"That Dokkaebi... I'm going to kill him. That Dokkaebi, I'll kill him myself."
The smile Dokyun had shown the adult Shin Yoosung, the time they had spent together.
It all seemed to be driving the young Shin Yoosung, who shared those memories, into a fury.
"Wait, Yoosung...!"
As if Kim Dokja wouldn't hate Paul too.
As if she wouldn't be grieving too.
She was only forcing herself to endure it because she felt that if she showed her emotions here, she would collapse.
Crackle
Two armored Dokkaebis appeared in the sky and restrained Paul.
.
.
.
This Scenario was over.
I couldn't forget the sacrifices of countless people, but what cut into me more painfully than anything was my brother, Dokyun's death.
I didn't really know how he had been able to appear together with Shin Yoosung.
All I could tell was that it had something to do with the [Demon of the Horizon].
The more he spoke, the more his voice changed into something different from before.
At this rate, Paul would ruin himself even if I did nothing.
'As if that would ever satisfy me.'
I hadn't planned to let this pass quietly even if Shin Yoosung had died. And this bastard had all but killed my brother. There was no way I could just let it go.
"Wait. Hold on."
'Paul, I'll make you wish you were dead.'
"I request a [Dokkaebi Confrontation]."
"Now I qualify, don't I?"
I had more than enough qualifications.
All that remained was to vent my rage.
"No need to catch one."
They already knew which Dokkaebi I wanted.
"I want a confrontation with the mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul.'"
The whole area froze at my words.
Paul did. Even the Dokkaebis from the Executive Bureau did.
Kekekekekekekek!!!
With a creepy smile, they looked back and forth between me and Paul.
"What kind of scheme are you plotting? You just want to provoke me, don't you?"
"Drop the act. I know perfectly well you're completely powerless right now."
"I see. I think I understand what vulgar little thought is running through your head. You want revenge for your brother, don't you? Fine, go ahead and try."
Paul sneered at me.
That sneer felt like it was aimed at my brother, and it made my skin crawl.
"I don't know how you found out about 'confrontation,' but this is a place where neither side can take the other's life. No matter how much you struggle—!"
Smash!
Boom!!
After taking one hit, Paul ricocheted wildly through the space.
Like a ball.
For a noble Dokkaebi, this had to be a tremendous humiliation.
"Kgh...! Guaaaargh! How dare you...!"
"I may not be able to kill you, but I can beat you. First time you've ever felt pain like this, right? Living as a Dokkaebi, you've never once been beaten like this."
Even so, he kept sneering.
Fool.
Did he really think I wouldn't know about the penalties?
How did he think I became Platinum?
Did he think I scraped together every coin I had and bought my way there?
"I have a lot of Coins. Thanks to you—no, thanks to my brother, I made an absurd amount."
I'll pay back this grudge no matter what.
Even if I have to destroy the Dokkaebis.
Even if I have to destroy this world.
"Ghk!"
Every time I heard the Dokkaebi scream, another memory of my brother surfaced.
"Don't worry. This big brother isn't going anywhere."
'The truth is, I couldn't believe you.'
Smash!
"Eek!"
"Oppa!!! What is this?!!!"
"Ah~ It's your birthday today, Dokja. So—!"
"Who asked you to buy me this kind of crap?"
Riiip!
"Take this trash and get lost!!!"
"...."
'Back then, I didn't know that would hurt you. I don't know what grand thing I was expecting in our situation, or why I acted like that.'
Crunch!
"Aaaagh!"
"Why didn't you tell me you were being bullied all this time!!!"
"I didn't want to make you worry, oppa...."
'I didn't know that would chain you down.'
"Do you think your dead brother is going to come back if you do this?!!"
"Dokja, do we... still have to keep seeing Mom?"
"Why? Are you going to leave me too, oppa?"
"That's not it... It's just that you get hurt every time you see her."
"She's the same as always. She doesn't care about me."
'That wasn't what I really meant.'
Crack
"Doing this won't benefit you at all!"
"You're giving up college?! Because of tuition?!!"
"Yeah. It's not even some famous university, and I think it'd be better if I just worked too."
"I'll figure out the tuition somehow."
'I shouldn't have just accepted that.'
Crash!
"Say something, damn it!!!"
"Oh, a slice of cake! Where'd this come from? I'll eat it, okay?"
"Hm? Sure, go ahead~."
'That day was your birthday, oppa, and I didn't even know? Kim Dokja, you crazy bitch....'
Drip drip
"Why won't you say anything at all?!"
"Dokja, dinner—!"
"I'm tired. Talk to me later."
Bang!
"Eat...."
'What was so hard about sharing one meal with the brother who waited until that hour for me?'
"This is... something I have to do with my own hands. Without your help."
"For your sake, I'd even give my life."
'Who would have thought that would become reality?'
"Dokja, for your sake, your oppa is fine."
'It was a pure heart that only wanted the best for me.'
"Dokja, nothing happened today, right?"
'And I never once said that one sentence to you.'
"Dokja, that [Ways of Survival]? You're not talking about it today?"
'Thank you for trying to share what I loved.'
"Dokja."
'I'm sorry.'
"Dokja."
'I'm sorry.'
"Dokja."
'I'm sorry... and I love you.'
Why is it that you only realize how precious something was after it's always gone?
I had begged my mother for love like that, so why had I treated the love my brother gave me as if it were only natural?
"Dokja, I... because I was your brother... I was happier than anyone in the world. My little sister, prettier and kinder than anyone."
Was he really happy?
Why did he love someone like me, when I knew nothing about him?
Why did it have to be my brother instead of me?
"Please, please, say something! Spare me! No, please spare me!"
"Then answer my question properly. Where is my brother's soul right now?"
"...."
A conversation I had with my brother long ago, one I had completely forgotten, came back to me.
"Oppa! What kind of character do I seem like?"
"Hm? Well... a Dokkaebi?"
"Ehh? Why? Do I look that bad?!!"
"No, that's not it. Dokja, you're like a Dokkaebi—like a storyteller—to this oppa. That's why it came to mind."
"Hmm... sounds suspicious. Really?"
Dokkaebis are cunning, and cruel.
I didn't know it back then, but now I do. Right now, I am like a 'Dokkaebi.'
Right now, I am cunning enough to use someone like a Dokkaebi would, and cruel enough to sacrifice someone.
.
.
.
Flash!
"Yo!"
'This is... no way. Oppa?'
"I thought you'd burst into tears when you saw me, but you're colder than I expected~?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything.... It's all, all my fault."
"...."
"Why was saying I love you so hard...."
What had happened while I was gone?
It didn't feel like that much time had passed, but did time flow differently over there?
"My story isn't over yet. I'm standing here in front of you like this, so we'll still have plenty of time to talk."
"That's right. You can't just sacrifice yourself and let it end like this. I'll never allow that."
"...When did you grow up so much?"
They say children are forever children in their parents' eyes. Maybe I saw Dokja as too much of a child too.
I only thought of her as a kid who had gone through hard things, but now I have to admit it.
Dokja too is an adult who has to take responsibility for herself, and can bear it.
"Go on, then. Try it. Save me. You know crayfish always side with crabs, right?"
"I'm the crayfish?"
"You're the crab, and I'm the crayfish."
"Yeah, I guess that's true.... Thank you. For everything. I really, really love you."
"I love you too. And thank you. Just... for everything."
.
.
.
"Listen."
A new Dokkaebi was being born.
"Pitiful beings, born with fate thrust upon you, forced to live loving 'stories' whether you want to or not."
A new Dokkaebi containing my brother's soul...
"...I really hate Dokkaebis, but seeing it like this feels different."
"It's my brother. More precisely, my brother's soul."
"What?"
'So in the end, my brother's soul is still my brother.'
A Dokkaebi that liked me from the moment it was born.
'Was his feeling for me carved so deeply into his soul?'
"Hey, are you crying?"
Was I crying?
I'm sorry, oppa.
I made you become like this. So hate me for it.
"Seriously? You're going to make me your son?"
"You've teased me all this time, so now it's my turn to tease you."
"Huh? Go ahead and try."
A message like that didn't matter.
My gaze was fixed on my brother's final moments.
"Good grief, I thought you'd turned into a cold-blooded bastard like Yoo Joonghyuk, but why do you keep apologizing?"
"I don't know. It just feels like I should."
"You're even worse than Yoo Joonghyuk...."
"Now you're cursing at your little sister?"
"If this is the end, let me at least curse you out properly before I go."
So even at the very end, oppa was still oppa.
"Whether I'm here or not, you'll have a lot of hard times ahead. The butterfly effect caused by our existence will go far beyond what you expect."
"You've been the one handling those hard things all this time. Now it's just my turn."
"Guess I can't tease you for being young anymore."
"More than that, it'd be unfair if I were the only one who didn't suffer, wouldn't it?"
We laughed pointlessly.
Like we had in the world before the destruction, a world still vivid in my memory.
"When you're born again, you probably won't remember right away. In that case, if I smack you on the head a bit, you'll remember, so keep that in mind."
"What wonderfully helpful advice."
"Go ahead and suffer through the hell of raising me."
"I'm not changing your diapers."
"Ha! Let's see if someone with your personality can really pull that off. Come on, let's make an interesting story!"
"What are you going to name the kid?"
"Biyun."