Chapter 290

“Hey, Lee Jihye.” A man waved towards us while speaking in a typical gangster tone. The white coat hanging from his shoulder was unmistakably the Infinite Dimension Space Coat. Thus, it was the same coat as mine.

[The constellation ‘Lily Pin of Aquarius’ is frowning.]

[The constellation ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos’ is showing displeasure.]

The flowers were shaking in my coat’s inner pocket.

...This guy was the leader? The surging shock made me momentarily dizzy. I reflexively looked back at Yoo Jonghyuk but I couldn't share my shock with Yoo Jonghyuk who had become a fool.

I looked back at the man again. He had a bandage wrapped around one hand and he was half-leaning against a door as he laughed while pushing back white hair.

「 Kim Dok ja is an i diot. 」

...No matter how I thought about it, he couldn't be the leader. In the first place, this ‘coat’ was something that could be easily obtained by the 95th scenario.

Lee Jihye frowned. “Kim Namwoon.”

“Yes.”

“I told you to pretend not to know me. Now get lost. I have to go in.”

“Uh, uh...”

Kim Namwoon faltered in front of Lee Jihye’s words. Lee Jihye glared at Kim Namwoon like he was pathetic.

“In addition, don't steal Master’s coat. I'll kill you.”

“...Don't you want to wear it once?”

Lee Jihye slammed open the door and entered the building. As if overwhelmed by Lee Jihye, Kim Namwoon’s gaze followed after Lee Jihye’s back.

...Come to think of it, their relationship was exactly the same as it was in the original novel. There were many new things that emerged in my mind. Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung and Kim Namwoon...

Curiosity and an unknown fear coiled deep in my heart. What happened in this round? As I was distracted for a moment, Kim Namwoon looked at me.

“Who are you? That coat looks like mine?”

[The character ‘Kim Namwoon’ is showing vigilance towards you!]

I remembered the first time I met him. Kim Namwoon’s head was blown up on the subway. If Kim Namwoon was still alive... would it have felt like this?

“Hey soldier, who is this person? Fuck! It is Yoo Jonghyuk!”

Kim Namwoon discovered Yoo Jonghyuk behind me and quickly stepped back.

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ is baring his teeth.]

Delusional Demon Kim Namwoon. In this turn, the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon had picked his original incarnation.

Yoo Jonghyuk raised his head at the hostility directed towards him and Kim Namwoon flinched. “You are still cool... did you come to fight, Yoo Jonghyuk?”

Kim Namwoon’s hands were trembling and I couldn't tell if he was excited or afraid. Maybe it was both. It was Lee Hyunsung who blocked the atmosphere from becoming worse. “Namwoon, these people didn't come to fight.”

“What? Then why did they come?”

“That...”

I stepped inside the building without listening to their conversation.

“Wait a minute! Kim Dokja-ssi!”

Lee Hyunsung’s voice was heard behind me but my desire to check the interior of the building was greater. If my idea was correct... This building was the very ‘building’ that Yoo Jonghyuk envisioned in the early rounds.

I entered and a spacious room appeared. It was the size of a warehouse of a large company. From a large door next to me, a bed carrying a patient rushed in. There was one emergency patient.

“Don't play around and move the patient over here!”

I quickly pushed the bed over. There were people in white coats gathered.

“A story pack! Bring a story pack!”

“This patient is allergic to animal-related stories!”

They were all trained in medical skills. The one leading them was a woman wearing small rimless glasses. A woman looked at the patient’s pierced stomach and thighs and asked me about the details of the patient.

“Where did this patient get hurt?”

I stared quietly at her. A woman who was called ‘Poisoner’ or ‘Righteous’ depending on the rounds. She was Yoo Jonghyuk’s lover in some rounds and enemies in others.

I wore a white coat and was mistaken to be a doctor. I looked at the patient’s details and answered, “Perhaps he was hit by an unnamed thing. It seems that the tentacles contaminated the wound.”

“Indeed... um?”

Lee Seolhwa slowly blinked at me.

[The character ‘Lee Seolhwa’ has received a strange feeling from you.]

“Who are you?”

Who should I say? No, she wouldn't know no matter what I said.

“Hey Ahjussi, what are you doing? Come along quickly! Bring Yoo Jonghyuk with you!”

I left the bemused Lee Seolhwa and walked up the stairs with Yoo Jonghyuk towards Lee Jihye.

The inner walls of the building were made of a transparent material so the structure of the whole building came into view as I climbed up.

Patients were constantly pouring into the emergency room on the first floor. They were incarnations injured by confronting outer gods or constellations.

It wasn't strange. Such tragedies had become commonplace in the 95th scenario. I remembered the 95th scenario of the 1863rd round.

I turned my attention outside the building and saw the ruined scenery of Seoul. There were nebulae emitting smoke and sleeping outer gods. Above them were dark crystals covering the sky.

[Apocalypse Dragon Sealing Ball]

This seal was the core and goal of the 95th scenario. Gather five scattered keys and release the Apocalypse Dragon. Once the Apocalypse Dragon was released, destruction would come to the planet and those who completed the scenario would automatically go to the next scenario.

However, this 1863rd round was different from the 1863rd round I knew.

-A first-grade monster has appeared on the river side!

Radio waves were spreading through the building. As we climbed the stairs, I could see the scene in the situation room that had bright panels shining.

-I strongly recommend that you withdraw the forces dispatched to Seocho! The Archangel of Fire has appeared.

-We have found the Holy Sword Ascalon in Nowon! We are currently engaged with dozens of unnamed things! Please send support!

Numerous messages came and went and one person was managing everything. He had curly hair. A boy wearing a headset with dark circles under his eyes.

...No, he wasn't a boy anymore. I looked at him with a strange feeling.

Hermit King of Shadows, Han Donghoon. The child, who didn't become a ‘king’ in the round I lived, sat in a place where his talent could shine. White light emerged from Han Donghoon’s fingertips and his completed the calculations quickly.

-Min Jiwon-ssi and her Hwarang and Maitreya Cha Sangkyung will be in charge of the Nowon area.

-The incarnations of Olympus must be hit first before they attack.

-You must secure the holy sword Ascalon. Hurry!

Familiar names were heard in the messages. Min Jiwon and Cha Sangkyung. Those who had the Lady of the Brocade Sleep and One-Eyed Maitreya as their constellations survived to the 95th scenario.

“Why are you looking like that?” Lee Jihye watched me from the side and poked me.

I hesitated to answer before telling her honestly. “...It is more amazing than I thought.”

Lee Jihye was surprised by my answer and hesitated for a moment. “Well, my master is really great. It is all thanks to Master. That person did it alone.”

Lee Jihye, Lee Hyunsung, Lee Seolhwa, Min Jiwon, Cha Sangkyung, Han Donghoon... in addition, Kim Namwoon. All the people who should’ve died in the original 1863rd round were alive. Furthermore, their level of their armed forces was high and the size of their force was formidable.

In a sense, it was better than the third round that I lived... no, it was the level I had always hoped for.

My head throbbed.

Someone I didn't know had changed the history of the 1863rd round. The tragedy that should’ve happened didn't happen and humanity was fighting.

Yoo Jonghyuk hadn't lost any colleagues yet. Maybe... I didn't have to go back to the third round. I could see the proper ending here.

Lee Ji-hye told me, “We will go to the end of the scenario with Master.”

The moment I heard this, an eerie and cold sensation filled my chest. Clearly, there was everything present in this landscape. Apart from one thing.

I turned around and saw Yoo Jonghyuk standing with a blank expression. I couldn't tell whether or not Yoo Jonghyuk was looking at this scenery. I didn't know if he was grieving or rejoicing. All I could know was about myself.

“Why do you hate Yoo Jonghyuk?”

“It is because he is a bad guy.”

“Why is he a bad guy?”

“Are you really asking because you don't know?”

“I don't know.”

“That person won't hesitate to kill for his own goals.”

It was true. I asked, “Is that all?”

“Do you need another reason?”

That's right. Maybe this reason alone was sufficient. However...

「 Kim Dokja thought, ‘You don't know why Yoo Jonghyuk did those things.’」

I took a deep breath. This wasn't Lee Jihye’s fault. No one had done anything wrong. Rather, everyone was doing so well that perhaps it made me angry.

“Who is the Master you are talking about?”

“Go to the top floor of the building. Take the elevator over there.”

I nodded and moved to the elevator. Yoo Jonghyuk followed behind me and Lee Jihye pulled out her sword. “Leave Yoo Jonghyuk here.”

It was as expected. I alternated looking between Yoo Jonghyuk and Lee Jihye. I heard a dinging sound as the elevator arrived.

I approached Yoo Jonghyuk before boarding the elevator. “Yoo Jonghyuk, think happy thoughts and wait. Do you understand?”

Yoo Jonghyuk nodded.

“However, if someone tries to harm you... remember the memories of the most unfortunate days.”

“What are you doing now?”

Lee Jihye felt a strange nuance from my words. I ignored her and got on the elevator.

“Hey! Answer me! What did you mean by what you said to Yoo Jonghyuk!”

I knew how important this place was to Lee Jihye. Naturally, someone’s precious thing was a weakness.

“If you're curious then try touching him. Although I wouldn't if I was you.”

The door of the elevator closed.

3, 4, 5...

Gravity increased as the number of floors of the building changed. The numbers changed while my brain moved faster than ever.

Who was it? There were a few potential candidates. Those who could read information of the future and change the future. Anna Croft and some constellations of a certain nebula. However, none of them could do something like this.

No matter how good they were, they were still part of the original novel. It wasn't possible to make a change to the original events with their power alone.

9, 10, 11...

Then there was only one answer. Besides me, there was another being outside the original. Still, there were some weird points. Even if it was an existence outside the original, there was no reason they could progress so perfectly to the 95th scenario. In a way, it resembled me... At this moment, I got goosebumps.

...Don't tell me? There were the Yoo Jonghyuks in other rounds. If so, what about me?

Dding.

I shook my head the moment the elevator made a sound. According to the revised version of Ways of Survival, I didn't exist in Yoo Jonghyuk’s other rounds. After a few more rounds, there was no ‘me.’ If there was, the revision itself would be different.

Thus, the existence likely wasn't me. The one thing that bothered me was Secretive Plotter.

[ Actually, there was another person beside you who made a covenant. ]

The door opened. Then a room reminiscent of a hotel suite appeared. It was a dim room where the fire was extinguished. There was a soft carpeted floor. I saw a figure sitting on the chair.

“Hmm... you are the one Lee Hyunsung mentioned.”

Along with the voice, a silver light lit up the room. The first thing I saw in my dim vision was the sword on the table. The sword boasted a pure white luster. I knew this sword well. It was because it was my Unbroken Faith. As I looked at the sword, the person sitting on the chair spoke.

“It is a good sword. As the name implies, it doesn't break.”

“I know. I'm using it too.”

“Really?”

The person sitting on the chair was covered in a black half mask. I stared at the eyes visible beyond the half mask. It had changed by the winds of the scenario but there was no doubt.

[The exclusive skill ‘Character List’ is activated!]

Originally, it was a skill that shouldn't work. I used it a few times and I knew it well. Then why did I try it again?

[There is too much information about this person. Character List is converted to Character Summary List.]

Maybe it was because I hoped it wouldn't work. I looked at the information in front of me and felt somewhat heavy. Maybe she didn't know.

What terrible loneliness did I feel right now?

“Okay, where did you come from? I’ve never heard the name Kim Dokja.”

I should’ve noticed it from the beginning. She was the only person who knew the existence of Ways of Survival apart from me. She was the only one who could’ve done this in the first place.

...But how? It was pointless to ask. There was a part I needed to know from now on. However, there was one thing I could know. This wasn't the one from the third round that I knew.

I looked at the woman with a bob cut and asked, “Are you Han Sooyoung’s avatar?”