Dim lighting. The dry, warm smell of printed letters. When I opened my eyes, I realized I was in the stacks.

So I’d passed out.

A jolt of alarm ran through me. This was absolutely not a situation where I could afford to lose consciousness. My incarnation body didn’t have much durability left, and the one week I’d promised Jaeheon was just around the corner.

But no matter how many times I slapped my cheeks, my mind wouldn’t wake.

[Exclusive Skill, ‘The Fourth Wall’, is active.]

A low system message rang in my ears.

It seemed I was inside [The Fourth Wall].

When I slowly pushed myself upright, the hazy view around me resolved into that of a library.

Soft breathing echoed in the stillness.

When I turned, I saw the little Kim Dokjas fast asleep, each curled up in a small chair or on a sofa.

I checked their faces one by one. Looking closely, I could see familiar faces among the little Kim Dokjas.

Iron Lady Gu Seonah.
Old man with the pipe, Kim Kyungsik.

The two of them slept with their heads resting together, faint smiles on their faces, as if sharing a pleasant dream.

Swallowing down the lump rising in my throat, I watched them for a while. Then, careful not to disturb their dreams, I moved slowly and looked around.

At the center of the little Kim Dokja crowd, there was a small table. On it lay a scattering of newspapers and a single book.

A thick, hardbound volume with a black cover.

'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.'

The moment I saw the title, I opened it on reflex. The letters trapped beneath the cover spilled out across the pages.

「“He’s dead. Inho— the Reader is dead.”」

Voices of people I knew began appearing right before my eyes in real time.

Letters sketching scenes in front of me, just like [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] was activating.

Within the letters, Gyeong Seiin was speaking.

「“He’s dead.”」

It had been a long time since I’d heard such a completely despairing voice.

「“He’s dead.”」

It was obvious whose death she meant.

And there was another, steady voice that followed, as if to calm her despair.

「“Pull yourself together, Gyeong Seiin. Nothing’s certain yet.”」

Killer King— Cha Seongwoo’s voice.

「“In the Apocalypse Remnant, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ Kim Dokja came back to life. Just because he was expelled from the scenario doesn’t mean he died on the spot. That bastard will figure out something. That’s who Kim Dokja is.”」

「“How do you know that? Everything’s different from the main story.”」

Pazzt.

With a spark, the world trembled.

My vision wavered like it was wrapped in fog. As I staggered and grabbed the table, someone’s voice came.

「(Youngest.)」

I knew instantly who it belonged to.

「(You can rest a little longer.)」

I turned around with a bitter smile.

I couldn’t see his face clearly, maybe because I was so tired, but I knew exactly who stood there: my supporting constellation, my eldest brother.

I let out a sigh of relief I hadn’t meant to.

My plan had worked.

He was alive inside [The Fourth Wall].

「(Don’t worry. Your people are strong. No one knows that better than you— you’ve been with them all this time.)」

My people.

「(Just like I trusted <Kim Dokja Company>, you trust them too.)」

It struck me anew how difficult it was to trust someone.

I bit my lip and bowed my head.

“I’m scared I’ve ruined everything. That more people will die because of me. Because of some line I wrote carelessly—”

「(Stories don’t collapse just because you wrote a few bad lines. If anything, maybe a new development starts from that line.)」

“And Kim Dokja gets to say that, does he?”

「(You think Massacre Method is some flawless story?)」

“The protagonist of Massacre Method is about to die because of me.”

「(You don’t know this, but an ocean sunfish is stronger than it looks.)」

We looked at each other.

Then we both smirked. I struggled to keep my eyes from blurring over again.

“I thought we’d never have a conversation like this again.”

I wanted to tell him I was glad to see him, that I was grateful he was still alive. But there were things that didn’t need to be said to be understood. It was a sense only we could share because both of us were Kim Dokja. We fell silent and sank into that feeling.

“Why do you think that bastard Yu Joonghyuk chased after me?”

「(You really think he came because he was worried about you? He’s got his own agenda, obviously.)」

“I figured.”

「(Exactly. So get a grip. You know how ruthless and selfish he is.)」

“Damn Yu Joonghyuk.”

All the questions I truly wanted to ask, all the things I wanted to say, dissolved into trivial jokes. And just trading those empty jokes like that was enough.

After a short pause, the Demon King of Salvation spoke.

「(Under normal circumstances, I should’ve become a part of you by now.)」

“Don’t say creepy stuff like that.”

The Demon King of Salvation looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

「(Yeah. The truth is, I want to watch your story a little longer.)」

I wondered if my supporting constellation realized how much strength those words gave me. How much courage I could muster just knowing he was watching me.

“Of course you should. You’re Kim Dokja.”

「(The stars are watching you too.)」

“I know.”

「(Odin and Zeus won’t give up easily. They understand how valuable the ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ are. Especially you right now……)」

“Do I really have that much value right now?”

To be honest, I found the nebulae’s obsession a bit strange.

I had seen, more than once, constellations or monsters that obtained ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ gain a rank beyond their original capabilities. So I understood that ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ were Narratives of great value to the stars.

But were we really valuable enough for them to gamble the survival of their nebulae on us and burn through plausibility like this?

「(That’s because you still haven’t fully drawn out the power of the ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’. Nebulae possess all sorts of Narrative amplification devices.)」

Narrative amplification devices.

「(If the ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ enter a Great Nebula, it might become possible to rewrite the history of the universe.)」

Rewrite the history of the universe.

Just hearing the phrase sent a chill down my spine.

If a single nebula collected all of the ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ and rewrote the universes of Massacre Method and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, what would happen?

“I really can’t let myself get caught, then.”

Thinking that, I could see why the Demon King of Salvation had resorted to the wild move of the ‘Scenario Offering’.

If the stars had stolen the Demon King of Salvation’s fragments, it would’ve been truly catastrophic.

「(And the stars aren’t the only problem. If you don’t repair your incarnation body immediately, you really will die.)」

“What if I go to the Demon World?”

In the main story, Kim Dokja had visited the ‘73rd Demon World’ right after dying as the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

And there, he had met the Demon World’s clockmaker with the ‘Narrative Specialist’ attribute— Aileen MacField.

“Conveniently, I can activate ‘Lamarck’s Giraffe’ as well. If I use that and get Narrative repair from Aileen, I might survive, right? And if I stay there, I can also accept the ‘Revolutionary Scenario’.”

Repairing my Narrative wouldn’t be the end. I would still have to re-enter a ‘Main Scenario’. Otherwise, my incarnation body would continue to fall apart.

Luckily, the 73rd Demon World had the ‘Revolutionary Scenario’. If I used that to get back into a Main Scenario, my survival would be guaranteed.

「(That won’t work.)」

“Huh? Why not?”

「(The 73rd Demon World’s scenario has already ended.)」

“The scenario ended?”

How was that even possible? According to the original, the scenario in the ‘73rd Demon World’ should have still been underway.

Then a thought passed through my mind.

「If there was a reader who possessed a body in the ‘Demon World’…」

There was a possibility that someone had already finished the scenario in the ‘73rd Demon World’ in my place.

It was a development I hadn’t considered, but judging from the Demon King of Salvation’s expression, it seemed that was exactly what had happened.

It must’ve been information that consumed plausibility, because the Demon King of Salvation seemed reluctant to say more about it.

「(In any case, there’s nothing much to gain by going to the Demon World this time.)」

“So I have to give up on the Revolutionary Scenario.”

That meant I probably couldn’t participate in the naturally linked scenario, the ‘Demon King Selection’, either. I’d hoped to obtain the Great Narrative ‘Springtime of the Demon World’, but things had become complicated.

「(Can’t be helped. We’ll have to find a different Great Fable Scenario.)」

“All the other Great Fable Scenarios are insane, though.”

Unlike the ‘Demon King Selection’, which occurred around the middle of the scenarios, none of the other Great Fable Scenarios were easy by any stretch.

<Olympus>’s ‘Gigantomachia’, <Eden>’s ‘War of Saints and Demons’, and <Emperor>’s ‘Journey to the West’……

I couldn’t even enter those regions in my current state, and they were all scenarios run by Great Nebulae.

「(Didn’t you read Massacre Method? There are Great Fable Scenarios that aren’t run by Great Nebulae.)」

“I read it. I just can’t recite it word-for-word like someone can.”

「(Pathetic.)」

“I’m a Kim Dokja who’s more specialized in writing than reading.”

「(Being able to read well is the foundation of writing well.)」

From the way he was picking a fight, it seemed my eldest brother had already finished investigating the next scenario region.

「(I’ve clipped the scenes you’ll need, so check them later. You still have my smartphone, right?)」

“Of course.”

「(If you don’t stay sharp, you’re dead. If we collide with the Great Nebulae as we are now, we’re doomed.)」

The word “doomed” didn’t hit me as hard as the word “we”.

I wasn’t alone.

「(And the two of us aren’t enough anymore. It’s time to borrow the power of the other Kim Dokjas.)」

“You mean our other brothers?”

Seeing the Demon King of Salvation nod, my heart slowly sped up.

The Demon King of Salvation before me was the eldest of the Kim Dokja siblings.

In other words, it was time to meet another Kim Dokja.

「(I’ve found the coordinates where the second one is.)」

“Coordinates? Can’t we just contact him and meet up?”

I got excited, forgetting that my incarnation body was on the verge of collapse.

If the Demon King of Salvation was a Narrative-grade constellation, then the second Kim Dokja surely had his own epithet as a constellation.

No— he might even be a constellation ranked higher than the Demon King of Salvation.

“You should’ve started with that!”

If he was a constellation, he would at /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ least be able to use ‘Indirect Messages’.

Having him come to us would be faster than us going to him.

He might even be able to help us in our crisis.

If that happened, we wouldn’t need the help of the naked psychopath from another world.

“Let’s contact him right now!”

But as he watched my excitement, the Demon King of Salvation’s expression turned strangely dark.

「(The problem is… the second one suddenly stopped responding.)」