Gyeong Sein’s story ended there.

It was because, in the middle of the story, strong sparks began to run through Gyeong Sein’s whole body, and after she vomited up a storm of fable, she fainted. It seemed that just telling this story put a huge burden on the incarnation body.

Jung Heewon and I laid Gyeong Sein down in her spot, then watched the white tale fragment circling over her head.

“Will she be okay?”

“She’ll be fine.”

Sleeping Gyeong Sein let out low groans, like she was having a nightmare. Jung Heewon lightly placed a hand on Gyeong Sein’s forehead and asked.

“I don’t get it even after hearing it. Does that mean another Dokja showed up besides Dokja?”

“…….”

“And that Dokja got torn apart and eaten by the constellations… what is that supposed to mean?”

From Jung Heewon’s standpoint, it was probably hard to understand.

I shook my head vaguely and answered.

“I don’t know for sure either.”

My head was a mess.

「The Kim Dokja of the snowfield ‘seriously intervened’ in the ‘scenario.’」

The Kim Dokja I had met for the first time.

The Kim Dokja who always waited for me in the snowfield, and came into my dreams over and over.

The Kim Dokja who liked drinking tea and often wore a sad smile— the ‘Kim Dokja’ who was raised by the ‘Sophist of Evil’ and tore his brothers to pieces, had revealed himself in the 41st round’s scenario.

「He handed over his own tale to the constellations.」

There were parts I could guess, as to why he went out of his way to do that.

If the tale I saw in Gu Seonah’s memories was accurate, then the Kim Dokja of the snowfield was a being strong enough to suppress his other brother by force.

A Kim Dokja with a status that even myth-grade constellations couldn’t treat lightly.

If a being that powerful manifested in the scenario, the Backlash of Plausibility should have swept in for sure.

But the backlash didn’t come.

「“It’s all received from <Star Stream> anyway. Then it’s right to return it to <Star Stream>.”」

Maybe, by offering his flesh to the constellations, he nullified the Backlash of Plausibility.

Come to think of it, the Open Arms’ Dragon Head Ark Thousand was said to have made a similar choice. He lowered his own status and entered a lower scenario, even choosing to become the object of other stars’ ridicule.

The case was different, but if the Kim Dokja of the snowfield made a similar choice, it made sense.

The problem was why he made that choice.

「Why did the constellations change after eating Kim Dokja’s blood and flesh?」

「If the Kim Dokja of the snowfield truly treated my party as companions, why did Gyeong Sein end up staying here?」

Complicated questions surged through my head like the tide, then vanished.

For now, there was only one thing I could know for sure.

「“You will make the city prosper until my brother arrives here.”」

That this city was probably made to wait for “me.”

The Kim Dokja of the snowfield probably knew that I would return from the apocalypse region someday, and rebuilt this city.

“Dokja.”

When I raised my head, Jung Heewon was looking at me with eyes that were tense to the point of sharpness.

I lightly nodded and stood up. There were a lot of things I was curious about, but this wasn’t the time to rack my brain here.

[Soon, the ‘Main Scenario’ will begin.]

Because the main scenario of ‘New Murim Earth’ was finally about to start.

*

“The original main scenario of the apocalypse region is the ‘Ascension Rite.’”

Namgung Myeong gave us a brief briefing on the existing main scenario of ‘New Murim Earth.’

According to Namgung Myeong’s explanation, the main scenario of ‘New Murim Earth’ had originally been Ascension itself.

“You gather D-coins for ascension, enter a company, and build up status past a certain level. That itself was originally the ‘Main Scenario’ of this region.”

The incarnations who received support from the companies here and piled up their status became ‘Ascenders’ and left the city by riding the ‘Orbital Elevator.’

That was the main scenario of ‘New Murim Earth,’ made with Murim’s “ascension to immortality” as its motif.

「Ascension to immortality.」

A Murim myth where an ordinary human cultivates the Way for a long time, attains enlightenment, and becomes an immortal.

A question suddenly occurred to me.

What did it mean for an ordinary human to become an immortal?

「Casting away human desire and emotion, gaining divinity, and being reborn as a new existence.」

The Kim Dokja of the snowfield, looking at the city with alien eyes after offering his own body to the constellations.

Maybe what that bastard wanted from me was…….

“Even if you go up to an upper scenario through the Ascension Rite, you can’t become like the constellations you dream of.”

The one who cut off my thoughts was Jung Heewon, who had been silently listening to Namgung Myeong.

“All Ascenders who go up to an upper scenario become the constellations’ prey. The D-coins gathered here are structured to be offered up to the constellations as they are.”

Namgung Myeong’s eyes widened at Jung Heewon’s explanation.

“Then the reason the Radiant Sword Emperor destroyed the ‘Orbital Elevator’ was…….”

“Because someone has to break that loop.”

I recalled the destroyed ‘Orbital Elevator.’

That day, inside the elevator that crashed onto the ascension platform, there were the severed heads of Ascenders and a single line of a message left behind.

「No one can leave this city.」

Maybe Jung Heewon wanted to scare the incarnations and stop any more victims.

As if she sensed my gaze, Jung Heewon added in a somewhat darkened voice.

“I wasn’t planning to kill the Ascenders. I was only going to destroy the ‘Orbital Elevator,’ but the constellations possessed their bodies and showed up……”

I could roughly guess what kind of situation it had been.

I decided to ask what I’d been curious about all along.

“Ms. Heewon, where did you get that information?”

I’d been curious ever since I first heard Jung Heewon’s story.

Because the secrets of the ‘Orbital Elevator’ and ‘New Murim Earth’ weren’t information an ordinary incarnation could know.

Could it be that a Recorder like ‘Cloud Mountain’ or ‘Morality’ had been with Jung Heewon as well?

“After my master was imprisoned, there’s a constellation that’s been helping me.”

A constellation?

“Could it be the ‘Demonic Judge of Fire’?”

Jung Heewon shook her head.

I’d assumed it would be Uriel, so it was unexpected.

After hesitating for a moment, Jung Heewon cautiously scanned the sky in the area and answered.

“The ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) constellation that helped me is the ‘God of Wine and Ecstasy.’”

Dionysus, God of Wine and Ecstasy.

Come to think of it, he had also raised Jung Heewon’s hand when she used [Time of Judgment].

I was about to ask how she’d ended up making contact with him, when Namgung Myeong opened his mouth in a somewhat heated voice.

“Benefactor, maybe this is our chance.”

“Huh?”

“A chance to change New Murim Earth.”

Looking closely, Namgung Myeong’s expression was strangely excited. The moment I met that expression, I felt the emotion that had been deeply suppressed inside him.

In other regions, they might put various different names to that emotion, but at least in this Murim, there was a set name for calling that emotion.

「Chivalry.」

The oldest emotion that moved this Murim.

“If what the Radiant Sword Emperor said is true, the other incarnations won’t just sit still either.”

Was it because he had Namgung Family blood in him?

It was like the moment he heard Jung Heewon’s story, he started dreaming of a revolution.

“There are many incarnations who are dissatisfied with the companies’ system of rule. The reason they haven’t rebelled is because there was hope that if you worked hard, anyone could ‘ascend.’”

If you worked hard, anyone could ascend, and become strong like a constellation.

The only ladder handed down to weak incarnations. As long as that ladder didn’t break, the incarnations’ desire would be pulled toward a single place.

But that ladder had been broken a short while ago by the Radiant Sword Emperor.

“If the Murim people who realized the scenario’s secret join forces, we might be able to reclaim the old Murim. We might be able to return to that Murim of those days, when people knew righteousness and knew chivalry.”

In my opinion, the old Murim honestly wasn’t such a great place either.

But I also knew what kind of “romance” he was talking about. At least back then, there were people who agonized over what chivalry was, what humans were, and what this forest they lived in was.

Kugugugugu.

Once again, dark clouds gathered into the gloomy sky. I could feel the Backlash of Plausibility flowing through the air.

[The Main Scenario is being delayed.]

It was an ominous sign. There had never been a time when something good happened because the main scenario was delayed.

[Someone has granted you ‘Fate.’]

As expected.

With a bitter smile, I examined the plausibility flowing around us.

It was probably <Veda>’s doing.

Those bastards who lost Lokapala Agni to me were planning revenge on me one more time through [Fate].

「Kim Dokja of ‘New Murim Earth’ will lose his ‘precious thing.’」

The [Fate] message that flared up right after.

But even after checking the message, I didn’t panic or waver.

[Fable, ‘One Who Rewrites Fate,’ growls.]

I already had precedent for fighting [Fate], and I also knew how to break it.

So [Fate] wasn’t scary.

Rather, what mattered was the stage where that [Fate] would be written.

[A new Main Scenario has arrived!]

We immediately checked the scenario contents.

[Soon, the ‘Ascension Altar’ will open.]

Ascension Altar?

+

<Main Scenario #70 – Ascension>

Category: Main

Difficulty: S

Clear Condition: Offer 30 or more ‘Offerings’ to the ‘altar’ located in the center of ‘New Murim Earth.’

Time Limit: ???

Reward: 50,000 D-coins, entry into an upper scenario.

Failure: ―

+

Offer ‘offerings’?

It was a scenario that had never appeared before.

The strange part was that it told you to offer ‘offerings,’ but it didn’t say how to obtain those ‘offerings.’

No, wait. This…….

[You can check the current list of ‘Offering Holders.’]

Feeling a bad premonition, I checked the list.

+

<List of Offering Holders>

King of Terror ― 100

Radiant Sword Emperor ― 40

Salvation Cult Leader Nirvana ― 35

Blood Jade Fist Demon Jo Jincheol ― 20

Paradise Holy Lord Reinheit ― 20

…….

+

The way to obtain offerings in ‘New Murim Earth’ was simple.

「Hunt other incarnations who already possess ‘offerings.’」

Namgung Myeong sighed, and Jung Heewon furrowed her brow.

I said.

“It looks like the constellations made the first move.”

There was no way a scenario like this would come down this conveniently timed.

If anything, we had to think that the ‘Great Nebulae’ had exercised influence over the Administration Bureau.

[Soon, a large temporary channel will open.]

And the Administration Bureau would have judged that this scenario “could draw the stars’ interest.”

[Many constellations are waiting to enter the channel.]

Soon, ‘New Murim Earth’ would become an arena for incarnations to gamble their lives to obtain offerings.

Jung Heewon said tensely.

“They’ll be coming soon.”

The ‘King of Terror’ and ‘Radiant Sword Emperor’ on the list probably referred to me and Jung Heewon.

In fact, messages like the following had been floating in front of my eyes since a while ago.

[You currently possess ‘100’ offerings.]

[In 3 hours, an ‘altar’ will be created in the central region of ‘New Murim Earth.’]

[If you insert offerings into the altar, you can go straight to the next scenario.]

I had already acquired all the offerings required for ‘ascension.’ All I had to do was wait three hours and reach the altar, and I could complete the scenario.

The other incarnations would probably swarm here to hunt Jung Heewon and me for that reason.

“The incarnations won’t come.”

But Namgung Myeong seemed to think a little differently.

“Why do you think that?”

“Because Benefactor’s strength is already widely known among the incarnations.”

Come to think of it, Jung Heewon and I brought down that great <Veda>’s Lokapala, ‘Flame of Purification,’ Agni. Since they’d seen Agni get put through something so miserable, any incarnation with proper common sense wouldn’t dare target us.

“They’ll choose a much safer method.”

“Killing each other?”

“That’s one way, but they won’t easily start slaughter among members of the same company. Rather than that, they’ll hunt as a group a target they judge to be relatively safe, while having many offerings.”

A target with many offerings, and relatively safe?

Was there such an existence in this Murim?

“Dokja.”

Right then, Jung Heewon’s eyes met mine, and a chilling premonition flashed through my mind.

[Soon, the incarnation with the ‘most offerings’ will be revealed.]

The stars in the sky glittered as if mocking me.

Maybe the main target of this scenario had never been me in the first place.

「A person who agonized over what chivalry was, what humans were, and what this forest they lived in was.」

From far away, a boom like a building collapsing rang out.

[The incarnation with the most ‘offerings’ in ‘New Murim Earth’ is…….]

A moment later, the list in front of our eyes was updated.

+

Heaven-Piercing Sword Saint Namgung Minyoung ― 500

+

As if we had made a promise, we dashed out of the manor at the same time.