"That Dokkaebi... I'm going to kill him. I'll kill him myself."
The smile Dokyun had shown the adult Shin Yoosung, the time they had spent together.
All those memories seemed to be driving the young Shin Yoosung into a blind fury.
"Wait, Yoosung...!"
It wasn't as if Kim Dokja didn't hate Paul.
It wasn't as if she wasn't grieving.
She was simply forcing herself to endure it, fearing that if she let her emotions surface here, she would completely collapse.
Crackle—
[...Executive Bureau, what is the meaning of this?]
Two armored Dokkaebis appeared in the sky and restrained Paul.
[Mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul.' You are hereby placed under emergency arrest for violating Star Stream regulations.]
.
.
.
The scenario had ended.
I could not forget the sacrifices of the countless people who had fallen, but what cut through me most painfully was the death of my brother, Dokyun.
I didn't fully understand how he had been able to appear alongside Shin Yoosung.
All I knew was that it was somehow connected to the 'Demon of the Horizon.'
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' glares at the mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul'.]
[The Constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' cackles while watching the mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul'.]
[The Constellation 'Secretive Plotter' mocks the mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul'.]
"Th-this is a conspiracy! There's no way this is happening!"
The more he spoke, the more his voice distorted, shifting into something unrecognizable.
At this rate, Paul would fall into ruin on his own, even if I did nothing.
As if that would ever satisfy me.
I hadn't planned to let this pass quietly even if it had only been Shin Yoosung. But this bastard had effectively killed my brother. There was no way I could just let him go.
"Wait. Hold on."
[...Did you just call for us?]
Paul, I'll make you wish you were dead.
[Incarnation Kim Dokja. Why have you called us?]
"I request a 'Dokkaebi Confrontation'."
[What? ...A 'confrontation' can only be requested by members of Platinum rank or higher... Don't tell me? How could an Incarnation possibly be a Platinum member...?!]
"I believe I have sufficient qualifications now, don't I?"
I had more than enough.
All that remained was to unleash my rage.
[I see. Which Dokkaebi do you wish to confront? With Platinum privileges, you may request a confrontation with up to a semi-upper-grade Dokkaebi. The appointment schedule is—]
"No need to search."
They already knew exactly who I wanted.
"I want a confrontation with the mid-grade Dokkaebi, 'Paul'."
[....]
The surrounding area froze at my words.
Paul froze. Even the Dokkaebis of the Executive Bureau were stunned.
Kekekekekekekek!!!
With a chilling smile, they looked back and forth between me and Paul.
[Permission is granted for a confrontation with the prisoner Dokkaebi 'Paul'.]
[A confrontation with the mid-grade Dokkaebi 'Paul' is beginning.]
[The free confrontation time is 20 minutes.]
"What kind of scheme are you plotting? You just want to provoke me, don't you?"
"Drop the act. I know perfectly well that 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 as if it were aimed at my brother, and it made my blood boil.
"I don't know how you found out about the 'confrontation,' but this is a place where neither side can take the other's life. No matter how much you struggle—!"
Smash!
Boom!!
With a single blow, Paul was sent ricocheting wildly through the space.
Like a ball.
For a "noble" Dokkaebi, this must have been a tremendous humiliation.
"Kgh...! Guaaaargh! How dare you...!"
"I may not be able to kill you, but I can certainly beat you. First time you've felt pain like this, right? In all your life as a Dokkaebi, you've never been hit like this once."
Even then, he continued to sneer.
Fool.
Did he really think I was ignorant of the penalties?
How did he think I achieved Platinum rank?
Did he think I simply scraped together every coin I had to buy my way in?
"I have plenty of Coins. Thanks to you—no, thanks to my brother, I made an absurd amount."
I will settle this grudge, no matter the cost.
Even if I have to bring the Dokkaebis to ruin.
Even if I have to destroy this world.
"Ghk!"
Every time the Dokkaebi screamed, another memory of my brother surfaced.
"Don't worry. Your 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 given 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 become a chain that bound you.
"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 a famous university, and I think it'd be better if I just worked."
"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?
[The Constellation 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' quietly offers a moment of silence.]
[500 Coins have been sponsored.]
[The sponsored 500 Coins have been returned.]
"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 brother 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 gone?
I had begged my mother for love, 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?"
[[Dokkaebi Confrontation] has ended.]
[Kekeke. This is awful. He ended up in a horrific state before he was even formally sent for disciplinary review.]
[Enough to make even us shudder.]
"...."
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 your brother. 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 as a Dokkaebi would, and cruel enough to sacrifice them.
.
.
.
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, 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 must take responsibility for herself, and one who 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."
.
.
.
[[Dokkaebi Egg] is close to hatching.]
[The Star Stream is watching the birth of a new storyteller.]
"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?"
[Tya? Tyaaaah!!!]
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.
[The baby Dokkaebi is looking at you.]
[The baby Dokkaebi recognizes you as family.]
[The baby Dokkaebi's soul resonates with you.]
"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."
[An unbelievable achievement—]
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!"
[The first channel in the 73rd Demon Realm has opened.]
[#BI-90594]
"What are you going to name the kid?"
"Biyun."
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