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–Kim Dokja: Writer, thank you for everything in the meantime. I am looking forward to the epilogue.

They were sincere sentences. Ways of Survival was my life's novel.

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She strode closer, lifted herself up on the tiptoes, and grabbed hold of my collars.

“You haven't forgotten about the promise to read my novel, have you?”

“Huh?”

“We promised. You forgot?”

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Han Sooyoung fidgeted around with my hair from behind and asked me. “By the way, will you remain as a blondie forever?”

“No, it's because of the Great Sage's Status seeping into me. I should go back to normal in a little while.”

“Your hair is really soft, though.”

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That damn asshole told me to wait for him, yet he's still not here.

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Of course, Kim Dokja didn't answer. She was the one who stabbed him but once she did, she was really afraid that Kim Dokja would die. He didn't even have an avatar… no, perhaps?

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She wanted to tell him. Tell him that there was a world that didn't need his sacrifice to be saved. She thought that, if it was her, she should be able to do it.

Because she was most proficient at lying than anyone alive, after all.

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Then, my back collided with something while issuing a loud ‘thud!’

“You idiot! You think you can achieve something by rushing out all alone??”

It was Han Sooyoung. I replied to her with a grin.

“I wasn't rushing forward alone.”

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He supported Han Sooyoung tottering unsteadily. She was about to slap his hand away, but instead, sighed and spoke up. “Don't ever make me do that again.”

“Only you could've done this.”

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Just like how Yoo Joonghyuk was an imagined character to Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja was exactly like that to Han Sooyoung. She thought that such a person wouldn’t be real, but...that very person within the texts was standing right before Han Sooyoung’s eyes.

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“Kim Dokja.”

“What is it?”

“You may not be this world's protagonist nor a really cool side character.”

“…”

“However, you have read it with all of your heart. I know that.”

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“Why did you say you wouldn't go back to the third round?”

It was an unexpected question. Han Sooyoung continued to ask. “You are playing my part over there… if you didn't go back, that world would've perished. You should know this so why―”

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Han Sooyoung next to me covered my ears and growled angrily. “Don't listen to him. It's not even worth it hearing him out.”

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The story that would save someone, destroy, and help him live.

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I couldn't really hear her voice. She was shouting something at me. Her reddened eyes were filled with tears. Her fists were pounding down on my chest, before her rough hands tried to hold onto my shoulders.

“…Dokja!!”

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Han Sooyoung's expression slightly hardened at my words. Her eyes were shaking with vague surprise.

“I believe in the you of the third round.”

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Meanwhile, she carried on. “When that happens, read my novel, okay?”

“Your novel?”

She nodded her head. “I'm giving you the opportunity to become its very first reader.”

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The man who she enjoyed being around, since they could lie about something together and snicker among themselves.

“...”

The man, who didn't remember her.

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“…If I had met you back in the normal world, I would never ever have become your friend.”

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(It was a story written for me and only me.)

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The vast, indescribable time would cycle over and over again, leading them to reach and meet one another, only to part ways again.