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