Lenoch stood in front of a train.
After reaching out to the Outer God behind the Disaster of Floods' worldline transfer, he had learned the truth behind this world.
He heard about Yoo Joonghyuk's regressions and the infinite loop created.
He heard about how this worldline was separated from the others and out of the loop.
This wasn't the 3rd—nor the 1864th wordline—this was the last wordline.
「[For this reason, some high-level existences crossed over and intervened in the worldline to create changes.]」
Like Kang Ilhun's sponsor, or Anna Croft becoming Cheon Inho's ally.
More importantly…
「[So much time has passed.]」
This world was WORLD 4.0.
His companions from the third world had become Outer Gods swimming in the Outer Sea or died.
He couldn't go back, because WORLD 3.0 had already been destroyed.
"…"
His hand touched the train door.
Inside, the most important being in the Star Stream was there.
The Oldest Dream.
He had decided to meet him once he heard about his existence.
Lenoch wasn't sure what he wanted to know. His world had already been destroyed and he didn't have any purpose left. Maybe the Oldest Dream would have answers.
He opened the train door and entered.
An ordinary cabin entered his view. With seats, and the only difference being that the window reflected the vast night sky.
Countless stars shimmered, shining in the endless galaxy. Looking closer, he could see incarnations moving.
Lenoch soon understood.
This train was overlooking other worldlines.
The mage took a step toward it, staring at the countless scenarios occurring below.
At that moment, a voice resounded beside him.
「I've been waiting.」
The tone was neutral, but failed to hide the deep weariness hidden behind it.
At the same time, it seemed blurred. He couldn't tell if the voice belonged to a child, an old person, a man or a woman.
Lenoch turned his head.
There, a small child, similar to Gehrman Sparrow but with softer features stared at him. Most likely Chinese, Lenoch judged. In particular, the yellow coat the child was wearing stood out, obviously far too big for him.
Their gazes met.
The child's—could he really be called a child?—eyes were calm but exhausted, similar to some superhumans Lenoch had met in WORLD 3.0.
He seemed to exude an otherworldly presence, almost divine. It wasn't a crushing pressure, like the ascenders Lenoch had seen, but more like the lingering aura after deliberately suppressing and concealing his status. This sense of incongruity couldn't be hidden.
"Are you the Oldest Dream?"
It was like he was looking at the abyss itself. It felt as if the child's eyes contained the entire galaxy, while the scenery beyond the window was merely the reflection of his eyes instead of the contrary.
Zhou Mingrui nodded.
「I am the current Oldest Dream.」
The 'current' one? Was there another Oldest Dream before?
As if hearing his thoughts, Zhou Mingrui's gaze turned slightly, momentarily pausing on a white coat folded on the side of the cabin.
He recalled how, after the previous Oldest Dream—Kim Dokja—lived for too long, becoming younger and younger due to losing probability and finally disappearing, he had replaced him.
Now, was it his turn to be replaced?
Lenoch also saw the white coat. However, he didn't know the story behind it.
Zhou Mingrui smiled gently, gesturing for Van to take a seat.
「You can call me Mr. Fool.」
The mage recalled The Fool's sentence earlier.
"Did you know I would come?"
「Sometimes, staying alive for eternity can be more painful than dying.」
Lenoch paused. This sentence. Instead of an answer, it was more as if Zhou Mingrui weren't hearing this conversation but lost in another dream. Yet, it seemed to contain his own experience at the same time.
Lenoch somewhat resonated with it.
"Did you stay alive for eternity?"
Again, a sentence that had nothing to do with his question came out.
「Did you meet the other me?」
Zhou Mingrui's eyes closed, then he opened them again with difficulty. It seemed that he had trouble keeping conscious. His eyes were unfocused, not looking at Lenoch, but like someone in a daze.
The Fool struggled to look at him once more. He was obviously not in a state to have a long conversation.
"Gehrman Sparrow?"
For once, Zhou Mingrui seemed to have heard him.
He voiced out Lenoch's unspoken question.
「You must be wondering why I let a part of myself out into the world.」
The Fool was skipping too many steps.
However, analyzing the situation, Lenoch understood what was left unsaid. He recalled what he had seen until now, and what he had heard from the Outer God.
The Gehrman Sparrow Lenoch met was a part of himself carrying some of The Fool's memories.
This worldline was independent, centered around Gehrman Sparrow. Thus, Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't present in this worldline since it was out of the loop of his regressions, and the one they met was actually The Fool's marionette replacing him.
Then, why would The Fool need to let a part of himself descend into the scenarios, to the point of creating an independent worldline for it?
The Fool nodded slightly, validating his thoughts.
「For humanity.」
"…Humanity?"
「When one lives too long, emotions tend to become dull.」
Especially alone in this subway, his divinity only became stronger.
Thus, it was necessary to occasionally let a fully human part of him experience emotions and live as a normal person before integrating it with himself again, thus fighting against his divinity with the emotions in these memories.
The connections made in the process could also serve as his anchors along with the countless beings revering the Oldest Dream in various worldlines.
The Fool had thought about it countless times.
What if he hadn't become a Beyonder? What if he hadn't advanced to a High-Sequence?
What if, instead of saving the world, there were other more suitable candidates to overcome the apocalypse instead of Klein and he could spend peaceful moments with his family instead of fighting dangerous enemies?
Interpreting it in his own way, Lenoch slowly nodded.
A thought crossed his mind.
"What about Evelyn?"
「I copied a 'helpful ally' from your memory.」
How did he see Lenoch's memories with his target resistance?
"I see."
The drug addict thought that it should be related to the concept of 'stories' in the Star Stream.
「As you know, this is the last worldline.」
The Fool's eyes became a little more alive, turning more of his focus on Lenoch.
The mage felt the world slow down.
Beyond the window, the scenarios stopped and the stars froze in time.
At the same time, it felt like The Fool's thoughts and emotions were transmitted to Lenoch.
Countless data—no, stories—as if telling the mage to judge for himself whether what Zhou Mingrui was saying was the truth.
Lenoch could read the years Zhou Mingrui had spent here and his memories.
The Fool… The Tarot Club… Falling into slumber… Fighting against the Celestial Worthy… The apocalypse… The years passing… The Tarot Club dying one by one and leaving him alone in the endless flow of time. Meeting the previous Oldest Dream.
Why was The Fool showing him this? Why was he letting Lenoch see his past?
「There are too many worldlines now so the whole universe—every worldline—is in danger of being destroyed due to the imbalance.」
The more the loop was repeated, the more worldlines were created. However, the universe was now oversaturated, thus putting all the worldlines in danger.
「I have lived for far too long.」
Slowly, it became clearer 'why The Fool was doing this'.
The words resonated through the train cabin.
「Soon, I won't be able to observe the worldlines any longer.」
Becoming younger and consuming probability until he completely disappeared like the previous Oldest Dream, he would soon die.
His time was up.
Even having a conversation now was hard.
The Fool—who had the status of a full-fledged Lord of Mysteries and had the Beyonder Characteristics of the Ancient Sun God in his possession as well as the Oldest Dream's power, had come up with a solution. At least, a solution for the oversaturated universe.
「I intend to use the last bit of power I have left to completely reset the universe—including myself—so that the loop restarts at the point where there was only one worldline.」
All the other worldlines would disappear, being completely reset instead of simply creating another worldline as Yoo Joonghyuk's regressions did.
"But once you disappear, the position of Oldest Dream will be empty."
Lenoch started to understand why he was here.
The Fool had been looking for candidates to succeed him.
And then—him, an anomaly—had appeared.
If nobody was there to observe the universe, then resetting it would be pointless. The universe would cease existing without an Oldest Dream.
His smile turning bitter, Zhou Mingrui's eyes were filled with a strange emotion.
「…I'd like to ask for a favor.」
Something he didn't want to ask of him.
After all, the worldlines would disappear if they weren't observed. If nobody occupied the role of the Oldest Dream, the entire universe would be in danger.
[The constellation, '???', is looking at you.]
That was The Fool's request.
To succeed him as the Oldest Dream.
「It's up to you to accept it.」
Nobody was better suited than Van for the role among the people he found.
However, although it was presented as a choice, if he refused, Van would die too.
"…"
WORLD 4.0 would disappear too.
Feeling Lenoch's emotions shift, The Fool insisted.
「You can refuse. I can also find someone else, so there's no need to feel burdened.」
But could that person he would find later really keep the position of the Oldest Dream correctly?
Would they be able to stay alone in this subway and continue to dream about the worldlines without any reason to do so?
Could The Fool, already struggling to hold a conversation, really find someone else within the time he had left?
With the trait 'mage's reason', Lenoch was indeed the best fit.
He had already experienced staying alive for years in a body that made living itself painful and worked relentlessly to become stronger to try preventing the future end of the world, a feat that seemed hopeless and which the ascenders had failed. Even now, his physical condition made it hard to breathe. Every plan went awry and most battles turned into life-threatening situations.
Lenoch was most confident in never giving up regardless of the adversity.
Even if he had to endure this pain for eternity.
Even if he had to stay alive while not knowing when it would end, repeatedly doubting his choices, and questioning how he ended up in that situation.
Lenoch's smile also turned bitter.
He was familiar with such a process.
「You will have to stay in this train forever if you choose to do so.」
"I know."
But he had already lost WORLD 3.0, so he should at least protect what's left, right?
Hearing Lenoch's familiar choice, The Fool looked at him sadly.
He returned the subway to a normal time flow, ready to accept the madness of fusing with the Ancient Sun God's Beyonder Characteristics to reset the universe perfectly, and snapped his fingers.
The worldlines outside moved, the scenarios rewinding.
As The Fool's figure became illusory, dissipated among sparks of probability, a last thought resonated.
「…I'm sorry.」
That's how Lenoch succeeded The Fool as the Oldest Dream.