[You all know who I’m talking about, right? Especially you, members of the ‘Gourmet Association’.]

The concentrated gazes were suffocating.

Light laughter drifted down from the second floor. I thought I even heard someone mutter, “So that’s the Kim Dokja?”

[The constellations belonging to the ‘Gourmet Association’ are looking at you.]

Monsters on a completely different level from great-figure-class constellations were sitting up there. Each and every one of them was the sort of being who claimed to be the overlord of an entire region.

Cold sweat formed on my neck and my breath slowly began to catch.

Kim ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) Dokja had been fighting against monsters like that all this time.

I bit down hard on my lip and raised my hand toward them. It was because I thought that if I shrank back here, everything would be ruined.

In the first place, I was the one who had dragged them onto this stage.

I had changed the ‘animal tales’ of District 13 and produced new tales, then spread those tales to the Gourmet Association through Bihyung.

The fact that those guys had come all the way here meant they had taken the bait I’d scattered.

[Your tale is being made known on <Star Stream>.]

[You have acquired 15,000 coins.]

Messages rang out in real time.

It was proof that our tales were being steadily consumed on <Star Stream>.

In that case, fine. Consume as much as you like. I’ll keep feeding you tales until your stomachs burst and you die.

[The constellations belonging to the ‘Gourmet Association’ cheer for you!]

It felt like blood would start flowing from the lip I was biting. Just when it was getting hard to endure the constellations’ gazes—

[Constellation, ‘The One Who Brought Ten Sheep’ restrains the Gourmet Association constellations.]

At the same time as the message, the pressure weighing down on me vanished as if it had been washed away.

Barely managing to let out a sigh of relief, I gave a light bow toward the evaluator beyond the curtain.

But even with the evaluator restraining them, there were still constellations who continued to look at me.

The constellations of the <Twelve Zodiac> on the first floor were like that.

Their gazes didn’t feel threatening like those of the constellations on the second floor, but for some reason, I could feel resentment in their eyes.

Euphrosyne opened her mouth again.

[Anyway, thanks to him, we learned something. That even old tales can be as fun as you like! Just because a generation is old doesn’t mean it’s lost its usefulness on <Star Stream>!]

In short, it meant they’d taken inspiration from the ‘animal tales’ I’d altered to design the scenario stage.

I had a bad feeling about this.

[In this scenario, you’ll get to see a reenactment of old tales!]

A reenactment of old tales.

Since this was the <Twelve Zodiac Ball>, the background of the ball was highly likely to be famous animal tales starting with the ‘Twelve Zodiac Race’.

But the fact that the Gourmet Association had directly stepped in was the variable.

There were many straight-laced constellations in the Gourmet Association, so there was a possibility they might recreate something like the “Bracelet Expedition Party”, which had been the Gourmet Association stage in the main story.

[Oh my, you all look so worried. Don’t worry. We didn’t bring something that old-fashioned. What would be fun about doing another ‘Twelve Zodiac Race’ here?]

So it wasn’t the Twelve Zodiac Race?

Then was it really the Bracelet Expedition Party?

[Those of you who like first-generation tales, please put up with it just this once. The Gourmet Association needs to refresh its image a bit too, don’t you think? We can’t be called a gathering of constellations who only ever eat bizarre food forever, can we?]

So it didn’t seem to be the Bracelet Expedition Party either.

Then what on earth was it?

[Ahaha, you’re all really worried, huh. Rest assured. For the sake of designing this scenario stage, we even received help from the Administration Bureau dokkaebis!]

Euphrosyne lightly waved her hand toward empty air. I couldn’t see it from my viewpoint, but there were probably dokkaebis of the Administration Bureau there, starting with Bihyung.

I heard some <Twelve Zodiac> constellations whispering.

[The Administration Bureau intervened? In just the ninth scenario?]

[No way. That can’t be it. If the Administration Bureau was moving even before the scenario started, that would mean……]

As if she’d heard those words, Euphrosyne nodded.

[That’s right! There’s no way such a big event would happen in something as low as the ninth scenario. You’re very smart.]

My ominous premonition was gradually becoming reality.

At the moment a cruel smile curved at the corner of Euphrosyne’s lips—

[You’re all right.]

The balance of the world began to creak.

[A great number of constellations wish to watch this scenario.]

[The constellations of the Gourmet Association gladly pay the plausibility for the progression of this scenario!]

[The plausibility of <Star Stream> is moving.]

Messages were simply going back and forth, yet plausibility was roaring through the empty air. It was a miraculous event that hadn’t occurred more than a few times even in “Annihilation Law” or “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint”.

And I knew when this kind of “miracle” occurred.

「When the scenario difficulty has been abnormally raised.」

Dizziness surged and my insides felt like they were turning over. It was hard to steady my body, as if the gravity of the whole area had flipped.

After I shook my head several times and barely managed to regain my senses, a message floated before my eyes.

[The number of the scenario in question is being changed.]

[You have acquired the qualification to participate in the ‘Twentieth Main Scenario’.]

*

The banquet was halted for a while.

The constellations of the <Twelve Zodiac>, and the incarnations as well, all needed time to recover from the shock.

The Twentieth Main Scenario.

The scenario level had suddenly jumped up by eleven stages. It was something that happened occasionally in the mid-to-late scenarios, but I had never seen it occur in the ninth scenario.

The fact that the scenario level had gone up by eleven stages meant the scenario difficulty had been raised by that much as well.

[Th-this is absurd—]

Some great-figure-class constellations began to protest.

[Who decided the scenario difficulty on their own……]

[Since when has <Star Stream> become your playground!]

Unable to bear it, the Twelve Zodiac-side constellations pointed accusing fingers toward the dokkaebis in the air.

I didn’t show any particular reaction and simply waited for the next message.

A scenario change this dramatic was bound to bring about a plausibility backlash. So, if things went as I expected, the Administration Bureau was sure to put a safety device in place to block that backlash.

[Participants of the ‘ninth scenario’ may choose to take part in the ‘Twentieth Scenario’.]

[If you choose not to participate, you will be expelled outside the ‘Recycling Center’.]

[A new ‘ninth scenario’ will be reassigned to the expelled.]

As expected. No matter how trashy <Star Stream> was, there were still lines it wouldn’t cross.

[Damn it, if that was how it was going to be, you should’ve said so earlier—]

[I-I will not participate in the scenario!]

In other words, whether to participate in this new scenario or not was up to free choice.

All over the place, constellations began leaving the ‘Recycling Center’ with their incarnations.

It was the natural choice.

No constellation would want to take part in such a suspicious scenario.

[Oh my, there are already constellations making hasty choices.]

At least, that was true unless there was a reward corresponding to it.

[That’s a shame. With this scenario’s reward, even a lower-tier great-figure-class constellation could become a fable-grade constellation in one go……]

At Euphrosyne’s mutter, the <Twelve Zodiac>-side constellations who had been exiting the scenario stopped.

[What do you mean by that? That a great-figure-class constellation will become fable-grade at once?]

[If you’re curious, wouldn’t it be enough to remain in the scenario? Ah, it’s not a demand.]

Perhaps there was no such thing as freedom in this world. The phrase “free choice” was nothing but a mirage.

[Could that really be true?]

[They can’t lie about a reward.]

[If it’s enough to raise a great-figure-class straight to fable-grade…… Could it be that a myth-grade fable is being offered as a prize?]

[Hey, are you really going to leave? You might never get another chance like this.]

[If that’s the reward on the Twentieth Scenario, it’s worth taking a shot.]

[It’s better than suffering outside. Even if the Gourmet Association bastards are annoying……]

From beyond the second-floor curtains came the sound of people laughing under their breath.

They had probably already known. That the constellations on the first floor would never be able to refuse this offer.

In the end, the place where the desire of the stars pointed was the same. Whether great-figure-class, fable-grade, or myth-grade, it was no different.

[Ah, and for the constellations who must be curious, let us show you the scenario reward item in advance……]

And perhaps the same was true for me as well.

[You’ve all heard of it, right? That “fragment of the Oldest Dream” that’s been making the rounds recently.]

The moment I checked the image rising up behind Euphrosyne, time seemed to stop.

[Introducing the fragment of the ‘Oldest Dream’.]

A ‘Kim Dokja’ with the same face as mine was sealed inside a tank.

My brother, who had offered himself up to save me and been dedicated to the scenario.

[The ‘Demon King of Salvation’.]

*

The Demon King of Salvation.

On the pitch-black night sky, Lee Gilyoung rewrote those words over and over with his finger. The trail imbued with pure white magic vanished quickly, but Lee Gilyoung kept filling the disappearing trail with a new one without end.

“What are you doing?”

At that question, Lee Gilyoung half turned his head, then fixed his gaze back on the sky. Seeing that, the owner of the voice yanked Lee Gilyoung’s cap right off.

“Now you won’t even look when your noona calls you.”

“What. Why.”

“Are you in puberty or something?”

Lee Jihye, who had snatched away Lee Gilyoung’s cap, set the cap on her own head. Even without bothering to adjust the size, the cap fit her well.

Lee Gilyoung grumbled.

“If you came to pick a fight, just go.”

Lee Jihye stared quietly at the back of the sulky boy’s head. In fact, she knew why the back of this boy’s head had become so sulky.

“The activation condition for [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] is that the ajusshi and the activation target have to be thinking about each other at the same time, right.”

Looking down at the flinching Lee Gilyoung, Lee Jihye drew her sword and wrote in the air.

Demon King of Salvation.

Letters engraved like the masterful brushwork of a calligrapher.

With his mouth slightly open, Lee Gilyoung asked,

“You can do something like that too? Teach me.”

Letting out a light sigh, Lee Jihye said,

“Even if you write it like this, it’s not like the ajusshi will read it, you know?”

“Still.”

“Let’s just go in. It’s cold.”

“……Hyung.”

There was a tremor clinging to the end of the word.

Lee Jihye, who had been turning to go, suddenly stopped in her tracks.

“Do you think hyung ever thinks about me?”

“Well, sometimes, I guess?”

“I’m not just some random person. I’m Lee Gilyoung.”

“What are you talking about.”

“Shin Yuseung is hyung’s incarnation, and Sangah noona is hyung’s closest friend.”

Lee Gilyoung hesitated for a moment, then continued.

“The pitch-black guy, and Seolhwa noona, and you, you’re all characters from the novel hyung liked.”

“Hey.”

“But I’m nothing at all.”

The magic flowing along Lee Jihye’s blade faintly illuminated Lee Gilyoung’s face.

“Why did hyung save me?”

How long had the child been chewing over that question alone?

“It’d be nice if I could ask just once. I don’t even need to ask anything else, just that one time would be enough. I should’ve asked back then. I shouldn’t have yielded to Shin Yuseung.”

From all over Lee Gilyoung’s body, the energy of a fable began to ooze out.

It was the fable of Demon King Abaddon.

Lee Jihye’s expression hardened.

“Hey, snap out of it.”

“Even if it’s just once—”

“Your fable’s leaking!”

The moment the urgently shouting Lee Jihye grabbed Lee Gilyoung’s shoulders, sparks flew in the air. At first she thought Demon King Abaddon’s fable had gone out of control.

But that wasn’t it.

The sparks were circling not around Lee Gilyoung, but around the nearby empty air.

“Over there, that.”

The place where Kim Dokja had disappeared after using [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] not long ago.

The place where the world line had opened and closed.

Something was flowing in through that spot.

As tense Lee Jihye gripped her sword hilt, a message was heard.

[An invitation has arrived.]

A message that brought with it a strange sense of déjà vu.

They knew that déjà vu well.

「Scenario.」

But they had already cleared all the ‘scenarios’ a long time ago.

Then why now.

[Someone has invited you to the scenario ‘■■■ ■■■■’.]

Had a ‘scenario’ message once again floated up before their eyes?

“What is this.”

Ordinarily, it would have been an invitation they would of course refuse. There was no way they would accept such a suspicious invitation.

They would have immediately shown the message to Yoo Sangah and Lee Seolhwa and then judged the situation.

But the moment they saw the scenario message that followed—

[Through this scenario, you can meet the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ once more.]

They were left with only one choice.