Kim Dokja.

At that unexpected name, I froze for a moment.

Why did that name come out of Jo Jincheol’s mouth? Did the name “Kim Dokja” become famous while I wasn’t looking?

Thinking back, the identity of the “Kim Dokja fragments” had already spread even among ordinary incarnations, so it wasn’t strange that the name itself became known.

What was truly strange was this.

「How do the ascenders know that ‘Kim Dokja chooses the third option’?」

Of course, I’d made similar choices more than once, but it didn’t seem like my tales would have become that widely known among people.

Then how did the two beings in front of me know that story?

Could it be…?

"Heh heh, enough with the jokes, Great Hero Jo."

"Ah, I suppose it was too big a ‘name’ for a newcomer."

It felt like my heart sank slightly.

Could it be that, while I was gone, there was yet another being impersonating “Kim Dokja”?

"Who knows. They say ‘he’ also suddenly appeared right in the middle of a scenario, so this newcomer might end up writing the same legend. In that sense…."

Smiling broadly as he spoke, Reinheit pointed into the distance with a finger and added,

"Kim Dokja’s ‘third option’ is coming over there."

The third option.

The moment I tried to turn around, Reinheit said,

"But preliminary Kim Dokja, I’ll give you advice in advance—your ‘third option’ will become, at least in this city, the ‘worst choice.’"

With a bleak sensation, it felt like the air around us changed. I could sense an owner of no ordinary realm approaching from behind. The two ascenders in front of me were strong enough, but the existence approaching behind me now was an existence even more immense than the two of them combined.

As if they had no intention of hiding that momentum at all, every time their steps drew closer, the incarnations nearby were gasping, complaining of shortness of breath.

Jo Jincheol, frowning, pointed.

"Th-That…!"

My instincts were warning me. It wasn’t simply because the presence behind me was “strong.” Something unpleasant was dyeing my whole body.

Wait, could this tale be…?

"Hahahaha! I finally found you!"

A voice that carried familiar madness.

The screening officer said there were three ascenders today.

One was Jo Jincheol of <Black Cloud Foundation>, two was Reinheit of <Olympos Technology>.

And now, behind me, that third “ascender” was standing there.

"Peerless King! So you were here!"

A cold hand wrapped around my shoulder.

When I slowly turned around, I saw the large <Tamla Heavy Industries> symbol drawn across the front of their clothes.

"No way I’d meet you here…! Huh? What’s this."

The ascender’s eyes widened when they saw my face.

This is a problem. I never thought I’d run into this guy here.

A beautiful face even more androgynous than Reinheit’s. A once-in-an-age lunatic of <Star Stream> who chased only after Yoo Joonghyuk’s ass every single day.

"What. Who the hell are you…?"

Salvation Cult leader, Nirvana Möbius.

I lightly brushed his hand off and said,

"I thought you died at the Washington Dome, but you survived, somehow."

"Hmph. Do you think I’d die in a place like that?"

Right, Nirvana had the emergency escape stigma, [Non-Possession].

"No, more importantly, how do you know that? Were you there?"

It seemed Nirvana didn’t remember my face. The reason I really started being active at the Washington Dome was after Nirvana went down.

"You… those half-lidded eyes… could it be you’re ‘that guy’? No, no. That bastard couldn’t have survived in this round. But this tale…."

For a moment, Nirvana’s eyes narrowed.

Did he read Cheon Inho’s tale?

But according to what Anna Croft said, Nirvana had never met Cheon Inho in the previous round.

Nirvana’s eyes, which had been shining uneasily, quickly changed.

"Whatever. It doesn’t matter who you are."

Grinning, Nirvana grabbed my shoulder again.

"What matters is that ‘tale’ you have."

A tale?

I hurriedly turned to the tale fragment shining near my shoulder.

And only then did I understand what Nirvana was so excited about.

[Tale fragment, ‘Mad Soldier Yoo Joonghyuk’ reveals hatred toward the reincarnator!]

Damn it, I did have this tale fragment on me.

Nirvana, smiling brightly, shouted.

"Become one with this body!"

A mandala spinning behind Nirvana appeared.

"Kyaaaah! The ascender’s gone crazy!"

"Everyone, get out of the way!"

Incarnations who sensed the omen of realms panicked and started fleeing.

"Oh dear. So you’re going to start something in the end."

Reinheit let out a sigh as if he’d expected it, and the screening officer shouted urgently.

"Start the ascension ceremony now! At this rate, that newcomer will be eaten!"

"Ah, the sky hasn’t opened yet. For the orbital elevator to come down—"

It seemed the ceremony would take some time.

Which meant… in the end, we’d have to see blood here.

As I tensed and pulled my tales up through my whole body, unexpectedly, a reliable ally stepped in front of me.

"Stop, Salvation Cult leader. I picked this newcomer first."

Blood Jade Fist Demon Jo Jincheol.

"You’ve already become ‘one’ with more than enough incarnations. I can’t hand over even this ‘irregular screening target’ to you."

And Paradise Holy Emperor Reinheit stepped forward as if to protect me.

Honestly, I was moved.

Who would’ve thought I’d see three villains brawling over just me.

[An ‘anonymous Recorder of Horror’ takes interest.]

[A small number of ‘Recorders of Horror’ take interest in the incident.]

Indirect messages of the ‘Recorders of Horror’ echoing from the air.

Is it because I, too, have the qualifications of a ‘Recorder of Horror’ that I can hear this so clearly?

Then can I talk like that as well? What kind of ability do ‘Recorders of Horror’ even use?

"You’re going to stop me? Who?"

The moment Nirvana grinned, the incarnations participating in the ceremony collapsed, vomiting blood.

"You mean you?"

Tales billowed up from his entire body.

Incredible.

I couldn’t help admiring the sheer mass of pure tales Nirvana had piled up.

At that level, he was something that could truly be compared to a “tale-grade constellation” purely by “realm.”

Early tale-grade… or maybe closer to mid-stage.

And considering he hadn’t even properly pulled up synchronization with his backer constellation, Nirvana’s potential was truly incredible.

At this level, it was strange that Cheon Inho didn’t recruit him as a companion in the 40th round.

[The backer constellation of the incarnation ‘Nirvana Möbius’ stares at you.]

At the gaze I felt from far, far away, I shuddered quietly.

If it was Nirvana Möbius’s backer constellation, then of course it would be “that being.”

The master of the ‘Isle of Reincarnators,’ and the being who took the role of the ‘third protagonist’ in the main story.

"Tch, that damn cult leader bastard!"

Was it because they judged they couldn’t be pushed back in momentum like this?

Jo Jincheol and Reinheit also began raising their realms in their own ways.

Gooooo!

First, blood-red gauntlets appeared on Jo Jincheol’s hands. Gauntlets that carried the stench of a black curse.

I thought I knew what those gauntlets were.

「A demonic cult holy relic forged by slaughtering tens of thousands of incarnations and gathering the essence of those tales. Blood Jade Fist.」

One of the Ten Great Holy Relics of <0th Murim>.

It seemed that Jo Jincheol had become the owner of the Blood Jade Fist of this era.

"No matter who you are, do you think you can handle the two of us at once?"

Reinheit also brought forward his Thunder God Spear.

"In the name of the nebula <Olympus>, I will not tolerate your tyranny."

To stake the nebula’s name.

It meant staking the nebula’s honor and sharing the fate that clung to that name.

No matter how much it was Nirvana, he wouldn’t want to make enemies of them. In a normal development, things should have wrapped up around here.

But.

"The name of Olympus?"

Nirvana wasn’t normal.

"With the sky over the ascension platform not even opened yet, do you think such empty bluster will work?"

Nirvana pointed to the sky of the ascension platform with haughty eyes and said,

"The constellations of <Olympus> you’re talking about are probably too busy worrying about the ‘Giant Tale Scenario’ happening in the upper neighborhoods. In the middle of that, do you think they’d care about something happening in a 70s scenario?"

"What you say ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) is correct. But at least borrowing the power of one of the Twelve Divine Seats—"

"You mean you want to compare the power of me and my backer constellation right now?"

The backer constellation of Salvation Cult leader Nirvana was the “Guardian of the Mandala.”

Although he was a being split into several names like the “Great Sage Equal to Heaven,” his original realm was a constellation that came close to myth-grade.

But Reinheit didn’t back down.

"It’s not like you can properly use your backer constellation’s power either."

"What?"

"Is there anyone who doesn’t know you’re the abandoned child the World-Honored One cast out?"

"An abandoned child, huh. All right. I guess I’ll show you the taste of a prodigal’s fists."

"Reinheit! Get back!"

But before the two of them could even react, Nirvana’s figure moved.

[Wind’s Path].

As expected of Nirvana, who had a record of reincarnating as Imyuntar’s wolf—wind that had reached the extreme realm was perched at the tips of his feet.

The moment Nirvana’s left hand moved as he seized Reinheit’s blind spot in an instant, Jo Jincheol swung his fist.

"You damned bastard—!"

The Blood Jade Fist and the mandala collided, and an enormous gale swept the area.

As if Jo Jincheol and Reinheit hadn’t come this far on mere show, they each began drawing out immense tales from behind them.

"No matter how strong you are, fighting the two of us in close combat—"

But before their tales could properly begin to tell their story, there was a huge palm that flew in fiercely through the air.

"Ghk?"

An arm of [Thousand-Hand Avalokitesvara] that had forced its way out of the void was gripping Jo Jincheol and Reinheit by the throat.

Nirvana, grinning, said,

"When did I say I was going to grapple with trash like you?"

[Character, ‘Nirvana Möbius’ activates ‘One Hundred and Eight Afflictions Lv.???’!]

Nirvana’s specialty, [One Hundred and Eight Afflictions].

"Kuh, kuaaaaaaah!"

Blood tears began pouring from Jo Jincheol’s eyes. The top-tier mental-type skill [One Hundred and Eight Afflictions] had caused a terrifying delirium in his cognition system.

Reinheit, too, with empty pupils, was repeating only the same words in a mumble.

"Flowers… my flowers…."

Power that neutralized two incarnations who’d reached tale-grade in an instant.

Indeed, when he fought Yoo Joonghyuk before, he’d been at a disadvantage in compatibility and got beaten down helplessly, but this was Nirvana’s true strength.

"Kuhahahahat! With that worm-level mental strength, you dared talk about a backer constellation’s name in front of this body?"

Nirvana delivered fierce kicks to the two ascenders sprawled around, unable to come to their senses.

"Die! Die, you bastards!"

Even at the miserable sight of the ascenders rolling around, coughing up blood, no one tried to stop him. More accurately, they couldn’t even approach because of the difference in realm.

This was the realm of a being who’d reached “tale-grade” with an incarnation body.

And the only one staring blankly at Nirvana was me.

"Oh, you still weren’t running away?"

As if his venting was over, Nirvana, panting, was looking at me.

"Then that means you want to become one with me too, right?"

Watching Nirvana approach step by step, I grinned.

"Yes, I want to become one."

At my words, Nirvana looked a little flustered.

"R-Really?"

"Yes."

"Ahahahat! Good! Then accept it!"

At the same time, Nirvana spread his arms wide.

[Character ‘Nirvana Möbius’ activates ‘Thought Infection Lv.???’!]

So this was the [Thought Infection] I’d only heard about.

A technique that makes the target lose their will, anchors all their desires to the ‘present,’ and forcibly makes them a Salvation Cult follower who follows him.

I could feel his disgusting ideology eroding my mind.

"Hm? What is it?"

And a moment later, Nirvana’s expression changed.

"Um, what’s wrong?"

"You… why…."

I smiled, pretending to play dumb.

Needless to say, mental attacks like [Thought Infection] don’t work on me because I have [Fourth Wall]. Even so, he wouldn’t be able to realize that I blocked his mental attack with [Fourth Wall].

Because.

[The exclusive skill, ‘Agitation Lv.???’, is activating!]

I had already agitated myself.

「I am already infected by ‘Thought Infection.’」

With a light spark right in front of me, I could feel [Thought Infection] being withdrawn.

Blinking as if enraptured, I murmured.

"This feeling of becoming one with a great being…."

"What did you say?"

[The influence of the exclusive skill, ‘Agitation Lv.???’, grows stronger!]

"I can feel it. Your noble soul. Your path… building up the bond to be together with that one existence, within the great eternal wheel of endless kalpas, only to become one with a single being…!"

"H-How do you know that—"

My [Agitation] normally doesn’t work well on targets with high realm. Especially on an existence with a realm as immense as Nirvana’s.

But if the content isn’t all that special, [Agitation] is effective enough.

"I pay my respects to the Salvation Cult leader, the one who pursues the shadow of the great dream."

Especially for someone like Nirvana, who has a twisted mental structure.

Nirvana, who had been confused for a moment, nodded as if he finally understood the situation.

"Ah, I see. You were already infected? Come to think of it, your eyes… yeah, that’s it! You were already looking at the present!"

[The persuasiveness of the exclusive skill, ‘Agitation Lv.???’, skyrockets!]

I don’t know what he saw in my eyes, but I threw my arms open in an exaggerated way and shouted.

"Leader! The Peerless King is waiting for you!"

"Where! Where is Yoo Joonghyuk!"

"I don’t know either! Shall we search together from now on?"

"Good!"

Watching Nirvana rejoice greatly, I recalled Han Sooyoung’s words.

「“If you want to keep ‘hiding your power’ without catching the eyes of constellations, the best method is this.”」

To act while hiding in the shadow of another strong being.

[The backer constellation of the incarnation ‘Nirvana Möbius’ reveals its modifier.]

[The constellation, ‘Guardian of the Mandala’, looks at you with a dumbfounded expression.]

Since things had turned out like this, should I ride the reincarnator bus this time, too?