If I really am the reincarnation of the 49% Kim Dokja, and thus hold a fragment of Kim Dokja, there’s no way this method is impossible.

「Feed on me and operate the Tale.」

If what you want to eat is “Kim Dokja,” then I’ll let you eat as much as you want.

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ stares blankly at you.]

Kim Dokja’s voice hummed in my head.

―Hey! Wait!

Pretending not to hear, I bit my forearm with all my strength. I wasn’t certain this act would trigger Tale predation. It was simply—

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ shows interest in your Tale fragment.]

—a kind of showmanship to lure it.

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ bites into your right arm!]

Tsutsutsutsut!

Along with the sensation of something like fangs clamping down on my forearm muscles, a terrible pain flared.

The blood that spurted into the air broke apart into small strings of characters.

Even in the pain, I smiled.

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ devours part of your Tale!]

My head spun. If my Tale was eaten, then some of my memories would vanish as well.

Which memories would I lose?

When I blinked, a snowfield wavered into view. The faces of the readers sculpted from snow seemed to melt away.

My heart beat irregularly.

I don’t want to forget.

I don’t want to forget any of it.

Tsutsutsutsut.

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ retches!]

Huh?

―So it turned out like this after all.

I heard Kim Dokja click his tongue in my head, as if he’d foreseen this situation.

The “Successor of the Eternal Name” that had eaten my Tale was in agony.

[Tale fragment, ‘Mad Soldier Yu Joonghyuk,’ refuses absorption!]
[Tale fragment, ‘Mad Soldier Yu Joonghyuk,’ rampages!]

Mad Soldier?

No—why is that Tale fragment inside me?

[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ glares at you!]
[The Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ has absorbed an incorrect ‘Tale fragment.’]
[Normal predation of the corresponding ‘Tale fragment’ is impossible.]
[Due to incomplete predation, you gain an additional 10 minutes!]
[Time remaining until death: 12:59]

One way or another, I had bought time.

[Skill-seal penalty is lifted.]

And the penalty was lifted, to boot.

I immediately activated the Blade of Conviction and lightly cut down several ghouls that were rushing me.

From within a heap of ghouls, I heard someone’s scream.

When I cleared away the pile of ghoul corpses, I saw a human hand poking out.

“Grab on!”

I clasped the hand and yanked with all my might, and a woman tumbled out, sobbing in tears.

She was the incarnation who had been holding and weeping over the man who died earlier.

“Retreat inside. I’ll block this place.”

“But—”

“Hurry!”

Nodding hastily, the woman ran into the shelter.

I stacked ghoul corpses to block the shelter entrance and turned back.

In the distance, the fighting was still fierce.

The group led by Bang Cheolsu and the Mother-Daughter Duo were locked in a melee nearby, and at the very front, Jeong Heewon and her younger brother Jeong Eunho were together facing the Dragonkin.

―There’s one Rank 5 and one Rank 4. Think you can handle it?

“What could a guy do after lying flat for forty-five days?”

By now, most incarnations had overall stats as high as mine.

Me jumping in wasn’t going to change the battle dynamics.

Just hearing the Dragonkin’s growl in the distance made my knees go weak.

In my current condition, even breaking through the ghouls to reach the very front would be rough.

“Help me.”

―Shameless, you punk.

“It’s time you actually did your job as my backer.”

Even if he wasn’t Myth rank, the “Demon King of Salvation” was still a top-tier constellation among the Tale rank.

“At least give me coins. Let me boost my stats.”

―Where would I get coins?

“Why would a constellation not have coins?”

―If I had any, do you think I would’ve placed a collect call?

Come to think of it, he’d been making collect calls since his first contact.

I’d thought he was just a miser—was it really because he was broke?

“You had tons of coins back when you were an avatar.”

―Because of you, I even scraped up the last few pennies. Did you forget?

A scene rose belatedly in my mind.

When I first contracted with the “Demon King of Salvation,” I borrowed his Tale, “King of a World Without a King.”

Had the plausibility cost been paid with coins back then?

“Still, all I did was borrow one Tale……”

―It was my birth Tale, for your information.

“So you’re saying you have literally no coins?”

―None.

I wanted to use [Detect Lies] if I could.

“Then what can you do?”

―Well……

A thought struck me.

What are the upsides of being Kim Dokja’s incarnation?

If I think about it, even Shin Yuseung—who was Kim Dokja’s incarnation in the main story—grew rapidly on her own without special support, didn’t she?

―Cheer you on?

Wordlessly, I knocked a charging ghoul’s head off.

―Hey, hey, that’s not how you kill ghouls.

“Don’t distract me; you’re in the way.”

―If you look closely, there’s a kind of incision line on the neck. Jab that spot and you can take them down without much effort. Even that Joonghyuk only figured this out after the 40th round……

Absentmindedly, I jabbed a ghoul’s neck.

By chance, maybe I had hit exactly where Kim Dokja described.

With barely any force, the ghoul went limp on the spot.

“What about that incision?”

―There, look carefully! A little further in!

Narrowing my eyes and looking closely, I could indeed see a faint incision-like line on each ghoul’s neck. Adjusting my strength and thrusting along the precise trajectory, the ghoul died instantly.

Two, three, four……

In less than a minute, I had taken down a full sixty, and the number of ghouls nearby dropped sharply.

―Well?

More helpful than I expected.

So this is the difference a true Annihilation Method authority makes?

As the rear-line ghouls were swept up quickly, the Geumho Station group that had been struggling finally caught a breath.

“Hyung!”

Bang Cheolsu waved when he spotted me.

Fortunately, the Geumho Station group hadn’t taken heavy losses yet.

The problem was how to deal with those dragons occupying the center of Gwanghwamun.

[Rank-4 Earth Dragon species, ‘Earth Python,’ roars!]

At the renewed roar, people’s faces turned pale.

“Everyone, cover your ears!”

At Shin Yuseung’s sharp shout, a small Conch ensemble struck up from the front line.

When the ten-odd Conch units blasted their ensemble all at once, part of the howling pouring toward the incarnations was neutralized.

Some Conches even formed barriers with their shells to block the howls.

But small Conches were only Rank-8 marine species. In the end, the Conches couldn’t hold, and their shells burst.

Staggering out from one of the shells, Shin Yuseung collapsed.

“Yuseung!”

I rushed over and caught her. Checking her pulse, I found her mana circuit already in tatters.

I entrusted the unconscious Shin Yuseung to Bang Cheolsu.

“Hyung?”

Bang Cheolsu, taking her with a dazed look, stared at me.

In the past, I would never have entrusted Shin Yuseung to him.

[The ‘Geumho Station Group’ rallies around the incarnation ‘Bang Cheolsu.’]

But now it was different.

I could tell just by seeing how the people of Geumho Station still followed him.

“Bang Cheolsu. Protect that girl no matter what.”

“Ah, going forward is dangerous! You should run! While Heewon buys time—”

“Bang Cheolsu.”

He looked at me with trembling eyes, then nodded with difficulty.

“Yes. Understood.”

“Please.”

I immediately sprinted straight for the very front where Jeong Heewon was.

Now I had six minutes left.

Sergeant Kim was staggering away, carrying an exhausted Jeong Eunho on his back.

“Inho! Don’t come this way!”

Now, the only one holding the front line was Jeong Heewon.

She was fighting on against a Rank-4 Earth Dragon and a Rank-5 monster dragon species.

With [Ghostslaughter] and [Madness] activated at the same time, a fearsome might surged from her whole body.

It was like watching Yu Joonghyuk.

But anyone could see that she couldn’t sustain that state for long.

Blood streamed constantly from her nose and ears.

Perhaps sensing her condition, the Dragonkin didn’t press aggressively.

Cutting down the ghouls blocking my path one by one, I asked,

‘Do you know the Dragonkin’s weak points too?’

―I do, but with your current overall stats, it’ll be tough.

‘So if my overall stats are high enough, it’s doable.’

―Got any coins?

If nothing else, there was exactly one thing I had more confidence in than other incarnations.

[Coins held: 418,000C]

For once, even that Kim Dokja sounded surprised.

―What, did you fleece a constellation?

‘I did swindle a demon king.’

Apparently the 300,000 coins I’d gotten from Asmodeus at the theater were huge.

That bastard had no idea his own money would be used this well.

―In that case, it’s time to take profits on the full sell.

‘Haven’t heard that line in a while.’

I opened my wallet without hesitation.

[You invested 24,000 coins in Strength.]
[Strength Lv.40 → Strength Lv.70]
[Your power draws the gaze of the Giant tribes.]

Strength.

[You invested 24,000 coins in Stamina.]
[Stamina Lv.40 → Stamina Lv.70]
[Your stamina piques the curiosity of many heroes.]

Stamina.

[You invested 24,000 coins in Agility.]
[Agility Lv.40 → Agility Lv.70]
[Your quickness earns repeated admiration from the Miao clans.]

Agility.

[You invested 24,000 coins in Magic Power.]
[Magic Power Lv.40 → Magic Power Lv.70]
[Your talent begins to intrigue the Mage Tower.]

And even Magic Power.

[Your overall stats have nearly reached this scenario’s restriction threshold.]

In an instant, after pushing every stat to the limit, vigor flooded my whole body.

Even with ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ six minutes left to live, I felt no fear at all.

Was this Kim Dokja’s influence?

―Then it looks like you’re about ready for a comeback broadcast.

‘A comeback broadcast?’

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t heard many constellation stream messages since waking up.

It was only natural.

When I made my backer contract with the “Demon King of Salvation,” I terminated my exclusive contract with Bihyung.

Thanks to Bihyung’s consideration I hadn’t taken any major penalty, but I was now someone who no longer drew interest from the constellations of the “Find an Incarnation” crowd.

In other words, I’d lost my marketability to the constellations.

―If you spent money, you have to earn it back.

Dodging a magic wave from an Earth Dragon, I said,

‘That’s difficult now. Besides, my contract with Bihyung ended—’

―I know. Just do it again.

Do what again?

From the start, my contract with Bihyung had been possible because I had no backer. In the current situation, there was no reason for Bihyung to agree to a new contract.

A light spark popped in the air and a dokkaebi appeared just then.

[All right, long time no see for the Korean Peninsula broadcast, dear constellations!]

Well, speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Bihyung, now twice as large as before, flaunted his white, pudgy belly and chattered to the constellations.

[A few constellations say the Korean Peninsula channel isn’t fun anymore.]
[A very small number of constellations ask whether the Korean Peninsula channel has any decent incarnations left.]

It was true.

This was already the Seventh Scenario on the Korean Peninsula.

Most of the strong incarnations had probably already signed backer contracts.

And yet, in the midst of this, one idiot was advertising his own incarnation.

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ shouts for everyone to come watch his incarnation!]

It was my backer.

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ wonders why no one is watching this entertaining Tale.]

A strange sense of déjà vu washed over me.

Did Han Sooyoung, who wrote Annihilation Method, feel something similar?

‘Uh, Mr. Kim Dokja. You don’t have to go that far—’

[A very small number of constellations grumble, asking why they should go watch someone else’s incarnation.]
[A very small number of constellations complain that that idiot stole all the good incarnations.]
[A very small number of constellations bare hostility toward the ‘Demon King of Salvation’!]

I didn’t want to keep watching my backer get cursed out.

‘Really, it’s better if you stop—’

But Kim Dokja kept talking.

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ says the incarnation ‘Cheon Inho’ is his incarnation but also not his incarnation.]

……?

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ declares that his backer contract with the incarnation ‘Cheon Inho’ is ‘temporary.’]

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

I pricked up my ears to make sense of Kim Dokja’s nonsense.

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ declares that after rigorously training the incarnation ‘Cheon Inho’ for the next two years, he will return him to the backer contract market!]
[A very small number of constellations glare, asking how they’re supposed to believe such lies.]
[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ swears upon the <Star Stream>.]

I was speechless.

I wanted to protest—how could he make such a vow on his own?

But then—

Kugugugugu.

Lightning crashed down from the sky.

As if the “Great Hall” were opening, the skies all over the Korean Peninsula flushed red.

The light emitted by the constellations had briefly changed the color of the sky.

[A multitude of constellations have entered the channel!]
[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ asks if he has finally awakened.]
[Constellation, ‘Prisoner of Gingoa,’ says he’s been bored and picks his ear.]
[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon,’ grumbles that the Korean Peninsula channel is still small.]
[Constellation, ‘Maritime War Deity,’ congratulates you on your return.]
[Constellation, ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring,’ takes interest in the ‘Demon King of Salvation’s’ proposal.]
[Constellation, ‘God of Wine and Ecstasy,’ asks how much you’ll sell him for in two years.]
[Constellation, ‘Rice-Cake-Eating Tiger,’ sheds tears, saying it’s been a while.]

I had no idea what was happening. Even the incarnations—and the Dragonkin—paused in shock.

And that still wasn’t the end.

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ has concluded a ‘Stream Contract’ with the dokkaebi ‘Bihyung.’]

What on earth had he done to secure a re-contract already?

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ has revised the re-contract terms.]

Contract terms.

Belatedly, I recalled what I had agreed to before.

The “Bihyung” of this round was no pushover, so I had settled on a 7:3 split for sponsorship revenue.

Since it was a re-contract, this would inevitably become even less favorable—

[The sponsorship split has been revised to 10:0.]