Three days had passed since Yoo Joonghyuk’s revival. Usually, other messiahs pulled off some kind of grand miracle within three days of coming back, but our Tyrant King wasn’t showing any signs of that.

The first time Yoo Joonghyuk opened his mouth was right around when I was starting to wonder if the one I’d summoned wasn’t actually Tyrant King Yoo Joonghyuk, but some unlucky namesake who just happened to share the same name.

“I’m hungry.”

“Yeeeah. What a wonderful thing to hear.”

Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t recognize me right away. It was probably the effect of the 「Rock Head」 attribute.

About an hour after the hunger declaration, a bit of sharpness started returning to Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes. Around the two-hour mark, Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly clenched his fist at me.

And around three hours in, a question came flying.

“What are you.”

“Wow, you’re curious about that now?”

“I asked what you are.”

“Cheon Inho.”

“No.”

“Oh, you noticed?”

The penalty on 「Rock Head」 was only a ‘slight’ decrease in intelligence. Thankfully, it hadn’t dropped enough for him to completely fail to recognize me.

Yoo Joonghyuk glared at me for a moment, then said,

“So you ended up in the 40th round too.”

“Weren’t you the one who pulled this crap because you knew I’d come?”

Instead of answering, Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at his own body and asked,

“Why am I tied up.”

“In case something happens. The other Ten Evils were worried.”

“The other Ten Evils? In the 40th round, the Ten Evils should all be dead except you.”

“I brought them back. Like you.”

Once it seemed like I could actually talk to Yoo Joonghyuk, the Ten Evils—who’d been cowardly hiding behind various pieces of cover around Geumho Station—started sticking their heads out one by one.

“Betrayer of the stars. Don’t tell me you’re actually talking with the Tyrant King right now?”

“Stop wasting time and use [Incitement] already. You have to suppress him from the start.”

“Should we start with curses, or poison? Just in case, I prepared both.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes widened as he glared at me after seeing the state of the Ten Evils.

“You—don’t tell me you used [Summon the Dead] on those bastards too?”

“Yep. Yep.”

“Why would you do that—”

“I don’t know either. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t something I did.”

From my answer, Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to roughly grasp the situation.

To calm the Ten Evils down, I spread my arms wide ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) and shouted theatrically.

“All right, everyone—your long-awaited Tyrant King has finally revived. For the record, this Tyrant King is a little dumber, so he won’t attack people recklessly, so relax. Ah—wait. Is it the opposite?”

“Cheon Inho!”

Ye Hyeonwoo, turning pale, shouted and pointed behind me. In that instant, Yoo Joonghyuk had already slipped free of his restraints and grabbed the back of my neck.

His iron grip hurt a bit, but I just dangled there in midair and gave the Ten Evils a casual wave.

“It’s safe. I’m not dead yet, am I?”

Still hanging from Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand, I looked around the platform at Geumho Station. A cold wind blew in from the tunnel leading toward Oksu.

I laughed without meaning to. Thinking about it, this area was also where I’d first met Yoo Joonghyuk of the 41st round.

“Are you deciding whether to kill me again?”

Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t answer.

That silence alone made me realize we’d changed.

We’d been through things together. Maybe it wasn’t some grand bond, but we had history. We’d built it together.

When Yoo Joonghyuk slowly set me down, the Ten Evils—who’d been hiding—started rushing over one by one.

Watching those villains, I said,

“You know it, right? You and I both have something we need to confirm in this round.”

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.

“If we don’t confirm it properly…”

“We won’t be able to see the end of the 41st round.”

I didn’t know what scenarios would unfold from here. I didn’t know whether we’d survive this time stratum, or whether we could clear the final scenario.

But there was at least one thing I was certain about.

[‘King of Horror’ is watching your story.]

Even if our story failed, that failure would change a very important part of the universe.

*

【I didn’t expect the ‘King of Horror’ to take interest in that story.】
【Bihcheonhori. If you’d introduced ‘Zero Murim’ better, none of this would’ve happened.】
【Hmph. That guy didn’t care about Murim in the first place. Asmodeus—why didn’t you promote your ‘time stratum’ properly?】

At Bihcheonhori’s jab, Asmodeus laughed softly.

【Either way, it’s entertaining. I was pretty curious about the ‘Sophist of Evil’ time stratum too.】
【This isn’t the time to laugh. If they actually succeed—】
【Then the ‘Sophist of Evil’ will achieve their long-cherished wish.】

After a brief silence, Asmodeus murmured,

【They will finally become this world’s ■■■.】

*

[25 days remain until the end of the 99th scenario.]

With only twenty-five days left until the scenario’s finale, the Ten Evils and I sat blankly on a bench at Geumho Station.

Watching Yoo Joonghyuk in the distance, repeatedly swinging his sword at empty air, Ye Hyeonwoo—sitting on the bench right beside me—muttered,

“I never thought we’d end up on the same side as the Tyrant King.”

As if they’d been waiting for it, Gyeong Sein and Lee Dansu on the bench next to him nodded.

“Seriously.”

“I don’t get why he’s letting us live. You—what did you even say to the Tyrant King?”

Looks like everyone was still scared of Yoo Joonghyuk.

“Obviously you used [Incitement]. Start talking—what keyword did you use on Yoo Joonghyuk?”

Kang Ilhun—who’d also been revived—chimed in too.

I stared quietly at the Ten Evils, who seemed determined to say only the dumbest possible things.

Kang Ilhun reacted to my gaze.

“What are you staring at like that?”

“I just think it’s fascinating.”

Back when I was writing the main story, these were people I didn’t even care what they looked like. And it made sense—“Ten Evils” were nothing more than early-stage obstacles.

But in the 40th round, the Ten Evils had stubbornly survived all the way to the point where the ‘Final Wall’ was right in front of them.

And that was the real problem.

Yoo Joonghyuk and I had to clear the final scenario while dragging these guys along.

I checked the Ten Evils one by one, based on what I’d learned so far.

First: Fourth Evil Kang Ilhun.

Even in the 40th round, Kang Ilhun was active as the “Rumor Expert.” With a further-developed [Rumor] skill, he’d acted as Cheon Inho’s speaker, manipulating the masses. When <Underworld> collapsed, it was Kang Ilhun who’d inflated Cheon Inho’s sowing of discord from the middle.

But the fatal weakness was that aside from this [Rumor] ability, Kang Ilhun had almost no merit at all.

Next: Fifth Evil Ye Hyeonwoo.

In the 40th round, Ye Hyeonwoo was called “the one who disappears.” The reason was simple.

“Where the hell did Ye Hyeonwoo run off to again?”

“Looks like he made eye contact with Yoo Joonghyuk again.”

He had a habit of vanishing at the most important moments. No matter how dire the situation, Ye Hyeonwoo would disappear in an instant—abandoning comrades, abandoning friends. A being that could vanish at any time solely for their own survival.

That was Fifth Evil Ye Hyeonwoo.

“Mr. Lee Dansu.”

“What is it.”

“Do you have a daughter, by any chance?”

“I don’t.”

“I figured.”

“What was that question supposed to mean?”

I’d already explained ‘Ghost Executioner’ Eighth Evil Lee Dansu last time, so I skipped him.

Lastly, I looked at Ninth Evil Gyeong Sein.

“What are you staring at? Don’t tell me you fell for me again.”

Gyeong Sein, who spewed nonsense whenever he got the chance, was called “weak to the strong, strong to the weak” in the 40th round. The nickname alone made it painfully obvious what kind of person he was, so I wanted to skip the explanation, but if I had to explain it anyway—

“Cheon Inho, you know the one who falls in love is the ‘weaker side,’ right?”

Gyeong Sein was a villain who’d trained the 「Insect Slaughter」 myth to the extreme.

If small-time punks weaker than Gyeong Sein showed up, he’d be useful, but the problem was that the enemies we had to fight were constellations from giant nebulas.

“Isn’t there a more helpful Ten Evil? You know—Dokhee, or Reinhardt, or Gong Pildu, or—”

At my question, Ye Hyeonwoo—who’d appeared again at some point—twitched his lips.

“Are you seriously asking that?”

“Yes.”

“They all died after falling into your schemes.”

“What about other Ten Evils?”

I recalled Ten-Evil-class villains from the main story. For example, Jo Jincheol from the Gyeonggi Alliance, the bomb-maniac Choi Hankyu who rode in the same train car as Yoo Joonghyuk, or at the very least, Geumho Station’s Cult Leader Kim Cheolyang…

“All of them died on your orders, didn’t they?”

“My orders?”

“You said it with your own mouth. That the Ten Evils still alive were only the Ten Evils with ‘use value.’”

Ten Evils with use value.

Meaning Jo Jincheol, Choi Hankyu, and Kim Cheolyang didn’t have use value by Cheon Inho’s standards in the 40th round.

They were uncontrollable, or there’d been some other reason.

With a sigh, I continued.

“Just in case—are there any of Yoo Joonghyuk’s companions still alive?”

Ignoring the Ten Evils looking at me like I was insane, I kept going.

“If there’s someone who can recover a head—”

“Oh. You need a meat shield?”

“I didn’t say it that bluntly…”

“If that’s the use, it’s Lee Hyunsung, obviously. For the record, if you want to hear how Lee Hyunsung died after falling into your wicked trap—”

“Yeah, okay, I get it, stop there.”

I cut him off in a hurry—because I was scared Yoo Joonghyuk might hear.

It hit me again, fresh: what Cheon Inho had done to Yoo Joonghyuk. And which character I was currently possessing.

I looked back at Yoo Joonghyuk training with his sword in the distance and thought.

Was it really okay for Yoo Joonghyuk to become my ally?

Even with gaps in his memory, could he really become allies with the villain he’d hated most in the world?

「That’s pretty interesting too.」

I suddenly slapped my cheek.

I didn’t know why, but ever since entering this time stratum, I kept having strange thoughts.

「I am Cheon Inho.」

I wasn’t Cheon Inho.

And yet, without realizing it, I was starting to think like Cheon Inho, talk like Cheon Inho. Maybe it was inevitable since I’d possessed Cheon Inho of the 40th round, but… how should I put it.

It felt like it was getting worse.

“Cheon Inho.”

Ye Hyeonwoo called to me in a serious voice.

“The Tyrant King’s condition is strange.”

Startled, I jumped up.

Yoo Joonghyuk—who’d been practicing thrusts just a moment ago—had suddenly collapsed where he stood.

As if he’d been expecting it, Lee Dansu rose and shouted,

“So you finally used poison!”

“Really living up to ‘Sophist of Evil.’ When did you spread it?”

“Is it time to dominate the Tyrant King?”

Ignoring the Ten Evils’ babbling, I hurried over to check Yoo Joonghyuk’s condition. As I struggled to flip over Yoo Joonghyuk’s upper body—collapsed with that underwhelming physical build—I heard a gurgling sound from somewhere.

It wasn’t my stomach.

Yoo Joonghyuk was staring up at the air with a pale face.

“Why did you possess me with a body like this.”

“That’s your original body.”

“I’m hungry.”

I sighed. He’d collapsed because he was hungry—if anything, that was a relief—

Then—

“I can see a strange message.”

“What message?”

“It says if I don’t consume food within an hour, I’ll die.”

I hurriedly called the Ten Evils over. This was Geumho Station, and it had originally been their base. I figured they might have stored food.

But—

“There’s no food?”

“That’s right. It’s the work of those <Olympus> and <Veda> bastards.”

From what I heard, there was barely any edible food left across the Korean Peninsula. The giant nebulas had spread the 「Land Contamination」 myth across the entire planet to dry out and starve humanity.

“Then what have you been eating to survive?”

At my question, the Ten Evils looked at each other, hesitated, then answered.

“We’re undead, so we don’t need much food.”

“So you do need some. Then what did you eat?”

“Underground…”

“Oh, is there something underground?”

“We ate dirt.”

I thought I’d misheard.

“You ate what?”

“You didn’t [Incite] us into it?”

The Ten Evils, embarrassed that they’d survived by eating dirt, spoke like they were making excuses.

“Dirt is nutritionally superior. All crops absorb nutrients from dirt—”

I hesitated briefly, then said to Yoo Joonghyuk,

“Yoo Joonghyuk. Do you want to eat something that’s nutritionally superior?”

“No.”

“Yes, I’ll serve it right away.”

[Exclusive skill, ‘Incitement Lv.???’ has been activated!]

“Yoo Joonghyuk, eat dirt.”

At my declaration, the Ten Evils stared at Yoo Joonghyuk in shock. Their expressions said they were dying to see if Yoo Joonghyuk would actually eat dirt.

[Your ‘Incitement’ failed due to the target’s attribute effect.]

What?

Eyes blazing, Yoo Joonghyuk spat out the words like he was vomiting blood.

“That kind of thing… I won’t eat even if I die.”

I wanted to say that he’d already eaten it multiple times, but that wasn’t the important part.

Incitement didn’t work?

“Then what are you going to do.”

“I have to cook.”

Supported by my arm as he rose, Yoo Joonghyuk pulled small cooking tools out from inside his coat. A small table, a cutting board, even a kitchen knife. I wanted to ask why the hell he carried that in his coat, but honestly, by the final scenario, it felt like it’d be weirder if Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t have tools like that.

“Oh my god. We get to see the Tyrant King cook!”

The Ten Evils—excited again—gasped in admiration.

Ignoring the spectators, Yoo Joonghyuk started cooking.

Knowing Yoo Joonghyuk’s new attributes, I asked with a wary look,

“What are you making?”

“Evil-spirit yukhoe.”

Nonsense. Evil spirits didn’t even have physical bodies—how was he going to get raw beef out of them?

“There are ingredients.”

But there were.

According to Yoo Joonghyuk, if a Transcendent Seat who could use sword energy cut a spirit body, there were cases where the cross-section temporarily materialized.

Holding up something like a lump of dark meat, I asked,

“So you’re going to eat this?”

“If you sprinkle seasoning and trim it a little—”

In that instant, Yoo Joonghyuk’s kitchen knife exploded in midair.

[This incarnation’s exclusive attribute has activated!]

[This incarnation cannot cook!]

“Kgh! Tyrant King! I knew it!”

“Was this aimed at us after all—”

As the Ten Evils fled to avoid the flying knives, Yoo Joonghyuk slowly sank down in place.

“Damn it.”

It had been a long time since I’d seen Yoo Joonghyuk despair.

I quickly hauled him up and asked,

“What if I make it?”

“I don’t eat food made by other people…”

Watching Yoo Joonghyuk on the verge of starving to death, I felt a faint despair myself.

Did this make any sense?

We’d made it all the way to the final scenario. And now the biggest obstacle in front of us wasn’t the constellations, or the scenario, but “food”?

Desperately, I tried to think of something Yoo Joonghyuk could eat.

Maybe feeding him myths again?

But—

[This incarnation body must consume ‘food.’]

Myths weren’t considered “food.”

Meaning: to save Yoo Joonghyuk right now, I had to make a dish he could eat.

But this bastard only ate food he made himself.

In this situation, there was no way I could make a dish he’d eat—

「No. Wait.」

Staring blankly at Yoo Joonghyuk, I naturally slid my hand into my coat. A moment later, my hand closed around a small scrap of recipe paper.

「There is. A food Yoo Joonghyuk can eat.」

*

Inside a quiet archive, a small cheer rang out.

「“Would you be able to eat this?”」

Cheon Inho’s voice, appearing in real time above a daily newspaper. When they saw that line, the little Kim Dokjas all screamed at once.

Among them was the Demon King of Salvation—First Evil Kim Dokja.

「(That’s it! You should’ve used that from the start, Youngest!)」

Quite a bit of time had passed since he’d entered the [Fourth Wall]. At first, the narrow archive felt suffocating, but as time passed and “Kim Dokja fragments” gathered, the size of the archive was slowly growing too.

First Evil Kim Dokja pulled a book from a corner of the archive and returned to the newspaper.

『Murim Dumpling Recipe』.

The Youngest was probably reading it hard right about now.

Imagining the Youngest earnestly studying the recipe to make dumplings, First Evil Kim Dokja smiled warmly.

「(Still… this round won’t be easy.)」

He’d visited the worldline of the 1,863rd round through the “Otherworld Covenant” before, but the “time stratum” the Youngest had entered this time was different.

Above all, to complete this time stratum, the Youngest had to clear the 40th round’s “final scenario.”

「(Damn it. Isn’t there something that could help?)」

Because of the “Fear Decree” penalty, he couldn’t contact the Youngest directly—but First Evil Kim Dokja was constantly pulling books from the archive and reading them whenever he had a spare moment, hoping to find something useful.

From the “Ways of Survival” he’d read in the past, to “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” written by Han Sooyoung.

And today, First Evil Kim Dokja discovered a slightly unusual bookshelf.

「(Was there a shelf like this?)」

A shelf that hadn’t stood out before, buried behind others. The moment he saw the titles on it, First Evil Kim Dokja realized what kind of shelf it was.

『Origin of Memory』.

Every Kim Dokja had a shelf that contained their own history.

This shelf probably held the Youngest’s “past.”

After a brief hesitation, First Evil Kim Dokja pulled out a book from the shelf. Just as expected, the Youngest’s memories were written inside.

Like opening an old photo album, First Evil Kim Dokja began turning pages with a faint smile.

But with every page he turned, Kim Dokja’s expression hardened little by little.

「(What is this?)」

Why was it—

「■■■」.

Inside the book, the Youngest’s name was disappearing in real time.