Chapter 7: An Interesting, Psychotic Story
[You have been connected to the main scenario.]
[The Most Ancient Dream is observing you.]
[The incarnation Klein Moretti can stop freeloading now.]
[Please work hard to create an interesting story.]
Klein opened his eyes with a start, then remembered everything again.
He rubbed his head, and looked around.
He was still in the Dream.
Two versions of events drifted in his mind. One version told him he was Kim Dokja's cousin, who had told him bits and pieces of TWSA. The other version remembered living vaguely through thousands of resets in the Dream, until his 'cousin' Kim Dokja knocked on his apartment door in Seoul.
Klein systematically went through each memory, reconciling the two versions. The influence of the Dream is more powerful than I expected. It even altered my own memories after I allowed myself to enter a more slumber-like state. This has happened in previous versions of my dreams as well, before I drifted here, but they were all subversions of real and existing memories. These were all new.
Klein sighed.
However, he felt better than ever now. The Star Stream was again observing him, providing him with a powerful but surprisingly unopinionated anchor, and he had also gained many new believers from his reckless and impromptu actions in the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex. Despite being in a Dream, Klein felt that these smaller borrowed anchors should still help him, even when he eventually left the Dream.
After all, these people in the Dream were all simultaneously real and not real. It was difficult to understand. In the end, however, Klein would always decide to treat them as real.
"Klein?"
A young boy with ruffled brown hair said, his voice hesitant.
"Lee Gilyoung?" Klein said, smiling.
"It's really you?"
"Yes. I just arrived back here."
"Is Kim Dokja-hyung okay?"
Klein nodded. "He is still in the Demon Realm, competing to become the 73rd Demon King. He should be fine. Yoo Junghyuk is with him."
The boy nodded, smiling widely now, and then went off to brag to the other child that he heard the news first. Klein looked after him, his smile not disappearing.
My 'cousin's' companions are rather nice. They care about him.
Inadvertently, Klein had again slipped into worrying about his 'cousin' and feeling proud when good things happened to him. Klein shook his head, then stood up and slowly stretched.
In any case, I should follow the Most Ancient Dream's request in exchange for his continued help. This Dream, after all, has overall been speeding up the process of stabilizing my humanity. Now I just have to create an 'interesting story'.
Hmm, it's more difficult to be interesting when you know you must be… Klein lampooned. Doesn't it begin to feel forced?
He thought about the Most Ancient Dream, which he had once divined as a child sitting in a train station alone. What kind of story does that child enjoy?
Ah, doesn't he like watching Yoo Junghyuk? Yoo Junghyuk often acts psychotically and doesn't communicate well.
After some thought, Klein waved his hand over his face, and took on the appearance of Gerhman Sparrow, the crazy adventurer.
He was very self-aware.
.
Gehrman Sparrow began systematically hunting the remaining cesspots and coin farms around Korea.
His name spread far and wide for his brusque and nonchalant attitudes, entering hotzones of dozens upon dozens of hostile incarnations without hesitation, again and again.
Constellations that liked violence at first hated him, and then grew to enjoy his story.
Klein was now pestered by many odd constellations like [The Monarch of the Small Fries] and other unpleasant names.
To some, Gerhman Sparrow became known as a hero.
To others, he became known as a ruthless villain who hunted other villains for their coins.
Gehrman Sparrow also cooked and occasionally gave food to the victims of violence he had rescued. However, he did not offer much further help.
Once, a modern reporter had stopped him, for some reason still performing her former role in the middle of the apocalypse, and bravely asked him why he did what he did.
Gerhman Sparrow said nothing, but shot her camera and left.
The reporter however secretly had another camera recording, of a worse quality, and the footage was released amongst the human world. Now, Gehrman Sparrow was not only a name known to the constellations and locals, but also to the people beyond Seoul. He even became a topic of great debate in online forums.
Klein didn't find this situation bad, but it was a little uncomfortable.
Still, he kept moving, prowling the countryside, with a projection of the familiar Creeping Hunger constantly in his hand, and Death Knell in his armpit. The feeling of justice was powerful, and this was what Klein used to console himself with, while once again observing the differences between his true self and the personality of the crazy adventurer, who had become very popular.
.
[The Most Ancient Dream is looking at you.]
[The Most Ancient Dream says you don't need to do this.]
Klein slowly dropped the gun, then expressionlessly watched the man run away. He had just busted another coin farm. He had been on the road for many days, and was feeling a bit tired.
How did he know? Ah, this is the first time he's so directly spoken to me, and it's about this…
Klein was just feeling a little embarrassed when….
[The Most Ancient Dream says you didn't want to do this.]
Klein instantly understood.
It was like being caught as a bad actor in a play. Klein wanted to bang his head against a wall. Now he felt even worse.
"Why?" Klein asked the sky, after taking a moment to hold it in. "Isn't this what you wanted?"
[Some constellations wonder who you are talking to.]
[The Most Ancient Dream says it wants what you want.]
Klein frowned.
"What do you mean?"
The Most Ancient Dream didn't respond.
That child…
Klein moped for a bit, then eventually reverted back to his original face, to the surprise of many of the creeping constellations.
[Some constellations feel that they have had a heart attack!]
[Some constellations are surprised that the crazy adventurer is the cousin of the Demon King of Salvation!]
[Some constellations that liked seeing your crazy acts flee the channel.]
[The constellation that likes to switch genders scoffs and says that this is all because they only joined half-way.]
[The constellation that likes to switch genders says she enjoys your story, but wonders why you switched back.]
[Constellations that support the Demon King of Salvation give you a round of applause.]
[2000 coins have been sponsored.]
Normally, Klein would have lampooned at why his 'cousin' was so scary and influential now, but he was still somewhat upset.
In the end, this wasn't really what the Most Ancient Dream wanted…
Klein was a bit dejected that all of his hard acting had gone to waste. That child's taste wasn't so simple after all. The aspect of Yoo Junghyuk's character he liked was obviously not his insanity, or ability to cook, or his handsomeness, or…
What exactly is it? Klein wondered with some frustration, and realized he couldn't read a child's mind.
At the very least, at least Klein hadn't been called a freeloader again.
He gave up on being Gehrman Sparrow, and then returned to the Seoul base with the other members of the clearing group, and they welcomed Klein, who they always called 'Kim Dokja's cousin', warmly back.
They had been working hard at the 22nd scenario while Klein had been away.
"What were you doing?" Jung Heewon asked curiously.
"Ah, I was cleaning up the countryside."
"Hmm, is that so?" Han Sooyoung said, inspecting him critically. "Your suit looks very nice!"
"Thank you, Sooyoung-ssi."
"It's very clean," she said, still circling around him. "What kind of cleaning up did you do?"
Klein cleared his throat. "This and that. Some volunteer work. Of course, I changed before coming back here."
It was as easy as snapping.
"Always a gentleman to the end," Han Sooyoung said, disappointed.
He spent a few days there, after which a hubbub suddenly kicked up around the base. Lee Gilyoung was looking excited, even though Shin Yoosung was bragging to him loudly about something related to her stigma. Jung Heewon looked happier and excited, and Lee Hyungsung was constantly bouncing on his feet expectantly. Yoo Sangah wore a placid smile, but her eyes sparkled. Even Han Sooyoung acted more manic, her grin sharper, a strange tilt to her expression.
Klein quickly heard the news:
Yoo Junghyuk had returned.
Kim Dokja was alive, and he needed help for the Demon King selection. Only four team members could go due to the scenario limits. Yoo Sangah, Shin Yoousung, Jung Heewon, and Lee Hyungsung were selected by Yoo Junghyuk after much internal debate.
Klein saw a problem with this, and stepped forward.
"Yoo Junghyuk-ssi, I can go," Klein, who had been lazily reclining in the base for many days without anybody complaining, said.
"No," Yoo Junghyuk said, without explaining anything.
"I'm stronger than the members of the team you selected," Klein revealed. "I would be able to help more." This might be related to the Most Ancient Dream's request. Divination shows that the situation may be quite difficult.
Yoo Junghyuk said nothing, his hand resting on his sword.
Klein looked around, but no one seemed to believe him.
… Did I hide my strength too well? I'm not exactly weak. You're currently looking at a god, no, someone who is almost a full pillar of the universe.
"You're his cousin," Jung Heewon then said, smiling and drawing him away by the arm. "Just relax here with them. We'll take care of everything."
"Yes, yes," Han Sooyoung said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "They'll take care of everything."
Klein watched helplessly as Yoo Junghyuk stepped into a scenario portal and disappeared, and then so did the four other members some hours later.
Klein was left with Lee Gilyoung and Han Sooyoung. There was also Gong Pildu, who Klein didn't know, but who seemed very adept at protecting the area with his abilities.
… Should I intervene anyway? No, the scenario limits the number of people, and Kim Dokja and Yoo Junghyuk already picked six. It would be difficult to be involved by trying to break the scenario limits.
"Well they're gone now," the petite Han Sooyoung said brightly, her lips curving underneath a black bob of hair. "Let's go relax. We don't need to work too hard, right? I heard one of the King of Wanderer's followers made some pretty good tteokbokki…"
Klein reluctantly agreed.
Lee Gilyoung spoke solemnly, "It's not fair Shin Yoosung won the coin toss…"
.
[Sub Scenario – Disaster!]
Category: Sub
Difficulty: A+
Clear Conditions: Olympus has set its eyes on Korea due to the Demon King of Salvation's actions. Defeat or repel the incoming disasters and Olympian constellations to survive.
Compensation: 500,000 coins
Failure: The destruction of the Korean Peninsula
In the middle of eating tteokbokki and chatting with Han Sooyoung, this scenario notification arrived.
"Eh, they never give us a break!" Han Sooyoung railed her fist at the sky. "Let's see, the scenario shouldn't be too bad… What the fuck, Olympus?"
Klein leapt from his stool, and the two immediately moved back to the center of the fortress with Gong Pildu, Lee Gilyoung, and numerous other citizens.
"Fuck, if I had known it would be like this…" Han Sooyoung cursed.
Red and blue flames suddenly filled the sky without further warning.
A heavy pressure settled on the air.
Countless messages could be heard.
[The constellation Son of the Blind King has descended.]
[The constellation Lonely Lover of a Lute has descended.]
[The constellation…]
On the horizon, Olympian constellations could be seen like dots coming towards their fortress, wreathed in the red and blue flame. They marched over, exerting their statuses and causing everything to burn just by waving their hands. Even from this distance, some citizens already had bleeding ears.
200 meters… 100 meters… This distance shouldn't be a problem for me, Klein judged. We should prevent them from getting closer to the fortress.
Klein lifted his hands, and many of the weaker Olympian constellations began to slow, twitching. He was close to grabbing full control of their spirit threads and turning them into marionettes, when suddenly blue sparks poured and poured from his hands, then covered his body with extreme warning jolts. Klein thought he could force it, but stopped.
He felt a bit frustrated with the resistance from the Dream.
If it's not this, if it's not that, then what is it? You have already incorporated me into this Dream, so what role am I supposed to play?
Or is this just a limiter on my overall capabilities? I can use abilities from every sequence, but only to a certain extent?
"Ehm," Han Sooyoung stared at him with some bewilderment. "I guess you are pretty strong. No, hold on, this won't be enough. I have a plan… Anyway, everyone, just hang on for as long as you can."
"What will you do? You aren't Kim Dokja," Gong Pildu grunted. Everyone had quickly reacted to the invasion. Following Han Sooyoung's words, they did what they could to hang on.
Lee Gilyoung was sending large insects out to hold the walls, Gong Pildu was constantly controlling turrets that fired relentlessly upon the Olympians, and Klein used other monster marionnettes to assist, sometimes creating obstacles to make it more difficult for the Olympians to advance. Soon, however, they would overflow past the walls and destroy everything.
Meanwhile, Han Sooyoung carefully placed six black stones on the ground around her.
They disappeared into the air like a sacrifice to the gods.
"Black Dragon. Do whatever you want," Han Sooyoung then said, grinning widely.
Klein glanced at her—a powerful force seemed to be filling her body, and she raised her arms manically.
A darkness filled the sky, until the sky was nothing but pure night. The blue and red flames were quenched, and massive talons suddenly slashed from the dark sky, flinging away the minor Olympians. A dragon-like face then emerged from the sky, revealing lolling, grinning teeth, consuming the entire scene in madness and disorder.
[The Abyssal Flame Dragon shouts with glee.]
Klein stared wordlessly.
He then glanced at the sparks filling his own fingers.
… This criterion seems quite unreasonable and arbitrary, he lampooned.
.
At the end of the onslaught, Han Sooyoung's chuuni dragon sponsor had defeated the Olympians, and their base in Seoul was safe, but battered. Seoul had survived another dangerous and unreasonable scenario.
Communication arrived from the other side, the companions in the 73rd Demon Realm announcing that they had won the Demon King selection, and even beat Surya, a god.
Klein criticized the rules of this Dream. Are gods so easy to beat? Why am I so easy to beat?
Then, after two days of reconstruction, there was a party at the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex.
His cousin was now officially the 73rd Demon King.
"Congratulations," Klein told him, after Lee Gilyoung, Gong Pildu, and Klein had arrived in the complex through a portal. Klein waited until Lee Gilyoung had finished his greetings, and the party had just started to enter a swing. "You worked hard."
Klein observed the 73rd Demon Realm. Now, the industrial complex which had once looked so gloomy and dark, had grown grass and trees and actually looked rather nice. He then remembered fondly the many spicy dishes which he had sampled here.
"Thank you, cousin," Kim Dokja replied, but his eyes were strange. He seemed to have something he wanted to say.
Klein waited patiently. Kim Dokja's gaze then darted around here and there, settling for a moment on Yoo Sangah dancing with another Yoo Sangah who was actually a constellation, then for a moment on Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung arguing by their feet, then finally on Klein. His 'cousin' reluctantly opened his mouth, and said,
"Cousin. No, Klein… who exactly are you?"