[ His lips part, then closes, and he stares off pointedly away from his companion. Brows knit, and there's still that sense of distant curiosity but also a little bit of doubt. However, as he starts to move away, it seems someone didn't do a good amount of cleaning and he ends up kicking a piece of glass shard. And soon, music starts to sound.
Shit.
Before your eyes, the child's shoulder trembled pitifully as if he was having a nightmare.
⸢This was a weak lifeform that could be killed off in an instant.⸥
Heaven Shaking Sword screeched out viciously once more. No star in existence could survive after daring to oppose him. Here was the opportunity for his revenge, reached after experiencing 1864 lifetimes. The [Heaven Shaking Sword] slowly moved. Neither Han Sooyoung nor you could stop it. This event, it simply had to happen. Shin Yoosung tightly holding your hand was crying. Unable to close her mouth, and gasping uncontrollably.
Everything would end with this. You would no longer need to consume someone else's story. Yoo Joonghyuk would be freed from his long journey of regression.
⸢However, why wasn’t that sword moving even now?⸥
The Secretive Plotter's Heaven Shaking Sword continued to wander in the air. The blade that threatened to cut the boy down at any moment was now simply brushing aside the protective barrier around the child, instead. The boy's figure trembled uncontrollably. Ominous-feeling Fables were now circling around him.
⸢”Hey, this guy’s drawing something in his notebook again!”⸥
⸢”Tsk, tsk. He’s so much like his mother...”⸥
⸢”Are you Kim Dokja? By any chance, do you know where your mother is right now? Mm... I see. Don’t you resent your mother? What was your mother like in the past?”⸥
⸢”For how long are you going to keep quiet? If you don’t say anything, the whole world will misunderstand you.”⸥
Slice. The [Heave Shaking Sword] wandering in the air accurately cut down the sentences of those memories. The boy’s trembling shoulders shook a little less than before.
⸢But, why?⸥
Your mind was thrown into disarray.
⸢How come?⸥
The 999th turn’s Lee Hyunsung approached to join the other man. The Plotter nodded his head. Even the 999th turn’s Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye were here, too. They were the Outer Gods that endured the 999th turn. It wasn’t only Yoo Joonghyuk who wanted to destroy , and end the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. The discussion between them is drowned out, the ‘Secretive Plotter’ looking around at his vicinity instead of replying. The clamor of people flooding in and out just to catch the subway could be heard coming from the platform in the distance. He looked back, and the train we rode on was already gone. Instead, there was a Daehwa Station-bound train that would ferry passengers to their unknown destination in this normal world. And then, the crowd of people brushing past us as if they couldn’t see us at all.
People climbing aboard the subway even before the passengers could disembark first; people pushing and shoving each other, or hurling insults in other’s directions. A granny was pushed aside by the disembarking wave of people and fell down. No one tried to aid her. The very first person to witness her plight was an old man sitting on the seats reserved for pregnant mothers. He stared at the granny for a little while, before unfurling a newspaper he pulled out to cover up his vision. And above that newspaper, a headline of an article could be seen.
– The criminal’s essay will be published.
It was an article that you knew quite intimately. Many people read that, chatted about, and then, forgot about that article.
⸢A tragedy with nothing special about it. At most, it was a tragedy that occurred to just one life.⸥
The ‘Secretive Plotter’ and the Outer Gods were now looking at your Fable. Their sorrowful eyes were looking at this tragedy that only went on for a little over a dozen or so years.
[[...Oh, you sad, pitiful child.]]
You shuddered almost out of pure shock from those words. Your own tragedy couldn’t even compare to their pain. The sin of creating an even bigger tragedy because of your own should not be forgiven. You staggered unsteadily back to your feet. Something was wrong. A blade... you, you needed to find a blade.
They must not get devoured by that ‘story’. You don’t need their sympathy.
What you really truly want isn’t a tale like this.
When the memory finishes, Dokja is gasping for breath, the cue stick having since been forgotten and instead his only available hand is gripping Unbreakable Faith almost desperately. ]
[ Oh... He remembers this. He was there for this, but he pushes that memory away because that's what it is to him. Quickly, he helps supporting him. He doesn't try to pry Dokja's hand away from his sword.
There's no reason to. There's no one to cut down here, at least right now. ]
[ His body tenses, chest tight as he tries to understand. It's the very same memory he saw before arriving in this realm. It's definitely the most recent of things he's witnessed so far.
The support helps with his unsteadiness, knuckles white as he keeps a strong hold on his blade. But there is nothing before him. There's no longer sight of that child. Jin, however, is trembling quite visibly from where she was lounging with audible puffs of breath. ]
I.... I'm fine. [ He's not. Nothing that they feel is anything remotely close to being fine. ]
[ Niah gives Jin a lick as if that would help? But overall stays still, aware of his size.
Joonghyuk’s concern hasn't wavered in the slightest yet no words come out of his mouth. What do you even say to that? How do you persuade someone to not blame themselves? Dokja is so convinced, so ready to damn himself. Pensive, he tries to figure something out as he keeps supporting him.
When Dokja can stand on his own, he will let him. ]
So that was how you truly felt.
[ Joonghyuk was always curious because Dokja can be such a an enigma, purposely. ]
[ Jin's trembling seems to quell just a bit at the lick, the fox preferring to bury into the other daemon's fur to stifle a whimper.
The silence doesn't necessarily bother him. He's filled with his own thoughts, the very same that happened at that moment. He didn't want their sympathy, or anyone's for that matter. If because he didn't deserve it. After everything he put them through? And they were sympathetic for him?
His suffering was hardly comparable to theirs. Not when Yoo Joonghyuk went through so much more than him. So many lifelines compared to his own meager short years. When he laughs, it sounds empty. ]
[ Dokja should feel a similar sympathy from Joonghyuk, megaphoned thanks to this week's connection. Before he can say what he wants to say, after having thought about what words to use, Niah bumps into some glass as he tries to comfort the fox. A familiar memory plays for them...
You and your companions are on the last floor of Dark Castle, the very last scenario that has taken your home city. Once you complete this, the demons and monsters will stop flooding out of this spire, and you all can finally leave the dome that has trapped you inside.
All you need to do... Is kill the Demon King that sits on the throne. It's that simple. Yet as you and your comrades pass through the narrow hallway, there are signs of foul play. There are people who have already breached the last floor before it was accessible. Sparks lace the corpses—a probability storm. They were given the means by the gods that sponsored them. Why? Why would the Constellations force such a thing?
The furry white goblin running this show is also surprised, berating the Constellations for trying to control the flow of the story. Impatience will never sate the soul, but everyone wants instant gratification. In this case, you know. You know why the stars are moving and your eyes lock onto the man who has his gaze pinned ahead. He is nondescript, just a man wearing a white coat... Despite that, the stars fear him.
His name is Kim Dokja.
He is a strange man, one who seems to know the future of your world. In your previous regressions, he never appeared. He never existed. He has taken you and your companions this far with very little sacrifice. Or should you say, with his sacrifice alone, but he has returned each time. You've seen it yourself, but the days between his death and resurrection starts stretching. You and your companions are... Becoming restless. You, especially, become crestfallen.
Kim Dokja only has one chance, one life.
If he died... Then... What if he dies forever? What if he's not there in the next regression—his words buzz into your mind as you all approach the throne.
Don't give up on this life. Don't regress. You don't know if the next time will be better.
It hits you. The throne is empty, no king to be found, but a jewel sits there waiting. A system message pops up, displaying the Scenario of this floor. The will of the universe has adjusted it.
< MAIN SCENARIO #10 ― 73RD DEMON KING > CATEGORY: Main DIFFICULTY: SS+ CLEAR CONDITIONS: You can choose one of two ways. Take possession of the throne and become the 73rd demon king, or kill the newly born 73rd demon king. The scenario can only be cleared by choosing one of these two methods and there is no other way to proceed. TIME LIMIT: 30 minutes COMPENSATION: 200,000 coins, escape from this illusion. FAILURE: Death and expulsion from the scenarios.
You already know what you have to do before he does. Before any of your companions do. They only have one life. One chance. But you... You are different. You can die, regress, then wake up to do this all over again. You would go through hell again if it means keeping your comrades here safe, even if it means they must move on without you. Kim Dokja in this case is a solace... You trust that he will lead them well when you're gone.
Quickly, you dart toward the throne and lunge toward the jewel. Whoever holds the jewel will become the Demon King that needs to be slain. A battle breaks out. There is no enemy, merely a fight amongst comrades to stall the inevitable sacrifice.
Eventually and unfortunately, despite your best efforts, Kim Dokja holds the jewel and the Demon King transformation takes him. The man grows in size, spreads wings and horns, but it is still him. He tells you all with a smile that this was the only way. The children who love him start crying as your other companions look at him with disbelief. You, too, look at him in disbelief.
You know what all of them are thinking. They share the same thought as you—why did it have to be this way?
They protest loudly. Even the Constellations that favor Kim Dokja protest. Everyone has always been better with their words than you, but then one of them speaks up. In the end, they still have to abide by the scenario or they will all die. That has Kim Dokja smiling wider. He nods, ushering you all to harm him. He wants you all to live.
Survive.
Believe that he will come back.
He looks to you because he knows you can properly kill him. You hold the sword that can destroy the story that gave him extra lives. His eyes are serene, peaceful, as he tells all of you to do as planned. Didn't he help you all prepare for this moment? And so your comrades lunge at him with tears welling in their eyes, hearts heavy.
You, too, join the fray and end the battle with the sword driven through him. Blood splatters and you see a message.
[The effect of the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds has destroyed all remaining extra lives.]
... Kim Dokja.
“It was a really great story. Isn’t that right?”
He falls limp into your arms yet he finds the strength to speak. What a stubborn man, you think. Annoying. Obnoxious. Doesn't know his place. You hold onto him tightly as he laughs. Systems messages start popping up, but you don't read them.
“Let’s meet again, Yoo Joonghyuk.”
Your lips press into a thin line as you steel and repress whatever emotion boiling over. You silently curse the stars that led your companions here, the Constellations that seek Kim Dokja's death for trying to challenge them. Most of all, you feel... Grief. For so long, you have wished for a companion that understands you even a bit.
But a void opens and Kim Dokja dissipates into dust, funneling into it. You desperately try to grab onto him, any piece of him. To no avail. Kim Dokja is dead. He is gone.
No. No. No.
That has Joonghyuk close his mouth, giving himself a moment. ]
[ ..This is a memory he's seen before. Much earlier this week, actually. And not just once.
However, it serves as a good distraction from the memory before. His shoulders slump a little, heaving with a quiet sigh. Jin is trembling less now, but still preferring to keep herself pressed against the other daemon. ]
...It really was a good story. [ To watch his companions come together to defeat the rise of the Demon King. Right until the very end. ]
[ Unlike Dokja, Joonghyuk is displeased. Discontent. There's... A pang, though dull. A trauma that resurfaces but is buried. It wasn't the first time they lost Kim Dokja and it isn't the last, likewise he returned in the end, but it was one that weighed so heavy in their hearts.
[ Joonghyuk goes quiet because, in the end, it was for the best. Dokja had everything planned. They were able to meet up again. They all fought alongside each other at the Demon King Selection, but much like Dark Castle Dokja was nowhere to be found at the conclusion.
Joonghyuk remembers waking up after the great battle of that scenario to find his companions sitting outside with faces in their hands, shoulders shaking, and the sun rising over Seoul's ragged buildings. It shouldn't be. Not when they were originally in the Demon Realm. The whole industrial complex was moved between dimensions.
But it would make sense, wouldn't it? With Kim Dokja gone... He sent them away to fight the monster that came to eat the Demon Realm as punishment for using up so much probability. Beside his bed was a pocket watch that was never there, but he knew. He knew who it was from. As he thinks over the Demon King Selection (dokja can also get this memshare if u want), a dull and blurred sorrow settles again. ]
[ When silence fills between them, it's both comfortable and uncomfortable. He still has his blade in hand but at least it's been considerably loosened from the death grip earlier. Joonghyuk still lingering nearby him from his earlier support and the reader keeps his gaze averted. He remembers his travels afterward. Drifting between existing and not existing. Really, were it not for the Fourth Wall, he would have been dead. His eyes close and when he hears those words it... strikes something in him. There's... happiness in that. Relief. But also wondering.
Jin is the one that reacts first, seeming to start limping her way over to Dokja but halfway through does she freeze, peering back at Niah. She lingers for a moment with her gaze until she does her best to run the rest of her way to Dokja to jump and smoothly shift into her white-necked raven form. It's a struggle to keep herself in flight long enough, but she catches herself on his sleeve and climbs the rest of the way up to his shoulder.
He sets his blade away, turning to make his way to leave the room but pauses at the door and looks back with a tired smile. ]
I'll need you to keep trusting me. Even here.
[ He doesn't need to wait for an answer, since he'll leave not a moment after. stupid kdj ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Shit.
Before your eyes, the child's shoulder trembled pitifully as if he was having a nightmare.
⸢This was a weak lifeform that could be killed off in an instant.⸥
Heaven Shaking Sword screeched out viciously once more. No star in existence could survive after daring to oppose him. Here was the opportunity for his revenge, reached after experiencing 1864 lifetimes. The [Heaven Shaking Sword] slowly moved. Neither Han Sooyoung nor you could stop it. This event, it simply had to happen. Shin Yoosung tightly holding your hand was crying. Unable to close her mouth, and gasping uncontrollably.
Everything would end with this. You would no longer need to consume someone else's story. Yoo Joonghyuk would be freed from his long journey of regression.
⸢However, why wasn’t that sword moving even now?⸥
The Secretive Plotter's Heaven Shaking Sword continued to wander in the air. The blade that threatened to cut the boy down at any moment was now simply brushing aside the protective barrier around the child, instead. The boy's figure trembled uncontrollably. Ominous-feeling Fables were now circling around him.
⸢”Tsk, tsk. He’s so much like his mother...”⸥
⸢”Are you Kim Dokja? By any chance, do you know where your mother is right now? Mm... I see. Don’t you resent your mother? What was your mother like in the past?”⸥
⸢”For how long are you going to keep quiet? If you don’t say anything, the whole world will misunderstand you.”⸥
Slice. The [Heave Shaking Sword] wandering in the air accurately cut down the sentences of those memories. The boy’s trembling shoulders shook a little less than before.
⸢But, why?⸥
Your mind was thrown into disarray.
⸢How come?⸥
The 999th turn’s Lee Hyunsung approached to join the other man. The Plotter nodded his head. Even the 999th turn’s Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye were here, too. They were the Outer Gods that endured the 999th turn. It wasn’t only Yoo Joonghyuk who wanted to destroy , and end the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. The discussion between them is drowned out, the ‘Secretive Plotter’ looking around at his vicinity instead of replying. The clamor of people flooding in and out just to catch the subway could be heard coming from the platform in the distance. He looked back, and the train we rode on was already gone. Instead, there was a Daehwa Station-bound train that would ferry passengers to their unknown destination in this normal world. And then, the crowd of people brushing past us as if they couldn’t see us at all.
People climbing aboard the subway even before the passengers could disembark first; people pushing and shoving each other, or hurling insults in other’s directions. A granny was pushed aside by the disembarking wave of people and fell down. No one tried to aid her. The very first person to witness her plight was an old man sitting on the seats reserved for pregnant mothers. He stared at the granny for a little while, before unfurling a newspaper he pulled out to cover up his vision. And above that newspaper, a headline of an article could be seen.
– The criminal’s essay will be published.
It was an article that you knew quite intimately. Many people read that, chatted about, and then, forgot about that article.
The ‘Secretive Plotter’ and the Outer Gods were now looking at your Fable. Their sorrowful eyes were looking at this tragedy that only went on for a little over a dozen or so years.
[[...Oh, you sad, pitiful child.]]
You shuddered almost out of pure shock from those words. Your own tragedy couldn’t even compare to their pain. The sin of creating an even bigger tragedy because of your own should not be forgiven. You staggered unsteadily back to your feet. Something was wrong. A blade... you, you needed to find a blade.
They must not get devoured by that ‘story’. You don’t need their sympathy.
What you really truly want isn’t a tale like this.
When the memory finishes, Dokja is gasping for breath, the cue stick having since been forgotten and instead his only available hand is gripping Unbreakable Faith almost desperately. ]
no subject
There's no reason to. There's no one to cut down here, at least right now. ]
Kim Dokja.
no subject
The support helps with his unsteadiness, knuckles white as he keeps a strong hold on his blade. But there is nothing before him. There's no longer sight of that child. Jin, however, is trembling quite visibly from where she was lounging with audible puffs of breath. ]
I.... I'm fine. [ He's not. Nothing that they feel is anything remotely close to being fine. ]
no subject
Joonghyuk’s concern hasn't wavered in the slightest yet no words come out of his mouth. What do you even say to that? How do you persuade someone to not blame themselves? Dokja is so convinced, so ready to damn himself. Pensive, he tries to figure something out as he keeps supporting him.
When Dokja can stand on his own, he will let him. ]
So that was how you truly felt.
[ Joonghyuk was always curious because Dokja can be such a an enigma, purposely. ]
no subject
The silence doesn't necessarily bother him. He's filled with his own thoughts, the very same that happened at that moment. He didn't want their sympathy, or anyone's for that matter. If because he didn't deserve it. After everything he put them through? And they were sympathetic for him?
His suffering was hardly comparable to theirs. Not when Yoo Joonghyuk went through so much more than him. So many lifelines compared to his own meager short years. When he laughs, it sounds empty. ]
Of course it is.
[ Why would he feel any different? ]
no subject
[ Dokja should feel a similar sympathy from Joonghyuk, megaphoned thanks to this week's connection. Before he can say what he wants to say, after having thought about what words to use, Niah bumps into some glass as he tries to comfort the fox. A familiar memory plays for them...That has Joonghyuk close his mouth, giving himself a moment. ]
no subject
However, it serves as a good distraction from the memory before. His shoulders slump a little, heaving with a quiet sigh. Jin is trembling less now, but still preferring to keep herself pressed against the other daemon. ]
...It really was a good story. [ To watch his companions come together to defeat the rise of the Demon King. Right until the very end. ]
no subject
Loss. ]
For you, it was.
no subject
[ To be able to reach that end, everyone else needed to stay alive. ]
..I had a plan in the end. I just needed everyone to trust in that.
[ He knows he asks for a lot of that. Trust. While not telling everything. But it needed to be that way. He had to do it his way. ]
no subject
Joonghyuk remembers waking up after the great battle of that scenario to find his companions sitting outside with faces in their hands, shoulders shaking, and the sun rising over Seoul's ragged buildings. It shouldn't be. Not when they were originally in the Demon Realm. The whole industrial complex was moved between dimensions.
But it would make sense, wouldn't it? With Kim Dokja gone... He sent them away to fight the monster that came to eat the Demon Realm as punishment for using up so much probability. Beside his bed was a pocket watch that was never there, but he knew. He knew who it was from. As he thinks over the Demon King Selection (dokja can also get this memshare if u want), a dull and blurred sorrow settles again. ]
I trusted you to the very end.
[ It's the truth. ]
no subject
Jin is the one that reacts first, seeming to start limping her way over to Dokja but halfway through does she freeze, peering back at Niah. She lingers for a moment with her gaze until she does her best to run the rest of her way to Dokja to jump and smoothly shift into her white-necked raven form. It's a struggle to keep herself in flight long enough, but she catches herself on his sleeve and climbs the rest of the way up to his shoulder.
He sets his blade away, turning to make his way to leave the room but pauses at the door and looks back with a tired smile. ]
I'll need you to keep trusting me. Even here.
[ He doesn't need to wait for an answer, since he'll leave not a moment after.
stupid kdj]no subject