“From now on, we are becoming ‘little pigs.’”

[Someone has declared themselves a ‘Little Pig’!]

Watching the scenario message flicker in the air, I gave a bitter smile. As expected, this scenario was similar to the Demon Realm’s “Revolutionary Game.”

[Some constellations from <Twelve Zodiac> take an interest in the declaration.]

I reviewed the indirect messages drifting above us and organized the facts I had learned since entering this “Center.”

“One: events inside this ‘Recycling Center’ are not reported outside.”

This was written in “Destruction Method.” The “Recycling Center” was originally a place where incarnations of small and medium nebulae cultivated strength to oppose the great nebulae. Naturally, the constellations of great nebulae could not know what happened here.

“Two: the only constellations who can spectate events inside the ‘Recycling Center’ are those related to it.”

This was simply an extension of the first fact.

In other words, only constellations from the Twelve Zodiac or animal-line constellations could observe anything happening in District 13.

[The constellation, ‘Pig Who Died First’, looks forward to your performance.]

[The constellation, ‘Rat Who Eats Fingernails’, pays attention to your judgment.]

At least this meant that <Asgard>, <Olympus>, and {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} the other great nebulae that had tormented me would be unlikely to interfere directly.

Now the immediate task was to reproduce “The Three Little Pigs.”

It was the only way to deal with the wolf that became invincible during “night.”

I looked at the others and asked:

“First, could each of you tell me what animal you became?”

“I’m… a squirrel, as you can see.”

“A turtle.”

Gyeong Sein was a squirrel. Uncle Dansoo was a turtle.

Judging by Ye Hyeonwoo chewing his lip in annoyance, he was clearly a panda. And finally, Cha Yerin—

“Sna—”

She couldn’t finish. Killer King answered for her:

“A snail.”

Embarrassed that she had become a snail, Cha Yerin lowered her head.

It occurred to me then that everyone here had turned into animals unrelated to the Twelve Zodiac. Was it a coincidence?

“Is there anyone who became a pig?”

Come to think of it, all the way here I had never once encountered any proper Twelve Zodiac animals. I had seen similar creatures, but they were mostly offshoots or variants.

“There can’t be pigs here. This is District 13. You, of all people, should know exactly what that means.”

Hearing Killer King’s answer, I became certain of the meaning behind the name.

District 13.

Everyone here had become animals that failed to enter the Twelve Zodiac.

“And you? What animal are you?”

“I didn’t choose an animal.”

“I know you chose the Nameless Mask. But even if you choose a nameless mask, you eventually end up with an animal mask.”

Eventually?

“The Nameless Mask identifies your tale and transforms into the most suitable animal mask. But in your case—”

I looked at my reflection in the window of a nearby building. My mask was still the same blank, featureless mask.

No animal shape at all.

I stared for a moment at the smooth surface, then changed the subject.

“It doesn’t matter. That’s not important right now. The time Yu Joonghyuk can buy us is at most twenty minutes.”

Currently, the “Wolf Who Likes Red Hoods” was chasing the hooded child Yu Joonghyuk.

Even if that constellation had a corrupted tale, twenty minutes was enough for him to regain his senses.

Before Red Riding Hood Yu Joonghyuk was eaten, we needed to formulate a plan.

“The plan is simple. We recreate ‘The Three Little Pigs.’”

“I already told you that’s impossible.”

Killer King scowled, glaring at me.

“It’s not like everyone who chose the Pig side was an idiot. We tried something similar at first.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“We hid in a house and planned to kill the wolf with bricks, just like the original.”

“…Sorry, what?”

I wondered if I had misheard.

“Do you even know what ‘The Three Little Pigs’ is about?”

Killer King confidently nodded.

“It’s the story where the three little pigs beat the wolf to death with bricks.”

…What kind of universe did his version come from?

If I thought generously, it wasn’t completely impossible, but it was definitely not the correct original.

Looking at the others, Gyeong Sein replied first:

“I actually haven’t read many fairy tales…”

Fair enough. One person not knowing a famous story wasn’t strange.

I turned to Ye Hyeonwoo. As the smart Seventh Apostle, surely—

He scratched his cheek lazily.

“It’s kind of like an old version of Baby Shark, right?”

…Right. “The Three Little Pigs” was already an old story. Modern kids might not know it.

But what about Uncle Dansoo?

“Well, our Jiyoon didn’t like fairy tales…”

“…”

“And it’s been so long since I read it… haha… hahaha…”

I looked at my last hope, Literature Girl Cha Yerin. She avoided my gaze.

“You don’t know it? Seriously?”

“My younger sister only read world classics and Korean literature.”

I fell into despair.

No one here knew “The Three Little Pigs.”

I remembered hearing somewhere that the average Korean adult reads 1.5 books a year.

But even if someone had read “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” a hundred times, how could they not know a basic fairy tale?

Then again… if they read ORV a hundred times, maybe that meant they had no time for other books.

“So… you all picked up rocks and charged together?”

The panda, who had read ORV fifty times, nodded proudly.

“Exactly. We couldn’t find bricks, so we used big stones. It was a brilliant plan to trigger ‘stageification.’”

“Did it trigger stageification?”

“Well…”

The panda wilted. Killer King, who had read ORV a hundred times, shook his head.

“That’s how everyone lost their masks. If I hadn’t made the genius choice to join the Wolf side, we’d all have died.”

Apparently, Killer King hadn’t joined their plan at all and instead hid until he could choose the Wolf side.

“There was no other way. In a world with no bricks, there’s no way to fight them. You saw it yourself—the wolf leader is a constellation.”

“A half-finished constellation. There is a way to kill him.”

“You plan to use stageification too, don’t you?”

I nodded.

Their attempt had failed, but in a story-based scenario, stageification always existed. That part was certain.

“But this world has no bricks.”

“Only rocks.”

I knew that already.

There were no brick houses, and no brick walls. It was as if someone had intentionally removed the concept of “brick” from this world.

Probably the wolves.

They must have destroyed all bricks in District 13 to prevent the scenario from proceeding normally.

But that didn’t mean getting bricks was impossible.

“We buy them.”

I summoned the Goblin Bag in my thoughts. It worked even here. If it led to Seoul, that was enough.

[You cannot purchase ‘brick’ items in this worldline.]

So that’s how it was.

I opened the “Trading Market” instead.

Thankfully, it had bricks. Quite a lot of them.

+

Old Brick — 50,000 C
+

Fifty thousand coins each?

[A few constellations snicker at you.]

I understood instantly. Some constellation scammers were exploiting the loophole, selling overpriced bricks to anyone desperate enough to try clearing the scenario.

I could buy them, but I refused to feed shameless merchants.

Besides, even if I bought them, we couldn’t build an actual brick house in time.

Gyeong Sein asked nervously,

“What do we do? Should we gather random stones?”

“Bricks aren’t made of stone. They’re made of clay.”

“What? Really? How do you know that?”

Because it was written in “Destruction Method.”

“You mix clay with sand or shale and fire it at over eleven hundred degrees. That’s how standard clay bricks are made.”

“…Were you a brickmaker originally?”

Again: it was in “Destruction Method.”

Why that book contained such information, I had no idea. But it did.

“If we can get clay, sand, and shale—”

“There’s no way to make that in time. And we still have to build the house.”

This scenario was strange from the beginning.

With wolves approaching any minute, how were we supposed to create bricks that took ages to fire and then build a house?

Was the scenario really designed to be cleared that way?

“There was no revolutionary in the Revolutionary Scenario.”

The one who spoke was Killer King.

“And there’s no brick house in this world either.”

I looked at him. He looked right back.

“Perhaps…”

“If my guess is right—”

As much as I hated to admit it, we were thinking the same thing.

“This scenario resembles the Revolutionary Scenario.”

There was a “brick house” in this world.

“We found the solution.”

It was just that no one recognized it as a brick house.

*

A little later, we arrived at the Fox and Crane Hotel.

I kicked the door open. The startled crane shrieked and emerged in a panic.

“W–what is the meaning of this?!”

“We’re staying here for the night.”

“Sorry, but there are no rooms available. Leave.”

Ignoring him, I examined the interior of the inn.

Judging by sight, it was just an ordinary wooden building.

“It’s a normal wooden house.”

Killer King returned after checking the exterior.

“The outer and inner walls are sturdy, but it looks like nothing besides wood was used. That’s what it looks like to the naked eye.”

The crane paled.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but leave me out of this! I refuse to be involved any further!”

“This house is pretty solid. Not a single scratch. Seems old too.”

“That is because I built it with—”

“Who built it?”

The crane hiccupped and swallowed hard.

“I–I cannot say.”

“This is a wooden house, right?”

“Of course it is!”

“I see.”

I casually cleaned my ear.

“The house is saying the same thing.”

[Tale Fragment, ‘A House That Is Not a Brick House’, continues its story.]

I didn’t know what trick had been used, but this building contained a tale fragment.

To be precise: in this entire district, this was the only building that had one.

[Tale Fragment, ‘A House That Is Not a Brick House’, continues its story.]

At first I wasn’t sure where the sound was coming from. But after passing this inn a few times, I became certain.

“I am not a brick house.”

This inn was strange.

“It’s odd, isn’t it? Anyone can see it’s not a brick house, yet it keeps insisting that it isn’t one.”

“What?”

“A person who isn’t a liar has no need to say ‘I’m not a liar.’”

“…”

“What exactly are you hiding?”

“You… you know nothing! Do not meddle in this scenario!”

I slowly placed my hand against the interior wall. Killer King and the others restrained the panicking crane.

Closing my eyes, I heard the tale trembling inside the wall.

[Tale Fragment, ‘A House That Is Not a Brick House’, begins to tremble.]

I grasped the embedded tale fragment gently. I could simply pull it out, but there was something I wanted to test.

[Lower Skill, ‘Sentence Reinforcement’, activates!]

[You may now input an action.]

[Your chosen action will be ‘reinforced’.]

As expected. I could use [Sentence Reinforcement] again—a skill that ignored even scenario restrictions.

Until now, I had only used this skill to reinforce [Agitation].

But perhaps… there was another way to use it.

[Tale Fragment, ‘A House That Is Not a Brick House’, stops its story.]

For example… what if I slightly rewrote a tale that already existed?