“Are you all finished with your preparations?”

It was a regular morning like any other . The air was clean and fresh, and the complexion on the companions' faces wasn't gloomy, either . If it weren't for their current combat attire, I'd have totally believed that we were on our way to a picnic from their expressions alone .

⸢And that's why Kim Dok-Ja was truly happy . ⸥

“Preparations were done a while ago . Besides all that, it seems like you have something to say to us, Dok-Jssi?”

When I snapped awake from my thoughts, I discovered Jeong Hui-Won pressing her face closer to me . As I momentarily remained at a loss with my lips bobbing a little, Yi Ji-Hye quickly b.u.t.ted in .

“I don't want to hear it, though . He's going to say some stuff about it's too dangerous so we don't have to go etc, etc, right?”

“Right . Since when was it not dangerous?”

“This time, it's serious! It'll really be dangerous~!… . ”

Yi Ji-Hye mildly raised her voice while mimicking my speech pattern .

Hang on a sec, since when did I ever speak like that… . ? I frowned deeply and opened my mouth . “No, that's not it . This time really is… . ”

“See? I knew it . Cough up the 100 Coins, eonni . ”

Jeong Hui-Won pushed the Coins to Yi Ji-Hye with a dejected face .

Han Su-Yeong watched this spectacle unfold and shook her head before addressing me . “You better start learning, man . ”

“Learn what?”

“You can only make your companions promise you the same thing so many times . If you persist with this, what will they start thinking next? Ah, this guy, he thinks our pledge is some kind of a joke . He sees every promise we made is a pack of lies!”

“That wasn't my intention at all . Everyone, I genuinely apologise if you misundersto… . ”

Having finished the hand-over of her 100 Coins to Yi Ji-Hye, Jeong Hui-Won suddenly asked a question . “By the way, what's our plan this time? It looked like you were thinking up of one with Su-Yeong yesterday?”

“There isn't one, actually . ”

Perhaps finding my answer suspicions, she pressed her head closer once more . “Really?”

“It'll be different from how things had been so far . Even I don't know what will happen during the Final Scenario . ”

“That's weird . You aren't hiding anything, right?”

“No, not at all . ”

[Character 'Jeong Hui-Won' is activating 'Lie Detection Lv . 5'!]

[Your statement has been confirmed as a lie . ]

“Wowsers, you now even lie with a straight face?”

… . Just when did she learn [Lie Detection]? Dammit .

I hastily made my excuse . “It's difficult to give you a detailed story right now . Things might change later if I tell you something, you see . Regardless of what the scenario is, please choose what you believe to be the right decision . If we succeed, we will be able to survive together . ”

“And that 'we' also includes you, Dok-Jssi?”

I quietly stared at Yu Sang-Ah before nodding my head .

“Yes . ”

“And we can all live together in a big house with everyone?”

“That's correct . ”

“I haven't even graduated yet, so everyone will come to my graduation ceremony, right?”

“That's right . ”

“Hyung! In that case, can we go to a PC Bang…?!”

“We can . ”

[Character 'Jeong Hui-Won' is activating 'Lie Detection Lv . 5′!]

[Your statement has been confirmed as truth . ]

Only then the hints of relief brushed past their expressions .

I took a look at their faces one at a time – Yu Sang-Ah, Jeong Hui-Won, Yi Hyeon-Seong, Yi Ji-Hye, Yi Gil-Yeong, s.h.i.+n Yu-Seung, Yi Seol-Hwa, Gong Pil-Du, Jang HYeong, Han Su-Yeong… . .

“If we're done here, let's get going . ”

… . And even Yu Jung-Hyeok, too .

Different stories existed for each individual . The stories that I hadn't had the chance to finish reading yet .

“Let's get going, ahjussi! We haven't even entered the scenario yet, so there's no need to make the heroic determination and stuff now, right?”

I agreed with Yi Ji-Hye's opinion . The Final Scenario hadn't even begun yet . I slowly breathed in and out deeply, and raised my head to find a portal appearing on a spot high up in the air .

[Portal leading to '99th scenario' has been generated!]

Bihyung had created that portal .

“Let's go . ”

We stepped through the portal . The surrounding view crumbled away in an instant, only to be resurrected just as quickly .

Behind us was the wide, expansive view of , while the front was dominated by the sight of Dokkaebis waiting for us .

“Uh? Didn't we come here before?”

Here was the 'Gate of Star Stream', the very last gateway that led to the final gate, and home to the , the headquarters of all Dokkaebis .

[, your entry qualification has been confirmed . ]

“… . It's a straight pa.s.s this time . ”

Dokkaebis didn't bother with any complicated procedures and let us pa.s.s without a fuss .

[The absolute majority of Constellations are watching your entry into the 'Final Scenario'!]

[Many Nebulas are envious of your collective achievements!]

I sensed the Constellations and Nebulas watching us from among the darkness of the universe .

[Constellations within the 'Final Scenario' are growing tense at 's entrance!]

[You and your Nebula have entered the Final Scenario's location!]

When I opened my eyes again, I was treated to the sight of the galaxy swirling around in a vortex . Countless stars were continuously circulating around while generating auroras .

They were Final Scenario's Constellations . Stars that had reached the 'Myth-grade' a long time ago, or those that were receiving the graces of such beings .

However, rather than approaching us, those stars remained circulating on the skies high above an ancient castle .

“Isn't that… . ”

And beyond the ma.s.sive, ancient castle where the stars were dancing around, was a wall so vast that we couldn't even see its ends .

“Is that the 'Final Wall'?”

I quietly stared at that wall .

It was as if that wall spread out within the entire landscape to arrogantly proclaim that this here was the end of this world-line .

⸢Everything within this world exists to be recorded on it . ⸥

['King of Stories' is now looking at you . ]

['King of Stories' has summoned you . ]

I was greeted by this jolting sensation that caused all the hair on my body to stand up . I could definitely sense it; a creature that moved the ginormous Fable called was waiting by the centre of that 'wall' .

My companions must've sensed it too, since they all looked tense .

Only Yu Jung-Hyeok maintained that preternaturally calm expression of his . “I don't see any Constellations . ”

It was as he said; although we could see the stars spinning around in the skies, not a single Constellation was walking around in their incarnated form . It was as if they knew we were coming so they had all run off to somewhere .

It was the Great Dokkaebis welcoming us, instead .

[Great Dokkaebi 'Heoche' is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi 'Harong' is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi 'Haram' is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi 'Horong' is incarnating into the scenario!]

[Great Dokkaebi 'Noksu' is incarnating into the scenario!]

When Dokkaebis possessing mighty Statuses appeared all at once, even I couldn't help but feel the oppressive weight from their combined aura .

[You've come, . ]

The Great Dokkaebi Heoche, the dude who intruded upon the in order to recruit us, spoke up . He continued on with eyes of disdain squarely locked on us .

[You have all earned the qualifications of the 'Final Scenario' . Since there is no need to test you, it'll be fine to simply enter the 'Ark' . A detailed explanation will be provided afterwards . ]

“… . The Ark?”

Even before my question could end, a loud, visceral boom resounded out from the centre of the ancient castle . Its middle section opened up, and something began rising up from the castle's foundation .

⸢And it was a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+p . ⸥

The moment I saw that s.h.i.+p, deja vu brushed past my brain .

⸢It was the s.h.i.+p first seen during the Great War of Saints and Demons . ⸥

Indeed, its shape was of the vessel that saved us during the . It looked uncannily similar to the 's Ark that evacuated us away from the fierce battle between the Apocalypse Dragon and the Indescribable Distance .

The only difference being, this one was much, much bigger and st.u.r.dier-looking than the Ark from that time . Its hull, seemingly carved out from the broken fragment of the wall, emitted both the contrasting white and dark rays of light .

Great Dokkaebi Heoche continued on as he looked at that hull .

[Originally, this world-line was earmarked as the 'Final World-line' . However, things started becoming distorted during the process, and the world-line's distortion is now well beyond salvageable . The Conclusion of this world can't unlock the 'Final Wall' . Meaning, the epic tale that could satisfy the 'Most Ancient Dream' cannot be completed anymore . ]

“What rubbish are you talking about??”

[You all shall become the 'seeds' . ]

The seeds . I had heard of that term even back in the 'Ways of Survival' . A term that denoted all the candidates of the 'One Single Fable' .

Violent sparks intermittently exploded in the distant darkness of the universe; they were ominous noises that seemed to imply the end of the distorted world-line .

A portion of stars got sucked into those deafening booms and were scattered away in flames before falling to the ground as shooting stars .

The Dokkaebi continued on while looking at the falling stars .

[Think of it as a great honour . It was the will of the 'King of Stories' that you were chosen as the 'seeds' when you are responsible for ruining this world-line . You shall ride on the 'Ark' and move onto a new world-line . And you shall be reborn as the core 'Fable' that will become the next worldview . Just like how those crossing over from the previous world have done . ]

Only then did the things he was saying make sense . Basically, he was telling us to escape from this world .

“You… Are you really going to give up on this world that easily? You want to abandon this world-line and leave with everyone here? You think such a suggestion even makes sense???”

[Surely, there's no need to be that surprised? It shouldn't be such a bad suggestion for you people, too . Your goal is to reach the conclusion where 'no one has been sacrificed', isn't it?]

For a moment there, I became speechless .

[You have succeeded, 'Demon King of Salvation' . You and your companions can now leave this world-line and survive together . ]

Explosion noises, mixed in with cracking thunderclaps, reverberated from the other side of the distant sky . It was the noise of the Probability the had been protecting crumbling away .

As I heard those noises, I belatedly began to understand several things .

Such as, why there were no Constellations to be seen nearby; or, how could the possess such a powerful influence even from the very start of the worlds .

“… . Just how many times have you been repeating this?”

[Is that really important?]

“What happens to those who can't ride on the Ark? Those who didn't get selected – what will happen to them?”

[You probably have guessed it already without asking us . ]

Heoche used his chin to point behind us . That's where the [Turtle Dragon] Yi Ji-Hye had summoned earlier just in case was . And on top of that s.h.i.+p's deck, four sealing spheres emitting sparkling light could be seen – the Outer G.o.ds, including the 'Secretive Plotter' .

I stared at the characters from the original novel, currently sleeping within the spheres . Those that got excluded by the scenarios would either die or become Outer G.o.ds, instead .

[New Main Scenario has arrived!]

Type: Main

Difficulty: ??

Clear condition: Enter the 'Ark' together with the comrades from your Nebula .

Time limit: 2 hours

Reward: You can cross over to a different world-line by riding on the 'Ark' . Your 'Fable' will start anew in that place, and the Fables you have compiled so far will be recorded on 's 'Final Wall' to be pa.s.sed down for all eternity .

Failure: You will remain in the world being destroyed and die .

Fin .