Two days after the ‘Great Apocalypse Scenario’s conclusion.
During these two days, the 98th scenario meandering nowhere fast also ended, as well.
[98th scenario – ‘Candidate Selection’ has automatically ended.]
[No one has challenged your Nebula.]
[Number of victories: 1]
[Contents of your reward is currently being finalised.]
[Clearing of the ‘Great Apocalypse Scenario’ has been linked to your reward, and the contents are still being discussed.]
Perhaps that was inevitable. While Nebulas were busy fighting each other, we actually were victorious in the ‘Great Apocalypse Scenario’. We fought off the ancient ‘Outer Gods’ and protected Earth. Not only that, with only the strength of our Nebula alone, too.
[A large number of Constellations respect you and your Nebula.]
[Nebula <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s fame is spreading far and wide in <Star Stream>.]
[Every Constellation in the Final Scenario is now aware of your Nebula.]
[Every Constellation in the Final Scenario is curious of your ‘Conclusion’.]
And now, everyone in this <Star Stream> knew of us.
– Representative-nim! Representative Kim Dok-Ja! Please say something!
Voices from the megaphones came from outside the [Industrial Complex].
Whether it was the hologram panel or the regular TV – didn’t matter where or what, our story dominated them all. Every broadcasting station, including terrestrial and cable, was showing the front yard of the [Industrial Complex] in real-time.
Also, the interview footages of the Complex’s residents were being repeated ad nauseam, too.
– ‘Judge of Apocalypse’-nim! Can you tell us the future plans of <Kim Dok-Ja Company>…..
– Call me by my name when in public, please. Han Su-Yeong likes that stuff. I don’t.
– Hey, Jeong Hui-Won. Wanna die?!
….I couldn’t remember just how many times I had heard that “Wanna die” by now.
– The true influence behind the ‘Kim Dok-Ja Company’, ‘Han Su-Yeong the Black Flame Demon Empress’. It is now revealed that, before the apocalypse, she was a famous author…
Reading the ticker proclaiming [Genius author’s insight demolishes the Final Scenario!], I could seriously re-appreciate the fact that I had indeed reached this far.
-We heard that your representative-nim has become a ‘Myth-grade Constellation’ after defeating the ‘Midday Sun’. Does that mean our South Korea now has a ‘Myth-grade’ Constellation that can step up to the limelight?
– Incarnations are currently locked in a fierce debate after witnessing the footages of the battle’s final moments. Just what are the true identities of the ‘Outer Gods’?
– Why did representative Kim Dok-Ja-nim suddenly become a blonde?
The battles we fought were broadcast not only on <Star Stream>, but throughout Earth as well – from Yu Jung-Hyeok kicking ‘Ra’s’ butt, all the way to us fighting against the lava wave created by the 999th turn’s Outer Gods.
[Constellation. ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is quite proud of herself.]
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is turning its nose up.]
[Constellation, ‘Most Ancient Liberator’s’, lips are twitching.]
And every one of those scenes was accompanied by an interview with someone.
– You see, me? I recognised that friend’s greatness even back when we were working in the same company. Ng? Just which new employee tries to be the first to go home as soon as time’s up…
Department head Han Myeong-Oh? I definitely told him not to do any interviews, though?
He was smiling brightly, his left hand holding onto his daughter’s. It seemed that he had managed to safely rescue his child.
– He was just a regular friend. Mm, well, you know, those types of kids? There’s always someone like that in a class, that type of a person.
Now that some time had passed by, even a person claiming to be my school mate popped up. I began thinking that maybe some managed to survive until now.
….Those faces that I couldn’t even place a name on.
– Kind, quiet, likes to read a book by himself…
Although not technically wrong, that explanation wasn’t right, either.
Some words were quite convenient to use. And those words usually couldn’t explain anything because of that convenience.
The school mate muttered on about the obvious stuff for a while, before excusing himself with a stutter as if he found the camera a bit too much. He probably ran out of things to say.
– About Earth’s saviour, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.
Another program started after that with a piece of rather sad-sounding music. It was a specially-compiled documentary.
[Constellation. ‘Goryeo’s First Sword’, is nodding his head.]
[Constellation, ‘Maritime War God’, is proud of you.]
While watching the footages, I began recalling the time before the apocalypse. The dreams I had, the things I thought were important, etc.
The fact that all these things came across as distant memories felt very alien to me. Of course, not everything was totally alien, though.
– He endured a painful youth stained by domestic violence, and…
Someone suddenly switched the TV off.
“Dok-Ja-ya.”
My mother was standing by the entrance of the reception room.
I smiled nonchalantly while staring at her. “You’re here.”
She nodded as a bout of silence filled the room. I stared at the TV within this silence. The darkened screen reflected both my mother and myself.
A faint aroma of perfume wafted past my nose, making me feel rather strange in the process. Once upon a time, she was the one person I just couldn’t understand.
But now, I didn’t even need to resort to [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] to figure out what she was thinking about.
“I’m fine, mother. Please don’t worry.”
A soft sigh could be heard next.
“I’m sorry, son.”
“But, you haven’t done anything.”
“This time, it….”
“There’s been a lot of interview requests, hasn’t it?”
“They have been declined. There’s no need for you to personally step up. You saving this world or destroying it, it matters not to them.”
The voices from the megaphones were still coming from afar.
I knew very well what my mother was worried about, and what she was apologising for.
“I’m not the ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ from back then.”
I pulled the curtains back on the window, and the cameras pointing at the plaza all shifted towards in my direction.
In the past, I was scared of the cameras; scared of someone looking at me, and terrified of strangers yapping about me in strange languages.
“I’ll do an interview.”
“…..Are you sure about this, son? How about giving it another thought….?”
“They also have the right to know, you see.”
I switched the TV on again. I saw the news headline pop up on the upper part of the screen.
– What is <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s goal?
– [Industrial Complex] hasn’t revealed the Final Scenario’s contents yet…
[A portion of Nebulas are focusing on your next course of action!]
[<Star Stream> wishes to tell the story of your ‘Conclusion’!]
[Great Dokkaebis are summoning you to the ‘Final Scenario’ location.]
[A portion of Nebulas wish to form an alliance with your….]
“At 8 o’clock tonight. Please contact both the Dokkaebis as well as the Constellations.”
*
Been a while, but I found and read the first version of the ‘Ways of Survival’; the pure, unsullied version, before the author decided to alter it.
[Currently, both you and your Nebula have acquired the qualification of the ‘Final Scenario’.]
[You can enter the ‘Final Scenario’ location at any time.]
The Final Scenario from the ‘Ways of Survival’ was actually a great war against the ‘Outer Gods’.
Yu Jung-Hyeok from the original cut the Outer God King’s head off during that scenario and completed his own ‘Conclusion’ that way.
In a certain way, it was rather similar to the ‘Great Apocalypse Scenario’ we had experienced already. Actually, if we were unsuccessful in our quest to stop the Great Apocalypse, then it’d probably go on to become the prelude to the Final Scenario, instead.
⸢The ‘Outer Gods’ that were supposed to become the Final Scenario’s calamities have been sealed away.⸥
I looked at the three sealing spheres located in the middle of the [Factory]. That’s where the ‘Kings’ that descended to this world was currently asleep. The ‘Living Flame’, the ‘Master of the Sunken Island’, and even the ‘Monarch of the Great Abyss’ – all three of them.
The only one not sealed away was the ‘King of the Silverlight Heart’ who didn’t appear as a calamity.
– We shall watch your Fable until its end.
The 999th turn’s Uriel said that to me during the final moments before sealing herself and her comrades within the [Apocalypse Dragon Sealing Sphere]. She estimated that an incredible aftermath’s storm would ravage them after they willingly went against the agreement with the Bureau and gave up on the positions of the calamities.
[You have concluded the ‘Great Apocalypse Scenario’ in an abnormal manner.]
[A portion of Constellations are expressing their dissatisfaction at your manner of progressing the scenario!]
[A portion of Great Dokkaebis hold inexplicable animosity towards you.]
[A small number of Great Dokkaebis acknowledge your achievement of convincing the ‘Outer Gods’.]
[Currently, a number of the Wennys hold a favourable view of you.]
Countless messages continued to rise up in the air even now.
[Hidden scenario – ‘One Single Fable’s’ completion is imminent.]
[A satisfactory ‘Great Fable’ has been completed due to the latter half of the ‘Conclusion(結)’.]
[<Star Stream> is recommending possible names for your final Fable.]
[Please select the Great Fable’s name.]
[Depending on your selection, your ‘Conclusion’ will be decided.]
I still hadn’t picked a name from among the <Star Stream>’s recommendations.
“Kim Dok-Ja.”
Han Su-Yeong entered while pushing open the creaking door.
“How are our companions feeling?”
“About the same. Yu Jung-Hyeok’s a bit injured, but it’s not so bad. The [Life and Death Pill]’s effects are seriously no joke, you know.”
She then proudly boasted that she got herself another pill – which wasn’t like her – before placing that very pill on my palm.
“Eat it if you think you’re about to croak, okay?”
“If only you sounded nicer. I’d have been moved to tears.”
Han Su-Yeong stared at my face with unreadable light in her eyes. This soft darkness was scattering away like a screen of fog between us.
A faint trace of light leaked out from the sealing sphere trapping the 999th turn’s Uriel. Han Su-Yeong’s face glowed warmly under that light.
“I guess this really is the end.”
I nodded my head.
“What was it like, back in the original? The Final Scenario, it….. No, never mind. Things have changed completely from the original, anyway.”
She was right.
We had already ended the war against the ‘Outer Gods’ that’s supposed to be the original novel’s Final Scenario. So, the ‘Final Scenario’ we were about to face should be very different from the original.
“What happens when you complete the ‘Conclusion’?”
“Probably a meeting with the King of Stories.”
“You mean, the Dokkaebi King?” asked Han Su-Yeong. She pondered something for a bit, then continued on. “Are you going to meet that guy?”
“I will. Not right away, but still.”
“What do you mean? Don’t make me worried here.”
There was the sound of knocking, and a faint wind blew across us. One of the Complex’s residents peeked his head through the open gap of the door Han Su-Yeong had left behind.
“Representative-nim? We have a guest, sir.”
A guest?
[It’s been a while, descendant.]
An old-fashioned tone of voice greeted me. An unexpected existence came to visit, as it turned out.
“….Pungbaek?”
*
Heaven’s wind god, ‘Pungbaek’.
Only then did I remember what my mother told me earlier. She said that I should meet up with Pungbaek before I entered the ‘Final Scenario’, didn’t she?
[Descendant, your choice was reckless. Letting the ‘Outer Gods’ live is no different than you embracing the calamity itself.]
….Did he show up here to spout more kkondae-like rubbish?
Pungbaek must’ve found my actions not to his liking, because he began a lengthy sermon at my expense. Such as, the young ones looking down on scenarios nowadays, us not being serious about the scenarios, etc, etc….
“Excuse me, grandpa?”
[I don’t have the time to waste, so I shall get right to the point. Descendant, you might find yourself in great danger once you enter the Final Scenario.]
“Great danger?”
[I say this because I’ve been observing your methods for a very long time.]
He spoke as if he knew just about everything I was planning to do in my future. Han Su-Yeong next to me cackled as if she was greatly amused by this. I shot her a glare and asked Pungbaek.
“Just what is it that you came here to tell me?”
[<Hongik> can lend you aid, descendant.]
I ended up frowning without realising it. I now could figure out why he was here. This dude, even until the end…
“I don’t need it. You probably will demand some kind of nonsensical payment, anyw…..”
[We don’t need things like that. Witnessing the birth of a ‘Myth-grade Constellation’ from the Korean Peninsula is more than enough for us.]
I couldn’t help but doubt my own hearing just then.
[You’ll find <Hongik>’s founding gods among the Myth-grade Constellations in the Final Scenario. If your situation turns for the worse, ask them for their aid. If you’re genuine in your request, they should be compelled to make a move.]
“….Have you come here to tell me that?”
Pungbaek expressionlessly stroked his beard and replied. [Correct.]
“I’m a bit moved, actually.”
Pungbake lightly coughed to clear his throat, then his body scattered away in winds.
[I’ve conveyed everything I wished to say. Let us meet again in the Final Scenario.]
Less than a blink later, only the chilly wind remained there.
Han Su-Yeong piped up, sounding somewhat bemused. “He’s really coy, isn’t he? How adorable.”
“Well, he was a good Constellation back in the original, so.”
“I guess we do have some allies, then. Your life wasn’t in vain, man.”
I’d be happy if that was truly the case.
[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, says she’s also here.]
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, argues that only the bad companions can be true comrades, and….]
[Constellation. ‘Most Ancient Liberator’, is….]
I looked up at the sky and smirked a little.
Han Su-Yeong spoke up. “You, you grinning that unlucky grin again. It’s almost 8, so get ready. People are waiting for you.”
I nodded before heading to the upper levels of the [Factory]. I could hear the murmurs coming from the interior. All manners of media houses, Dokkaebis, and Constellations were waiting for me.
Before I could make my entrance to the press conference venue, though, one of the Complex’s residents stopped me.
“Excuse me, representative-nim. Preparations aren’t finished yet.”
….Now that I thought about it, since when did people of the [Industrial Complex] start calling me with that title?
Didn’t they used to call me the ‘Demon King’ all this time?
“I ordered them to call you that. You being called Demon King-nim every single time kinda made me feel like we’re this world’s enemies or something.”
“Well, sure, I guess….. But, uh, Seol-Hwa-ssi, is this really necessary?”
Before I knew it, I was pushed down on a chair. And then, my lips began quivering from the sensation of a soft brush tickling my cheek.
The focused Yi Seol-Hwa replied seriously while painting my face. “You’re supposed to be our representative, so we must ensure that you look presentable first.”
“Your words hurt in a variety of ways, you know.”
My companions were watching us from nearby as if they had found something quite entertaining. I felt like a monkey in a zoo.
Han Su-Yeong fidgeted around with my hair from behind and asked me. “By the way, will you remain as a blondie forever?”
“No, it’s because of the Great Sage’s Status seeping into me. I should go back to normal in a little while.”
“Your hair is really soft, though.”
[Constellation. ‘Most Ancient Liberator’ says that his hair is the result of an extensive, arduous training regime….]
“It’s finished.”
Yi Seol-Hwa finished painting me in an instant and spoke while placing a mirror before me. Although it was a bit embarrassing to say this myself, a man handsome enough to ponder whether to slap Yu Jung-Hyeok’s cheeks or not was staring back at me in the reflection.
I sneaked a glance to my side, but my companions weren’t saying anything. Several steps away, Yu Jung-Hyeok was glaring at me with eyes implying how unimpressed he was.
“Kim Dok-Ja.”
I nodded, put my coat on, and placed the [Unbreakable Faith] on my hips. With the exception of the formal business suit underneath, this was my regular combat outfit, through and through.
“Let’s go.”
We entered the press conference venue. Countless stars and cameras were now looking at me in this wide-open outdoor venue.
Near-blinding rays came down from the spotlights above. My companions and I were being projected on a giant holographic panel.
Loud cheerings came from the residents of the Industrial Complex. What accompanied the outpouring of their cheering were the stories of those waiting for me.
[The absolute majority of Constellations are focusing their attention on your decision!]
[The absolute majority of Constellations are curious about the name of your final Fable!]
Those that worry about the safety of the Korean Peninsula, and Constellations that were curious about this planet’s future.
Those who were scared of what lay waiting in the Final Scenario, and those who worried about their own survival.
Beings who were concerned about the power we possessed and were trying to take it away.
Those saying why we chose to appear only now, and the Incarnations pleading with us to take them to the ‘Final Scenario’….
[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, is starting his story.]
As the countless questions flooded in, my Fable made a move. The skies wavered and the ground quaked – when the Status of a Myth-grade Constellation was unleashed, the entirety of the Peninsula seemed to sink into a pit of silence. Every single one waiting for my answer looked at me.
I slowly opened my lips.
[Everyone.]
And then, I began my story.
[I have no thoughts of saving you.]
<Episode 92. Final Scenario (1)> Fin.
