Chapter 513
The subway train slowed down before coming to a stop before us, and then, opened its doors .
There was no mistaking it . This was the subway we all recognised .
Jeong Hui-Won's lips bobbed up and down before finally breaking the silence first . "Why would a subway show up here . . . . ?"
Of course, no one here could answer that question .
The first one to make his move was Yi Gil-Yeong . Yu Sang-Ah shouted out . "Gil-Yeong-ah! You mustn't get on that t . . . !"
The boy fearlessly stepped foot inside and climbed aboard the subway, and turned around to look at us . As if nothing was going on, he shrugged his shoulders .
Yi Ji-Hye watched that spectacle, then grabbed Shin Yu-Seung's hand and stepped forward as well . "I don't know anymore . Let's just get in first and see what's what!"
That was the beginning; other companions still hesitating entered the subway one by one . I too followed after them .
The moment I set foot on the floor of the subway that trembled ever so slightly, I was overcome with deja vu .
⸢Once upon a time, this was all of Kim Dok-Ja's world . ⸥
No, that was wrong . This was not my world .
⸢This was everyone's and anyone's world . ⸥
For Yu Sang-Ah, Jeong Hui-Won, Yi Hyeon-Seong, and Yi Ji-Hye, too . . . Everyone carried their own, different expressions . Just like how I rode on this subway and lived my daily life, it should roughly be the same story with them as well .
Someone used to be an office worker, someone was a student, and someone used to be a soldier, but still . . .
"A subway, is it . . . Back then, I was really fed up of riding it, but now, I'm really happy to see it again . "
Jeong Hui-Won's words made us carefully scan the interior of the subway itself .
All the seats were brand new, while the safety bars were wiped clean, too . Not even a hint of filth could be seen on the floor .
Of course, what proved to be even more surprising than that was . . .
" . . . . By the way, why isn't anyone else riding in this thing?"
Not a single presence could be felt within the subway . This was a sterile, inorganic space where nothing was alive besides us . This vehicle was permeated with such a sense of abnormality .
I looked at the librarians remaining outside the subway and asked them .
"Aren't you joining us? You wanted to witness the end of the world too, didn't you?"
⸢(We can't go with you . )⸥
"How come?"
Nirvana and the other librarians didn't answer . They exchanged somewhat saddened gazes with each other, before finally making their reply .
⸢(You witnessing the end will be enough for . . . . )⸥
[The doors are closing . ]
The rest of their words couldn't be heard; the doors shut close, and accompanied by the noises of a giant cartwheel turning, the subway began chugging forward . Its speed was neither quick nor slow . And outside the windows, we saw the view of the pitch-black darkness lazily shifting past us .
I gazed into that darkness for a long time . Just where was this train taking us?
"It's the line number three . "
Han Su-Yeong muttered that out . I also looked up at the subway map .
The line number three . It was the line that I used to commute every day . Strangely, though, the ends of the map were broken off . Even the names of the stations were erased, as well .
… .
Meanwhile, the subway continued to chug along . Several minutes passed by since then, but it showed no signs of stopping . It seemed that this vehicle was planning to run straight to its final stop without a break .
With a 'plop!' noise, Han Su-Yeong settled down on the cushion next to mine . She glared at the subway map, her long eyelashes blinking constantly .
I asked her . "What's up with that expression?"
"I don't ride on stuff like subways . "
"Why not?"
Almost immediately, I realised what a dumb question that was . For sure, someone like her wouldn't have a need to ride on subways, anyway . What she said next was completely out of my expectations, though .
"I mean, there's nothing to see here . Both inside and out . "
We both stared at the broken subway map . Without a doubt, a subway train would travel the exact same line every single day . It would then stop at the predetermined time . Similar things would continue to happen within these unchanging sceneries every day .
I also hated subways . I used to stare at the smartphone during commuting for a similar reason to hers, too .
"Subways don't operate for our amusement, though . "
" . . . . Oh, my? Now that's not something the Constellation 'Demon King of Salvation' would say . "
I smiled bitterly .
We stared in the same direction next – at our companions . At the people who endured the apocalypse with me, cleared 99 scenarios together, and reached this place .
" . . . . Mm . We won't suddenly go back to the first scenario or something like that, right?"
"No, that can't be! Definitely not!"
"Should I ready some grasshoppers just in case?"
The companions saw Yi Gil-Yeong clenching his fist with a resolute expression, and broke out in smirks .
What did it mean to find humour from the most horrifying memory they held? With what kind of thoughts were they smiling at that story?
I spoke to Han Su-Yeong . "They need to go back to their old lives . "
"You think they'll be happier like that?"
"All stories are supposed to end that way . "
"And since when did you start enjoying that sort of development?" Han Su-Yeong shot back with a retort . "Hey, you . You aren't thinking up of anything weird again, right? Are you hiding something from me again?"
"I'd like to, but I've nothing to hide anymore . "
I was being honest . Even the original novel never reached this far . It was the same story for the 'Secretive Plotter' or the other individuals from the 999th turn . We were the first to ride on this subway .
I spoke up while looking at the end of the faintly-erased subway map .
"Han Su-Yeong, I think . . . . . "
"Could it be that a final boss is waiting for us there? Isn't that how it normally is?"
Jeong Hui-Won said that . She wasn't talking to me, however . It seemed that the companions were busy discussing something over there . Shin Yu-Seung added her opinion .
"Maybe there's a dragon this big . "
"But, I don't think a Modifier like the 'Most Ancient Dream' would get assigned to a dragon . To get a Modifier like that, it must be . . . . "
"Couldn't it be the 'author'?"
"The author?"
"You know, that . . . . "
When Yi Gil-Yeong saying that shifted his gaze in my direction, the other companions seemed to abruptly recall 'it' too, and all turned their heads towards me .
⸢⸢Three Ways to Survive a Destroyed World⸥⸥ .
They also knew about that novel now . They knew that that novel described the stories of this world, and that only I had read it to its conclusion .
" . . . . What do you think, Dok-Ja-ssi?"
Every novel out there couldn't become 'stories' unless a writer wrote them down first . The suspicion my companions held some weight if this world was based off on the 'Ways of Survival' .
For sure, there was a good chance that the 'Most Ancient Dream' was the writer . I too thought that way .
However, why do I . . .
" . . . I don't think the 'Most Ancient Dream' is the author of the 'Ways of Survival' . "
"Why do you think that?"
"I'm not sure, but I have a hunch . "
To me, the being at the end of this line didn't seem like it'd be 'tls123' . I recalled what the Dokkaebi King said back then .
⸢[Rather than an author, you could say that the 'Most Ancient Dream' is much closer to being a reader . It's not an existence that writes stories for someone else . It's lazy and can be quite greedy, you see . ]⸥
I even began questioning whether an 'author' was necessary in our current hypothesis . Did this world really begin because of tls123?
Maybe tls123 simply alerted me to the already-existing world, instead?
Just like how the 'Secretive Plotter' or the other individuals from the 999th turn existed even though they weren't recorded in the pages . . .
"Now that I think about, I'm curious . Dok-Ja-ssi, how did you stumble across that novel in the first place?"
"Ahh, I was also curious about that . "
Yu Jung-Hyeok disinterestedly polishing the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] shifted his gaze towards me when that topic was brought up . Jang Ha-Yeong asked as her eyes sparkled .
"Was it like some kind of a fateful attraction?"
"I also know something about such a feeling! The first time I held a grenade back when I was a private, I . . . . !"
"I just came across it while browsing the net, actually . "
Companions seemed to be disappointed by my reply . But, nothing could be done about that, because it's true . Han Su-Yeong then retorted back .
"What did you search for exactly, to find such a crappy novel?"
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