"Whoa! Wasn't I dead?"
"What?!"
"Well, you talked to me before too. No way you couldn't speak."
"Yeah, yeah. Great Tree, then. How do I get out of here?"
Just as the Great Tree said, there was only one way to survive and leave this place.
The hunchbacked old men called the [Demon of the Horizon].
The problem was that those bastards accepted Fables, and I didn't have a single one.
"...I remember. She was a really good kid. It was a shame things turned out that way."
"So you're telling me... to become a disaster that might end up killing Dokja?!"
If I became a disaster, I wouldn't be able to move by my own will.
It wasn't just a matter of orders. Probability itself would force my actions.
In other words, if I became a disaster, this wasn't something I could just lie down and take.
'The effect of my attribute?'
"!! So that's it."
No matter how powerful the attack was, if my stats were 0...
Wouldn't that make it less than a mosquito bite to the target?
"You're right. I saved a life, so I should make sure that life keeps going."
Then all I could do now was wait.
For the [Demon of the Horizon].
Of course, whether they'd actually come was another matter.
"While we wait, let's talk. What the hell are you, exactly?"
"A mere attribute lets me endure a place like this...? Do I look stupid enough to buy that?"
It was supposedly my attribute, yet the Great Tree could speak to me.
And while talking to it, I'd felt it before too. Sometimes it was glib, almost playful, and sometimes it was serious, like it had split personalities.
So whenever I spoke with the Great Tree, it felt like I was talking to two different people.
Well, it had even argued with its own words before.
"Yeah, yeah."
Even now, sometimes it sounded like a Constellation's message, and sometimes it just looked like a kid trying to chat.
.
.
.
"Are you the [First Exile]?"
"Hm... I didn't think you'd really come."
Crackle
"...Interesting. I can't see proper information with the [Great Demon's Eye], and from the way you speak, it's like you already know me."
"Hm? I don't really know about that either. What does it show?"
"The attribute window appears, but strangely enough, all the letters are broken."
The letters were all garbled...? Was that even possible?
Was the Great Tree really such an absurdly strong attribute?
"That's news to me too."
"So... what now? Before that, how did you know I would come?"
What else? Because I knew Ways of Survival.
"Strictly speaking, it was a gamble. I made a flashy debut in the very first Scenario and got exiled at the same time. What Incarnation in any world could pull that off? In the first Scenario, not 'death' but 'exile.'"
"Then you must know we trade in Fables."
"The problem is that I don't have any Fables. That's why I called it a gamble that you'd come."
I had made a short, sharp impression, but that was all.
The Coins I had were trash to people like them.
Right now, all I could do was beg for this hunchback's mercy.
"Looks like you're not as stupid as I thought."
"No, I am. I picked a fight with Constellations, after all."
"Puhaha! Right! That's true."
If I were really smart, I would've groveled to the Constellations until the very end and squeezed something out of them.
"So what did you come here to take from me?"
"Why not think of it as me coming to laugh at a miserable exile?"
"No way. You came because you want to use me for something. Just like the [Disaster of Floods]."
"Just how much... do you know?"
"Among Earth's Incarnations, I probably know the second most."
Of course, the one who knew the most was Dokja.
And I, who had listened to Dokja talk with complete focus every day, was second.
There was no way for him to know that, so that reaction made sense.
I didn't know what kind of place this was, but it seemed the reason I could remain here intact was thanks to my attribute.
"I don't have much time left. Ask my little sister, when she comes later, where I got my information from."
"Your little sister told you? Wishing for your sister to be exiled too... you're a frightening bastard."
"As if. I just know my sister better than anyone, so with her personality, I figured she'd come here at least once."
"You and your sister are both seriously insane, aren't you?"
Me, crazy about my little sister, and Dokja, crazy about Ways of Survival—we weren't that different, so it wasn't exactly wrong.
"So I can assume you're willing to grant what I want?"
"Say it first."
"Turn me into a disaster, like Shin Yoosung."
"..."
The hunchback fell silent after hearing me.
"Kuhahahahaha! This is insane—even for a madman, you're this far gone? Since you died, are you trying to drag your sister in too?!"
"No. I want a sister who'll step on me, a disaster, and climb higher."
"You think your sister is that strong?"
"Of course. She'll become far greater than you think."
"Mad bastard.... But if it's you, then you already know, don't you? All the seats for disasters are already filled."
The Four Great Disasters.
That was an already fixed Scenario.
I knew it was something that couldn't be changed.
"I know. I do. But have you never thought of this?"
"Thought of what?"
"If you want to raise a beast, do you need a zoo? Or do you need vast wilderness?"
"..."
I would descend upon the world together with the [Disaster of Floods], Shin Yoosung, and make the trial even harsher.
And the people of Seoul Dome who overcame that trial would have a much easier time with the next Scenario.
I never once thought Dokja would fail to overcome the trial.
I never once thought Dokja would fail to reach that trial in the first place.
I was the one who had spent longer with her than even our mother had.
I was the one who knew Dokja better than even Ways of Survival did.
No one knew Dokja better than I did.
"Then what's the price?"
"Pay later."
"Are you playing word games with me? If you know about us, then you know we don't accept deferred payment."
I had nothing.
The hunchback knew that too.
I decided to take this as a test.
"No. You can send me back into the Scenario, but you can't make me part of a disaster. That's the work of a Dokkaebi like Paul."
"How unpleasant. You dare mention Dokkaebi in front of me?"
"Hear me out. If this deal goes through, you'll sell my soul to Paul and take your payment from him... if you think about it that way, you don't lose anything, do you? And later, when my little sister comes, if you can collect my share from her too... then it's profit, not loss. Definitely not a loss."
The hunchback glared at me.
"You shouldn't see me as the one you're making a deal with. You should see me as merchandise to be sold."
"...Fine. I'll play along with your little scheme once. Go on, become a disaster and try killing your sister with your own hands."
Swoosh
The hunchback reached a hand toward me.
"Because of this, my sister—Dokja—is going to destroy the world of the 'Dokkaebi.' The Bureau isn't the Star Stream, after all."
The hunchback paused for a moment, then reached out again, grabbed my head, and spoke.
"Ho."
Grin
"I like you. You, and that little sister of yours too."
.
.
.
Thud!
"Ow, take it easy, would you?"
"Yeah, get some rest."
"...Who are you now?"
"Oh, we finally meet. Hi, Yoosung. My name is Kim Dokyun. I'm your partner, and the man who hates Yoo Joonghyuk the most."
What had a kid like you ever done wrong to deserve going through something like that?
Yoo Joonghyuk cared so much for her own little sister, so why couldn't she look after Yoosung, who was just as young?
All I felt was pity for the child in front of me pretending to be an adult.
"You know me? And the captain too?"
"I do. I know you're disappointed in Joonghyuk and trying to become a disaster. I'm here because I'm going to become the forest that stays with you."
"So the captain didn't send you?"
"I hate Joonghyuk—that bitch—with all my heart."
This was probably the only thing we had in common.
I hadn't even seen the deaths of people like Lee Hyunsung and Lee Jihye, who had been Yoo Joonghyuk's companions, so if I dared stand beside her and say I understood how hard it was, it would only sound like shallow pity.
What I wanted wasn't pity. I wanted to become a stump she could rest on for a while.
"That's similar enough, I guess. But what do you mean by becoming a forest?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Are beasts stronger in a city, or in nature, which is like breathing itself?"
"You'll create an environment where I can use my power better? That can't be your only goal."
"Hm. Maybe it's because you're from the 41st turn, but you're quick."
"And how exactly do you know about the 41st turn?"
She was suspicious of me, but maybe because she'd come here too, she knew we were in the same situation. She only glared at me before turning her head away.
"I'm going to become a stepping stone. You know it too. We're going to lose. I'll just become a stepping stone for the sister who survives."
"And with that weak mindset, you want to become a disaster?"
"That's not something I want to hear from someone else who's here because of a weak heart."
"There's one more thing I hate today."
"And there's one more thing I like."
She had to know already that once you'd come here, even if you didn't want to do it, you'd be forced to.
There was nothing we could do except glare at each other.
"Yoosung, this doesn't fit the mood, but can I ask you one favor?"
"No. Shut up."
"Will you call me oppa?"
"What? What the hell is this crazy bastard saying?"
"You're a little kid out there, so doesn't that mean I'm older?"
"Why are you blaming the Scenario in a place outside the Scenario?"
She was still looking at me with contempt, but the atmosphere had loosened a little compared to before, so that was enough.
But there was still something I hadn't said yet. I was going to save Yoosung too.
Because Dokja would want that.
She was probably already making plans in the Scenario to save Yoosung.
"Yoosung."
"Can't you just shut up for once?"
"Why don't you cry?"
"What kind of nonsense is that now?"
"...If it were me, I'd have cried all day. You were sent back to the past, and the price was sleeping for a thousand years. Then you came back, passed on information, gave enough advice, and even took your own life as a final sign of respect. And even so, Yoo Joonghyuk never once called you a companion."
Yoosung stared at me with wide eyes.
"That's the second reason I came here. To save you. Sometimes crying is better."
"What the hell are you?!"
As if trying to hide her feelings, Shin Yoosung shouted and grabbed me by the collar.
To me, she just looked like a child embarrassed that someone had seen through her.
My little sister alone was enough for me when it came to hiding her feelings until they festered.
I wanted kids, at least in front of me, to be kids.
If they were sad, they should cry. If they were angry, they should get angry. If they were happy, they should laugh.
Sometimes they should whine because they wanted something.
Like ordinary kids.
The current Shin Yoosung, and the Shin Yoosung of the 41st turn standing before me now—both were just children to me.
The Shin Yoosung of the 41st turn was just a child who had matured a little too quickly because she'd gone through far too many things no child that young should ever have to endure.
That was how I saw it.
"Yoosung. You're mature, but you grew up too fast. Sometimes it's okay to cry like a child. Who's here besides you and me, anyway?"
"Shut up! Shut up...!"
"You're confused. You're wondering why a man you've never even met knows so much about you. Why it feels both happy and sad to be acknowledged by a stranger who isn't your captain."
Tears had gathered on Shin Yoosung's face.
"I just want children to be children. I hate seeing sacrifice for others treated like something natural. I hate seeing people hide behind the word selfless and endure their own pain as if that's only normal. I... just want to save you, Shin Yoosung."
What I wanted wasn't disaster Yoosung, or the 41st turn Yoosung with all her information. I wanted Yoosung who could snap and sulk like an ordinary child... Yoosung who could enjoy that kind of ordinary happiness.
And I would make that happiness for her.
"Let me become another family for you. Someone who laughs with you when you're happy, cries with you when you're sad, and treats your wounds when you're hurt. Not a companion. Family."
"Why? I don't know you. Even if you say you know me, what you know isn't everything."
"Of course not. Even family, no matter how close, can't know everything. What's important is the desire to come to know each other."
"Fine. Then make me say oppa with my own mouth."
"You just did."
"That obviously doesn't count, does it?!"
Shin Yoosung was still crying, but she was smiling too.
She looked like the kind of person people say is crying because they're happy.
I just hoped this would lighten her burden, even a little.