We soon arrived at the Yoo Jonghyuk Industrial Complex (formerly Syswitz).
Along the way, Yoo Jonghyuk spoke no words and acted similarly once arriving at the industrial complex. The moment the X-grade Ferrarigini turned off, Yoo Jonghyuk got off the car and told me, “From now on, I will act separately.”
“…Will you come for the selection?”
Yoo Jonghyuk briefly nodded before moving his feet and disappearing from view. He seemed to know where he was going and what he was going to do. The one certain thing was that everything in his vision would be broken.
“…You aren’t going to stop him?”
I nodded at Jang Hayoung’s question. After all, I made a plan on the premise that Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t listen to me. Yoo Jonghyuk just needed to live safely until the Demon King Selection.
The important thing was what I needed to do now. I ignored the minor procedures and headed straight to Aileen’s council room.
“It has been a while.”
I hadn’t met Aileen for some time and she looked haggard from the busy industrial complex.
Eileen pushed up her glasses and submitted a report. “Since the duke left, I have been struggling with the other industrial complexes… the party members handle it well.”
“Party members?”
“Yoo Jonghyuk’s party. You don’t know it? Every morning, there are people walking around saying ‘I am Yoo Jonghyuk.’ It was founded just before you left… you must not have seen it.”
Was it them? Damn. I sometimes thought I could still hear the shouts from that day.
Aileen shook her head and continued. “In recent days, a group of followers of the ‘Punisher’ was created.”
“Was her identity revealed?”
“Not yet. She was suddenly gone soon after the duke left.”
“Gone?”
A strange feeling entered my heart. Perhaps? I had a thought but it wasn’t possible. It was
impossible for such a thing to come true, no matter how I thought about it.
Aileen let out a small sigh. “I don’t know why I keep reporting to you. The owner of this industrial complex is Yoo Jonghyuk.”
“It doesn’t matter. In any case…”
“…The duke should now go to his industrial complex.”
This wasn’t my industrial complex. Since I had returned to the Demon World, I had to go check the current status of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex (formerly Gilobat). I left it to Mark but I didn’t know what would’ve happened.
I stared at the landscape of the industrial complex through the window. Many things had happened since coming here. I got up from my seat and Irene rose with me.
“D-Duke-nim.”
I looked back and Aileen’s expression was strange. It seemed cold, sad and disappointed. Even so, her voice was calm when she opened her mouth. I had studied Aileen in Ways of Survival and knew whenever she made this voice.
Aileen rummaged for a moment and then held out a small box. “This is what you asked for before.”
The box contained a small watch. It was a small pocket watch designed with very fine circuits. I held it and felt a slight vibration from the watch. As I sensed the slow but surely moving time, many things passed through my mind.
The story horizon, the revolutionary game… All the memories that had gone retreated to an out of reach place were ticking away.
I stared at the watch for a while. I glanced at Aileen again and she was looking at me with both wrists overlapping each other.
I seemed to know what would happen from now on.
“Duke Yoo Jonghyuk.”
It was a motion that crossed both wrists. This was a greeting from the home planet where Aileen lived, Lindberg. Crossing two veins and conveying the vibrations to the other side. As if the second hand of the clock was moving, Aileen’s pulse was conveyed to me.
“This industrial complex won’t forget you.”
***
After leaving the Yoo Jonghyuk Industrial Complex, I headed straight to the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex. Originally it should’ve taken a week but the engine of the X-grade Ferrarigini meant it only took two hours.
I sat in the passenger seat and looked at the scenery passing by while thinking about Aileen’s words.
-There was on dokkaebi, one from the sinister family with a lump and several constellations.
It was a list of those who came to visit while I was away. The dokkaebi was probably from the bureau and the sinister family with a lump was probably a wenny person. I couldn’t guess the constellations because they didn’t leave their modifiers.
-Be careful, there are many strong people in the Demon World watching you.
There was no need to tell me. I just needed to look at the channel.
[Many constellations are paying attention to your actions.]
[Your modifier is spreading among the constellations of the absolute evil system.]
[The constellation Demon-like Judge of Fire is watching you with anxious eyes.]
There were no three days until the Demon King Selection. I looked to the back seat where Jang Hayoung and the Breaking the Sky Master were hugging each other while sleeping. The Breaking the Sky Master and Jang Hayoung must be tired.
In particular, Jang Hayoung was forced to operate the Unidentified Wall because of me. Still, their presence meant I could think of something to try.
I glanced at the driver’s seat and asked, “Department Head Han Myungoh.”
“Hmm?” Han Myungoh glanced at me with a puzzled expression from where he was experimenting with the function of the X-grade Ferrarigini. I didn’t know if he was conscious of my gaze but Han Myungoh cleared his throat. “Hum hum, life isn’t easy?”
…Honestly, the timing was strange. Han Myungoh saw my confusion and quickly added.
“I felt it while living… life is supposed to be like this. There are times when nothing can be done and times when things don’t work out.”
It was an obvious statement but Han Myungoh’s expression contained a certain amount of affection. Come to think of it, Han Myungoh had really experienced many things. In a sense, he might’ve had a harder time than me.
I thought about it and suddenly wanted to ask Han Myungoh something. “Can I ask you something?”
“Ask me anything.”
Perhaps the man who gave birth to a child in this world could make a reliable expression. I repeatedly turned the smartphone on and off as I thought about what to say.
Han Myungoh seemed to accept my actions and opened his mouth. “Kung… it was painful.”
“What are you saying?”
“I thought that’s what you wanted to ask. It is a pain that’s hard for any man or woman to endure.”
I was shocked once I understood what Han Myungoh was talking about. No, I didn’t want to ask him about that…
Still, I was curious. “Where did it come from?”
“I gave birth in my heart.”
“Was it painful?”
Han Myungoh pulled out a cigarette and suddenly made a serious expression. “At first, I was going to kill you.”
The bitter cigarette smoke flew out the window.
“It was shameful and humiliating. I was dumbfounded and wondered why I was in a situation like this.”
“…”
“I tried the methods that appeared in dramas. For example, things like eating a lot of soy sauce. It wasn’t easy to find because of the situation.”
There was no sense of reality as I heard this story from Han Myungoh. It would’ve been an unimaginable hardship for me.
“I was scared. What if I gave birth to a monster? What if my child ate me? One day, suddenly tearing out of my belly and killing me…”
“…”
“I was alone for countless nights, ran away and avoided monsters while feeling worried. What should I do about this child? Should I kill it, let it live, kill birth to it or…”
I didn’t use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint but the numerous scenarios where Han Myungoh ran away passed through my head. Han Myungoh spoke with an expression I had never seen before.
“Even so, do you know? Funnily, months passed as I thought about it. Then while struggling, I survived.”
Han Myungoh was able to survive the grandiose scenarios for one reason.
“I realized it at that time. Ah, perhaps this child saved me. Thus, I decided. Whether I live or die, let’s give birth to the child.”
He suddenly threw the cigarette out the window. Han Myungoh pulled out a new cigarette. In that short time, Han Myungoh looked distant before coming back.
I knew Han Myungoh well. He was one of the people who would surely enter the list of 10 worst people I knew. Nevertheless, at this moment, Han Myungoh felt like a decent person.
“She was an infinitely beautiful baby. She wasn’t human but she was incredibly pretty.”
“…I’ve seen her.”
She was pretty, which was why Asmodeus used her as his incarnation body. I was just thinking this when the smile on Han Myungoh’s face disappeared. The story didn’t end well but I could see what Han Myungoh wanted to say.
After a while, Han Myungoh kept speaking. “Thus, Dokja-ssi should try it.”
“…I should try giving birth?”
“No, I’m worried about Dokja-ssi.”
I felt a momentary prick. My confused face reflected on the smartphone screen.
“I don’t know what Dokja-ssi is thinking. To be honest, I didn’t like the original Dokja-ssi.”
“That’s good to know.”
“Yet I can feel that Dokja-ssi is strange recently.”
I closed my mouth.
“I know that things don’t work out well. Not everything will flow as you wish. Even so, don’t dwell on it too much and let your heart lead you.”
“…”
“It is Dokja-ssi who survived whatever happened. If you don’t do it right, you’ll regret it later.”
Really, I had lived for a long time and see the world. I never expected there would come a day when I empathized with this guy.
The LCD screen of the smartphone turned on and the file of Ways of Survival was shown.
-Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World (2nd Revision).txt
I didn’t have Han Myungoh’s experiences. I never had a child, nor did I plan to have one. Nevertheless, I strangely knew a bit of Han Myungoh’s feelings.
To read or not read the second revision. This was the only thing occupying my thoughts for the last few hours.
I was scared that I would be affected by reading the novel. It was painful to confirm the results of my work. I was afraid that my ‘future’ might be fixed.
However, it was laughable from the beginning. Han Myungoh’s words…
Yes, this story wasn’t properly born yet. I opened the file of Ways of Survival without hesitation. Then I started reading as I always did.
The second revision of Ways of Survival started from the fourth round.
「 It was just like what happened at that time. In the third round, Teacher would’ve died there if it wasn’t for him. 」
Some statements relieved me.
「 Nevertheless, I couldn’t change it. 」
Some of the descriptions still hadn’t changed.
「 That guy isn’t in this round. 」
I still wasn’t present in Yoo Jonghyuk’s fourth regression.
「 I failed the third round. 」
I didn’t panic because I had already expected it. I didn’t know why the author sent me something like this. It might be to frighten me or to use me for the ending that he wanted. I didn’t even know if it was the writer who originally sent this.
I slowly closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened it. Then I thought at the Fourth Wall.
「 Kim Dokja thought. 」
It was as if I was writing a sentence in a novel.
「 I don’t know what he wants in the end. However, no matter the result, I will only make the ending that I want. 」
I wrote the sentence and stared at the air for a while. Understandably, there was no return answer. Instead, it was the Fourth Wall that reacted.
[The Fourth Wall is wriggling happily.]
I suddenly looked out and saw the industrial complex in the distance. It was the first time I was visiting the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex. By the way, Han Myungoh suddenly reduced the speed.
“What happened?”
“…The scenario is progressing.”
Scenario? No way… The Demon King Selection hadn’t started yet?
[Do you want to enter the hidden scenario area?]
Han Myungoh cautiously approached the industrial complex. The entrance of the industrial complex was bare without a single guard.
I opened the window and could hear words being shouted from inside the industrial complex.
“I’m Kim Dokja!”
“No, I am!”
“I’m Kim Dokja! Me!”
Han Myungoh and I glanced at each other at the same time.
“What is this…?”
A system message followed.
[Hidden scenario ― the Kim Dokja Game is in progress.]
Something strange had happened in my industrial complex while I was away.
TL: Rainbow Turtle
