I had fought a Horror Recorder before, too. To be exact, it wasn’t me who fought— it was the Demon King of Salvation and Yoo Joonghyuk, joining forces.

Cheon Inho of the 40th round.

I tried recalling that guy’s way of fighting.

The high-ranked recorder Cheon Inho, who had the epithet “One Who Deceived the Stars,” had never really manifested a “power” like this, like right now.

「Yoon Hyeonseok corrected his thinking as he gathered his flusteredness. He’s strong. At least ‘executive-class’. Maybe he might even be strong enough to compare to the ‘ascenders’. But can that be? A guy who hasn’t even been in the city for that long, strong enough to be compared to an ascender?」

Sentences continuing in a panic right in front of my eyes. Of course, they weren’t sentences I was writing.

「That can’t be. If there had been an incarnation that strong, he would have already been chosen by a ‘Great Nebula’ and called up to a higher scenario long ago.」

Maybe he’d seen some things somewhere, because the flow of the writing itself was plausible enough.

With a flow like this, the conclusion of the story he was trying to write was obvious.

「The slit eyes in front of him are clearly using some kind of trick.」

Along with the tztztzt sound, I could feel the sentence he wrote stick to my entire body in a nasty way.

「An authority that records fate.」

A power that “realizes” the sentence he wrote.

Looking back, even Asmodeus, who occupied the “cinema,” had a similar reality-altering ability.

And decisively—

[Exclusive skill, ‘□□’ wriggles.]

My own [□□] also had a similar power.

“Die!”

The executive of <Veda Biotech> charged in with a pincer attack, demonic energy loaded into both hands.

[Underworld King Heart Method] and [Underworld King One Fist]. And on top of that, even the secret art, [Underworld King Yellow Springs Fist].

On the surface, it looked like a repetition of the attack he had just poured out, but the sentences carried within it were different.

「Yoon Hyeonseok’s lungs swelled up deep and heavy, and the breath he drew in boiled as if it might explode at any moment, filling his body. His eyes, beyond the enemy in front of him, flickered for an instant in an unfamiliar color, and every sound brushing past his ears became distant and faint, like a dull ripple heard from underwater.」

Wow.

「Yoon Hyeonseok clenched his fist in a slow motion. Each knuckle bent, and thin blue veins crawled up over the back of his hand like living snakes. A fist art whose very name was heavy and solemn—[Underworld King One Fist]. A single time, an annihilating fist strike that swallowed up and destroyed the existence of one person from the roots.」

Watching the rambling sentences he wrote, admiration came out on its own.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a real “brick paragraph.”

Kugugugugu!

Along with a tremendous impact sound, the fist wind of [Underworld King One Fist] pounded my entire body like a drum.

“Kuaaaagh! Executive!”

The excited guy didn’t seem to even notice that his own underlings from the same <Veda Biotech> were bursting apart in the fist wind.

「How long did he keep pouring out that fist wind like that? Yoon Hyeonseok, standing in the manor covered in thickly spread dust, muttered.」

“Did I get him?”

「In that moment, Yoon Hyeonseok flinched. ‘Why did I blurt out something like that?’」

“Because I wrote it.”

When I stood up, dusting myself off like I’d been waiting for it, Yoon Hyeonseok looked genuinely flustered.

[Fable, ‘One Who Rewrites Fate’ lets out a fierce wail!]

I was someone who had survived even after receiving the [Fate] of those ‘Great Nebulae.’

If someone like me couldn’t overcome a few lines scribbled by a single recorder, that wouldn’t make sense.

[The ‘Horror Recorder’ writing <Veda Biotech> cannot hide his shock.]
[The ‘Horror Recorder’ writing <Veda Biotech> cautiously reads the room and calls another ‘recorder’.]

Another recorder?

“Inho. Run.”

Gyeong Sein, who had been watching from behind, stepped forward.

“What’s scary about executives isn’t just that they’re strong. You might not know, Inho, but those guys each have a ‘recorder’ attached to them.”

I nodded to show I knew. But maybe thinking I didn’t fully understand, Gyeong Sein continued.

“Right now it’s just one recorder, but if they increase, no matter how it’s you, you won’t be able to stop it. I’m fine, so run. Other executives will barge in soon, too. If recorders gather and [Fate] ends up surging—”

“It’s fine.”

“That’s because you don’t know, Inho! [Fate] is……!”

“I know. I’m sick and tired of [Fate] now.”

An ominous thunder struck down in midair. The next moment, the eastern sky flashed, and two figures came flying in violently through the air. When Gyeong Sein confirmed their faces, the expression on the face was dyed with despair.

As if adding explanation to that expression, Namgung Myeong said,

“Benefactor, they’re the next ascenders of <Veda Biotech>.”

Ascenders. Incarnations with a rank on the same level as Jo Jincheol and Reinheit had appeared again.

“Underworld King Hand, did you call us?”

“You made another annoying mess.”

On the surface, it was an ordinary conversation, but I could read the exchange among the recorders happening beneath that conversation.

[The ‘Horror Recorder’ writing <Veda Biotech> reveals his epithet!]
[Horror Recorder, ‘Unchanging One’ requests help!]

As Gyeong Sein said, executive-class beings each had a ‘recorder’ attached.

[Horror Recorder, ‘One Who Records Youth’ responds to the request for help.]
[Horror Recorder, ‘One Who Doesn’t Like Plot Twists’ responds to the request for help.]

“Hmm, he feels like a guy I’ve seen somewhere before.”

“Don’t tell me you couldn’t handle just that one rookie by yourself?”

Then Underworld King Hand Yoon Hyeonseok frowned and snapped back.

“Don’t look down on him. He’s someone who endured my [Underworld King Yellow Springs Fist].”

“Underworld King Yellow Springs Fist?”

For an instant, I could see the three executives exchange glances.

After a moment, Yoon Hyeonseok stepped forward again and asked me.

“You, what are you?”

“I’m an employee of this company.”

“Who asked that kind of thing? You, how are you receiving the protection of a ‘recorder’? Are you someone dispatched from a Great Nebula?”

Looks like the recorder called Unchanging One spread the story about me.

I shrugged deliberately and said,

“I do belong to a nebula.”

“Which nebula do you belong to?”

“<Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint>.”

Then the three men frowned once more.

“Are you messing with us right now? I’ve never heard of a nebula like that.”

I ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) gave a bitter smile. Even so, since they were executive-class, they were fairly quick-witted. The guys who grasped that I had a hidden move were deliberately buying time.

[The Horror Recorders begin a ‘record discussion’!]

They were probably thinking of buying time for the recorders to make [Fate] surge for certain.

Of course, I have no intention of letting that happen.

“Stop stalling and come in. You all came aiming for this anyway, didn’t you?”

I spread my hand into the air and showed the D-coins I had gathered.

When the D-coins scattered brilliant rays of light through the air, the executives’ expressions changed at once.

“As expected, there was a reason Underworld King Hand called us.”

“Was he trying to eat that alone?”

At the executives’ reproach, Underworld King Hand Yoon Hyeonseok frowned.

“If you help me now, I’ll split it into exactly three equal parts. I’ve already finished talking with the recorders, too.”

“Good. But are you really planning to fight seriously here? Other corporations will notice.”

“I asked the recorders to put up a barrier.”

Watching the executives approach slowly, Namgung Myeong warned me.

“Benefactor, be careful. I heard that if there are three executive-class, they can even hunt a ‘disaster-grade horror’.”

A disaster-grade horror.

“About a little stronger than Kim Anna, then.”

“Huh?”

“Step back, Myeong.”

At the same time, the executives charged in.

Pure magical bombardment with no attempt to hide their own standing.

It was a stupid combat method where you couldn’t find even a trace of technique, but once you got to around fable-grade, there were a lot of guys like this.

It was because the farther you went into higher scenarios, the difference in “standing” became the difference in “combat power.” The moment most incarnations confirmed a standing of a different dimension, their fighting spirit would snap.

“You’ve got good footwork.”

When I avoided the bombardment by using [Wind’s Path], the executives’ expressions grew more serious.

I calmly examined those guys. There were three executives in total. But the constellations attached to them were two.

[Constellation, ‘Desiring Parrot’ closely observes your appearance.]
[Constellation, ‘Twins Who Own Horses’ feels a strange sense of déjà vu from your way of fighting.]

‘Desiring Parrot’ and ‘Twins Who Own Horses.’ They hadn’t appeared in the main story, but they were <Veda> constellations I knew well through Ways of Survival.

‘Desiring Parrot’ was ‘Kamadeva,’ the god of love and desire.

And ‘Twins Who Own Horses’ were the ‘Ashvin Twins.’

Since the twins side were literally “twins,” it seemed they had made backing contracts with two executives.

“How long do you think you can keep running around like that?”

“Isn’t it just that you can’t hit me?”

Since both constellations were ‘fable-grade,’ if I gave them time like this, they might be able to infer my identity.

I decided to change strategies.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed. If you’re executive-class, I thought you’d at least have Lokapala-class constellations attached.”

[Constellation, ‘Desiring Parrot’ rages and raises the synchronization with the incarnation!]
[Constellation, ‘Twins Who Own Horses’ rages and raises the synchronization with the incarnations!]

As the constellations began to reveal their power, the recorders looked excited, too.

「As ‘Kamadeva’ raged and revealed its standing, the ‘Ashvin Twins’ also revealed their true colors. How dare a mere rookie incarnation mention the great ‘Lokapala’ and mock them. As fable-grade constellations of <Veda>, it was an unbearable humiliation.」

A feast of standing blooming explosively. Even under the pressure I was experiencing for the first time in a while, I didn’t retreat or shrink back.

「Perhaps this fight will be my return match.」

Up to now, I had been conserving strength to grasp their full power, but from now on, there was no need for that.

「The [Soundproof Barrier] laid over the area was blocking the disturbance.」

It was because those greedy ‘recorders’ were thoroughly concealing this story so they wouldn’t be found by other recorders and constellations.

[The constellations of the [Temporary Channel] are curious about what is happening in that area!]

It seems they even covered up the channel itself, somehow.

For me, it was a good thing.

「The true strength of <Veda Biotech> began to gather. The standing of one executive and the standing of three executives were on different dimensions. Soon, the standing emitted by three incarnation bodies that had reached the early stage of fable-grade filled the entire manor area.」

With their tightly packed narration unfolding before my eyes, the combined bombardment of the three executives began.

「The fable of ‘Desiring Parrot’ is carried on [Underworld King Yellow Springs Fist]…….」
「The fable of ‘Twins Who Own Horses’ seeps in, and the executives’ muscle strength…….」

The power of ‘fable-grade constellations’ showing a synchronization of over eighty percent. In the past, it would have been a scene that made you lose heart just from watching it up close.

Gripping the handle of Unbreakable Conviction at my waist, I recalled Han Sooyoung’s words.

「“From now on, the guys you’ll face will be constellations that are at least fable-grade or higher.”」

I wasn’t in a position to become strong in the same way as other incarnations. Because I had lost my backing constellation, and even though I gathered five fables, for unknown reasons I didn’t receive the “standing of a constellation,” either.

I had gathered quite a few high-standing fables, and I had gathered quite a few “Kim Dokja fragments,” too, but I was in a state where I didn’t know how to properly use them. That was me before I met Han Sooyoung.

「“You just need a single moment. If you’re stronger than them for just that one moment, you win.”」

So when I asked how I was supposed to make that one moment, Han Sooyoung said, as if I was pathetic,

「“You’re ‘Kim Dokja.’”」

As I blinked slowly, the story began inside my head.

[Fable, ‘Successor of the Eternal Name’ purses its lips and responds to your request.]
[Fable, ‘King of a World Without a King’ begins the story.]

Up to now, I could only borrow one fable from that guy at a time.

[Fable, ‘One Who Fights Against Fate’ begins the story.]

But after going through the 1,863rd round, I learned a way to draw out that guy’s power a little more.

For example,

[Fable, ‘The One Who Defeated the God of War’ begins the story.]
[Fable, ‘The One Who Killed an Otherworldly Divinity’ begins the story.]

Drawing on five ‘Kim Dokja fables’ at once.

[Fable, ‘Demon King of Salvation’ begins the story.]

Due to the excessive amplification of fables, the Backlash of Plausibility began to ripple through my incarnation body.

“W-what……!”

The executives’ horrified cries.

Inside me, five fables were shining brightly as they aligned.

「This is the power of a forgotten star.」

There is no longer a ‘Demon King of Salvation’ in <Star Stream>. But that didn’t mean even the fable of ‘Demon King of Salvation’ had disappeared.

A method to exert the power of a ‘constellation’ through the flesh of an ‘incarnation,’ for a single moment.

[A ‘Forgotten Constellation’ is reconstructed over your flesh!]

A constellation that smashed the Absolute Throne, killed a returnee, repelled a fable-grade calamity, killed an Otherworldly Divinity, and eventually rose to become the 73rd Demon King.

「“Not bad? At that level…….”」

The heyday of that constellation was being written once again through my flesh.

「“It’ll be around late-stage fable-grade.”」

Along with Han Sooyoung’s words flowing through my head, a storm of White Azure swept across the entire manor area.