Five months after the monsters of the ‘apocalypse region’ appeared in the scenario.

“We finally made it all the way here.”

Killer King and Dokja’s party finally arrived at the ‘First Murim.’ This was still before the ‘First Murim’ was reborn as ‘New Murim Earth.’

“Injured people, come this way!”

“Anyone who needs the ‘vital energy of the Elain Forest,’ follow that man over there!”

“Alright, alright, patients, this way!”

The Inho faction of Geumho Station. And even the believers of the “Beggar Union” who had been near Seoul Station.

The legacy of the 41st round that Kim Dokja left behind was gathering in the upper scenarios one by one.

[Constellation, ‘Last Ark’ is greatly moved by the appearance of incarnations.]

There, the party also met a familiar constellation.

“Cheonga!”

Cheonga, the Dragon Head Branch Leader of the Beggar Union.

He, who had taken a heavy blow at the time of the apocalypse region’s appearance and had been living in seclusion in Murim, welcomed the party.

[So that’s how it is. Those are his companions.]

Cheonga told the party what had happened in the meantime.

That Kim Dokja and Yoo Joonghyuk had come to Murim.

That Yoo Joonghyuk, turned into a little kid, ate Murim dumplings.

And even the part where, after causing all kinds of trouble, Kim Dokja entered the apocalypse region to protect <First Murim>.

Someone heard that story and their eyes welled up with tears.

“Like I thought, it’s true that Dokja was here. The real ‘Kim Dokja.’”

Gyeong Sein and the party were excited.

Kim Dokja, the one they remembered, had definitely been here.

They had come to the right place.

“So this is that Heaven-Breaking Sword Sect.”

When they finally arrived at the manor where the Heaven-Breaking Sword Saint resided, the party was overwhelmed with emotion.

They might be able to meet the Heaven-Breaking Sword Saint soon. Maybe, with that person’s help, they could even track Kim Dokja’s whereabouts.

“Unfortunately, the Sect Leader is away.”

The one who greeted them was Namgung Jincheon, the Emperor Sword and former Family Head of the Namgung Family. After the ‘apocalypse region incident,’ his vitality had greatly withered, and he stepped down from the position of Family Head. He had been living at the manor of the Heaven-Breaking Sword Sect while caring for his son, who hadn’t woken up for months.

“Where is the Heaven-Breaking Sword Saint?”

“Entered the apocalypse region with a disciple. That aside, I’m honestly surprised that friend had companions besides the Tyrant King.”

Perhaps because the shock of the ‘apocalypse region incident’ had been so great, it looked like even having a short conversation with the party was hard for Namgung Jincheon.

It didn’t seem like they could get more information from him, so the party’s pursuit ran into trouble.

“So the plan goes off the rails here.”

“If we can’t even get the help of the Transcendents…… what do we do?”

“Is there no way for just us to enter the apocalypse region?”

“Even if we find a way, if it’s just us going in, total annihilation is certain.”

Despite their strenuous efforts, they couldn’t find a way to enter the inside of the ‘apocalypse region,’ which had sealed itself off, and naturally, they ended up settling in the ‘First Murim.’

Taking care of the injured Murim people, and sometimes stopping the ‘Nameless Ones’ that crossed over dimensions.

“Damn it, those bastards show up here too.”

Maybe because it was a region near the apocalypse region, the number of ‘Nameless Ones’ was fairly large.

But now, the party wasn’t at an ordinary level, either. After successfully completing the ‘Recycling Center,’ the party had been training themselves in their own ways.

“Ye Hyeonwoo! Formation X!”

Under Killer King’s command at the front, Ye Hyeonwoo’s [Armed Fortress] activated.

“Invincible Fortress Lord tech tree. Activating Stage 10.”

As the Armed Fortress revealed itself according to the contract with the ‘Defense Master,’ the ‘Nameless Ones’ that tore through the dimension and appeared quickly turned into a beehive and collapsed.

“Yerin!”

After that, Cha Yerin put on a dazzling performance and dealt with the big individuals.

“Ooh, where did people that strong come from—”

Enough underlying strength that even the Murim people admired it.

Even after entering the ‘First Murim,’ the party didn’t neglect training. They learned new martial arts, or searched for hidden pieces that Kim Dokja would naturally have looked for.

「However, not everything went that smoothly.」

It was around the time when Killer King and Ye Hyeonwoo were away handling the Korean Peninsula’s 32nd scenario.

“What is that.”

In the vast sky of Murim, ‘that thing’ suddenly appeared. The color of the sky changed, and the Murim people screamed as they vomited blood.

「It was an Outer God that the Murim people would later call a disaster-grade horror— ‘Eight-Branched Wandering.’」

The legs of a gigantic cephalopod-like thing, reminding her of the ‘Dream Eater,’ wriggled as it crossed over the ‘Great Hole.’

【Kakakakakakakakakakaka】

Gyeong Sein also knew that monsters like that often appeared near the apocalypse region.

Cheonga had definitely warned them, too.

But Gyeong Sein believed in herself, and believed in the party. If it was the party as they were now, no matter what enemy appeared, they could fight back. We aren’t weak anymore— she definitely thought that.

She had thought that.

「You can’t fight something like that.」

When she came to her senses, Gyeong Sein was unconsciously stepping backward. Her legs trembled, and cold sweat kept pouring down her back. Her mouth—

“I’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorry—”

Was only shouting the same words.

When she looked to the side, Lee Dansoo was in a similar state. Lee Dansoo, kneeling and coughing up blood, fumbled with a pale face.

“Se, Sein.”

In the middle of that, there was also a companion who alone kept calm and burned with fighting spirit.

A staggering Cha Yerin walked out of the manor, spitting blood.

“No! Yerin!”

Cha Yerin was in a state where she’d suffered internal injuries that couldn’t be healed even with the ‘vital energy of the Elain Forest’ in a previous scenario.

“You can’t move yet!”

According to the divine physician’s prescription, it was an injury that could only be recovered with an item of the ‘Holy Milk Fruit’ grade.

Holy Milk Fruit was a precious item that couldn’t be obtained in a lower scenario.

The reason Killer King and Ye Hyeonwoo, and also Jieunyu, were going back and forth between other scenarios to carry out constellations’ ‘personal scenarios’ was all to obtain a Holy Milk Fruit that could save her.

“It’s okay.”

And yet, that Cha Yerin revealed herself outside the manor on her own to protect the party.

“Sein, and Uncle Dansoo, you’re both injured too.”

Gyeong Sein and Lee Dansoo had also been seriously injured in the previous scenario. It wasn’t as severe as Cha Yerin’s injury, but their combat ability was greatly damaged, so they couldn’t fight all the same.

“Please watch my back.”

An astonishingly calm tone, and a tranquil expression.

Gyeong Sein knew well when Cha Yerin made that kind of expression.

「Cha Yerin has decided to die right now.」

Watching Cha Yerin, wrapped in fist force on both hands, leap into the sky, Gyeong Sein screamed.

If Killer King, or Ye Hyeonwoo, had been there. Or if Jieunyu, who didn’t agree with the party that aimed for cautious exploration and was exploring another scenario region, had been there, what would it have been like.

No.

Gyeong Sein knew. Even if any of them had been there, they couldn’t stop a monster like that. The existence that could protect the party from that monster—

「Only one person.」

The gigantic cephalopod-like legs wriggled, then with a thunderous roar, lashed Cha Yerin’s incarnation body. She heard something burst, and Gyeong Sein collapsed to the ground.

「At that moment, a pure-white flash-wind blew down from the sky.」

A wind that was warm, yet sharp.

Gyeong Sein knew what that wind was.

[Wind’s Path].

When she raised her head, she saw the legs of the Outer God pouring out tales from the sky.

【Kaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh】

A horrible scream. Then, someone holding the unconscious Cha Yerin in their arms landed in front of her.

“Everyone, get a grip. Are you going to collapse in a place like this?”

It was a voice she’d never heard before. And yet, the moment she heard it, goosebumps rose. Because that voice was the very voice Gyeong Sein had imagined countless times while listening to a certain story.

“From now on, I’ll tell you the strategy.”

A white coat fluttering in the wind.

Seeing that familiar back, Gyeong Sein stood up as if possessed.

Someone grabbed her shoulder.

“Gyeong Sein.”

It was Killer King.

Gyeong Sein alternated her gaze between Killer King and the man in front of them and said,

“Killer King, that person, could it be—”

She wanted to ask. But even without asking, Gyeong Sein vaguely realized who he was.

As if proving that fact, Killer King, with a blank face, nodded and muttered,

“The protagonist has returned.”

*

When Kim Dokja first appeared, Gyeong Sein didn’t believe it.

Even after they drove off the Outer God ‘Eight-Branched Wandering’ with Kim Dokja’s help, Gyeong Sein still couldn’t trust him.

“Now, of all times? That makes no sense. There’s no way he’s the real Kim Dokja.”

Because he said he was ‘Kim Dokja.’

“No matter how similar he is to Kim Dokja, he isn’t that person. Everyone knows it.”

At least, the ‘Kim Dokja’ she knew in this world was someone else.

A person who always smiled with half-lidded eyes. A person who smiled while scattering messy blond hair, and who kept throwing himself away for the party as if he had several lives.

A person who always seemed to be looking at some distant ending they didn’t know. A person who, even while right beside them, felt like he existed beyond a thick wall.

「That was ‘this world’s Kim Dokja’ that Gyeong Sein remembered.」

To save him, to meet him again, they came all the way here.

But here, they met another Kim Dokja.

A face that looked like it had been made by molding the word Kim Dokja. A person who appeared with a sorrowful smile, cleared the scenario, and rescued the party.

The moment she saw him, Gyeong Sein felt an inexplicable repulsion.

That guy isn’t Kim Dokja.

“If Minjiwon…… no, if Jieunyu was here, then surely—”

“Gyeong Sein. That guy helps us.”

Killer King added in a calm voice.

“After he appeared, the blocked, stagnant scenario sections started getting resolved.”

“I know that too. But—”

“That guy is Kim Dokja.”

Seeing Killer King casually pronounce the name ‘Kim Dokja,’ Gyeong Sein’s lips parted helplessly.

“How…… can you say that?”

She didn’t often show emotion, but Gyeong Sein deeply trusted Killer King. It wasn’t only because Killer King had read the main story more than anyone else in the party.

Killer King wasn’t just “someone who read a lot,” but someone who you could feel loved this story more than anyone.

A person who endured life by reading and rereading a single story over and over. In some ways, «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» a man who resembled ‘Kim Dokja’ endlessly.

If it was him, she thought he would naturally be able to recognize the ‘real Kim Dokja.’ She believed he wouldn’t deny the ‘Kim Dokja’ who had been with them.

“How could you, of all people, Killer King—”

A shadow fell across Killer King’s face. In that moment, a piece of information surfaced in Gyeong Sein’s head.

「Recently, with Kim Dokja’s help, Killer King found a scenario where they could obtain a ‘Holy Milk Fruit.’」

Killer King— Cha Sungwoo was in a position where he absolutely had to save his younger sibling, Cha Yerin. In a situation like that, regardless of whether that ‘Kim Dokja’ was real or not, he had no choice but to protect him.

Gyeong Sein turned her head, then opened her mouth again.

“Uncle Dansoo. Say something too.”

Then Lee Dansoo, who had been silently staring at the floor, raised his head.

“Miss Sein. I think Inho is ‘Kim Dokja.’”

“Right? Like I thought, the real Kim Dokja—”

Color returned to Gyeong Sein’s expression.

Uncle Dansoo really is different. He knows who the ‘real Kim Dokja’ is.

“But that man is also clearly ‘Kim Dokja.’”

“What?”

After Killer King, even Lee Dansoo.

Gyeong Sein’s lips trembled.

She got angry. If it was them of all people, shouldn’t they not say something like that.

But the expression on Lee Dansoo’s face when he lifted his head was strangely different from before.

“Miss Sein. Have you ever thought about this?”

Lee Dansoo, who always only smiled like a good-natured person, was asking in an eerily gloomy voice.

“Inho, the one we knew…… did he really want to become ‘Kim Dokja’?”

In that instant, it felt like her heart dropped with a thud.

“We have cleared every scenario by relying on Inho. Again and again, nearly dying, we leaned on that friend’s life and came all the way here.”

Maybe it was a question she had never thought about even once.

Did the ‘Kim Dokja’ he knew really want to become ‘Kim Dokja.’

“We called him ‘Kim Dokja’…… as we pleased.”

Now, the party knew.

「“My name is ■■■.”」

He resembled Kim Dokja, and like Kim Dokja, he saved them, but his real name wasn’t ‘Kim Dokja.’

“Maybe we’ve been placing too much burden on Inho all this time.”

A faint wind blew in from outside the manor. Beyond the manor, the man with the white face they knew so well was walking toward them. The man, visible through the dazzling sunlight, looked like a protagonist walking this way as if tearing through a pure-white blank space.

Lee Dansoo muttered in a powerless voice.

“Maybe it’s time we stop tormenting Inho.”