[There are three ways to survive in a ruined world. Now, I have forgotten a few, but one thing is certain. The fact that you who are reading these words will survive for sure.]
[Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World END]
I blinked in confusion, swiping up and down on the phone.
...That’s it?
The page refused to go down. The st word on the page was [END].
I had trouble acknowledging it. The novel that I had been reading for ten years, with a total of 3,149 chapters and an average of 1.8 hits per chapter was... over?
It was a masterpiece.
So... why didn’t anyone else read it?
It was extremely unpopur.
Chapter 1’s Total Views: 12,000
Chapter 10’s Total Views: 120
Chapter 50’s Total Views: 12
Chapter 100’s Total Views: 1
Chapter 3149’s Total Views: 1
By chapter 100, I was the sole reader of TWSA (Three Ways Survive Apocalypse).`
Thus, that meant... that the novel was dedicated to me. The author, tls123, was writing, no, had written, that entire 3149 chapter novel entirely for me, its one reader.
Everyone else had quit. Occasionally, there would be two or three views for a chapter, but it was more likely that someone had misclicked there.
I sighed and felt a sense of loss in my chest. I closed the tab on my phone and put it away, choosing to stare bnkly at the subway walls on my way to work.
‘I am Dokja.1Dokja can mean 'reader' or 'only child' in Korean. ’
That was usually how I introduced myself. However, there were always some misconceptions.
‘Oh, you’re an only child?’
‘Yes, but I didn’t mean it that way.’
‘Huh? Then what did you mean?’
‘My name is Dokja. Kim Dokja.’
In short, this is who I am:
Name: Kim Dokja
Age: 29
Gender: Male
University: Graduated from a third-rate, rural university.
Job: Contracted worker of a major company’s subsidiary.
There was a sense of bittersweetness as I tapped my fingers, thinking back to my middle school years. A notification suddenly popped up on my phone.
It was the author, saying that there was yet an epilogue to be released and the monetization would begin tonight, at 7 pm.
I clutched my phone excitedly as I eagerly typed back my reply. [Thank you, and I’m eager for the release!]
‘There are five minutes until 7.’ I went to Munpia again and searched the novel up. However, instead, there was a pop-up saying that the novel didn’t exist.
Huh?
...What happened?
Before I was able to think about what had happened, a sudden lurch stopped me. My phone slipped out of my hand and I leaned forward, trying to catch it.
Ctter.
My phone dropped to the floor. People were screaming and gasping as light suddenly filtered through the car, a wrenching sound echoing through the small space.
Everyone was crowded on my side of the subway, some were gasping and pointing ahead while others had fainted.
A faint shadow appeared over my phone as I reached in vain for it.
I looked up at the person in front of me. And my heart... stopped.
Narrowed eyebrows, sharp eyes, an imperceptible look on his face... tightly-fitted bck clothes, a sword hanging from his belt, and a long, bck coat.
“Where is this?”
It was the voice of someone who had endured countless tragedies.
“Why am I here?”
The one who had died countless times and lived countless lifetimes.
“Who are you?”
1,863 lifetimes, in fact.
I sighed softly at the irony of this occurrence. I should’ve been terrified, no, I should have fainted or screamed that it wasn’t real.
There seemed to be a bubble around me and the bck-clothes man who looked like he was at the very edge of his patience. He sneered and grabbed me by my throat, lifting me up so he could look me in the eyes.
Some people screamed. Why were they screaming? They weren’t the ones getting choked by this man.
“I will ask you again. Who are you?”
I ughed.
“Yoo Joonghyuk.”
His pupils trembled slightly.
I grinned at him. “Which round is it? The 15th? Or is it the 999th?”
The st thing I saw was his fist coming toward my face at a rapid speed.
Oh no. I really wished that he was the 999th round.
That was the nicest one.
***
TWSA was a tragedy.
The main character lived through grueling scenarios, as consteltions, or the gods of the worlds, watched them in pleasure. If the world was ruled by stories and news, the dokkaebis were the streamers, the consteltions were the subscribers, and the incarnations, or people, were the people forced to py in the stream.
For example, the first scenario was called [Proof of Value] and you needed to kill one living thing to clear it. If you didn’t, your head would explode.
Thankfully, the consteltions had the choice to sponsor incarnations. Incarnations had a higher chance of surviving if they chose a sponsor.
Yoo Joonghyuk was special, though. His sponsor’s modifier was [???] and only did one thing in the story.
He gave Yoo Joonghyuk the stigma [Regression]. With regression, when Yoo Joonghyuk died, he would regress to a new worldine and start from the beginning.
He regressed 1,863 times.
Yoo Joonghyuk was the protagonist of TWSA.
And he was its devastation.
***
I hate getting punched in the face.
I had woken to the sight of the jerk sitting beside me in who-knows-where and his frowny face. I sighed, the st thing I wanted to do was to deal with this jerk.
I lifted my hand to my face, feeling around. There was a gigantic bruise on my cheek.
Yoo Joonghyuk saw me wake up and immediately got all aggressive in my personal space. He hissed out, “How do you know me?”
So, I told him.
I told him that I had read a novel called [Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World] which he had come from. I only told him the basics after I learned that he was from the third round (which was where the story began) and not the rest. He hadn’t experienced all the misery yet.
Joonghyuk looked up at me, “So... this...”
His hand shot out again.
As a result, I was almost strangled and barely came out of the situation alive.
And just when I thought that things couldn’t get any worse:
Scenario # ??? - Trust Value
Category: Personal
Difficulty: ~~
Clear Conditions: Get your trust value to reach at least 20.
Time Limit: Two weeks
Compensation: The incoming invasion of the book characters from TWSA will be stopped.
Failure: Invasion of TWSA and death.
Side note: Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk and Kim Dokja must work together.
“....”
“...”
“This isn’t my fault,” I mumbled quietly.
Yoo Joonghyuk gnced at me from the holographic blue panel in front of him (that was exactly the same as mine) with dark eyes.
Suddenly, my throat felt itchy.
I raised my hand up and patted his shoulder. He spped me away, the noise harsh in our quiet surroundings. I looked around, noting that we were in a small apartment, with barely anything in it except for...
Books. Lots and lots of books.
But it looked eerily simir to...
...Why were we in my apartment?!
Yoo Joonghyuk saw my confused expression and expined, “I dragged you here. Your address was in your pocket.” I put my hand over the scrap of paper which I had written my address on.
It was gone.
I sighed, “Look, we have to work together now.”
Yoo Joonghyuk snorted. I chose to ignore it, as my fists were starting to itch.
I held out my hand. “Do you trust me?”
I had a pn. Now, if he could comply and go along with what I say–
“Not as far as I can throw you, no.”
Guess not.
***
If Yoo Joonghyuk wasn’t so ridiculously strong and powerful, I would have punched him.
Joonhyuk sneered and crossed his arms. “That won’t work.” He was lounging on the tiny couch in my living room. The cushions were slowly sinking down from his weight.. It would be funny to see it break under him.
I threw down the pen I was using to scribble down ideas on a piece of extra paper I’d found and cried out, “Then what else? Do you have a pn?!”
The ice pack on my face shifted again and I gripped it harder, gring at Joonghyuk.
It was the second day and we had negative trust points. And there was also the problem of Kim Namwoon on the loose. We haven’t even seen Kim Namwoon yet! (Apparently Kim Namwoon had escaped with Joonghyuk into this world. Kim Namwoon was... a bit crazy.)
And worst yet...
[Trust value: -5]
It got better though. Before, it was -1.
I stared at Yoo Joonghyuk in his all bck clothes, his long bck coat, and bck sword. He had been wearing those clothes for two days now. On anyone else, they would’ve looked ridiculous.
But on this jerk?
It made him look dangerous, powerful–a true king.
The Supreme King, Yoo Joonghyuk.
In my living room.
On my couch.
“Just kill him. Quick and easy.”
“Or stab him with a kitchen knife.”
“I’ve defeated consteltions and transcendents, I can beat an annoying brat like Namwoon.”
I was silent as he said the st three statements.
Oh, did I forget that this egotistical jerk is the third regression? Honestly, it’s really not bad, there were far worse. At least he didn’t have regression depression from regressing so much.
I sighed and said, “Well, first we gotta find Kim Namwoon.”
***
“Catch me!”
Bam!
“Ow!”
I rubbed my head, spread-eagle on the floor of my home. It was the third day of our operation and I was trying to do some trust exercises.
Unfortunately, Joonghyuk was not complying.
“What are you doing?”
Joonghyuk crossed his arms while looking at me from his throne (my couch).
“...You were supposed to catch me.”
“...What kind of exercise is this, do you want to get a concussion?”
[Trust value: -4]
Thankfully, though, the trust value increased by one today. I think it was because I took him out to eat and barely managed to stop him from killing the cook.
***
Day 5.
We were at a dumpling restaurant.
Joonghyuk sniffed the dumpling on the pte in front of him with a suspicious expression. He picked up a chopstick and poked it.
I stared at him.
Poke.
Poke.
Finally, I couldn’t handle it anymore. “Joonghyuk, eat the dumpling or throw it away!”
Yoo Joonghyuk scowled from his crouching position. “I can make better dumplings than this.”
...Jerk.
I crossed my arms and cocked my head at him. “Oh, really?”
Joonghyuk nodded.
“Why don’t we go to the supermarket and get the things we need to make your oh-so-fabulous dumplings?”
Joonghyuk ignored me and finally took a bite from the dumpling. “...Dokja.”
“Yes?”
“This dumpling tastes horrible.”
“Breaking the Sky Sword Master can make better dumplings than this.”
‘And he’s a dog.’ That was what both of our minds thought at the same time.
The uncanny thing about Joonghyuk and I was that we seemed to... click together. I know what he will say before he opens his mouth and vice versa. I feel like I know him, not as a fictional character but as a regressor, a companion, a walking tragedy.
Maybe it was because TWSA was the only thing that had kept me alive for the past ten years. I had grown to love the novel and its characters.
I had admired Joonghyuk.
Hated him.
And cheered him on.
He was my source of strength when I didn’t know what to do. He was the reason why I pushed through the tragedies of my life. He was the thing that kept me connected to my mother.
Of course, I would never tell him that.
His ego would just get infted again.
***
[Trust value: 1]
I stared at the blue notification panel in front of me as I sprawled on the couch.
We... had made progress.
I turned my head to look at Joonghyuk who was wearing a white apron over his dark clothes and spreading out the ingredients to make a dumpling out onto the counter.
Flour, water, salt, garlic, green onions, ginger, coriander, sauce, soy, sesame, an egg, and minced meat.
“...”
I watched in silence as Joonghyuk mixed the meat and egg together and added the coriander, before I silently got up and poked the garlic clove next to where he was working.
“What kind of dumpling are you making?”
Joonghyuk gnced at me for a few seconds before saying, “Murim dumplings.”
I practically died from shock.
The famous Murim Dumplings? The First Mirum was famous in TWSA, as one of the most famous attractions there! Not only was the food amazing, many incarnations with unbelievably strong power, called transcendents, resided there. Joonghyuk’s own master, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint (Namgung Minyoung) lived there, along with her other disciple, a dog named Breaking the Sky Sword Master.
I watched fascinatedly as Joongyhuk made the dough for the dumpling and rolled the meat into little balls.
I reached out my hand and pinched one of the balls. Joonghyuk cast a gnce at me with half-lidded eyes, looking half-asleep. He must’ve been tired, or else he would’ve threatened me for touching the ingredients. He and I stood side by side as he began putting the meat balls into the dough and pinched them together with water.
I tried to follow what he did and ended up with...
“It... looks like pikachu?” Hope bloomed in my voice.
Joonghyuk looked disgusted by my lopsided dumpling. “No, redo it.”
“Hmph. You just have no aesthetic taste.”
“It looks like it came from hell. No one would want to eat it.”
“I do.”
Sarcasm leaked from his voice. “I believe that you’re the only one.”
In the end, I didn’t have to redo the dumpling. After Joonghyuk had put them inside the microwave, I stared at the tray of mouth-watering dumplings right in front of me. I could just steal one... right?
Joonghyuk spped my hand away and gave me my deformed one.
I stared at the shape on my hand, my stomach churning in regret.
“Too scared to eat your own product?”
But... it smelled really, really good.
I hesitantly took a bite out of the dumpling, not quite knowing what to expect.
...Delicious!
Crunchy, savory, I could use a thesaurus to describe all of the fvors in that small, ah, deformed dumpling. I quickly ate the rest and reached out to snatch some more off the tray.
My hand was swatted away by Joonghyuk again.
In the end, he had eaten twelve out of the fifteen dumplings while I only had gotten three.
[Trust value: 5]
***
Day 9.
Joonghyuk was impossible to deal with.
“You can’t just wear the same old clothes everyday!” I pleaded with him. I really needed to get new clothes for him.
Preferably something that wasn’t in bck.
In my opinion, I think he would look nice in pink.
Joonghyuk scowled. “I’m fine with what I’m wearing.”
I muttered, “Yeah, the clothes that you’ve been wearing for days.”
Did Yoo Joonghyuk ever change his clothes in TWSA? I never encountered any information about him changing clothes. He was only described as ‘handsome, tall, wearing bck, with a sword hanging from his belt.’
So, when Joonghyuk grumbled about having to get new clothes, I dragged him to the bus station and went to the mall to get some clothes.
“This one?” I held up a dark blue t-shirt. Joonghyuk didn’t even look at it before shaking his head, his face full of disgust.
“How ‘bout this one?” I compared a white shirt to his height. Too small.
The pink sweater with hearts was rejected.
The dark ripped jeans were rejected.
The Christmas hat was rejected.
The bck socks were rejected.
Finally, I exploded, “Make up your mind! What do you want?!”
Joonghyuk looked like he was waiting for that response for a while. He stalked off without saying anything and returned five minutes ter with clothes that looked exactly like the ones he was wearing currently.
“...You know what, I don’t even care anymore,” I said and walked off to the cash register.
On the way, I saw a soft pink bnket with fluffy white creature patterns on it. When Joonghyuk was looking the other way, I snatched it and folded it between the clothes he picked out.
Later, back at home, Joonghyuk had fallen asleep on the couch. He looked exhausted, with dark bck circles under his puffy eyes and pale skin that looked almost sickly.
I took out the pink bnket that I had bought and id it over him.
[Trust value: 8]
***
Day 11.
Kim Namwoon stared at us with dark eyes in the cashier ne.
“What do you want? I have something to do after this,” he compined, “The test trend is out and I wanna try it out.”
Joonghyuk sneered at Kim Namwoon and immediately began interrogating him. Why he was asking those questions was beyond me.
“Did you kill anyone?”
“How many times did you die?”
“What round is this?”
Kim Namwoon looked startled. “What are you talking about?”
Joonghyuk spped Kim Namwoon’s face. I asked Kim Namwoon, “Do you know this person??”
Kim Namwoon hesitated before shaking his head, “No.”
I pressed further, “Who is your sponsor?”
“Eh?”
“Sponsor. You know, your consteltion.”
“...Oh... Cancer?”
Kim Namwoon didn’t recognize Yoo Joonghyuk even though the two had clearly been together before they were transported into my world. He seemed to think that he was a normal human being in this world.
Joonghyuk seemed to be certain Namwoon was no threat from his rexed posture.
Joonghyuk sighed and walked out of the mall. Countless people stepped back, as if paving a road for a king. Joonghyuk looked back at me and said, “Let’s go.”
Warmth filled me.
I patted Kim Namwoon’s head. “Hey, he must’ve liked you!”
He looked up at me with startled eyes. “That’s like?! How do you know?”
I nodded. “I know because he didn’t try to strangle you to death.”
[Trust value: 11]
***
The night was filled with stars.
But this time, the stars were not consteltions. They were just regur stars, beautiful monstrosities of fire and gas residing light years away.
They were beautiful.
I sat on top of the apartment complex, staring out to the sky, filled with wonder as I traced the outline of the moon with my right hand.
I so rarely had any time to rex. To calm down. To... breathe.
Shuffling came from behind me. I turned around to see Yoo Joonghyuk in all of his glory, walking to where I was sitting now.
He didn't ask.
I didn’t expin.
We just sat there in silence, watching the stars until Yoo Joonghyuk spoke up.
“What will happen after this?”
“Huh?” What did he mean?
“What will happen after this scenario is over?”
...That was a good question. I was a good pnner. I liked to think that I thought through things before I did them.
But never did I consider...
What would happen to Joonghyuk after this scenario was completed? Would he stay in this world where he didn’t belong, or would he go back to his world full of tragedies and death? And... What would happen to me? What will happen to tls123, the author of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World?
It was the st day of the scenario, and we only had 15 points.
I felt a sense of panic. Deep down inside me, I didn’t want Joonghyuk to leave. I had not realized it, but Joonghyuk... kept me grounded. Kept me here on this pnet and not floating around in my imagination.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
Joonghyuk said, “I’ll probably go back to the scenarios. Try and fail to complete the scenarios and see the end--”
I interrupted him, “Don’t.”
Joonghyuk looked taken back.
“Yoo Joonghyuk.”
“Enjoy your third round,” I whispered. “Learn and enjoy that round, because that round... just might be the one that you get to see the end as a ‘human.’”
In the original novel, by the time Yoo Joonghyuk finally reached the end of the scenarios, he was barely human. He was like a killing machine with no feelings and no empathy. I...I didn’t want him to be like that in the end.
So, I left him one final warning, “Live this life to the fullest and maybe... just maybe... you will finally be able to see the end. As yourself, along with your companions.”
Joonghyuk was quiet for a long time. Just as I thought that he had not heard what I said, he spoke up.
“...I won't give up on this life."
Perhaps there was no one here who would understand his words. In the midst of the terrible loneliness that came from this face.
The small hand of the antique clock clock hit twelve. Day 15.
[Trust value: 20]
***
I stared at the empty space in front of me.
Joonghyuk was gone.
He had faded to dust just as it turned midnight and the new day began. He had smiled at me.
Yoo Joonghyuk had decred.
"So don't give up either."
He’s gone. The words repeated in my head over and over again, the sense of loss growing bigger and bigger as I stared with bnk eyes where he just was.
The stars didn’t seem so bright anymore.
I sat there for a long time. Perhaps it was five minutes or five hours. By the time I came to, the sun was peeking over the horizon.
Joonghyuk’s gone.
I stood up and mechanically walked down to my home, breathing in the familiar scents. My eyes immediately wandered over to the couch
There was still a small indent there.
Yoo Joonghyuk is gone. Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World is finished.
The things that had kept me going in life were gone.
Then, what is the point in living?
I sat down on the couch, where Joonghyuk had sat. I ran my hands over the old cushions as if they had the ability to summon Yoo Joonghyuk back.
I picked up my phone and automatically opened up TWSA. What was I doing? The story was finished. I had come to the conclusion already.
...The epilogue.
My eyes widened as I stared at the small print in the chapter count.
[Chapter 3150: Epilogue]
I wanted to click it so badly. But... What if it wasn’t the conclusion I wanted? What if, all along, the story was meant to be a tragedy?
How would I be able to read that?
I shook my head. This was my story. A story for me.
I was never going to give up on Yoo Joonghyuk. As long as I am breathing, I will never forget him.
I clicked on the chapter. And I began to read.
My vision grew blurry. I thought that maybe I was going blind when I reached up and felt the wetness at the tip of my eyes.
A tear dropped down onto my phone.
I wiped it away.
[Yoo Joonghyuk looked from beyond the wall. All of his lives, all 1864 of them, were filled with countless tragedies, countless deaths, countless sorrows and pains.
「I want to die.」
「I want to live.」
As Joonghyuk’s hand nded on the hilt of his sword, he suddenly thought back.
To him.
He told him to live. He told him to keep going on, to see the end as a human.
Joonghyuk had lied. When he had met the reader, he was not in the third round. He had already reached the end. He was expecting... nothing beyond the wall.
He didn’t know that he would get transported to his world.
He didn’t know that he would see him.
But, he did.
And now, he was still stuck beyond the Final Wall. Countless words surrounded him, full of tales of his adventures and his companions.
He was alone again.
Or was he?
Joonghyuk turned to look at the portal near the end of the wall. It was dark and bck, full of shadows. It was full of possibilities, with thousands of paths.
He didn’t know where it would lead to.
Maybe it would lead him back to him.
For the first time in a long time, Joonghyuk’s face softened and he smiled.
And with a smile on his face and a light heart, Joonghyuk strided toward the portal. He didn’t know where it would lead to. He didn’t know what was beyond it.
But what he did know was that he would live his life to its fullest. He had already failed countless lives.... So he would not fail this one.
He didn’t look back.
Let's meet again, Kim Dokja.
Yes, let's meet again.]
[Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World END.]
