Great old being.

The moment I heard the designation, a few existences came to mind.

“Who was it?”

If it was a “great old being,” then it would be either a top-tier “Otherworldly Divinity” or one of those counted as kings among the “Otherworldly Divinities.”

The one called the Great Schemer, the “Secret Schemer”― or the characters who saw the end of the world in the 999th round.

But at the end of the 1,864th round, both the “Secret Schemer” and the divinities of the 999th round met the “Oldest Dream” and disappeared after ■■.

There was no reason for them to deliberately come back just to save Lycaon.

Then did that mean there were still more “great old beings” besides them?

【Hoju, I cannot carelessly speak about that.】

I figured as much.

I more or less guessed the reason and still asked again,

“Why not?”

【If I speak that name aloud, the “great old being” will also become aware of you.】

In this world, a name was a coordinate.

It was for a similar reason that calling someone’s true name carelessly was taboo.

“And if I still want to hear it?”

【My apologies.】

“Not even a hint?”

【Yes, I am sorry.】

I shook my head to show that it was fine.

In truth, even the stories I had heard from Lycaon so far were fairly high-grade information. Especially the things about the 1,864th round were the sort of content that wouldn’t have been strange at all to be filtered midway.

The fact that it hadn’t been filtered proved two things.

First, the “scenario progression speed” of this world line was that fast.

Second, there was someone other than me who was curious about this story right now.

[The ‘Recycling Center Head’ listens to your story with interest.]

“What’s certain is that a great old being brought you back to life. Then what mission did he give you?”

I thought this might be a secret too, but unexpectedly, Lycaon answered meekly.

【To collect the “records” of twisted world lines.】

Twisted world lines and records.

The moment I heard those two words, something came to mind.

Lycaon met my eyes and slowly nodded.

【In common parlance, beings like me are called ‘Recorders of Terror’. Though I am one of the lowest among them.】

Recorder of Terror.

I had always thought I would meet one someday, but I never imagined that would be “Lycaon.”

There were more than a few things I wanted to ask.

What exactly did “Recorders of Terror” do?

What did they know about this world line?

By “twisted world lines,” were they referring to this round?

Why were they still active even after the ■■ of Everything had ended…

【Hoju.】

As if he understood all my questions, Lycaon looked at me for a moment, then blinked.

【I am sorry, but I shall sleep for a bit.】

“Excuse me?”

【It seems I have spoken too much.】

At some point, the density of the sparks drifting around Lycaon had thickened.

The Otherworldly Covenant Lycaon and I had made stipulated that he would “exist in the 13th District for 30 days.”

In other words, Lycaon had no particular obligation to answer my questions.

Yet he had gone on and on, telling me stories of other world lines, so it was right about time for plausibility to become dangerous.

Just before his eyes closed, Lycaon added,

【Be careful, Hoju. This world line is one of the ‘unknown Primordials’.】

His voice carried a gentle concern.

【Many “old beings” are watching your choices. Depending on what you choose―】

Fssshhh, a sound of air leaking came from somewhere. At the same time, Lycaon’s body shrank rapidly. Before long, Lycaon had become about the size of a puppy and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. It seemed he had entered a temporary plausibility-preservation state.

[The ‘Recycling Center Head’ makes a regretful face.]

I felt just as regretful, but it would be troublesome if Lycaon were unsummoned here.

For this scenario to flow according to my plan, Lycaon’s existence was absolutely necessary.

In any case, I had at least found out that Lycaon was a “Recorder of Terror,” so it wasn’t as if I had gained nothing.

Soothing my regret, I started practicing [Wind’s Path] again, just as Lycaon had taught me.

[The tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, is in a state of ravenous hunger.]

[Your current remaining lifespan is 9 days.]

There was still time.

*

The next day, and the day after that.

My companions and I continued to practice [Wind’s Path].

But no matter how much I practiced, no wind rose from my hands.

「It seems [Wind’s Path] is already recorded in you, Hoju.」

What had Lycaon meant by that?

If [Wind’s Path] was recorded in me, then why couldn’t I use this power?

“You’re working hard.”

Little Yu Joonghyuk’s voice. He had been unconscious ever since 「Three Little Pigs」, but it seemed he had finally woken from his long sleep.

“You’re awake?”

Little Yu Joonghyuk nodded and slowly walked over to me.

Looking closely, it was hard to call him “little” anymore. Perhaps because his height had shot up while he was sleeping, he had become a proper “boy Yu Joonghyuk.”

To think I would get to watch Yu Joonghyuk’s growth process in real time.

“I had a strange dream.”

As he said that, boy Yu Joonghyuk wiped his mouth. Seeing the dirt falling off in crumbs, something belatedly came to mind.

「“You bastard, what did you feed me?”」

This punk, had he decided to just believe that was a dream?

It was ridiculous, and at the same time, I felt it was for the best. If Yu Joonghyuk grew up into an adult while remembering that he had eaten dirt, my life would be in danger.

“[Wind’s Path] is not used like that.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that a lot already.”

Boy Yu Joonghyuk, standing beside my grumbling self, flexed his small hand, attempting something.

“Do it like this.”

A clear wind opened at the boy’s fingertips.

It was unmistakably [Wind’s Path].

[Wind’s Path], different from Lycaon’s wind or the Demon King of Salvation’s wind.

As I gazed at the oddly lonely, chill gateway of the wind, I smiled bitterly.

As expected, the protagonist was the protagonist.

By the 41st round, was copying a tale fragment of this level just a light exercise for him?

“Too bad, but I don’t have any talent.”

“I saw you communicating with the tale fragment of the brick house. This technique is the same. Read the wind the way you understood the brick house.”

Easy for him to say, but a brick house and wind weren’t the same thing.

As if he had read my thoughts, boy Yu Joonghyuk added,

“Everyone has a different mental image of what ‘wind’ looks like. It’s important to concretize the wind you believe in.”

The “wind” I believed in, huh.

I tried to imagine an image of wind in my head. But even though I once carried the title of author, I couldn’t come up with a clear image of wind.

“I’ll generously enlighten you. In your left hand, the gale―”

“In my right hand, the storm. That’s not enlightenment.”

“So you already knew.”

“Want me to tell you more?”

I rattled off the incantations for [Wind’s Path] that I knew.

Boy Yu Joonghyuk’s expression changed from second to second. At first he seemed surprised, then interested, and finally his eyes turned grave.

“I see. You know too much.”

“Isn’t knowing more a good thing?”

“There’s no need to know that much.”

“Well, maybe someone who learns everything easily doesn’t need to know a lot―”

“I do not learn everything easily either.”

“You can use [Transmission], can’t you.”

[Transmission]. With that special stigma, Yu Joonghyuk had endured the world of Annihilation Method, inheriting the abilities of “previous rounds” again and again.

Yu Joonghyuk seemed slightly surprised that I knew that, then shook his head and said,

“[Transmission] only adjusts the starting point slightly.”

Truly a remark befitting someone born with a regression spoon in his mouth.

“You don’t seem to realize that having a different starting point from everyone else is already an enormous advantage.”

“At first, maybe. But the more rounds pile up, the harder it becomes to catch up to the constellations.”

“That makes no sense.”

It was something I couldn’t understand.

If rounds piled up, that meant the total amount of accumulated experience increased. You’d know more ways to become stronger, and naturally discover shortcuts to reach a certain realm.

So how could catching up to the constellations become harder the more rounds piled up?

“Do you know about ‘Transcendents’?”

“They’re the ‘ladder’ mortals can choose to climb in order to ascend to constellationhood.”

Yu Joonghyuk nodded.

“The first step of transcendence is to surpass the limits of the body.”

I knew that too.

Reaching a total stat of 100 and overcoming the limits of the flesh.

“The second step is to ‘train all your skills to their limits’.”

“Correct. You really do know much.”

“Knowing alone is the problem.”

If anyone could transcend just by knowing, the world would be overflowing with Transcendents.

Yu Joonghyuk spoke again.

“And the final step is―”

“To cast aside everything you’ve built up and find your own path.”

To forget your skills and forget your level.

To forget the many “universal” paths the system presented and find your own story.

That was the method of “transcendence” defined by the Heaven-Sundering Sword Star.

But it seemed the Heaven-Sundering Sword Star’s disciple had a footnote to add to that method.

“The last step of transcendence is special. In the process of ‘transcendence’ where you find your own story, enlightenment is needed every time.”

“Isn’t it easy for you? You already have enlightenment from before.”

“You do not seem to know what enlightenment is.”

When you thought about it, there was a reason enlightenment was called “enlightenment.” It was enlightenment because you gained insight into something you hadn’t known before.

“With a single enlightenment, a second transcendence is impossible.”

It was a concern other Transcendents never had to worry about. They didn’t regress.

But Yu Joonghyuk was different.

Every time a new round began, Yu Joonghyuk’s realm was reset, and he had to reach “transcendence” again and again by gaining new enlightenment each time.

“At first, it’s not difficult. Once, twice, three times. You can gain something new that many times. But when it reaches ten times, twenty times, and enlightenment begins to pile up, the problem becomes complicated.”

Come to think of it, Yu Joonghyuk in Annihilation Method had not always transcended at the same time. There were times when he transcended a bit earlier, and times when it happened a bit later.

Was this the reason?

“If enlightenment accumulates more than 1,800 times, transcendence would be nearly impossible.”

“What nonsense. There is no reason for it to accumulate that much.”

“Of course not, for you.”

I respect you, Secret Schemer.

“So what did you do when transcendence became difficult?”

“At first, I tried somehow to find new enlightenment. But as time went on, I realized that was impossible.”

“Well, that realization itself is also enlightenment. You must have gained at least one more transcendence out of that.”

I’d thrown it out as a joke, but Yu Joonghyuk didn’t laugh.

Instead, he answered,

“From then on, I forgot the enlightenment I already had.”

“That can be forgotten?”

“If you hit your head with [Hundred-Step Divine Fist], sometimes it gets forgotten.”

I couldn’t tell whether that was a joke or not. Because it really felt like Yu Joonghyuk might actually do that.

“Anyway, once the enlightenment is gone, you just have to fill its place with a new enlightenment.”

So-called “overwriting” enlightenment.

It was something even Annihilation Method had never mentioned in detail.

“Some enlightenment can only truly be realized after you forget it.”

It was almost a moving story.

If only he hadn’t mentioned punching his own head.

“Are you telling me to forget the [Wind’s Path] I know?”

Yu Joonghyuk nodded and took a [Hundred-Step Divine Fist] stance, aiming at my skull.

I hurriedly waved my hands and backed away.

“Wait, hold on! There’s nothing I want to forget right now!”

“Doesn’t seem you’re very desperate. Do you have no reason why you absolutely must learn [Wind’s Path]?”

The reason I was trying to learn [Wind’s Path].

“I…”

A face came to mind reflexively. The star that had sacrificed himself for me.

I had to become stronger.

Strong enough to save him, at least that much, or even more.

That was something only possible if I became Kim Dokja more than anyone else.

Slowly lowering his fist, Yu Joonghyuk spoke again.

“There’s no need to force yourself to learn something you can’t do. You must have something you’re good at.”

I never thought I’d hear that from Yu Joonghyuk’s mouth, so I stood there dazed for a long while.

“Thanks for the advice.”

From the desolate night sky, the stars shed intermittent light.

Boy Yu Joonghyuk stared up at that sky for a moment. But apparently the starlight he sought wasn’t there, because he soon turned his gaze back to the ground and asked,

“So, what are you going to do now?”

“I have to gain the beastfolk’s support.”

“Do you think you’ll gain their support by just learning [Wind’s Path] here?”

Yu Joonghyuk looked at me as if I were pathetic. It seemed this time, it was my turn to give this regressor a new enlightenment.

“How long do you think the beastfolk have been staying here?”

“That’s…”

The time density of the “Recycling Center” was far higher than the outside world. There were likely beastfolk who had spent dozens of years, maybe over a hundred, in this place.

“Judging from the atmosphere of the city, a very long time has piled up. There must have been revolutions a number of times too.”

The 13th District was where beastfolk who hadn’t made it into <Twelve Zodiac> gathered.

In a place like that, could it really be that there had never been a single revolution? Whether cranes, wolves, turtles, or squirrels—someone, at least once, must have resisted <Twelve Zodiac>.

Maybe twice, or even three times.

There must have been beastfolk who fought as desperately as Yu Joonghyuk challenging transcendence.

But.

“They were probably all crushed by <Twelve Zodiac>.”

The revolutions had failed. Naturally so. Because they were not Yu Joonghyuk.

“And then, one day.”

I continued speaking as if opening the beginning of a fairy tale.

“Some guys suddenly showed up, smashed the existing ‘tale,’ and took down one of <Twelve Zodiac>.”

The beastfolk must have been surprised. More precisely, they surely were surprised, but only stopped at being surprised.

Just as the crane owner had said, they had been in the /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ “13th District” for far too long.

“The beastfolk probably thought this would just be a fleeting thing too. That the guys lazing around in the 13th District would soon be killed by other <Twelve Zodiac>, just like always.”

The beastfolk would think so.

That another <Twelve Zodiac> would soon come.

That the owners of the tale would return to drive out those who believed themselves to be protagonists.

“But what if, no matter how much time passed, no <Twelve Zodiac> came to harm them? What if they didn’t see so much as the shadow of <Twelve Zodiac>?”

“You bastard, don’t tell me―”

Slowly, boy Yu Joonghyuk’s eyes widened.

I grinned and asked,

“What do you think the beastfolk are thinking right now?”

That was when I heard someone’s presence in the dark.

Long animal shadows stretched between the streetlamps.

There wasn’t just one or two.

Tensing up, Yu Joonghyuk took a [Hundred-Step Divine Fist] stance and stood at my side.

But I didn’t particularly tense up.

A voice flowed out from among the lengthened shadows.

“You lot.”

The owners of the shadows were the crane owner and the other animals who had been staying at the inn.

All of them had witnessed our 「Three Little Pigs」.

“Can you perhaps change other ‘tales’ as well?”

I nodded.

[Your approval rating increases.]

[Currently, 10% of the beastfolk belonging to the 13th District support you.]

It was time to do what I was good at.