Chapter 728

Of course. Here is the paraphrased chapter:

728 Episode 28 House (6)
Ji Eunyu had once told me,

«Writer, your sentences are very clean. There is nothing extraneous in them.»

The first time I heard that, I didn’t take it as praise.

«I only write that way because I lack confidence in my phrasing.»

I am not a writer skilled in crafting beautiful descriptions or complicated sentences.

Even so, Ji Eunyu had commended my clumsy writing, linking it to my way of speaking.

«No, that’s not it. It’s incredibly difficult to select and use only the most essential words. Often, a sentence improves just by cutting out a few unnecessary words or particles, but that’s harder than it seems.»

Ji Eunyu’s advice was simple.

Cut it out.

If you think you might need it, cut it out anyway. Consider it, then cut it out. Look it over once more and cut it out. No matter what, cut it out.

Strong sentences are built on that foundation of empty space.

It was excellent advice.

Yet, anyone who has ever written knows how hard it is to remove something.

Erasing a single particle is a challenge, let alone a comma.

This is likely because it means destroying something you spent time to create.

The new blank space left by a deleted sentence feels fundamentally different from the original emptiness.

It’s as if the ghost of the erased sentence lingers above the margin, still alive.

Because of that, I sometimes had this thought while deleting text.

Perhaps it’s not that I don’t want to erase the sentence, but that the sentence itself is begging me not to.

It felt like that right now.

[Story fragment ‘The House That is Not a Brick House’ rejects your touch!]

The instant my fingers made contact with the story fragment, a shower of sparks erupted. A jolting shock hit my chest, making my heart stutter, and I drooled like someone who had been electrocuted.

«Stop, what are you doing!»

«Those are probability sparks! Get away from it!»

Kyung Sein and Lee Dansu rushed over and helped me to my feet.

But I couldn’t give up. After considering everything, this was the only path forward.

«I found the brick.»

«What? Really?»

The explosions echoing in the distance were growing louder. ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ was charging toward us, demolishing every structure in her path.

And Yoo Jonghyuk, the one being chased by Little Red Riding Hood, was running desperately ahead of the pack.

«Kim Dokja—!»

We were out of time.

I grabbed the story fragment once more.

The fragment seemed to speak to me.

「 I am not a brick house. 」

I understood anew the struggles Ji Eunyu must have faced.

Altering what is already written is never simple. What is written is read, and what is read is remembered by its readers. Those memories soon form the foundation of reality.

Therefore, to change the story is to change reality itself.

*Tsu-tsu-tsutsu.*

I never imagined that mending a single story fragment would be so arduous.

Sparks flew each time the fragment in my hand resisted.

[Your ‘fourth story’ has fully bloomed.]

It was then that a message flashed in my mind.

[The story ‘The One Who Rewrites Fate’ begins its storytelling.]

「 The One Who Rewrites Fate. 」

This was the new story I had acquired alongside ‘The Demon King of Salvation’.

[Your understanding of the story ‘The One Who Rewrites Fate’ is low.]

[You will experience ‘greatly reduced’ resistance to probability backlash.]

Unexpectedly, the story’s effect granted a degree of immunity to ‘probability backlash’.

As the sparks from the fragment became more tolerable, the glow of [Sentence Enhancement] intensified.

[Sub-skill ‘Sentence Enhancement’ is activated.]

[You receive the effect of the story ‘Recorder of Things That Will Disappear’.]

[The trait of ‘Story Repair’ will blossom within you!]

The story fragment’s violent struggles began to subside.

[The target is a ‘low-level story fragment’.]

[Do you wish to edit this ‘story fragment’?]

As I gently touched the fragment, I could feel the sentences inscribed upon it. The accumulated history of the story, from its creation to the present, was transmitted to me with vivid clarity.

「 I am not a brick house. 」

I glanced back at the inn, ‘The Crane and the Fox’, while holding the story tightly. I had thought it was strange from the very start.

Killer King and the others had said it too. This house wasn’t a brick house, simply because the story declared it wasn’t.

But to me, at least,

[The ‘story fragment’ did not convince you.]

This house *was* a ‘brick house’.

The story fragment trembled violently.

I held on firmly and placed my hand on the sentence forming in my mind.

Kim Dokja said: There is no scenario that cannot be cleared.

Ways of Survival said: This world is constructed from ‘stories’.

I held the story tight and began to persuade it. Or perhaps to [incite] it.

«You.»

I unraveled the history embedded in the story fragment. I began removing the words written upon it, one by one. I took out ‘n’, I took out ‘o’. I erased the spaces between the words.

Through subtraction, again and again, I finally forged one clean, precise sentence.

I was revealing the original core of a story that had been stained over a long period of time.

«You are a brick house.»

In the next instant, the story fragment began to melt away, emitting a brilliant light.

From the dissolving debris emerged a brightly shining gem of a story.

「 I am a brick house. 」

The fragment declared.

「 I am a brick house. 」

I nodded. Then, I carefully inserted the story fragment into the wall of the inn.

[Story fragment ‘The Brick House’ begins its storytelling.]

This world is made of stories. And stories are made of story fragments.

The smallest particle that can change the world.

The moment that particle touched the wall, reality shifted.

*Tsu-tsu-tsutsu.*

The wooden interior of the inn rippled like water. The aged timber was replaced by hard, dense bricks of an orange hue.

My companions stared in awe.

Cha Yerin closed her eyes, listening to the story fragment. Kyung Sein and Lee Dansu touched the walls of the brick house with curiosity.

«It’s a brick house! It really is a brick house!»

«How is this possible—»

Killer King nodded as if he had expected this. A surprised Ye Hyunwoo looked back at me, his expression questioning what I had done.

«The Recycling Center is a world constructed from old stories.»

The setting for this event scenario was ‘The Three Little Pigs’.

For this story fragment to be reenacted, a ‘brick house’ was essential.

But there were no bricks in this world.

«Then, naturally, ‘bricks’ must also be made from stories.»

What we needed to find from the beginning wasn’t a physical ‘brick’ but the story of a ‘brick’.

«We need to shut the door!»

The wolf pack was right outside. But Yoo Jonghyuk hadn’t made it inside yet.

I yelled as loudly as I could while closing the heavy door of the brick house.

«Yoo Jonghyuk! The chimney!»

Through the narrowing gap of the closing door, I saw the little Yoo Jonghyuk nod in understanding.

The sound of heavy impacts thudded against the other side of the sealed brick house. Then, a noise like a scrambling creature moving across the rooftop followed.

A moment later, a soot-covered little Yoo Jonghyuk dropped down from the fireplace beneath the chimney.

«Kim Dokja—!»

Ignoring Yoo Jonghyuk’s arrival for a second, I shouted to my companions.

«Boil water in the cauldron! Now!»

『The Three Little Pigs』 began now.

Water started boiling in the large pot under the chimney stove.

[The constellation ‘Rat Eating Nails’ anticipates the upcoming events.]

[The constellation ‘The Cow of the Beginning’ is pleased to see a proper reenactment after so long.]

[The constellation ‘The First Pig To Die’ says he feels excited for the first time in ages.]

A powerful wind began to blow outside. The wolves were undoubtedly filling their lungs to capacity.

[Like this house—!]

In the original tale of 『The Three Little Pigs』, the wolf blows down the houses built by the first two pigs with his breath.

The first pig’s house of straw and the second pig’s house of wood are both destroyed.

However, the ‘youngest pig’s’ house, made of bricks, is different.

*Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!*

A tremendous gust of wind struck the house. Then a second, a third, a fourth time.

The force was immense, making the brick house shudder precariously.

Each time it happened, I whispered to the story fragment.

«You are a brick house.»

「 I am a brick house. 」

[Story fragment the ‘brick house’ grows stronger.]

[The constellation ‘The Wolf Who Loves Little Red Riding Hood’ is shocked!]

I could sense the wolves’ confusion from beyond the wall.

[How did you build a ‘brick house’?]

Now they were also realizing that something was wrong.

[It’s impossible… I’m certain that ‘story’ couldn’t be found.]

I had anticipated this.

Normally, obtaining the ‘Brick House’ story fragment in this way should not be possible.

I had used a kind of shortcut.

It was the same principle I used when impersonating a revolutionary in ‘Revolutional Game’.

Technically, it was a ‘house that is not a brick house’ being rewritten into a ‘brick house’.

[A few constellations wonder if such a thing is allowed.]

[A constellation that has not yet revealed its modifier acknowledges your solution.]

A constellation with a hidden modifier.

As far as I knew, the only one who had ever sent a message in that form was the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

However, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was currently in no state to send indirect messages.

So who did that message belong to?

Perhaps the sender was like the ‘Demon King of Salvation’…

*Thump-thump-thump.*

Something was leaping about on the brick roof. As expected, the wolf incarnations were on the move.

‘Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf’ shouted.

[Stop, you fools! This means you shouldn’t act recklessly!]

But the wolves did not listen.

[Review the staging requirements for reproductions in your region.]

For a story to be ‘staged’, several ‘conditions’ related to the performance, including the ‘story’ itself, must be satisfied.

For instance, to stage 『Spring of the Demon World』 from <Kim Dokja Company>, key members like Kim Dokja and the ‘chariot’ of the Narrative-grade constellation Surya are needed.

So what were the requirements for 『The Three Little Pigs』?

[Story fragment ‘Leader of the Wolves’ begins its storytelling.]

First, the story’s villain, the ‘Wolf’.

[Story fragment ‘The Brick House’ begins its storytelling.]

And the core element of the story, the ‘brick house’.

The final requirement was the ‘youngest pig’, the protagonist of the story.

But unfortunately, there was no ‘youngest pig’ here.

[Fragment of the story, ‘The Last Born’ begins its storytelling.]

Instead, they had me, the ‘youngest’ Kim Dokja.

[Story fragment ‘The Man Who Eats Eight Meals In One Day’ begins its storytelling.]

And, for reasons unknown, there was also a guy present who possessed story fragments that could substitute for the ‘pig’ story.

Just as the frowning little boy, Yoo Jonghyuk, was about to stand by the flag.

[Staging requirements for the reproduction were incompletely met.]

[The story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ begins its storytelling.]

「 The performance has begun. 」