Saving My Favorite in a Doomed World Chapter 67

The Akashic Records, where all dimensions are said to gather.

 

‘I thought it was just a joke. …Well, since karma exists, I guess the Akashic might exist too.’

 

The worlds where every existing being lives were gathered here. Its grandeur felt as though it might crush him. At the sensation he was experiencing for the first time in his life, Elric’s—Hwashin’s—lips slowly curled upward.

 

“Ha, haha.”

 

A gleam flickered in the old man’s dying eyes. He truly loved this space.

 

A Dimensional Dragon eventually belongs to a single dimension. They become a member of that world. But is there any fun in living like that?

 

He could never be satisfied with just one world. Here, he wanted to indulge in every story in existence. Furthermore, the special thing about this space was…  

 

“Young man. The books in this world are not written from a single perspective.”

 

As he reached out his hand, three books rose upright in midair at the same time. The covers of each book were different colors. One was red, one was green, and the other was dark brown.

 

“They all have the same title?”

 

When Hwashin’s eyes sparkled and he reached out, the books avoided his hand. The old man burst into hearty laughter.

 

As if they were alive, the books flew through the air. A single red book landed in the old man’s hand. He pointed to the author listed just below the title. 

 

“Here, even if the title is the same, the authors are all different. Do you know why?”

 

He snorted and answered himself.

 

“It’s because the perspectives are different. Even if they’re in the same world, the protagonists are different. The protagonist of one’s life is oneself. Most books are like that. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, the book that was handed to you—there’s only one of those. Bad endings are usually like that.”

 

The book that had flown out returned to its place. The old man crossed his arms and frowned. Instead of dragging things out, the ‘dragon’ answered in his stead.

 

“Bad endings usually happen when there’s only one protagonist.”

 

“But you said earlier there wasn’t just one.”

 

“That’s right. But I said there are exceptions. One protagonist absolutely necessary for that development. A world where only that one stood out usually walks a similar path. Originally, the world doesn’t collapse just because one person dies. For that world itself to collapse, all the protagonists acknowledged by the dimension have to die.”

 

The dragon who finished saying that smiled sadly.

 

He had seen many endings here. At least because they remained as books, he could witness the ends of worlds. But likely, many worlds would vanish in indifference. 

 

Cursing their own worth, believing that attention itself was the measure of value, blaming themselves for achieving nothing.

 

But they were here. They remained here. Even if someone called it a bad ending, they remained in form.

 

This place was the starting point of some worlds, their destination, and a passage.

 

“Let me ask just one thing.”

 

Elric—Hwashin—was looking at the floor. His hands were shoved deep into his pockets.

 

“Go ahead.”

 

The old man had said that within a single world there were countless perspectives.

 

“The book I entered, <Your Hero Is Here>… it was definitely a Bad Ending, right?” 

 

“That’s right.”

 

The dragon had said that in a world where only one protagonist exists, if that protagonist dies, the world eventually collapses.

 

“…Dragon, that book clearly ended with the sentence ‘The world has been destroyed.’”

 

“That’s right.”

 

Hwashin slowly raised his head. There was sorrow without tears in his eyes.

 

“Then.”

 

In <Your Hero Is Here>,

 

“The reason everything ended in destruction.”

 

Because the one who wanted to protect that world more than anyone else… 

 

“Was it because Cha Jaeha died?”

 

***

 

The dragon fell silent. He did not deny it. In moments like this, silence meant—

 

“Yes. The reason that world was destroyed is because Cha Jaeha, who was the only protagonist of that world, died.”

 

It was affirmation.

 

Before anyone noticed, Pii had run over and rubbed its face against Hwashin’s leg.

 

A hollow laugh escaped him. In the original story, the one who wanted to protect that world more than anyone else was Cha Jaeha. When Cha Jaeha died, the world collapsed. As if no one else could possibly fix it.

 

“What about now? How many volumes of <Your Hero Is Here> are there currently? I’m not talking about length, I mean the perspectives.” 

 

At Elric’s question, the dragon shook his head.

 

“This is as far as I can tell you. I can’t inform you how many protagonists are in the world you belong to, or who they are. Still, there was a change because you entered. That much is certain.” 

 

“I see.” 

 

There were a countless number of books. Hwashin looked up at them. 

 

“Then are the dungeons I saw when I went inside the Gates also here?”

 

“Yes. The first dungeon you encountered was Albion, right? Albion is on the [Happy Ending] shelf. However, from the perspective of the younger brother, it’s in the [Bad Ending] section. The brother became king, but he carries the guilt for the people he killed. From the perspective of one living his whole life in discomfort, that ending was apparently a Bad Ending. For your information, Part 2 has also started successfully. It’s a relief the dimension itself didn’t collapse.” 

 

The dragon shrugged.

 

“What about School Ghost Stories?”

 

“Ah, that one is unique. That protagonist crossed over into your world, didn’t he? The book ended as a [Happy Ending]. Originally it was a [Bad Ending], but the conclusion was completely overturned, perhaps because of the Gate. It met a new beginning with an open ending where the protagonist didn’t die, but left to find a new life. Ah, of course, dimensions must continue, so it ended at Part 1. Part 2 has started, but since the kid crossed to another dimension… the bookshelf state is currently chaotic. I like it, but the old man hates it.”

 

The dragon chuckled quietly.

 

After all, that old man—

 

—No, I’ve been here a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen something like this. What do you mean the protagonist just moves away on his own and Part 2 starts?

 

—had gotten angry like that.

 

At the dragon’s answer, Hwashin smirked.

 

“Right.”

 

He knew the dungeons beyond the Gates were different dimensions. That part had been briefly mentioned in <Your Hero Is Here>. 

 

But he had never imagined that in this way, here, their stories were being recorded.

 

…Saving a world from destruction is quite a difficult task. Jaeha, don’t you think so? 

 

“Haah.”

 

Hwashin stretched. Ppi scampered up onto his shoulder.

 

He hadn’t expected to gain so much information by entering the ‘rift.’ 

 

He hadn’t even known the one who wrote the notes was the Dragon. 

 

Just before leaving, Hwashin asked.

 

“Let me ask just one more thing.”

 

“Please ask something I can actually answer.”

 

“Even if I go back up there, will you keep watching me?”

 

Hwashin pointed to the still-open hole.

 

As if the question were stupid, the Dragon kicked Hwashin’s shin as he always did. 

 

“Of course. I’ll keep interfering through auditory hallucinations. This is the first time I’ve heard that you can hear my voice too.”

 

“Alright then. But how do I get back up there?”

 

“That’s enough. I’ll make a path, so go out that way.”

 

True to Elric until the end. The Dragon drew a small circle with his finger. Along that circle, a cluster of light spun through the air in a single curve. 

 

“Go out this way.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Hwashin grinned crookedly. Ppi seemed determined to follow him out as well. Right, I should take this one along too. That way I’ll have an excuse to come see our dragon again later.

 

“Oh, right.”

 

“What now?”

 

The Dragon pressed his hand to his forehead. Hwashin stopped for a moment in front of the exit. As if deep in thought, with his finger hooked on his chin, he stood there for a long time. 

 

Riel said,

 

“Listen, it’s not good for you to stay in this dimension for too long.”

 

“Let’s go with Riel.”

 

?

 

“…What?”

 

“Your name. We made a promise back then, remember? That if other dragons mixed in and it became hard to call you ‘Yong’ anymore, I’d give you a new name. It’s Riel. Your name.” 

 

…Riel?

 

At the sudden naming, the dragon stared at him with a dumbfounded expression.

 

Hwashin frowned as he smiled. Waving his hand lazily until the very end, he exited.

 

I’ll come call you again.

 

With a relaxed smile full of confidence, Hwashin left like that. Only the ‘dragon’ remaining in place stared blankly at the scene.

 

Riel. My name.

 

Riel snapped his head away. 

 

“…Seriously. That bastard never once asked the dragon’s opinion until the very end.”

 

Yet a small smile hung at the corner of Riel’s lips as he turned away.

 

*** 

 

The muscular dragon who had climbed up the ladder pulled the wooden mallet far back. Then forward again with a bang. With a dull noise, the hole slowly began to close.

 

As he repaired the hole Hwashin had punched through, he grumbled loudly.

 

“No, but seriously! Don’t we really have to move? This kind of thing happens because you keep making rifts near the protagonists!” 

 

At those words, the old dragon clicked his tongue in rebuttal.

 

“Tsk! Are you saying I’m the problem for making the rifts, you wicked fellow!! The rifts I make are tiny; it’s the ones who come in who are crazy, I’m not at fault!” 

 

Another old dragon chuckled softly this time.

 

“Ho, ho, ho. If there wasn’t even that small hole, how could the books come in here?” 

 

“Ugh, but still, Elder.” 

 

“Why do you only use honorifics for this old man?! You call me an old geezer!” 

 

Riel watched the chaotic scene from the sofa. She naturally came and sat down beside him.

 

Dragons do not receive names. Riel also simply called her ‘she’; she did not have any other particular nickname.

 

“Don’t they look like kids fighting? How childish.” 

 

She shook her head.

 

“That aside, your friend seemed like a good person. Even giving you a name, Riel.”

 

“….Well, it’s not like I particularly like it.”

 

“You say that while wearing a face that says you like it very much. You must be shy. I suppose it’s understandable at your age.”

 

“….I’ve lived long enough.”

 

“You’re still younger than me.”

 

She chuckled. Taking a bite of a butter cookie on the table, she looked at the hole being repaired and said,

 

“By the way. You said the notes you sent also crossed over to that side? In all my time here, that has never happened once.” 

 

Riel nodded. In the first place, such a thing should have been impossible. Even entering required someone to force their way through the needle-sized gap like a madman.

 

Furthermore, not every rift led to a single dimension. Hwa-shin’s story about receiving the notes through a different ‘rift’ was hard to believe. 

 

Even if it was difficult to believe, a fact was still a fact.

 

If things like this were possible—

 

Crunch. Butter cookie crumbs fell onto the table.

 

“It seems something is out of alignment somewhere.”

 

As Riel casually brushed the crumbs away, he replied,

 

“I suppose so.”

 

Out of alignment. The dimension. The rifts.

 

There was a reason the dragon of dimensions made the gaps small. It was to prevent them from mistakenly becoming entangled with two or multiple dimensions.

 

“Is the dimension where gates appear only that one book over there?”

 

“No. Recently there have been more. That might be the reason as well. It seems distortions are occurring simultaneously in other dimensions too.”

 

“What are you whispering about like that!”

 

The Elder Dragon, who had been fighting with the Muscular Dragon far off, suddenly poked his head in. His long white beard rested on the sofa. 

 

“Stop popping out like that, you old geezer!”

 

“In my opinion.”

 

Ignoring the old man, Riel gave his answer.

 

“I think it has something to do with that guy.”

 

“That guy?”

 

“That guy?”

 

The eyes of the old man and the woman widened. 

 

“There was one more rat who sneaked into our place a while ago.” 

 

***

 

“No, it’s interesting. Even if it’s something trivial, please keep telling me.”

 

The man who had been looking down at Yeouido through the building window ended the call. As soon as he hung up, the girl sitting on the sofa asked,

 

“What kind of call was it?”

 

“It’s nothing much.”

 

The man with brown hair and green eyes sat beside the girl and told her about what had just happened. His eyes curved with a gentle smile like that of a father looking at his daughter.

 

“Mm, it’s just the story that the heroes took care of a Red Gate.” 

 

“That was already on the news, though? Is that all?”

 

“Not the part that was on the news.”

 

The leader of Freak, Han Jeyu, grinned.

 

“Harang, have you ever gone into a gate and brought someone back?”

 

The girl called Harang pouted her lips.

 

“Huh? You mean if I’ve brought a monster back? …Hmm, I’ve never entered a red gate before, so I’m not sure. Do you need one?”

 

If Jeyu-nim needs it, I’ll bring it for you. The teenage girl folded her knit sleeves neatly and showed her arms as if to say she would handle it herself, but her arms looked too frail for such a task. In the first place, she wasn’t even a combat-type awakened, and since she mainly used poison, it was inevitable that her body would be weak.

 

“I don’t need one. Hmm, well, that’s true. We haven’t been very active lately, have we?”

 

“Right! Are you going to be?”

 

“Yeah. ….The date will be….. ‘That Day.’ When a Red Gate opens, that would be perfect. I happen to have something useful.”

 

At Han Jeyu’s words, Harang jumped up and down from her seat and hurriedly stuffed several poison bottles into the backpack scattered on the floor.

 

Watching her, Han Jeyu murmured quietly.

 

“Yes, when the Red Gate opens.”