At first, I wanted to argue. After I suddenly fell into this world, I still lived fairly hard. To survive, I staked my life on things that might kill me. Even if I couldn’t live like Kim Dokja, I still thought I had something to say.

―Do you know what kind of trait [Delayed Circulation] is?

I had thought so.

―Why can you only use [Agitation] like that?

That was until the “Demon King of Salvation” Kim Dokja started his machine-gun fire.

―You’ve got a good item like “Thoughts About Almost Everything,” so why can’t you utilize it? What do you do when you rest? Didn’t you register other items’ mimicry forms?
―Do you know how to operate tales other than 「Tenacious Martial Arts Master」?
―And those aren’t all the skills you obtained. Why aren’t you using [Nagak Breathing]? Do you practice skill chaining?
―Why didn’t you learn combat skills other than [White Azure Steel Qi]? How does it make sense that you don’t even have [Weapon Polish] right now.

I felt like my mind was getting hazy. Who was it that called him a “living mouth”?

―Talking about it is making me angry. Now I get why I wasn’t watching you.

“Hey, don’t just get angry like that.”

―So what do you want me to do now that you’ve called me? You want me to bring back to life what you made a mess of?

Each and every word hit a nerve. Probably because what he said was true. When the Yu Joonghyuk of the 41st round collapsed and even Han Sooyoung, whom I trusted, disappeared—what was I thinking then?

“I know it’s shameless.”

The Backer Contract was the last option I could take. To save this world, I called one person’s name over and over again, like grasping at the last straw. I cried out that I would offer anything in return, so please save this world.

“Please help me. You can do it.”

He is Kim Dokja. The protagonist of this story.

“I don’t want to ruin this world any further.”

Even if I can’t do it, he can. If it’s him, he could rewrite the story I ruined.

“I want to save people.”

There were still many people left at Gwanghwamun. Readers like Uncle Dansoo and Gyeong Sein, and the people of this world whom I was lucky enough to save. Bang Cheolsu of Geumho Station and the Mother-Daughter Duo. Sergeant Kim Hyeonyeol and Jeong Eunho at Seoul Station. Jeong Heewon and the other companions who must be carrying out scenarios somewhere. And.

“Even all the dead ones.”

Even the readers I couldn’t save.

“You can do it.”

If it’s Kim Dokja, the observer of this world, it should be possible. As he proved with his previous lives, he could even change the sentences written on the “Final Wall.”

―Why don’t you just ask me to make you regress instead?

Regress?

―Of course I won’t. I can’t, either.

“I don’t want that. What I want to protect is this world.”

This “41st round” is only once. If I regress, I alone disappear from this world, and a new 42nd round will be born, that’s all.

“I don’t want this world to be destroyed.”

―It’s already a destroyed world.

I know that. But.

“It’s not written.”

―What?

“In none of the novels you and I read is the destruction of this worldline written.”

Of course, it isn’t that it’s not written at all. Exactly once, the story of the 41st round is given orally. By Shin Yuseung herself, who came from the 41st round.

“Shin Yuseung’s statement is, after all, a ‘statement.’ What really happened in the ‘41st round’ isn’t recorded anywhere in Ways of Survival. Isn’t that right?”

―You…… are telling an interesting story.

“Looks like you finally find it interesting.”

Interesting. It’s a painful expression, but for now I would accept even such a sentiment. I don’t care if this world is someone’s curiosity or amusement. If I can save this world with that, I’m ready to do anything.

―But to carry out what you’re thinking, you ultimately have to reach the end of this world. You know what that means, right?

The end of the world. The place with the “Final Wall” where everything in the universe is written. To go there, I must clear all the Main Scenarios.

“I know.”

―Can you do it?

I shook my head. What can a person who passed only four scenarios and then was unconscious for forty-five days do? Only,

“I can’t do it alone.”

My backer is the “Demon King of Salvation.” Owner of the [Fourth Wall], the greatest divinity in the universe.

“Please challenge the end of the scenario with me once more.”

I believed in Kim Dokja. If it’s Kim Dokja, who loves stories more than anyone in the world, I believed he would once again be curious about the end of this world. So I gave up becoming a “Constellation” and made a “Backer Contract” with him.

―Easy for you to say, punk. You’re putting me in a bind.

“Is it because of plausibility?”

Plausibility was certainly an important issue. No matter who Kim Dokja is, the plausibility system of <Star Stream> isn’t something one can ignore at will.

―That’s not it; I have to read Ways of Survival.

“What on earth are you……”

For a moment I was so dumbfounded I almost said something and stopped. Why does he keep reading that damned Ways of Survival? Is it because of the attribute the “Demon King of Salvation” has? I don’t know. It’s just, seeing how obsessed he is with reading it, he must have some inevitable reason as well. I seized on that.

“This world, if you split hairs, is also a part of Ways of Survival, isn’t it?”

―That’s true.

“Are you just going to watch while the world of Ways of Survival gets ruined? You already made a contract with me, too.”

―Mm.

“Please, help me. If you just help me, I’ll do anything.”

I blurted it out in the heat of the moment, and once I said it, I felt a bit embarrassed. The opponent is the “Demon King of Salvation.” An existence who has already seen the grain of the world, and a substitute divinity who has his name among “myth-grade Constellations.” There’s no way a persuasion like me saying I’ll do anything for such an existence would work. I was wondering if I should use another lure related to Ways of Survival instead when.

―You’ll do anything?

Kim Dokja showed an unexpected reaction. With an urgent heart, I asked,

“Will you help me?”

Perhaps he fell into some thought; Kim Dokja was silent for a moment. Did he go off to read Ways of Survival again?

“Excuse me, Mr. Inho.”

Someone called me right then. When I turned around, there was a big man who looked at least a head larger than me. A face I knew well.

“Ah, hello.”

“Yes. Are you all right?”

Lee Hyunsung wiped the beads of sweat on his forehead and wore his signature gentle smile. By the way, it looked like his body had gotten even bigger in the past forty-five days. A person isn’t a sponge; how can this be.

“Thanks to you. Thank you.”

Did he come because he was worried about me? I don’t know. Lee Hyunsung does have a kind personality, but was he the type to care about someone like me who’s outside the group?

It was then that my backer, who had disappeared for a moment, returned.

―Oh? It’s Lee Hyunsung.

He wasn’t specific, but from the tone of his voice alone, I could tell what he was thinking.

―Hmm, look at this.

Kim Dokja is analyzing Lee Hyunsung’s pectoralis major right now.

―To be at that level in the seventh scenario—how hard did he grind Lee Hyunsung…… Does this Yu Joonghyuk also have a 「Mad Soldier Yu Joonghyuk」 tale here?

Leaving the muttering “Demon King of Salvation” alone, I asked Lee Hyunsung,

“Um, did something happen?”

Then, after hesitating, Lee Hyunsung slowly nodded.

“The Captain is asking for you.”

Yu Joonghyuk? For me?

Perhaps reading my expression, Lee Hyunsung quickly opened his mouth. He was probably telling me to rest assured that it was nothing serious.

“Uh…… but I think it’s better to be a little careful.”

Huh?

“It seems the Captain is very angry.”

“Angry? At me?”

“I don’t know about that…… but he kept muttering strange things, like how at this rate he’ll definitely end up killing you……”

Suddenly my head went blank. I belatedly thought hard about what I’d been doing forty-five days ago. But it didn’t seem like I’d done anything that wrong to Yu Joonghyuk. I did oppose him a few times during scenario progress, but…… I did stop him from taking the “Absolute Throne,” but…… In Asmodeus’s theater, there was that time I blocked an attack using the unconscious Yu Joonghyuk as a shield, but……

“Can I not go?”

Then Lee Hyunsung gave a wry smile.

“He told me to bring you no matter what……”

I’m screwed.

―Good for you.

A voice speaking casually like it wasn’t his problem. I frowned toward the sky and mouthed the words. “What’s ‘good’ about this.”

―The protagonist is personally summoning you.

“He said if I come he’ll kill me.”

―At the very least, until you die, it means you still have some use in this world.

Is this what Kim Dokja meant when he said I looked like I was about to die? If I could read Ways of Survival like Kim Dokja, I might at least get a hint about how to survive in this situation.

[You can no longer use “Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World.”]

But I no longer have Ways of Survival.

―Why do you need Ways of Survival?

“Ah.”

For a moment, I forgot who I made a contract with. Right. Come to think of it, I no longer need Ways of Survival.

―All right, shall we go watch the 41st-round Joonghyuk get whacked upside the head?

Because right now my backer is the one who knows Yu Joonghyuk better than anyone in this world.

*

Inside Gwanghwamun. In a makeshift quarters built by remodeling the inner courtyard of Gyeongbokgung, Yu Joonghyuk sat cross-legged, bare to the waist. On his sculpted back were several engravings reminiscent of tattoos.

「Fetters of Truth」
「Fetters of Emotion」
「Fetters of Life」

They were tale engravings he had inscribed on his body sequentially since this round began. The higher his body’s grade stacked, the stronger the power those engravings would exert. Inscribing three tale engravings onto a body that hadn’t even cleared the tenth scenario yet was tantamount to suicide, but he didn’t hesitate.

Sssss.

A moment later, white steam rose from Yu Joonghyuk’s upper body. The tales that had been out of balance within him gradually settled into place, impurities were expelled from his body, and he advanced toward a higher state. The road to Transcendent. Normally he wouldn’t attempt a transcendent leap at this stage, but this time even Yu Joonghyuk was pressed.

[Constellation, ‘Devilish Judge of Fire,’ gazes at you in silence.]
[Constellation, ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius,’ covers the eyes of the ‘Devilish Judge of Fire.’]
[Constellation, ‘Prisoner of Gingoa,’ tickles your ear with Gingoa.]
[Constellation, ‘Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss,’ says he could look like that too if he took off his top.]

His concentration scattered at the noisy Constellations’ messages. He tried to endure it several times, but he’d reached his limit now.

“Be silent.”

The neatly refined mana unraveled in an instant, and Yu Joonghyuk exhaled a deep breath. He picked up the clothes and coat that had fallen to the ground, frowning. The mess of his scattered garments looked exactly like this round.

Indeed, even on second thought, something about this round was off. The Constellations in the sky, the incarnations who followed him, and—

‘Cheon Inho.’

That strange guy, and the name he kept muttering.

‘Kim Dokja.’

For some reason, the incarnations of this world kept bringing that name to their lips. Especially the incarnations who hadn’t been active in the previous round. For example, that idiot incarnation of Yophiel who ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) kept mimicking his way of speaking.

―What do you usually eat?
―What time do you usually go to bed and get up?
―Do you, by chance, also do something like intermittent fasting?

If Lee Hyunsung hadn’t stopped him, he would have smashed that guy’s head several times while he trailed after him asking useless questions.

―But hey, you really don’t think of anything when you hear the name “Kim Dokja”?

A throb pulsed at his temple, and suddenly the memories from forty-five days ago flashed through his mind. With the “Absolute Throne” before his eyes, he had fought an incarnation. A woman named Han Sooyoung. She knew he was a regressor, and among the incarnations he’d met since this round began, she was stronger than any of them. When the fight ended and he came to, Yu Joonghyuk realized she had vanished from this world. What remained where she had disappeared were the memories she had planted after rummaging through his head as she pleased.

「“Let go of this hand and get lost, you son of a—.”」
「“I am a comrade of the Yu Joonghyuk who lived.”」

A face that wouldn’t come to mind clearly, a face that sagged like dough not yet kneaded.

「“Hi, Joonghyuk. Been well? You look good.”」

After recalling that memory several times, Yu Joonghyuk realized that memory wasn’t his own, but another worldline’s. Normally, the mere fact such a world existed wouldn’t have shaken him so much. If only he hadn’t heard those words in the memory.

「“Yu Joonghyuk, get a grip. Don’t delude yourself that repeating it a few times will make it better.”」

A voice that rang loftily, as if excising the entirety of the life he had lived.

「“Even if you save the world, you won’t be saved. The moment you save a world, the worlds you abandoned will come crashing down on you. Even if you save one world, every other world you abandoned will drag you to hell.”」
「“Don’t delude yourself that the next round will be better because you abandon this one. The round you’re trying to abandon might be the ‘one and only round’ in which you can see the end of this world as a ‘human.’”」

While living the world of the 41st round, no one had ever said such words to him. And by luck, the Yu Joonghyuk in that memory got to hear words he himself had never heard. And in only the 3rd round, at that. In a naïve state not yet sufficiently tainted by the tragedy of this world.

He didn’t know what became of the Yu Joonghyuk of that worldline afterward. What was certain was that something about that Yu Joonghyuk surely changed. And if he was lucky, he might really have seen the end of the world as a “human.”

The bitter smile hanging on his lips now was probably self-mockery for the years he had lived. A sneer at the time he had endured tragedy more desperately than anyone.

「As the price for enduring that long time, he was no longer “human.”」

He was the Yu Joonghyuk of the 41st round. The “one and only round” where one could see the end of the world as a “human” had ended long ago. What remained in his life now was only tragedy. The eternal punishment given to one who chose [Regression]. From now on, the worlds he abandoned would cling to his ankles like a curse. Even if he cleared all the scenarios, salvation would not be given to him.

The moment he thought that,

“Hi-ya!”

As if to punish his thoughts, someone smacked the back of his head.