Am I the Constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ right now, or the Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’?

The King’s Sword Namgung Jincheon’s question somehow had a philosophical side to it.

[Due to the Exile Penalty, your fables are in an eroded state.]

I inherited the modifier of ‘Demon King of Salvation’ at the Recycling Center.

But if you asked whether that meant I had become a complete Constellation, that wasn’t quite true, either.

To become a Constellation, you have to build five fables yourself.

But the fables I had built so far were a total of four.

「Recorder of Things That Will Disappear」

「One Who Rewrites Fate」

「Successor of the Eternal Name」

「Between the Lines of Truth and Falsehood」

I thought I would obtain the fifth fable if I cleared the Recycling Center, but even now, the fifth fable was still in a state where it hadn’t awakened.

[Your new fable is on the verge of blooming.]

[To bloom a new fable, you need one last trigger.]

I cleared a high-difficulty stage like the ‘Recycling Center,’ and in the process, I faced countless Constellations. That wasn’t all. At the very end, I even met a crazy monster that only stabbed. And yet, it still said I needed a ‘trigger’ for blooming.

Just what kind of fable was trying to awaken?

For me, it was a regrettable thing.

If only this fable bloomed, I would have fully inherited the Constellation’s ‘status,’ and I would have been able to resist the [Fate] I inherited together with the transmission of the modifier more easily.

[You cannot currently exert the Constellation’s ‘status.’]

In that sense, I was in a state where I couldn’t be called a complete ‘Constellation.’

Then what about me as an ‘Incarnation’?

[Your incarnation body will soon enter the collapse stage.]

What was the point of saying it?

In the end, I answered the King’s Sword’s question with a question.

“Is what I am important to you?”

“Aren’t you planning to borrow the ‘power of Murim’?”

The King’s Sword looked like he knew what I intended by coming here.

“It seems like you need comrades to fight alongside the Constellations. Is my guess wrong?”

I admired him inwardly.

Was this level of insight possible if you were about the family head of one of the Five Great Families?

“That’s right.”

Honestly, the biggest reason I was looking for the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint was also that.

Obtaining a main scenario and repairing my incarnation body were important too, but in the end, the ultimate purpose of finding the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint was to make her ‘our side.’

「The Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint and the other transcendent ones hate the Constellations.」

Mortals who rose to a position equal to Constellations without the help of any star. As long as the enemy I would face going forward was a ‘gigantic nebula,’ I had to earn their favor.

But now, the King’s Sword was making an unexpected proposal.

“The Number One Murim could help you.”

The help of the ‘Number One Murim.’

If this was an early-to-mid scenario where the Constellations of the ‘gigantic nebula’ couldn’t run wild as they pleased, then the Five Great Families of the ‘Number One Murim’ would certainly be a big help.

At the very least, if we had their help, there would be no one in the ‘Number One Murim’ who could touch us.

“I’ll ask again. Are you the Constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ or the Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja’?”

“If I answer that I’m the Constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ will you report me to the gigantic nebula?”

The King’s Sword didn’t answer.

Beside me, Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been swallowing slices of five-spice brisket, spoke.

―We can just endure three days, then kill them all and leave.

What a reassuring thing to say.

But if I held out until then, I would die too.

“I haven’t decided how to dispose of you. However, even if I don’t report you to the gigantic nebula, it’ll be hard for Murim to be friendly to you.”

Honestly, I couldn’t trust the King’s Sword right now.

Because I remembered how he and the other heads of the Five Great Families treated the ‘Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint’ in the main story.

「They revere strength more than anyone, but if they judge something won’t help them, they are the sort who cast it out without mercy.」

In the end, I had to choose.

Would I take their hands here, or throw them away?

「I am Kim Dokja.」

After taking a light deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes.

“Let’s be honest. I know the ‘Number One Murim’s’ standing isn’t what it used to be.”

Maybe my answer was unexpected, because the King’s Sword’s eyebrow arched slightly. I kept speaking.

“The days when Constellations took interest in Murim martial arts are all in the past, aren’t they? There are barely any Constellations who come here sightseeing anymore.”

“I admit that Murim isn’t as popular a region as it used to be.”

“The ‘Namgung Murim Dumplings’ you launched this time. Do you think they’ll sell well?”

Maybe I hit a reverse scale, because for a moment the King’s Sword shut his mouth. Whether he did or not, I kept babbling on.

“Constellations won’t buy those dumplings. Who would buy goods that came out of a scenario region they don’t even watch?”

“You’d better watch your mouth.”

The King’s Sword growled lightly. I snickered.

“Aren’t you actually wanting to receive the Constellations’ attention? Because only then can you make ‘Murim’ great again.”

I know that after the ‘Outer God incident,’ the Namgung Family has, externally, taken the stance that it ‘hates Constellations.’

But that was literally an external position, and in reality, it wasn’t like that.

No matter what, the Five Great Families, including the Namgung Family, were still maintaining under-the-table dealings with the Constellations.

“If I’m a Constellation, I’m humanity’s enemy, and if I’m an Incarnation, I’m on humanity’s side? Does that kind of grand cause mean anything in today’s Murim?”

In that short span, the King’s Sword’s complexion rapidly reddened, then bleached, over and over.

“What you need right now is the fame of the Constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ and the Incarnation ‘Kim Dokja,’ right? I can provide both of those. If you’re honest with me.”

The King’s Sword’s pupils trembled faintly. His fingertips, trembling, touched the teacup on the table, and a light sigh followed.

“So the rumor about that three-inch tongue that shocks even Constellations was true.”

Why were all my rumors only about my tongue?

After taking a sip of tea, the King’s Sword looked at me, looked at Yoo Joonghyuk, glanced out the window for a moment, and then continued.

“Honestly, I didn’t believe all the rumors related to you. The things you did at the ‘Recycling Center,’ that is.”

“Well, you don’t have to believe them.”

What happened at the ‘Recycling Center’ still hadn’t fully become a fable.

So throughout the <Star Stream>, my reputation would probably only be spreading as mere rumor.

“Especially the rumor related to <Olympus>’s intelligence bureau, or the story that you defeated the master of the spear—I thought those were excessively exaggerated.”

Of course.

Forcing a large number of hero-grade Constellations to leave the scenario at only the twentieth scenario, and even driving back stars that were almost on the level of fables—if you searched the entire <Star Stream>, it was an achievement that would be hard to find.

“However, even if more than half of those rumors aren’t true, I can’t deny that you are one of the most famous figures in this <Star Stream> right now.”

“So what are you trying to say?”

“Today’s Murim needs a new hero.”

I could feel a strong yearning in his expression, “a new hero.”

“Become the side of this ‘Murim.’ Then I’ll help you be able to start a ‘scenario’ once again.”

Right now, I was drawing enough attention from the <Star Stream> to be chased by the ‘gigantic nebula.’

In that situation, if Yoo Joonghyuk and I suddenly appeared in Murim’s scenario, what would happen?

Naturally, the Constellations would turn their eyes to ‘Murim’ once again. Their Incarnations would appear en masse in ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) the ‘Number One Murim,’ and Murim would become a popular scenario region.

For the Five Great Families who had settled down and lived here, it was the best possible favorable development.

“If you do that, I’ll be exposed to the gigantic nebulas again.”

“Either way, don’t you have many options?”

The King’s Sword wore a crafty smile.

I gave a bitter smile.

In the end, with this, the King’s Sword had achieved his goal.

Of course, that didn’t mean this side only took losses, either.

I, too, was in a situation where I desperately needed a ‘scenario.’ If I could solve the scenario problem, then for the time being, I didn’t have to worry about the ‘Exile Penalty.’

“What scenario will you give me?”

As it happened, in the ‘Number One Murim,’ there were a few scenarios I could receive.

For example, the ‘Martial Arts Tournament’ that Yoo Joonghyuk in the main story participated in was one of them.

On the other hand, there was also a ‘Doom Scenario’ that could only begin once a plausibility backlash of a certain scale occurred.

There was no way the King’s Sword was planning to destroy Murim, so we would probably be entering the ‘Martial Arts Tournament.’

[You have obtained a clue for a new scenario!]

It wasn’t a bad situation.

Decisively, if you carry out the ‘Martial Arts Tournament’ scenario, you can obtain a ‘sub-scenario.’

It wasn’t as stable as a main scenario, but at the very least, it would prevent my incarnation body from scattering into the air.

But in the next moment, an unexpected word popped out of the King’s Sword’s mouth.

“Have you heard of the ‘Horror Realm Expedition’?”

*

Horror Realm.

The Recorders of Terror evaluated that space as follows.

「A place where forgotten fear reigns, a fear that has even forgotten the Final Wall.」

On the other hand, the One-Fist Invincible Yoo Hoseong evaluated it as follows.

「"The abyss of a martial artist."」

The Paradox’s Baekcheong, Kyrgios Rodgraim, evaluated it as follows,

「"The slowest and fastest road toward ‘transcendence.’"」

Also, Lee Hyunsung of the 999th regression said this.

「"I’d rather enlist twice. No, three times, four times, five times."」

And now, Yoo Joonghyuk of the 41st regression was saying:

“It’s a trap.”

I nodded indifferently.

“The bastards from the families are planning to wipe us out. There’s a high chance they already finished making a deal with the Constellations too.”

“Mm. Is that so.”

“Kim Dokja, you don’t know. If you go there now, you will definitely die.”

“Did Cheon Inho of the 40th regression die there too?”

Yoo Joonghyuk hesitated for a moment, then answered.

“Cheon Inho didn’t die.”

“Then I won’t die either.”

“You aren’t Cheon Inho.”

Yoo Joonghyuk spoke in a fierce voice.

“In your mental state, you’ll die at the entrance of the Horror Realm.”

“Still, you didn’t forget the information that the Horror Realm is dangerous. Impressive.”

Even in a situation like this, it must have been information he had to not forget. I scratched my cheek and continued.

“Still, it’s a place we have to go someday.”

“That someday is not now.”

Yoo Joonghyuk of the previous regression had probably gone to the ‘Horror Realm’ as well. Of course, he wouldn’t have confirmed the end, but at least, he must have gone as far as the entrance.

“It’s different from the previous regression. What the King’s Sword proposed this time is……”

“Confirming the end of the Horror Realm, right.”

「"For the first time in Murim, we wish to confirm the ‘end of the Horror Realm.’"」

The Horror Realm is a fairly special place in this ‘Number One Murim.’ Because even the Imoogi Outer God that the Heaven-Sundering Sword Saint defeated also originated from that ‘Horror Realm.’

“The Horror Realm Expedition is a ‘main scenario.’”

“……”

“If I accept this scenario, I can escape being an ‘Exile.’ If you don’t help me, I’ll go even if it’s alone.”

Maybe my answer flustered him, because Yoo Joonghyuk hesitated.

“You—”

“Of course, if you help, it’ll be more worth trying.”

“……”

“More than that, don’t you also have a reason you have to go to the Horror Realm?”

I know Yoo Joonghyuk is right. If we enter the Horror Realm right now, the probability of dying as-is is much higher. Even so, this was the best we could choose right now.

“Our enemies won’t wait for us.”

The Horror Realm is a place even Constellations avoid. If we could just enter it, then at least for a while, we might be able to avoid the pursuit of the ‘gigantic nebula.’

After thinking for a long time, Yoo Joonghyuk frowned and muttered.

“Do you even know what kind of place the Horror Realm is?”

“Roughly. It’s a scary place, right?”

“You don’t think the Horror Realm is some kind of haunted-house experience, do you.”

“It’ll be scarier than that. Still, it’s fine. Kim Dokja originally enjoys thrills.”

For the record, the one who enjoys thrills isn’t me.

I’ll be honest.

I’m actually a coward.

I absolutely don’t want to go to the Horror Realm. But damn it, this time I had no choice but to go.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’ wants to participate in the ‘Horror Realm Expedition’.]

Because beyond that ‘Horror Realm,’ there was someone I was looking for.

「"Kid, Second Brother is in the dark dimension inside the ‘Horror Realm.’"」

It was about time to go meet my problem child Second Brother.