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Chapter 184: Episode 35 – The 73rd Demon King (3)

“Don’t you think the next scenario will still be tough?” Han Sooyoung asked me.

“...”

The 73rd demon king was strong but there would be no problems if we were thoroughly prepared. Maybe this was the easiest of all the scenarios I had done so far.

Shortly afterwards, the people training gathered near me.

“Have you finished raising your rankings?”

It was Jung Heewon who answered my question. “We are all in the top 10. In fact, Jihye and Pildu-ssi were close but they automatically upgraded this morning.”

“Automatically?”

There was only one reason for such an upgrade. It was when a top ranker was killed.

Han Sooyoung already had an ominous expression. “A top 10 ranker suddenly died? Something is strange... Hey, I’m really not going...”

“You came, Kim Dokja. Are you also going to take that woman?”

Han Sooyoung hid behind me at Yoo Jonghyuk’s sudden appearance. She was still scared of Yoo Jonghyuk. I nodded as Yoo Jonghyuk stared at Han Sooyoung and pulled out the Six-man Card.

[The incarnation ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ has used the Six-man Card.]

[The incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has become a special participant of the scenario.]

[The incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung’ has joined incarnation Yoo Jonghyuk’s team.]

Han Sooyoung was astonished by the rising messages. “W-What is this? Hey! Why am I on his team?”

“Now, let’s get ready to leave.”

At my words, the party members moved into their teams.

The first to gather was Yoo Jonghyuk’s team. They were Lee Hyunsung, Lee Seolhwa, Lee Jihye and Gong Pildu. In addition, there was the complaining Han Sooyoung.

The unusual mixture of old characters from the novel and new characters gave me a wonderful feeling. It was a luxury that only a reader of Ways of Survival could enjoy.

My team followed suit. Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, Shin Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung. There was a free atmosphere compared to the military discipline of Yoo Jonghyuk’s team.

I looked at the members one by one.

“...Why are you looking at us like that?”

“Just... It is a new feeling...”

I smiled at Jung Heewon’s scolding. I felt pained and sad at the people who followed me well all the way here. I felt like my heart had grown since I talked with the Fourth Wall.

It might be because I was more prepared for this scenario. I was now afraid to lose them.

“Oh, shouldn’t we be a group of six as well?”

The team members followed my gaze. There was a line of dolls a few steps away.

“Don’t stay over there and come here.”

We had obtained two Six-man Cards. Han Sooyoung went to Yoo Jonghyuk’s team and my team also needed a sixth person. To be exact, it was a sixth woman.

“...Sookyung-ssi also wanted to go with you.”

“It is more helpful for you to go with me.”

Jeon Woochi’s incarnation, Cho Youngran looked at me with complicated eyes. I asked my mother to include her as a member of the team. Jeon Woochi’s stigma was quite useful for emergency situations.

“Did you talk to Sookyung-ssi?”

I replied, “A little bit.”

Due to the aftereffects of escaping from the Fourth Wall, my mother wasn’t in a position to participate in the next scenario.

Thanks to the Fourth Wall, I discovered different things about my mother. It wasn’t just about the past she was hiding. It was also what she experienced after participating in the scenario.

Unlike me, who knew the whole story, my mother had a desperate struggle. She paid an unreasonable price to constellations many times, was captured on purpose to steal the memories of the reincarnator Nirvana and even contracted with the nebulae to keep me safe.

Despite knowing all of this, I couldn’t find anything to say to my mother. Perhaps because it wasn’t yet time.

Once the scenarios were finished safely, perhaps then we could share the real story. My mother probably knew it as well because she didn’t say much this time. She just stared at me for a long time before saying:

-I believe in your choice.

I didn’t know why but I felt strange when I heard this. Perhaps my mother read something from me, just like I read her through the Fourth Wall.

“Depart.”

We started to move. The target was the altar located in the centre of the Abyss Plains. Just like the first floor of Dark Castle, we could move to the next floor using the altar.

We started the boring walk and Jung Heewon opened her mouth. “It bothers me that the nebulae are so quiet.”

In fact, I hadn’t heard the nebulae’s messages since two days ago. I didn’t know if they were hiding something or perhaps they had consumed too much probability. I glanced at Yoo Sangah and asked, “Have you been in contact with Olympus?”

“...Not since three days ago.”

As I heard last time, the constellations of Olympus were currently split. The outsiders of Olympus, like Dionysus and Persephone, were the ones who approached Yoo Sangah. Perhaps three days ago, there was a struggle inside Olympus.

My expression was uneasy and Yoo Sangah spoke in a concerned voice. “Dokja-ssi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. What about Yoo Sangah-ssi?”

“...I am trying to be okay.”

I glanced at Yoo Sangah. She was such a good person that I would feel sorry if I kept watching her. She learnt about my fate first and I heard that she ran around in order to save me.

It wasn’t strange for Yoo Sangah. She was the first person to come forward if something was wrong. In the first scenario, she stood up first to save the grandmother. Yoo Sangah would act exactly the same if someone else was in my position.

“Can we win? We’ve managed so far but this time...”

“Don’t worry.” I tried to reassure Yoo Sangah. “I won’t die. You know.”

Yoo Sangah was the first to see my fate and she must know that it hadn’t disappeared.

I was wondering what else I could say to reassure her when I heard Yoo Jonghyuk’s voice. “We’re here.”

There was a gigantic building reminiscent of the ancient Parthenon. The party members noticeably stiffened and I called people one by one.

“Gilyoung. Yoosung. Do it as we practiced earlier. Don’t call the chimera dragon until I give the signal. Do you understand?”

The role of these children was the most important thing before the attack on the demon king. The chimera dragon tamed by the children would play a key role in this attack.

“Yoo Sangah-ssi, please protect Jung Heewon-ssi from being hurt. This time, the main damage dealer will be Jung Heewon. Are you familiar with how to fight?”

“I remember.”

Yoo Jonghyuk looked this way when he finished preparing and I pulled the team members over to him. A waist-height alter soon appeared. Yoo Jonghyuk and I placed our hands on the palm marks on the altar at the same time.

[The scenario challengers have been confirmed.]

[Scenario Challenger: 1st in Dark Castle, Yoo Jonghyuk.]

[Scenario Challenger: 2nd in Dark Castle, Kim Dokja.]

[Total Number of People Admitted: 12 people]

[Are you sure you want to enter the scenario?]

We all nodded at the same time. There were dazzling rays of light and our bodies were transferred to the next floor. The place we were transferred to was a cramped passage.

[You have entered the new main scenario area.]

[Main Scenario #10 ― ’73rd Demon King’ has started!]

As expected, it was the same development as the original novel. Once we followed this passage, we would reach the hall where the 73rd demon king was waiting.

“Prepare the formations.”

We moved carefully along the passage. The difficulty depended on how much damage was inflicted with the first surprise attack. If we could get as close as possible and deal a large amount of damage, we might be able to finish it without using all the formations we practiced.

However, as I moved along the passage, a worrisome feeling filled my mind.

...Why was it so quiet? Shouldn’t I feel the demon king’s aura at this point?

Then a system message emerged.

[An error has occurred in the scenario.]

“Hyung, this is...?”

The surprised Lee Gilyoung reflexively opened his mouth and I placed my finger against his lips. The party members lowered their voices.

“Dokja-ssi, this is different from the story...”

“T-There are dead people here...!”

The one who spoke was Lee Hyunsung, who had been searching in the front. We moved as stealthily as possible and gathered near Lee Hyunsung.

Surprisingly, there were bodies that looked like they just died. Yoo Jonghyuk touched them and powerful sparks popped out. “It is evidence of a probability storm.”

I didn’t know what they had done but if the sparks were still here after their deaths, their sponsors must’ve done something huge. The incarnations had used a lot of force and the sponsors behind them must’ve suffered a huge blow.

Who the hell had done this?

Then Yoo Jonghyuk opened his mouth. “The incarnations of Vedas and Papyrus.”

“What?”

“I’ve met them wandering around Dark Castle. They were in contact with me.”

“...How did those guys come here? A terminal of the nebulae would have sufficient rankings but they wouldn’t have the right to participate in the scenario.”

“It looks like there was another Six-man Card.”

One question was resolved. The sudden rise in Lee Jihye and Gong Pildu’s ranking was because of the rankers killed here.

I had an ominous hunch. Were the nebulae quiet because they used up all their probability here? It meant...?

We reflexively looked at each other and Yoo Jonghyuk started running towards the hall, forgetting the formation. If I was right, now wasn’t the time to worry about the formations.

The moment we arrived in the hall, we witnessed a shocking sight.

[Constellations, what the hell are you doing?]

Dozens of dokkaebis floated in the air in the centre of the hall.

[It is difficult if you do such arbitrary things. Aren’t you looking down on the Star Stream? Using Deus X Machina in this place?]

The words weren’t directed towards us but we were obviously meant to here. Bihyung looked awkward as he met my gaze.

This jerk, what the hell...

[I know you are worried about the incarnations but the scenario won’t be over just because you interfere. Some of you have received a blow that nearly destroyed you. Why the hell did you do this? Just look at the probability. All the lower constellations have collapsed...]

There was a strange smile on the face of the representative dokkaebi. He smiled like he knew this would happen from the beginning.

Wait a minute. What did that bastard just say?

“Kim Dokja.”

I looked in the direction that Yoo Jonghyuk was pointing. The centre of the hall. There was a broken throne that should’ve originally contained the 73rd demon king. In addition, the fearsome demon king that we should’ve met...

[The 73rd demon king is dead.]

He was lying dead on the ground, his chest torn apart.

“W-What is this? He’s dead?”

After Han Sooyoung’s words, the other members belatedly opened their mouths.

“The demon king is already dead?”

“Then what will happen to the scenario?”

“...Maybe it has already ended?”

My head was too complicated that I couldn’t hear the voices of the people. The unqualified incarnations challenged the scenario, received the probability storm and killed the demon king with the support of the nebulae.

At first, the scenario seemed to be resolved. However, the main scenarios of the Star Stream weren’t so simple.

[The Star Stream has corrected the balance of this scenario.]

The scenarios where transcendent existences excessively intervened were forcibly corrected by the Star Stream.

There was a strong sense of deja vu in my head.

It wasn’t the 73rd Demon King scenario but a similar thing happened in Ways of Survival. The scenario was ruined by the rioting of constellations and the Star Stream restored the main scenario.

Then what would happen?

[The Star Stream has corrected the broken probability.]

I looked at the dead demon king.

The Star Stream liked the natural flow of stories and it couldn’t revive dead existences. A time reversal or resurrection would undermine the probability of the scenario even more.

[The main scenario contents have been updated!]

The 73rd demon king was dead. However, a 73rd demon king was still needed. It was because we had to hunt him in order to proceed with the scenario.

The Star Stream was originally set to fix these contradictions. There was a shining precious jade in the spot where the demon king had died.

I reflexively muttered, “Hey, this...”

By the way, I couldn’t feel any signs around me. There was an eerie feeling creeping down my spine.

Time seemed to flow very slowly. I looked around and Yoo Jonghyuk wasn’t there.

“Yoo Jonghyuk!”

By the time I moved, Yoo Jonghyuk had already reached the jade. His expression as he looked at me was something I had never seen before. Yoo Jonghyuk was looking at me with eyes that had never been present in Ways of Survival.

“Kim Dokja. Be sure to keep your promise.”

Then the system messages rose.

[The candidate for the ’73rd Demon King has been found.]

[The new ’73rd Demon King’ is elected.]