Translator: Rainbow Turtle
There was no need to keep performing the scenarios. Everyone gathered at the fortress were wary.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Some people listened to his words but most of them didn’t.
(He must be a swindler.)
(…He should make sense. What? There is no need to keep performing the scenarios?)
(This is a trick for him to gobble up the rewards alone.)
These people were incarnations who survived up to the ninth scenario.
There were many scammers in Seoul, even if Geumho Station’s Cheon Inho and Chungmuro’s Gong Pildu were removed. The incarnations here were one of those scammers or those who came here after defeating them.
That’s why none of them were easily caught by a honeyed tongue.
The man on the parapet opened his mouth like he had read their thoughts.
[You don’t believe. It is understandable. Nine scenarios isn’t long but it also isn’t short. I can guess what you have gone through and the life you must’ve lived to come here.]
The basics of a scammer was to pretend to understand the other person. There were already people fed up with this.
“Do you think I will be deceived by that?”
“What is your purpose? What do you want to say?”
The people who couldn’t stand it started shouting. Then the man laughed. It was such a beautiful laugh that it was hard to think of him as a scammer.
[It is literally what I said. You no longer need to fight. You must’ve heard the dokkaebi’s explanation. This Dark Castle scenario has no time limit or failure conditions. If you’re smart, you should already understand what this means.]
I looked to the side and saw that Kim Yongpal’s eyes were shining.
[You can continue to live in this scenario area. You can eat, sleep in and do whatever you want. Respect the rights of your life and forget the compulsion to break the scenario… you can finish your life here, just like it was before the ‘destruction’ began.]
“The rights of our life? Don’t talk bullshit!”
“How can we live in a place where demons are roaming?”
“We have a place to go back to!”
People shouted like they were refuting evil.
Then the man asked, [Go back? Where will you return to?]
“Of course, the place where we lived…”
[Do you mean the perished planet?]
“It isn’t destroyed! Not yet!”
[Everybody already knows. The moment the scenario begun, your planet is walking the path towards destruction. If you go back, you will only see ruins. Even if you break the scenario… the last thing you will see is destruction.]
“Who are you to say that? What do you know―”
[I know. The planet where I lived has long been destroyed by the scenario.]
The shaken crowd fell silent. This person lost his home a long time ago to the scenario. The man who stayed in Dark Castle for longer than anyone else was speaking to them now.
[That’s why I can say with confidence that there is no safer place in the Star Stream than here.]
For the first time, people’s spirits weakened. Their eyes were still disbelieving but they were listening to his story.
Someone asked in a loud voice, “Who are you?”
[My name is Reinheit von Djerba. I am someone who came to this land 800 years earlier than you… I am the owner of this fortress, Paradise.]
Then the door of the fortress opened. The expressions of the people changed as they saw the scenery inside. Reinheit saw their expressions and smiled.
[I once again welcome you. Welcome to Paradise.]
***
Paradise.
There were numerous references to it in Ways of Survival.
The tomb of the scenario. The nest of incarnations. Flowers blooming on the plains of despair… these were some of the descriptions for this place.
In fact, most of them were true.
“This place is…”
All the party members except for me were enchanted by the sights in front of them. Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyoung, Shin Yoosung and even Lee Hyunsung. In particular, Lee Hyunsung rubbed his eyes several times, as if the sight in front of him was unbelievable.
There were residential and market areas on both sides of the main street. Voices filled with unprecedented energy could be heard.
“Selling the legs of the demon bug! Have a taste! Recovers your fatigue!”
“Selling farm grown Sancho Berries! It is useful for recovering stamina!”
The merchants at the market were friendly and customers who paid for their goods were satisfied. People of various races and nationalities gathered but no one seemed to discriminate or threaten each other.
All the incarnations who entered the fortress were baffled by the suddenly bright atmosphere.
“What on earth…”
Until a moment ago, the words ‘paradise’ and ‘peace’ were just nonsense to them. Yet that nonsense was being presented in front of them.
“…Paradise?”
Some people were so surprised that they flopped to the ground. One of the hasty incarnations groaned while dropping a weapon.
A friendly hand was held out to him.
“Are you okay? All injured people, come here! The Paradise Clinic treats all the wounded for free!”
“We will teach you the medicinal techniques! Learn about the difference between ether and magic power! Anyone who wants to use sword energy can learn it! Anyone is welcome!”
The people living in Paradise weren’t stingy about sharing. They exchanged their knowledge and regarded helping someone as a virtue. There was even cross-species communication.
A demon with horns on his head smiled and waved at us.
“Ah, a demon!”
Some surprised incarnations pulled out their weapons and the guards in the fortress quickly approached. “Please put that away.”
“What are you talking about? He is a demon…!”
“Such hatred is prohibited here. He is also a resident of Paradise.”
“R-Resident?”
The perplexed incarnations hesitated and the demon who waved at them came over.
“I am a demon but I won’t hurt you. The prejudice that all demons will eat humans makes me sad.”
The incarnations made bemused expressions at the words. Their eyes showed they couldn’t figure out what was going on.
Similar scenes kept occurring. Demons, humans and other species joined forces to build houses, went to the pub together or sat next to each other on outdoor terraces… They often sent welcoming gestures to this side.
The party members were distracted by the sights that were like a tourist advertisement.
[The character ‘Lee Hyunsung’ is shaken by the surrounding scenery.]
[The character ‘Lee Jihye’ is agitated by the surrounding atmosphere.]
My companions’ hearts were conveyed in real time. This was the first peace they encountered after the scenario began. It wasn’t strange that their minds would shake.
People who lived ordinary lives didn’t change their essence just because they carried a knife.
Everything was the result of an outside force. Now for the first time, they could escape from that outside force. It was natural to be seduced.
We saw Jung Heewon’s figure in the distance. Jung Heewon was talking to someone. It was a woman I had seen before.
“Thank you so much for that time. I can’t say enough thanks…”
“It’s nothing! I’m glad that you’re doing well.”
The young woman talking to Jung Heewon glanced at me and her eyes widened. Her emotional state changed quickly.
Surprise, fear and… gratitude.
“Perhaps this person is…”
“Ah, Dokja-ssi…”
The woman exclaimed, “You are the person from that time! I haven’t forgotten your grace in saving my life.”
At first, I was a bit confused but I remembered when I saw the child holding the woman’s hand.
“Are you from Geumho Station…?”
“Do you remember? Dayoung, you should say hello.”
“Hello…”
They were the mother and daughter who fought against the Cheoldoo Group at Geumho Station.
They didn’t join our party but managed to survive until now. The mother and daughter were working at a farm here and gave us a beautiful basket. I tried to refuse but it was useless.
“We never could’ve made it here if it wasn’t for your help. Thanks to you, I could start over again. I really appreciate it.”
The mother and daughter had a new home and seemed to gain a new life.
I looked at the mother and daughter moving away and the memories of Geumho Station flashed through my mind. The regret that I didn’t save more people and the cowardly way I comforted myself by saying it was for the best.
The child in the distance suddenly turned and looked at me. A smile spread across the child’s face.
A mild guilt flooded in. My hypocrisy was given an undeserved reward. Maybe Jung Heewon also felt like this.
Jung Heewon looked at the mother and daughter before saying to me, “Congratulations on your resurrection. It took a bit longer this time.”
“Isn’t your response too ordinary? Jihye and Gilyoung started crying.”
“Should I do that?”
“I don’t want it.”
I looked around with a smile while a difficult expression appeared on Jung Heewon’s face.
She hesitated for a moment before opening her mouth. “…Dokja-ssi, can we talk for a minute?”
***
Jung Heewon had come here four days ago. She used the power of Hell Flames Ignition to clear the first floor in the shortest time and quickly climbed to the second floor.
Then she reached Paradise. It was a place where the shackles of the scenario could be removed.
Of course, Jung Heewo didn’t believe the man’s words. On the first day, she felt disbelief and on the second day, she doubted everything.
She was shaken on the third day and then I came on the fourth day. Jung Heewon said, “I suddenly thought about what it meant to continue with the scenario.”
Jung Heewon wasn’t brainwashed. In the first place, Paradise itself was a sweet drug.
I smiled bitterly and asked her, “Weren’t you shaken too quickly?”
“…Maybe it has always been this way.”
Jung Heewon smiled bitterly.
“Let me go! I’ll pay coins! I’ll pay the value of what I stole! Let me go!”
As we walked down the street, scenes of prisoners being dragged away by the guards could be seen. Some of them were people who entered the fortress with me.
It seemed they couldn’t abandon the old habit of taking other people’s things. Jung Heewon looked at the man being dragged and said, “This place is better than Seoul.”
“Yes.”
“Species don’t discriminate against each other and they work hard together. There are houses for everyone to live and places to work.”
She spoke like she was making excuses.
“We don’t have to be betrayed by colleagues or worry about the monsters who appear at night.”
I watched Jung Heewon who was saying such words. The Judge of Destruction Jung Heewon.
She was a sword that I crafted myself in this world. Maybe Jung Heewon was the woman who killed the most people in my group. A person who had to kill everyone to protect my principle of ‘non-killing.’
“We don’t have to live chasing the scenario. We don’t need to have nightmares because we killed someone. There is also no more need to lose anyone.”
The hardest blade was the easiest to break. It was the hardest so it was wielded the most. Thus, it was damaged the most and lost its sharpness the most. That’s why it broke faster than other swords.
“This is a good place.” My words caused Jung Heewon’s eyes to shake. I stared into those eyes as I kept talking. “I think this is a safe place.”
It wasn’t a lie.
“There is no safer place in Dark Castle than here. No, maybe… it isn’t easy to find a safer place in all the scenarios.”
I didn’t want to admit it but it was true. Paradise was truly such a place.
“Dokja-ssi, perhaps…”
I hurried as if I knew what she would say. “Yes, I won’t stay here.”
“Why?”
“This place isn’t the ‘end’.”
“…Dokja-ssi knows the future.”
In the past, I had a talk with Jung Heewon in the Theatre Dungeon. Jung Heewon had asked me about the future and I told her she didn’t exist there. It was because she wasn’t in the original novel. A character I didn’t know the future of…
I told her, “I need to continue with the scenario.”
Jung Heewon thought about my words. She looked at the people of Paradise. There were people smiling, talking and willing to live again. “Dokja-ssi, what is the ‘end’ you are thinking about?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Then that end… is it better than this place?”
I couldn’t easily answer because it was a question from Jung Heewon, not anyone else.
“If you don’t continue with the scenario, will everyone be unhappy?”
I wondered if the ending I wanted was a place more beautiful than this Paradise? Could everyone be happy when that ending was reached?
We stared up at the sky without speaking. It felt like there was something precious there but I had forgotten what it was. As if she had woken up from a brief dream, Jung Heewon opened her mouth. “The master of this place is looking for Dokja-ssi.”
I nodded.
