The subway train slowed down before coming to a stop before us, and then, opened its doors.
地铁慢了下来，在我们前面停了下来，然后打开了车门。
There was no mistaking it. This was the subway we all recognised.
毫无疑问，这就是我们都认识的地铁。
Jeong Hui-Won's lips bobbed up and down before finally breaking the silence first. "Why would a subway show up here….?"
郑慧媛的嘴唇上下起伏，最后终于打破了沉默。“为什么地铁会出现在这里......?”
Of course, no one here could answer that question.
当然，这里没有人能回答这个问题。
The first one to make his move was Yi Gil-Yeong. Yu Sang-Ah shouted out. "Gil-Yeong-ah! You mustn't get on that t…!"
第一个采取行动的是李吉英。余相娥大声喊道。“吉英雅！你千万别上那辆车。.!"
The boy fearlessly stepped foot inside and climbed aboard the subway, and turned around to look at us. As if nothing was going on, he shrugged his shoulders.
男孩无所畏惧地走进车厢，爬上地铁，转过身来看着我们。他耸了耸肩，好像什么事都没有发生似的。
Yi Ji-Hye watched that spectacle, then grabbed Shin Yu-Seung's hand and stepped forward as well. "I don't know anymore. Let's just get in first and see what's what!"
李智希看到了这一幕，然后抓住申玉升的手，也向前走了一步。“我不知道了。我们先进去看看怎么回事吧!”
That was the beginning; other companions still hesitating entered the subway one by one. I too followed after them.
这就是开始，其他还在犹豫的同伴一个接一个地走进了地铁，我也跟在他们后面。
The moment I set foot on the floor of the subway that trembled ever so slightly, I was overcome with deja vu.
当我踏上轻微颤抖的地铁时，我感到似曾相识的感觉。
⸢Once upon a time, this was all of Kim Dok-Ja's world.⸥
很久很久以前，这是金道子的全部世界
No, that was wrong. This was not my world.
不，那是错的，这不是我的世界。
⸢This was everyone's and anyone's world.⸥
这是每个人的世界，每个人的世界
For Yu Sang-Ah, Jeong Hui-Won, Yi Hyeon-Seong, and Yi Ji-Hye, too… Everyone carried their own, different expressions. Just like how I rode on this subway and lived my daily life, it should roughly be the same story with them as well.
对于余相雅、郑慧媛、李贤成和李智慧来说，也是如此......每个人都有自己不同的表达方式。就像我如何乘坐地铁和过我的日常生活一样，它也应该和他们大致相同。
Someone used to be an office worker, someone was a student, and someone used to be a soldier, but still… "A subway, is it… Back then, I was really fed up of riding it, but now, I'm really happy to see it again."
有人曾经是办公室职员，有人曾经是学生，有人曾经是士兵，但是仍然......“地铁，是不是......那时候，我真的受够了坐地铁，但是现在，我真的很高兴再次看到它。”
Jeong Hui-Won's words made us carefully scan the interior of the subway itself.
郑慧媛的话让我们仔细地扫视了一下地铁内部。
All the seats were brand new, while the safety bars were wiped clean, too. Not even a hint of filth could be seen on the floor.
所有的座椅都是崭新的，安全栏杆也擦得干干净净。地板上连一点污秽的迹象都看不到。
Of course, what proved to be even more surprising than that was… "….By the way, why isn't anyone else riding in this thing?"
当然，事实证明比这更令人惊讶的是......”...顺便问一句，为什么没有其他人乘坐这辆车
Not a single presence could be felt within the subway. This was a sterile, inorganic space where nothing was alive besides us. This vehicle was permeated with such a sense of abnormality.
在地铁里没有一个人的存在。这是一个贫瘠的无机空间，除了我们之外没有任何生物。这辆车充满了这种不正常的感觉。
I looked at the librarians remaining outside the subway and asked them.
我看着留在地铁站外的图书管理员，问他们。
"Aren't you joining us? You wanted to witness the end of the world too, didn't you?"
“你不加入我们吗?你也想见证世界末日，不是吗?”
⸢(We can't go with you.)⸥
我们不能和你一起去
"How come?"
“为什么?”
Nirvana and the other librarians didn't answer. They exchanged somewhat saddened gazes with each other, before finally making their reply.
涅槃和其他图书管理员没有回答，他们悲伤地相互凝视了一会儿，最后才回答。
⸢(You witnessing the end will be enough for….)⸥
(你目睹世界末日就足够了......)
[The doors are closing.]
门要关上了
The rest of their words couldn't be heard; the doors shut close, and accompanied by the noises of a giant cartwheel turning, the subway began chugging forward. Its speed was neither quick nor slow. And outside the windows, we saw the view of the pitch-black darkness lazily shifting past us.
他们其余的话听不见了;门关上了，伴随着巨大的侧手翻的声音，地铁开始隆隆地向前运行。它的速度既不快也不慢。在窗外，我们看见漆黑的黑暗懒洋洋地从我们身边掠过。
I gazed into that darkness for a long time. Just where was this train taking us?
我凝视着那片黑暗很长一段时间，这列火车到底要把我们带到哪里去？
"It's the line number three."
“是三号线。”
Han Su-Yeong muttered that out. I also looked up at the subway map.
韩素英咕哝着说，我也看了看地铁地图。
The line number three. It was the line that I used to commute every day. Strangely, though, the ends of the map were broken off. Even the names of the stations were erased, as well.
第三行。这是我以前每天上下班的路线。然而，奇怪的是，地图的两端被切断了。甚至电台的名字也被抹掉了。
….
....
Meanwhile, the subway continued to chug along. Several minutes passed by since then, but it showed no signs of stopping. It seemed that this vehicle was planning to run straight to its final stop without a break.
与此同时，地铁继续运行。几分钟过去了，但没有停止的迹象。这辆车似乎打算一口气直奔最后一站。
With a 'plop!' noise, Han Su-Yeong settled down on the cushion next to mine. She glared at the subway map, her long eyelashes blinking constantly.
“扑通一声!”韩素妍在我旁边的垫子上坐了下来。她盯着地铁地图，长长的睫毛不停地眨着。
I asked her. "What's up with that expression?"
我问她，“这个表情是怎么回事?”
"I don't ride on stuff like subways."
“我不坐地铁之类的东西。”
"Why not?"
“为什么不呢?”
Almost immediately, I realised what a dumb question that was. For sure, someone like her wouldn't have a need to ride on subways, anyway. What she said next was completely out of my expectations, though.
几乎立刻，我意识到这是一个多么愚蠢的问题。可以肯定的是，像她这样的人无论如何也不需要乘坐地铁。不过，她接下来说的话完全出乎我的意料。
"I mean, there's nothing to see here. Both inside and out."
“我是说，这里没什么好看的，里里外外都是。”
We both stared at the broken subway map. Without a doubt, a subway train would travel the exact same line every single day. It would then stop at the predetermined time. Similar things would continue to happen within these unchanging sceneries every day.
我们俩都盯着那张破旧的地铁地图。毫无疑问，地铁每天都会在同一条线上运行。然后它会在预定的时间停止。类似的事情每天都会在这些不变的景观中发生。
I also hated subways. I used to stare at the smartphone during commuting for a similar reason to hers, too.
我也讨厌地铁，我也因为和她一样的原因在上下班的路上盯着智能手机看。
"Subways don't operate for our amusement, though."
“不过，地铁并不是为了娱乐我们而运营的。”
"….Oh, my? Now that's not something the Constellation 'Demon King of Salvation' would say."
“哦，天哪?这可不是星座里的‘救世魔王’会说的话.”
I smiled bitterly.
我苦笑了一下。
We stared in the same direction next - at our companions. At the people who endured the apocalypse with me, cleared 99 scenarios together, and reached this place.
我们接着朝同一个方向看——看我们的同伴。和我一起经历了末日的人们，一起清理了99个场景，最终到达了这个地方。
"….Mm. We won't suddenly go back to the first scenario or something like that, right?"
“嗯，我们不会突然回到第一种情况之类的，对吧?”
"No, that can't be! Definitely not!"
“不，这不可能!绝对不可能!”
"Should I ready some grasshoppers just in case?"
“我应该准备一些蚱蜢以防万一吗?”
The companions saw Yi Gil-Yeong clenching his fist with a resolute expression, and broke out in smirks.
同伴们看见伊吉英咬紧拳头，脸上露出坚定的表情，脸上露出了笑容。
What did it mean to find humour from the most horrifying memory they held? With what kind of thoughts were they smiling at that story?
从他们最可怕的记忆中找到幽默意味着什么？他们听到这个故事时是怎么想的呢？
I spoke to Han Su-Yeong. "They need to go back to their old lives."
我对韩素英说:“他们需要回到过去的生活中去。”
"You think they'll be happier like that?"
“你认为他们这样会更快乐吗?”
"All stories are supposed to end that way."
“所有的故事都应该以这种方式结束。”
"And since when did you start enjoying that sort of development?" Han Su-Yeong shot back with a retort. "Hey, you. You aren't thinking up of anything weird again, right? Are you hiding something from me again?"
“你什么时候开始喜欢这种发展了?”韩素英反驳道。“嘿，你。你不会又在想什么奇怪的事吧？你又有事瞒着我吗?”
"I'd like to, but I've nothing to hide anymore."
“我也想，但我没什么好隐瞒的了。”
I was being honest. Even the original novel never reached this far. It was the same story for the 'Secretive Plotter' or the other individuals from the 999th turn. We were the first to ride on this subway.
我只是实话实说。即使是原著小说也从未走到这一步。“秘密策划者”和其他999年转折点的人也是一样的情况。我们是第一个乘坐这条地铁的人。
I spoke up while looking at the end of the faintly-erased subway map.
我一边大声说话，一边看着模糊不清的地铁地图的末端。
"Han Su-Yeong, I think….."
韩素妍，我想.....
"Could it be that a final boss is waiting for us there? Isn't that how it normally is?"
“难道最后一位老板正在那里等着我们吗?通常不都是这样吗?”
Jeong Hui-Won said that. She wasn't talking to me, however. It seemed that the companions were busy discussing something over there. Shin Yu-Seung added her opinion.
郑慧媛表示。然而，她不是在和我说话。看来同伴们正忙着讨论那边的事情。申玉升(ShinYu-Seung，音译)补充了她的视角。
"Maybe there's a dragon this big."
“也许有一条这么大的龙。”
"But, I don't think a Modifier like the 'Most Ancient Dream' would get assigned to a dragon. To get a Modifier like that, it must be…."
“但是，我不认为像‘最古老的梦’这样的修饰语会被赋予龙。要得到这样一个修改器，它必须是......”
"Couldn't it be the 'author'?"
“不能是‘作者’吗?”
"The author?"
“作者?”
"You know, that…."
“你知道，那个......”
When Yi Gil-Yeong saying that shifted his gaze in my direction, the other companions seemed to abruptly recall 'it' too, and all turned their heads towards me.
当李吉英说这句话的时候，他的目光转向了我的方向，其他的同伴似乎也突然想起了“它”，所有的人都把头转向了我。
⸢⸢Three Ways to Survive a Destroyed World⸥⸥.
在毁灭的世界生存的三种方法。
They also knew about that novel now. They knew that that novel described the stories of this world, and that only I had read it to its conclusion.
他们现在也知道那本小说了。他们知道那本小说描述了这个世界的故事，而且只有我读到了它的结尾。
"….What do you think, Dok-Ja-ssi?"
“......你觉得怎么样，Dok-Ja-ssi
Every novel out there couldn't become 'stories' unless a writer wrote them down first. The suspicion my companions held some weight if this world was based off on the 'Ways of Survival'.
每一本小说都不可能成为故事，除非作者先把它们写下来。如果这个世界是建立在“生存之道”的基础上的话，我的同伴们的怀疑还是有些分量的。
For sure, there was a good chance that the 'Most Ancient Dream' was the writer. I too thought that way.
可以肯定的是，《最古老的梦》很有可能是作者写的，我也是这么想的。
However, why do I…
但是为什么我..。
"…I don't think the 'Most Ancient Dream' is the author of the 'Ways of Survival'."
“......我不认为《最古老的梦想》是《生存之道》的作者。”
"Why do you think that?"
“你为什么这么想?”
"I'm not sure, but I have a hunch."
“我不确定，但我有预感。”
To me, the being at the end of this line didn't seem like it'd be 'tls123'. I recalled what the Dokkaebi King said back then.
对我来说，排在这条线末端的生物看起来并不像是tls123。我想起了多卡比国王当时说的话。
⸢[Rather than an author, you could say that the 'Most Ancient Dream' is much closer to being a reader. It's not an existence that writes stories for someone else. It's lazy and can be quite greedy, you see.]⸥
你可以说“最古老的梦”更接近于一个读者，而不是一个作者。它不是一个为别人写故事的存在。它很懒，而且很贪婪，你看
I even began questioning whether an 'author' was necessary in our current hypothesis. Did this world really begin because of tls123?
我甚至开始质疑，在我们目前的假设中，作者是否是必要的。这个世界真的是因为tls123而诞生的吗？
Maybe tls123 simply alerted me to the already-existing world, instead?
也许tl123只是提醒我注意已经存在的世界？
Just like how the 'Secretive Plotter' or the other individuals from the 999th turn existed even though they weren't recorded in the pages… "Now that I think about, I'm curious. Dok-Ja-ssi, how did you stumble across that novel in the first place?"
就像“秘密策划者”或者其他999年转折时期的人是如何存在的，即使他们没有被记录在案......“现在我想起来了，我很好奇。你是怎么一开始就偶然发现那本小说的?”
"Ahh, I was also curious about that."
“啊，我对此也很好奇。”
Yu Jung-Hyeok disinterestedly polishing the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] shifted his gaze towards me when that topic was brought up. Jang Ha-Yeong asked as her eyes sparkled.
当谈到这个话题的时候，俞正赫毫无兴趣地擦亮了那把暗天魔剑，把目光转向了我。张霞琼眼睛闪闪发光，问道。
"Was it like some kind of a fateful attraction?"
“这是某种宿命般的吸引吗?”
"I also know something about such a feeling! The first time I held a grenade back when I was a private, I….!"
“我也知道这种感觉！当我还是个二等兵的时候，我第一次拿着手榴弹，我......!”
"I just came across it while browsing the net, actually."
“实际上，我是在浏览网络时偶然发现的。”
Companions seemed to be disappointed by my reply. But, nothing could be done about that, because it's true. Han Su-Yeong then retorted back.
同伴们似乎对我的回答感到失望。但是，对此我们无能为力，因为这是事实。韩素英反驳道。
"What did you search for exactly, to find such a crappy novel?"
“你到底在找什么，才找到这么一本蹩脚的小说?”
"That is…."
“那是......”
I couldn't remember it all that well now.
我现在记不太清楚了。
Yi Ji-Hye shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, well. It's not that important now, right? The only thing that matters is that ahjussi did read that novel somehow."
易智慧耸了耸肩膀。“哦，好吧。现在已经不重要了，对吧？唯一重要的是大叔确实读过那本小说。”
"That's right. What would've happened if Dok-Ja-ssi didn't read that novel?"
“没错。如果Dok-Ja-ssi没有读过那本小说，会发生什么呢?”
I looked at Yu Sang-Ah grinning brightly and shut my mouth tightly.
我看着余相娥，笑得很灿烂，紧紧地闭上了嘴。
I didn't deserve to hear those words.
我不应该听到这些话。
⸢In the end, stars fell and the world came to a stop.⸥
最后，星星陨落，世界停止了运转
We were marching towards a conclusion no one in the 'Ways of Survival' managed to reach, but there was no guarantee that what I wanted was waiting at the end of the line.
我们正朝着一个结论前进，在《生存之道》中，没有人能够得出这样的结论，但是没有人能够保证我想要的是在队伍的最后等待。
I too had no knowledge of the things about to happen from now on.
从现在开始，我也不知道将要发生的事情。
⸢What if it was someone else who read that novel to its end?⸥
如果是别人把这本小说读完了呢
There were better-suited people than me here. The righteous Jeong Hui-Won, the trusty Yi Hyeon-Seong, the straight-shooter Yu Sang-Ah, they should've been the one to read the novel. If that happened, maybe the world would've ended up in a far better shape than this.
这里有比我更适合的人。义正言顺的郑慧媛，忠诚的李贤成，直言不讳的余尚雅，他们应该是读这本小说的人。如果这种情况发生了，也许这个世界的结局会比现在好得多。
"Thank you, ahjussi. For reading that novel."
“谢谢你，大叔，谢谢你读那本小说。”
Shin Yu-Seung matched my eye level and was now smiling.
申玉升(ShinYu-Seung，音译)和我的眼睛一样高，现在正在微笑。
"That's right. I heard that novel was really boring, too. If it really wasn't for Dok-Ja-ssi…."
“没错。我听说那本小说也很无聊。如果不是因为Dok-Ja-ssi...”
"If it was me, I probably couldn't get past the first page. I really hate books, you know?"
“如果是我，我可能连第一页都看不下去。我真的很讨厌书，你知道吗?”
"I tried to read a couple of books back inside the <Oz>'s military library, but… As expected, me and reading were not really a…."
“回到奥兹国的军事图书馆，我试着读了几本书，但是......不出所料，我和阅读并不是真正的......”
While looking at Yi Hyeon-Seong scratching his head, I somehow managed to force my mouth shut.
