Chapter 166 — Kim Dokja’s Love (4)
9 min read ·
Can people stop posting spoilers in the comments? I’ve been receiving complaints.
Translator: Rainbow Turtle
“Master!” Lee Jihye shouted when she discovered Yoo Jonghyuk. However, Yoo Jonghyuk asked again without caring about her at all.
“Where is Kim Dokja?”
“...Why are you looking for Dokja ahjussi?”
Yoo Jonghyuk was about to answer when Yoo Sangah carried Yoo Mia and descended from the ceiling like a beautiful woman. The party members called out her name. Rather than responding to their greetings, Yoo Sangah hastily said, “Dokja-ssi is in danger.”
“Huh?”
“Do you know where Dokja-ssi is now?”
Just like Yoo Jonghyuk, Yoo Sangah’s eyes search the people nervously. She couldn’t see Kim Dokja at all. Lee Hyunsung quickly replied, “Dokja-ssi left four days ago.”
“What do you mean by Dokja-ssi is in danger?” Jung Heewon asked again. Unfortunately, there was no time to explain.
Lee Jihye added in a frustrated manner. “Didn’t you come because you knew something was wrong? We are the ones in danger, not Dokja ahjussi.”
Yoo Sangah had no idea of the situation and replied, “Let’s leave this place and I’ll explain.”
Due to the turmoil, many monsters were pouring out of the connected caves. Lee Jihye spoke in a creeped out manner.
“Damn, if Gong Pildu ahjussi was here...”
Certainly, the situation would be a lot different if Gong Pildu was here. Gong Pildu’s stigma Armed Fortress was useful against large numbers and was suitable for slaughtering many monsters.
However, they already split from Gong Pildu on the first floor of Dark Castle and it was unclear where he was.
Yoo Jonghyuk was the party’s sole comfort. Simply in terms of force, he was much stronger than Gong Pildu or Kim Dokja. He had enough strength to crack apart a mountain with his fist.
Yoo Jonghyuk blew away the incoming monsters with Hundred Steps Godly Fists and said, “It is disadvantageous if we fight here. Let’s go out via the ceiling.”
Yoo Jonghyuk sought the fastest method of escape and opened a path in the monsters. His ability to open a path without a significant consumption of magic power was close to a human tank. No, a real tank wouldn’t be so powerful. Yoo Sangah asked, “Can we escape?”
“I’ll make some steps so jump out yourself.”
At these words, Yoo Jonghyuk flew into the air.
It was the Air Steps that only the strongest returnees in the Murim World Could use. He built a tower with the corpses of monsters for the party members to step on. Then he went through the ceiling and punched something to create a platform.
He normally wouldn’t have done this for the party. However, Yoo Jonghyuk in this regression was different. Yoo Jonghyuk himself didn’t know what had made him change. Then he heard a voice in his ears.
[It is a very unexpected situation. You are ‘Incarnation Yoo Jonghyuk?’]
It was Reinheit’s voice. Lee Jihye was amazed as she was running towards the ceiling. “What, he isn’t dead?”
It was natural.
The second-ranked being in Dark Castle wouldn’t die from a few stones. Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t reply to Reinheit, instead waiting for the rest of them at the top of the stairs he had made. Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung and Yoo Sangah climbed up first, followed by Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung.
The moment Shin Yoosung was about to pass by, Yoo Jonghyuk grabbed her shoulder. “You shouldn’t come with us.”
“Huh?”
Before Shin Yoosung could reply, Yoo Jonghyuk pushed the child down from the ceiling. The monsters opened their mouths as they waited for Shin Yoosung. Lee Gilyoung shouted, “Yoosung! What...? What are you doing?”
The angry Lee Gilyoung swung his fists at Yoo Jonghyuk. Yoo Jonghyuk lightly grabbed Lee Gilyoung’s fist and said, “You should go too.”
After a moment, Lee Gilyoung screamed and fell down along with Shin Yoosung.
***
After Dionysus’ incarnation left, Han Sooyoung asked me with a serious expression, “...What the hell was that last thing he said?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? It was filtered for you as well?”
I didn’t hear it. However, I could vaguely guess what he meant. It was probably related to the ‘end’ of all scenarios. Then it was natural to be filtered.
I was challenging the 10th scenario and just became a scenario. I couldn’t get all information at will.
Han Sooyoung stared at me with a grumpy expression and made a small sigh. “...By the way, what are you going to do about your fate? It must be really dangerous if the constellations of Olympus are directly coming to warn you.”
“It looks like it.”
“Is there no way to completely stop the fate?”
“It isn’t completely inevitable. If the execution of fate was absolutely impossible, the fate would be withdrawn. Fate always followed ‘probability.’
In the opposite sense, fate could never be escaped if there was even the slightest chance of it happening. Han Sooyoung thought about something and wondered,
“There isn’t any specific information? It only mentions your death?”
“That...”
In fact, Dionysus risked losing a huge amount of probability by telling me the prophecy.
「 Incarnation Kim Dokja will be killed by your most loved ones. 」
To be honest, it was a confusing story for me.
The person I loved most... They were going to kill me?
I hesitated before telling the contents of the prophecy and Han Sooyoung opened her mouth. As if she didn’t know what to say, her face paled and then reddened.
“The person you love most?”
“Yes.”
“...Do you have such a person?”
I felt bad but somehow, I also wanted to ask this. I tried to recall the faces of every person. There was some affection but there was no one I ‘loved.’ Indeed, ‘love’ was the word that was furthest from my life.
“To be honest, I would say there isn’t one.”
Han Sooyoung’s face became redder at my words. “Then shouldn’t the fate be withdrawn?”
“At first glance, you might think so...”
“Or are you going to fall in love with someone now? Are you the type to fall in love at first sight?”
“That has never happened and it isn’t likely.”
The fate message was strong enough to be repeated three times. I was confused. Had I fallen in love with someone?
Han Sooyoung looked at my complicated expression and opened her mouth. “Or there is another possibility.”
“What is it?”
“Originally, fate isn’t something that should be interpreted literally. Don’t you know Greek mythology? Originally, prophecies aren’t immediately known. It is full of metaphors and symbols.”
Han Sooyoung cocked her head.
“Incarnation Kim Dokja will be killed by the person he loves most... what symbolism or analogies are present in this sentence?”
“Do you mean the sentence might have a surprisingly different meaning?”
“Hrmm...”
Han Sooyoung was an author so she might be surprisingly helpful in interpreting this aspect. Han Sooyoung started to take out plausible hypotheses.
“I think there are three possible things.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
“First. There might be a reason why ‘incarnation’ was mentioned first.”
“...Incarnation?”
It was a point I had inadvertently overlooked.
“Aren’t you a constellation now? Then as an incarnation, you have already died. No?”
It was a plausible hypothesis. However, if this hypothesis was correct, I would’ve seen the message about fate being realized the moment I became a constellation. In other words, there was no reason for the fate messages to repeat.
Han Sooyoung seemed to think something was lacking as well and came up with a second hypothesis. “Second, it is possible that the words ‘person he loves most’ itself is a metaphor.”
“What else is considered a ‘person’ in the Star Stream?”
“Um... It might be the personification of something.”
I tried to think about it but couldn’t find a plausible interpretation for this part.
By the way, I looked at Han Sooyoung and wondered if she was a good person. I was very grateful for her thinking about all these possibilities for me.
I watched Han Sooyoung. Her lashes seemed unusually long because of the lingering twilight. It turned out that this person was quite pretty. In fact, Han Sooyoung was a bit young but her looks weren’t bad.
...Wait a minute. What was I thinking right now? I had to be careful. Maybe I would be hit by Han Sooyoung if I did something wrong. Honestly, this person would stab me without any hesitation. In fact, she had already stabbed me once.
Han Sooyoung spoke again. “The last thing we need to think about is ‘die.’ Perhaps this death isn’t literally death.”
“Then?”
“When do you think people die?”
“That... I suppose when their life is over. Their heart stops and they are no longer breathing.”
Han Sooyoung clicked her tongue like she was disappointed in my answer. “Well, there is a reason why you kept reading a novel like Ways of Survival...”
“...Don’t start a useless argument. So what do you mean?”
“Don’t you read manhwa? Usually you should say something like this. When a person dies? It is when they are forgotten by people!”
“Those are manhwa. Then are you saying I will be forgotten?”
“It is just an example, you idiot. In the Star Stream, a constellation dies when they are forgotten. You can think of similar possibilities.”
In fact, it didn’t sound impossible. The Star Stream was a huge story and beings with no relationship in the story were naturally wiped out.
I wondered, “Why will people forget me? Is it group amnesia?”
“They might not mean to forget.” Han Sooyoung’s face suddenly seemed lonely.
Speaking of which, I didn’t know Han Sooyoung’s life. Apart from the fact that she wrote a novel plagiarizing Ways of Survival, I knew nothing about Han Sooyoung.
...Even now, the part about plagiarism was uncertain. In the past, Han Sooyoung said she didn’t plagiarize and Lie Detection said she was telling the truth.
I asked after a moment, “Then what do you mean?”
Han Sooyoung seemed to be picking her words as she opened her mouth with a dark expression. “Kim Dokja, dead people can’t remember anything.”
I realized what Han Sooyoung was talking about. We reflexively looked towards Paradise.
...Perhaps?
Han Sooyoung spoke first. “Should we go back?”
“...It is too late if we go now. It has already been four days. It is impossible to get there in time.”
“Then?”
“It’s okay. By now, the strongest reinforcements should’ve arrived.”
“The strongest reinforcements?”
“That guy should be sent...”
At this moment, a message appeared in the air.
[Someone in Dark Castle has achieved the first transcendence in the scenario!]
It was as I expected. I thought he would’ve reached that position by now.
I thought about Yoo Jonghyuk, who should be causing a disaster in the distance. “Now the main character should pay for his meal.”