Beyond the Eternity

"What do you mean by doing nothing? We can't just sit still in a situation like this."

"What do you want us to do then?" I countered, locking eyes with Kim Hyunwoo.

"T-That..."

He tried to open his mouth a few times but nothing came out. Seeing this, Angelica opened her mouth and explained her point of view.

"After that last attack, most of our group's numbers were decimated. Since recruiting more people isn't an option, wouldn't it be better to form alliances with other groups to compensate for our loss in fighting power?"

"It's a solid idea, but it only works under normal circumstances. This situation is different."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out already?"

I looked at the faces of the party members one by one. "The current situation in Seoul is pure chaos. If my assumptions are correct, that explosion likely happened to multiple groups simultaneously."

"So, other groups are going through the same thing as us?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it's a strong possibility. Remember the earlier message?"

"I'm not too sure but that's a good guess. Don't you all remember the earlier message?"

"The difficulty change announcement?"

I nodded. "Exactly. Because of the explosions, multiple groups might have lost most of their fighting power or been completely wiped out. In this scenario, do you really think cooperation is still possible?"

"Wait... Don't tell me... I get it now."

Angelica's eyes widened as the realization sunk in. I decided to pull the last wedge and opened my mouth.

"There are two possible strategies the groups might adopt after the explosion. First, they could try to form alliances with other groups. In this scenario, the weaker group would likely be absorbed by the stronger one.

The second option is to eliminate other players to boost their points, but with only 24 hours to act, this would lead to an all-out war, especially since every group would be facing the same desperate situation."

There was a dreadful silence afterward. Everyone must have understood by now—the terrible war that would turn Seoul upside down was about to begin.

It was then that a realization struck me. The explosions that occurred simultaneously... this was the endgame of the King of Apostles.

Was he deliberately inciting chaos among the groups? Wasn't he scared of getting caught in the crossfire? What exactly was he planning?

Finally, Kim Hyunwoo broke the silence with a shaky voice. "So, if we try to form an alliance, we might just be walking into a trap... or worse, we could be the ones getting eliminated."

"That's right." I swept my gaze around. "We have to assume that trust is out the window now. The only people we can rely on are the ones standing in this room. Any attempt to ally with any other group could be a death sentence."

"So, what's the plan then? Do we just bunker down and hope we can ride this out?" Jung Yunhee, who was leaning her body at the corner, suddenly jumped into the conservation.

"I'm not saying we should be passive." I paused, then continued. "But we can't also make any unnecessary moves or else we will be swept away under the conflict. Our best bet is to keep a low profile, and wait for the others to make the first mistake. If they tear each other apart, we might just be able to pick up the pieces and survive this."

"What about Soo Jinyoung? Wouldn't she be helpful in this situation?"

I shook my head. "She must have probably gone somewhere else. In any case, she won't be able to help us so we're completely alone."

"Damnit."

Kim Hyunwoo clicked his tongue in an irritated manner. I could understand where he was coming from. Our current situation was harsh with no silver linings whatsoever. What to do? What to do?

Wait a minute...

Something suddenly occurred to me. I thought about it for a few minutes and realised it must be a good idea. But it was also a risky plan.

"Everyone..."

The party members looked at me one by one. Jung Yunhee, Angelica and Kim Hyunwoo— all their gazes were focused on my figure.

"I have a solution but it might be risky. Are you interested?"

* * *

10 minutes passed since I explained everything to the party members. As expected, they all thought I was crazy to suggesting such a plan. Looking back, it was a suicidal plan no matter how I looked at it.

"Um, excuse me."

A voice snapped me from my reverie. Lee Dokho was looking at me with a confused expression.

"You suddenly said you wanted to talk but who are you again?"

That's right. I had decided to approach Lee Dokho without my mask. I thought it was useless to pretend to be Soo Jinyoung any longer. Besides, I was getting tired of wearing the mask.

"Sorry about that. My name is Kim Jakga and I'm the deputy representative of the Soo Jinyoung's company."

"So you're the deputy representative?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That's right."

"And your name is Kim Jakga?"

"Is it unusual?"

"Yes."

What a brutal answer that was. How could he answer so quickly without any second thought? I understood where he was coming from. But even so...

"Wait a minute..." Before I could say anything else, he suddenly asked, "Are you an apostle as well?"

I nodded and his eyes lit up like a torch.

"Is that so? I didn't think Soo Jinyoung would already have an apostle on her side. Where did you drop off? Do you perhaps have the novel file?"

I shook my head. It was the truth. It seemed nobody had the novel file in this world. And even if I somehow got my hands on the file, I wouldn't have given it to him.

"Well, that's a shame."

Lee Dokho somewhat looked disappointed.

"Sigh... If only I knew something like this would happen, I would have read to the end."

His regret was apparent. However, if someone walked up to him and told him the events of a novel would become a reality, would he believe such a person or would he refer to that person as insane?

In any case, there were a few things that I wanted to confirm.

I pretended to cough to get his attention and opened my mouth. "Soo Jinyoung-nim has already explained the situation to me including the alliance."

"She said that? Where is she now?"

"I don't know. She said she'd be stepping out for a bit. But there are a few things I want to ask you. Do you mind?"

"I don't really mind, but make it quick though."

I nodded and then tried to see through this person using a skill.

[Exclusive skill – Omniscient Wall has activated.]

[The Omniscient Wall has failed to read this person's information.]

As expected, I couldn't read his private information. In that case, let's try using that skill.

[Exclusive skill – Endless One has activated.]

[The Endless One had failed to activate on this person.]

Again, no luck. It seemed that both of my trump cards were ineffective against readers of "Song of Nightmares" or was it those outside the story.

Was there some kind of 'Wall' blocking the skill activation? In any case, there was still one other way of obtaining information.

[Exclusive skill 'Sound Sensitivity Lv. 2' has activated.]

"Is your name Kim Suwon?"

I waited for his response. At the same time, I was also listening to his heartbeat.

When a person lies, their heart rate tends to spike. If I used Sound Sensitivity to eliminate any surrounding sound and listen to heartbeats, I could potentially detect lies without the Lie Detection skill.

Lee Dokho wore a strange expression and opened his mouth.

"No, my name is not Kim Suwon. Didn't Soo Jinyoung tell you already? My name is Lee Dokho."

Thump! Thump!

I listened to his heartbeat but it seemed pretty fine so far. According to Song of Nightmares, puppets and duplicates don't possess hearts in their bodies so the fact I could hear heartbeats meant that this person was definitely human.

However, I had to be sure this person was not a faker or one of Kim Suwon's subordinates hiding under my nose.

"Sorry, I didn't hear your name properly so I had to be sure."

"Ah, it's alright. I understand."

"But have you heard anyone called Kim Suwon? He's my brother, you see and I have been looking for him ever since the nightmare began."

"Is that so? Unfortunately, I've never heard of anyone with that name. I'm the leader of a large group, and it's difficult to remember all their names."

Thump! Thump!

I continued to listen to his heartbeat but it seemed to be still beating at a calm and steady pace. Lee Dokho looked at my face and wore a dark expression.

What I told him was a lie. I didn't have any siblings but this person must have thought my words were genuine. It was useless if he became sad on my part. Maybe he had lost his siblings during the chaos and my words reopened a deep wound.

But I was also confused. Didn't he say he met someone that happened him during the first nightmare trial? Could it be that Kim Suwon wasn't his real name as he said?

When I thought about it, It was foolish to expect that person to reveal his name. Would I have given my name if I was in the same position?

In any case, I continued speaking. "Soo Jinyoung-nim also told me what might be the source of the explosion. She said the name of the person responsible was Kim Suwon but I doubt that is that person's real name."

"It's a lie. I may not know your brother but Kim Suwon was not that person's name. I actually met him when I was inside a train carriage and he introduced himself as Park Joonhyuk."

Park Joonhyuk, was it? As expected, Kim Suwon was not that person's real name. But there was also a possibility that name was not his real name as well.

Damn, this was why dealing with puppet masters was extremely exhausting. It was almost impossible to locate the main man without proper information.

I looked at Lee Dokho and opened my mouth again. "Do you know any other apostles apart from No. 1999?"

In response, Lee Dokho only shook his head. "I knew a few but most of them got swept away inside the Seoksu Station. And the remaining apostles won't want to cooperate with us."

"Have you tried contacting them?"

"Yes. That's why I'm telling you this."

Thump! Thump!

The steady flow of his heartbeat supported his words. If his words were true, then that means the other apostles were probably keeping a low profile.

It seems my first plan was no longer an option. It seems I have to make use of 'that' suicidal plan after all.

I turned my head and saw Kagura treating the injuried survivors one by one. She was not a doctor but it seemed she was proficient with treating small injuries.

I asked Lee Dokho the question that kept slipping my mind.

"How did you get that person to help you? If I remembered correctly, she's just as strong as Soo Jinyoung and Song Jaewon so why would she need your assistance?"

"It's simple actually." Lee Dokho shrugged. "You're not the one who is looking for something. The character 'Kagura' is the same. I just used that fact to my advantage, that's all."

"So she knows you are an apostle?"

"Yes. I promised to help her find her missing sister in exchange for her help."

Her sister? I remembered reading something along those lines in Kagura's private Information.

According to the original story, Her sister went missing during the chaos. She was found later but she was no longer alive. Lee Dokho must have used his status as an apostle and made a deal with Kagura.

"Are you sure you would be able to find her sister?"

"I don't know but I'll try my best. You know, I discovered something rather interesting during this past few days."

"What's that?"

Lee Dokho stared at Kagura and he spoke calmly without a change in emotion.

"The characters in a story are actually simpler than they seem from the outside. Since they're born from a collection of written words, they behave according to the settings they're given. It's like programming a robot, but these characters act more like humans than simple machines."

"What are you trying to say?"

"The characters are humans yet they are not. The constellations are gods yet they are not. Despite that, they have the same behaviour and emotions as humans. Love, hate, sadness, laziness, despair, wrath, indifference. Despite being characters inside the fiction, they feel everything a human would. Of course, Its depends how the author writes these characters.

For Kagura, her setting has already been written. No matter how tough she appears on the outside, she will always be the caring big sister that could not abandon her little sister. And the thought of losing that person, drives her crazy indeed."

My brows furrowed as he mentioned the characters were not humans. I wanted to argue but his words were completely true. No matter how human these people appeared to be, they were all simply characters within the fiction.

I remembered the story of Soo Jinyoung and Song Jaewon. I wondered if all their struggles and misery was just for the entertainment of the readers. Perhaps the readers and the author were the true villains in this story.

"Huh? What's this?" Lee Dokho suddenly tilted his head, frowning as if he saw something unpleasant.

What was he looking at? A system message or perhaps a message from 'that' place?

"Did something happen?"

"Tck. Someone uploaded the revelations in the Exclusive Shop."

"What? How?!"

I was rather taken aback from the words that came of Lee Dokho's mouth.

Someone posted the novel on the Exclusive Shop? To upload the novel in the exclusive shop, one must have the text file first. If there was someone that has the text file...

Wait, could it be...

I summoned the system window and opened the exclusive shop without delay. As expected, I saw something completely beyond my expectations.

[Exclusive Shop: New Product]

Name: Dream of Nothing (TXT)

Rating: ???

Description: A text file containing the divine revelations. Read at your own risk.

Price: 500 Coins