The Main Characters That Only I Know

“Who are you?”

“Well, who could I be? Why don’t you try guessing?”

I lifted my head.

I shouldn’t have been able to see anything in the darkness, but strangely enough, I could see the person who had spoken to me very clearly.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

He resembled me. Almost as if I were looking into a mirror.

He was, quite literally, me.

But he wasn’t me.

“What the hell. Who are you?”

“Oh, come on. We’ve been together all this time, and you still don’t know me?”

“Think back. When you died and began again as a Teller. And all the way up to here. Who’s the one who has never once left your side?”

I forced my frozen mind to start working again.

Pushing my sluggish thoughts to their limits, I tried to guess the identity of the person before me, the one who looked just like me.

He’d already given me plenty of hints. Since he said he’d been with me from the beginning, when I first started as a Teller, the range of possibilities was extremely narrow.

In fact, there was only one answer.

“You, you’re a Fragment of the Codex, aren’t you?”

“Correct.”

He smiled at me, with a face identical to mine. His expression somehow annoyed me, but I couldn’t hide my curiosity.

A Fragment of the Codex, standing in front of me. What was going on? Could Logos have sent him on purpose?

Maybe it was something he hadn’t managed to retrieve. Perhaps, now that my life was nearing its end, the Fragment that had remained with me was revealing itself.

I felt a bit surprised, but not enough to stir any deep emotion.

So, what did it matter?

“It’s all over now anyway.”

“All over?”

“Yes. Over. I can’t leave this place.”

“Well, that’s a disappointment. Why did you come all this way, then?”

That question, piercing deep into me, stirred a flash of irritation.

“Shut up. You’re just a Fragment from Logos’ book. Go back to your creator, or did you come here to mock me? Is it that pathetic for a mere fragment to act as its former master?”

“Master, huh. Well, I guess you could see it that way. But aren’t you curious? About why I appeared before you here?”

“I don’t care.”

“That’s quite a bitter response. But you’re curious, aren’t you?”

I tried to ignore his words, but the Fragment held on to me, as if letting go was not an option.

“You’re someone with a deep curiosity and a relentless desire to explore.”

“What do you know about me?”

“I know a lot. The unfortunate extra who was ignored by the world. The dreamer who wanted to show his true self on the stage, lit by the spotlight that everyone watched.”

“……!”

Every word that came from his mouth was describing me.

“The savior of Constantinople. The liberator of the underworld. The man who understood the heart of the Eternal Returner. The Teller who rose faster than anyone else. The harpooner who defeated the sea devil.”

“You…”

The me I knew.

The me I didn’t know.

All those stories, those parts of the past that I thought had been lost in the darkness.

They came pouring out from him.

“The squire of a great knight. And the last knight who carried on his will. The savior who brought spring to a frozen planet. The Book Pile Lord who freed people from a tyrant.”

“……”

“All of them are you. Oh, and lastly, the savior of the world, standing against Logos.”

“I am not some savior.”

Just look at me.

I lost the fight against Logos. Here I was, giving up and sitting down.

How could someone in this pitiful state be called a savior?

No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t escape this dark world Logos had created. I was just a frog in a well.

Was true salvation even possible in this world?

What did all my efforts amount to, if even this process I was going through now was just content in a book written by Logos?

I no longer had the conviction that I could accomplish anything.

“So you’re giving up?”

“I’m just saying it’s impossible.”

“Is it really impossible?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Just that you should face the real reality.”

I sneered at his words, but he only smiled, the opposite of me in temperament, even if he looked the same on the outside.

Step. Step.

Each time he walked around me, his footsteps echoed.

“I am, indeed, no more than a Fragment of the Codex. A small piece that fell from a page of a book written by Logos. I can’t resist Logos, the owner of the book, and, as you say, I might be drawn back to him at any moment.”

Even now, he said, Logos was calling him.

He was honest about it.

“But I came here to you, not because Logos sent me, but of my own will.”

“……”

“I see it in your eyes. You’re asking why, aren’t you? Why would I abandon my creator, Logos, and come to see you in this miserable state? It’s pointless, really.”

Or maybe it wasn’t pointless.

He gave a wry smile, as if finding his situation amusing.

“You know, Yu-hyun, I liked your story.”

As a Fragment, as something created, he was saying things he wasn’t allowed to say.

“Our goal as Fragments is to seek stories that suit us. Whether those stories are good or evil doesn’t matter. That’s only natural. We’re not allowed to say we like something or dislike something.”

All Fragments exist to gather and create stories, only to return to the Codex in the end.

They’re born to fulfill their mission and merge back into one, disappearing.

They don’t question it. They’re made that way.

The only purpose in a Fragment’s existence is to find a story.

“But as I watched your story, I couldn’t help but think, ‘I like this.’ I thought the story you showed was cool, and I looked forward to seeing what kind of story you’d show next. An error happened in me that shouldn’t have been allowed.”

He could have been retrieved and discarded right away.

But he hadn’t done that.

“Though I’m the last one who should be saying this, maybe I, or maybe we, were hoping to meet someone like you.”

“Someone… like me?”

“Someone who doesn’t give up in the face of any crisis and keeps going. Someone foolish like that. I liked stories like that. So I ignored Logos’ call and came here. I want to see the dream you’re trying to reach.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

How foolish.

He called me foolish, yet he was the one saying the most foolish things.

“Am I? Maybe I was moved by your foolish courage.”

Enough. What are you rambling about?

Even if you came here to help, what can you possibly do on your own?

What can you do to help me alone?

“I’m not alone.”

Not alone?

“Have you forgotten? I’ve seen every story you’ve been through up to now. And they’re all still with me, right here. I am the book, the one who will show you everything, and within this book, many stories are written.”

What was he saying?

“Let me show you.”

The Fragment took a step back.

Then, someone took a step toward me.

“Sancho. What are you doing crouching here?”

“……Sir Knight?”

It was the knight Don Quixote, who had given me the story of the last knight, a knight who held dreams above all.

That shabby armor, that long, snow-white beard.

It was the same as I remembered.

He stood before me now.

“How did you….”

“What do you mean, Sancho? Have you forgotten our promise? The romance I spoke of to you, have you forgotten it already?”

“I… it’s just….”

“Sancho. You are the last knight. The final knight left in this world. I entrusted you with everything, yet look at you. How disappointing.”

His words struck like daggers, piercing my heart.

I couldn’t argue. I’d broken my promise to him.

“……I’m sorry.”

“Yes, you should be. But everyone makes mistakes, and trying to fix them is the greatest virtue. So tell me, can you move again?”

“Sir Knight…?”

“I’m not the only one who’s come to see you.”

One by one, others began to approach me.

When I saw them, my eyes widened.

“It’s been a while, Savior.”

Constantinople’s last emperor, Dragases.

“Huh. Where’s that fine man of the sea gone? All I see here is a defeated wretch.”

“Be quiet, you brute. Everyone needs a rest now and then.”

The romantic sailor Captain Ahab and Captain Nemo of the Nautilus.

“Haha! To think such strength was hidden in that frail woman’s body! This is amusing!”

The last emperor of the frozen planet Glacalis, Frechen.

“Brother.”

“Suh…ha?”

Finally, there was Kang Su-ha.

All of them… how did they get here?

“They all came to see you.”

In the center of them all, the Fragment extended his hand to me.

“Just as you saved them, everyone here has gathered to help you now.”

“They’ve come… to help me?”

“Yes. So, no more words. Get up.”

My heart overflowed. Each of them took my hand, helping me to my feet.

The warmth at my fingertips told me that they weren’t illusions.

I could feel the warmth.

Stories swallowed by darkness were beginning to fill me

again.

“I…”

Why was I only remembering now?

The things I hadn’t wanted to lose but had ultimately forgotten.

A person’s story can warm one’s heart like this, and I was only now coming back to understand that after such a long journey.

The Fragment looked at me and spoke.

“It’s time to go.”

“……”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I braced my shaking legs and took a step forward.

“Go, Sancho! Grab the stars with your hands!”

The Knight’s hand pressed against my back.

“Ha! Go like a man! No one can deny you’re the man of the sea who took down Moby Dick!”

“Thank you for letting me meet my grandson.”

Captain Ahab and Captain Nemo’s voices gave strength to my legs.

My body was starting to move, slowly but surely.

“Our Constantinople will always remember you.”

“Hey, what are you dawdling for? Your goal is right in front of you. So go.”

Dragases cheered me on, and Frechen encouraged me in his own way.

And finally,

“Go on, Brother.”

Suh-ha, the poor child who had died by my hand.

She was pulling me forward by the hand.

“Achieve the dreams you’ve wished for.”

With those words, she let go of my hand.

My body moved forward, as if I had no other choice but to keep going.

So I ran.

Swinging my arms, gasping for breath, I pushed my once-still body to move.

One by one,

the people from my precious memories flashed past me and disappeared beyond the darkness.

“Take care, my dear friend.”

The last thing I heard was the Fragment’s farewell.

A Fragment, something that was merely someone’s possession, had, by watching my story, come to think of me as a friend.

Thump.

I ran. I squeezed every ounce of strength from my muscles and swung my arms, running.

What happened to everyone?

I almost turned back without realizing it, but I held it back with all my strength.

I couldn’t turn back. I had come this far without stopping.

Just for a moment, I’d wanted to rest, nearly to the point of giving up.

I’d thought I was tired. That I wanted to stop. That impossible things were just that—impossible.

But that shouldn’t have been.

“Hah. Hah.”

I ran through the darkness. I forced my once-still body to move.

Now I couldn’t stop.

Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

All the paths I had walked.

All the countless bonds I had formed.

They were still pushing me forward.

“Hah. Hah.”

Even this endless darkness was just a passing phase.

Casting aside fear, I embraced this world as well.

Acknowledging that there wasn’t just light in the world but also darkness, without rejecting it.

And then, things began to change.

The bone-chilling cold receded, replaced by a gentle warmth.

‘This place isn’t a world that exists to devour anyone.’

Running without stopping, I lifted my gaze.

A space I thought was nothing but darkness

turned into a new scene the moment I accepted it.

‘It’s beautiful.’

It was a sky filled with stars.

A vast, silver scene etched across the universe.

The remains of stars shining in vibrant colors.

A masterpiece crafted from countless tiny grains of dust.

The constellations of stars created a flow.

From the past to the present.

And from the present to the future.

All the stars were moving forward, toward the future.

‘I see.’

This place was the culmination of all the ages and all the traces of the universe, stacked and layered to form the flow of the world.

And this world had always been with us.

When we looked up at the dark night sky, the countless stars filling our eyes,

even in that darkness, we had never been alone.

Each of these stars was a milestone on my path, built by history and time.

So, let’s go.

There’s still a story I need to show.

To those who believe in me, those I couldn’t walk with and left behind, and even those I have yet to meet in the future.

For them. And for me.

Let’s move forward.

To the end of this story.