Why was the neighborhood hyung Kim Dokja angry?

The first word that came to mind was “comrade.”

In the 3rd regression, he and Yu Joonghyuk had seen the scenario through to the end together.

Looking at the Yu Joonghyuk of the 41st regression, the neighborhood hyung might have recalled those memories. Even knowing that this worldline’s Yu Joonghyuk wasn’t the “Yu Joonghyuk” he remembered, the neighborhood hyung still wavered at his crisis.

「Is that really the reason.」

It was a rather romantic reason, but to be honest, it didn’t ring true.

Because the neighborhood hyung Kim Dokja I had ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) observed until now had a part that was twisted hard somewhere.

Whether all the separated Kim Dokjas were like that, or only the “Demon King of Salvation,” I didn’t know…

「He resembles the early Kim Dokja of ‘Omniscient Reader’ quite a lot.」

A Kim Dokja who liked Annihilation Law.

A Kim Dokja who thought of Yu Joonghyuk as a psychopath and kept a curious distance from the characters.

A Kim Dokja who was a scenario expert.

If my assumption was correct, the reason Kim Dokja was angry now was this.

「Right now he doesn’t like this ‘story.’」

A spark lightly bounced in midair. Even though this was possession through [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint], the scale of emotion was surfacing as blue.

Anna Croft’s pupils trembled in surprise.

[Eyes of the Archdemon].

The moment I saw Anna’s eyes blazing red, I wondered if I should step in and stop this.

If it went on like this—

[Exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall,’ activates!]
[By the effect of ‘Fourth Wall,’ the activation of ‘Eyes of the Archdemon’ is canceled.]

—Anna Croft would die before we even checked whether Yu Joonghyuk was alive.

“Urgh—”

Crackle.

With that sound, blood vessels burst in Anna’s eyes. Clutching one eye, Anna staggered back.

“How… you—”

“I’ll ask only once more.”

Kim Dokja’s hand slowly moved toward the sword hilt.

“Yu Joonghyuk is—”

As if a blackout had occurred, the lights in the area flickered. And in the next moment, like the power in a factory had been cut, the light vanished from Kim Dokja’s eyes.

I realized at once what had happened.

[Exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint,’ is released.]

―Ah, I forgot about the duration.

“Backer?”

―I’ll go exchange some coins. Wait a bit.

“Mr. Kim Dokja! Kim Dokja! You bastard!”

There was no answer from Kim Dokja.

If he disappeared like that, what did he expect me to do.

Before I knew it, troops of “Zarathustra” were gathering one by one around Anna Croft.

A murderous air swirled on the tense faces of the incarnations, and Selena Kim watched the standoff with a troubled expression.

And my body stood there upright, unconscious.

“Damn.”

It was a wonder that a body that had fainted could still stand.

Did Kim Dokja perhaps have the tale 「Balance Artist」 or something.

To make matters worse, because my eyes were half-lidded, no one noticed I had fainted.

“You… what on earth are you?”

Anna glared at me and continued.

“You certainly didn’t feel like this before… Are you really Cheon Inho? Back then, too—”

“……”

“Are you going to keep silent?”

Even at Anna Croft’s question, my body didn’t so much as twitch and remained silent.

Taking that as a kind of answer, Anna Croft’s expression hardened.

Because I had fainted while gripping the sword hilt, I looked exactly like someone deciding whether or not to kill the incarnations before me.

With a resolute voice, Anna Croft spoke again.

“Whatever you’re thinking, this place is ‘Zarathustra.’ If you intend to destroy it—”

“Anna!”

Growing paler by the second, Selena Kim finally intervened.

“You must not fight Mr. Cheon Inho. He is not a bad person.”

“Selena?”

“H-he… he treated me to a Korean drink. It was delicious.”

“What are you even saying?”

Rolling her eyes in agitation, Selena Kim glanced back at me. I wondered why she was so tense—and then realized there was good reason.

“M-Mr. Cheon Inho is a demon king.”

Damn it.

“A demon king?”

“Well, Christina…”

A murmur spread through the hall, and several people screamed and collapsed where they stood. At the mere words “demon king,” people in panic backed away from me.

Normally, this was impossible.

There was no way incarnations of the seventh scenario would know what a “demon king” was.

But they were different.

「“Not long ago, when the demon king’s symbolic body appeared, I faced it myself.”」

There was a part I could guess.

But no matter what they had gone through, I was not a demon king.

My backer was a demon king, but in any case, I was not.

If she was clever, Anna would of course know.

Plausibility-wise, it was impossible at this point for me to be a “demon king.”

And yet—

“So in this regression, you chose ‘that path’ after all.”

The prophet suddenly started spouting something insane.

“Everyone, fall back. As of now, we’re abandoning Zarathustra’s temporary headquarters.”

The hall fell into chaos. People fled the hotel with screams.

“Selena Kim. Issue a Class-1 alert. I’ll buy us time somehow. In the meantime, you—”

I could no longer wait for Kim Dokja to come back. But what could I do, thrown from my body?

“No.”

Come to think of it, there was a way to move my body even while unconscious. A method I’d used before.

[Exclusive skill, ‘Agitation Lv.10,’ activates.]

It was to cast [Agitation] on my fainted self.

「Cheon Inho let go of the sword hilt.」

Thankfully, the body obeyed. When I released the hilt, I saw Anna Croft—who had been directing people—hesitate.

But this alone wasn’t enough.

Could I make it more specific?

For now, I had no choice but to try.

「Cheon Inho opened his mouth.」

In the next instant, a voice miraculously flowed out from my unconscious body.

“To panic at a single word, ‘demon king’—so this is the extent of Zarathustra’s reputation.”

Anna Croft stared at me with a look of disbelief.

Slightly smiling, slit eyes. Those uniquely glib lips.

Anna Croft asked,

“Cheon Inho. Don’t tell me… your memories have returned?”

*

This wasn’t my first time encountering “Anna Croft.”

Early in the scenario, through the “Prison of Illusions,” I had already met Anna once.

「Who are you? You’re… not Cheon Inho.」

Come to think of it, she had suspected me then as well. Perhaps, as a prophet, she was quick on the uptake.

Sitting in an armchair in the parlor, glaring at me, Anna spoke again.

“The One Who Deceived the Stars. Is it really you? Answer clearly.”

The One Who Deceived the Stars.

Even hearing it again, it was a grand epithet. What on earth had the Cheon Inho of the 40th regression done to be called that.

“Is who I am really that important?”

At my easy smile, Anna Croft frowned.

“How did you recover your memories? Surely Yu Joonghyuk didn’t share a tale with you…”

I had received a tale fragment, but it wasn’t that one.

I answered honestly.

“I’m not the ‘Cheon Inho’ you remember. With Yu Joonghyuk’s [Regression], all my memories were reset.”

“That is…”

“It’s the same for you, isn’t it. You aren’t the Anna Croft of the previous regression—you’re a new ‘Anna Croft’ who inherited the prior regression’s memories through [Retrospective Sight].”

“Listening to you spin such plausible sophistry, it does sound like you.”

Shaking her head as if she had a headache, Anna Croft downed the tea on the table in one go.

From afar, Selena Kim watched us with worried eyes.

I waved lightly as if to say she could relax.

“What’s this about a ‘demon king’? Why do Selena and Christina think you’re a demon king? Did you make a contract with one?”

He was a demon king—but if you asked whether I was truly a demon king, it was a bit ambiguous.

“Did you choose ‘that path’ again like in the last regression?”

'That path?'

“Are you even planning to have a conversation right now?”

Sensing the talk was getting tangled from the start, I decided to lightly reset the mood.

“Calm down, and from now on, think of me as the ‘new Cheon Inho.’”

“The new Cheon Inho?”

“Not every villain is a villain from the beginning. You know that, right?”

“You are a villain.”

“Branding people like that from the start is why the villains of the world can’t rehabilitate.”

“What are you…”

“From now on, think of me as a newborn infant. Depending on your choices, this infant might later become a heinous serial killer—or a benevolent conman.”

“You are not an infant.”

I considered agitating myself as an “infant,” then said this instead:

“But Yu Joonghyuk must have thought that every time he looked at me.”

“……”

“Should I kill him, or let him live. Which would help this world’s future more. If I choose wrong, how much tragedy will unfold in this world.”

I looked out at the northern streets of Las Vegas reflected in the window.

A desolate city scoured by a disaster species.

Leaping to her feet, Anna yanked the curtains closed.

I spoke to her back.

“Some futures become sins the moment you know them. If it’s like that, I’d rather live as an infant who knows nothing.”

“Why did you even come here.”

Without looking back at me, Anna said,

“If you regained your memories, you could just go live as you please. Are you planning to wreck this regression too—”

“Yu Joonghyuk called me here.”

“How far do you intend to go with your brazen lies…”

[Character ‘Anna Croft’ is activating ‘Lie Detection Lv.7’.]
[‘Lie Detection’ confirms your statement is true.]

Anna Croft’s expression turned strange.

“The Conqueror called you?”

“Yes.”

[‘Lie Detection’ confirms your statement is true.]

“Why?”

“Because we’re on the same side.”

[‘Lie Detection’ confirms your statement is true.]

“You’ve become allies with the ‘Conqueror’?”

At the trembling-lipped Anna Croft, I nodded with a shameless face.

“If your curiosity is satisfied, I’ll ask my question now. There must have been other Koreans besides Yu Joonghyuk—what happened to them.”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because they’re my comrades.”

[‘Lie Detection’ confirms your statement is true.]

“Comrades?”

Anna Croft now looked on the verge of losing her mind.

“You’re worried about comrades?”

“Of course I’m worried.”

“Why on earth would you, Cheon Inho.”

Twisted by anger and sorrow, Anna Croft’s face looked almost deranged.

“I can’t trust you. I can’t make sense of the Conqueror. After everything that happened, how could he possibly employ you.”

“That’s not really your line to say.”

At my words, Anna Croft’s pupils widened faintly.

“So you have obtained the ‘previous regression’s’ memories.”

I gave up denying it and decided to go along with Anna’s misunderstanding for now.

After a moment of organizing her thoughts, Anna said,

“The Conqueror is still safe. And your comrades as well.”

“Are they safe?”

“For now.”

I nodded, somewhat relieved.

“Are they at the ‘Washington Dome’ right now?”

With a devastated face, Anna nodded.

“Yes.”

As expected. I immediately checked the scenario log.

+

<Main Scenario #7 – ???>

Category: Main

Difficulty: ???

Clear Condition: Move to the scenario area.

Time Limit: ???

Reward: ???

Upon Failure: ???

+

I’d thought something was off ever since I checked the seventh scenario.

Even after arriving in Las Vegas, the message said to move to the “scenario area.” Which meant the true stage of the seventh scenario wasn’t “Las Vegas.”

“The seventh scenario is underway in Washington.”

“What ‘Disaster’ is it?”

“…It seems you already know.”

“Did you fail the fifth scenario?”

“I hate to admit it, but yes.”

As expected, America had failed to hunt the final disaster of the “Fifth Scenario.”

And as a price, it had lost the “Washington Dome.”

Judging that American incarnations couldn’t hunt the disaster on their own, the “Administration Bureau” must have moved the plausibility of <Star Stream> to stimulate the constellations’ interest.

As a result, the Disaster Scenario had been extended into the “Seventh Scenario” and transformed into a global scenario.

[New incarnations have entered the Seventh Scenario area!]

By now, incarnations from all over the world were probably crossing over into the American scenario.

If things went wrong, a world war could break out in Washington.

“Pathetic. Even with [Future Sight], you couldn’t clean up a single disaster properly?”

Whatever else, this disappointment was genuine.

I hadn’t expected that Anna Croft to fail the fifth scenario.

All the more in the “41st regression,” where every character had exceeded my expectations.

“It annoys me to hear that from you, but this worldline was different. Things kept happening that even my [Future Sight] couldn’t perceive.”

Things even [Future Sight] couldn’t perceive.

In the main story of ORV, such things usually happened when Kim Dokja intervened in the scenario.

But in this regression, Kim Dokja was a constellation, and until he contracted with me, he hadn’t intervened in the story.

Then a hypothesis flashed in my mind.

Why hadn’t I thought of it sooner.

Come to think of it, this “world” did have them.

Those who could change the world’s future even without being Kim Dokja.

“Cheon Inho. Have you ever heard of a group called ‘Apostles’?”

On this continent, too, there were “readers” who had read Kim Dokja’s story.