I thought for a moment about the Second Kim Dokja’s tastes.

On the ground, chopped-up octopus and squid legs were wriggling, and ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) in the west, a huge horde of babies was smashing buildings as it passed by.

In the east, a horned mad boar was rampaging, and in the south, a hairworm Otherworldly Divinity was writhing.

I don’t even want to say what’s in the north.

If this is the “Big House,” then I just want to live in a small house.

―The north is the worst.

Even our First Kim Dokja left a brief review.

That’s right. No matter which way you looked—east, west, south—there were the worst Otherworldly Divinities squatting there, but even among them, the worst was the north.

“Isn’t that, like, that thing?”

―That’s the one.

But Kim Dokja’s industrial complex is in the north, and if we want to arrive there, we have to get past that.

―If you want to die, go ahead and try.

“You should be cheering me on.”

―It’d be better to just wait for the Second one to come out of the house on his own.

“Should we shout his name really loud once?”

―You think a shut-in will come out just because you do that?

For a moment, we just stood there blankly, staring up at the Otherworldly Divinity blocking the northern path.

Even in the main story, the existence of an Otherworldly Divinity—an “otherworldly divinity”—had been mentioned from time to time.

Among them, an Otherworldly Divinity counted as a representative. A member of the “Old Existence,” and the “otherworldly divinity” that had been the librarian of the [Fourth Wall] in the 1,864th regression.

Why did it have to be that one, and not some other bastard, that was here?

Fortunately, the guide had a description about it.

+

* A portion of this document has been modified by SVRP.
SVRP. PW 01864.

Calamity-grade horror—Dream Eater

One of the primordial Otherworldly Divinities belonging to the “Old Existence.” Has the characteristic of coveting the dreams dreamed by mortals. Is known to sometimes trade rare dreams or knowledge with incubus from other dimensions.

……

According to the claims of the transcendents, the “Dream Eater” that appears in the apocalypse region is in a shell state, with its true spirit having escaped.

For reasons unknown, it is said to be left in a state where only the instinct to covet dreams remains, and it wanders the northern part of the apocalypse region.

……

In a certain regression, an anomaly related to the “Final Wall” was reported. It was confirmed that the incident in that regression affected the other world lines as well.

There have been no further reports since.

……

Even after its true spirit was lost, it has been confirmed to maintain its calamity-grade rank.

+

If only a shell was left, was it because its essence had been absorbed into the [Fourth Wall]?

I blankly looked up at its height, rising vertically several kilometers into the sky. Maybe because it had lost part of its original power, it looked a bit smaller than how it was described in the main story, but…… even in that state, it was a “calamity-grade” monster enough to wipe out an entire world with ease.

But interestingly, there were people fighting against that “calamity-grade” monster.

[Move! Attack the legs first!]

What was even more interesting was that the constellations moving those incarnation bodies were all guys I knew.

[Constellation, ‘Master of the Spear’ is enraged!]
[Constellation, ‘Fist and Kick Taoist’ scatters resentment!]
[Constellation, ‘Filth Addict’ vomits filth!]

The “Fist and Kick Taoist,” whose torso had burst after crashing into the Dream Eater’s leg, howled in pain.

Master of the Spear. Fist and Kick Taoist. Filth Addict.

No mistake. They were all constellations who had fought me at the “Recycling Center.”

The constellations who had possessed high-ranking demons and blocked my path.

I’m sure one of them died to Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand, and another one I dealt with myself…… anyway, you have to give constellations credit for their stubborn vitality.

[Dammit, we can’t die after coming this far!]
[Master of the Spear! This isn’t what we heard. It’s way harder than the apocalypse region we know…….]
[Find the time stratum! Hurry! If we can just get in there……!]
[Where the hell are those Transcendent Alliance bastards? Why is something like this roaming around and those assholes aren’t even showing their faces?!]
[Filth! Fiiiiilth!]

Revelations coming and going amid the chaos. From what I heard, it seemed like they’d come all the way here looking for a time stratum.

It wasn’t strange.

Master of the Spear was also a star that, in the past, had experience training through a “time stratum.”

They must have drifted here to make up for their defeat at the “Recycling Center,” and to carve out a new realm through training.

[Joint attack! We’ll break through! If we can just get to that industrial complex—]

Unfortunately, it looked like their lucky break ended here.

Oooooooooooooooo.

A scream as if an entire world was wailing at once.

The Dream Eater’s leg moved. Like launching a missile, it lifted that leg high and then dove it mercilessly toward the ground. With a movement carrying a rank beyond mere physical force, the surrounding ground caved in and a shockwave exploded outward.

The sound of something crashing. The screams of constellations. A tremendous cloud of dust, blotting out even the sky above in black.

Holding Anna Croft tight, I pressed my body flat against the ground.

How many minutes did it take for the dust to settle? In the scorched, ruined site, there wasn’t a single living thing left.

My body started trembling, little by little.

This was an Otherworldly Divinity that reached the “Old Existence.” Even if only the shell remained, its innate status couldn’t even be compared to most constellations.

[We…… can’t go like this…….]

A faint revelation. I could see Master of the Spear’s incarnation body, deeply embedded in a nearby building, hanging limp without strength.

The other two had been crushed under the leg, and there wasn’t even a trace left to find.

With Anna Croft on my back, I moved my trembling legs.

I had to run right now. I had to get even a little farther away. But where? Where in this apocalypse region was there any place to run to?

Ooooooooooo.

The Dream Eater let out a bizarre shriek and writhed its massive body.

Was it my imagination? It felt like that gigantic leg was inching this way. Did it spot me?

Or—

“Cheon Inho. What the hell is th—”

“Shh.”

I put a finger to the lips of Anna Croft, who had woken up at just that moment.

Of course, just holding your breath or not talking didn’t mean you wouldn’t be found.

I could feel it.

It would find us, no matter what. A disgusting fable rising from its whole body spread like smoke, searching the surroundings.

I thought for a moment, then said to Kim Dokja.

“Lend me a fable.”

―Take it.

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

There was a fable of Kim Dokja’s that was delivered to me through 「Successor of the Eternal Name」.

Watching me, Anna Croft asked in a whisper,

“Cheon Inho. Who were you just talking to?”

“An older guy I know.”

“An older guy?”

Come to think of it, even in the main story, Kim Dokja used this “fable” at Anna Croft’s side. What a strange coincidence.

[Fable, ‘The Pebble and I’ begins its story!]

The Pebble and I.

A fable Kim Dokja had once obtained by visiting the “Island of Reincarnators.”

The function of this fable was simple.

[Due to the fable’s effect, your presence becomes similar to a ‘pebble’.]
[Fable, ‘The Pebble and I’ finds ‘Anna Croft’ puzzling.]

“Do this person too.”

[Fable, ‘The Pebble and I’ looks at you with an unhappy face as if to say, it’s this bastard again.]
[Fable, ‘The Pebble and I’ shared its effect with ‘Anna Croft’.]

Done.

Now Anna Croft and I would be recognized as about as much as pebbles rolling around on the roadside.

Oooooooo—?

Luckily, maybe the fable worked properly, because the Dream Eater didn’t find us.

Grabbing Anna Croft’s wrist, I quickly strode through the ruins.

“Wait, if you go that way right now—”

“We have to.”

Instead of running away, we moved closer to the Dream Eater’s main body. It was only possible because our presence had faded.

「While the fable lasts, pass the bastard and get to the industrial complex.」

Simple, and certain.

The closer we got to its main body, the colder my gut felt, but this wasn’t the time to be picky about cold water or hot water.

Just as we were passing the mouth of that enormous body at a fast walk, it felt like its eyes, in the dizzying high sky, were flicking a glance down at me.

―Youngest, I think we got spotted.

Kim Dokja’s voice came into my ear.

Reflexively, I shouted.

“Run!”

At my signal, we started running with everything we had. Feeling [Wind’s Path] coil around my toes, I immediately asked Kim Dokja,

“Why did it spot us? Don’t tell me you gave me a defective fable?”

―I forgot for a moment, but that fable only works on beings who share the symbolic system of “pebbles.”

Come to think of it, otherworldly divinities fundamentally had a different symbolic system from ours. Their way of communicating was different, and the way they gave meaning to this universe was different.

Wait a second. If that’s the case—

―That bastard wasn’t fooled from the start.

Right away, two of its tentacles began stubbornly chasing us.

Kuuuuuududududu!

A shadow of black tentacles draped over the entire nearby area. At this rate, we’d be crushed to death before we even reached the industrial complex.

“Big brother.”

―You only call me that at times like this?

“Can I use the [Fourth Wall]?”

Now there was only one method.

The method Kim Dokja used in the main story.

That crazy method of getting intentionally eaten by that thing, then locking the bastard’s mental body inside the [Fourth Wall].

―Didn’t you read the guide’s description? It says its soul is gone. That thing’s just a shell. That won’t work.

“Still, you don’t know until you try. If I get eaten by that thing, there might be some method once I’m inside.”

Anyone hearing this would say it was a lunatic conversation.

Anna Croft was actually looking at me like she was looking at a lunatic.

―Even if that method works, it’s uncertain whether the [Fourth Wall] can accept that bastard.

“You just don’t want to live with it, do you?”

―You know the library you made is way more unstable than the original [Fourth Wall], right?

“Is that so?”

I asked back, flinching a little.

In reality, the [Fourth Wall] I had right now was somewhat weakened compared to Kim Dokja’s original one. Because I hadn’t gathered enough “Kim Dokja fragments.”

―If you fail to bring that thing into the wall, what do you think happens? I can take it, but what about the other kids in this library?

Dammit.

I hadn’t thought that far.

Then we had to change the plan.

“Anna! Faster!”

At my shout, Anna Croft snapped back to her senses and nodded.

Now the tentacles were chasing right up to our backs, and the industrial complex was still far too distant.

What was fortunate was that along the way, there were a few “horrors” we could use. For example—

[Disaster-grade horror, ‘Alien Traffic Light’ activates.]
[Fable fragment, ‘Remote Signal Adjuster’ is used.]

The moment I entered the crosswalk, I switched the signal to green.

And the moment the Dream Eater followed into the crosswalk, I quickly switched the signal to red.

A moment later, I heard the sound of something rushing in and slamming into the Dream Eater’s tentacle for violating the signal. A terrifying crash that left skid marks.

Ooooooooooo!

How do you like that, bastard? The taste of civilization.

[Calamity-grade horror, ‘Dream Eater’ roars!]

Maybe the rules of the world only function because civilization exists.

So in front of a “calamity” that destroyed even that civilization, a traffic light and a crosswalk were useless.

Spitting curses at the tentacles chasing us while laying waste to everything, I yelled,

“Obey the signal, you bastard!”

“Cheon Inho, don’t tell me you spoke to that monster?”

“Don’t pick a fight with me and read the future, hurry.”

“I still can’t use [Precognition]…….”

“Why are you this useless?”

As if it was the first time she’d heard abuse like that, Anna Croft mumbled in flustered disbelief.

“My ability isn’t only [Precognition].”

“Yeah. Sure it isn’t.”

Maybe my words provoked her.

Anna Croft’s face suddenly went stiff as she activated the “Archdemon’s Eyes” again. She was trying [Precognition] again.

Tststststst!

Sparks flying fiercely upward. I was about to tell her not to push herself for no reason, but Anna Croft didn’t turn the skill off even while tears of blood ran down.

Watching the sight of blood evaporating in real time from the sparks, drying in dark smears on her cheeks, I couldn’t not say something.

“Disaster-grade horror, Anna Croft.”

As if to say, are you seriously joking right now, Anna Croft glared at me.

I was about to tell her it was really fine to stop now, but Anna Croft wiped away her tears of blood and said,

“I saw it.”

“What?”

“I saw the future. Just a little, but.”

I hesitated for a moment, then asked.

“Did I die?”

“Did you want to see that future?”

“No. So I didn’t die, right?”

“Yes.”

I grinned.

“That’s enough. Good job, Anna.”

Because it meant that the method I was going to use from here on out was, at the very least, a method where I wouldn’t die.