The so-called “Tyrant King Revival Plan” proceeded steadily.

Reviving Yoo Joonghyuk—if Kim Dokja, the Demon King of Salvation and First Evil, heard about it, he’d throw a fit, saying it was the most implausible nonsense imaginable…

[‘King of Horror’ is watching this time stratum.]

Looks like our Second Evil is more into this kind of story.

That tracked. They said they liked sad, broken stories.

Just the premise alone—Yoo Joonghyuk being revived as an undead by Cheon Inho, his worst enemy, and living like a slave in a world that had already been destroyed—would make most angst addicts cry their eyes out.

I didn’t know just how hardcore Second Evil’s tastes were, but either way, the operation was going smoothly.

“Cheon Inho?”

“Yes.”

“We’re ready.”

Gyeong Sein brought the “torso” Yoo Joonghyuk would use and set it down in the middle of the open space.

I stared down at Yoo Joonghyuk’s torso sitting in a drum barrel and asked,

“But do we really have to do it here? Isn’t there somewhere safer?”

“You’re whining again. You should be grateful we even have a place we can use.”

For the record, we were currently inside Geumho Station’s subway station.

Out of all places, why Geumho Station? But in a way, it also felt like fate.

Geumho Station.

The place where Cheon Inho became the “Inciter,” and the place where I possessed someone for the first time.

With the Korean Peninsula already destroyed by the final scenario, it was nothing but irony that the only safe place left was the station where the “first scenario” had begun.

“Is your skill charge finished?”

I nodded.

Of course. [Summon the Dead] was my skill. I was the one using it.

But when I examined the incarnation body pulled from the barrel, I flinched.

“Wait a second. This incarnation body…”

A physique trained to fit the scenario. Not overly swollen in everyday form, but with terrifying explosive power hidden between the lines of muscle.

There was only one incarnation in the entire <Star Stream> who trained their body this effectively.

“It’s Yoo Joonghyuk himself.”

“That’s right.”

“He should’ve been erased. How did you get this?”

“When we used [Preservation] in <Olympus>, the skill applied to part of the incarnation body too.”

So the skill they used to preserve Yoo Joonghyuk’s head must’ve partially carried over to Yoo Joonghyuk’s body as well.

All over the incarnation body were crude stitch marks where it had been torn apart and roughly sewn back together. It probably drifted through the <Star Stream> with chunks of vital areas ripped away.

“By chance, I knew a myth specialist in the Demon Realm, so I asked for help. Unfortunately, the Blood Demon got them too, and they lost their life…”

A myth specialist in the Demon Realm.

For a moment, I wondered if it might’ve been Eileen.

Eileen the Clockmaker, owner of Etica.

Even in the 40th round, she died at the very end, repairing someone’s myth to the last.

Either way, it looked like we had the materials to summon a complete Yoo Joonghyuk.

Letting out a small breath, I spoke.

“[Summon the Dead] takes at least thirty minutes.”

“I know. We’re prepared in case something happens.”

Prepared in case something happens?

Before I could ask what that meant, I saw Lee Dansu head down the corridor and start loosening up.

At the same time, a strange, wailing sound began to rise from far away.

Uneasy, I asked,

“What’s happening?”

“The evil spirits will swarm here.”

“…What?”

“Summon the Dead is a technique that borrows dead souls and implants them into a body. And because you destroyed the <Underworld>, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) this area is crawling with wandering souls.”

“……”

“In that situation, if a body appears that can be possessed, what do you think will happen among those evil spirits?”

Cold sweat ran down my back.

So right now, those spirits were going to come flooding in to seize this empty body.

“But don’t worry. We have Lee Dansu.”

Eighth Evil Lee Dansu.

By now, I also knew about Lee Dansu of the 40th round.

In this round, he’d been the vice-leader of the “Salvation Church” that followed Nirvana, but he got hit by Cheon Inho’s “Incitement Escalating,” betrayed the Salvation Church, and changed classes into a fraudulent exorcist.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!”

Dancing wildly like he was possessed by an animal, Lee Dansu suddenly drove a staff into the railroad floor.

Samyeong Daesa’s bamboo staff.

Wait—hold on. That was something I’d given as a gift. He had it here too?

The moment that odd deja vu hit me, a sacred aura erupted from the staff.

[The character ‘Lee Dansu’ activates ‘Absolute Holy Barrier Lv.???’!]

Absolute Holy Barrier.

I was genuinely stunned.

An ultimate exorcism art that only an absolute-good constellation—at minimum, something like a great archangel’s seat—should be able to use… and a mere Ten Evil was using it.

Ye Hyeonwoo nodded meaningfully.

“That right there is the ‘Ghost Executioner’—Eighth Evil Lee Dansu.”

I nodded along, impressed.

All of a sudden, the “Ten Evils” were starting to look kind of incredible.

In the main story, they only showed up in a loaded way and were all small-time punks… but here they were actually insane.

As the [Absolute Holy Barrier] reached its extreme and took hold, the evil spirits pressing in from outside began shrieking as they burned away.

Maybe among the spirits burning over there was Ms. Kim Anna too, after failing to possess someone.

I decided to force myself to forget that possibility.

Sweating buckets, Lee Dansu approached us and said,

“I can’t hold it for long. Start it, Sophist of Evil. Humanity’s future rests on your decision.”

I nodded and cast [Summon the Dead]. A moment later, in a blaze of radiant light, Yoo Joonghyuk’s head slapped onto Yoo Joonghyuk’s torso with a wet smack.

Watching from the side, Ye Hyeonwoo murmured in a trembling voice,

“To witness the revival of the ‘Tyrant King’ with my own eyes…”

“Now the scenario’s actually doable.”

“With Yoo Joonghyuk, there’s no problem.”

They looked way too hopeful, so I forced a bitter smile.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much. Honestly, just adding Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t mean we can clear the final scenario in one shot.”

“What are you talking about? That’s ‘Yoo Joonghyuk.’ The savior of the world, the strongest incarnation on the ground. He’s worth expecting things from.”

For Ten Evils, they were praising the protagonist a little too hard.

I tossed out a needless jab.

“Even so, he lost to me.”

At my words, the three of them looked at each other in unison. Then booming laughter filled Geumho Station.

With a weird feeling, I asked,

“Why are you laughing?”

“Heh. Well… if you call that winning, then sure, it’s winning.”

Cheon Inho did defeat Yoo Joonghyuk. I’d confirmed it in Anna’s [Past Sight]. And yet Ye Hyeonwoo was acting like I was bragging.

“You really forgot everything.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You planted curse traps everywhere Yoo Joonghyuk went, and you slipped lethal poison into his food at every opportunity.”

“……”

“You installed [Incitement Megaphones] all over the place and repeated step-by-step gaslighting, and whenever you got the chance, you dragged up the Tyrant King’s dead comrades to grind down his mental strength. For a whole six months.”

I kept listening to Ye Hyeonwoo with my mouth hanging open.

“When the Tyrant King fought you, he could barely bring out about twenty percent of his maximum power. Meanwhile, you fought him at your best condition.”

“He was in that kind of state?”

“Then how else would you have caught the Tyrant King?”

I was dumbfounded.

There was that kind of backstory behind the 40th round battle I’d seen?

My shoulder, reflected in a shattered platform screen door, suddenly looked ridiculously narrow. Before I knew it, I asked,

“Am I weak?”

Ye Hyeonwoo hesitated, then said,

“That’s a difficult question.”

“Tell me honestly.”

“Honestly, none of us would feel confident we could win against you one-on-one…”

“Would feel confident?”

“…We would.”

Damn it.

As I let out a heavy sigh, Ye Hyeonwoo added,

“If you hadn’t prepared anything, that is.”

Prepared?

“If you prepare properly, then none of us can face you. Once you’re fully prepared, you’re stronger than any constellation in the <Star Stream>. You even beat Poseidon, didn’t you?”

“Speaking of Poseidon… did I beat that bastard the same way I beat Yoo Joonghyuk?”

“To catch Poseidon, you infiltrated <Olympus> for an entire year.”

At this point, I didn’t even have the energy to be shocked.

What the hell did you do to Poseidon for a whole year, Cheon Inho?

Did you feed him dirt or something?

It was then that the feel of the radiant light pouring from Yoo Joonghyuk’s body changed.

[Call the soul to use for ‘Summon the Dead.’]

The real summoning was finally about to begin.

Tense, I spoke.

“The incarnation I will call is the Tyrant King Yoo Joonghyuk.”

For a moment, the skill didn’t respond.

Please. Please.

[The soul you called is nearby.]

I almost cheered.

[That soul is compatible with this incarnation body.]

[Proceeding with dead summoning.]

It’s here! It really was here!

I kept the summoning going, choking back the sudden sting of tears.

Watching me, Ye Hyeonwoo murmured,

“Honestly… it’s impressive.”

“We’re entering the important part, so don’t talk to me.”

“The moment the Tyrant King wakes up, he’ll definitely beat you to death.”

I hesitated and looked at Ye Hyeonwoo.

I knew why he was saying that. Right now, he didn’t know the one I was summoning wasn’t the 40th round’s Yoo Joonghyuk, but the soul of Yoo Joonghyuk from the 41st round.

“And still, you made a plan to bring the Tyrant King back just to clear the final scenario. You’re probably the only incarnation in the world who could do something like that. So… I respect you. A little.”

“You can respect me a lot.”

“I’ll keep it to a little.”

I was forcing a wry smile at the unexpected respect of the Ten Evils when a new message popped up above my head.

[You may now grant new attributes to the body of the summoned dead.]

Huh?

[Please select three attributes to grant.]

Wait—so it wasn’t just summoning? I could attach three new attributes on top of it?

「…When mastery of Summon the Dead reaches its ultimate level, it becomes possible to ‘grant additional attributes’ to the summoned dead.」

I definitely remembered reading something like that in Ways of Survival…

Holy shit. Is this allowed?

My heart started pounding.

Yoo Joonghyuk was already strong—how much stronger would he get if he gained extra attributes too?

[This incarnation body’s grade is too high. You cannot select attribute grants.]

Of course, luck didn’t move exactly the way I wanted.

[This incarnation body will randomly acquire three attributes!]

[Random roulette has been activated!]

Damn it. Even this was random?

Still, I didn’t care. They were free attributes anyway—anything was a win.

[The incarnation ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has acquired a new attribute!]

[Exclusive attribute, ‘Rock Head,’ has been acquired!]

[This incarnation body’s intelligence and memory will slightly decrease.]

[This incarnation body’s skull becomes extremely hard.]

I couldn’t believe it.

“Rock Head”?

“Cheon Inho. What is it?”

“It’s nothing.”

Come to think of it, it might not be entirely bad.

Yoo Joonghyuk was dangerous enough already—he didn’t need to be smart on top of that.

Now there were two random attributes left.

[The roulette spins!]

I prayed silently.

Please. Demon King of Salvation. King of Horror. Demon-like Judge of Fire. Help me.

Depending on what attributes Yoo Joonghyuk got here, the final scenario might actually be doable… or it might become hell.

If, by some miracle, something like [Life of Full Power] landed—

[The incarnation ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has acquired a new attribute!]

[Exclusive attribute, ‘Dietary Bias,’ has been acquired!]

[This incarnation body can consume only ‘one’ kind of food.]

Dietary Bias.

It wasn’t good, but it wasn’t terrible either.

Exactly as it sounded—if he ate anything other than the designated food, the incarnation body’s abilities would drop sharply.

If anything, it felt like a relief. Yoo Joonghyuk only ate what he made himself anyway.

Please. Just let the last attribute come out well…

[The incarnation ‘Yoo Joonghyuk’ has acquired a new attribute!]

And a moment later…

I rubbed my eyes.

Wait.

This really came out?

I stared at the attribute name, then thought.

[Exclusive attribute, ‘Cannot Cook,’ has been acquired!]

Oh my god.

[This incarnation body cannot cook.]

It was the moment the first Yoo Joonghyuk in the history of Ways of Survival who couldn’t cook was born.