Christina bit her lips hard as she continued.

“We had to make a decision soon. Just getting to the fifth scenario, too many people died.”

They had managed, barely, to reach the fifth scenario.

But the Apostles who knew the ending of this story knew that if they kept proceeding with the scenario like this, they would end up ruining everything.

In this worldline where Kim Dokja did not exist, the ultimate resolution of the scenarios was impossible.

No matter how brilliantly they cleared the earlier scenarios, in the end they would despair before the ‘final wall.’

So in the fifth scenario, they decided to take a risk.

To summon the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ with the ‘Calamity Summon Ticket.’

It was a choice that deserved to be called insane.

“What were you going to do if you failed?”

“That is……”

“And even if you succeeded, it’s a problem.”

If the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was summoned as a calamity, something truly ridiculous could have happened.

Even so, at the most desperate moment, I couldn’t bring myself to scold them for seeking Kim Dokja.

Perhaps because I’d had an experience similar to theirs.

「“I will make a Backer Contract.”」

As one seeks a god, those who know Kim Dokja’s name cannot help but seek him.

If you are a possessor who came to this world, it would likely be the same for anyone.

Looking down at Anna Croft, sleeping soundly with her head on Christina’s lap, I asked,

“Since you put her under [Hypnosis], Anna doesn’t know the details, does she.”

“Yes……”

Anna Croft was the most cautious character even in ‘Extinction Method.’

There was no way she would have agreed to summoning some unheard-of ‘Demon King of Salvation’ as a calamity.

In the end, the Apostles with Christina at their head hypnotized Anna and secretly summoned the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

In return, the ‘Washington Dome’ turned into the Demon Realm.

“At first, we thought we could somehow stop it ourselves. We gathered every Apostle on the American continent and headed for the Washington Dome. That was already weeks ago.”

They couldn’t bring themselves to be honest about the fact that Washington had been destroyed by their choice.

The Apostles attempted to raid the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ to make up for their mistake.

“You failed.”

“……Yes.”

“And so you brought me.”

“I’m ashamed.”

The moment she confirmed my backer-nature, Christina must have thought it.

That the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ they sought already existed in this worldline—and perhaps that was why their ‘summon’ had failed.

“Is there really a ‘Demon King of Salvation’ in this world? Is there a ‘Kim’ we know?”

Was the ‘Kim Dokja’ they knew in this world?

I thought for a moment and answered like this.

“There is someone far more like the real thing than that other ‘Demon King of Salvation.’ More than that—what on earth is the identity of that other ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

“I don’t know. What’s certain is that he wasn’t the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ we know. And……”

“And?”

“That demon kept getting stronger every time the Apostles went to face him.”

He kept getting stronger every time the Apostles went?

I did have a hypothesis coming to mind, but it wasn’t at the stage of certainty yet.

However, I had one person who could verify all these hypotheses.

‘Mr. Kim.’

This man said he was going to exchange coins—just how far had he gone.

At that moment, with a chzzzzk— sound, ‘Midday Rendezvous’ reconnected.

‘Seriously, where did you go and only now come back.’

—Kiddo, we’ve got a big problem.

‘We have a big problem over here, too.’

I tried to explain how enormous the things that had happened while you were away were.

But then,

—I think my epithet got stolen.

It seemed a really big problem had happened on that side, too.

*

Everything in <Star Stream> is a ‘story,’ that is, a ‘tale.’

But because the concept of ‘tale’ feels so abstract, a ‘currency’ was created that processed it in a practical way.

We’re talking about the ‘coins’ we know.

—Constellations earn coins just by breathing.

‘Don’t constellations not need to breathe?’

—It means they incur coin consumption simply by existing.

‘I know, but I didn’t know there was even a maintenance cost for keeping a nickname.’

Because Kim Dokja had never once mentioned that matter, I had never thought about it either.

Who would have thought that simply using an epithet would cost coins. So that’s why constellations were always sensitive about coin-earning.

‘But are you saying your constellation epithet got stolen right now?’

—Not the constellation epithet.

‘Then what?’

—I have a demon king epithet, too.

According to Kim Dokja, constellations who were suddenly imported from another ‘worldline’ like him had to pay additional costs to use the <Star Stream> system.

But Kim Dokja was both a ‘constellation’ and a ‘demon king,’ so the maintenance costs for epithets were doubled.

—I managed to maintain the constellation epithet, but I couldn’t pay the maintenance on the demon king epithet.

Don’t tell me the reason this man was obsessed with ‘coins’……

—I was going to exchange some tale fragments I got this time and some monster parts to buy the epithet back…… and the Administration Bureau had already sold off my demon king epithet in the meantime.

Suddenly, I felt like I understood how things were turning.

I briefly explained to Kim Dokja about the incidents that had occurred in America.

When he heard even the story about the Apostles of the American continent and the ‘Calamity Summon Ticket,’ Kim Dokja let out a sighing voice.

—Ah, so that spam message from the Administration Bureau was that. Rambling on about a calamity something or other.

Looked like he hadn’t even read the message from the Administration Bureau.

‘Then the Demon King of Salvation in Washington right now is……’

—Probably the new ‘Demon King of Salvation’ the Administration Bureau picked up.

‘The one who bought your demon king epithet.’

In short, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ currently in Washington was a fake with only the name ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

‘Is he also a ‘demon king’?’

—He won’t be at demon king-class. They’re too proud to steal someone else’s epithet. It’s probably a demon trying to use this opportunity to climb up to demon king.

Whatever his identity was, for now there was nothing for it but to head to Washington.

I had Christina wake Anna and explained what was necessary. Anna Croft’s expression was greatly flustered, but soon she calmly accepted the situation.

“I’m angry, but there’s no helping it. I will hold you strictly to account for this later, Christina.”

“I’m sorry, Anna.”

“Make an [Oath of Existence]. That you will never use [Hypnosis] on me again.”

“I swear.”

Anna did not press Christina any further. She probably knew that even if she harried her now, it wouldn’t solve the situation.

Anna had the craftsmen bring over the completed ‘Grade-4 Earth-Dragon-spec’ equipment.

“I’ve troubled you, Cheon Inho. Let’s depart at once.”

Once our preparations were finished, we immediately opened a portal toward the ‘Washington Dome.’

With things having come to this, my heart weighed heavy as well.

Were the party still safe.

What had happened to Yu Joonghyuk, who had encountered a marquis-class demon species.

How strong was the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ of the Washington Dome.

As I organized the tangled thoughts and stepped into the portal—

[Someone has defeated the ruler of the ‘Washington Dome.’]

A message was heard.

*

That ‘demon’ had no name.

[You are a 7th-rank demon species, ‘Dark Watcher.’]

He existed, like most other demon species, merely as an accessory to the scenarios designed by the dokkaebis. Killing the incarnations who came looking for the ‘Mole-Cricket’s Treasure Vault,’ and offering their souls to the demon kings.

The demon had no complaints about that work. Just as mole-crickets did not question breathing, inhaling black ether, and bringing back treasures, he too had never once questioned his work.

All incidents began when he killed some humans who had sneaked into his ‘treasure vault.’

「“It’s a Dark Watcher!”」

「“I-it’s real. It’s just like in the novel.”」

He faced the incarnations as usual. Attacks using tentacles.

But, surprisingly, the duo parried his attacks skillfully.

「“It works! Kim’s method works! Press in!”」

「“If you attack the left ankle, the upper-right tentacle moves!”」

Not only did the humans know his attack pattern, they used weapons with the ‘holy attribute’ to which he was vulnerable.

Every time a tentacle was cut, he screamed.

「“This is it! Finish it off!”」

In hindsight, an ordinary ‘Dark Watcher’ surely would not have withstood the duo’s ambush.

But the duo were unlucky.

The time he had lived as a ‘Dark Watcher’ was a little longer than other ‘Dark Watchers,’ and so he could display slightly more wisdom in battle than other individuals.

When he staggered as if weakened, the humans charged in full of momentum. He didn’t miss their opening and belched out pitch-black darkness.

「“What? This pattern wasn’t there!”」

「“The novel ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) never had detailed patterns to begin with! Damn it, run!”」

He missed one of the duo, but the other had a foot snared by a tentacle and couldn’t flee.

「“P-please spare me! Please!”」

The same, trite plea he had always heard.

The demon, who had no interest in human tears, lightly thrust a tentacle into the human’s heart. The human, vomiting blood in a heave, died.

「How trivial.」

The moment that thought came, he was startled at himself.

「What is trivial?」

It was a feeling he had never had.

He suddenly lowered his head and looked down at the tip of his tentacle. There, a small figurine giving off a faint light was clutched.

An item he had never once seen in all his life as a demon.

As if bewitched, he moved his tentacle and wrapped up the figurine—and then countless feelings he had never felt came flooding in.

So precious, so dear, a feeling of longing. What followed was a very intense appetite.

Unable to overcome that desire, in the end he swallowed the figurine.

「What am ‘I’?」

Thus the demon recognized his existence for the first time.

「I am a ‘Dark Watcher.’」

No.

That was not an accurate expression.

「I am an ‘extra.’」

Even though he did not properly understand what an ‘extra’ was, he felt the nuance imbued in the word.

He wanted to know. What this feeling was.

[You have evolved into a 5th-rank demon species, ‘Dark Tracker.’]

He entered the scenario and began to hunt. From the humans who came to hunt him, he learned to fight. He no longer fought like a ‘Dark Watcher.’

He used the weapons humans dropped and put on equipment.

「“My God! It’s a 5th-rank species!”」

「“There isn’t proper information on a Dark Tracker—”」

「“Run! Everyone run!”」

And so one, two, three…… he killed humans and killed them again.

And very occasionally, from particularly strong humans, he could obtain something.

[You have obtained a ‘Kim Dokja Fragment.’]

He did not understand the meaning of that message, but he understood at least one thing.

The more of these ‘fragments’ he obtained, the stronger he became.

He began to hunt humans at an ever faster pace. He learned their habits and picked up their quirks.

He dug traps aiming for humans who sought hidden items, and sometimes he disguised himself on purpose as a weak monster species.

How many fragments did he devour that way.

When he came to his senses, he had become a demon noble.

[You have evolved into a ‘demon noble.’]

And that ‘being’ came to find him.

[Ho, I’ve never seen a demon like you.]

The group commonly called the ‘Administration Bureau.’

[Don’t you want to have a ‘name’?]

The dokkaebi of the Administration Bureau asked, and he nodded.

[If you give me all the coins you have, I will give you a ‘name.’]

He gladly paid the coins he had collected by killing incarnations.

[From now on, you are the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’]

Thus he became the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

Hearing it, it felt like a name that suited him quite well. The tales seething within him were saying it.

「Gather the fragments.」

「Become the one and only ‘Kim Dokja.’」

There was an elation surging up from the depths of his soul.

He would become the ‘demon king’ of this world. He would cast off being an ‘extra’ and become a ‘being’ that yearned for a true ■■.

But as if to sneer at such efforts of his,

“A fellow who only just climbed to marquis.”

The true protagonist of this story came to find him.