Chapter 351: 351

I thought it was wrong at first . Then the gazes of the demon kings focused on me, Asmodeus clapped and the expressions of the party members were dazed . It started to feel more real for me .

Kim Dokja’s Company won the grand prize . However, an ominous feeling preceded any joyful feelings .

The grand prize? Us? In this Duet Between Good and Evil?

The reason for my ominous feeling was soon revealed .

[The good or evil of this year’s grand prize hasn’t been determined yet . ]

The message about good and evil not being determined yet caused a stir among some of the demon kings and constellations .

[What does it mean that good or evil hasn’t been determined yet?]

The dokkaebi replied immediately . [The winners of the past ‘Grand Prize’ were decided by the consensus of the great dokkaebis, the absolute good constellations and the absolute evil constellations . This time, we couldn’t come to a conclusion for the first time . ]

[You couldn’t come to a conclusion? The great dokkaebis?]

The demon kings and constellations looked confused . The constellations belonging to the absolute good or absolute evil would naturally vote for their faction but the great dokkaebis couldn’t come to a consensus?

[No such thing has occurred since the Duet Between Good and Evil started . No, it is the first time since the Holy and Demon War ended!]

[You can’t identify it? There can’t be such a story . The balance of good and evil must tilt either way!]

The agitated constellations and demon kings cried out . It wasn’t that they didn’t understand .

Many giant story scenarios were determined by agreement or manipulation of the nebulae . Just as Gigantomachia was sold as a type of tourist product, other giant stories were also sold as preferred stocks, making the good or evil of the story already determined .

Yet out giant story was made by completely breaking down Gigantomachia . The giant story of Olympus’ collapse was born out of nowhere . Since it was a story that wasn’t scheduled in the beginning, it wasn’t possible to decide the good or evil in advance .

The dokkaebi laughed like this situation was interesting . [Well, what can someone like me know about the opinions of the big bosses? In any case, we are here to determine if the story is good or evil . If you have any comments, please raise your hand . ]

The intention of the dokkaebi became obvious .

. . . This son of a bitch .

In the first place, it didn’t matter to them if Kim Dokja’s Company won the grand prize . The important thing was the good or evil of the story we built, since it would change their status .

[This story is naturally ‘evil . ‘]

The first one to open his mouth was the demon king ‘Duke of Everywhere . ‘ Duke of Everywhere . His true name was Furcas, master of the 50th Demon Realm .

[The Demon King of Salvation is a demon king . He is less devious but he is still a demon king of the Demon World . Thus, all his actions are evil . ]

Indeed, it was pathetic logic for the Duke of Everywhere who couldn’t even spell properly . Then someone in the opposing camp raised a hand .

[I disagree with that opinion . ]

Guardian of Youths and Travel, Raphael . Raphael shook a finger and started talking .

[For example, if someone steals something and becomes a wicked person . Everyone in the world called him evil so he became evil . Then what if this evil man used the stolen money to save people? What if he saved a lot of people by giving bread to the poor and water to the thirsty?]

I nodded at Raphael’s argument .

[Then is he still evil? Is he defined as evil?]

[Well, that . . . ] The Duke of Everywhere was swayed by Raphael’s logic .

At this time, the demon king sitting beside me raised a hand and helped the Duke of Everywhere . [Do you want to discuss the paradox of good and evil here?]

Asmodeus’ red eyes were incensed . Come to think of it, Asmodeus owed Raphael a debt .

Raphael nodded . [I can do it if you want . ]

Raphael lay on a bed of clouds and flicked his fingers towards the air . Then on the big screen of the stage, scenes of me and the party members performing in Gigantomachia started to flow .

Raphael stared at the screen and started talking . [In the end, all existences are made of stories and stories are made up of the sum of the events . However, it is hard to find evil in the events accumulated in this story . ]

The paradox of good and evil . This paradox implied that the good and evil of all beings were defined by the stories built up by them .

Raphael opened his mouth and pointed at the split screens . The first screen was a scene where I visited the Underworld and liberated the giants .

[The Demon King of Salvation liberated the underdogs from the unjust story that suppressed them . ]

The second screen was a scene where the party members resisted the transition of Gigantomachia from a tourist destination to hunting the Breaking the Sky Sword Saint .

[The members of Kim Dokja’s Company responded to the unreasonable scenario composition of Gigantomachia . ]

The final screen was a scene where the party members and I burned the torch and opposed Poseidon, a myth-grade constellation .

[They fought against a major object of force and overthrew the dominance of the giant nebula . Look . Is it possible to find any evil in the events that happened?]

Many of the constellations nodded at Raphael’s story, which described the details of the scene . On the other hand, the expressions of the demon kings distorted . At least, apart from Asmodeus .

[How interesting . Then the angels are saying that the Demon King of Salvation might be a good demon king?]

[Are you admitting it?]

[Nope . Your words have a loophole . One, as you say, the stories are the sum of the events . ]

Asmodeus grinned at me .

[As you know, a story is never a solitary existence . A story is related to other stories and affects it . It is the same for Torch That Swallowed the Myth . ]

At the same time, another screen appeared and started to play . It was the scene of the first scenario . The screen zoomed in on the eggs of the pregnant grasshopper exploded in my hand .

[The Demon King of Salvation left the people on the subway to die . He could’ve saved everyone . ]

Some angels looked at me with dubious eyes .

Asmodeus continued speaking . [There was another thing . ]

The next scene that appeared was the eighth scenario . It was the scenario where the strongest incarnation in Seoul sacrificed himself so everyone could live . The screen showed my Eight Lives attribute .

Asmodeus kept speaking . [The Demon King of Salvation had extra lives and knew he was the strongest sacrifice . If he wanted, he could’ve ended the scenario before there were big sacrifices . ]

The murmuring of the constellations intensified . The story continued .

[Sparing those he wants to live and ignoring those he doesn’t want to live, the Demon King of Salvation is such an existence . He is a demon king who practices the discrimination that you dislike . Discrimination is the most serious sin in the Star Stream . ] As if to declare victory, Asmodeus asked a final question . [Then I’ll ask Eden . Do you still think the Demon King of Salvation is a ‘good’ demon king?]

The crowd fell silent . Some of the angels were watching me with suspicious eyes while many demon kings were smiling .

At this time, there was a constellation who rose . [■■, everyone has such a contradiction . ]

It was Uriel .

[The important thing isn’t the accumulation of sin but the direction of change through these events . The Demon King of Salvation is heading towards the direction of ‘good’!]

[These days, angels are very generous with the definition of good and evil . There is a recent rumour that you have a personal crush on the demon king . Is this true?]

[What?]

[Hmm, I guess it’s true . Last time you also wanted―]

Uriel jumped out . [This ■ck ■■ now . . . !]

Enormous sparks occurred around both tables . There was a flurry of curses between the archangels and demon kings and the opinions became turbulent .

I wasn’t the only target . Someone attacked Jung Heewon’s killing . Someone attacked Lee Hyunsung’s cowardice in the first scenario . There was also Lee Jihye who killed her friend . Our lives, the history we accumulated, was being torn apart .

[The giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ is revealing its teeth . ]

The faces of the party members were gradually becoming pale . They were people who had already been hurt . The people who risked their lives and somehow survived to this point had become the amusement of the constellations .

[Wait! Is it necessary to do this?]

Uriel belatedly noticed something and shouted, but the constellations and demon kings were busy dissecting the wounds of Kim Dokja’s Company . In the end, they started to bite at the past of Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung . It was the moment I learnt about Lee Gilyoung’s trauma and sponsor .

“Stop it . “

At my words, the crowd momentarily turned towards me . I knew it would be dangerous if I spoke the wrong words here .

Now Kim Dokja’s Company was like a sailboat placed between two currents . It was a small boat that could sink at any time . However, even a small boat could choose the direction it wanted to go . I was the captain of this boat .

“Isn’t this enough? Don’t you know that a conclusion can’t be reached this way?”

I hadn’t intervened because I had been waiting for the constellations and demon kings to realize it themselves .

“Do you think you can decide here what even the great dokkaebis couldn’t judge?”

Kim Dokja’s Company wasn’t good or evil . In the first place, I didn’t intend to play with the concept of good and evil set by others .

[Your words are right . ]

Unexpectedly, it was the 5th ranked demon king, Black Mane Lion Marbas who spoke . He looked at me and continued . [Surely it is useless to speak here . Stop the useless arguments . ]

[Marbas! But . . . ]

[In the first place, I will ask you . ] A chill went down my spine . [I will let you decide for yourself . Is this story good or evil? Isn’t that why we created this place?]

With this, all the eyes of the demon kings and constellations focused on me . A cold sensation flowed down my spine . Then a system message popped up .

[You have a share in the giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ . ]

[Please determine the good and evil of the story . ]

If I chose good or evil here, I would be taking sides with one of the ‘good’ or ‘evil’ that they claimed . It would be hard if that happened . It might solve the current problem for Kim Dokja’s Company but if we chose good or evil here, a terrible future might occur in later scenarios .

I worried about it for a long time before making a decision . It couldn’t be helped, even if I received the criticism of the demon kings and constellations .

“The Torch That Swallowed the Myth is―”

“Good . “

I stared at the protagonist who interrupted . The man in the black coat, who had been silent for a while, spoke nonsense . Yoo Jonghyuk kept talking . “This story, it is good . “

I was so confused that I closed my mouth . I wondered if Yoo Jonghyuk had gone crazy or if he was trapped by something .

Beside Yoo Jonghyuk, Metatron was slightly smiling towards me . Goosebumps formed on my arm . Don’t tell me, the reason why Metatron brought Yoo Jonghyuk . . .

[Those who have shares in the giant story can claim the right to ‘good’ or ‘evil . ‘]

The subsequent messages caused the mouths of the constellations and demon kings to drop open .

[Incarnation ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ has a 22 . 8% share in the giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ . ]

[Due to incarnation Yoo Jonghyuk’s declaration, the story is tilting in the direction of ‘good . ‘]

It wasn’t only me who could define this story as good or evil . It was because everyone in Kim Dokja’s Company had a share in this story .

[Do you approve of the story as ‘good’?]

Yoo Jonghyuk was looking at me . It was an expression that I couldn’t read . He seemed to be asking me what I would do now .

-Crazy bastard! What are you thinking?

I spoke to him through Midday Tryst but Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t answer . I watched him and activated a skill .

[The exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has been activated!]

[This person is currently in an emotional state that you can’t understand . ]

. . . What?

[If there are no objections from another narrator, the corresponding story will be confirmed as ‘good . ]

[There are 30 seconds before it is confirmed . ]

Dammit, I couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on . The number counted down and I heard the demon kings screaming .

I stared at the surprised faces of the party . Jung Heewon, Lee Hyunsung, Shin Yoosung, Lee Gilyoung . . . They were people I wanted to bring to the end of this world .

I clenched my fists . Our story shouldn’t be declared as good or evil . If that happened, I wouldn’t be able to reach the correct ending of this world . Now that Yoo Jonghyuk declared it was ‘good’, there was only one way to reverse the ruling .

[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is opening his ‘status . ‘]

Black feathers pierced through my back and small horns rose from my head . The intense sparks caused all noises to subside . I stared at Yoo Jonghyuk and slowly opened my mouth .

[This story is evil . ]

TL: Rainbow Turtle