「The essence of <Twelve Zodiac> lies in the generation and decay of all things in the universe, and thus it does not in fact symbolize any specific animal.」
―『Understanding of All Beasts』

*

After the scenario began, most people spent their nights with their eyes open. It was a situation where no one knew when or where a monster or an enemy might appear. As long as one consumed something like ‘Elrain Forest’s Essence’ or a recovery potion, fatigue could be handled, so unless there was a sleep penalty, there was no need to take risks. Sleep had become a luxury in this world. In that sense, every incarnation living through the scenario had effectively lost their dreams. The incarnations in front of my eyes right now were the same.

A beastfolk who had long been trapped in the prison of the scenario and had forgotten how to dream asked,

“Y-you’re really going to change the tale for me?”

The crane owner looked at me with a tense expression.

“I can change it for you.”

“What if <Twelve Zodiac> finds out…….”

“<Twelve Zodiac> can’t come.”

I pointed with my chin toward the inn entrance. Lycaon was sitting there with his eyes closed and his legs crossed.

A few beastfolk looked around at one another and nodded. They too had confirmed Lycaon’s power. There was no reason to doubt my words.

“What tale should I change for you?”

“Well……”

“‘The Fox and the Crane,’ is it?”

“How did you know?”

There was nothing to “know” or guess.

[The tale, ‘The Fox and the Crane,’ has paused its story.]

Ever since I repaired the tale fragment 「Brick House」, I had begun to see the flow of tales wandering through this ‘District 13.’

The crane owner let out a light sigh and spoke again.

“Recently the status of my tale has become unstable.”

For a ‘tale’ to maintain its proper function, its true owner must continuously act within the <Star Stream>, or the tale must be continuously talked about.

“So I tried to make it talked about through 「Stageification」, but I simply can’t raise a stage on my own.”

Of course he couldn’t. That tale wasn’t his alone.

“Is there no fox in District 13?”

The crane owner nodded with a sigh.

“There used to be, but the last fox disappeared a few months ago.”

“What happened to the last fox?”

“After <Twelve Zodiac> took it, all news stopped.”

<Twelve Zodiac>.

It was obvious why they did such a thing.

[The presence of the tale, ‘The Fox and the Crane,’ grows faint.]

It would be troublesome for them if someone in District 13 built up a tale strong enough to threaten their position.

I slowly looked around at the beastfolk.

Perhaps among them, there were those who—like the “wolf” of 「Three Little Pigs」—had once been constellations or nearly constellation-level beings. They had simply lost their tales over time and fallen from their original rank.

The owner murmured in a powerless voice,

“The fox is probably dead.”

Most likely the ‘tale’ had told him so. He and the fox were tied together by a tale.

“At first I even considered handing the tale over to <Twelve Zodiac>. If I gave them the tale, even if some distortion occurred, at least the tale’s status might remain.”

I thought of the wolf constellation who struggled desperately to maintain 「Three Little Pigs」.

“But I just couldn’t do it. I would rather lose the tale entirely than kneel to the ones who took the fox.”

The owner lowered his head deeply as he said that.

“I know that I must let go of the tale now. It is a tale I cannot protect alone, and it is not particularly important within the <Star Stream>. But……”

The eyes of the crane owner, slowly lifting his head, flickered with a strange yearning.

“I felt that you might have a method.”

I nodded.

“There is a method.”

“Truly?”

Right then, a scenario message floated before my eyes. It was probably a scenario activated by the ‘Recycling Center Head’ or the Administration Bureau, who were watching the situation.

[You have received a new sub scenario!]

+

<Sub Scenario ― The Fox and the Crane>
Category : Sub
Difficulty : C
Clear Condition : Successfully reenact the tale 「The Fox and the Crane」.
Time Limit : ―
Reward : 12,000 Coins or 2,000 Recycling Coins, unidentified tale fragment
Failure : ―

+

Unlike with 「Three Little Pigs」, the situation was different this time. There was no involvement of <Twelve Zodiac>, so there was nothing to hesitate about in joining the stage. The problem was finding someone to play the role of the ‘fox.’

Killer King raised his hand.
“I’ll do it.”

“Killer King, you’re a wolf.”

“Then we change it to Wolf and Crane.”

“To manifest a stage, we need a fox.”

But no one in our group possessed a ‘fox mask.’

Fox, fox… It would be nice if there were at least a tale similar to a fox.

Ah, wait a moment.

[Checking the ‘Delayed Reward List’.]

Come to think of it, I still had a ‘tale reward’ I hadn’t claimed.

[Checking the reward for the Seventh Main Scenario.]
[You currently have an ‘S-grade Skill Selection Ticket’ pending.]
[You currently have a ‘History-grade Tale Selection Ticket’ pending.]

The ‘S-grade Skill Selection Ticket’ was expected, but the ‘History-grade Tale Selection Ticket’? That wasn’t the original reward for the scenario.

[You accomplished an impossible achievement in the Seventh Main Scenario.]
[The Administration Bureau acknowledges your achievement.]
[The scenario reward ‘Random History-grade Tale’ has been upgraded to ‘History-grade Tale Selection Ticket’.]

For once, the Administration Bureau had done something helpful. Considering what happened at Washington Dome, an upgraded reward wasn’t even surprising.

A ‘History-grade Tale Selection Ticket’… History-grade tales were usually trash, but among them, there were exceptions that could be useful, like 「The Tenacious Martial Grandmaster」. Some, like 「If Hung on the Ear, It’s an Earring」 or 「If Hung on the Nose, It’s a Nose Ring」, could exert terrifying power when fused.

With a slight sense of expectation, I checked the reward list.

[Checking the list of History-grade Tale Rewards.]
[You may choose one from a total of 461 tales.]

461.

Surely at least one of them would be usable?

1. A Turd Pretending to Be Soybean Paste

2. The Cat With Singed Whiskers

+

3. The Silla–Tang Allied Forces
……

*

Everything looked like garbage tales. There were even tales that would have made the Demon King of Salvation faint if he were beside me.

I continued inspecting the tales.
No.10, No.30, No.50, No.100……

+

122. The Barber Who Cannot Cut His Own Hair
123. Head Shoulders Knees and Toes
124. The Cook Who Cannot Tell Salt From Sugar
125. The Ornamental Beard Specialist

+

Occasionally there were tales that seemed like they belonged in a “Random Tale Box.”

As the list climbed past the 200s and finally into the 300s, a foreboding feeling crept in. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a pile of tales discarded by constellations. There wasn’t even anything like 「If Hung on the Ear, It’s an Earring」.

Just as I was about to give up—

+

461. The Owner of the Fox-Ear Headband

+

I stared intently at the final tale.

Why was this tale even here?

‘The Owner of the Fox-Ear Headband.’

If my guess was correct, this ‘tale’ was unmistakably that tale.

Probably from when [N O V E L I G H T] <Kim Dokja Company> visited the <Oz> amusement park.

「“What are you doing here, bastard?”
When I turned around, Yu Joonghyuk—wearing a fox-ear headband—was standing there.」

……Even if it wasn’t that exact tale, it didn’t matter. It contained “fox”, and that was enough to use it immediately.

‘I choose No. 461.’

[You have obtained the History-grade Tale, ‘The Owner of the Fox-Ear Headband’.]

I immediately activated the tale. Of course, using this ‘tale’ wouldn’t suddenly make a nonexistent fox appear. The only thing contained in this tale was not a fox, but ‘fox ears.’

[The tale, ‘The Owner of the Fox-Ear Headband,’ begins its story.]

I looked at my faceless mask reflected in the window. In this world, a ‘mask’ was said to be a tale that protected oneself. But if this mask really was a tale…

‘Attach.’

It should be possible for tales to bind to other tales.

‘Attach.’

How many times had I urged the tale?

[The tale, ‘The Owner of the Fox-Ear Headband,’ responds to your ‘Faceless Mask’.]

My faceless mask began to emit a faint light. The beastfolk watching us nearby gasped.

“O-oh, oooh―!”

The form of my previously featureless mask changed in real time. The muzzle grew pointed, and small ears sprouted atop the head. It was precisely the appearance of a ‘fox mask.’

[The tale, ‘The Fox and the Crane,’ looks at you.]

The crane owner, overwhelmed, grabbed my hand.

“Y-you…… were you a fox?”

“No.”

The fox in this tale was dead.

Even if I played the fox to successfully trigger 「Stageification」, the tale would only be talked about for an instant.

“I can help you, but even if we reenact the stage like this, the effect will be brief.”

“I know.”

Just like with 「Three Little Pigs」, we could change the development of the tale to generate renewed attention, or bring in other animals, but that too would be only temporary.

“Owner, don’t you want to become famous again?”

“What do you mean?”

“The original 「Fox and the Crane」 is a tale just as famous as 「Three Little Pigs」.”

The owner looked confused.

“Don’t you want to let the <Star Stream> know your tale again?”

To make a tale known across the <Star Stream>. That was the dream of every star shining in the sky.

“As you know, the reason tales of District 13 are weakening is because you’re trapped inside the Recycling Center.”

“I know. But we can’t leave the Center.”

“That’s true for you. But what about the ‘tales’?”

The crane owner looked at me with a shocked expression. I nodded and continued,

“We let the tales inside the Recycling Center be known throughout the <Star Stream>.”

“That’s impossible. Anything that happens inside the Center cannot be known by constellations outside. Tales born here can never become famous.”

“In principle, yes.”

And from here began the second stage of my plan.

‘Bihyung.’

If they can’t see, then we make it so they can see.

‘Open a channel.’

*

―You lunatic!

Just as expected, Bihyung appeared immediately.

―You lunatic! You lunatic!

‘Please stop and listen to me.’

―Shut up, you lunatic!

‘……’

―Do you even know what’s happening outside right now? Are you sane?

‘What’s happening?’

―Are you seriously asking? Did you forget what you and your backer did right before entering the ‘Recycling Center’?

I recalled what happened at Washington Dome.

―Constellations are gathering outside the Recycling Center right now. You get that?

‘Which constellations?’

―Who do you think?

I could roughly guess.

<Asgard>, <Olympus>, <Guiok>, <Veda>, <Tree of Guardians>.

The constellations of the nebulae that had targeted us at Washington Dome must have gathered. And surely constellations from other nebulae rushed in after hearing the rumors.

Thinking about it, it was a bit frightening.

―Now you get it?

Considering what the Demon King of Salvation and I had done, it wasn’t strange at all. The ‘Demon King of Salvation’ had slain dozens of heroic-grade constellations belonging to the greatest nebulae in <Asgard>’s mythic stage ‘Ginnungagap.’

And not only that—

He had even struck down Ares, the War God of Ferocity, one of the Twelve Olympians of <Olympus>.

Naturally, <Asgard> and <Olympus> would be furious. The other nebulae, too, would be curious about us. Some nebulae must have confirmed that the Backer Contract between me and ‘Demon King of Salvation’ hadn’t been severed.

―They’ll drag you down into the underground torture chambers of ‘Tartarus’, tear you apart in horrific ways, strip your ego, and turn you into a puppet weapon!

‘That’s extremely detailed.’

―So you absolutely can’t get caught. Stay inside the ‘Recycling Center’ no matter what. Don’t go outside. This place is the only safe location where outside constellations can’t interfere……

‘Thanks for worrying.’

―I’m not worrying about you! I’m scared my merchandise value will be ruined! Do you remember our contract extension? Your backer……

‘I know.’

―If you know, then what? And you want me to open a channel?

‘I’m not asking for a real-time channel. I’m asking for a channel through which only the tale can be distributed.’

―Why would I listen to you……

‘If something has value, you have to sell it before that value declines.’

―What?

‘You said everyone is waiting for me, right?’

Even trapped inside the Recycling Center, I could feel it.

[The power of the tale, ‘One Who Rewrites Fate,’ grows stronger.]

Even now, the tales of the Demon King of Salvation and me were growing famous. And yet at this timing, the incarnation of the Demon King of Salvation—me—was stuck inside the ‘Recycling Center.’

As Bihyung said, outside constellations couldn’t freely intervene or spy in this place. Their curiosity about me was growing endlessly.

‘Then I should meet their expectations.’

I couldn’t stay trapped in the ‘Recycling Center’ forever. A time would come when I would have to escape this place and confront the nebulae. Until then, I had to bridge the immense gap hanging between the constellations and me.

‘Bihyung, you like coins, right?’

And within this <Star Stream>, there existed a very efficient way to bridge that gap.

[The tale, ‘The Fox and the Crane,’ has paused its story.]
[The tale, ‘The Magpie Who Repaid a Favor,’ has paused its story.]
[The tale, ‘The Goose That Lays Golden Eggs,’ has paused its story.]
……

Adjusting my faceless mask, I said,

‘From now on, I intend to appear in every tale in District 13. So you—’

In the end, trends always come around again.

Looking at the endlessly piled-up ‘recycled tales,’ I grinned widely.

‘Sell the tales I appear in to the constellations who pay coins.’