Chapter 731

The wolf constellation, its features twisted in fury, roared.

[What absurdity—]

Even considering it, the idea was insane.

Claiming we would steal the narrative of 「The Three Little Pigs」 sounded bizarre. But if this <Star Stream> truly functioned as I believed, and as Kim Dokja had read it to be, then it wasn’t an impossibility.

«Be quiet and listen.»
My own voice sounded strange. Was this truly me speaking, or was it an echo of the story left behind by the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?

[The story ‘Heir of the Eternal Name’ is attentive to your words.]

It made no difference.

If Kim Dokja was reading this story too, if he was watching me from somewhere in this world,

[A constellation whose modifier has not yet been revealed is observing you.]

Then I wanted to tell him a story that wouldn’t make him ashamed.

«However, we cannot summon just any ‘Outer God’.»

I drew a deep breath and spoke. This was the crucial part.

«The Outer God we must summon is—»

The wind around us began to intensify once more. I forced my voice louder. I couldn’t tell if the wolf was listening.

[The constellation ‘The First Pig To Die’ is enraged!]

Sparks erupting from the wolf’s body flung me backward. As my vision spun dizzily, something small caught me.

It was the child Yoo Jonghyuk.

He grabbed me and sprinted toward the brick house. Kyung Sein rushed out to meet us, shoved little Yoo Jonghyuk inside, and slammed the door shut.

One by one, the prisoners hiding within the brick house looked up from behind tables, their eyes on me. Some gazed with resentment, others with fear.

Some looked at me with concern.

«What are you thinking? You’ll get yourself killed! You’re really going to die!»

Kyung Sein was in tears.

«What’s wrong with you? You’ve started to believe you actually are Kim Dokja!»

Little Yoo Joonghyuk turned his head to look up at Kyung Sein. But it seemed she had no energy left to defend the concept of identity.

«Please, just stay hidden here! We’ll be safe if we stay hidden.»

The Kyung Sein I knew was timid. She was the one afraid of the ground rats. The one who hid behind Jung Heewon.

But I remembered other sides of her.

The person who endured Yoo Joonghyuk’s hellish training.
The person who threw herself at monsters to save the people in the novel.
The person who risked her life repeatedly to protect me and the others.

«This isn’t our story. Just stay put. It will all blow over.»

She was never the type to say such things.

«It does matter.»

«What?»

«They are the ones who made you prisoners.»

I looked at my companions behind her. Ye Hyunwoo, Dansu ahjussi, and Cha Yerin.

«You all arrived here before me. You likely know better than I do what Zone 13 is truly like.»

Completing event scenarios was important. But that alone wasn’t enough.

My companions had already lost their masks and failed the scenario.

To save them, we had to break the ‘rules of Zone 13’ itself.

And for them.

「 I must confront the <Zodiac>. 」

Kyung Sein stared at me with blank eyes. Her eyebrows trembled.

«Aren’t you afraid of the constellations?»

«I am terrified.»

It was true. I was scared.

My fear of them was why I had run all the way here.

«But I’ve also seen beings far more frightening than they are.»

It was different from what I had imagined. The power of the stars was overwhelming.

The power to literally split mountains and part seas.

Even now, when I closed my eyes, the image of Ares battling the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was vivid. I had no confidence I could face such a monster.

«The enemy we must eventually defeat exists at a height that makes the Zodiac seem low in comparison.»

Yet, Ares was merely one of the 12 gods of <Olympus>.

The sky of the <Star Stream> was infinitely distant.

«We cannot lose to the constellations. We must not see the world through their eyes. We must—»

No matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t defeat the constellations now.

Their symbols alone made that clear. But I couldn’t simply obey their rules just because I couldn’t win.

«We are readers.»

Each of my companions reacted differently, some raising their heads, others looking down at the ground.

In the brief silence, the fierce wind outside grew stronger.

Cha Yerin was the first to speak.

«How.»

«My sister is asking how she can help.»

«From this moment, we will alter the narrative.»

The core of this event scenario was to change the fundamental story of 「The Three Little Pigs」.

Even if we succeeded, the altered narrative would be insignificant, a mere speck of dust.

But now, I desperately needed that one speck.

«Just as Kim Dokja did.»

«It is a story that has already been staged. You know altering it is difficult.»

«True. But it is not impossible.»

The power of 「staging」, once activated, is absolute. The power of the stage can overturn even disparities in strength.

As long as 「The Three Little Pigs」 is active, the ‘Wolf’ can never destroy the ‘Brick House’.

«I have already laid the foreshadowing.»

If it were just an ordinary ‘wolf’.

*Coo coo coo coo coo.*

This was a gamble.

Just as Kim Dokja risked his life every time, I too would have to risk mine now.

Fortunately, we had this ‘brick house’.

It might not be as dependable as the [Fourth Wall] Kim Dokja possessed, but as long as this ‘brick house’ stood—

[Story fragment ‘Brick House’ grows stronger.]

We would definitely have our chance to turn the tables.

Just then, the sound of the wind ceased.

I saw the wolf constellation hovering outside the window. Its long shadow, woven from Story, finally touched the sky.

[The constellation ‘Pig That Dies First’ is profoundly shocked!]

[The constellation ‘Pig That Built Its House Out of Wood’ is furious at the wolf’s actions!]

[The constellation ‘Liverless Rabbit’ is startled by the wolf’s choice!]

[Some constellations belonging to the Nebula <Zodiac> condemn the wolf’s atrocity!]

Judging by the constellations’ reactions,

[The constellation ‘The Wolf Who Loves Little Red Riding Hood’ is enjoying its fame.]

It seemed things were proceeding as planned.

«This—»

Dansu ahjussi, sensing the unusual shift in the air, took a step back.

«Did it truly summon an Outer God?»

Through the pitch-black dust, a small ‘Great Hall’ was visible in the sky. It was smaller than the one I’d seen before, but it was unmistakably a ‘Great Hall’.

«Oh my god.»

«Ah ah ah ah ah—»

«It’s over! We’re finished!»

The prisoners who had entered the inn with us also seemed to recognize the ‘Great Hall’ and clutched their heads under the tables.

They, too, must have been incarnations from scenarios once.

*Tsutsutsu!*

The probability aftermaths near the ‘Great Hall’ were weaker than usual.

Perhaps the ‘Recycling Center’s’ thin border with the other world was the reason.

Unless—

[A god of the other world prepares for descent.]

«Uh, what do we do, Dokja-ssi!»

Meanwhile, Kyung Sein, who had regained some composure, had started calling me Dokja again.

«If even a ‘Great Old One’ appears—»

Then, from now on, I had to live up to that name.

«Not every deity in that world is of the ‘Great Old One’ level. You know that.»

In fact, most ‘Outer Gods’ are closer to nameless things. Strange monsters that have lost their egos and wander the world-lines.

«Still, it’s a problem! If something like the ‘Dream Eater’ appears, Zone 13 is done for!»

«It will be of a lower grade than that.»

In the main story, the ‘Dream Eater’ had descended.

But the ‘Dream Eater’ was a being summoned by the story of a ‘narrative-grade constellation’ as a sacrifice.

This time, the offering was the story of a ‘great-grade constellation’ that had lost most of its own narratives.

«If a being like that had appeared, all the constellations would have fled. Look, they’re still watching.»

[Very few constellations are frightened by the existence of the ‘Outer God’.]

[The constellations from the Nebula <Zodiac> are astonished by the ‘Outer God’ appearing in the scenario!]

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ looks on with interest.]

They were afraid, yet they held their positions. That meant the arriving entity was at least a grade lower than the ‘Dream Eater’.

The next moment, a sound of something hitting the roof echoed.

*Thud. Thud. Thud.*

The house, which had been shielded from the wolf’s wind until now, began to shake precariously.

After all, an ‘Outer God’ was an ‘Outer God’, regardless of its purpose.

[Fragment of the story ‘Brick House’ falls silent.]

I placed my hand on the wall.
«Don’t worry. Even an ‘Outer God’ is not free from the rules of 「staging」.»

Deities from another world.

Beings excluded from the scenarios, wandering the outer reaches of the <Star Stream>.

Yet, that didn’t mean they were completely free from ‘stories’. Once involved in a scenario, they too became bound by its rules.

The problem was which one had answered the call.

I glared into the darkness beyond the window. But the descending god of the other world was obscured by the thick dust filling the air.

I didn’t know for sure, but it had likely taken over the wolf constellation’s body. And now, following its will, it would try to destroy this ‘Brick House’.

*Kudddddddd.*

The ground shook with an unusual tremor.

A completely different omen than before.

«Kim Dokja.»

Little Yoo Jonghyuk also wore a serious expression.

«The ‘wind’ has changed.»

I felt it too. The wind blowing from beyond this ‘wall’ was on a completely different level from the wolf constellation’s gales so far.

It felt as if the god of storms itself had descended.

«What kind of Outer God has come—»

«Maybe something like the ‘Wolf of Destruction’?»

Ye Hyunwoo answered Kyung Sein’s question.

«The ‘Wolf of Destruction’ is not a god from another world. It is a constellation from <Asgard>.»

«But Hyunwoo, you’re speaking normally now?»

«Only the Seventh Apostle reacts that way.»

The house began to shudder violently.

I clung to the wall, doing my best to appear calm. It was decidedly not a reassuring situation.

«Everyone, press against the wall and channel your magical power.»

Little Yoo Jonghyuk was the first to comply, and the other group members followed, one by one pressing against the wall.

The faces of my companions paled as they felt the wall tremble.

«Dokja-ssi, I don’t think we can hold out long. Like this—»

«Don’t worry. It won’t break.»

«But our magical power alone might not be enough.»

Right. Maintaining a ‘brick house’ of this size would require a colossal amount of mana.

And above all—

«The brick house is barely a ‘story fragment’.»

It was just as little Yoo Jonghyuk said.

The status of the ‘brick house’s story’ was far too low.

A ‘fragment of a story’ that hadn’t even become a proper story.

Lower than low-grade.

«But that’s alright. Brick houses don’t collapse, because—»

I added, grinning as I stared into the darkness beyond the sky.

«If this ‘Brick House’ falls, there are those who will lose far more than we ever could.»

[The story ‘The Three Little Pigs’ stutters in its telling.]

[The constellation ‘The First Pig To Die’ urgently reinforces the story!]

[The constellation ‘Pig Building a House of Wood’ requests reinforcements from other constellations!]

Killer King, tied to the chair, seemed to finally grasp my intention and groaned.

«No way, you, Kim Dokja.»

«Yes, exactly.»

«So, the deity of this world—»

Ye Hyunwoo also nodded as if he understood.

«I see. If the ‘wolf’ wins here—»

«History will be rewritten. So the constellations can never afford to give up.»

[The story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ continues.]

[The story fragment ‘Brick House’ is strengthened!]

«Because this is their ‘origin story’.»

My plan was simple.

「 To make the constellations of the Chinese zodiac and the ‘God of the Other World’ destroy each other. 」

The constellations hidden in the darkness were invisible.

But I could feel their anger and their fear.

«They can never surrender. So—»

We would not let this 「stage」 end until every last star had fallen.

[The synchronization rate between you and your sponsor increases significantly!]

«Let’s create a story that will last for an eternity.»

[The story ‘Heir of the Eternal Name’ smiles mysteriously.]