「The universe is a very wide locked room. At the end of the locked room, there is a wall. We have never once touched that wall.」
―Recorder of Terror

*

Affiliation: planet Kronos.

Prince of the Imunthar race and the first wolf― ‘Lycaon Isparang’.

This wolf, who appears in the main story as the guide of the ‘Fifth Scenario’, was a character whose whereabouts became unknown after clashing with another guide, ‘Antinus’.

“He’s really that ‘Lycaon’?”

After the identity of the ‘Otherworldly Divinity’ was revealed, the party each expressed their surprise in different ways.

Only Dansoo, unable to join in the surprise, asked hesitantly,

“Who is Lycaon?”

“You know, that guide who appeared in the ‘Disaster Scenario’. The wolf that came out of the Moonstone.”

“Ah, that guy…… didn’t he die?”

“There was no narration that he died. It only said his whereabouts became unknown afterward.”

“Right. That’s true, but…….”

Nodding along to Killer King’s words, Ye Hyeonwoo glanced at me.

“Mr. Reader, how did you know that ‘Lycaon’ had become an Otherworldly Divinity?”

As expected, I figured Ye Hyeonwoo would ask. Even if he had completed the reading fewer times than the other Apostles, he was the quickest on the uptake.

He had even called me ‘Mr. Reader’. That meant he expected this answer to be fitting for ‘Kim Dokja’.

“I wasn’t completely sure either. It was a gamble.”

That was only natural, since I hadn’t prepared any separate additional settings or afterstories about Lycaon.

There are inevitably characters whose presence dwindles as the scenarios proceed, and Lycaon was also a character who had exited naturally in that way.

But it wasn’t as if I had mentioned Lycaon as a candidate for ‘Otherworldly Divinity’ without any thought.

“It just crossed my mind. That maybe among the people we know, there might be ones who evolved into ‘Otherworldly Divinities’.”

Many of the ‘Otherworldly Divinities’ in the main story were left without seeing the ‘end’ of their scenario.

Most lost their egos and became ‘nameless things’, but there were some who maintained their sense of self outside the scenarios, became outer gods, and grew stronger.

For example, ‘Asmodeus’, who appeared in this round, was also of that kind.

So I thought.

That perhaps among the people who had not been fully narrated in the main story, there might be ones who had become ‘Otherworldly Divinities’ as well.

“It was a gamble with very low odds.”

What Ye Hyeonwoo said was right.

The probability was low.

It was just that this place was the ‘Recycling Center’, and I thought there was a good chance that that kind of plausibility would work in a positive way.

And more than anything.

“I did have about two alternatives besides Lycaon.”

“Three contingency plans. That’s just like Kim Dokja.”

“Who were the other two?”

“As you know well, among the Otherworldly Divinities there is another being related to a ‘wolf’.”

As I said that, I looked down at little Yu Joonghyuk.

Was it because he had overexerted himself in the previous battle?

Or was it because he had gotten an upset stomach from eating dirt? Yu Joonghyuk was sprawled face-down on the floor, completely exhausted.

I draped a thin blanket over him.

“In the main story, there was also a ‘little Yu Joonghyuk’.”

The ‘second Otherworldly Divinity’ I had been planning to call did not possess a tale related to a ‘wolf’.

But in the main story, there had been a scene where he was compared to a ‘wolf’, and so I thought that maybe he might respond if called.

“Hm. You mean the ‘King of the Lonely Wolves’.”

“But would that ‘being’ really have responded to the summons?”

“The odds would have been low. In fact, I haven’t even seen that one in this round.”

The ‘Otherworldly Divinity’ I had considered as the second candidate was the ‘Secret Schemer’.

But the ‘Secret Schemer’ had reached his own ■■ and crossed over completely into another world, and so I had no certainty that he would respond to a summons.

“Then what about the third?”

“The third is…….”

I looked up at the sky. In truth, the third was a being whose response probability was as low as the second’s.

On top of that, the third had even less correlation with ‘wolves’.

But if this was a world where it acknowledged 「The Man Who Eats Eight Meals a Day」 as a ‘pig’.

“Do you remember the wolf-ear headband.”

Then it might also acknowledge 「The Man Wearing a Wolf-Ear Headband」 as a ‘wolf’.

After thinking something over carefully, Ye Hyeonwoo opened his mouth.

“Wolf ears? Are you talking about when we went to the amusement park in <Oz>…….”

“Yes. That’s right.”

If this was a world where all of Kim Dokja’s memories became tales, then surely even the time he went to the amusement park with Han Sooyoung would still be lingering as a tale fragment.

[A constellation that has not yet revealed its epithet looks at you.]

Even if it wasn’t an Otherworldly Divinity, if there existed a Kim Dokja who possessed that ‘tale fragment’―

If that Kim Dokja was a being who had an epithet, like the ‘Demon King of Salvation’……

['Sub Scenario― Three Little Pigs' has ended.]

Right on cue, a scenario termination message surfaced.

[You have obtained 500 Recycling Coins as a reward.]

[You have cleared this scenario in a way that no one else has ever attempted!]

[Because of your achievement, the foundation of this scenario is being altered!]

[Tale, 'Three Little Pigs' loses its influence in <Star Stream>.]

“Ah―”

The scenery around us shimmered as the night began to retreat.

Only then did the party, as if it finally felt real, start to brighten one by one.

The event scenario had been lifted, and the ‘wolf’ could no longer threaten us. Because that ‘wolf’ had just now become our ally.

“To fight against <Twelve Zodiac> from now on, we’ll need that guy’s strength.”

I looked back at Lycaon, who was standing ten or so steps away, as I spoke.

With a slightly frightened expression, Gyeong Sein asked,

“Will it be okay? He is an Otherworldly Divinity.”

“There’s nothing to be scared of just because he’s an Otherworldly Divinity. We negotiated with an Otherworldly Divinity in the main story as well.”

Lycaon had been muttering something toward empty air for a while now.

Perhaps he was exchanging messages with the Administration Bureau about the 'Otherworldly Covenant', or maybe he was negotiating with the ‘Recycling Center Head’.

Letting out a small breath, I turned back to the party.

“And here. These are the ‘masks’ we recovered earlier.”

One of the main goals of this ‘scenario’ had been to newly acquire the ‘masks’ that the party would use.

“Ah. When did you get these―”

They were the masks obtained from the wolf-side incarnations who had died earlier.

“Are you sure it’s okay for us to really take these?”

When Dansoo lowered his head as if feeling apologetic, the other party members also bowed their heads, looking like they felt ashamed.

With a trembling voice, Gyeong Sein said,

“I, I really wasn’t any help at all.”

“No, you all did well.”

Looking slowly around the party, I spoke firmly.

As the party, who had gotten their masks back, each put them on, the bodies that had undergone beastfolk-ization began to return to their original forms.

Instead, faces reflecting the features from when they had been beastfolk appeared on the surface of the masks.

Gyeong Sein was a squirrel.

Uncle Dansoo was a turtle.

Cha Yerin was a snail.

Ye Hyeonwoo was a panda.

It seemed ‘masks’ reflected the user’s inherent characteristics.

Then why was I still wearing a ‘faceless mask’? Did I have no animal I resembled?

While the party was breathing sighs of relief, Killer King, the only one among them who had not lost his mask, came up to me.

“Anyway, we were lucky this time. As you must know.”

“The ‘original owner’ of the tale did not intervene.”

I nodded as I spoke.

The reason this 「Stageification」 had collapsed faster than expected was because the original owner of the tale, the ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’, hadn’t helped us.

If the ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’ had intervened onstage, the fight would not have ended this easily.

Of course, even if that had happened, it wouldn’t have been the worst-case scenario.

Even if the ‘Pig’ had won and the existing tale had been strengthened, we were fighting on the side of the ‘Pig’ anyway. We wouldn’t have been able to write a new tale, but we still would have received some benefits.

Even so, I was curious.

Why hadn’t the ‘Pig Who Lives in the Brick House’ intervened onstage? Thinking about it, that constellation had been watching me from the beginning of the scenario.

“Ah, aaaaaah…… do you have any idea what you’ve done!”

“We’re all going to die! We’re all going to die!”

After the scenario ended, the beastfolk who had been hiding under the tables came out one by one.

“The other <Twelve Zodiac> won’t forgive District 13.”

“Why, why would you do something like this―”

Watching the beastfolk, who were overcome with terror, I gave a bitter smile.

You can’t be full with the very first spoonful, so I hadn’t harbored high expectations. The incarnations who had stagnated in a scenario like this were afraid of change.

But not every incarnation was like that.

The crane owner was looking at me with an expression of disbelief.

“Kim Dokja…… was it?”

Some tales are unchanging prisons.

Prisons that bind an existence into a fixed mold, make them repeat the same schedule, and transform them into mere material.

But the beastfolk had witnessed with their own eyes that that prison could be broken.

[Your new 'tale' begins to influence 'District 13'.]

[The name 'Kim Dokja' begins to spread through the 'Recycling Center'!]

For now, that was enough.

Standing side by side with Killer King, I watched the beastfolk for a moment.

“I suppose the Demon Realm scenarios were similar to this.”

“They must have been.”

“It’s a scene I like.”

Before I knew it, Ye Hyeonwoo, who had adjusted his mask, was walking over toward us.

The moment Killer King, narrowing his eyes as if displeased that Ye Hyeonwoo had come to stand next to us, was about to open his mouth―

“Mr. Inho. But will you really be okay? Continuing to act under ‘that name’.”

“Seventh Apostle. This guy is Kim Dokja―”

“Right now, I’m asking Mr. Cheon Inho, not Mr. Reader.”

Through the mask, I looked into Ye Hyeonwoo’s clever eyes.

Come to think of it, there had once been trouble between Ye Hyeonwoo and me over my using the name ‘Kim Dokja’.

“Is it uncomfortable for you?”

“No, it’s not that. I admit it now. Mr. Inho is the one among us who’s closest to that name. It’s just.”

For a moment, I felt like I understood what he was worried about.

The tales of <Star Stream> are more sensitive to ‘names’ than anything else.

In other words, if I impersonated ‘Kim Dokja’―

“At this rate, all the tales Mr. Inho piles up will become ‘Kim Dokja’s tales’.”

It was a sharp point.

“It’s fine. I’m doing it on purpose.”

“On purpose?”

In fact, I had a decisive reason for impersonating ‘Kim Dokja’ when I entered the ‘Recycling Center’.

[New tales begin to be recorded under the name 'Kim Dokja'.]

Along with the message, the power of the ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) newly sprouted tale flowed through me.

A tale whose name had not yet been decided.

Even so, perhaps because I was also the ‘youngest Kim Dokja’. Part of the tale was absorbed into me, but the rest pierced through the ceiling of the Recycling Center and slowly rose upward.

[Your tale is shared with your backer constellation.]

Watching the tail of the tale grow distant, I let out a small sigh of relief.

Thank goodness. So you’re still there.

“In the Demon Realm, something similar happened too. Do you remember.”

“You mean when Kim Dokja impersonated Yu Joonghyuk?”

Every tale has a protagonist, and it is recorded around that protagonist.

While I was impersonating Kim Dokja, the tales I built up would continue to raise Kim Dokja’s rank.

The tales created would spread Kim Dokja’s name, and people would call out Kim Dokja’s name.

And Kim Dokja, too, would come to hear that name.

“Wait, you don’t mean―”

“I’ve thought about it for a long time. But no matter how I think about it, this seems to be the only way.”

I had come to like this 41st round. That was why I didn’t want this world line to be destroyed.

But I also knew that if I protected this world line, other world lines might be destroyed. A catastrophe far greater than what had occurred in the main story might take place.

But the tragedy had not yet been written, and the story was still continuing.

So it could be done.

What was needed was only this.

「A being who can ‘read again’ every ending of this story.」

The one who can turn the ‘Square Circle’ I will write into reality.

“I intend to summon the ‘Oldest Dream’ to this world line.”