The moment the message finalized on the system screen, Kim Dokja felt an invisible weight settle on his shoulders — heavy, sharp, like an unseen sword suspended above his neck. The Emergency Scenario hadn't just activated; it had declared war. Not on monsters. Not on constellations.
On him.
Across from him stood the girl — no, the other reader. The one whose presence had been an anomaly since the moment she entered his world. Her expression remained calm, but Kim Dokja could now see the fine tension hidden beneath her stillness. This wasn't a moment either of them had planned for.
But it was a moment someone had written.
[Scenario Start!]
[Your opponent is: Unregistered Reader_XYZ]
[Victory Reward: Exclusive Narrative Control. Loser will be removed from the Candidate List.]
Removed.
Kim Dokja's heart pounded. This wasn't just a scenario. It was a test. No — a cleansing. An audit by the system. The cosmic equivalent of checking the integrity of a file… and deleting the duplicates.
He was no longer the only reader.
But he was the original, wasn't he?
Right?
"You knew this was coming," he said, forcing his voice steady.
The girl didn't answer at first. She simply tilted her head, as if watching the lines of fate realign around them.
"No," she finally said. "But I suspected it might. The system doesn't allow errors to persist for long."
"And you're the error?" Kim Dokja asked.
"Or maybe you are," she said quietly. "After all, my version of the story ends with me as the Author."
Kim Dokja felt the bottom drop out of his stomach.
Author.
That word again.
He clenched his fists. The Constellations had been silent — watching — as if they, too, weren't sure who had the right to shape the narrative anymore.
[System Message: Duel Rules Will Be Enforced. All Interference from External Sponsors is Temporarily Blocked.]
[You must rely on your own interpretation of the story.]
The world shifted again, the colors draining from the surroundings until only black, white, and dull crimson remained. The cracked subway walls became paper-thin and began to ripple like ink across parchment.
Kim Dokja realized what this space was.
A Narrative Realm.
Not physical. Not entirely mental. A space formed by their understanding of the story — a battlefield forged from memory, belief, and willpower.
"This realm reflects your story," the girl said. "Let's see whose version holds more weight."
Suddenly, figures emerged from the shifting backdrop. Familiar figures. Yoo Joonghyuk. Han Sooyoung. Lee Hyunsung. Even Shin Yoosung and Jung Heewon. All of them stood motionless — not quite alive, not quite illusions. Each glimmered faintly with the aura of a projection, as if their identities had been pulled from two sources at once.
Kim Dokja's breath caught. They were his companions — and yet, not only his.
The girl stepped forward, and her Yoo Joonghyuk moved.
Not his Yoo Joonghyuk — hers.
"You think this story belongs to you because you read it to the end," she said. "But so did I. My ending just looked different."
Her version of Yoo Joonghyuk raised a sword — a different sword than the Three Regretful Steps.
Steel Cutting Judgment.
A version from a different loop?
Kim Dokja's thoughts spiraled. This wasn't just a clash of strength — it was a clash of interpretations. Each of them had read a version of the story. Each had internalized it, believed in it, lived it.
"Let's make it clear," Kim Dokja said, eyes narrowing. "There's only one real story. And it's mine."
He reached out with his mind, calling to the people he remembered — not their skills, but their essence. The Joonghyuk who had stood beside him in the subway tunnels. The Sooyoung who had laughed at danger. The Yoosung who had clung to her ideals even when the world burned.
They moved.
His projections answered.
[You have summoned "Reader's Manifestation – Companions of the 4th Wall".]
[Companion Authenticity: 94%.]
The girl's projections flared to meet them.
[Opponent has summoned "Variant Companions – Loop Divergence Echoes".]
[Companion Authenticity: 91%.]
Kim Dokja felt a flicker of satisfaction. He still had the stronger core. His narrative was more real. More anchored in the world.
But this was just the beginning.
Their constructs clashed — echoes of Yoo Joonghyuk crossing swords, spectral Han Sooyoungs trading verbal barbs, Heewons blazing with righteous fire. The ground beneath them fractured and reformed with each narrative shift.
And above them, the Constellations watched — a silent jury.
Some glowed in favor of Kim Dokja.
Others flared toward the girl.
The balance was tipping, and the time limit ticked away.
3:00:00 → 2:34:21
"Tell me something," Kim Dokja called out as he parried a strike from her version of Hyunsung. "Why now? Why appear in this scenario?"
"Because it's where the real divergence began," she said. "This was the first point where the story started to change. Where our endings split."
"And what was your ending?" he asked.
Her lips thinned. "One where Yoo Joonghyuk never forgave you."
The words hit like a hammer.
Kim Dokja staggered for half a second — just enough for her projection to break through his defense.
But his eyes didn't lose focus.
"Then your story was wrong," he said, voice shaking. "Because I didn't survive this far just to be forgotten."
And with those words, the 4th Wall pulsed — a heartbeat that echoed across the realm. The true heart of the story beating back against the lie.
[System Message: Your Narrative Core has resisted the overwrite.]
[Your companions have remembered their true forms.]
One by one, his companions glowed brighter — becoming clearer, more solid. The line between fiction and truth blurred… and then snapped in his favor.
The tide was turning.
But so was the girl.
Her projection began to fray — not from weakness, but from choice. Her narrative self stepped forward, separating from the others. She held no weapon. Only a single, handwritten page glowing with golden ink.
Kim Dokja recognized it at once.
A fragment of an unpublished chapter.
"What is that?" he asked.
Her eyes shimmered. "A scene you never read."
She tore the page in half — and a blinding light exploded outward.
End of Chapter 16