「“Have you ever wondered why the stars bother to shine?”」
—Mass-Production Creator

A single hand holding a pen appeared over an empty void. The hand hesitated for a moment, then wrote invisible pitch-black letters into the blank of the universe.

【The hounds have moved.】

Letters so black they seemed to swallow the surrounding light.

The hand wrote once more.

【Because of what you did, the ‘Recorders’ of all world lines have begun to pay attention to this world line.】

Then another hand appeared over the cosmic void. A long, white hand. It too held a pen and wrote letters.

【It was something we did together.】

【That is……】

【Didn’t you help as well, Bicheonhori? Weren’t you curious about the story that comes ‘after’? That’s why you let the universe of <Kim Dokja Company> meet ‘him’, isn’t it?】

Bicheonhori did not answer.

His hand seemed to be trembling, as if from excitement, or perhaps from fear.

After a while, the hand that had calmed down began writing again.

【‘The first and final record’ will begin again. You know what that means.】

The long white hand fell silent for a moment.

Far away, ignorant stars that could neither read nor illuminate the writing twinkled.

【That only makes it more intriguing, doesn’t it.】

As though enjoying that ignorance, the owner of the long hand wrote.

【Who will be the ‘Recorder’ that writes the final sentence of this universe.】

[The presence of the hounds disappears.]

I had been holding my breath just in case, so this was an enormous relief. Perhaps the ‘hounds’, being Otherworldly Divinities, could not pursue us into a core scenario zone without permission.

“We lived.”

“It really wasn’t easy this time.”

Chatting lightly with the companions, we opened the gates of the fortress and went inside, and what appeared was a long corridor. The walls of the corridor were lined with paintings set in luxurious frames.

“Whoa, they’re moving?”

Looking closely, they were all paintings made from tale fragments. A tiger yawning while eating rice cakes. A pig building a brick house. A rabbit protecting its liver. A rat winning a running race. All of them were famous animals of the <Twelve Zodiac>.

Then, Uncle Dansoo discovered a peculiar painting.

“There’s a ‘tortoise’ here too.”

“But the tortoise isn’t part of the <Twelve Zodiac>, is it?”

Yu Joonghyuk replied.

“The <Twelve Zodiac> originated from the twelve characters used in the calendar system. What you know as the <Twelve Zodiac> was not the <Twelve Zodiac> from the beginning.”

“You even know that?”

“It’s common knowledge.”

Indeed, after regressing around forty-one times, it seemed you got that level of common-sense correction.

Suddenly curious, I asked,

“Have you ever been here before?”

“It’s my first time.”

That was disappointing. I’d thought that if this were the Yu Joonghyuk of the forty-first round, he might know something about this place too, but it seemed the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’ wasn’t an easily opened event after all.

“This is also the first time the <Twelve Zodiac> has held an event this large.”

“Aren’t you underestimating the <Twelve Zodiac> a bit?”

Yu Joonghyuk lightly furrowed his brow at my words and answered while looking toward the far end of the corridor.

“My goal is the end point of all scenarios.”

At that declaration, the companions walking behind either nodded or secretly gave me a thumbs-up.

The end point of all scenarios.

Saying that at only the forty-first round was absurd, but even so, this ‘forty-first round’ was different. It wasn’t just because I and the readers were here.

「The Yu Joonghyuk of the forty-first round is special.」

The history this Yu Joonghyuk shared with the original Yu Joonghyuk only spanned from the zero-th to the second round. From the third round to the forty-first, the timelines had completely diverged. The Yu Joonghyuk beside me now had endured dozens of rounds of life that no one knew.

And yet, by the forty-first round, he had been driven to despair large enough to abandon any further rounds.

The meaning of that despair was clear.

「Up until just before giving up, he struggled harder than any Yu Joonghyuk of any other world line.」

So if I could just soothe him well enough so that he wouldn’t fall into despair……

“You’re making an unpleasant face.”

“It’s just my normal expression.”

“You don’t know much about Kim Dokja. That’s just the face he has.”

Listening to Killer King’s pointless remark, we opened the doors to the banquet hall, and a gigantic hall spread out before our eyes. The hall was divided into a first-floor stage and second-floor seating separated by thin curtains.

Because the banquet hall was so noisy, our entrance didn’t really stand out. That was probably for the best.

[Oh, so you finally arrived.]

A light noise came from the air, and Bihyung appeared.

“You look different.”

[More handsome, right?]

Perhaps he’d become a mid-grade dokkaebi in the meantime, because Bihyung’s body had grown noticeably larger than before. At a glance, it just looked like he’d gained weight.

Seeing my expression, Bihyung seemed to guess what I was thinking and patted my shoulder while whispering.

[Hey, don’t shrink back too much. You know that the constellations gathered here are also beings in the middle of scenarios, right? They’re not really that different from you.]

I wasn’t sure why he was suddenly saying that, but I nodded and answered for now.

“I know.”

[So arrogant. Alright, incarnations go over there. Yeonggi will guide you.]

[I will guide you!]

The dokkaebi Yeonggi. That was the same dokkaebi who had guided Kim Dokja when he went to the ‘Banquet of the Constellations’.

[Incarnations, please follow me this way—]

[You idiot. That’s the dokkaebi waiting room.]

[I’m sorry. This way instead……!]

He was a pretty clumsy one for a dokkaebi, and it seemed he was the same in this round as well.

Bihyung added as if making excuses.

[He’s still a trainee dokkaebi. He looks like that, but he’s got a good heart—]

“I know. More importantly, it looks like there’s a separate incarnation waiting room for this ball.”

[That’s right. You noticed already? You’ll get a chance to meet the incarnations again later. Now, you come this way.]

“But I’m an incarnation too.”

The moment I saw Bihyung’s expression, I finally understood why he’d been talking about other constellations earlier.

[For now, you’re a constellation proxy. Stop complaining and follow me.]

Seeing the companions walking away give me worried looks, I signaled with my eyes that it was fine. I was just as worried about them. I didn’t know what kinds of guys might be in the incarnation waiting room.

Still, I didn’t worry too much. Whoever was there, what did it matter? We had Yu Joonghyuk on that side, after all.

And if my guess was right, our companions who had chosen other ‘factions’ would also be in the waiting room. Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Jeong Heewon, maybe even Shin Yuseung. Just thinking about it made me feel reassured.

Following after Bihyung, I organized the message logs that had been coming in.

[The sub-scenario ‘Orient Express Carriage’ has ended.]
[You may receive the rewards from the previous scenario.]
[A new main scenario will begin soon.]

The new main scenario was probably the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’. I’d need to take a closer look to see exactly what kind of task would come up……

[Sit over there. That’s your seat.]

On the seat of a secluded table was a nameplate engraved with my backer’s modifier.

<King of Salvation Demon (Proxy)>

Anyone could tell this was a temporary transfer-student seat.

Smiling wryly at the completely empty seats beside me, I heard Bihyung muttering after receiving some urgent contact.

[Ah, damn it. What now…… Hey, stay right here and don’t move. The scenario explanation will start soon. Ah, I’m going. I’m really going—]

When I turned my head, Bihyung had already disappeared somewhere.

Was this how it felt when the teacher who introduced you disappeared the moment you transferred to a new school?

I sat down at the table and looked around at the symbolic bodies of the other constellations. Some glanced toward me; others were busy talking amongst themselves.

The overall structure of the banquet hall wasn’t much different from the ‘Banquet of the Constellations’. On the first floor were mostly great-figure-class constellations in the form of symbolic bodies, and from appearances alone, it was hard to identify most of them.

I started by examining the ones with relatively easy-to-recognize symbolic bodies. That giant rice cake over there was obviously the ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes’—it looked badly injured from our battle, with chunks bitten out all over. The floating liver must be the ‘Rabbit Without a Liver’. That cut rattlesnake tail would be the ‘Snake Who Cuts Off Its Tail’.

In the middle of that, I spotted one familiar presence. On the table to the left, fingernails scratching at the surface were quietly creeping closer toward me.

The Rat Who Eats Nails. The reader who had come to warn us against the will of the <Twelve Zodiac> nebula was there. He hesitated, seeming to watch the reactions of other constellations, then sat back down.

The one who restrained him was a symbolic body wearing an ominous ‘beaked mask’. What was that mask?

[That is the ‘Rat That Brings Pestilence’.]

A calm incantation sounded from behind me.

[In the Middle Ages, when plagues spread, doctors treated patients while wearing masks like that.]

Admiring that breadth of knowledge, I turned my head. There, white feather fans were fluttering. The moment I saw the golden dragon engraved on the fan’s rivet, I realized who he was.

“Nice to meet you, Wolong.”

[Constellation, ‘Dragon Who Lies Down’ is greatly pleased by your reply.]

The Dragon Who Lies Down. He was the famous Wolong of Romance of the Three Kingdoms—Zhuge Liang.

[Hehe. It’s an honor that you recognize me.]

“Are you also a participant in this scenario, Wolong?”

His modifier was ‘Dragon’, after all, so I had thought he might qualify to participate in this ball. But Wolong shook his head with a smile.

[I’m participating as an evaluator for this scenario. I originally refused, but they kept asking over and over…… as you know, I’m weak to being sought out three times.]

Sought out three times. Right—Zhuge Liang had that famous anecdote. It seemed the ‘Recycling Center’ had gone to considerable lengths to bring Wolong in as an evaluator.

[In hindsight, I’m glad. Thanks to coming here, I’ve become your fan.]

A fan.
It was a bit embarrassing.

[I’m not the only one. Among the constellations invited as judges, there’s an especially passionate fan of yours…… Unfortunately, their tier is too high to come down to the first floor.]

“You mean ‘The One Who Brought Ten Sheep.’”

[Hehe, you already knew.]

I looked up toward the second-floor seating. Thinking back to the ‘Banquet of the Constellations’, there would naturally be constellations of even higher tier gathered there. Among them would be constellations that had cheered for me.

As that thought reached me, a faint sense of confusion followed. The ninth scenario taking place here meant that I would eventually be competing together with constellations here.

[The ‘Recycling Center Head’ has chosen the stage for the scenario.]
[The Administration Bureau reviews the difficulty of the scenario.]

Still, surely they wouldn’t make everyone fight it out with constellations this early, at just the ninth scenario. The plausibility wouldn’t support it.

[Ah, ah.]

At that moment, bright light poured into the center of the hall. Appearing on the stage was a young woman with a cute appearance, wearing a lavish gothic dress.

[Hello, everyone! Today’s host is me! ‘Euphrosyne’!]

For a moment I wondered why that constellation was here, then a sense of déjà vu shook my mind. That constellation had definitely been present at the banquet Kim Dokja attended.

「Goddess of joy and festival, Euphrosyne.」

The ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’, a banquet of great-figure-class constellations, suddenly began to feel like a Gourmet Association party.

[Thank you all so much for coming despite your busy schedules! Well, busy or not, you all had to come, right? After all, this is where the hottest tales on <Star Stream> are appearing these days.]

Light laughter flowed from beyond the curtains at those words. In contrast, no one on the first floor laughed.

[And I’d also like to sincerely thank the owner of the Recycling Center, ‘Recycling Center Head’, for lending us this stage!]

As if responding, the Recycling Center Head made the stage lights flash brilliantly, and Euphrosyne smiled.

[You all know what today’s main event is, right?]

At her words, someone in the second-floor seating murmured, “The Twelve Zodiac Ball.”

[That’s right! It’s the ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) held at the request of the Twelve Zodiac constellations!]

Originally, a ‘ball’ was a social gathering where many people danced together. Yet the constellations on the first floor all looked stiff. None of them looked like they wanted to dance.

[Oh my, our Twelve Zodiac constellations—how much hardship you must have endured to come all the way to the Recycling Center. Crushed by giant nebulae in upper scenarios, ignored by incarnations in lower scenarios. You had nowhere to go, did you?]

Open snickers rang out from various places. Several Twelve Zodiac constellations could be seen trembling faintly.

[Even our trusted ‘Monkey King’ silently stood by and watched the situation, so just how exhausting must life have been for the Twelve Zodiac constellations!]

Despite the mocking tone, the first-floor constellations couldn’t say a single word in reply. That was only natural. The constellation on that stage was a ‘fable-grade constellation’ none of them could defeat even together.

[So the Gourmet Association thought—what if we helped the Twelve Zodiac a little?]

Listening to the unending laughter beyond the curtains, I was slowly realizing who this ‘Twelve Zodiac Ball’ was really for.

[What if we gave those pitiful, miserable stars a chance to leap forward once more? But would a mere scuffle between animals make for an interesting ‘fable’?]

Nowhere in any page of “Ways of Destruction” had it said the Twelve Zodiac Ball proceeded like this. Why had such a variable appeared in this particular round?

The question didn’t last long.

[But there is someone here who answered our doubts.]

In an instant, the gazes of the stars focused on me.