[ The raven quickly shifts into that of a familiar arctic fox that swiftly side steps and weaves in between Dokja's own running legs, just going. And going. Memory after memory after memory. His thoughts feel like a mess, trying to collect himself after seeing one thing and the next, to ground himself in the present.
Any swings he's capable of parrying, he fights aginst the sword with his own, bidding his own time, but he knows he can't do this forever. And just as Joonghyuk says, he's finally run out of stores. This one is the last.
His chest heaves with every breath, but this time it's Dokja who purpose shatters a glass, bringing his right hand into a fist and ignoring the sharp pain that spikes through it as the sound echoes and ]
[[From here on, it’s your job.]]
He was now looking at you. Somewhere within that gaze was the 3rd turn Yoo Joonghyuk's, who had completed the scenarios alongside you.
⸢What exactly is the ‘Conclusion’ you wish to see?⸥
This was what you needed to do in order to answer that question.
Lee Jihye opened her mouth. “He couldn’t do it even after 1863 lifetimes, so... Ahjussi, can you really do it?”
It was as she said.
You are not a ‘protagonist’ like Yoo Joonghyuk, nor are you a ‘writer’ like Han Sooyoung. However, because you are neither the protagonist nor the writer, maybe there was something only you could do.
Maybe, you could remember that one thing that the protagonist couldn’t see, and the writer had forgotten all about.
⸢The job that only he could do, him that read the ‘Ways of Survival’ for a very, very long time.⸥
You quietly stared into the ‘Final Wall’. You focused all your attention and read the wall’s surface again and again. Not too long after that, the wall radiated brilliantly. Just like a certain screen in the past that you had been reading over and over again.
⸢’Three Ways to Survive the Destroyed World’.⸥
Everything from that epic tale was being established within you. You hadn’t yet read the final revised version of the ‘Ways of Survival’. Which meant you didn’t know how this story was supposed to end. However...
⸢But, what if all these were handed over to me without having been written yet?⸥
Your companions and you rushed towards the wall.
⸢What if, someone wanted me to complete this story?⸥ ]
[ He's cornered now. Yet, Jin is the one between the reader and their companion, though her fur is fluffed out and looks to be trying to intimidate- there's no real aggression there. No maliciousness. No. After all, just as Dokja, they trust the other. ]
[ Dokja is finally at the end of these stores, much like the end of his rope. Joonghyuk comes out of this endeavor with only some scrapes from glass and other objects that they were flinging around. To match the memory, a couple of little glass specks crumble under his soles... He closes the distance.
You think back to some of your earliest engagements with Kim Dokja.
Niah matches his steps beside him, sword flicked out to the other side to discard of any debris that latched on in their little chase.
Han Sooyoung yells at you as you approach her and a wounded Kim Dokja. You have every intention to win this scenario, even if it means taking their lives. She makes her last plea in Dokja's stead.
You hesitate...
""̸T̶e̸l̶l̴ ̶m̴e̸,̷ ̸just which idiot ̶w̸o̵u̴l̷d̸ ̵t̷h̶r̶o̷w̸ ̶his life away ̵b̴e̷c̵a̸u̶s̸e̷ ̵a̴ ̶character ̴f̸r̸o̴m̶ ̶a̶ ̵story ̸i̵s̸ ̶a̴b̷o̴u̸t̶ ̷t̶o̵ ̶die?̶"̷
If Kim Dokja cared so much about you and your comrades, why did he keep throwing his life away? Once upon of time, Joonghyuk saw it as a sign of his devotion to them, that they can trust him, but when those deaths hit the double digits, he started to wonder if this Salvation isn't just a curse.
You hear Han Sooyoung ask the big question on this subway cart with an open door... All of your comrades have already existed, so it is only you three left. Paranoid. Anxious.
“We are getting off together, right?”
You look to Kim Dokja.
“̵O̸f̵ ̷course.̵” He says. ̴“̵W̷e̶ ̸s̵h̴o̵u̶l̴d̵.̸”̵
Niah picks Jin up like he usually does without a skip in his step. Joonghyuk, however, keeps his blade out, now pointed to the other man's throat. ]
Do you not have anything to say?
[ He gives Dokja time to answer as the last short tidbit plays.
You've been jogging around the Yoo Joonghyuk-Kim Dokja Industrial complex all morning, passing by familiar faces... It is the end of the scenarios and there's not much for you to do. Everyone is adjusting to everyday life being normal, but it isn't normal. There's something missing.
When you speak to Han Sooyoung about it, she agrees, though she's a pragmatic and realistic individual. Bringing Kim Dokja back, half of him stuck behind that large wall... The Final Wall is a place they can never return to.
You tell her there is an opportunity—through regression.
[ Your stigma is evolving! ]
They only need to regress and do the Scenarios all over again to reach the Final Wall. To bring Kim Dokja home.
[ 'Regression' has evolved to 'Group Regression.' ]
For Kim Dokja, you would regress one more time... You will. Even if his words tell you not to, that it won't be better the next time, a world without him is too much for you and your comrades. You all want to be happy, with him.
[ Small bits of memories, flitting in and out. Gone almost in a blink of his eye and finds his only exit blocked off. As Niah approaches, Jin starts to make low wary sounds- not growling, nor snarling, even as she's plucked up from the other daemon she can only softly whine to him.
At the same time does he begin to back up with his hand gripping his blade firmly, but does not raise it when the other's points at his throat. His gaze is leveled, meeting that gaze straight on along with those words. He wants to close his eyes tightly at the memories he doesn't know- doesn't yet recognize. Of a time further than his. However, that he knew, he was aware of the man before him having had regressed.
Another step back and the glass crunches beneath his foot just as his back meets the wall. ]
[Do you not wish to save them?]
You felt vomit rising up from the deepest part of your body.
The ‘Dokkaebi King’ shouted out. [The current you can’t save them. The one who loves the story can never change that very story.]
Can’t change it, because you loved it.
[Only the one who overcomes the story, the one who understands the trivial nature of everything, can escape from the suppression of the Probability.]
The surrounding storm of aftermaths was growing even more vicious, accompanied by the loud rising sound. The power of the Fables flowing out from the ‘Dokkaebi King’ was gradually overwhelming the combined might of the 999th turn’s characters. The Dokkaebi King tore off Lee Hyunsung's Fable metal and extended his hand in your direction.
[The ‘One Single Fable’ you have compiled is more than enough to inherit the position of < Star Stream >. Take my hand. What you want is the same as what I want. I do not wish to see the stories of those stars be erased.]
His voice even sounded desperate, too. The light in his eyes and his Fable all acted as proof of his sincerity. The < Star Stream >’s Fable glowed brightly from his figure.
⸢The story he had been reading for a long time had eventually become a part of him.⸥
He was now the < Star Stream > itself. He genuinely didn’t want this story to end.
[Continue with... this story. Become the protagonist of a new world-line, and along with the Fable you have created, continue the banquet of the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. You are the existence born solely for that purpose. You were able to reach this far, only for that purpose!]
While listening to those words, you began recalling all the lucky moments that happened to you so far.
[< Star Stream > is looking at you.]
Why was the < Star Stream >’s Probability so generous towards you? The Dokkaebi King’s Fable was telling you the reason for that. The lights continued to explode before your eyes.
[Do not forget what you truly want. You’re not the ‘last verse’. No, you’re the ‘Eternity’!]
The Constellations’ Fables streamed behind the Dokkaebi King. He was right. You didn’t wish for those stories to end.
You slowly turn your head around and saw Yoo Joonghyuk, now almost freed from the ‘regression depression’. His seemingly-empty eyes were locked on you.
⸢However, there were some stories that had to end.⸥
[ Finally, after what seems like hours does his voice sound out. ]
I am no different than the very same Constellations we despise. [ Some of which he's come to love just as much as he hates. ] Living off your story just to survive. It's only fair I fix what I've done. Repaid for having everyone [ to have you ] suffer time and time again.
I... [ A laugh quietly sounds, his gaze meeting that blade now. ] I loved this story. But what I did, will do, going to do- it has to be me.
[ How much he's thought the past few days. Though the trial was a distraction, he's been thinking hard since the first week. And what he firmly believes in the end... ]
I just have to believe in you all. To understand what needs to be done. It's the same as when I had become the ⸢Enemy of the Story⸥.
..Do you get it? [ There was no way he could tell them what they needed to do. What he had hoped for them to do. He just had to believe in them to understand who Kim Dokja was. What Kim Dokja would have them do in that moment. To trust what he plans to do- even with all the risks. To fight with it, to fight against it, and figure out how to get through it all for what they want.
So that, in the end, they continue to their end. Together. Even now, there's nothing but unyielding trust and devotion that can be felt from the reader. ]
I know who you are. You told me your story yourself.
[ The blade doesn't come closer... Niah merely settles somewhere with Jin in his mouth, touching glass again.
You are... Upset. Kim Dokja in his death, missing for years, had chosen to stay in the 1863rd wordline, the world where you've regressed 1863 times. Why? You swung your sword at him, heart chilled into ice, but it crumbles to each beat. Why would he do that? His family and friends are here. His wordline is here. How could he abandon all of that? For what?
Then the truth... Much like the Constellations that read your life for entertainment, the person you call your companion did as well. He read your story like a glutton because you are a "fictional character" in a "story." Did he ever try to know you at all? Reading someone is different from knowing someone and you had always thought... Kim Dokja understood you. Maybe you were wrong. No, he understood you as a "character."
You're right here, in front of him, but he only ever thought of you as a "character."
You never had companions.
Dokja, being pushed back by your attacks, starts speaking.
“You probably know this already, but I’m not a prophet. No, I am as far removed from such a being as you can get.”
“I’m not the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.”
His fables stop singing one by one as he lists them all off as things that do not make him who he is. These are the fables that brought him strength... These are the fables you got to witness during the years of fighting beside him.
“I’m also not the ‘King of a Kingless World’.”
The conclusion comes.
“My name is Kim Dokja. Twenty-eight… No, wait. I was twenty-eight, and I was an employee of a game company. My hobby was reading web novels…”
...
“It’s pathetic, right? Well, this is who I am…”
... Eventually, to Joonghyuk, Dokja's past didn't matter to him. He eventually understood the weight his story had on the other man... Because of his story, Dokja was able to live to this point in a normal and ruined world. ]
I trust you, but I cannot accept the ending you're going to give us. We are not going to settle for 49% of you.
[ More so them, the Yoo Joonghyuk and company that wait for Dokja on that train. ]
[ Once settled, Jin will definitely try to nip an ear. You may carry her as baby but it comes at a cost! ]
It's as I said. ..I just have to trust in you all.
[ It won't change his decision to come. It won't change whatever path they've gone through up until now. Though that doesn't mean all of this is pointless. Because he's putting his faith, his trust, in that just as they figured him out as the 'Enemy of the Story', they will figure out this as well.
He trusts in them to get their conclusion. Yes, even if that includes him, because why wouldn't he want that? If it means he must suffer until then, even if it means it'll be a long time until that moment... he will do it. Yoo Joonghyuk was forced to regress over a thousand times. It's the least he could do. ]
[ The time comes when all of them meet the Final Wall again and pull him out? Then bring him back home? Their emotion link shows that Joonghyuk is hopeful, but barely. There is a part of him that doubts and fears.
Whatever cuts he received when running through all those shops bleed words... They say,
Kim Dokja's salvation was cruel. Like rescuing a drowning person with a blade, those saved by him were inflicted an unhealable wound. Yoo Joonghyuk has suffered so much loss across 1864 regressions, but it doesn't make Kim Dokja's sacrifices any easier to accept. Seeing him smile a certain smile reopens that old unhealable wound...
[ She is a small fox compared to how big you are, be nice. ]
With a stubborn group like you guys? I don't think I have much of a choice.
[ It comes with a sigh, but it's light-hearted, almost teasing. However, there's no feeling or sound of dishonesty. There's only... fond. Love. After all, the company has become his family. He quietly observes Joonghyuk's composure, his expression, takings in those emotions coming from their connection. Carefully, a hand raises to guide the blade away, no need to threaten him at neck point with it, okay?
His gaze flickers to those texts, watching them drip letter by letter. Then, he takes a step closer and brings a hand to the top of Joonghyuk's head. ...Huh, Joonghyuk's hair is rather soft. Just a light ruffle. ]
[ Hm. Fine. Joonghyuk allows Dokja to move the blade away, but he doesn't sheath it. He holds it at the same height, in the same position, but it may be moved away. A deep frown comes, annoyed by the ruffle, but he doesn't retaliate aside from throwing a low glower. At most, his hand snatches Dokja's wrist post-ruffle to stop him from doing it more.
Despite that, he seems placated. He wants to believe so desperately that they can attain the happy ending... He wants to believe that his 1864 lifetimes of hell will be rewarded. Closing his eyes, he heaves out a sigh. ]
You are a fool.
[ He lets go of his hand and puts his sword away. ]
[ At the sudden snatch of his wrist, he merely smiles, amusement gleaming in his eyes. He expected it to happen sooner than it did but Joonghyuk seems to hold it a bit longer than he expects. His pulse may have picked up suddenly. His lips almost twitch into a frown at that feeling.
However, the familiarity of the words ease, with only a feeling of sheepishness coming from the connection now and he turns his attention to his bag instead as his hand pulls at the strap. ]
Yes, yes and you're a brute. Look at the mess you made. [ But really whose fault was that. His own sword is put away, holding up his kit with a light wave. ] Here, let's get your cuts cleaned up.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Any swings he's capable of parrying, he fights aginst the sword with his own, bidding his own time, but he knows he can't do this forever. And just as Joonghyuk says, he's finally run out of stores. This one is the last.
His chest heaves with every breath, but this time it's Dokja who purpose shatters a glass, bringing his right hand into a fist and ignoring the sharp pain that spikes through it as the sound echoes and ]
[[From here on, it’s your job.]]
He was now looking at you. Somewhere within that gaze was the 3rd turn Yoo Joonghyuk's, who had completed the scenarios alongside you.
⸢What exactly is the ‘Conclusion’ you wish to see?⸥
This was what you needed to do in order to answer that question.
Lee Jihye opened her mouth. “He couldn’t do it even after 1863 lifetimes, so... Ahjussi, can you really do it?”
It was as she said.
You are not a ‘protagonist’ like Yoo Joonghyuk, nor are you a ‘writer’ like Han Sooyoung. However, because you are neither the protagonist nor the writer, maybe there was something only you could do.
Maybe, you could remember that one thing that the protagonist couldn’t see, and the writer had forgotten all about.
⸢The job that only he could do, him that read the ‘Ways of Survival’ for a very, very long time.⸥
You quietly stared into the ‘Final Wall’. You focused all your attention and read the wall’s surface again and again. Not too long after that, the wall radiated brilliantly. Just like a certain screen in the past that you had been reading over and over again.
⸢’Three Ways to Survive the Destroyed World’.⸥
Everything from that epic tale was being established within you. You hadn’t yet read the final revised version of the ‘Ways of Survival’. Which meant you didn’t know how this story was supposed to end. However...
⸢But, what if all these were handed over to me without having been written yet?⸥
Your companions and you rushed towards the wall.
⸢What if, someone wanted me to complete this story?⸥ ]
[ He's cornered now. Yet, Jin is the one between the reader and their companion, though her fur is fluffed out and looks to be trying to intimidate- there's no real aggression there. No maliciousness. No. After all, just as Dokja, they trust the other. ]
Well?
no subject
Do you not have anything to say?
[ He gives Dokja time to answer as the last short tidbit plays.Does he have nothing he wants to say? ]
no subject
At the same time does he begin to back up with his hand gripping his blade firmly, but does not raise it when the other's points at his throat. His gaze is leveled, meeting that gaze straight on along with those words. He wants to close his eyes tightly at the memories he doesn't know- doesn't yet recognize. Of a time further than his. However, that he knew, he was aware of the man before him having had regressed.
Another step back and the glass crunches beneath his foot just as his back meets the wall. ]
[Do you not wish to save them?]
You felt vomit rising up from the deepest part of your body.
The ‘Dokkaebi King’ shouted out. [The current you can’t save them. The one who loves the story can never change that very story.]
Can’t change it, because you loved it.
[Only the one who overcomes the story, the one who understands the trivial nature of everything, can escape from the suppression of the Probability.]
The surrounding storm of aftermaths was growing even more vicious, accompanied by the loud rising sound. The power of the Fables flowing out from the ‘Dokkaebi King’ was gradually overwhelming the combined might of the 999th turn’s characters. The Dokkaebi King tore off Lee Hyunsung's Fable metal and extended his hand in your direction.
[The ‘One Single Fable’ you have compiled is more than enough to inherit the position of < Star Stream >. Take my hand. What you want is the same as what I want. I do not wish to see the stories of those stars be erased.]
His voice even sounded desperate, too. The light in his eyes and his Fable all acted as proof of his sincerity. The < Star Stream >’s Fable glowed brightly from his figure.
He was now the < Star Stream > itself. He genuinely didn’t want this story to end.
[Continue with... this story. Become the protagonist of a new world-line, and along with the Fable you have created, continue the banquet of the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. You are the existence born solely for that purpose. You were able to reach this far, only for that purpose!]
While listening to those words, you began recalling all the lucky moments that happened to you so far.
[< Star Stream > is looking at you.]
Why was the < Star Stream >’s Probability so generous towards you? The Dokkaebi King’s Fable was telling you the reason for that. The lights continued to explode before your eyes.
[Do not forget what you truly want. You’re not the ‘last verse’. No, you’re the ‘Eternity’!]
The Constellations’ Fables streamed behind the Dokkaebi King. He was right. You didn’t wish for those stories to end.
You slowly turn your head around and saw Yoo Joonghyuk, now almost freed from the ‘regression depression’. His seemingly-empty eyes were locked on you.
[ Finally, after what seems like hours does his voice sound out. ]
I am no different than the very same Constellations we despise. [ Some of which he's come to love just as much as he hates. ] Living off your story just to survive. It's only fair I fix what I've done. Repaid for having everyone [ to have you ] suffer time and time again.
I... [ A laugh quietly sounds, his gaze meeting that blade now. ] I loved this story. But what I did, will do, going to do- it has to be me.
[ How much he's thought the past few days. Though the trial was a distraction, he's been thinking hard since the first week. And what he firmly believes in the end... ]
I just have to believe in you all. To understand what needs to be done. It's the same as when I had become the ⸢Enemy of the Story⸥.
..Do you get it? [ There was no way he could tell them what they needed to do. What he had hoped for them to do. He just had to believe in them to understand who Kim Dokja was. What Kim Dokja would have them do in that moment. To trust what he plans to do- even with all the risks. To fight with it, to fight against it, and figure out how to get through it all for what they want.
So that, in the end, they continue to their end. Together. Even now, there's nothing but unyielding trust and devotion that can be felt from the reader. ]
no subject
[ The blade doesn't come closer... Niah merely settles somewhere with Jin in his mouth, touching glass again.... Eventually, to Joonghyuk, Dokja's past didn't matter to him. He eventually understood the weight his story had on the other man... Because of his story, Dokja was able to live to this point in a normal and ruined world. ]
I trust you, but I cannot accept the ending you're going to give us. We are not going to settle for 49% of you.
[ More so them, the Yoo Joonghyuk and company that wait for Dokja on that train. ]
You will be in our ending, all 100%.
[ He decided so long ago... ]
no subject
It's as I said. ..I just have to trust in you all.
[ It won't change his decision to come. It won't change whatever path they've gone through up until now. Though that doesn't mean all of this is pointless. Because he's putting his faith, his trust, in that just as they figured him out as the 'Enemy of the Story', they will figure out this as well.
He trusts in them to get their conclusion. Yes, even if that includes him, because why wouldn't he want that? If it means he must suffer until then, even if it means it'll be a long time until that moment... he will do it. Yoo Joonghyuk was forced to regress over a thousand times. It's the least he could do. ]
no subject
... You will not resist when the time comes?
[ The time comes when all of them meet the Final Wall again and pull him out? Then bring him back home? Their emotion link shows that Joonghyuk is hopeful, but barely. There is a part of him that doubts and fears.
Whatever cuts he received when running through all those shops bleed words... They say,Letter by letter, dripping onto the ground. ]
no subject
With a stubborn group like you guys? I don't think I have much of a choice.
[ It comes with a sigh, but it's light-hearted, almost teasing. However, there's no feeling or sound of dishonesty. There's only... fond. Love. After all, the company has become his family. He quietly observes Joonghyuk's composure, his expression, takings in those emotions coming from their connection. Carefully, a hand raises to guide the blade away, no need to threaten him at neck point with it, okay?
His gaze flickers to those texts, watching them drip letter by letter. Then, he takes a step closer and brings a hand to the top of Joonghyuk's head. ...Huh, Joonghyuk's hair is rather soft. Just a light ruffle. ]
When the time comes... let's go home.
no subject
Despite that, he seems placated. He wants to believe so desperately that they can attain the happy ending... He wants to believe that his 1864 lifetimes of hell will be rewarded. Closing his eyes, he heaves out a sigh. ]
You are a fool.
[ He lets go of his hand and puts his sword away. ]
Another reckless stunt and I'll kill you myself.
no subject
However, the familiarity of the words ease, with only a feeling of sheepishness coming from the connection now and he turns his attention to his bag instead as his hand pulls at the strap. ]
Yes, yes and you're a brute. Look at the mess you made. [ But really whose fault was that. His own sword is put away, holding up his kit with a light wave. ] Here, let's get your cuts cleaned up.
no subject
I can do it myself.
no subject
[ Keep your ass still. Need to stop those stories from spilling out. ]
no subject
we may close this to start a new week. ]