Chapter 266
My vision blackened before coming back . It felt like my consciousness had experienced a power outage . I blinked blankly but only the dark ceiling was visible .
…What happened? I took deep breaths and moved my heavy head as I started thinking .
I was participating in the second round of the Demon King Selection . I killed Duke Bercan and at almost the same time, I was killed by Surya . Then the system messages poured out .
Did I win the second round? Or… did I lose? I thought about it but I wasn’t sure .
[You have taken away the enemy’s sentence and won the game!]
I seemed to have heard this message .
[Your sentence was taken away and you have lost the game!]
I also seemed to have heard this message . Maybe it was both . Then which one was first? For now, I had no way of knowing .
[You have died . ]
The only thing I was sure about was this message . I died in the game and awakened in this place .
“Ugh…”
I slowly rose from my seat and the place where I was lying was seen more clearly . Numerous lamps were set up between niches, illuminating the vast darkness . It was an unfamiliar place I had never visited before .
There was a sign stating [000~100] in the place where I stood and large bookshelves around the sign . There was the smell of books . It was reminiscent of a university library .
…Library? Why was I here? I pulled out a book on the closest shelf and turned a page .
「 After Lee Seolhwa’s death, Yoo Jonghyuk thought he should die many times . He could never win against them with talent and skills alone . The end of the scenario wasn’t visible and the power of the constellations was unbelievably strong . Revenge for Lee Jihye and Lee Seolhwa couldn’t be achieved . Yoo Jonghyuk thought in the midst of his despair . 」
The sentences in the familiar style were lined up and I read the sentences as if they were being sucked in .
「 ‘What if I have a sponsor?’」
It was a scene that didn’t appear in detail in Ways of Survival . Even so, I knew this scene . It was because the scene was defeated dozens or hundreds of times in my imagination .
「 [The constellation ‘???’ wants you to be his incarnation . ’ 」
This was the first time Yoo Jonghyuk received his sponsor . Yoo Jonghyuk in the 0th regression repeatedly trained to his limit without a sponsor but had to kneel in front of the incarnation .
「 A new attribute, Regressor will blossom! 」
It was the story of when Yoo Jonghyuk first became a ‘regressor . ’ I reflexively closed the book and looked at the title .
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 56th record of the 0th round . ]
I suddenly had an idea of what this place was . As my eyes became accustomed to the darkness, the surroundings looked better . This was the library where all the records of Ways of Survival were gathered .
I muttered in a slightly weary manner . “…It seems to be more than 3,149 . ”
Ways of Survival was long but not to this extent . This huge space was filled with books . I wasn’t sure if I could read half the books even if I devoted my whole life to it .
Then I got a headache . The curled memories were breaking out like a eggshell cracking . This place that had just seemed unfamiliar now felt familiar . The lamps in the niches and the shelves of books .
I slowly got goosebumps and an intense feeling struck my head . I had already come to this place once . When was it? When…
「 Kim Dok ja . 」
The voice echoed through the library . I knew this tone . “…The Fourth Wall?”
Then the entire library shook faintly .
「 Yo ur so ul was in dan ger . 」
“Danger?”
「 I call ed you…」
The Fourth Wall called me here . It wasn’t difficult to figure out what he meant . “Perhaps, are you also in here?”
「 Co rrect . 」
“How do I get out of here? Where is the exit?”
「… 」
“…Hey?”
I called out a few more times but the Fourth Wall didn’t answer . He was a guy who slept when sleepy so he might’ve fallen asleep again this time . I had to find a way out myself .
[You can’t use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint in this location . ]
[You can’t use Bookmark in this location . ]
All my available skills were blocked . I couldn’t see the end of the library no matter how far I walked . I couldn’t see the exit as I looked to the north, south, east and west . I became convinced that I couldn’t escape and felt a drug-like comfort .
“…Heaven . ”
Everywhere I looked was Ways of Survival . It was a world full of Ways of Survival . I might’ve been happy if I came here before the scenario started . It was a story that would never end no matter how much I read . I wouldn’t go hungry because I was just a soul .
…There was no way for me to go out so I should read more books . I didn’t know . There could be a way in the book .
I pulled the books out of the shelves, stacked them next to each other and started reading them . I looked for a while and once again realized that Ways of Survival was Ways of Survival .
“…There are too many explanations . ”
The surroundings were quiet so the speed at which I read the book was faster than usual . However, I didn’t read it roughly . Like a gourmet long starved of meat, I cut every sentence into pieces and relished them .
“That jerk, he was cute at this time . ”
“…Damn, I should’ve killed him a bit more in the beginning . ”
Some of the stories were already known and some weren’t .
“This information was forgotten…”
“What? There was something like this?”
There was no one in this place and I naturally spoke to myself . I wasn’t conscious about any listeners . Thus, I read a few more books . There was a sense of pride in my heart and warmth rose .
Suddenly, I felt weak . Why didn’t I just give up and stay here? It wouldn’t be too bad if I never woke up from here . There was no scenario here to kill me .
I didn’t need to see the constellations . After reading a number of books, I ran past some bookshelves, reading those in the middle .
「 Yoo Jonghyuk sometimes thought this . 」
「 ‘If I hadn’t met that guy on the bridge, what would’ve happened? Or if I had killed him there… what would’ve happened to my remaining life?’ 」
I saw the familiar phrases and reflexively looked at the title of the book .
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 12th record of the 3rd round . ]
…As expected, it was the third round . I opened a few more books Some of them were written about me .
「 ‘Damn Kim Dokja . ’ 」
Some books contained:
「 “Kim Dokja, wake up! Kim Dokja!” 」
Some good words were written . In some books, nothing was written .
「■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■」
The sentences were filtered and couldn’t be read . Some of the episodes had blank pages . It was as if the story hadn’t been recorded yet .
All books were organized in accordance to the order of the rounds . It was as if someone had arranged it so I could find it easily when needed . But who…
I just had this thought when I saw something on the other side of the bookshelf . I reflexively put the book back and looked . It was a very short moment but there seemed to be the shadow of a person .
“Who’s there?”
The sound of footsteps started heading further away . I started chasing the sound . I almost stumbled over a few books on the floor but persistently followed the shadow . The signs of the bookshelves changed quickly .
From [000~100] to [100~200] . Then it was [200~300] .
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 373rd record of the 24th round . ]
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 473rd record of the 31st round . ]
Countless books passed by quickly .
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 573rd record of the 27th round . ]
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 681st record of the 12th round . ]
…
I was a bit breathless and still couldn’t see the end of the books . It was obviously a soul body but I was breathless . I kept running . This was an opportunity . If I missed this person here, I wouldn’t be
able to catch it again .
How far did I go? I was getting a bit closer .
“Wait!”
The moment I shouted, the floor in front of me suddenly disappeared . My body failed to overcome inertia and fell forward . I might’ve fallen down if I hadn’t reflexively grabbed the bookshelf next to me .
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 1863rd record of the 22nd round . ]
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 1863rd record of the 23rd round . ]
[Yoo Jonghyuk, 1863rd record of the 26th round . ]
…
Books poured towards me head . It hurt as much as Yoo Jonghyuk’s fists . I barely dug myself out of the pile of books and the shadow I was pursuing had already disappeared .
“Shit…”
Instead, there was a cliff in front of my eyes . I couldn’t see the bottom .
“Ah…”
I stared down the cliff like I was possessed . This was the end of the library . It was the end of all the stories . I stared at it and felt the urge to throw myself in . I felt like I could know something I had long wondered about . If I could go inside there…
The moment my body tilted towards the bottom of the cliff, someone tightly grabbed my shoulders .
「(You will die if you fall . It is really ‘beyond’ the wall . ) 」
***
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
“Wake up . ”
Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!
“Yoo Jonghyuk-ssi, stop it! Dokja-ssi’s face is swollen!”
“What the hell is happening?”
“He is still breathing . I think there was a shock to the soul…”
Yoo Jonghyuk frowned at Yoo Sangah’s words and stood up . The swollen Kim Dokja was lying on the ground . The bear-like Lee Hyunsung was holding onto him and crying out madly .
“Dokja-ssi… wake up . Please…”
The moment the second round was completed, the Mythical Battlefield suddenly disintegrated . All participants and helpers of the Yoo Jonghyuk – Kim Dokja Industrial Complex were left in front of the wastes of the industrial complex .
Yoo Sangah stared at the people standing in the same camp . Two dogs and one pretty boy . Also, Han Myungoh…
“You were alive, Department Head-nim . ”
“Y-Yoo Sangah-ssi…” Han Myungoh started sweating and retreated .
Yoo Sangah stared at Jang Hayoung . “You… are you on our side?”
“Ah, I…”
Jang Hayoung met Yoo Sangah’s eyes and stuttered in a confused manner . He didn’t know how to introduce himself . Then Jang Hayoung caught sight of Shin Yoosung . “Ah, weren’t you in that video…?”
“…You know me?”
Jang Hayoung recalled the scenes of the 73rd Demon King scenario thanks to Shin Yoosung and figured out who they were . “I’m a real fan! Wow, I can’t believe I’m meeting the incarnations of Earth…”
Jang Hayoung’s eyes were glowing as he shook Yoo Sangah’s hand . Yoo Sangah smiled lightly and stared into the air .
“By the way… did we win or lose?”
Only one unknown system message was floating in the air .
[We are currently determining the winning team of the second round . ]
Jang Hayoung said, “I think Kim Dokja killed him first . Then shouldn’t we win?”
“But our sentence was stolen…”
Yoo Jonghyuk shook his head . “Kim Dokja was faster . ”
The words filled with strong conviction caused Jang Hayoung and Yoo Sangah to brighten . It was likely to be true if Yoo Jonghyuk said so .
Then a cloud of dust appeared on the other side of the wilderness . It was a scene filled with a powerful ‘status . ’ There were no need to ask about the identity of the incoming beings .
Yoo Jonghyuk stared at the sky and his expression hardened .
[We are currently determining the winning team of the second round . ]
It was still the only sentence floating in the sky . It had been the same for 30 minutes .
“Be prepared . ”
“Huh?”
“Something is wrong . ”
In the main scenario, the fast-paced bureau would never spend 30 minutes to determine the winner .
In other words, this situation was intended by someone . Someone didn’t want the scenario to end this way .
The present 73rd Demon Realm was filled with an enormous amount of probability due to the Mythical Battlefield .
Yoo Jonghyuk pulled out his Black Demon Sword and declared, “This time it isn’t a game . ”
The terrible roar of the Thunder Eating Bird filled the sky . The constellations who no longer received penalties from the game were coming over here .
TL: Rainbow Turtle
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