First Kim Dokja told me to wait a moment and vanished. He was probably rummaging through the [Fourth Wall].

[‘Sanctuary of the Brave’ has 3 minutes remaining.]

Outside the safe area, the shark head was crouched low and staring straight at me.

「Ways of Survival: Discarded Settings Compendium」.

If my suspicion was right, the “fears” in this “Horror Realm” might be discarded or unused settings.

Just look at this “Sanctuary of the Brave.” Back when I was writing the serialized version, the “hidden Green Zone” on the wall at Chungmuro Station didn’t have a name of its own.

Meaning, “Sanctuary of the Brave” was a 「setting name」 that still hadn’t been used.

If this line of reasoning held, then the “shark head” in front of me was highly likely to be one of those settings, too.

「But would it really be in my discarded settings compendium?」

I’d created and deleted so many settings that my memory wasn’t clear, but it was true that a folder called “discarded settings compendium” existed.

It was mostly a folder full of settings I’d gotten censored by Ji Eunyu, and if the [Fourth Wall] really was a library that stored the Kim Dokjas’ “records,” then I figured those records would exist, too.

[‘Sanctuary of the Brave’ has 1 minute remaining.]

Kim Dokja still wasn’t responding.

After thinking for a moment, I steeled myself and pulled out “Thoughts.”

"Transform into the Ever-Changing Stealth Suit."

I hadn’t told Kim Dokja on purpose, but in truth, I was planning to stick to the “second method” I’d mentioned earlier.

「Deliberately get eaten by the shark head and force the [Fourth Wall] to trigger.」

Even if the “discarded settings compendium” really existed, there was a chance it wouldn’t have an entry for that “shark head.”

And even if it did exist, I doubted I could solve this situation with just a few descriptive lines.

In other words, asking Kim Dokja to find the “discarded settings compendium” had been a kind of deception.

If he was watching me, he’d definitely interfere.

But right now, I could get eaten without anyone getting in my way.

[‘Sanctuary of the Brave’ has 30 seconds remaining.]

Just imagining its fangs piercing me made cold sweat run down my back.

Even if the [Fourth Wall] existed, it didn’t mean there’d be no pain. Wounds still burned, and death was still terrifying.

After bracing myself over and over, I rose from my spot—

[‘Sanctuary of the Brave’ has 20 seconds remaining.]

The phone rang.

—Youngest, I found it.

"It really existed?"

—What, you thought it wouldn’t?

But now I only had 10 seconds left.

There wasn’t enough time.

—But the title’s a little different from what you said?

"The title’s different?"

For a moment, my head spun.

Had I made another settings compendium?

No matter how hard I tried to recall it, nothing came up.

—Yeah, but it definitely talks about the Horror Realm. There’s even stuff in here I haven’t read before, too. Honestly, I want to read it first, but…

"Shark head! Is there an explanation about the shark head?"

[The effect of ‘Sanctuary of the Brave’ disappears.]

The “safe zone” was vanishing right in front of me.

The moment the shark head—still crouched—opened its mouth as if it had been waiting—

—There is.

With Kim Dokja’s voice, a screen floated up on my display. It was a page containing information related to the “shark head.”

[Your exclusive attribute is activating.]

With the sensation that time was slowing down, I began reading the text on the screen.

+

* Parts of this document have been modified by SVRP.
SVRP. PW 00843.

Calamity-grade Fear — Tooth Fin
An Outer God that has reigned for long ages «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» as a terror of the sea above.

As time elapsed immediately after birth, fear fusion occurred. Re-examination of this entity’s story wavelength confirmed a “chimera” transformation.

……

Continuous idol-worship phenomena observed from planetary system 8612.

At the point 1,024 years after birth, “Outer God-ification” occurred. Grade adjusted from “disaster-grade” to “calamity-grade.”

……

Primarily uses “Tooth Soldiers,” forged from its own fangs and molars.

In some regressions, after obtaining ■■■■, cases have been observed of this entity crossing over beyond the “Horror Realm.”

During the “Second Murim Collapse Scenario,” this entity’s grade was temporarily adjusted to “cataclysm-grade.”

……

By default, it possesses a gentle temperament, and except for certain extreme cases, there are almost no recorded incidents of it attacking people.

Its practical danger grade is assessed below disaster-grade.

+

Maybe it was thanks to Kim Dokja’s attribute. Reading all of it took less than a second.

And yet one line left me with a question.

「Tooth Fin is, by default, ‘gentle.’」

That was the part I couldn’t understand the most—because the “shark head” I’d seen wasn’t gentle the way the record described.

「Then why is this ‘shark head’ chasing me?」

The reason was in the record, too.

For some reason, it was damaged with ■, but it wasn’t hard to guess.

[Exclusive Attribute, ‘Lamarck’s Giraffe’ activates!]

If my guess was right, there was only one way to break this situation.

—Youngest! You…!

Realizing what I was about to do, Kim Dokja shouted.

The shark head Outer God in front of me—its mouth was completely covered in sharp fangs.

As those fangs lunged in to tear me apart, I barely managed to drag a single story fragment out from deep inside my body.

"This is what you’re looking for, right?"

In my hand, one story was trapped and thrashing.

[Story Fragment, ‘Rapid Swim’ trembles.]

No doubt. The reason it had chased me was this “story fragment.”

A fragment obtained when Teacher Jaehwan killed another “shark Outer God.”

—Youngest, are you insane?

I knew it, too. Even if I handed this over, it would be hard to truly change its mind. Even so, it was worth trying.

I thought of the traffic light.

A fear described as a “long-necked object” and a “white ladder.” When I first encountered those symbols, I didn’t know it was a “traffic light.”

What you don’t know is frightening.

All fear operates on that “ignorance.”

Then maybe the shark in front of me was the same.

「By default, it possesses a gentle temperament,」

Shouldn’t I trust the dry “record,” rather than my senses drowned in fear?

For example—this entity’s lived history.

「Except for certain extreme cases, there are almost no recorded incidents of it attacking people.」

Tooth Fin—born from idol worship on Earth, hated in countless ways, reigning as the terror of the sea.

I held out the story fragment 「Rapid Swim」 toward it.

"I don’t know what this means to you."

Staring into the Outer God’s eerie mouth, I continued.

"But I’ll give it back."

Like hitting Backspace and deleting letters one by one, I erased my preconceptions one by one.

Instead, I studied the shark-like mouth, the fins, the stitched scars left all over it. And between those wounds, I imagined the history that must have piled up there in full.

Just like when Shin Yoosung first tamed the “chimera dragon.”

This thing isn’t scary. If you don’t provoke it first, it won’t hurt people.

As if it sensed something, the Outer God shoved its snout closer to my clenched fist.

Hot steam poured from its nostrils.

The stench of a contaminated story—something I couldn’t even put into words—made my mind feel like it might go blank in an instant. Even so, I endured.

The fact that it wasn’t attacking me right away was enough to make me see a possibility.

Just a little more, just a little more—

[A new fear has been unlocked!]

And finally, Tooth Fin’s mouth clamped down on my hand.

[Calamity-grade Fear — ‘Tooth Fin’ withdraws its hostility toward you.]

I felt the story fragment wrapped around my fingertips vanish as it touched something wet.

[You have obtained a new interpretation regarding this fear!]
[Interpretation Suggestion: Don’t judge by the fin.]
[The Horror Realm accepts your interpretation!]
[Horror Realm exploration progress greatly increases!]

…….

[You have obtained a new ‘Story Fragment’ as a reward!]

As messages poured down through the air, the Outer God’s expression twisted into something bizarre—like it was smiling, like it was sad. With that face, it slipped out of the tunnel, still holding the story fragment I’d given it in its mouth.

I chased after it, running all the way to the end of the tunnel. It was swimming endlessly through the Horror Realm’s pitch-black void.

Then it began to emit a bright light from its entire body. A mournful cry echoed several times. The Outer God wriggled its dorsal fin and traced a huge circle, drifting over our heads.

Kim Dokja and I quietly looked up at that dreamlike dance.

—It solves that easily?

"Did it look easy?"

Kim Dokja didn’t answer. Because both he and I knew it hadn’t been easy at all.

—How did you know?

"Know what?"

—That thing isn’t a shark.

Kim Dokja’s guess was right.

That Outer God wasn’t a “shark.” It looked like a shark head, and it even had a shark-like dorsal fin on its back, but it absolutely wasn’t a shark.

Boooo— a long cry bursting out.

Centered around the writhing dorsal fin, I could see intricate sutures.

—You saw that?

"Yes."

If I had to guess, that Outer God’s original form wasn’t a shark—it was probably a “whale.”

I didn’t know what history it carried, but it definitely seemed connected to the “shark Outer God” Teacher Jaehwan had killed.

That stitched dorsal fin might have belonged to that shark Outer God.

And the story fragment I handed over—「Rapid Swim」—might have belonged to the Outer God that gave it that fin.

Thinking that, the dance it traced in circles through the void felt like a kind of requiem.

A mourning ritual for a long-time friend.

"Sponsor."

—Yeah.

"About this book."

I looked down at the “Horror Realm settings guide” Kim Dokja had found inside the [Fourth Wall].

"Who wrote it?"

This document wasn’t the “discarded settings compendium” I’d asked for. The sentences and structure weren’t written in my style.

I reread the Tooth Fin document again.

Painfully dry, unnecessarily detailed lines—like they were written with someone in mind.

Every time I read a sentence, something near my heart throbbed and hurt.

Every sentence in this document was saying it. I hadn’t written it.

—Who do you think wrote it?

"I want to read the first sentence."

A moment later, a file Kim Dokja sent floated up on my screen.

When I opened it with trembling hands and checked the title, I let out a short laugh.

Kim Dokja probably had the same look on his face.

『A Horror Realm Guide Even Squid or Sunfish Can Understand』.

I didn’t know why this book was inside the [Fourth Wall], but at least one thing was certain.

Kim Dokja and I both knew.

In this universe, there was only one author who would give a book a title like that.

"Of course."

—I told you.

She was alive somewhere.

「Written by Han Sooyoung」

Still writing a story for a single reader.