I received the book and stood around in a daze, but somehow managed to ask the butler in the end. “When was it that her majesty gave you this book, again?”
“It was 40 years ago when she gave me the first manuscript. And for the next ten years, she consistently gave me more manuscripts. All I did was to bind them into a single book, your highness.”
“Have you read its contents?”
“I swear on my life, I’ve not read a single line, your highness. Let me emphasize it again that I only merely organised them and bound them, sir.”
I quickly opened the book and was greeted by the clean, well-organised table of contents.
‘…..’
Episode 13. Counterattacking Princes
Episode 14. One Prince and I
Episode 15. Three Methods
…..
I frantically leafed through the pages. Although the collected book itself was rather thick, I didn’t have too much trouble reading it, thanks to the special effect of my attribute.
Someone here was still unhappy about my reading speed, however.
“You’re reading it way too quickly.”
“It’s you who’s slow, ‘older brother’.”
“What does it say?”
I didn’t reply right away.
As I flipped through the pages, this vague listlessness washed over me. Each page was thick with the fatigue of the passing time and the sense of desperation, an urgency. I couldn’t be sure whether that was Han Su-Yeong’s intention or not.
But, I was sure that she had foreseen the moment of me reading her book arriving in the future.
I stopped reading the page I was on and went straight to the very last portion of the book. That was where the <Author’s Afterwords> were.
⸢Seriously now. There are always those folks who go straight to the author’s afterwords when first reading a book.⸥
The words greeted me as if they were waiting for my arrival. Even though I knew that couldn’t be the case, I almost broke out into an unconscious chuckle, nonetheless.
⸢By the time you’re reading this book, I….⸥
I steeled my heart and read the next line of the text.
⸢…I’d still be living a pretty good life, I guess. Hahah, were you scared?⸥
This idiot…
⸢In any case. If my prediction is correct, then the person reading these words is Kim Dok-Ja. Prince Kim Dok-Ja, no less. What an unfortunate thing that is, not being able to spectate on that sight.⸥
Han Su-Yeong’s trademark dry sarcasm could be sensed so vividly among each and every word she wrote.
⸢You wanna know how I can tell? Well…. Actually, even I can’t be sure. There’s a limit to how much I can guess what would happen, you know. It’s just that, I looked at all the potential circumstances on how you might arrive here, as well as countless cliched conditions attached to it, and predicted the one with the highest odds, that’s all. Ah, of course, my prediction could be wrong, though.⸥
These words were written in a playful manner. However, the contents being conveyed were definitely not a joke.
⸢In all honesty, I wish I was wrong, though. Me, waiting for someone for decades and decades…. You think such a thing is even possible? You crazy fool.⸥
Han Su-Yeong’s <Author’s Afterwords> wasn’t written in one sitting, it seemed. Most likely, she began collecting records the moment she possessed someone in this world. And then, committed those records to these pages once she was finally able to write them down.
Her records continued on.
⸢I’m sure you have figured it out, but well, I was born into that woman’s body. At first, I really thought that I had reincarnated, you know…. I almost went crazy out of boredom and frustration during the first year. If I hadn’t activated [Avatar] in my head and organised my memories, then I might have really lost my mind back then. Things got better a little bit when I hit four years old and began writing stuff. What a screwed up thing that is, me being a wordsmith and needing to write things even in moments like this. Maybe I want to be saved by writing.⸥
I didn’t know whether to laugh or shed a tear. All I could do right now was to silently turn the page.
⸢At first, I thought you’d show up in three years at the latest. I mean, you did show up three years later before. But then, after three years went by, then four, and five…. (Don’t be mistaken that time flew by just because I’m writing like this, okay?) My thoughts changed. And from a certain point on, I accepted it.⸥
It was getting harder and harder to flip the pages.
⸢I see. Kim Dok-Ja isn’t going to show up for a while.⸥
Han Su-Yeong’s handwriting seemed to be trembling just a little.
⸢That damn asshole told me to wait for him, yet he’s still not here.⸥
What could I possibly say to her?
⸢However, I guess this can’t be Kim Dok-Ja’s fault.⸥
What the hell. It was as if whatever I wanted to say already was conveyed to Han Su-Yeong just as she began writing this.
⸢My bad, I’m sure you don’t want to read about something like this, either. But, the thing is, it’s not easy to complain in this place, you know?⸥
Her words continued on.
⸢I had no idea when I was still writing novels, but now that I’ve been living in this place, there’s just way too many cumbersome details that I haven’t thought of before. Like, the shower facility being really terrible, and there are bugs the size of my fist crawling around in my bedroom, and as for food…. Let’s not even mention that, shall we.⸥
On the sixth year….
⸢Did you know that my speech is becoming weird lately? I’m beginning to sound like some kind of a high-class lady from medieval times or something.⸥
And on the seventh year…
⸢Dear Sir Kim Dok-Ja, just when will you come?⸥
Eighth year….
⸢Blergh….⸥
Finally, ninth year.
⸢This is like a bad joke, a person’s life fleeting past this quickly.⸥
From here onwards, the records were occasionally cut off. The sequence of time was not consistent, and I discovered parts that seemed to be added in later on every now and then.
⸢God damn it.⸥
⸢Kim Dok-Ja, you son of a bitch.⸥
⸢Just what the hell do you want from me, you stinking Dokkaebi bastards?⸥
…
……
⸢The years I’ve been living in this place is now almost the same as what I spent living on Earth.⸥
⸢….So, like, when you see me again next time, you better call me noona, got that?⸥
Han Su-Yeong’s handwriting was changing bit by bit, with the distinct feeling of it slowly becoming something no longer hers but someone else’s.
⸢Honestly, I’m writing this because I can pretty much guess what will happen to me in the future. And also, in a way, the future of this world view, too.⸥
Decades would prove to be a short length of time for Constellations. However, it’d not be the same for a human being.
Han Su-Yeong had to endure yet another lifetime in this place.
⸢I thought that, this scenario probably isn’t in the ‘Ways of Survival’. Because, we’ve changed too much of the original storyline, right?⸥
‘We’.
You have experienced that lengthy amount of time all by yourself, yet you can still call me that….
⸢If I take the hands-off approach here, the idiot you and Yu Joong-Hyeok will probably go around doing dumb things and mess up the scenario, instead…. So.⸥
At that moment, it felt as if Han Su-Yeong was standing right in front of me. I mistakenly thought that she was here and speaking to me in her usual confident and shrewd tone of voice.
⸢Oh, my sole reader. This is the tale of a certain woman who managed to survive in the messed-up scenario.⸥
Goosebumps began slowly rising up from the ends of my neck.
This was the recorded history of Han Su-Yeong’s life; words containing her rage, her resentment, and her longing.
⸢I don’t know whether you’re a suitable guy for this ‘three methods’ or not, but at the least, I’m sure of this one thing.⸥
The following words were eerily similar to a certain body of text that I was familiar with.
⸢The you reading this story will definitely make it out of here alive.⸥
Han Su-Yeong’s afterwords came to an end there. For the longest time, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the full-stop at the end of the sentence.
“Ricardo.”
I looked to my side to find Yu Joong-Hyeok staring at me.
“Did that woman possess the power to predict the future?”
“….Maybe.”
Now originally, the [Predictive Plagiarism] was the 1863rd-turn Han Su-Yeong’s power. The Han Su-Yeong of this turn, the one responsible for writing this book, also had acquired that power now.
And the result of that was this very book.
Here was the brand-new signpost for me to follow, me who had read the ‘Ways of Survival’.
[The worldview is paying close attention to your conversation.]
[Genre of the applicable scenario has tilted slightly towards ‘Fusion Fantasy’.]
I flipped to the first page of the book. Now was the time to study the required information in-depth. For some reason, a line of text that I glossed over earlier caught my eyes.
⸢PS: This novel is an original secondary creation related to ‘Ways of Survival’, and not created for the purpose of monetary gain.⸥
I ended up smirking just a little then.
⸢Episode 1. Birth of an SSS-rank Reincarnator⸥
I read and re-read the words that Han Su-Yeong had written with so much care.
As if I was drunkard walking straight into another world, I voraciously ate up her words. Because that was the only courtesy I could pay to the author of this story as its reader.
And it was fun, god damn it. In some passages, much more so than the ‘Ways of Survival’.
Just how long passed by like that? I finally raised my head.
*
Han Su-Yeong had said this – that there were three ways of clearing this scenario.
⸢The three clearing methods will represent each different genre.⸥
The three would be, Fantasy, Romance, and Fusion Fantasy.
⸢The course of ‘dynastic revolution’ will fall mainly to the ‘Fantasy’ genre. If you select this route….⸥
All the available route had pros and cons; if you got something, then, in turn, you’d have to lose something, as well.
However, there were certain things that would be lost regardless of which route was chosen. For instance, the first thing to be lost would be….
“P-please, spare me! Your highness!! Spare me!”
….Yi Hyeon-Seong’s human rights.
“Roll to your left.”
“Euh-euhk, Keuh-euk!”
“To your right.”
“Y-your highness….!”
“I don’t remember permitting you to speak.”
Like a military drill instructor, Yu Joong-Hyeok was in the middle of ‘punishing’ Yi Hyeon-Seong. As for me, I was spectating that from the side.
“B-but, why are you making me do this?! Fourth Prince! Your highness! Please, say something to your brother!”
“Can you recall anything now by any chance?”
“Euh, euh-euh… My, my back…. I’m an old soldier, so why….”
In order to tread the route Han Su-Yeong’s [Predictive Plagiarism] had foreseen, we need to make Yi Hyeon-Seong regain his memories first. And certain memories were better remembered by one’s body, rather than one’s brain.
⸢This might be a cruel thing for Yi Hyeon-Seong to go through, but….⸥
Unfortunately, we didn’t have any other choice right now.
Even Han Su-Yeong’s book failed to record the life of Bilston as lived through Yi Hyeon-Seong’s perspective. As we had no idea what kind of a life he lived before he got swallowed up by this world, there was only so many methods we could resort to for waking him up.
And so, how long did it pass by like this?
“Something feels strange.”
Yi Hyeon-Seong, his head planted on the floor, suddenly began rambling nonsense.
“I feel more comfortable now.”
[Character, ‘Bilston’, is under tremendous confusion.]
[Ego of the character, ‘Yi Hyeon-Seong’, is wiggling around.]
Yu Joong-Hyeok and I stared at each other simultaneously.
Now normally, it’d been a tall order to wake Yi Hyeon-Seong’s ego with such little stimulation. However, the story was a bit different right now. Because I was here, and so was Yu Joong-Hyeok.
[Beings sharing the same Fable as you are in your near vicinity.]
[The bond between the Fable is strengthening!]
Right now, three members of <Kim Dok-Ja’s Company> had gathered here, in this place.
There was a certain old adage regarding this situation – ‘Sam-in-seong-ho'(三人成虎).
Which means, when three people gathered, they could create a fake story of a tiger.
We might not be able to create a tall tale of a tiger, but it could be possible to do something else, instead.
[Fables possessed by your Nebula are beginning to resist against the ‘worldview’.]
….For instance, summoning back the memories that didn’t exist within this worldview.
[Ego of the character, ‘Yi Hyeon-Seong’, is slowly opening its eyes.]
Faint rays of light were now being emitted from Yi Hyeon-Seong’s body.
[Great Fable, ‘Kaixenix Archipelago’, is glaring at your group!]
Han Su-Yeong said that this scenario played out in a world controlled by that ‘Great Fable’. So, if one could escape from the Fable’s control, then it’d be possible to regain one’s forgotten ego.
“Euh, euh-uh, uh….”
Yi Hyeon-Seong blinked his eyes laboriously, his lips bobbing up and down like a newborn trying to form words.
“….D-Dok-Ja-ssi?”
[Worldview is imposing a penalty on the words not aligned with the Probability!]
Tsu-chuchuchuchut!!
“Uwaaaaahhk?!?!”
Yi Hyeon-Seong writhed painfully as he got electrocuted by the sparks. I shifted my head to the side and saw the battle-ready Yu Joong-Hyeok standing up from his spot.
The important preparations had been completed now.
Yu Joong-Hyeok grasped his [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] and threw me a question.
– Which route are we choosing?
– The one we’d been treading all along.
The author of this scenario was Han Su-Yeong. Regrettably, there was no guarantee of the work ending up as a success even if the author did an excellent job.
– Time to start our attack, Yu Joong-Hyeok.
Because, the ones to complete the story were the ‘Characters’, not the author, that’s why.
[A new ‘Great Fable’ is beginning to sprout in your Nebula.]
< Episode 72: Three methods (1) > Fin.
