Episode 8. Representative Kim Dokja (2)

< Episode 8.Representative Kim Dokja (2) >

"D-did you just say Jiyoon?"

Dansoo ahjussi asked, and Ye Hyunwoo frowned warily.

"What?"

"Jiyoon! Do you know Jiyoon?"

"She's my friend, why?"

"Where is Jiyoon now?"

Ye Hyunwoo looked in my direction, startled by ahjussi's sudden outburst.

I tried to calm ahjussi down as he breathed heavily.

"His daughter's name is 'No Jiyoon'."

Ye Hyunwoo's eyes widened.

"No Jiyoon? Really?"

After looking back and forth between me and the ahjussi, Ye Hyunwoo muttered in a cautious

voice.

"But it could be someone with the same name...."

"Hyunwoo-ssi, is your friend the same Jiyoon who said she's going to marry Yoo Joonghyuk in

the future?"

In response to my question, Ye Hyunwoo nodded with a dazed expression.

"Huh? That's right. Wow, you really are Jiyoon's father. No, but if you're here means Omniscient

Reader...."

"Where is Jiyoon now?"

He was his daughter's first acquaintance he met since crossing over to this world. Dansoo ahjussi

was almost out of breath.

"I'm sorry.... I haven't met Jiyoon since I came here either."

"Ah...."

"But Jiyoon must be here somewhere too. I was dragged to the theater by her."

At the mention of the theater, Kyung Sein asked.

"Did you happen to be at 'Kim Dokja's Banquet' as well?"

"Yes. Were you too?"

"I was there too...."

As expected, most of the readers in the theater were transmigrated into this world.

Even Dansoo ahjussi chimed in.

"I was in the hospital when I was suddenly brought in...."

He was possessed even though he was outside the theater. Then maybe it wasn't just the people

in the theater who came.

Ye Hyunwoo sighed and added.

"If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have gone. I was in a really good mood until I got

the quiz right. I was looking forward to the gift since I got the difficult quiz right...."

"What did you get right?"

"Well, the meaning of 1,863...."

"Oh, so that was the 7th Apostle."

I also vaguely remembered.

The person who, in a confident voice, correlated Yoo Joonghyuk's regressions with the year the

first subway opened.

Maybe the girl sitting next to him was the one who asked if Kim Dokja was resurrected.

Then, was the girl who asked about Kim Dokja Jiyoon?

Ye Hyunwoo sighed as if it was a habit already and glanced in the direction of Yoo Joonghyuk,

who was still pacing the railroad tracks.

"I haven't seen Jiyoon since we got separated at that time. Of course I thought she'd be by Yoo

Joonghyuk's side by now... She doesn't seem to be possessing Jihye."

Dansoo ahjussi's expression darkened sharply at the offhand remark.

"Still, if it's Jiyoon, she's alive somewhere, so don't worry too much. There's no way such a tough

girl could be dead, and she's read the Book of Revelation more than I have."

I paused when I heard that.

Jiyoon had read it more than 50 times?

As if to change the subject, Ye Hyunwoo smiled slightly.

"By the way, it's amazing that you've made it this far already. I've read it 50 times, but I was

lucky enough to start near Chungmuro, but you guys...."

"We started at Geumho Station."

"Wow, at 'Geumho Station'? Well, since you're 'Cheon Inho'... So you met Jung Heewon there

too, right?"

"Yes."

Jung Heewon was talking to Lee Jihye a dozen steps away. Apparently, Lee Jihye took the

initiative to ask her questions.

"It's really unusual. Jung Heewon becoming a colleague with Cheon Inho... Is this development

okay?"

When he asked me that, I was speechless.

I thought it was a novelty in terms of development.

"Anyway, I'm relieved to see other members of the Apostles. It was really hard to deal with

Killer King when he came with a bunch of kids from the Misreading Association."

The moment I heard those words, I remembered the dead bodies of the outer species at the front

of the tunnel. Apparently, it was the work of Ye Hyunwoo and Gong Pildu.

"Did the Misreading Association attack here as well?"

"You've already met them, right?"

"Thanks to Killer King."

"Eh, that asshole... Anyway, they came here as well. It seems like they prepared a lot for this

early rush. Of course, I think they definitely underestimated the third stage of my Invincible

Castellan tech tree."

Ye Hyunwoo seemed to have a special attachment to Gong Pildu and talked to us about his Plan

to Raise an Invisible Castellan at Home for a while.

I wonder how much he talked.

"I want to go home."

I felt like I had been pricked by a thorn in the middle of the heart.

I don't know how long it had been, but Ye Hyunwoo had tears in his eyes.

It belatedly dawned on me that Ye Hyunwoo was Jiyoon's age.

On the surface, everyone seemed excited to be in a novel, but there was no way anyone would

really want to be in an apocalypse like this.

Kyung Sein clenched her fists, and Dansoo ahjussi, who had stood up from his seat, reached over

the boy's shoulder as if to comfort him.

It was then that we heard a voice from behind him.

"Stop talking and come here, kid."

Ye Hyunwoo rushed over and sat down next to Gong Pildu. Ye Hyunwoo whimpered, and Gong

Pildu glared at me like I was going to kill me.

He's only in his mid-to-late teens. Such a child endured the first and second scenarios and

survived to this point.

I wanted to tell him anything. That he would make it home safely. That nothing would happen.

But who am I to say that?

Tsuchuchuchut.

Everyone's pockets vibrated with the same sound.

One by one, with a slight time difference, we pulled out our phones.

And then.

"Inho-ssi."

Kyung Sein's nervous voice.

She wasn't the only one. Dansoo ahjussi and even Ye Hyunwoo, who was next to Gong Pildu,

had similar faces.

The same message appeared on everyone's phone's screen.

—It's been a while. Dear readers.

RepresentativeKimDokja sent a message.

"This, right nowᅳ"

I quickly looked around.

It was to see if we were the only ones looking at our phones.

"Let's check it first."

I opened the message.

—Hello, dear readers. By now, you're either on the second scenario or, if you're fast, already on

the third.

You've all survived well. Of course, some of you haven't, but what can I do? You should've read

it harder.

The strange coolness in the way they speak.

Is this really a message from the 'RepresentativeKimDokja' I know?

—I'm sure you're all wondering. Why me? Did I do something wrong to be transmigrated into

this world? Was it because I read that damn novel? But I didn't even say anything bad about it. Who the hell put me in this world and why?

Suddenly, I had an ominous premonition.

"Everyone! If you haven't seen the message yet—"

But I didn't finish my sentence.

—I'm sure you're frustrated. So, for those readers who have made it this far, I thought I'd give a

little presentation on why you were brought to this world, and.

Tsuchuchuchut— I saw Kyung Sein, Dansoo ahjussi, and Ye Hyunwoo collapse one after

another like dolls with broken threads.

—What you must accomplish to return to your original world.

My vision went black as well.

—See you soon then.

*

A dark tunnel.

The woman in the white coat, who had been watching Chungmuro Station with a lollipop in her

mouth, jumped up from her seat.

"Hey, remember all the guys whose phones just rang."

[The constellation 'Sneaking Schemer' asks what's wrong with them.]

"They're all possessed. Also."

The woman added, checking the faces of Cheon Inho and his party who fell down one by one.

"Track the coordinates of the newly created subspace. Find out where their souls have been

called. Quickly."

*

When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a large lobby. As I got up, I realized that my eye level

felt strangely familiar.

Slowly, my eyes adjusted and took in the scene around me.

The unlit ticket office and unmanned ticket machine.

It was Chungmuro's theater.

As I approached the ticket machine, I saw a face on the black screen.

My face was in it. Not Cheon Inho's face, but Lee Hakhyun's face.

I laughed out loud, and a sense of sadness crossed my mind. A deep sense of relief washed over

me, along with an unexplainable sense of regret.

Maybe it was all a dream.

There's no such thing as transmigrating into a novel, after all. There's no way something like a

web novel could suddenly happen to me.

It was then that the ceiling lit up.

A dazzling pillar of light descended from the surroundings, and people began to be summoned

one by one.

"Uaaaah!"

"What!"

Some people screamed, while others looked around with calm faces.

They appeared in an instant.

I realized who they were.

「Readers.」

The readers who had been transmigrated into the novel with me. It wasn't until I saw them that I

realized.

We had all been called here, just as we were in the real world.

I quickly counted the people. A number that seemed more than a hundred, even at a rough count.

Apparently, there were more possessed people from other places besides those in the theater.

I had counted about a hundred and twenty of them when I spotted a head that stood out from the

crowd.

I didn't recognize anyone else, but I recognized them.

"Sein-ssi."

"Eh? Who?"

The surprised man turned his head toward me, and I saw his name tag.

[JudgeHeewon].

The man seemed to recognize my name tag as well.

"I-Inho-ssi? You must be Inho-ssi!"

"That's right."

"Uaaah! Inho-ssi!"

Kyung Sein swooped down and gave me a big hug.

I quickly pulled away from him and asked.

"Did you see the others?"

"Well, I don't know the others' real faces."

Well, that's true, too.

As if they had realized what was happening, the sounds of people searching echoed around the

room.

"Mijin-ah! Seo Mijin!"

"JihyesLove-nim! Is JihyesLove-nim here?"

"NamwoonsMom-nim!"

Come to think of it, there was someone I needed to find too. Maybe this was my only chance.

"Sein-ssi. I have to go somewhere for a while too."

"What? Inho-ssi! Wait!"

I pushed my way through the crowd, checking people's faces one by one.

"Ji Eunyoo-ssi! Is Ji Eunyoo-ssi here?"

Ji Eunyoo, my assignment editor.

The one who brought me to this theater. She must have transmigrated here too, because she read

Omniscient Reader and answered the quiz correctly.

"Ji Eunyoo-ssi!"

But there was no sign of Ji Eunyoo.

Has she not been summoned yet?

Or.....

I bit my lip hard. It wasn't anyone else, it was 'Ji Eunyoo'. The one who had probably read my

novel more than me.

There's no way Ji Eunyoo didn't survive.

It was then that I heard a familiar name.

"Jiyoon-ah... Jiyoon-ah!"

A neatly dressed middle-aged man was crouched on the ground, calling for someone desperately.

"Ahjussi."

As I approached, the middle-aged man looked up at me. It wasn't a face I remembered, but the

moment I saw those eyes, I was sure.

"Inho... Mate?"

It was the unmistakable Dansoo ahjussi.

"Yes."

The real-life Dansoo ahjussi was just as handsome as the novel version.

The only difference was that this man looked so pale that it wouldn't be strange if he collapsed

immediately, and his body was built like a dry tree.

"I'm sorry, mate, Jiyoon. Jiyoon, please...."

Dansoo ahjussi fainted on the spot leaving those words. His head was burning with fever. I

hastily carried him on my back. His body was as light as a child's.

I looked around nervously.

Should I take him to the hospital?

But there was no way I could get there.

The theater's exits and elevators were blocked by translucent walls.

This wasn't the 'theater' we knew, but a subspace someone temporarily created.

There was no way to escape.

There was only one thing I could do now.

"Jiyoon-ah! No Jiyoon!"

I started shouting at the top of my lungs to the surrounding area. Kyung Sein, who hurriedly

catched up, realized what was going on and shouted Jiyoon's name together with me.

"Jiyoon-ah, where are you!"

Time and time again, I saw children who looked like Jiyoon's age, but I couldn't find Jiyoon.

Soon, all the pillars of light disappeared.

The summoning was finally over.

The next moment, I stopped dead in my tracks, feeling a strange sense of heavy pressure. It was

hard to breathe, and my head felt dizzy.

「Something is looking at us.」

I lifted my head with difficulty, as if defying gravity.

Since when.

Someone was floating in the ceiling of the theater.

[Let's see. You're all here at last.]

Wearing a white coat that resembled Kim Dokja's and his trademark sunglasses, he was talking

to us.

[Welcome to 'Kim Dokja's Banquet'. Everyone.]

RepresentativeKimDokja.

The one who summoned us to this world.

Author's Note

The usual process of writing the author's note.

Shin: How about ᄋᄋᄋᄋᄋᄋ(brainstorming too much)?

Shong: No.

Shin: Then thank you for today.