[fic] life, story

[svteen]

my fill for this orv au prompt by hwarium over at 17hols! now also on ao3.

MC: Wonwoo
Major Tags: Major Character Death (of a sort)
Additional Tags: violence, mild gore, spoilers for orv vol 1 only (but i purposely massacred several plot points)
Word Count: 10.7k

A story isn’t fun if it’s too easy.

This was one of the standards by which Wonwoo used to judge the webnovels he read, back before the world descended into chaos. He even commented something similar once on a subpar novel gaining popularity among other readers, though he was swiftly attacked for his words by the novel’s rabid fans and decided from then on to keep his opinions to himself. Despite all its other flaws, Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World was one webnovel which never made life easy for its characters, and that was why Wonwoo liked it enough to read it to the very end; it may have made use of several generic tropes, it may have focused so heavily on worldbuilding and exposition that other potential readers were deterred during the early chapters from continuing their read, but its protagonist and his companions had to go through hell—literally—and worse just to make it to the epilogue.

Staring at the thirty-foot-tall horned demon earl in front of him, Wonwoo wondered why Ways of Survival, the name his favorite webnovel was more commonly known by, had to be the one novel that became his reality.

“You will all die!” the earl roared at Wonwoo and the other gathered incarnations. Not the most original line the author of Ways of Survival had ever written, but the words themselves meant little; their purpose was merely to give shape to the skill “Instill Fear.” Everyone who dared to face the earl and his horde of demonic underlings was instantly paralyzed in place upon hearing his voice, unable to move or defend themselves against enemy attacks. With just those four words, the slaughter began.

[The exclusive skill “Fourth Wall” has been activated!]

But Wonwoo had his own methods of protection from fictional mind games. The moment his figurative Fourth Wall rose between himself and the demon earl, the fear in his heart instantly diminished, replaced by a manic sort of focus. His target was the earl, but to get to him he had to kill his way through a veritable army.

The first two demons went out easily. A stab to the chest of one and a slice across the neck of another sent them both straight back to the Demon Realm. The third, a weaselly little thing with burning red eyes, slashed at his face with inch-long claws. It was no match for Wonwoo’s inflated Agility stat. Swinging his Blade of Faith again, Wonwoo sliced the demon’s arm off at the elbow, then plunged his blade into its stomach. The demon wavered in place for a moment. When Wonwoo pulled out the sword, the demon took a stumbling step back and exploded, bits of flesh and bone flying in all directions before dissolving into pixelated dust.

Those incarnations which survived the initial slaughter were slowly being released from the paralysis effect and beginning to fight back. With the demon underlings primarily occupied with new opponents, it was time for Wonwoo to test out how well he’d absorbed the technique “Way of the Wind.” Putting his hands together so that the lines on his palms aligned, he reached out with his senses for a branch of wind to grasp and make his own.

Nothing happened.

Wonwoo separated his palms and put them back together again, willing the wind to do his bidding.

Again, nothing.

The wolf prince, Lycaon of Imyuntar, had tried his level best to teach Wonwoo his signature technique, but on their parting the beast had looked dejected; apparently, Wonwoo didn’t have the physique or mindset to internalize the skill successfully. He had hoped that his extra practice after their parting would pay off, but it seemed like no matter what he did, the skill wasn’t destined to be his. Once again, Wonwoo lamented not working out more before being sent into the world of the novel with such low stats; the protagonist in the original had learned this same skill from the wolf in under three hours.

The earl didn’t care about Wonwoo’s internal monologue. Noticing what to him must have looked like an annoying bug slashing its way through his demonic army, the earl turned his attention to the bug in question. Wonwoo saw coils of darkness writhing his way and shifted his sword into a defensive position.

[The ether property of Blade of Faith has been converted to “Divine”!]

It was truly a sword made to defend against demon attacks. The moment the darkness reached him, Wonwoo slashed through it in one sharp stroke. While the darkness was still dissipating, he ran through it and launched himself at his enemy.

A flash of surprise crossed the earl’s eyes. Did he not expect someone could ever rival him? The surprise lasted only a moment, but it was enough for Wonwoo to reach his target and plunge his blade into the earl’s thigh.

Except the sword only glanced off toughened skin, leaving the barest trace of a mark.

What?

[The constellation “Prisoner of the Golden Headband” is pulling out his hair.]

[The constellation “Secretive Plotter” shakes his head at incarnation Jeon Wonwoo’s lack of strength.]

[The constellation “Demon-Like Judge of Fire” turns her head away in embarrassment.]

If the constellations watching him from above wanted him to do something differently, they could damn well lend him one of their stigmas. But it would be useless to take his anger out on them; none of this was really their fault. Wonwoo himself clearly hadn’t put enough coins into his Strength stat to be able to defeat a high-ranking demon, instead believing naively that Way of the Wind would be sufficient. It technically would, but without the ability to execute it—

Kuak!

An oversized hand smacked into Wonwoo’s side and sent him flying. He crashed into one of the stone walls and slid to the ground, every nerve ending on fire.

[The exclusive skill “Fourth Wall” is in use.]

With the skill activated, the pain immediately subsided. The Fourth Wall was the only skill standing between Wonwoo and the truth of the story; it served as a constant reminder that no matter how realistic the world around him seemed, at the end of the day it was just the written version of a crooked video game, and Wonwoo had played plenty of those before.

But there was a difference between selecting the best character to play with and becoming a character yourself. And the potential of death Wonwoo faced in every scenario of this novel-stricken world was all too real.

The demon earl was advancing, obviously looking to finish Wonwoo off in one final blow. Wonwoo pushed himself unsteadily to his feet, wondering what on earth he could do now to defend against this monstrosity.

A flash of steel sped past Wonwoo’s gaze.

“U-waack!”

The demon earl’s arm spouted blood, causing him to stagger backwards in pain and renewed shock. Wonwoo’s view of the earl, though, was partially obscured by a figure with longish black hair and a broad back, crouching slightly in readiness to launch another attack. The figure cast a quick glance behind him at Wonwoo, letting the latter recognize the former’s features.

[The skill “Midday Tryst” has been activated! While active, the selected incarnations will be able to converse in a private channel without the viewership of any constellation.]

—Hey, Jeon Wonwoo, is that the best you’ve got?

The only good thing about Ways of Survival becoming his reality was that, alongside all the monsters and demons, the characters designed to fight them also came to life. Including the novel’s skilled but temperamental protagonist, who—at least for a short duration—was on Wonwoo’s side.

Kim Mingyu shot towards the earl again, this time aiming for his head. The earl moved aside enough to avoid a full frontal attack, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid Mingyu’s sword entirely. One of the earl’s horns fell to the ground, severed cleanly from his head, crushing a few unfortunate demons under its weight.

The earl roared.

His underlings immediately turned their attention to the offender, running at Mingyu with fangs bared and claws at the ready. None of them were a match for Mingyu on their own, but together they managed to keep him distracted while the earl collected another ball of coiling darkness in his hand.

—Ya. I asked you a question. Is this really all you can do?

Wonwoo ignored him, choosing instead to focus on upgrading his stats.

[Strength Lv. 23 -> Strength Lv. 57]

[20,000 coins have been consumed.]

Mingyu noticed what Wonwoo was doing and, despite being busy skewering demons, visibly scoffed. That jerk. Just because he was blessed with good stats and years of training didn’t mean he had to look down on those who used other means to level up.

—Are you for real?

—All’s fair in love and video games. You have a problem with me padding my stats with my hard-earned coins? Not all of us have innate talent like you do.

—No, that’s not the point. I meant do you actually think that’ll be enough to defeat this guy? You call yourself a prophet that can see the future, but even I can tell you now that your next attack’s gonna fail.

As expected, Mingyu didn’t react to Wonwoo’s mention of video games. None of the characters in the original novel seemed to absorb anything he said regarding the current world being a false reality; he could have a whole conversation with them about the author’s crafted plot, but they would never register his words. Deciding not to respond to Mingyu’s message, Wonwoo aimed for the earl’s darkness and slashed through it with his Blade of Faith, then tried to injure the earl’s arm. The blade cut somewhat deeper this time, but it was still no more than a cut. He narrowly dodged another swing of the earl’s hand and leapt back into relative safety.

—Like I said.

—Shut up. Instead of telling me how I’m wrong, tell me what to do right. Should I put more coins into Strength?

The two of them fell into a rhythm, slaying demon underlings at a rate faster than any other of the incarnations in the room. Wonwoo could tell that Mingyu was thinking about his question, analyzing the situation and calculating the most effective response.

—Not having innate talent isn’t an excuse, and not being able to master Way of the Wind doesn’t mean you can’t win.

—Then how do I win?

Mingyu was silent for another beat.

—I have my own unique attributes. So does everyone else in this scenario. What are yours?

—You’re trying to get my information because I can block your Sage Eyes from viewing my profile? You’re still thinking about that in the middle of a fight?

—Then don’t tell me, jerk. Think about it yourself. What can you do well?

What could he… Ah. This whole time Wonwoo was trying to fight like every other character in the novel, trying to rise to the top—and stay alive—based on the future he knew due to reading the story. What he kept forgetting was the one thing that distinguished him from the characters: the fact that he was a reader, not a swordsman.

And a reader fought in the manner of a reader.

[The exclusive skill “Bookmark” has been activated!]

[Bringing up the list of available bookmarks.]


[ 1. Prince Lycaon of Imyuntar (Understanding Lv. 25)
2. Steel Sword Choi Seungcheol (Understanding Lv. 75)
3. Judge of Destruction Lee Chan (Understanding Lv. 50) ]

Judge of Destruction… Chan’s stigma was exceptional in its power, and it would without question be useful in a battle against demons, but Wonwoo couldn’t help it: there was one skill he had always wished to try while reading the novel.

[Bookmark Slot 1 has been activated.]

[Way of the Wind Lv. 8 has been activated.]


***


With Way of the Wind at his fingertips, the rest of the battle was a breeze. Wonwoo and Mingyu worked together, the former pushing underlings back with powerful gusts of wind and creating openings for the latter to move closer to the demon earl. The darkness was no match for Wonwoo’s activated skill; he didn’t even need to use the Divine ether property of his sword to dispel it anymore, for Way of the Wind did the work twice as fast. Mingyu sped his way through the still-fading darkness and used the momentum to jump, run up the side of the earl’s giant body, and pierce the thick skin over the demon’s black heart with his sword.

The explosion blew everyone back several feet. Both Wonwoo and Mingyu managed to retain their balance, though they doubled over, breathing heavily from the exertion. Once the rest of the incarnations realized they had cleared this sub-scenario—and that the few underlings who remained were slinking away, disappearing into the shadows—they cheered.

The dokkaebi in charge of filming the earl’s scenario and livestreaming it for the constellations watching above cleared his throat.

[Ahem. Congratulations to the incarnations of Seoul Dome for clearing the second floor of the Dark Castle! With the defeat of the demon earl, the third floor has been unlocked, and the scenario to clear it will officially begin four days from now.]

Wonwoo and Mingyu shared a glance. They had done it. They had reached the final step needed to liberate the Seoul Dome and free the incarnations trapped inside it.

[However, not all incarnations will be allowed to enter the scenario of the third floor. Only the four with the highest Dark Castle rankings by the end of the fourth day will secure a chance to face the 73rd Demon King.]

Thanks to reading the novel, Wonwoo already knew of this particular restriction. Keeping it in mind, he had been steadily accumulating points through killing both lower-grade and upper-grade demons. The rankings announced by the dokkaebi last night had declared Wonwoo to be in first place, but with the words of the dokkaebi today, more people would be angling to work their way up.

Mingyu likely also knew of the restriction, considering he was a regressor and this was his fourth attempt at clearing all the scenarios. Despite knowing, he had shown up late, probably choosing to spend his time looking for hidden scenarios and gaining the benefits that came from them. Wonwoo couldn’t let his guard down; even if Mingyu was far lower in the rankings than he was, he had the strength and ability to skyrocket through them like the protagonist he was. It didn’t really make a difference if Wonwoo ended up second or third or even fourth place, but he was a gamer by nature. He didn’t want to settle for anything less than first.

[The rewards for defeating the demon earl and unlocking the third floor will be distributed shortly to all incarnations who participated in the scenario. Congratulations again, and good luck!]

Wonwoo straightened up and headed for the door that led to other rooms within the castle. Behind him, Mingyu called out. “Hey, where are you going? The exit’s the other way.”

He turned around. “Are you leaving, then?” he asked. There was no way Mingyu would opt out of facing the 73rd Demon King; it wasn’t something his character would ever do. No matter what kind of person Mingyu became during his later regressions due to the hardships he faced, in the earlier ones he was still hopeful he could use his skills as well as his gathered information to save both Seoul and the rest of the world.

Mingyu understood the tone of Wonwoo’s voice immediately. “Of course not,” he replied, feigning innocence. So the jerk was aiming for first place, too? “I just thought you’d be tired after the battle. But if you’re not, lead the way.”


***


The cool night breeze was a balm on Wonwoo’s overstrained muscles. He took a swig of Ellain’s Forest Elixir, bought earlier from Seungkwan’s Dokkaebi Bag back before Seungkwan was recalled to headquarters; within moments, all of his injuries and aches disappeared.

Wonwoo and Mingyu had spent another couple of hours in the Dark Castle, racking up points before calling it a day. At some point they’d come across Seungcheol and Chan too, hard at work under Wonwoo’s previously imparted instructions to rise through the rankings. Wonwoo had no intention of walking up to the third floor with a team of incarnations he wasn’t personally familiar with; he’d put effort into unlocking the full potential of these characters, and he wanted them by his side during the final battle. The two of them had also decided to stay in the castle for longer while Wonwoo and Mingyu left; once one exited the Dark Castle, they couldn’t re-enter to accumulate points until the following morning.

Expecting Mingyu to be drinking some of Ellain’s Forest Elixir as well, Wonwoo looked to his side, only to find the man slicing vegetables and setting up a grill to prepare meat. The meat had probably been a gift from the people of Peace Land, a planet the incarnations had traveled to and protected in the previous scenario. It was also the land where Mingyu had obtained the Heavenly Sword he was currently using, and where Wonwoo had secretly acquired the Potion of Eight Lives, something Mingyu only found out about in his 113th regression in the novel.

But it didn’t make sense for Mingyu to be preparing food. “There are volunteers handing out food on the other side of this field,” Wonwoo said, gesturing in their direction. “You could give them the meat and ask them to grill it for you. Why do it yourself?”

Mingyu replied without looking away from his work. “I don’t eat food prepared by anyone else,” he said. “It never tastes as good as when I make it myself.”

That was a blatant lie. Wonwoo vividly remembered all the times the author of Ways of Survival lovingly described Mingyu eating dumplings in the Murim world; the descriptions would often make him hungry, too. “Do you even know how to cook?”

Before Mingyu could respond, Wonwoo took the opportunity to grab a pair of metal chopsticks and swipe a piece of sizzling meat off the grill. With just one mouthful, all of Wonwoo’s questions vanished. The meat was delicious. No, it was more than delicious: it was the best food he had ever eaten. Was that a side effect of not having eaten a proper meal since the fictional apocalypse began? Somehow, Wonwoo thought he would think the same had he eaten it in a restaurant even in his pre-apocalypse life.

Far from making a fuss about having his food stolen like Wonwoo thought would happen, one side of Mingyu’s mouth curved up in self-satisfaction. Damn. Even if he was a regressor, where did that bastard find the time to learn how to cook so well? Not for the first time, Wonwoo wondered what Mingyu used to do before being thrown into the first scenario. It wasn’t something the author had ever disclosed in the novel.

It sounds like you know this Kim Mingyu well.

I know him the best in this world.

Wonwoo had said that to one of his companions in an earlier scenario, back when he had correctly guessed where they would be able to find a missing Mingyu. He believed it to be the truth: he had spent long years reading every update of Ways of Survival, growing up alongside the story of a protagonist who would stop at nothing to reach the end scenario, even if it meant dying over and over in order to protect those he wanted to see that ending with. Wonwoo had cheered for Mingyu, grumbled at him, even cursed him out when he made poor decisions, but he ultimately always rooted for his success. Through experiencing the novel himself, though, Wonwoo was starting to realize that there was far more behind the pages than was ever written on them, and that perhaps he didn’t know Mingyu as well as he thought he did.

The smell of food began luring other incarnations in the area to where Wonwoo and Mingyu were sitting. They eyed the meat and vegetables hungrily, but Mingyu made no move to share it with them. That was more like the Mingyu he knew from later regressions: by that point, he had been betrayed so many times by the people he’d helped and thought he could trust that he started living only for himself.

Once the incarnations realized that they weren’t going to get anything, they turned back to their own conversations. Something one incarnation said to another caught Wonwoo’s ear.

“Did you just say the Salvation Army is here?”

The incarnation who spoke looked at Wonwoo with a disbelieving look on her face. “Have you been living under a rock for the past couple of days? That's all anyone here can talk about.”

Mingyu had tuned into the conversation, too, and was looking at the incarnation with a curious intensity in his gaze. “Where is the army right now?”

Perhaps assuming that she would be rewarded with food if she answered him well, the incarnation replied in a much politer tone than she had used with Wonwoo. “They’re inside the Dark Castle, sir,” she said quickly. Sir? “Their leader is with them, too. I’ve heard that apparently instead of killing the demons, they’re recruiting people into their army?”

“Of course they are,” Mingyu muttered under his breath. Dejected to receive no other response, the incarnation and her friend wandered off.

The Salvation Army. If Wonwoo recalled correctly, the army and its leader only appeared in the 35th scenario, long after Seoul Dome had been liberated. This was only the tenth scenario. Had Wonwoo’s regular adjustments to the story caused a ripple effect that changed the flow of the entire narrative?

A commotion at the main entrance of the Dark Castle had Wonwoo craning his neck to see what was going on. A group of incarnations was exiting the building, led by a figure hovering five feet above the ground, a benevolent smile on his face and a gentle light radiating around him. He looked exactly as the author had described him in the novel, tall and lean and sharp-eyed and mulleted, so it wasn't difficult to recognize him.

This was the person Wonwoo had hoped not to have to meet for a very long time: Nirvana Moebius.

Nirvana had the stigma of Reincarnation, making it veritably impossible to kill him if he became one’s enemy. He was one of the few characters in the novel who could repeat their life with all of their previous memories intact. However, that fact made him unbearably lonely. Nirvana tried to fill the emptiness in his heart by creating his Salvation Army—a band of people who, despite the name, were indoctrinated by their leader into believing there was no salvation in the afterlife, and that one must simply live in the present and ignore the progression of the scenarios—but even that wasn’t enough to assuage his loneliness. After all, none of his followers understood what it meant to live like him. They only had one life.

Then he met Kim Mingyu in his second regression, another person who repeated life without losing his past life’s memories. Simply by meeting him, Nirvana found someone who could understand him, and received a tremendous amount of tranquility by realizing he was not alone in the world like he’d originally thought. Nirvana vowed then and there to help Mingyu in achieving his goals, regardless of where those goals took him.

But he ended up betraying Mingyu, just like so many others.

Nirvana noticed the two of them sitting on the lawn and his face lit up. “Kim Mingyu!” he called out, floating over. “We meet again in this new life. Perhaps our meeting like this was fated?”

Mingyu’s face was devoid of any emotion, though Wonwoo knew there had to be a storm brewing under the surface. After all, the two of them were close for a long time before the betrayal occurred. “Xu Minghao,” Mingyu said, calling him by the name the reincarnator used back in their previous life. His voice was carefully controlled to give away nothing; Wonwoo wondered what he was thinking. Was he considering allying with Nirvana again, despite everything? It wouldn't be the first time Mingyu accepted the pain of traveling with someone from a past life simply because he knew he needed their skills in the future. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you,” Nirvana replied, unable to hide the happiness in his voice at finding an old friend. “Looking for a companion to give life meaning." He then sobered up, descending slowly to the ground to stand right in front of Mingyu. This close, Wonwoo could see that one was a few inches shorter than the other; Nirvana had to look up to meet Mingyu's eyes. "I know I made some mistakes before," Nirvana continued, "but I don’t intend to repeat them this time around. And you need my power by your side to overcome the 35th scenario, don’t you?”

Mingyu stared at him silently for a moment. “I don’t, actually,” he said at last, feigning nonchalance. The words were a bluff: it was only in his 89th regression that he learned of a way to overcome that scenario without Nirvana’s help. This was only his third regression; Wonwoo was certain that the Mingyu of this regression knew of no other method. Then why would he say that? His curiosity was sated when Mingyu, with an unreadable glance in Wonwoo’s direction, said, “I already have a companion.”

What?

[The constellation “Dead Wines” is astonished by this development.]

[The constellation “Citrine Cowboy” is over the moon.]

[The constellation “Thembo Collector” is disgruntled.]

[The constellation “Like Water Rising” is begging for incarnation Kim Mingyu to repeat his words.]

[The constellation “Moderator of Seventeen Holidays” supports one side of this relationship triangle.]

[2,000 coins have been sponsored.]

Relationship triangle? When did all these constellations join the Seoul Dome channels, anyway? But Wonwoo had more pressing matters to attend to than the whims of watching constellations. “The hell do you mean, I’m your companion?” Wonwoo murmured in a low voice, leaning closer to Mingyu so that Nirvana—currently looking astonished, though his shock could turn into anger at any moment over being so easily replaced—didn’t hear what he was saying. Since the commencement of the scenarios, Wonwoo had been attempting to become one of Mingyu’s trusted companions. It wasn’t only because Mingyu was a useful ally; Wonwoo wanted to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn’t die or regress, because he had no way of knowing what would happen to him if Mingyu died. Would the world reset like it always did in the novel? Would he even be a part of that new world? But Mingyu, suspicious of all variables that didn’t appear in his past lives, was reluctant to join forces with the unknown Wonwoo. Now he suddenly changed his mind?

“Well, I didn’t say I was talking about you specifically,” Mingyu said vaguely, sounding defensive. “I could have been talking about Steel Sword Choi Seungcheol, my companion whom you managed to lure to your side, and whom I’ll steal back the moment you’re not around.”

[The constellation “Thembo Collector” is mildly reassured by these words.]

[The constellation "Water Motif" is intrigued by the current development.]

[The constellation “Light Reframe” admires this new triangle.]

[2,000 coins have been sponsored.]

Wonwoo really had never read about any of these constellations in the original novel. “Whatever you meant, take your words back,” he said, motioning lightly towards Nirvana. “If he gets the wrong idea about us and thinks he’s been abandoned by the only person he likes, he’ll become our enemy, and we can’t afford to face someone that powerful.”

“Why would he get the wrong idea?” Mingyu asked. At that point, Wonwoo was certain Mingyu was being obtuse on purpose. He raised an eyebrow; Mingyu sighed. “Look, it’s not my fault if Minghao and the constellations misunderstood me. I don’t even like men—”

A terrible force smashed into Wonwoo’s side, and the world around him went dark.

[You have died.]


***


[The privilege of “Eight Lives” has been activated!]

[72 hours of waiting time are required before the resurrection.]

[Time remaining: 60:07:12]

This wasn’t the first time Wonwoo had died, but he’d been hoping not to have to repeat the experience so often. His intention was to save most of his lives to deal with the later, progressively more difficult scenarios, but of course Mingyu had to go and throw a wrench in all of his plans. Because of this unnecessary death, three whole days would be wasted, and he could only hope that he remained in the top four of the Dark Castle rankings while he was dead. All he could do now was keep an eye on his companions—including, apparently, Mingyu—and make sure the scenario was otherwise proceeding as expected.

[The exclusive skill “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Stage 3 has been activated!]

What Wonwoo wanted to know the most was whether Mingyu had fought Nirvana after the man killed him, or whether he had given in and joined forces with him in Wonwoo’s absence. But he could only view the situations where someone was thinking about him, and whatever Mingyu was doing now, Wonwoo wasn’t on his mind.

Instead, he was redirected to the dokkaebi headquarters. Who would be thinking about him there? The only dokkaebi he knew well enough to show up with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint activated was—

A man with faded pink hair, who appeared to be a few years younger than Wonwoo, occupied his vision. So this was what Seungkwan really looked like behind the teddy-bear-shaped streaming machine that incarnations were allowed to see on Earth. Wonwoo shouldn’t have been surprised: the novel mentioned that all dokkaebi started off as incarnations before being offered the streamer role by the dokkaebi recruitment team. Still, getting to see the streamer that had significantly helped Wonwoo on his journey was an unexpected development.

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint told him that Seungkwan was nervous. His immediate boss, the dokkaebi Sung-soo, had just entered the room and was headed right towards him.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Seungkwan? And you’ve been promoted to an intermediate dokkaebi role since!”

After exchanging pleasantries, Seungkwan worked up the nerve to ask the question that had been plaguing him. “Why did you recall me in the middle of a scenario?” And does this have anything to do with Wonwoo was what he didn’t add.

Sung-soo hummed a bit before answering. “To give you a well-meaning word of advice,” he said finally. “Cancel your contract with incarnation Jeon Wonwoo and move on to filming other scenarios.”

How did this dokkaebi find out about his and Seungkwan’s secret contract? It wasn’t technically illegal for a dokkaebi to contract with an incarnation, but that was because there was no precedent. Seungkwan thought hard before trying to explain the same thing to Sung-soo. “With all due respect, sir,” he said carefully, “nothing in the rule book explicitly states that we can’t create a contract that—”

“It’s not about the rules,” Sung-soo interrupted. “It’s about the incarnation. The constellations of Olympus and Vedas have it out for Jeon Wonwoo, and I don’t want you getting mixed up in any of that.”

So far, none of those constellations have been a match for Wonwoo’s foresight. Wonwoo appreciated Seungkwan’s loyalty, though he wasn’t as confident in his own abilities. Olympus and Vedas were powerful nebulae, and Wonwoo had rejected and spurned their constellations on several occasions over the course of the scenarios. It was only a matter of time before they tried to take revenge. “Do you know something we don’t, sir?” Seungkwan asked.

The silence stretched for long seconds before his boss responded. “Olympus and Vedas have worked together to force a fate on that incarnation,” Sung-soo said.

So the constellations had already made their move. Forcing a fate on an incarnation required constellations to consume a lot of probability, which would significantly weaken the constellations in question. It was, therefore, never a decision made lightly. But what was the fate that Olympus and Vedas had forced upon him?

As if Seungkwan could read his mind instead of the other way around, he asked Sung-soo the same question. When Sung-soo spoke, his voice was grave. "Incarnation Jeon Wonwoo will be killed by the person he loves most."

Wonwoo would what?

Before he could see any more of the scene, Wonwoo's subconscious was whisked away. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint then showed him another scene, set back on Earth, in front of the Dark Castle gates in the predawn darkness: that of Mingyu and Soonyoung arguing, while Seungcheol and Chan watched on uneasily from behind them. Nirvana, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did you get that information from?” Mingyu was demanding of Soonyoung. “How can we trust anything you say?”

“I'm literally an incarnation of an Olympian constellation," Soonyoung replied in exasperation, probably not for the first time. “My sponsor is Ariadne. She’s the one who told me about the forced fate.”

So they'd all found out about his fate, too? So soon? Then again, Soonyoung's sponsor was fond of her incarnation, and would probably have told him the moment she found out herself.

“And that's exactly why I can't trust you,” Mingyu was saying. “You're an incarnation of Olympus, and if Olympus wants Wonwoo dead—”

"But I'm on Wonwoo's side,” Soonyoung burst out, clearly fed up with the accusations, "and that means Ariadne has to be on his side too if she wants me to succeed. I'm not like any of you fictional characters. I've known Wonwoo since the beginning of high school!"

Kwon Soonyoung was one of the few people in this world that Wonwoo knew to be as real as himself. There were only two things that got Wonwoo through hard times both in school life and in adult life, and one of those was Soonyoung. The other, of course, was Ways of Survival. At some point after graduation, Wonwoo had convinced Soonyoung to read the novel, too, but his friend had dropped it after only a few chapters; much like everyone else who read it, he claimed that there was too much description and not enough plot. Wonwoo couldn't deny the truth of that statement. Even in the later chapters, when there was any mention of even an established monster like the ichthyosaur—a creature which looked like a sea serpent and could grow to be over fifty meters tall, although it was still classified as a low-grade monster—the author would always add its description, as if someone who had reached the middle of the webnovel would need that reminder. The only person such an illustration could possibly benefit was one who was being introduced to the concept for the first time. And who would ever begin reading from the middle?

Seungcheol, aware that Mingyu and Soonyoung would simply refuse to get along no matter what situation they found themselves in, interjected before the argument could get even more heated. “Hey, does the fate even matter?” he asked, gesturing towards something on the ground near them that Wonwoo hadn’t noticed was there before. It was a long wooden box, plain and unadorned, looking rather like a—

Had they actually put his body in a coffin?

As if they couldn’t feel Wonwoo’s rising irritation at all, his companions continued conversing over his dead body. “Sure, he always comes back to life,” Mingyu said, “but Olympus and Vedas know that, too. They wouldn’t spend so much probability forcing a fate on him if he could simply wake up afterwards. We have to move forward assuming that the next time he dies, he won’t wake up.”

Seungcheol hummed in though for a moment, then turned to Soonyoung. “You say you’ve known Wonwoo longer than any of us,” he said. “Then who do you think loves him the most?”

“No, you got it wrong,” Mingyu said. “The fate specifically mentioned that he’d be killed by the person he loves most, not the person who loves him most. We have to be careful about the wording.”

“Okay, then who does he love most?”

Wonwoo had to admit he felt embarrassed by these people discussing his love life so casually and openly. Then again, it was better than them knowing he was watching them and asking him directly what he thought, because then he’d have no idea how to answer them.

Chan spoke up for the first time. “The love can be platonic, right?” he asked. “Like love for a colleague, or a friend.”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” is displeased by this suggestion.]

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” asks her incarnation to keep his thoughts to himself.]

Everyone ignored the notifications. “I suppose that’s possible,” Seungcheol replied. “Then the answer would be you, Chan, wouldn’t it?”

“No way,” Chan replied, surprised by the idea. “We’re really not that close.”

“But he did spend a lot of time training and talking to you in the last few months…”

It was true. Chan was a character that remained nameless in Ways of Survival, there only for a couple of scenes in the very beginning before disappearing from the narrative entirely. When Wonwoo met him for the first time, he noticed that Chan had an attribute that could, if placed in the right situations, evolve into the formidable Judge of Destruction stigma. Wonwoo was not only proud of his decision to take Chan under his wing, despite his supposed lack of value in the original novel, but also of the effort he put into learning who Chan was as a person. His character not being explored in the novel meant Wonwoo only worked harder to read him.

“If that’s how we’re measuring it, then it’s equally possible you’re the right answer, Seungcheol-hyung. Didn’t he spend a lot of time trying to convince you to travel with our party instead of going along with the other soldiers?”

“Why are we even having this conversation? The person he loves most is obviously me.”

“Are you so keen on being the reason that prophet dies?”

The bickering of Wonwoo’s companions halted for a second when they all received a number of notifications at once.

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” is excited to learn the truth.]

[A “Deus Ex Machina” has been called forth!]

[Several constellations eagerly support this decision.]

…Was everyone watching the stream so interested in his love life? For the first time ever, Wonwoo felt glad that he was dead.

A chorus of singing angels greeted the ears of the gathered incarnations, and framed by a halo of divine light brightening the predawn darkness, a small device began descending from the heavens. Archangel Uriel had really gone all out on the dramatics for this moment.

"Whoa," Soonyoung said, clearly in awe. Beside him, Seungcheol nodded in agreement, eyes wide. It wasn't a sight to be seen often, even if one had cleared countless scenarios in this world.

When the device landed gently in Chan’s hands, Uriel sent another indirect message.

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” has sent an SS-grade item designed to judge the affinity level between incarnations.]

“How does this thing—” Work, Chan was probably about to say, but the device interrupted his sentence with a beeping sound. Wonwoo shifted his viewpoint so that he could get a better look at the screen. The number on the screen, blinking red, was 64. Points? Percentage? Wonwoo had no clue what the device was using as a measurement scale.

“Likely out of 100, right?” Chan said easily, as if the number didn’t mean much to him. Honestly, the attitude hurt Wonwoo a bit. “Here, hyung, give it a shot.”

Seungcheol took the device from Wonwoo and squinted his eyes, as if an effort on his part would affect the result. A few beeps later, he got a 61. He tried to act nonchalant about it, but Wonwoo with his Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint could tell that Seungcheol was disappointed at not getting a higher score.

“My turn,” Soonyoung said. A moment later, he was shaking the device with a confused look on his face. “I got a 77? Oh, so it’s a score out of 80. It has to be out of 80, right?”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” requests incarnation Kim Mingyu to undergo the test.]

Mingyu furrowed his brows but complied. He had only just taken hold of the device when the area was filled with the announcement of a dokkaebi.

[The Dark Castle gates have opened for the day! Remember that if you leave the castle once, you will not be allowed to re-enter until the following dawn.]

The protagonist immediately went into business mode. “There are still several incarnations above you guys in the rankings, so go collect some points,” Mingyu said to the others. “I’m still not as high as I want to be, either, so I’ll be going in, too.” He paused for a moment, looking at Soonyoung. “Where have you been these past few days, anyway? That guy probably wants you to face the demon king with him in my place, doesn’t he? It's not like I was ever part of his pre-planned team.”

Except he was. “I was busy in the north,” Soonyoung said, sounding smug. He pulled something out of his pocket and brandished it in Mingyu’s face. “Hidden One-Man Card. Wonwoo told me to go to Gangbuk because there was a hidden scenario there which had this card as the reward for clearing it. With this, five people can enter the third floor instead of just four. I don’t even have to fight any demons or become a ranker. Neat, right?”

Mingyu looked vaguely impressed at Wonwoo’s foresight, but of course he didn’t say that out loud. “Fight them anyway, just for practice,” he said instead. “Don’t be dead weight.”

“Since when are you my boss?”

Arguing away, the four of them joined the other incarnations heading inside the castle. Sometime during the past couple of minutes, the measuring device had fallen to the ground, forgotten by everyone involved, a number blinking red on it that nobody could see.


***


[The condition for resurrection has been met.]

[The attribute “Eight Lives” has been activated!]

[Your body will be resurrected.]

The hardest moment to adapt to was the first breath after resurrection. Wonwoo jerked awake, darkness filling his surroundings; when he tried to sit up, his head hit something hard. It was a harsh reminder that his party members had stuffed his body unceremoniously into a coffin.

When Wonwoo pushed off the coffin lid, he found Seungcheol waiting for him. “You’re back,” he said, and there was genuine pleasure in his voice. He stretched a hand out to Wonwoo and pulled him easily to his feet. “Fancy something to eat?”

Over his food, Wonwoo received a rundown on everything that had happened in the past few days. Mingyu had apparently fought Nirvana, backing him into a corner so that his only escape was activating his Reincarnation stigma and disappearing. A top ranker had died to an upper-grade demon in the castle, meaning both Seungcheol and Chan made it into the top four. Wonwoo, unsurprisingly, had dropped to third, while Mingyu secured first place,

“Also, um,” Seungcheol said, looking uncomfortable. “We’ve gotten news that you’ll be dying again soon…”

“You’re talking about the forced fate, aren’t you?” Wonwoo interjected around a mouthful, surprising his colleague.

“You know about that?”

Just then, Mingyu exited the gates of the castle. When he saw Wonwoo sitting upright, very much alive, Mingyu changed his path to approach him.

Mingyu nodded at Wonwoo’s almost-finished food. “When you’re done, come find me. We need to talk.” With only those words, he wandered off again.

Seriously? Not even a greeting? “Mingyu’s been a bit preoccupied lately,” Seungcheol explained when Wonwoo asked him what was up. “He leaves the castle early and disappears somewhere, as if he has something to do that he doesn’t want to tell us about.”

No doubt it was something that would benefit them and help save the world, but Wonwoo couldn;t think of any other hidden scenarios that could be exploited at this point in time. Finishing his food quickly, Wonwoo got up and went in search of Mingyu.

He found the protagonist leaning against a zelkova tree on one side of the field. Mingyu looked to be staring into space, but Wonwoo knew from reading the novel that this was the expression he made when he was weighing the pros and cons of pursuing a particular path. Quietly, Wonwoo sat down beside him, waiting for him to speak.

Mingyu glanced at him, then away. After a pause, he said, “Jeon Wonwoo. What’s your purpose?”

“Purpose? What do you mean?”

When Wonwoo looked at Mingyu, he saw that the latter was now staring at him directly, eyes serious. “Is your purpose to reach the end of the scenarios?”

Wonwoo hesitated for a moment before answering. “I guess it is,” he said.

“Can you promise not to give up on that goal, no matter what happens?”

What was up with Mingyu all of a sudden? Wonwoo considered brushing off the question or treating it lightly, but something told him it would be the wrong approach. “Of course I won’t give up,” he said finally. “But why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Mingyu said, a lie if ever Wonwoo had heard one. Pushing himself away from the tree, he started walking away. Wonwoo couldn’t help his instinct to use a skill: he needed to know what Mingyu was really thinking.

[The exclusive skill “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Stage 2 has been activated!]

Wonwoo only caught one line before Mingyu moved out of range of his skill.


[Then I guess I’ll entrust the fate of this world to him.]


***


The party members spent the remaining twenty-four hours drafting an attack plan to defeat the 73rd Demon King. Wonwoo’s theoretical knowledge about the king’s most common attack patterns worked together with Mingyu’s practical experience fighting him in his past regressions to create a complete database that everyone could refer to in order to make the upcoming scenario easier to clear.

When the final dawn arrived, the five of them—Chan, Seungcheol, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Soonyoung holding his One-Man Card—lined up outside the Dark Castle gates and waited for the dokkaebi in charge to confirm their identities and sign them in. Once inside, they made their way through the castle to the staircase that led up to the third floor, an area that had on previous days been restricted. Despite all their preparations, Wonwoo felt that something wasn’t quite right. They’d almost reached the room where the Demon King was supposed to be found, and at this distance Wonwoo could usually sense the aura of a strong enemy. Why couldn’t he sense that now?

His feeling of discomfort increased when they crossed the threshold to the room and saw a group of dokkaebi muttering in low tones to each other. Seungkwan’s symbolic body, the metallic teddy bear through which he went live on the Star Stream, was also present. Seungkwan noticed the party’s arrival and turned around quickly; when he spoke, there was a terrible note of warning in his voice.

[Incarnation Jeon Wonwoo, there’s been a—]

[Allow me to explain.]

A smooth voice interrupted Seungkwan and took over the conversation. This, Wonwoo inferred, had to be the dokkaebi representative who was in charge of the current scenario; the other dokkaebis were there simply to livestream the situation on their channels. The dokkaebi representative sounded pleased when he spoke again.

[The Dokkaebi Agency wishes only for the enjoyment of its most dedicated viewers. Due to multiple requests from constellations of the nebulae Olympus and Vedas, the scenario contents have been adjusted to create a brand new story that we hope will satisfy you all!]

The scenario contents had been adjusted? Wonwoo scanned the room for the 73rd Demon King, but found only an empty throne, half hidden in shadow at the end of the room. Upon the seat of that throne rested a glowing piece of jade.


[ Main Scenario #10 — 73rd Demon King ]
Category: Main
Difficulty level: SS
Clear Conditions: Pursue one of two paths. The first is to take possession of the jade, become the 73rd Demon King, and kill everyone else in the room. The second is to kill the newly born 73rd Demon King. There are no other methods of clearing this scenario.
Time limit: 30 minutes
Compensation: 200,000 coins, liberation of the Seoul Dome
Failure: Death and expulsion from the scenario

So this scenario was at its essence one which required a sacrifice, someone who would give up his own life in order to save Seoul. The fact that Olympus and Vedas had practically forced the dokkaebis to change the scenario contents could mean only one thing: they were angling to get rid of Wonwoo.

Mingyu, ever a quick thinker, seemed to have reached this conclusion before Wonwoo did; while everyone else was still frozen in place, unable to comprehend the unexpected nature of the updated scenario, he strode forward and swiped the piece of jade off the throne.

“Kim Mingyu, do not touch that—”

It was too late.

[A candidate for the 73rd Demon King has been discovered!]

[The selected incarnation will now undergo the evolution process to become a demon king.]

Wisps of demonic magic power started extending between the jade and its holder. Within moments, the power would cover Mingyu entirely, causing him to activate the scenario that would inevitably lead to his death.

Can you promise not to give up on that goal, no matter what happens?

Had Mingyu known something like this would happen? It wasn’t possible; he didn’t have Anna Croft on his side yet, which meant there was nobody who could read the future for him. Apart from Wonwoo himself, of course, though his sort of future reading only involved what he’d read in the novel. It was more likely that Mingyu had asked Wonwoo to make that promise because he intended to sacrifice his life anyway, regardless of what Wonwoo’s forced fate turned out to be. But the Mingyu Wonwoo knew wouldn’t throw away his life so easily, not for someone he still claimed he didn’t trust entirely. Then why…?

Not for the first time, Wonwoo wondered if he really knew Mingyu at all.

The sound of steel wire moving through the air cut through the silence. Dozens of wires aimed for Mingyu, snatching the jade piece right out of his hands.

[The succession of the demon king has been cancelled.]

“What the hell?”

Wonwoo looked behind him to find the source of the steel wires and saw Soonyoung, hand extended, the threads he had borrowed from Ariadne holding the jade a foot away from him so that he didn’t accidentally touch it.

“There’s no way we’re letting that guy become the Demon King and kill us all to clear the scenario alone, right?” Soonyoung said. He’d gotten the wrong idea about what was going on.

Mingyu’s bewilderment at having the jade stolen from him turned into irritation at his intentions being misunderstood. “If you don’t know anything, don’t butt in, okay?” he said through gritted teeth.

[The exclusive skill “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Stage 2 has been activated!]

No matter how much Wonwoo racked his brain, he couldn’t figure out a way that didn’t involve someone dying. In order to persuade Mingyu to give up on becoming the demon king, he had to know exactly what the reasoning behind his decision was.


[The cost of failing this scenario is expulsion from the scenario.]

[No incarnation can survive being expelled from the scenario. Therefore, Jeon Wonwoo’s resurrection ability will be meaningless if he becomes the demon king.]

[Perhaps this is the death that his fate is pointing towards. If he chooses the path of the demon king here, he will die.]

[But I can still regress, which means I should be the one to sacrifice myself here.]

An uncomfortable heaviness settled on Wonwoo’s chest. This wasn’t how the narrative was supposed to go. Without Mingyu—

“Are you worried about what’ll happen to this world if I regress?”

A voice cut through Wonwoo’s thoughts. He blinked in surprise when he registered the meaning of the words spoken. How the hell did Mingyu know? Wonwoo started to wonder if it was Mingyu with Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint instead of him.

Mingyu kept speaking. “You’re probably afraid that this world will disappear if I disappear, right? Then know that there’s nothing to worry about. I already asked my sponsor about it.”

What? Mingyu managed to have a conversation with his sponsor, the unnamed constellation that even he as a reader of Ways of Survival never got to meet?

“This world won’t end if I die.” The jerk’s voice was far too calm and reassuring for someone who was about to get himself killed. “Remember your promise, and you can reach the final scenario with these people.”

Mingyu then moved towards Soonyoung, aiming for the jade. Even without it in his hands, demonic energy stretched out from the stone and tangled around Mingyu’s fingers. As if it wanted him.

“Oh, and do me one favor. My younger sister’s in the six-storey building next to where the Third Disaster first appeared, in the north of the city. I’ve been checking up on her regularly, but I won’t be able to do so after I regress. When Seoul’s free, take her someplace else that’s safe, okay?”

So that was what Mingyu had been up to when he wasn’t racking points in the Dark Castle. Wonwoo was torn. On one hand, he’d just gotten proof that the world—and him in it—wouldn’t become obsolete if Mingyu regressed. He could keep moving forward, Chan and Seungcheol and Soonyoung and maybe a few others by his side, working to protect the country from the whims of watching constellations. It was an achievable goal even without the help of Mingyu, as long as Wonwoo played his cards right.

But what was a story without its protagonist?

Wonwoo stepped between Mingyu and the jade, plucking the stone from Soonyoung’s web, choosing of his own accord the fate that the constellations wished for him.

[A candidate for the 73rd Demon King has been discovered!]

[The selected incarnation will now undergo the evolution process to become a demon king.]

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Wonwoo-hyung, are you for real?”

[Constellations of the Vedas nebula are smiling.]

[Constellations of the Olympus nebula are smiling.]

They had probably expected Wonwoo to make this decision. A fate was never forced without being certain of its probability to succeed, after all.

[A new main scenario has been acquired!]

The system messages blocked out most of the commotion from his party members; Wonwoo could only hear it as if from a long distance.

[You have selected the path of the 73rd Demon King. Destroy all living beings on the third floor of the Dark Castle within 30 minutes. If you do not succeed, you will be banished from the main scenario.]

Banishment from the main scenario didn’t hold the exact same meaning as death. It meant that one would be removed permanently from the flow of the Star Stream. However, Wonwoo knew that this banishment was a fate equivalent to death anyway. Nobody, not even a constellation, could endure the void outside the main scenario for long. A being as weak, in the grand scheme of things, as Wonwoo was would certainly die, no matter how many lives he had stored up.

[Your evolution is complete! The powers of the 73rd Demon King are now yours.]

The dark, demonic energy engulfing Wonwoo’s vision slowly lifted, and he saw the others staring at him in despair. They said nothing, though Wonwoo supposed that was because they had nothing left to say. Now it was his turn to find the right words and convince them to fight him. It wasn’t his usual role in group projects; he preferred to take a back seat and let others do most of the talking. But the scenario would only go the way he wanted if he explained himself to everyone else.

He started with Soonyoung. “You know none of this is real, right?” he said. It was a lie; the whole world felt as real as if it was the one in which Wonwoo had grown up. Seoul wouldn’t revert to its intact self if Wonwoo died; he wouldn’t wake up in his own bed with the lingering memory of a bad dream. Soonyoung didn’t need to know any of that, though.

“Seems pretty real to me,” Soonyoung grumbled in response. “This isn’t the same as killing a character you’re playing with in-game. It’s your body, your face. How the hell do you expect me to fight you looking like that?”

“I don’t need you to kill me,” he said. “Your role was never to kill the demon king anyway, only to hold him down with your skill. Just do that and win the damn game, okay?”

Once Soonyoung acquiesced, Wonwoo looked to Seungcheol. “Hyung,” Wonwoo said. “Will you let your party members die here like this?”

“You’re one of my party members too, you know.”

“Not anymore.” Wonwoo gestured toward his arms, where sparks of probability were dancing across the surface of his sleeves. The longer Wonwoo tried to hold back the powers of the 73rd Demon King, the stronger the probability would get, and he would eventually be forced to succumb to the scenario’s expectations of him. At least the demon powers would still work in the same patterns as the group had planned for in their attack strategy. “If you don’t help kill me, all of you will die.”

Seungcheol seemed pained, but he couldn’t deny the truth in Wonwoo’s statement. With a grimace, he activated his Steel Transformation stigma and got into position, ready to attack.

Now for the next member. “Chan,” Wonwoo said.

When Wonwoo looked his way, Chan seemed to be expecting his gaze. “Hey, hyung,” he replied. “Remember what you asked me back in the early days?”

“What?”

“You asked me to be your companion.”

Wonwoo remembered well. It had been when the two of them were in the Theatre Dungeon, and Chan had just unlocked his Judgment Time skill.

Chan raised his sword and pointed it at Wonwoo. “What type of companion has to kill another companion to live?”

Honestly, Wonwoo was touched by Chan’s words. He’d thought earlier that despite all the time they’d spent together, Chan didn’t really care about him very much, but he guessed he’d been wrong. “If you activate Judgment Time now, all the constellations will tell you to kill me,” Wonwoo replied, unable to hide the slight grin that arose from what Chan said. “I’m pure evil now, you know?”

Chan stared at him for a long moment before complying.

[Incarnation Lee Chan has activated Judgment Time!]

[Many of the constellations of the absolute good system agree to trigger the skill.]

[One constellation is strongly opposed to the activation of the skill.]

[The skill activation has been canceled.]

Both Wonwoo and Chan looked at each other in confusion. Then Wonwoo realized who must have opposed the skill’s activation.

“Hey, Demon-like Judge of Fire.”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” is covering her eyes with a pained expression.]

“Uriel. You know you have to agree to this, right?”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” shakes her head violently.]

“If you don’t, your incarnation will die.”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” says that if she does this, incarnation Jeon Wonwoo will die.]

If only all the constellations were just like her, Wonwoo would never have to be in this situation in the first place. Knowing how supportive she’d been through his journey, Wonwoo decided to phrase the situation more tactfully.

“This is just a story, Uriel. You know that.” He chose words that would make him sound like a dokkaebi, something Uriel would find familiar. “You must’ve seen many people die in the meantime.”

[The constellation “Demon-like Judge of Fire” feels despair.]

“Do what you’re meant to do. Only then will this story, like all the others you’ve seen, be completed.”

After a moment, Wonwoo got the notification he’d been waiting for.

[All constellations of the absolute good system are in favor of Judgment Time.]

Now it was Chan who was grimacing. A dangerous aura began rising from his body the moment the constellations allowed the activation of his skill; Wonwoo had seconds before Chan, like him, was forced to act according to the will of the constellations. But before that happened, he needed to speak to one more person.

Mingyu spoke before he could. “Why?” he asked simply, brows furrowed. “I gave you an easy out.”

There was no way Wonwoo could ever clarify everything to him. How could he talk about the years he spent reading about a person who never quit, who often gave Wonwoo the resolve to power through the difficulties that cropped up in his life? How could he explain the debt he felt he owed him? If the story continued, it should continue with its main character. Not with Wonwoo, who was essentially a trespasser in this land.

Instead of saying all that, he kept his words as simple as Mingyu’s own. “So that you don’t entrust your sister to near-strangers,” he said. “Go protect her yourself.”

Then Wonwoo’s willpower gave in to the pressure of the probability, and the battle began in earnest.

It was never meant to be a fair fight. Wonwoo had exceptional powers and a high health stat that couldn’t easily be decreased by even the strongest attacks, but the party members had something infinitely more valuable: information. They knew where Wonwoo would direct his strikes and knew what they had to do to deflect and counter them. That didn’t mean they were willing to do so, though: at first, everyone seemed to be playing defensively rather than trying to clear the scenario with a proper offense. Only when Wonwoo deviated from the pattern by sending a blast of darkness in Seungcheol’s direction—he seemed to be the least zealous combatant, and his Great Mountain Smash skill kept on doing far less damage than it ordinarily would—did the members, with a jolt of surprise, wake up and change tactics.

In the final minutes of the half hour they had all been allotted, Wonwoo’s energy was flagging, infinite injuries all over his body slowing him down; he was proud to note, though, that the rest of the group had acquired nary a scratch between them. There were only a few seconds left on the scenario’s timer when Wonwoo went down in the exact same manner as the 73rd Demon king had in the original novel: with blood in his mouth and Mingyu’s blade in his heart.

[You have died.]


***


At its essence, Ways of Survival was a story about stories. Every living creature had one, from the lowliest incarnation to the strongest constellation. Just like history did not end simply by being recorded, one’s story did not disappear from the world even if they lost their life. The aim of the incarnations was to create a story that could please constellations enough to sponsor them; the aim of dokkaebis was to be in the right place at the right time, capturing and livestreaming the best stories for their audience; the aim of constellations was not only to consume the stories of others but to build their own on Earth. As long as their stories spread far and wide, they would keep gaining immeasurable power.

As long as their stories were never forgotten, they themselves would never die.

[In the darkness of an empty world, the lone Jeon Wonwoo wakes up.]


***