A long silence passed. The one who broke it first was Yu Joonghyuk.

“What are you laughing at.”

―Just because.

Yu Joonghyuk glared at me as if he were looking at some weirdo.

To be honest, this wasn’t a situation where I should be laughing.

「The ‘night raven’ corps directly under Odin, who ruled the sky of <Asgard>.」

I could see, a ways off, the ravens charging up their magic power as they prepared their magic cannons. Once they started their bombardment, we would be turned into a honeycomb in an instant.

Even so, I couldn’t help feeling that it was okay.

「“That pathetic tale was the first story I’d ever seen.”」

From that one sentence, I felt recognized. That the way I had lived wasn’t wrong, that all that time had been time with enough meaning.

―You said you can’t regress anymore.

Yu Joonghyuk nodded.

―Is that still valid right now?

Looking lightly up at the sky, Yu Joonghyuk answered.

“Probably.”

―And even so, you’re not going to run away?

Yu Joonghyuk affirmed with his silence.

As expected, whether he regressed or didn’t regress, Yu Joonghyuk was Yu Joonghyuk.

If so, then I also had to play the role of Kim Dokja.

―All right. Let’s fight.

As if to say, what nonsense are you spouting now, the hand holding me tightened.

“If we fight head-on, you—”

―Those guys can’t kill me.

What was approaching us wasn’t only Odin’s ‘night ravens’.

Enemies were converging on us from all directions.

Constellations of <Veda>. On top of that, even the pursuers of <Olympus> aboard the ‘Argo’.

The heaven-and-earth net spread by the nebulae from every quarter encircled us with no gap for even water to seep through.

―Because they need me.

By now, I had become one of the ‘largest Kim Dokja fragments’ existing in this world line.

Which meant that from this point on, those bastards would battle each other over me.

―When I give the signal, throw me. You have to throw me exactly in the direction I tell you.

Yu Joonghyuk looked like he understood what I was saying right away.

“Things might not go the way you think.”

―No matter what you do, things never go the way you think in the <Star Stream> anyway.

Yu Joonghyuk grimaced and muttered.

“Goddamn it.”

―Now!

At my signal, Yu Joonghyuk hurled me. Cutting rapidly across the universe, I flew exactly toward the midpoint ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) between <Veda> and <Olympus>.

[It’s him! Capture him!]

Heroes of Greek mythology aboard the ship ‘Argo’ surrounded me. At a glance, they were all formidable hero-grade constellations.

Orpheus, Theseus, Castor, even King Oedipus who had nothing to do with a ship.

Rumble rumble rumble!

It was then that a thunderous roar rang out in the void.

[What—]

King Oedipus, turning to the side, let out a cry of shock. At the same time, the ‘Argo’ collided with something.

Amid the massive explosion, I witnessed the astonishing sight of a gigantic ship and a train crashing into each other.

[Supreme God of Light!]

The crew of the ship shouted and rushed toward Surya’s solar chariot.

Surya, shining radiantly, released his rank in response.

[Constellation, ‘Supreme God of Light’ reveals his rank.]

One of the ‘Lokapala’ of <Veda>.

‘Supreme God of Light’ Surya.

A fable-grade constellation of <Veda> who had appeared in the main story’s Demon King selection match was revealing his power.

[Kuaaaaaaah!]

Unable to withstand Surya’s light, the hero-grade constellations screamed as they melted down.

As if he had no interest in small fry, the great constellation turned nobly away and looked at me.

[You are ‘Kim Dokja’.]

It felt really strange. I hadn’t imagined I would end up facing that Surya like this.

With a voice that had barely recovered, I answered.

“Yeah, and what.”

I briefly hoped that maybe this Surya had also come from the 1,864th round like Uriel, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

Looking down at me with a gaze full of curiosity, he spoke.

[If you follow me quietly, I will not harm you.]

“How terribly polite of you.”

Instead of answering, Surya summoned a gigantic palm in the air. A palm composed of tales seized my entire body.

I frowned and asked.

“A constellation like you wouldn’t move lightly. Is this the command of <Veda>?”

[I have no obligation to answer you.]

“Don’t you oppose the will of <Veda>? Why are you still acting as the nebula’s lackey?”

At my words, Surya’s eyebrows twitched.

[With what intent do you keep spouting such blasphemy.]

“Did you know? The you I knew used to haul around a truly incredible train.”

Surya, the ‘Last Locomotive Engineer’ who had drawn the train of the <Kim Dokja Company>. If he hadn’t been there, the characters of the main story would never have been able to cross the final wall.

“Want me to show you a bit?”

I carefully recalled the sentences I had written. The sentences soon rose up, turning into tale fragments.

「Surya’s entire body, seated in the locomotive cab, shone dazzlingly like a white-hot sun.」

Surya’s eyes widened as he touched the tale fragment.

「Without showing any sign of it, he drove the [Solar Chariot] using his own body as fuel. As if that were the mission of his life as the ‘Supreme God of Light’ until now.」

Surya’s grip loosened. It was only for an instant, but to me it was a big enough opening.

“Yu Joonghyuk!”

At my signal, Yu Joonghyuk, who had approached in an instant, snatched me away.

Surya bellowed.

[Phoenix Steps] pushed through the change in the scenario. We barely broke through the encirclement, but it still wasn’t over. From far away, the sound of a train engine starting up rang out again, and the clamor of the stars chasing us continued.

“We can’t keep running away like this forever.”

―It’s fine.

Watching the stars pursuing us, I spoke.

―Soon, ‘those things’ will start crowding in.

This wasn’t a ‘simple scenario outside the scenario’.

This place was the border of the Void Curtain and the outskirts of the <Star Stream>.

In other words, it was a place where the boundary with the ‘Otherworld’ began to blur.

Crackle crackle crackle!

As if they’d been waiting, sparks rang out from every direction. Amid the backdraft, portals began to open one by one.

What appeared beyond the portals were pitch-black hunting dogs.

「Hounds that Chase the Abyss.」

Hounds of the Otherworld that enforced the rules of the <Star Stream> had appeared.

[The dogs are coming!]

The constellations’ frantic shouts.

Odin’s night ravens, which had been circling nearby, had their wings torn off by the hounds’ fangs, and the constellations screamed.

Stars exploding everywhere and hounds being trampled by the trains.

In my shaking vision, the nebulae and Otherworldly Divinities chasing us mixed together to form a gigantic tableau of hell.

「It was as if the entire universe were pursuing us.」

In that tableau of hell were Yu Joonghyuk and me.

Maybe because the situation was so unreal. Letting out silly giggles, I lost consciousness and came to several times.

[Currently, there is no scenario assigned to you!]

[Your incarnation body is in a precarious state!]

My body trembled several times as if it had been electrocuted. In one moment, my consciousness went dark, and I found myself in a snowfield landscape.

「Kim Dokja.」

Without thinking, I called that name. At that, along with a chilling cold, someone’s shadow appeared.

A coat lightly fluttering in the wind.

Instinctively, I reached my hand out toward him.

Which Kim Dokja is that.

Is he the Demon King of Salvation. The 49% Kim Dokja. Or is he another Kim Dokja I haven’t yet met.

The moment I thought that far, I realized that his coat wasn’t white.

The eerie Demon King’s wings spread out behind the red coat.

He wasn’t Kim Dokja.

「Are you still searching for that name?」

A familiar face turned to look at me.

It was a face I knew well.

「Cheon Inho.」

Goosebumps broke out. Not once until now had Cheon Inho appeared in the snowfield. Even so, the being in front of my eyes was unmistakably Cheon Inho.

He slowly lowered his body and looked at me.

「You really have become a different face now.」

A voice surfaced suddenly in my mind.

【Do you really want to know? Even if that truth could destroy you forever?】

A voice I had once heard as my consciousness was fading.

I was certain.

It was unmistakably Cheon Inho’s voice.

As if answering my question, Cheon Inho nodded.

「You really did reach the end of the ‘Recycling Center’. Excellent. By now you must also have realized who you are.」

Who am I.

I was sure that question was what I had been curious about when I came all the way here.

So had I found the answer.

「Save Yu Joonghyuk.」

As if he found my request amusing, Cheon Inho smiled with his eyes.

「That fellow hates me though.」

「If I die here, you die too, you son of a bitch.」

Right now, I was in the body possessed by Cheon Inho. So if I died, Cheon Inho’s flesh would also perish.

「I won’t die. More importantly, you’re not ‘Cheon Inho’ anymore, you’re ‘Kim Dokja’, aren’t you.」

「I don’t feel like playing word games.」

「Don’t tell me you still don’t know who you are.」

「I am—」

I recalled the memory I had seen through Gu Seonah at the Recycling Center.

Kim Dokja versus Kim Dokja.

The 49% Kim Dokja who had tried to protect the world line of the 41st round, and the Demon King of Salvation who had fought against him.

Hesitating, I asked.

「Am I… the 49% Kim Dokja?」

Cheon Inho looked at me for a moment, then asked back.

「What on earth is ‘49% Kim Dokja’?」

「What?」

「There could be a Kim Dokja who has 49% of memory A, and there could be a Kim Dokja who has 49% of memory B. Can you say that those two 49% are the same 49%?」

For a moment, I was at a loss for words.

Right now, Cheon Inho was saying it.

That in proving a person, the concept of the total ‘amount of memory’ had no meaning at all.

Cheon Inho nodded as if satisfied with the way I looked.

「It seems you’ve finally found the answer.」

「I am—」

「A Kim Dokja who didn’t want to remain Kim Dokja.」

Cheon Inho’s blazing eyes asked me.

「Do you want to save Yu Joonghyuk?」

I nodded.

「Then do what you’re best at.」

What I was best at.

「Isn’t that why you came to this world in the first place. Didn’t you want to change this world’s ending?」

The vast snowfield scenery was reflected in Cheon Inho’s open eyes.

「Write it yourself. With your dream, try convincing the rest of the world.」

With a gasp, I came back to my senses. My vision rocked intermittently. The screams of the boiling stars.

I was still slung on Yu Joonghyuk’s back. Just how long had I been asleep.

My incarnation body seemed to have recovered a bit more than before. Had I drunk some elixir while I was sleeping. Or else,

[Exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is strongly activating!]

Was it thanks to the [Fourth Wall].

“You’re awake.”

Yu Joonghyuk’s tired voice.

The moment I checked Yu Joonghyuk’s condition, a chill went through my chest.

Arms and legs torn off by the hounds. A whole body covered in blood. In that state, Yu Joonghyuk was limping forward.

“How much time has passed.”

“Three days.”

I swallowed a breath.

With me unconscious on his back, Yu Joonghyuk had been running away from the nebulae and Otherworldly Divinities for a full three days.

“Why—”

He could easily have run away alone. If he had been alone, I was sure he could have found some way to survive. Even so, Yu Joonghyuk hadn’t run.

With a small pop, I heard the sound of Yu Joonghyuk’s knee giving out. Looking down at his protruding kneecap, Yu Joonghyuk slowly set me down on the ground and collapsed forward.

“……Run.”

Watching him mutter that, I pulled out a single pill from inside my clothes. It was an elixir I had prepared in advance for a moment like this.

I crushed the elixir into fine pieces and poured it into Yu Joonghyuk’s mouth. Even in his hazy consciousness, Yu Joonghyuk glared at me.

[Exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is strongly activating!]

I slowly closed my eyes.

Beyond the wall were gazes watching us.

My backer constellation. And the readers who had once been ‘Kim Dokja’, whose names and faces I couldn’t know.

I thought of them.

“Thank you, Yu Joonghyuk. You’ve done more than enough.”

Just as they were Kim Dokja, I was also Kim Dokja.

And whatever kind of Kim Dokja they were, in this situation, they would have no choice but to make the same choice as me.

“No matter what happens, you must survive.”

At those words, Yu Joonghyuk’s eyes flew open and, miraculously, he rose to his feet.

He had activated [Return from the Dead].

But before he could act, I released my rank.

In the momentary shock, Yu Joonghyuk let go of me, and as he receded away, I shouted toward the empty air.

“Demonic Judge of Fire like a demon!”

At my call, a bright star twinkled in the far-off universe.

“Uriel! Please send Yu Joonghyuk back to Earth right now!”