Chapter 727

Of course. Here is the paraphrased chapter:

727 Episode 28 House (5)
«From this moment, we will be the ‘little pigs’.»

[Someone has declared themselves ‘Little Pig’!]

I gave a wry smile at the scenario message flashing in the air. This was familiar; the scenario was much like the ‘Revolutionary Game’ from the Demon World.

[Several constellations of the Chinese Zodiac are intrigued by this declaration.]

Reading the indirect messages hovering nearby, I organized everything I had learned since arriving at this ‘center’.

「 One: Events within this ‘Recycling Center’ do not get reported to the outside. 」

This was as described in the ‘Ways of Survival’. Fundamentally, the ‘Recycling Center’ was a place for incarnations from small and medium-sized nebulae to grow stronger to oppose the ‘Giant Nebulae’. It stood to reason that the constellations of those ‘Giant Nebulae’ would be unaware of the happenings here.

「 Two: The only beings with jurisdiction over events inside this ‘Recycling Center’ are the constellations associated with it. 」

This was an extension of the first point.

In other words, only the zodiac or animal-related constellations could observe the affairs of this ’13th district’.

[The constellation ‘The First Pig to Die’ is anticipating your actions.]

[The constellation ‘The Nail-Eating Rat’ is observing your decisions.]

This, at the very least, reduced the chance that <Asgard>, <Olympus>, and the other major nebulae that had been hounding me would interfere directly.

Our immediate goal was to reenact 「The Three Little Pigs」.

That was the sole method to counter the wolf, who was not invincible except during the night.

I looked at my companions and asked, «First, can everyone tell me what kind of animal you each became?»

«As you can see… I’m a squirrel.»

«I’m a turtle.»

Kyung Sein was a squirrel. The Dansu ahjussi was a turtle.

Ye Hyunwoo, who was clicking his tongue in irritation, resembled a panda, and finally, Cha Yerin—

«Sna (달).»

Cha Yerin, who had managed that much, fell silent and couldn’t continue. Killer King answered for her.

«She’s a snail (달팽).»

Perhaps embarrassed by her transformation, Cha Yerin slowly hung her head.

Now that I considered it, everyone assembled here had become animals unrelated to the ‘zodiac’. Was that a coincidence?

«By any chance, is anyone here a ‘pig’?»

Now that I thought about it, I hadn’t encountered a single animal from the Chinese zodiac since arriving. I’d seen similar creatures, but most were subtypes or variants.

«There can’t be any pigs. This is Zone 13. You should know what that implies.»

Hearing Killer King’s reply made the meaning of this place’s name click into place.

Zone 13.

Every incarnation here had failed to enter the Chinese zodiac.

«Now that you mention it, what animal are you?»

«I didn’t select one.»

«I know you picked the no-animal mask. But even if you choose a no-face mask, you ultimately end up with an animal mask.»

You end up with an animal mask?

«That mask is designed to interpret the user’s story and transform into the most fitting animal mask. But you—»

I caught my reflection in a nearby building’s window. My mask remained a featureless, blank slate.

A face with no discernible animal shape.

I stared at the mask’s smooth surface for a moment before turning back.

«It’s fine. That’s not important right now. The most time Yoo Jonghyuk can buy for us is about twenty minutes.»

Right now, ‘The Wolf Who Loves Little Red Riding Hood’ was chasing Yoo Jonghyuk, the child wearing a hood.

No matter how much of a story-loving constellation he was, he would regain his senses in roughly twenty minutes.

Before Yoo Jonghyuk, who had become Little Red Riding Hood, was devoured by the wolf, we had to formulate a plan.

«The plan is simple. We recreate ‘The Three Little Pigs’.»

«I would have said that’s impossible.»

Killer King frowned and stepped back.

«It wasn’t just fools who chose the ‘pig camp’. We initially tried something similar to what you’re suggesting.»

«What exactly did you do?»

«We planned to hide inside a house and kill it with a brick, just like in the original story.»

«Excuse me?»

I thought I’d misheard.

«Do you know what The Three Little Pigs is about?»

Killer King nodded with confidence.

«It’s the story of three little pigs killing a wolf with a brick.»

In what universe was that the plot of 「The Three Little Pigs」?

If you interpreted it very loosely, it wasn’t entirely incorrect, but it was clear Killer King didn’t know the actual original story.

I looked at the others. Kyung Sein was the first to respond.

«To be honest, I haven’t read many fairy tales.»

Even famous stories have people who don’t know them.

I turned to Ye Hyunwoo. Surely the intelligent 7th apostle would know.

Ye Hyunwoo scratched his cheek, annoyed, and asked in return. «Um, is it like an old-fashioned version of Baby Shark?»

Now that he mentioned it, 『The Three Little Pigs』 was an old story.

It made sense that people these days might not know it.

But what about the Dansu ahjussi?

«Well, my Jiyoon doesn’t care for fairy tales…»

«…»

«It’s been an age since I read one. Heh heh. Heh heh.»

My last hope was Literature Girl 64, Cha Yerin. She subtly averted her eyes under my gaze.

«You really don’t know? Seriously?»

«My younger sister only read complete world literature and Korean novels.»

I was appalled.

Did that mean none of them knew ‘The Three Little Pigs’?

I recalled hearing that the average Korean read 1.5 books per year.

Still, if among them were people who had read ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ a hundred times, how could they not know famous fairy tales like ‘The Three Little Pigs’?

Wait a moment—if someone read ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ a hundred times, they’d have no time left to read anything else, right?

«So… you all planned an attack together?»

The panda, who had read ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ fifty times, nodded confidently at my question.

«To be precise, we couldn’t find bricks, so we used stones instead. It was a brilliant plan aimed at staging the story.»

«And did the staging work?»

«That…»

The panda’s expression darkened. The wolf, who had read ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ a hundred times, shook his head and added, «So everyone lost their masks. As expected, if I hadn’t used my genius judgment to choose the ‘wolf camp’, everyone would have been eliminated.»

It seemed Killer King hadn’t joined the operation but had hidden and chosen the ‘wolf camp’ alone.

«There was no alternative. In a world without bricks, there’s no way to fight them. As you can see, the wolf leader is a constellation.»

«It’s an incomplete constellation. There is a way to kill it.»

«You’re probably thinking of using ‘staging’ too, right?»

I nodded.

Even though my companions had failed, ‘staging’ was always a mechanic in scenarios based on stories. That was certain.

«But there are no bricks in this world.»

I knew.

In this world, there were no houses made of bricks, no walls constructed from them.

It was as if the very concept of ‘brick’ had been deliberately erased from this world.

This was undoubtedly the wolves’ doing.

They had destroyed every brick in Zone 13 to prevent this scenario from proceeding normally.

But that didn’t mean bricks were entirely unobtainable.

«Let’s buy them.»

I mentally called up the ‘Dokkaebi Bag’. The ‘Dokkaebi Bag’ worked here too. Even if you went to Moro, you just had to think of Seoul.

[The ‘brick’ item cannot be purchased in this world.]

That was the response.

I then opened the ‘exchange’.

Fortunately, bricks were available for exchange. A great many of them.

Old Brick — 50,000 C

Fifty thousand coins each?

[A handful of constellations are chuckling at your predicament.]

I understood how this worked. It was the doing of constellations who exploited gaps in the scenario to sell items like this.

I could buy them if desperate, but I had no desire to make these merchants richer.

Besides, buying them wouldn’t automatically build a brick house.

Kyung Sein asked nervously, «What should we do? Should we dig up some stones?»

«Bricks are made from clay, not stone.»

«Really? How do you know that?»

How did I know? It was explained in ‘Ways of Survival’.

«You mix sand or petrified clay and fire it at a high temperature, over 1,100 degrees. That’s how you make the ‘clay bricks’ we know.»

«Were you a bricklayer in your past life?»

Again, this was an explanation from ‘Ways of Survival’.

I didn’t know why such a detail was included, but it was there.

«You mentioned the method requires sand and petrification, right? If we can get that—»

«It’s impossible to do in time. Plus, we have to build an entire house.»

It was a strange scenario to begin with.

With wolves on their way, did it make sense to build a ‘brick house’ by manufacturing bricks, a process that could take a year?

Was this scenario truly designed to be cleared that way?

«There was no ‘revolutionary’ in the revolutionary scenario.»

Killer King was the one who spoke.

«And there are no ‘brick houses’ here.»

I looked at Killer King. Killer King looked back at me.

«Perhaps.»

«If I’m right.»

I hated to admit it, but we were thinking the same thing.

«This scenario resembles the ‘revolutionary scenario’.»

There *was* a ‘brick house’ in this world.

«I think I’ve found a solution.»

However, no one would admit it was a ‘brick house’.

A short time later, we reached the hotel ‘Fox and Crane’.

The moment I kicked the door open, a startled crane leaped up, screaming.

«What’s the meaning of this?!»

«We’ll be staying here for a day.»

«I’m sorry, but there are no rooms available! Please leave!»

Ignoring the innkeeper’s protests, I examined the interior.

It looked like an ordinary wooden structure.

«It’s a standard wooden building.»

Killer King reported after inspecting the outside walls. «The interior and exterior walls are quite solid, but they don’t appear to be made from any special materials. Not to the naked eye, at least.»

The crane, pale-faced, shouted, «I don’t know what you’re thinking, but please go away! I want no part of this!»

«The house is very sturdy. Not a single scratch, and it looks quite old.»

«Because we worked hard to build it—»

«Who built it?»

At my question, the crane gasped sharply.

«I can’t tell you that.»

«This is a wooden building, correct?»

«Of course it’s a wooden building!»

«I suppose so.»

I said, casually digging a finger in my ear.

«Even the building itself says so.»

[Fragment of the story ‘The House That Is Not a Brick House’ continues its storytelling.]

I didn’t know what trick had been used, but this building had ‘fragments of stories’ embedded within it.

To be precise, it was the only building in the entire area with one.

[Fragment of the story ‘The House That Is Not a Brick House’ continues its storytelling.]

At first, I couldn’t pinpoint where the sound originated, but passing the inn several times convinced me.

«It is not a brick house.»

There was something very odd about this inn.

«It’s strange. Anyone can see it’s not a brick house, yet you feel the need to insist that it’s not a brick house.»

«What?»

«It means an honest person doesn’t need to proclaim they are not a liar.»

«…»

«What are you hiding?»

«You people don’t understand anything! Don’t involve yourselves in this scenario!»

I slowly reached toward the inner wall. Killer King and the others restrained the owner as he rushed at me, shouting.

Closing my eyes, I immediately heard the birth of a story within the wall.

[Fragment of the story ‘The House That Is Not a Brick House’ begins to tremble.]

I gently grasped the story fragment lodged in the wall. I could simply pull it out, but there was something I wanted to test first.

[The sub-skill ‘Sentence Enhancement’ is activated!]

[You may input your actions.]

[The action you input will be ‘reinforced’.]

As expected, [Sentence Enhancement] was usable again.

[Sentence Enhancement is a skill that activates and can even ignore scenario restrictions.]

I had always used this skill solely to strengthen [Incite].

But couldn’t it be used differently?

[Fragment of the story ‘The House That Is Not a Brick House’ stops its storytelling.]

For instance, by slightly modifying a ‘story’ that had already been written.