellation yet." The part about a skill was a lie, but that was fine. It'd be true for most other people anyway.
"I have no idea who this guy even is! He's not a constellation or even a demon king. He's not a species I've ever heard of. Why should I trust your word that he's strong?"
"Obviously anyone who can manipulate the system must be strong."
"Kukuku..." The face of the Wenny Man distorted in the way that was supposedly a smile according to everything Kim Dokja had read, "It's true that I can manipulate the system. And, I'm not a constellation, but I might have a modifier I wear sometimes. In a useful nebula too. Olympus. I might consider this bargain."
"They're all assholes and perverts on that mountain. And besides, this deal is way too good for you. This Kim Dokja is obviously an idiot who doesn't know the value of anything. Shouldn't doing business with someone like him be an embarrassment?"
"Kuk, kukuk... Ahahaha! I really like you, actually. I could give you four or five additional hours for this deal."
Kim Dokja was wincing on the inside and the outside, both from Han Sooyoung's insults and the Wenny Man's insulting low offer, but he spread his hands like a salesperson for whom everything was going according to plan, "Make this deal with us, Great Demon of the Horizon, and I'll make you an additional promise. Not only will we give you a share of stories, but also, in the future... we will tear down Olympus, and the entire Context of Constellations too. And all we want in exchange is an extra 24 hours outside the scenario."
"That's an ambitious promise. But considering your cumulative deeds in the parallel worlds, maybe..." The Wenny Man eyed Han Sooyoung. He was clearly invested in the offer now, which wasn't surprising since it was as Sooyoung had said, 'way too good,' "It's true that I have a fondness for authors. It's because my modifier used to belong to one who brought the arts and sciences to humanity at the beginning of time. We Wenny People have a tendency towards stories like that."
"...I guess that sounds strong."
"Don't you want to live?" Kim Dokja reminded Han Sooyoung, "This is the core of my entire plan for escaping back into the scenario." She just responded with a glare. Sure, it made sense for her to resent being matchmade like this, but her stubbornness was really too much.
Luckily, it seems like the Wenny Man had decided he was interested in this bargain. He threw in one more detail to sweeten the pot, "Sign with me, under these conditions, and I will also give you a stigma that lets you control primordial fire."
"Now you're talking!"
And she was also violent. Great. But at least with this system dialogue and this contract, the hardest part of this plan was over. Now, thought Kim Dokja, he could relax a little bit and maybe even have some fun. The Wenny Man grinned as he faded out of the scene; he was clearly thinking the same thing.
[Constellation, 'Suffering Thief of the Cliffside', has become Incarnation 'Han Sooyoung's Constellation backer!]
[There are 48 hours remaining before your scenario travel penalty.]
"What's with this modifier?!"
Kim Dokja smirked, "I don't know... doesn't it suit you? Miss. Plagiarist Author."
"Aaaaaagh!" Han Sooyoung's face turned at least three different colors. Surprisingly though, she actually got control of her anger relatively quickly. She jabbed a finger at her companion and spoke, "If you're calling me that, you must be that guy who left all those comments on my novel. You accused me of plaigirizing Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World, that piece of shit serialization that only ever had one view per chapter. That one view was you, wasn't it? You're the author who's too obsessed with your own work to ever improve, who needed to lure in some of my own readers with your stupid comments? And because we're stuck in your shitty novel, that's how you found me too."
There definitely wasn't a vein pulsing in Kim Dokja's forhead. "I'm not the author, only a reader, but that one view was definitely me."
"You would have to be absolutely mad to have read that--"
The person who was supposedly absolutely mad quickly interrupted her, "Anyway, from here, we're going to Japan."
"How do your plans just get crazier every time you speak?"
"It's because I've read the entire novel that I can come up with plans like this." Kim Dokja gave her his most insincere smile, remembering her old comments about how tedious Ways of Surival was, and more importantly, remembering the plea for help that tls123 had sent him on behalf of the story he loved, "You can think of this as... a speed run."
[CLOUD SYSTEM]
H.S.Y.
"It's always going to be that kind of circular story. I have to save Kim Dokja so he can save me, he has to save me so I can save him."
Y.J.H.
"Am I even in this one?"
H.S.Y.
"I told you it would be a story for me. You're in it, but--"
Y.J.H.
"Don't tell me you'd make me play the villain again."
H.S.Y.
"Ugh!!! No, at 100% I can definitely make a better plan than some half-baked avatar. Anyway, why did you even ask about this sort of worldline? And don't just say you were curious."
Y.J.H.
"When I was lost at the edge of the Star Stream, I read the novel you wrote for Kim Dokja every day. After reading it again and again, I felt like I understood that man a little bit. So if I read a story written for you, I might also understand..."
H.S.Y.
"Are you going to be a reader now too? Protagonist who's too good at everything, you're like a curse I set on myself."
Y.J.H.
"I might understand how you wrote so many stories for him."
H.S.Y.
"Making it about Kim Dokja again won't redeem you. Idiot."