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“Who are you?”
Yoo Joonghyuk stared up at the sky, waiting for a response from that ever present star. Sure enough, a message appeared with those infuriating words as always.
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is certain that, last he checked, his modifier is still Demon King of Salvation.]
He scowled. Those words mocked Yoo Joonghyuk, reminded him that all he could know of the constellation were the words he deigned to say to him and nothing more. “You know that’s not what I meant. What is your name?”
This time, he waited a minute before the constellation replied.
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is asking why you need to know.]
“Just answer the question.”
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation is shaking his head sadly.]
No response. It was as he expected and yet, Yoo Joonghyuk still couldn’t help the twist of his lips, his fists clenching tighter as he battled the curiosity within him.
Who are you who are youwhoareyouwhoareyou—
“Keep your secrets then.”
He didn’t need to know the secrets of a star. Those constellations in the sky, they weren’t meant to be understood.
He turned away, returning to his companions readying for the next scenario, and all the while, his heart seemed to ache with something he didn’t want to name.
“Master, is that him again?”
Hand stilling for just a second at Lee Jihye’s words, Yoo Joonghyuk kept his eyes on his sword and continued to wipe it down. “Explain.”
Footsteps approached him, Lee Jihye taking his command as permission to get closer, and she sat at his side and watched him with a curious look. “Whoever it is you talk to when you go off on your own. The one who is helping us during the scenarios?”
He frowned. Though there was little harm in letting the others know about the Demon King of Salvation, a part of him didn’t want to tell them anything.
It was a selfish wish with no reason to exist. And yet, those moments between the two of them, he wanted to selfishly keep them within his soul. It was only in those quiet nights, that the star would act so familiarly with him.
“His identity is nothing you have to concern yourself with,” he settled with after a moment. Ignoring the sour pout she wore, he nodded to the sword placed at her side and said, “if you have time to worry about that, then you should be training.”
“But master, this…this person, we should also thank them too right? All of us are curious about who could know so much.”
He didn’t react. “If you stay, I’ll assume you want your training to be doubled for the next month.”
She grumbled but quickly stood up with sword in hand, walking back while calling for someone to come spar with her. Yoo Joonghyuk watched her go, heard Kim Namwoon eagerly offer himself up and the ensuing argument they had with each other. He turned his gaze back to his sword, waiting for that guy to speak again.
It didn’t even take a minute.
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is curious about why you didn’t tell them.]
He really was too nosy. Always wanting to know the thoughts in his head, pestering him about his choices and thoughts. Yoo Joonghyuk wanted to ask him what made him care so much to want to know every one of his thoughts, when it always felt like he already knew—
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is waiting for your response with eager eyes.]
“There’s no need for them to be involved.” Yoo Joonghyuk paused, a frown tugging at his lips. “If anything goes wrong because of your involvement in the future, I’ll take responsibility for it.”
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is complaining about your lack of trust.]
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is calling you a heartless sunfish bastard.]
That sunfish name again. It felt like a joke that only one person could understand, and it irked him to not know the meaning behind it. Giving the sword one last wipe, he stood up and turned away, planning to go spar with Jung Heewon or Lee Hyunsung.
Neither of them could be so infuriating as that Demon King.
And yet, he kept waiting for a message from him.
All those constellations in the sky, their presence only reminded Yoo Joonghyuk of everything that had been lost. No matter how kind and merciful they could be, he could only remember the torment they had gone through to get as far as they did.
But that star… Yoo Joonghyuk never felt like his gaze was meant to pressure him or his companions. When he watched them, it wasn’t with apathy or amused indifference. To Yoo Joonghyuk, it felt like he cared about their life or death more than anything else, each clue given to them a precious gift that could change the tides of the scenarios.
That gaze was a comfort, at times. To know that there was someone cheering for them always, guiding them forward along the path they didn’t know the ending of.
When they did reach the end—everyone still standing by his side, indescribable elation burning in their eyes—Yoo Joonghyuk looked towards the sky.
He had heard the Dokkaebi King’s final words. The confidence in his words about the end of this world-line, the shock when he saw that things did not go as he expected. As the Dokkaebi King stared beyond something Yoo Joonghyuk couldn’t see, his final moments spent looking at the Wall, Yoo Joonghyuk thought that it could only be because of him.
It must be…you.
Life after the scenarios was beautiful.
It was tough, Yoo Joonghyuk couldn’t lie. But after facing against gods and beasts, surviving had turned into living, and he watched as they all thrived in peace and prosperity.
His companions had grown up. They all had a hand in making the world as it was now, and it was satisfying to see them shine like this.
Alive and well.
He didn’t say that though. Yoo Joonghyuk thought that if he said anything along those lines, they would counter that he, out of them all, had grown the most.
Technically, they wouldn’t be wrong. Only five years it had taken before greys started to show in his hair, time wrinkling at the corner of his eyes. Though he still managed to do everything that he could a decade ago, he would have to be blind not to notice the tinge of sadness in his companions’ eyes when they looked at him.
They would never say anything though. Victory had its prices, and Yoo Joonghyuk was already satisfied with surviving past the rounds. If there was one thing he wished for, it would probably be…
“Who do you look for in the stars?”
He didn’t turn, even when he heard Lee Seolhwa come to sit beside him. His lashes fluttered close as her fingers skimmed across the wrinkles against his eyes, age making its mark on him. The silence between them was not one that had to be broken, both of them content to let it rest for the moment.
When he looked at her, he remembered the times they shared during the scenarios. She hadn’t changed since then—not physically at least—and he could remember every fight they had fought together.
They had married only years ago, but he has already become old while she…
She was as beautiful as the day they had met.
“What do you think I’m looking for?” He asked back, unable to answer the question that she asked him. It had been a long time since he spoke to that guy, the silence growing as peaceful day after peaceful day passed, until the constellation barely spoke to him. Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t desperate enough to call for him, but he couldn’t help the way his gaze was drawn towards the sky where he thought he might be.
What was he looking for? The constellation that had watched their story and helped them alone? The Demon King of Salvation that never told him his true identity, no matter what he bartered?
What did he want to see, when he looked for the star?
She laughed, dragging him out of his thoughts. Lee Seolhwa was not one to mince words and she reminded him of how sharp her tongue could be when she spoke again.
“I think…you are searching for your first love.”
“Nonsense,” he said, but didn’t get the chance to say more. Because her hand was on his cheek, staring at him with a knowingness that forced any other words to lump in his throat.
“Yoo Joonghyuk,” she smiled, soft and sweet and slightly sorrowful, “thank you.”
For what, he didn’t know. But between them, there was no need for further words. In the darkened room, where the stars could only watch from outside the house they had made, they held each other and didn’t speak.
Afterwards, they continued to help the children out as a couple. It wasn’t difficult to remain with her, not when he knew that their feelings were understood by the other. And so years passed just like this, with his companions by his side as they watched him become older and older.
By the time he was in his sixties, they looked almost the same as they did at the end of everything.
It was only once he felt time catching up to him, pulling at his legs and clouding his eyes, that Yoo Joonghyuk confronted him again.
If there was one wish he wanted, it was to know the constellation behind that modifier. Years passed and the world bloomed from destruction and his hair turned grey, but not once did that desire disappear.
What he wouldn’t give, to know that star. There was nothing to lose now, old as he was, and so he called out the name he hadn’t known embedded itself into his heart.
“Demon King of Salvation.”
He raised his head up, frowning as it took him a moment to find the star hidden in the skies. His eyes weren’t as good as they used to be, one annoyance of ageing. When he saw that shining white light though, he did not look away.
For years, he had been frustrated.
No, it wasn’t true frustration. He was happy, happy to watch the companions by his side thrive in peace, happy to see them alive and well. After completing all the scenarios and seeing the start of a new world, there could only be happiness.
And yet.
When he saw that solitary star in the sky, alone amidst the darkness that once held others that had long since disappeared, Yoo Joonghyuk dared to want more.
“Are you still curious about my story?”
The response that came after only a moment’s hesitation reminded him of all those times before, depending on these messages to survive in a world that sought to destroy them. His answer was strange, but so very him, that Yoo Joonghyuk only felt fondness.
To want a story of an ordinary life…truly, only a star as stupid as him would wish for such a thing.
As his stories rose around him, as the words that he had trapped in his chest finally flowed out, Yoo Joonghyuk smiled faintly. Sword in hand, he swung outwards, watching the many scenarios that they had conquered together flutter in the sky, memories of a time long gone.
Even when he stumbled, body slowly succumbing to the weakness draining him for decades, Yoo Joonghyuk gritted his teeth and continued to speak. Of his thoughts, of his speculations, of the place he thought the star must be because he couldn’t be found anywhere else in the world.
And then he spoke, of the dream that was his life before the scenario, of the secret questions he could only ask this star.
If anyone could answer them, it would only be him.
But he didn’t answer. He evaded and hesitated, and Yoo Joonghyuk knew that perhaps, the answers he sought could not be found in this life.
So where?
If he ‘regressed’, then would he find the truth there?
All the warnings the star, now his sponsor, spoke could not deter him. Even if the chances were low, even if it would take more than a thousand lives to get even a chance of succeeding, then he would do it again.
What was 1864 lives, if it meant that Yoo Joonghyuk could find him at the end of it all?
And then—
[Yoo Joonghyuk.]
A clear voice. Younger than he expected, maybe. Definitely more solemn than he imagined, but it was…
Beautiful.
It was the clearest sound he had heard in a long, long time, and only now did Yoo Joonghyuk realise how old he truly was.
All his warnings came out stronger now, like this. His true voice made everything more real and Yoo Joonghyuk almost wavered at the thought of forgetting.
If he forgot the others, then…everything they had worked for, all the battles they had, he would lose it.
No.
“Just because I will forget about them, that doesn’t mean they’ll suddenly stop existing.”
In this world, at least I know that they had lived their lives to the fullest.
Power flowed through Yoo Joonghyuk as he accepted the stigma, a sense of victory at finally convincing the star. He couldn’t help but speak more to his sponsor, wanting to hear more of his voice again.
“Will I lose everything related to you, too?”
“I see.”
“You also said you won’t help me from the next regression turn onwards.”
“It’s fine to help, however.”
“Tell me, you fool. If I continue to regress, will I ever get to meet you again?”
Arm extended to the sky, his hand reaching out to that stupid star he had spent a lifetime yearning for, he waited for his voice to ring out again.
There was no response. But Yoo Joonghyuk knew that the constellation would not give him one.
He didn’t need it. He had long since made his decision.
Energy began to flow through him, coursing through his entire body until all he felt was lightness. As he began to feel his body disappear, he thought about them. His family. His companions.
He thought about Lee Hyunsung and Jung Heewon. He thought about Kim Namwoon and Lee Jihye. He thought about Shin Yoosung and Lee Seolhwa and everyone else who fought beside him for this lifetime.
He had given them this one life.
Now, he wanted to use the next to have this star by his side.
“Demon King of Salvation.”
When he first saw that modifier, Yoo Joonghyuk had mocked it without knowing how large of a mark it would leave on him. As this world slowly faded from his sight, he closed his eyes and dreamed of finally meeting the one that had been by his side since the beginning.
What a beautiful dream it was.
“I shall pray that you may continue to exist somewhere, too.”
Everything disappeared, and all was forgotten.
“I’m sorry but you are younger than me, pro gamer Yoo Joonghyuk-ssi. Therefore, you should be the one using honorifics.”
There was sweat dripping from his face, scratches marring the pale skin. An arrogant grin stretched his lips and his gaze sparkled with a strange understanding.
“...You know me?”
When Yoo Joonghyuk of the 3rd round met Kim Dokja, there was an inkling of curiosity and wariness, but little more than that.
When Yoo Joonghyuk of the last round saw Kim Dokja, there was shock and disbelief, the experiences of 1864 lifetimes telling him that this was something that shouldn’t be possible.
But behind that shock, an errant memory woke up. It was forgotten as soon as it appeared, but it did not sink back into the shadows like it did before.
It’s him.
Demon King of Salvation.
…Finally.
[Incarnation ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’s’ ■■ is ‘Kim Dokja’.]