Could I win?

I didn’t know.

In fact, I had never thought about it.

“Youngest.”

To fight that “Kim Dokja” in this world—no, to fight Kim Dokja who had become a constellation. It was something no sane person would ever do.

“You could die. You know that, right?”

“Isn’t dying kind of our specialty?”

“Wrong. Our specialty isn’t dying.”

“It’s coming back to life.”

Was this proof that the fable of “Kim Dokja” flowed within me as well?

“You can’t come back to life. You stacked your traits and fables wrong.”

“So you’re assuming I’ll die first?”

The Demon King of Salvation didn’t answer, merely smiling quietly.

I answered that smile.

“I’ll become the first Kim Dokja who absolutely doesn’t die.”

Perhaps finding that amusing, the Demon King of Salvation burst out laughing.

“That sounds worth looking forward to.”

Please do look forward to it.

With who I am now, I need the support of as many “Kim Dokjas” as I can get.

[Great Demon King, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, reveals his grade.]

On the blade-like wind, as if exchanging a signal, we traded sword strikes toward one another.

When the [Wind’s Path] I had compressed exploded at the point of contact, Kim Dokja responded with a practiced [Baekcheong Qi]. The magic power on both sides canceled out, forming a harmony in midair.

Between the colliding blades, the Demon King of Salvation’s fable seeped through.

[Fable, ‘Willful Misreader’, has found a story to misread!]
[Fable, ‘King of a World Without a King’, begins its story.]

「This place is a world without a ‘king’.」

As the fable began its story, the form of the ‘Thought’ that had been mimicking Unbreakable Conviction changed.

「His sword is born rejecting every throne in the world.」

‘Thought’ soon took on the shape of the Execution Sword.

It was that very sword which had shattered the ‘Absolute Throne’ on the day the fable 「King of a World Without a King」 was created.

「It reigns above all who are not kings.」

Cold sweat ran down my spine.

If you faced that blade, even a constellation could die. In fact, Kim Dokja had precedent—he had slain constellations of the Twelve Zodiac with this very sword strike.

The Demon King of Salvation warned me.

“You know, right? If you’re not a ‘king’, you can’t take this fable.”

Before I had time to reply, the Execution Sword flew at me.

With both hands, I swung Unbreakable Conviction with all my strength. Kkang—a sound rang out as my body spun and was pushed back. Dense fable sentences transmitted themselves directly as impact.

Once again, I was keenly reminded.

What kind of life he had lived, and what kind of fables he had accumulated.

What he was made of.

But I couldn’t yield so easily here.

“Have you forgotten whose acting role I am?”

[Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation (Acting)’, reveals his grade!]

It went without saying—but a Demon King is also a “king”.

[Your epithet resists the effect of ‘King of a World Without a King’.]

Reaching into my arms, I drew out the real Execution Sword meant to oppose him and said,

“And it’s not like I cleared the ‘Absolute Throne’ for nothing.”

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, begins its story.]

I recalled that day’s fable once more. A day I didn’t want to remember.

「The day the owner of the throne descended into the gaps between the world’s lines.」

The story of the day I met the ‘Creator of the Absolute Throne’ beyond the scenario.

「In the boundless void, two people stood facing the owner of the throne.」

I thought of Han Sooyoung.

I recalled her words—spoken as she vanished in order to pass this sword, this fable, on to me.

「“Why did you want to become a writer?”」

Answering that question, I swung my sword.

“If you’re the Kim Dokja who shattered the ‘Absolute Throne’—”

The constellation pattern of the bright Execution Sword flared.

“Then I’m the Kim Dokja who killed the bastard who created that ‘Absolute Throne’.”

Kim Dokja.

Just to prove those three syllables made of consonants and vowels, this fable existed.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, roars!]
[Fable, ‘King of a World Without a King’, growls!]

The two fables resonated and howled together.

The balance between the evenly matched fables began to tilt from a certain point onward.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, breaks into mad laughter!]

「King of a World Without a King」 was an excellent fable. Its background, its events, its sentences—firmly completed, a fable born from shattering the ‘Absolute Throne’.

But even among fables concerning the same ‘Absolute Throne’, the grade differed.

「Successor of the Eternal Name」 was a fable born from a more impossible event, one that touched the very foundation of the world.

Above all, 「King of a World Without a King」 was legend-grade, while 「Successor of the Eternal Name」 was a quasi–myth-grade fable that continued to grow.

The surging power of the fable swallowed the Demon King of Salvation.

Even as he was pushed back helplessly, the Demon King of Salvation didn’t lose his composure—his expression suggested he had expected this much.

“Looks like you’ve already forgotten. Who was there with me when that fable was made.”

Even within the storm of fables, the Demon King of Salvation never lost his dignity.

As though he knew this story could not harm him.

When he gently swept his sword as if parting clouds, the fable sentences that had engulfed him split apart as if by magic.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’, frowns.]

It was the expected result.

This fable couldn’t injure him.

「Successor of the Eternal Name」 was a fable completed when I formed a contract with the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

From the start, it was a story that could never have been born without his help.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’’s authority does not apply to ‘Demon King of Salvation’.]

The Demon King of Salvation, who had completely nullified my fable, looked at me.

“Enough with the games.”

“Let’s fight for real.”

As long as we were both Kim Dokja, half-hearted clashes of fables couldn’t deal any damage.

[Constellation, ‘The One Who Brought Ten Lambs’, watches the battle with anxious eyes.]
[Some constellations are anticipating an even fiercer battle!]

<Star Stream> wouldn’t be satisfied with a fight like this either.

He knew that, and so did I.

We were people more accustomed to stagecraft than anyone else in <Star Stream>.

The moment our eyes met, we realized what skill the other would use.

[The amount of ‘Loss’ you have acquired is sufficient.]
[Exclusive trait, ‘Record Mender’, activates.]
[Exclusive skill, ‘Bookmark’, undergoes additional restoration.]
[Exclusive skill, ‘Bookmark’’s functions have been enhanced!]
[Exclusive skill, ‘Bookmark’’s level has increased significantly!]

A list of people rose through my mind.

Without hesitation, I chose one.

The Demon King of Salvation did the same.

“Bookmark number two.”

“Bookmark number five.”

The characters contained within different bookmarks.

Yet the ones we called were, in a sense, the “same person”.

“I will activate ‘Judge of Evil-Slaying’, Jung Heewon.”

“I will activate ‘Judge of Demon-Slaying’, Jung Heewon.”

Two Jung Heewons descended upon one another.

One was evil-slaying. The other demon-slaying.

One was a judge who showed the greatest power only against “evildoers”.

The other was a judge who showed the greatest power only against “monsters”.

A matchup that could never occur was realized under the name “Kim Dokja”.

Kukwakwakwa!

The moment sword energy collided with sword energy, a sound like ears bursting rang out.

A flurry of slashes too fast for the eye to follow.

Both I and the Demon King of Salvation held our breath, bearing the Jung Heewons we had each read into existence.

“Ghk.”

With every swallowed breath, a fierce contest of calculations unfolded.

Twenty exchanges. Fifty. Eighty.

As the exchanges piled up, I could feel the trajectory of Jung Heewon’s swordplay that the Demon King of Salvation had read.

「Heewon moves her arm like this when she uses the sword.」
「When she uses the right-hand sword, always with an honest, orderly thrust.」

I couldn’t lose.

「Whenever Heewon adjusts her breathing, she takes one step back.」
「Faster. Stronger. Heewon’s sword was more violent than this.」

This was a reader’s battle.

The one who read more fiercely, who inserted bookmarks more meticulously, would prevail.

Bit by bit, my breath grew ragged.

Keeping up with the Jung Heewon interpreted by the Demon King of Salvation was exhausting.

Honestly, I admired it.

So he really is different.

「The Jung Heewon of the 1,864th round is truly incredible.」

But it seemed the Demon King of Salvation felt the same admiration.

“Not bad. The Heewon of the 41st round is really strong too.”

“Whose sword do you think that is?”

Just as the Jung Heewon of the 3rd round had become Kim Dokja’s sword, the Jung Heewon of the 41st round had become mine.

「The one who swung more swords than anyone else to protect us.」

When differing interpretations met at the same conclusion, the colliding blades let out another thunderous roar.

A situation where life and death were decided in a single exchange.

And yet, we were smiling.

“Heewon really is an amazing person.”

“She is.”

“If it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have seen the end of the scenario.”

“I’ll probably say the same [N O V E L I G H T] thing someday.”

This fight was enjoyable.

“The Heewon on your side has a unique habit with her right foot.”

“The Heewon on your side is a bit too honest in her sword strikes.”

This time spent sharing a story we loved was exhilarating.

As interpretations continued, sentences capable of killing one another flashed through my mind in succession.

I wanted to show him this interpretation.

I wanted to share the story I knew with him too.

That desire drove me to throw down a decisive gambit.

[Activating ‘Time of Judgment’!]

The Jung Heewon of the 41st round was a ‘Judge of Demon-Slaying’.

And fittingly enough, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ standing before me now was the ‘Demon King’ of all monsters.

「It’s still not enough.」

The Jung Heewon of the 41st round possessed overwhelming talent compared to any other world line’s Jung Heewon.

To show it, [Bookmark] alone wasn’t enough.

[Exclusive skills, ‘Bookmark’ and ‘Agitation’, resonate!]
[Activating exclusive skill, ‘Agitation Lv.10’!]

「I am Jung Heewon.」

A path of the sword opened in my mind, and every Jung Heewon I knew descended into my body.

The best possible “Jung Heewon” I could reproduce right now was swinging her sword.

Could the Demon King of Salvation parry this interpretation?

Could you overturn the history we had amassed?

“You really read diligently.”

Even as the blades flew at him, the Demon King of Salvation was still Kim Dokja.

“I’ve never seen a Heewon like that before.”

“If you just stand there, you’ll die!”

“Die?”

As he let out a quiet chuckle, I felt the surrounding scenery ripple lightly.

“Aren’t you underestimating your hyung a bit too much?”

With a fierce grating sound, the sword I swung was knocked aside.

It was a strike of Jung Heewon imbued with [Time of Judgment], [Demon-Slaying], and even the power of [Swordsmanship].

The Demon King of Salvation took that strike.

How?

[Great Demon King, ‘Demon King of Salvation’, activates ‘Time of Judgment’!]

My eyes opened wide.

That couldn’t be.

The “Jung Heewon” the Demon King of Salvation had borrowed was a ‘Judge of Evil-Slaying’.

And the ‘Judge of Evil-Slaying’ could only be used when the opponent was an “evildoer”—and only after gaining the consent of constellations of the ‘Absolute Good’ alignment.

Right now, he was a ‘Demon King’.

There was no way any ‘Absolute Good’ constellation would lend him power.

Then how—

At that moment, an eerie feeling ran through me.

My hair stood on end, and my spine felt as if it were creaking.

A sensation of death drawing one layer closer.

Instinctively retreating over ten steps, the scenery around me looked different.

A familiar railway and platform.

How had I not realized sooner?

「Staging.」

Not a true staging, but it seemed he had activated a kind of 「Temporary Staging」 by paying Plausibility.

“You seem to have forgotten who you are, youngest.”

In that instant, I understood how he had activated [Time of Judgment].

“Ha.”

Indeed, the Demon King of Salvation’s creativity was beyond imagination.

Replacing the condition of ‘Absolute Good’ constellations’ consent with the authority of 「Staging」.

The [Time of Judgment] the Demon King of Salvation had activated right now did not belong to this world, but was borrowed from ‘another world line’.

Every event on this temporary stage was something that had ‘already happened’ in some world line.

「Geumho.」

Seeing the familiar letters written on the platform, I let out a bitter smile.

The Demon King of Salvation grinned and asked,

“You said you’d become a Kim Dokja who absolutely doesn’t die, didn’t you?”

This was the station where ‘Cheon Inho’ had been born—and where my scenario had begun.

「The Judge of Evil-Slaying. Among the Three Great Judge traits, the strongest judge has just awakened from within his crouch.」

And yet now, this ‘Geumho Station’ was not the stage of the 41st round, but of the ‘1,864th round’.

It was the very place where Jung Heewon, once the ‘One Who Crouched’, had awakened as the ‘Judge of Evil-Slaying’.

In 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』, the “evildoer” Cheon Inho dies here, struck down by the blade of Jung Heewon, the ‘Judge of Evil-Slaying’.

“Try surviving, youngest.”