Han Su-Yeong definitely knew that guy . But even then, why was this? At least in this very moment, he seemed like a completely different existence to her .

" . . . . Are you really Yu Jung-Hyeok?"

He glanced in her direction, before spinning around towards the Pacific Ocean with a loud boom . She panicked and cried out .

"Hey, you! Where are you going?!"

[[After him!!]]

The 999th turn's Uriel and Kim Nam-Woon chased after him next .

Han Su-Yeong only then realised what his intentions were . Yu Jung-Hyeok was trying to lure these Outer G.o.ds away from the companions .

"That crazy idiot . . . . "

"Su-Yeong-ssi, are you alright?"

Yu Sang-Ah came closer and supported her . The moment she leaned against her shoulders, Han Su-Yeong ended up vomiting all the blood flowing backwards inside her .

"Bleeergh-!"

Her head felt hot as if every blood vessel in it was burning up . Sparks went wild as if to scorch her frontal lobe . She endured the pain and shouted out . "Great Sage! Hades! Uriel! You must hurry and chase after Yu Jung-Hyeok! The rest of us will take care of this place, so please hurry! You mustn't let that guy fight alone!"

[

has noticed your Fable . ]

[You have used a power that went against the Probability!]

"Keok . . . . "

Her vision dizzily spun around; her internals hurt as if they had completely overturned .

[Your Incarnation Body is being swept up in the storm of aftermaths!]

Han Su-Yeong detected a powerful force about to explode within her body and hurriedly shouted out . "Yu Sang-Ah! Get away!"

However, Yu Sang-Ah held Han Su-Yeong's shoulders even tighter and shook her head . The power of Sakyamuni she had inherited was being transmitted through the hand touching the latter's shoulder . The time and s.p.a.ce twisted, slowing down the growth of the aftermaths' storm . "Fight it . You can do it . I also fought it off and survived in the past, too . "

"G.o.ddammit . "

Muscles all over her body were moaning out . Faint terror seeped inside her amongst all the horrifying pain . She had been habitually muttering out about being careful around the Probability, yet here she was, making a critical mistake like this . She mistakenly thought that, since a fool like Kim Dok-Ja managed to survive until now, she'd somehow make it through this one, too .

Tsu-chuchuchut!

… . Was she going to die? So meaninglessly like this?

[Fable, 'Predictive Plagiarism', has begun its storytelling!]

Advertis.e.m.e.nt.i.t was around here that the signs of the aftermath's storm gradually softened .

Han Su-Yeong witnessed letters covering up her Incarnation Body . Those were words she wrote in the past – words she secretly wrote in the note pad so that neither Kim Dok-Ja nor Yu Jung-Hyeok could find out later . And now, those words were leaking out from the flapping pages of the note pad to wrap around her body .

However, there were some sentences she hadn't written before mixed in among them .

⸢You're indeed me, so your writing skill isn't too shabby, I guess . ⸥

The voice sounded half-mocking and half-satisfied .

[Fable, 'Predictive Plagiarism', is bearing the aftermath's storm in your stead . ]

Tsu-chut, chuchuchut . . . .

As the storm of Probability's aftermaths weakened, the letters began scattering away gradually faster and faster .

Han Su-Yeong wanted to ask . About these sentences, about what they actually were . Unfortunately, she didn't have enough energy left to even ask a question anymore .

⸢ . . . . This is probably as far as I can go . Send the word out to Kim Dok-Ja . ⸥

[The vestige of another world-line permeating within your Fable has begun dissipating . ]

As her consciousness faded out, her Fable continued to speak to her .

⸢What waits for him in the 'Conclusion' he wishes for is . . . . ⸥

*

While supporting Yi Ji-Hye, I stared at the two 'Outer G.o.d Kings' .

They had lived in the same regression turn, and they also saw the same end of the world, yet they became two different beings .

[Great Fable, 'Wanderer of the Eternal Horizon', has begun its storytelling . ]

[Great Fable, 'Heart Sealing the Sorrow', has begun its storytelling!]

I could see the cross-section of the Fable laid bare within the sparks dancing in the air . The story they compiled together line by every line with their blood – this was the story from the regression turn that I loved the most . The one that I had read many times over .

⸢"Captain Yu Jung-Hyeok . It's a relief that you are a regressor . "⸥

The 'King of Silverlight Heart' glanced in my direction .

The 999th turn's Yi Hyeon-Seong – the sorrow contained within his Fable was being transmitted to me through my [Reading Comprehension] .

⸢"It'll be okay for me to stop being sad, yes? You're going to die, anyway . Even if you die, we'll be able to meet again in the next turn . And you'll continue your story in that place . . . And, you'll get to restart this journey once more, won't you?"⸥

The Fable of Steel was crying .

⸢"I'm sorry, Yi Hyeon-Seong . "⸥

The forged steel expanded with loud noises and swallowed up his words . Tears that should've flowed out remained frozen within his eyes, dyed in the silvery light .

⸢"There's no need to apologise . We'll be seeing the Conclusion before you, after all . The end you wanted to see, the promises you couldn't keep, all of them, I'll carry them all without missing a single one . "⸥

The 999th turn's Yi Hyeon-Seong was looking at me . He was not the 'Yi Hyeon-Seong' I knew, but even then, he was definitely 'Yi Hyeon-Seong' .

- You resemble that person greatly . Even more so than what I heard from my Sponsor .

The voice of the 999th turn's Yi Hyeon-Seong entered my head . He even smiled gently, as if he knew what I was thinking about already .

How could this be? How could a man who had to endure such tragedies, be able to form that kind of expression?

- And that's why I won't let you die .

I knew that he didn't hold any hostilities towards us . But I didn't think he'd go this far to side with us, either . Just what kind of a Fable did the 'Master of Steel' hand over to him as he died?

[[Hyeon-Seong ahjussi . ]]

The one to cut the flow was the 999th turn's Yi Ji-Hye .

[[It's been a long time since you called me that . ]]

[[I have no plans of hurting you . Get out of the way . ]]

Two neverending Fables intertwined with each other .

Yi Hyeon-Seong spoke, sounding as if he was reminiscing about an ancient memory . [[I'm sorry, but I can't do that . ]]

[[Why are you stopping me? Ahjussi, you refused to be summoned as the 'calamity', didn't you? It was us who negotiated with the Bureau of this world-line, not you . ]]

… . So, I guess it really was the Bureau who summoned the 999th turn's beings as calamities .

Yi Hyeon-Seong maintained his silence for a bit before replying coldly . [[Never negotiate with the

. That was our promise . ]]

[[So? What happened to us as the result of that promise?]]

[[… . . . ]]

[[We destroyed the Bureau, we fought the Dokkaebi King . Then, after we clashed against the 'Final Wall' . . . I'm asking you, what happened to us after that?]]

The Final Wall – it seemed that they had witnessed that wall, as well . The 'Wall' that the 'Yu Jung-Hyeok' of the original had eventually reached, too .

The 999th turn's Yi Ji-Hye shuddered before continuing on . [[Just like you said, our story has ended . The world-line we used to live in was destroyed, and it's just us four that became 'Outer G.o.ds' after surviving that destruction . ]]

[[We promised to overcome the 'Final Wall' even if we become the existences outside the scenarios . ]]

[[That wall isn't something we can overcome . You also know this . ]]

[[In this world-line . . . . ]]

[[Stop it with 'this world-line' nonsense! What's so special about this world-line, anyway? This place is exactly the same as the one we used to live in . It's a world-line that's going to end soon . ]]

Yi Ji-Hye of this world-line staggered as I supported her . Her lips were trembling ever so slightly .

The 'Master of the Sunken Island' continued on . [[The Great Dokkaebis that got in contact with us said this, that they were going to abandon this world-line . That they are planning to recycle it and use it as the start of a new story . ]]

Those words caused the 'King of Silverlight Heart' to change his expression . The previously-warm aura dissipated and the sensation of cold metal spread out .

A chilling voice came out from the forged steel's lips . [[… . What kind of a deal did you make with the Bureau?]]

[[If this world is about to sink underneath the ocean, it's fine for us to destroy it personally, right?]]

[[Ji-Hye-ya . ]]

The 999th turn's Yi Ji-Hye was smiling, but I wasn't sure whether I could truly describe that expression of 'smiling' or not .

[[The 'Dokkaebi King' of this world promised us that if we destroyed this world-line, then he'd revive our own world-line . He'd get in touch with the 'Most Ancient Dream' and allow us to start our stories again . ]]

Yi Ji-Hye's shoulders were trembling . I too was also sharing in that shuddering .

That was the reason for the 999th turn's beings to cross into this world . Even at the cost of destroying another world, they wished to regain theirs .

The 'King of Silverlight Heart' replied . [[Our goal wasn't to regain our world, but to find the true culprit of all these tragedies . ]]

[[What will change even if we did?]]

[[If we wish to carry out our captain's wishes, we . . . . ]]

[[Even if we eliminate the source of the tragedies, the time we lost won't come back . Our dead comrades won't come back to us . The world we lived in, it's not going to come back . . . . . The 999th turn's Yu Jung-Hyeok who died there, he's never coming back . ]]

Ku-gugugugu .

Something was approaching this location from afar while tearing through the horizon .

The 'Master of the Sunken Island' spoke again . [[That's why we don't have a choice but to end it all and start again . ]]

The tsunami waves that lost its vigour began rising up once more .

The 999th turn's Yi Hyeon-Seong hurriedly started the [Steel Transformation] and protected us with his metal . However, the force behind the waves was stronger and faster than the metal's growth speed .

[[You can't stop me . I told you this before that I'm not the only one here . ]]

Kwkwakwakwakwa!

The crimson sunset cast from behind us was burning up the heavens . That was the power of the 'Living Flame', the 999th turn's Uriel .

And the meaning of her approaching here meant . . .

"Ahjussi, it can't be . . . . ?!"

Yi Ji-Hye grasped my sleeve .

I looked into her eyes and rea.s.sured her . "Don't worry . Things you're worried about will not happen . "

I was also saying to that myself .

"Our story, it's not as weak as you fear . "

[Constellation, 'Demon King of Salvation', is revealing his Status . ]

[Constellation, 'Watcher of Light and Darkness', is revealing his Status . ]

[Constellation, 'Prisoner of the Constrictive Headband', is revealing his Status . ]

The 'Demon King of Salvation', the 'Watcher of the Light and Darkness', plus the third Modifier I earned by putting on the constrictive headband – all of my Fables were emitting light at the same time .

I walked over to Yi Hyeon-Seong standing before us . "Thank you for helping us out . However, it's alright not to push yourself . "

[[It's dangerous . You must hide behind m . . . . ]]

"This isn't the 999th turn . "

In front, the 'Master of the Sunken Island' . And at the back, the 'Living Flame' . There was no place to run now .

The shadow cast by the ma.s.sive battles.h.i.+p dawned upon us . And while standing on the top of that huge wave, the 999th turn's Yi Ji-Hye muttered out as if she was mocking someone .

[[Everything will go back . Just like what the captain told us, we'll also regress . We'll go back to the past, and start everything from scratch . When we do . . . . ]]

The waves rolled in and crashed into us . I used the power of the 'Great Fable' to deal with that Status . I felt searing pain from both of my hands defending against the wave .

I saw the horizon where the sun and the ocean met just beyond the rumbling walls of the foams . The boundary that we could never reach no matter how far we run .

Kwaaaaaah!

And then, that boundary split apart right before my eyes . A single blade was actually cutting that boundary down .

As she fell hard from the wave's highest-spot, the 999th turn's Yi Ji-Hye was looking at us .

More correctly, at a man standing next to me .

"You can't change anything with regression . I needed a very long time to realise this . "

Fin .