Han Su-Yeong continued to write.
The short period of time given to her during the wee hours was completely devoted to Kim Dok-Ja.
“Hey, Dokkaebi King.”
“Yes, my dear god.”
“….I told you to stop calling me that. Anyways. The ‘Ways of Survival’ will be published seven in the evenings from now on. The website doesn’t have the feature to schedule the chapter releases ahead of time yet, so you hold onto the manuscript and upload them on time for me. If I upload them during dawn, that kid is going to stay up late and wait. He won’t get any sleep.”
“I shall do as you command.”
Han Su-Yeong spat out a lengthy groan and shifted her gaze back to the manuscript she’d been working on.
⸢Yu Jung-Hyeok examined the events of the previous regression turn.⸥
She couldn’t possibly write a life that lasted for 1863rd regression turns. 3149 chapters were simply too short to contain a life lived for 1864 times. She had to omit some regression turns, while some others had to be greatly reduced in length.
She knew that life didn’t really work that way. But at the same time, she had to acknowledge that some lives could only be written in such a manner. Once she came to accept that, writing those lives didn’t prove to be too difficult for her.
The life of 1863rd turn Yu Jung-Hyeok was given to her in its entirety, while she also possessed information from the 3rd turn Kim Dok-Ja, as well. Most importantly, though, she was an excellent writer.
The margins she couldn’t fill up, they would instead be lived out by Yu Jung-Hyeok himself.
Yu Jung-Hyeok, who’d take his breaths among the flowing contexts of the words, and step above the hard ground covered by the pitch-black letters.
All she could do was to deliver such Yu Jung-Hyeok’s story.
Every time she wrote a single chapter, Kim Dok-Ja’s life was extended by yet another day. As one sentence after another was compiled and recorded, her own time also ticked forward little by little.
The 13-year-old Han Su-Yeong became 14. Then, 15 years old.
⸢A serialisation that would last for ten long, arduous years had begun.⸥
It was tough. She didn’t have enough stamina, and her young body was simply too frail. Even then, Han Su-Yeong endured. She thought about Kim Dok-Ja beyond the computer screen, also getting older like her. Kim Dok-Ja, who hadn’t died, hadn’t given up, and was still enduring his life.
– Dear author-nim, Today, Jung-Hyeok did…
Are you really enjoying a story like this?
Although half in doubt, Han Su-Yeong still continued to write the story.
⸢”The information I gave you will come in handy later down the line. So, take a look whenever you have time.”⸥
The story would not end as long as someone was reading it.
That’s how it was with the 1863rd regression turn, once thought to be the last.
– Author-nim. I’ve been thinking, how about creating a new character by using this opportunity….?
She checked the comments Kim Dok-Ja left behind every day. As she was active only around the early hours, communicating with him in real-time was difficult, but she did reply to the questions that seemingly required one.
– Should I create another main character?
– If possible, might as well as make her a pretty female character…
– Aha, you mean a beautiful young girl.
⸢Facial features more than enough to slap Yu Jung-Hyeok’s cheeks twice. A beautiful young boy with brilliant blonde locks glared at Yu Jung-Hyeok and shouted out. “Hey you, dumpling man.”⸥
– ….But, author-nim??
Kim Dok-Ja, 16 years old. 17, 18.
He’d consume this story and grow older, and eventually, become the ‘Most Ancient Dream’. Despite knowing that fact, Han Su-Yeong still enjoyed this time period. A world of a pure-white snowfield where letters were wandering around freely. Above this world existed Kim Dok-Ja, and so did Han Su-Yeong.
– Author-nim. I was wondering if Jung-Hyeok-ee is suffering way too much lately…
Sometimes, she’d put Yu Jung-Hyeok through the wringer. It only happened because of her desire to realistically copy and paste the story she already knew. While writing the novel in this manner, she’d fall into a pit of confusion every now and then.
Did this event really happen in the past?
Couldn’t it be more like, it happened because I wrote this?
Whatever the truth was, she still gave it her all. She took pride in her work. But at the same time, she had to admit that it was impossible for her to completely rule over her own work.
⸢With a pair of seething, boiling eyes, Yu Jung-Hyeok glared up into the heavens.⸥
Sometime in the future, Yu Jung-Hyeok created by the tips of her hands would meet that Kim Dok-Ja for real. Just thinking about that event nearly made her go crazy from time to time.
– Unprecedented hit novel! ⸢⸢SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor⸥⸥!
Around that time, the ‘daytime ego’ began working as an author in earnest, as well. Of course, she had stolen the nighttime Han Su-Yeong’s talents wholesale, so there was no way that her novel would fail. Not only that, the ‘daytime ego’ even went to the trouble of creating an anonymous account to leave behind a toxic comment on the ‘Ways of Survival’, too.
– I’m really worried about the life of the dear author-nim actually writing this junk.
….What was even more flabbergast-inducing was Kim Dok-Ja’s DM.
– Author-nim! Do know about the novel called SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor? That novel’s setting is exactly the same as the Ways of…
Han Su-Yeong smirked and began typing her reply. She thought, right, the dude writing a DM like this accused me of being a plagiarist during the 1863rd turn, did you?
– I’m happy that my viewcount has gone up thanks to the exposure, actually.
When she was finished typing the reply, the faint rays of the daybreak had cast onto the world outside the window. Starting from a while ago, she didn’t feel refreshed even after waking up. She’d often use up all of her allotted time on writing the novel, and there were times when she couldn’t endure the fatigue anymore and fall asleep despite the self-regulated activity period not having ended yet.
To make matters worse, her memories were gradually deteriorating, as well.
Information she heard from Yu Jung-Hyeok, and received from Kim Dok-Ja – she couldn’t recall them well. Things that happened back in the 1863rd turn were getting blurrier. And also…
[Your Fable is being consumed.]
Even the length of her self-regulated activity period was decreasing gradually.
*
The time continued to tick by, and Han Su-Yeong continued to write almost every day.
At times, she couldn’t wake up and ended up wasting an entire day. And due to the worsening fatigue, the number of days she couldn’t read Kim Dok-Ja’s comments increased as well.
– Author-nim. I’ll be joining the military the day after tomorrow. Looks like I’ll be sent to the frontlines.
– It’s Kim Dok-Ja. I’m here at Yanggu.
– Jung-Hyeok-ah… I wonder, have you ever shovelled snow before?
20 years old, 21, 22…
371st turn, 621st, 972nd…
As Yu Jung-Hyeok’s regression turn numbers grew higher, so did Kim Dok-Ja’s age. Kim Dok-Ja feeding on Yu Jung-Hyeok’s tragedy became a high school student, then a university student and eventually, a soldier.
Han Su-Yeong observed the growth of such a man.
Her free time decreased even more as the ‘daytime ego’, now an adult herself, began staying up during the dawn as well. As the time to polish up the novel gradually dissipated, the Dokkaebi King’s role also naturally grew much more substantial.
“Please don’t worry. I shall fix all the errors,” said the Dokkaebi King.
“Do you even know anything about grammar?”
“Yes, I do. I’m planning to earn my living that way. A publisher was looking for a part-time proofreader, so I confidently applied for the position.”
This guy still came across as somewhat unreliable, but she couldn’t get anyone else to help her, anyway. She definitely couldn’t get the help from the ‘daytime ego’, for instance. A lot of her strength had been exhausted and her forgetfulness had worsened greatly in recent times so it took a lot out of her just to post a reply to Kim Dok-Ja’s comments.
⸢And just like that, a few more years went by like fleeting magic.⸥
While writing that sentence, Han Su-Yeong thought that her life wasn’t all that different from Yu Jung-Hyeok’s, in some ways.
Sometimes, a life really did get omitted like this. However, that didn’t mean a life omitted as such left nothing of itself behind, either. That’s what she thought while staring at the novel numbering over 3000 chapters currently compiled before her eyes.
On a certain day before the completion, Han Su-Yeong opened up the platform’s chat window in order to write a comment as usual.
– Please don’t give up, dear reader-nim.
….Did I post a comment like this before?
Initially, she figured this was a result of her typing some random things while half-submerged in drowsiness. However, there was more than one post that she couldn’t remember ever posting here.
– To answer your question…
Just when did she post such replies before? No matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t recall. Not only that, the timestamps of the posts were weird, as well.
– Actually, rather than a mistake in the setting, it’s…
Han Su-Yeong summoned the Dokkaebi King right away. When she did, the creature wearing a fedora appeared from the thin air accompanied by the ‘Tsu-chuchut!’ noise.
She asked. “Did you write this?”
“Yes.”
“On whose authority?”
“I sincerely apologise for not getting your permission beforehand. You seemed very tired lately.”
Han Su-Yeong quietly stared at the Dokkaebi King.
This creature came to this world searching for its ‘god’. And it now knew who its creator was.
“Just what are you aiming for?”
“I am merely a ‘storyteller’. And as it is with every storyteller, I love to tell a great epic. The world you have created, of course.”
“There is only one reader of this story, though.”
“Do you really believe so?”
She narrowed her eyes and shot back. “I already know what you’re scheming, okay? You’re planning to turn my novel into a ‘paid service’, aren’t you?”
Ever since arriving in this world, she constantly thought about ‘that day’.
The novel she wrote would become the ‘scenario’ that would go on to destroy this universe. However, who would dare to do something so horrifying like that? The answer was quite simple when she thought about it.
There was only one existence capable of doing something like that in this world-line, after all.
“You brought me here for that very purpose, didn’t you?”
“I won’t deny that. Even though it hadn’t been long since I realised what my true role was.”
Faint sparks were dancing all over the Dokkaebi King’s body. That was the evidence of the system’s Probability growing stronger. Also, it meant that this Dokkaebi was gradually regaining the power of the King of the storytellers.
Han Su-Yeong stared at the dancing sparks before speaking up. “….So, then. The apocalypse will really begin, is that it?”
“Yes.”
“Honestly, I don’t get it at all. You know the chronological sequence doesn’t make sense, either.”
“….The chronological sequence?”
“The only reason why I can write this is because Yu Jung-Hyeok will live his life in the future, and Kim Dok-Ja had read the novel. But for me to write a novel that Kim Dok-Ja will read, that’s….”
“….The time paradox. That’s what humans call this. However, there are universes that do operate on that principle. A universe where the future is written before the past, and the cause is created for the purpose of the end result. I’m sure you’re already familiar with such a universe?”
Han Su-Yeong frowned as if to ask, what on earth are you talking about?
The Dokkaebi King grinned and lightly tapped the computer monitor. “Aren’t you currently writing one?”
The stray thoughts and fragments of letters she had thrown around could be found in there.
Countless scenes existing outside the time itself, outside the world, waiting to be connected as one. Some scenes became futures despite being written earlier, while some scenes, despite being written later, became the past. Han Su-Yeong’s eyes trembled. “…..Are you saying this whole universe is just a novel?”
“If I am to compare it, then yes, something like that.”
The letters within the screen seemed to ripple. Letters wishing to be loved by someone were flowing outside the monitor after forming pairs and groups with each other.
Sentences, that sparkled like the stars.
Some sentences willingly became the darkness for other sentences, while a certain sentence became light only through those dark words. Some sentences existed for the next sentence, while the next sentence gained its meaning because the first sentence existed.
“There is no ‘before and after’ in this universe. And that is precisely the reason why the ‘First World-line’ is being completed very last.” Within this giant, endlessly connecting chain, the Dokkaebi King was smiling rapturously. “The universe was created just now, but at the same time, it has existed for the past billions of years, as well. And a certain beginning only appears after the apocalypse has commenced.”
Sentences cascaded like a meteor shower.
<Star Stream> was singing towards its god.
Because Han Su-Yeong wrote the Ways of Survival, Kim Dok-Ja got to read it.
Because Kim Dok-Ja read the Ways of Survival, Yu Jung-Hyeok began his regression.
Because Yu Jung-Hyeok began his regression, Han Su-Yeong was able to write the ‘Ways of Survival.’
She might have written them, but these words were completed only after leaving her hands.
⸢The story that would save someone, destroy, and help him live.⸥
Han Su-Yeong stared at the horrifying trajectory drawn out by those words and became acutely aware of the fact that she had been thrown into this neverending cycle.
She might be the author responsible for creating this world, but she was also a powerless god. A god that couldn’t even save a single reader. A god who was simply a part of this vast, boundless story.
[<Star Stream> is smiling in your direction.]
“Now, behold. Isn’t this a truly perfect story?”
<Epilogue 3. Author’s words (3)> Fin.
