Within Star Stream, there exist a total of four “Sun Wukong.”

“Sun Wukong” is divided into four according to the epithets they possess.

The first is the Monkey King, who once ruled the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain.
The second is the Stable Keeper, who once served as the caretaker of the Heavenly Stables.
The third is the one we know as the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal (this one is the Prisoner of the Golden Coil).
The fourth is the Victorious Fighting Buddha, who attained enlightenment at the end of the journey and became a Buddha.

Looking at it this way, I couldn’t help thinking that it somehow resembled Kim Dokja. Kim Dokja, too, had his existence split according to his epithets.

[That’s why I’m asking. Are you Kim Dokja?]

“First of all, I am Kim Dokja.”

I continued while carefully examining the monkey in front of me.

“Dazzling golden fur. Ragged tiger-skin shorts. Even that uniquely languid gaze.”

There was no doubt about it. The monkey before my eyes was—

“Are you the Monkey King?”

[So you can recognize me. Not bad.]

Snorting loudly, the Monkey King placed his hands on his hips and looked at me with pride.

Despite appearances, the Monkey King was a full-fledged tale-grade constellation that represented the birth of Sun Wukong. If Kim Dokja were to be compared, this would correspond to the Demon King of Salvation.

And yet… what was this?

The pressure of rank I felt from the Monkey King wasn’t all that great. At first, I wondered if it was because I had become stronger, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Was he hiding his original power?

That was possible. All Sun Wukongs were adept at adjusting the rank of their tales.

Even so, was it plausible for a tale-grade constellation like the Monkey King to appear here in an incarnation body?

I didn’t know.

So many things happening lately had completely disregarded plausibility that I was starting to doubt whether plausibility even existed in this world anymore.

[What are you staring at so hard?]

It seemed I had been looking too closely.

The Monkey King scratched his golden hair roughly and spoke.

[Did you fall for my fur at first sight? Even that Heaven’s Equal fellow envies my fur. You’ve got an eye.]

By Heaven’s Equal, he was probably referring to the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal.

Letting out a chuckle, the Monkey King’s deep gaze flashed.

[You know why I came, don’t you?]

“I have a guess.”

Just a few hours earlier, I had received a message saying they wanted to recruit me into the “Monkey” faction.

And the Monkey King standing before me now was that very famous Monkey King.

[The faction “Monkey Spirit” invites you.]

In other words, the Monkey King was the owner of the Monkey Spirit faction.

Not just any monkey, but the Monkey King himself. The scale of the Twelve Zodiac Ball might be larger than I had anticipated.

[Hmm. I came personally, and that’s all the reaction I get?]

Seeing the Monkey King’s dissatisfied expression, I realized too late. I should have at least asked to take a photo together.

[Insolent brat. Join my faction.]

True to his nature as Sun Wukong, the Monkey King continued talking without waiting for my reply.

[Your tales pleased me. I permit you to become my incarnation.]

Honestly, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted.

The incarnation of the Monkey King.

If I hadn’t already been the incarnation of the Demon King of Salvation, I might have been quite drawn to it.

If I could properly coax the Monkey King, succeed in the fourfold Sun Wukong fusion, and evolve him into the Oldest Liberator, I would end up with the strongest myth-grade constellation in history as my backer.

Of course, that was a hopeless assumption at this point.

“I’m sorry, but I already have a backer—”

[Hmph. I already know that your foolish backer has vacated his seat. Are you looking down on me?]

“Even if the seat is vacant, once a backer, always a backer, isn’t that right?”

Those weren’t words I truly believed, but Kim Dokja would have spoken like this. As expected, the Monkey King’s reaction wasn’t bad.

[You’re more loyal than I expected. I like that.]

“Thank you for understanding.”

[Then I’ll personally take care of terminating your backer contract.]

“What?”

Only then did I realize my mistake. Among the brothers, the Monkey King had the most eccentric temperament. If he decided to do something, he absolutely had to do it.

Just as I was desperately thinking about what outrageous lie I could use to escape this situation—

Screeeech.

A thread glowing gold flew in from somewhere.

The thread wrapped tightly around the Monkey King’s head. A chant followed, and the Monkey King clutched his head and screamed disgracefully.

[Gyaaagh—!]

[Tale, “Monkey Seal,” begins its story.]

A tale capable of subduing even the Monkey King.

[Alright! I get it! I get it!]

With a popping sound, the Monkey King turned into a small monkey. Still glaring at me, he flipped through the air, jumped far back, and landed on top of a woman’s head.

The woman gave a bitter smile at the chattering Monkey King.

“I told you not to do things like that.”

A clear, soothing voice that naturally set people at ease.

I often found myself thinking that if Yoo Sangah existed in reality, she might have been someone like this.

Another person in this world who called me “Author.”

“Have you written any side stories lately, Author?”

Editor Ji Eunyu was standing there.

*

I had parted ways with Ji Eunyu during the fierce battle at the Washington Dome. At the time, there was neither time nor presence of mind to exchange proper farewells.

On one side, the Demon King of Salvation was dying again and again, and on the other, Yu Joonghyuk, turned into a black beast, was rampaging.

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ looks at you with dissatisfaction.]

Fortunately, the only one rampaging now was a single monkey, and even that monkey had become docile in Ji Eunyu’s arms.

Perhaps because she had subdued the Monkey King, it almost felt like there was a halo behind her back.

“You look refreshed.”

“You look exhausted, Author.”

“Can you tell even though I’m wearing a mask?”

“Yes, I can.”

We exchanged trivial greetings and smiled at each other.

Whenever I was with Ji Eunyu, there was a peculiar sense of ease. A feeling that everything would be all right even if I made a mistake.

She was my editor—the one who caught not only spelling and spacing errors, but also sentences I had forgotten to write.

With just a few lines of a manuscript, she could tell whether I was confident in my writing or not.

“I can tell.”

That was what she said when I asked how she knew.

“Editor. There’s a lot I want to ask. Especially—”

Noticing my sidelong glance toward the Monkey King, Ji Eunyu gave a small cough.

“Did you forget who my backer constellation is?”

A series of details resurfaced in my mind a moment too late.

As far as I knew, the constellation Ji Eunyu had contracted with was the Lotus Blooming Under Moonlight, Yoo Sangah—the Moonlit Sage, a member of the Kim Dokja Company.

“I chose the ‘Monkey’ among the Twelve Zodiac. I thought it would be the easiest to deal with.”

In the story, Yoo Sangah resurrects by borrowing the incarnation body of Tripitaka after passing through the Island of Reincarnators.

In reality, most of Yoo Sangah’s related skills, including the Lotus Pedestal, were derived from the tales of Tripitaka.

Ji Eunyu had judged it.

“If I go to the Monkey faction, I can make use of my backer’s tales.”

I couldn’t help admiring that reasoning.

“But there was a chance that there wouldn’t be a Sun Wukong in the Monkey faction.”

“This is the Recycling Center. I was sure there would be a Sun Wukong here. Just a rather unpopular one.”

Indeed, deduction worthy of someone who could even find unwritten sentences.

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ grumbles that he is being ignored again.]

Ji Eunyu gently scratched the Monkey King under the chin and continued.

“And when I arrived in the Monkey district, there was a huge cave. At that moment, I was convinced.”

“The Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain.”

“Yes. He was there.”

To think that the Monkey district of the Twelve Zodiac would turn out to be the birthplace of the Monkey King.

It truly was an impeccable place for recycling.

“You didn’t choose any faction, did you, Author?”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. You always choose the hardest road.”

“This time, it really wasn’t easy.”

“But you do feel different from before. It’s like your posture has straightened a bit too.”

“Really?”

I looked down at myself again. Come to think of it, my condition did seem a little better.

“I can tell you’ve been wandering around instead of writing what you were supposed to.”

I did get scolded a little, but meeting Ji Eunyu here was still a favorable thing.

Judging by the situation, the Monkey King didn’t seem particularly hostile toward us either.

[Exclusive skill, “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Stage 2 has been activated.]

That was when the sudden skill activation message rang out.

It was the first time Omniscient Reader’s ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) Viewpoint had activated like this. Perhaps it was the influence of acting as a constellation proxy.

Someone’s inner thoughts began to echo in my head.

“Who is it.”

It didn’t take long to realize whose thoughts they were. So this person didn’t even use question marks when thinking.

“He called me Author.”

“Ah, right. Let me introduce you properly. Editor, this is Cha Yerin. Yerin, this person is my editor.”

This time, a different set of thoughts came through.

“Author, is it really okay to tell her that?”

“There seem to be a lot of inner thoughts.”

“Did you really reveal that you’re an author?”

“That could get a bit troublesome.”

Yes. Exactly.

“If she’s someone we can trust, it should be fine.”

“But Kim Dokja also revealed his identity quite late.”

To explain further—

“What if she betrays us?”

“I should prepare a separate countermeasure.”

“For now, as the first countermeasure—”

Before Ji Eunyu’s train of thought could progress any further, I quickly cut in.

“Editor. She’s my reader. You don’t need to worry.”

“Oh.”

“I revealed my secret. She’s my only reader.”

“My only… reader?”

The wording had ended up like that, but it wasn’t exactly wrong.

Cha Yerin was probably almost the only person who had read and remembered my debut novel.

“Then what about me?”

Huh?

“Nice to meet you. I’m Ji Eunyu. I’m the one who reads and edits the author’s writing before anyone else.”

Only then did I snap back to my senses.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t just Cha Yerin. Even if she hadn’t read my debut novel, Ji Eunyu had read my work earlier and more often than anyone else.

“I’m Cha Yerin. I’ve read all of the author’s novels.”

Ji Eunyu’s expression changed instantly upon hearing that.

“You’ve read all of the author’s works?”

“Yes.”

“Even the Origin trilogy?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a complete Kim Dokja then.”

“Kim Dokja…”

Cha Yerin awkwardly looked down at her toes.

Now I understood. That was the look of shyness.

“How did you read Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint?”

“I read the paper books first, but later I bought everything. The serialized version, the e-books, and—”

“Wow! Thank you so much! What are you doing, Author? You should thank her properly.”

“Thank you.”

I bowed reflexively along with her.

“Louder! She practically saved our management from going under!”

“Thank you!”

“If you ever want signed copies, please let me know! We don’t have books on us right now, but—”

Now that I thought about it, this was Ji Eunyu’s true self. I’d worried for nothing.

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ yawns, saying he has no idea what you are all talking about.]

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ urges you to hurry up and proceed with the scenario.]

“My goodness. Look at me. This really wasn’t the time for this, was it?”

“Yes. Well, shall we leave introductions at that for now?”

“You know where this place is, right, Author?”

At Ji Eunyu’s question, I looked around at the surrounding scenery.

“Yes. I do.”

A landscape completely covered in cloud flooring.

“This is the place where Kim Dokja once waited for a carriage during the Constellation Banquet.”

The name of this place was Cloud Road.

A branch and transfer station that connected the scenarios of Star Stream. That meant—

“The carriage will arrive soon.”

As if to confirm my words, something like a tiny dot came flying from far away in the sky. The dot gradually grew larger, and as expected, it took the shape of a carriage.

Cha Yerin spoke in admiration.

“A carriage like that came during the Constellation Banquet too.”

Back then, it had been Apollo’s golden carriage.

The carriage approaching us now was also a luxurious golden carriage.

The difference was that this one was being pulled by small rats.

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ grumbles that the organizers spent coins in another ridiculous place again.]

A golden carriage in the Recycling Center. Had that thing also been used in some other scenario before?

[A new sub scenario has arrived!]

+

Sub Scenario – Orient Express Carriage

Classification: Sub
Difficulty: S++
Clear Conditions: Board the carriage. Arrive safely at the destination.
Time Limit: 2 hours
Reward: Admission ticket to the Twelve Zodiac Ball.
Failure: Death.

+

At a glance, it was a scenario so peaceful that it almost felt wrong to call it a scenario. But—

“This is that, right?”

Ji Eunyu asked.

“It is.”

I replied.

It was common knowledge among aspiring Killer Kings that the carriage Kim Dokja rode during the Constellation Banquet was attacked by constellations and ultimately crashed.

The fact that something as simple as “board the carriage” had become a scenario meant that this carriage would undoubtedly meet the same fate.

Above all, the meaningful phrase “arrive safely at the destination” proved it.

I opened my mouth with a bitter smile.

“There’s no such thing as an easy pass.”

“Who is there to blame?”

“Pardon?”

“I told you while we were serializing. Sometimes there need to be easy scenarios so readers can rest too.”

I never thought it would come back to me like this.

“That was my mistake.”

On top of that, despite being a sub scenario, the difficulty was S++.

At this point, I was starting to suspect that the Recycling Center Head might be a possessed individual as well.

The carriage, which suspiciously resembled Apollo’s golden carriage, finally came to a stop before us. The squeaking rats bowed their heads deeply, as if greeting us.

Just as I reached for the carriage door handle to board, a message appeared.

[Only designated incarnations may board this carriage.]

[Tale fragment, ‘Facial Recognition,’ has been activated.]

A carriage with a facial recognition function.

Was it made by the Emperor faction, perhaps?

Ji Eunyu and Cha Yerin finished facial recognition and boarded one after the other. Then it was my turn.

[Facial recognition has failed.]

I wondered if it was malfunctioning, but then I realized that I was still wearing a mask. There was no way the carriage could recognize someone wearing a mask.

Now that the scenario of District 13 was over, there was no reason to insist on wearing it any longer.

[The ‘Faceless Mask’ has been removed.]

As I removed the mask after a long time, the stifling feeling vanished and cool air brushed against my face.

I loosened my neck a little and rolled my shoulders lightly, but for some reason my face felt warm.

When I raised my head, Ji Eunyu and Cha Yerin were staring at me with wide eyes.

[Constellation, ‘Monkey King,’ looks at you silently.]

The Monkey King, sitting on top of Ji Eunyu’s head, was the same.

Then, a voice echoed by my ear, the Monkey King’s proclamation.

[Interesting brat.]

My face was reflected in the slowly opening carriage window.

I stared at that face for a long while, forgetting that I was supposed to board the carriage at all.

The one I had possessed was certainly Cheon Inho. And yet—

[Tale, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name,’ looks at you and shows a satisfied smile.]

The face reflected in the window was Kim Dokja’s face.