Chapter 371: 371
As soon as she opened her eyes, Han Su-Yeong spat out a mouthful of blood .
Only after the black-coloured blood filled up the ground in a rather large quantity did she finally regain her wits . The first thing she saw was the dense forest . It wasn't the location where she'd been fighting against Yu Joong-Hyeok just now .
"I really almost died back there . Yu Joong-Hyeok, you son of a bitch . . . . "
If she hadn't transferred her memories to a dummy Avatar on standby at the very last moment, she'd have died for real .
[You have exhausted today's allotment for the authorisation of 'Memory Transfer' . ]
[From now on, the applicable Avatar will act as your true body . ]
She'd been expecting something like this to happen .
[Fable, 'Predictive Plagiarism', is hesitantly carrying on with its storytelling . ]
Han Su-Yeong got to clearly witness several 'scenes' through this Fable called ⸢Predictive Plagiarism⸥, the one she earned after experiencing that mysterious dream .
Such as, the various futures that would change according to the choices she'd make – Kim Dok-Ja's death, or maybe, even Yu Joong-Hyeok's death . And then, the sole future where both of those terrible choices could be avoided altogether .
[Due to the penalty of 'Memory Transfer', your physical abilities will be weakened significantly . ]
"I swear, if either one of them is dead, then I . . . . !"
Han Su-Yeong complained unhappily to herself and tried to sense the waves of magical energy from the surroundings . She still needed to locate the direction where those two were .
Not too long afterwards, her senses picked up on two rather enormous Statuses . She quickly ran in that direction .
Out of all the futures she read, this was the 'only one that worked out fine' . Kim Dok-Ja didn't die, and for the first time ever, those two idiots would get to share a proper conversation .
That's what Han Su-Yeong's [Predictive Plagiarism] had predicted, and that was why she didn't try to dodge Yu Joong-Hyeok's sword at the last second . So, Kim Dok-Ja should definitely be alive .
It was around here that she heard the sound of a sword clashing against something else .
'… . Are they still fighting?
These idiots, I even died so that you two could talk to each other, but this . . . . '
She figured that she really needed to give these two men a harsh earful when she arrived there . But, when she pushed past the bushes and stepped forward, the ensuing spectacle freaked her out in a rather grand manner .
Kwa-aaang!! Bang!!!
Yu Joong-Hyeok was mercilessly slamming his sword down on Kim Dok-Ja, currently sprawled out on the ground .
"Hey!! You crazy son of a bitch!!"
*
'… . I guess it didn't work?'
Yu Joong-Hyeok observed Kim Dok-Ja lying on the ground . On the chest of the unconscious man, the shallow wound left behind by his [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] was clearly visible .
'But, I thought I saw it just now . '
Yu Joong-Hyeok grasped his sword tightly and focused his mind . And almost right away, he sensed the dark aura oozing out from Kim Dok-Ja's body .
That was the 'wall', the identity of the strange 'foreignness' he felt whenever he was looking at Kim Dok-Ja .
'I can see it . '
He could see a jet-black wall, composed of countless texts . He raised his sword high up and powerfully smashed down on that wall again .
Now that a Transcender began pounding on it with serious intent, the wall started shaking around in an unstable manner .
['The 4th Wall' is glaring at you . ]
Not caring whether it was glaring or not, Yu Joong-Hyeok continued to pound on that wall .
'Beyond this wall, there might be . . . . '
If it didn't want to open up, then until it did; if it couldn't be broken, then until he broke it down . Again, and again .
But then . . .
"Hey, you crazy bastard!! Have you lost your mind?!"
Accompanied by a shrill voice, he felt a rather powerful impact in the back of his head . Blood trickled down and blocked his vision . Through all that red, he saw Han Su-Yeong kneeling down next to Kim Dok-Ja .
"Hey, Kim Dok-Ja!! Get a hold of yourself! Wake u… . What the heck? He isn't dead?"
Yu Joong-Hyeok scowled unhappily as he staggered on his feet .
"Han Su-Yeong . Do you really wish to die today?"
"You already killed me once today, you bastard . "
"I knew you wouldn't die from the beginning . "
"Stop lying . My acting was beyond perfect, you know . "
She growled angrily and pointed at her Incarnation Body (which was her real body only until a few minutes ago) still lying on some forgotten corner over yonder .
The Incarnation Body, currently crumbling away, showed the definite signs of bleeding out . An [Avatar] wouldn't have bled anything in the first place .
Yu Joong-Hyeok spoke nonchalantly . "An [Avatar] would bleed like the real body if it was imbued with a certain amount of memories . "
"Oh my? And how did you even find that out?"
"From the record you wrote yourself . Specifically, you from the 1863rd turn, that is . "
"Me of that turn wrote all sorts of crap, didn't I? God damn it . "
There were plenty of things she wanted to ask, but she chose not to . Instead, she poked Kim Dok-Ja's cheek and spoke up . "Still, this guy looks like he got completely fooled, doesn't he . "
"Looks that way . "
"How did it go?"
"He went crazy and attacked me . "
Han Su-Yeong smirked and lightly pinched Kim Dok-Ja's cheek as if she was proud of him . "By the way, what's the matter with his chest?"
"He's paying for making me eat dirt . "
" . . . . Dirt??"
"There is something like that . "
She shifted her gaze back to Kim Dok-Ja and his cheek that sagged without any energy . In all honesty, he was only just barely alive, and not one part of his body could be described as 'okay' . Indeed, the surrounding forest had been completely levelled by the battle just now, so it'd be far stranger if his body was left largely unscathed .
Han Su-Yeong understood that this scene of utter destruction was the direct evidence of the conversation that took place between Kim Dok-Ja and Yu Joong-Hyeok .
"So? Did you hear the answer you wanted?"
Yu Joong-Hyeok paused for a moment before making his reply . "A little . "
She could clearly read the depths of emotions contained in that simple reply of "A little" . But they belonged to Kim Dok-Ja and Yu Joong-Hyeok, and no one else . That left her feeling just a bit rueful, a bit lonesome .
"Anyways . You are coming back to now, right?"
Yu Joong-Hyeok mulled over for a while, but then, turned around to leave as if he had said everything there was to say .
She frowned deeply . "Hey, you! At least try to answer properly, will you? I even helped you out, didn't I??"
"The 'Great War of Saints and Demons' is just around the corner . "
Yu Joong-Hyeok continued to walk further away . One step, two steps . . .
Just as Han Su-Yeong was getting ready to shout out something else . . .
Tsu-chuchuchut!!
Sparks buzzed around Kim Dok-Ja's body and a 'voice' suddenly came out from him .
⸢(Yu Joong-Hyeok-ssi, that stupid scenario isn't the most important thing, you know . )⸥
Startled by this development, Yu Joong-Hyeok quickly unsheathed his blade . The imaginary wall enveloping Kim Dok-Ja was actually moving . Past that wall, someone was speaking to him .
⸢(Do you believe that it's the end when you leave after talking one-sidedly like this?)⸥
No, to be more specific, it wasn't the wall, but rather . . .
⸢(You should experience it as well, what the 'feelings of being a reader' are all about . To understand what it really is . )⸥
Tsu-chuchuchuchut!!
The wall that didn't want to break no matter how many times he hit it suddenly developed a small hole on the side, and a hand popped out from this mysterious hole . That hand proceeded to lightly grasp Yu Joong-Hyeok's head and then, slammed it right against the wall .
*
I was lying in pitch-black darkness by the time I regained my consciousness .
What happened?
Did I die?
… . By Yu Joong-Hyeok?
As the thoughts continued to swirl in my head, I slowly stood back up . I looked around but couldn't see anything . It was then, a bright light from a lantern lit up in front of my eyes .
⸢(Dok-Ja-ssi, so this was where you've been all this time . )⸥
'Is that you, Yu Sang-Ah-ssi?'
⸢(Are you alright?)⸥
'Where am I . . . . ?'
⸢(You're inside the Library . )⸥
Only then did I figure out what had happened . Most likely, I got sucked inside [The 4th Wall] as I blacked out again .
'… . By the way, is it always this dark inside?'
⸢(No, it's just that the Library is in a state of chaos at the moment, you see . The aftershocks of the battle this time killed off all the lanterns inside, and all the bookshelves have fallen down . Everyone is doing their best trying to restore everything right now . )⸥
'My apologies . I have created a lot of trouble for you . '
Yu Sang-Ah grinned softly and shook her head .
⸢(No, not at all . )⸥
'Is there anything I can do to help . . . ?'
⸢(Oh, no . It's fine . You should lay here and rest . I'll sit here and take a short break, as well . )⸥
Yu Sang-Ah let out a grunt and lightly settled down next to me . Her face, as illuminated by the dim light of the lantern was the exact same one from my memories .
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