2025 AMC 10A Problems/Problem 1

- Su-Yeong-ssi!! Right now, it……!

Her voice couldn't be heard properly because of all the noises coming
from the surroundings.
[Fable, 'Predictive Plagiarism', has begun its storytelling once more.]
Fables that had vanished without a trace along with the system's
dissolution were now streaming towards somewhere while following
after one another. Every single one of them were stories that had
come to an end a long time ago.

「Is the story really over when the author stops writing it?」 Han Su-Yeong looked up at the letters floating around in the skies.

The letters that didn't hold any meaning when existing independently
of each other were beginning to find their mates and groups one by
one.
“……Disconnected film theory?!"
The companions soon drove into the Complex and hurriedly jumped
out of the limousine. Then, they began running. The Fables they had
acquired until now, the Fables they had been telling until now, were
brushing past their sides.
No one knew what the conclusion to this story was.
No matter how hard they tried, 'Kim Dok-Ja' would never come back.
Even if they did recreate the '99% Kim Dok-Ja', that missing one
percent would always be there.
But then, what if there was one existence in this entire world that
could fill the last void of one percent? One existence, who used to
possess the letters subconsciously scattered to the distant universe?
"Su-Yeong-ssi! Over there!"
They could see Yi Seol-Hwa's hospital in the distance. Fables leisurely
streaming there guided them. Fables were gathering towards the
hospital ward they were all intimately familiar with.
[Great Fable, 'Demon World's Spring', has begun its storytelling once more.]
Han Su-Yeong thought to herself.
If an author didn't write it, then a story's conclusion couldn't be
created.

[Great Fable, 'Torch that Swallowed the Myth', has begun its storytelling once more.]

Even if that was true, however, did that mean those reading the story
couldn't imagine the conclusion on their own way? Han Su-Yeong
powerfully bit her lip. This story was created by her own hands. But
another story she didn't know of was continuing on from the end of
her story.

「What will happen if the moment of someone's imagination overtaking the author's sentences, comes?」 As skills and Stigma hadn't returned in full yet, Han Su-Yeong ran out

of breath rather quickly. Yu Jung-Hyeok supported her and kept
running. Shin Yu-Seung rushing up the stairs tripped and fell. Other
companions reached out and helped her up.
[Great Fable, 'Season of Light and Darkness', has begun its storytelling once more.]
[Great Fable, 'Liberator of the Forgotten Ones', has begun its storytelling once more.]
The Great Fables they had acquired together were returning to them
one by one. Even the unnamed last Fable of began singing about the
emotion that no one dared to name.
This desire, a wish, of those who went their separate ways a long time
ago to become one once more.
To grieve for someone else, to celebrate, to get angry, and to despair.
And eventually, wishing to become that someone else.
Someone was sympathising with their story. As her breathing grew
heavier and heavier, Han Su-Yeong kept thinking to herself over and
over again.

「If this story can really save you… 」 If you regained just a little of your memories and remember us just

one more time…
"Over there!"

…Then I'll keep writing the epilogue for you until the end of the time,

for eternity.
She reached before the hospital room's door, completely out of breath.
Han Su-Yeong
was now standing before the very room that she came to visit every
single day for the past four years.
The rest of the companions running up the staircase one step behind
were now looking at her. She looked back, and began recalling the
very last paragraph to the conclusion she didn't get to write.

「There are three ways to survive in a ruined world.」 She then heard Jeong Hui-Won shouting out.

"Han Su-Yeong!"
The other companions who heard the news belatedly – comrades who
didn't accompany them to the East Sea, could be seen running over
here through the building's window.

「I've forgotten a few by now. However, one thing's for certain.」 Han Su-Yeong's trembling hand grasped the door's handle.

She was scared. What if there was nothing beyond this door?
What if all this was nothing more than a sweet lie?
She looked to her side, and saw Yu Jung-Hyeok nodding his head.

「And that is, the you reading these words will get to survive.」 No matter what was waiting for them beyond this door, they were

now ready to witness it. The door creaked noisily as it opened. Faint
rays of sunlight entered through the wide-open window. The pages of

the manuscript she spent the whole night revising scattered around in

the wind. Letters scattered in a blinding fashion.
The story she didn't get to complete, it was right there.
The sentences she really wanted to write sometime, even if it was not
now. While thinking about those sentences, Han Su-Yeong grinned
like an idiot.

「This story is for just that one reader.」 Fin.