Silence.
The acrid smell of ozone and something indescribably ancient—the decay of spirituality—hung heavy in the dark forest.
Then, the 'system' caught up.
A new flood of messages, no longer glitched but still a jarring hybrid of styles, appeared for all three.
[The 'Star Stream' is buzzing with the results of your first battle!]
[Many Constellations are astonished by overwhelming 'Stories' of 'Demon King of Salvation'!]
[A number of Demon Kings are wary of your unfamiliar 'Settings']
[Several Devils are intrigued.]
[An Outer Deity
[An Outer Deity
Kim Dokja's eye twitched. 'Disappointment? Salivating? These cosmic-grade bastards are already placing bets.'
Kim Hajin, meanwhile, hated this. 'It's like having a dozen Co-authors reading over my shoulder.'
Then came the rewards.
[You have acquired a new Fable!]
[The Fable, 'Those Who Defy the Immutable', has begun to sprout.]
[You have acquired a new 'Story Fragment'!]
[The 'Fragment of a Censored World' has been recorded in your 'Story'.]
"A new Fable..." Dokja murmured, feeling the nascent 'Story' settle into his very being.
Hajin felt it too, a subtle shift in his 'settings'. A new piece of his puzzle.
Their attention, however, was on the "loot."
The stone statue of the 'Marauder'. The dissolving, misted remains of the 'Hunter'. And, most importantly, the shimmering, condensed, crystal-like objects left behind.
"What... are those?" Dokja asked, poking one of the smaller Sequence 5 Characteristics with his sword. It felt solid, pulsing with a pure, concentrated power that made his [Fourth Wall] hum.
"The Characteristics," Klein said, his voice grim. He was staring at the most brilliant one—the Sequence 4 Characteristic from the woman Hajin had sniped.
Hajin, his [Observation and Reading] still active, read the text floating above it.
"Klein," Hajin said, "What does 'Sequence 4: Circle Inhabitant' mean? Is it a powerful 'Beyonder'?"
Dokja translated for Klein.
Klein's head snapped up. "That's what it's called?"
He looked from Hajin's analytical gaze to Dokja's curious one. The 'Compulsory Exposition' may have been over, but if they were to survive, they needed a baseline.
"Our world's power," Klein began, Dokja translating as he spoke, "is not... 'earned' like your 'Fables'. It is consumed."
He pointed at the shimmering loot.
"We find ingredients. We kill Beyonders, or find them after they 'Lose Control', and we harvest these 'Characteristics' . We... concot them into 'Potions'. And drink them. As I mentioned there are 22 Pathways each having 10 Sequences, from 9 to 0. Each Potion has its recipe."
Hajin's face paled. "You... drink those?" 'That sounds… disgusting.'
Dokja was reminded of the 'Attributes' from Ways of Survival, but... cruder. More direct.
"It is a ladder of madness," Klein continued, his voice heavy with the memory of his own journey. "Sequence 9 is the start. Sequence 5, like most of those... they are 'Demigods-in-training'. But Sequence 4..." He looked at the 'Circle Inhabitant' Characteristic. "That is a Demigod. A Saint. When you reach Sequence 4, you go through a qualitative transformation. You get godhood. Yes, it is very powerful."
'Well, technically there is godhood in each Beyonder Characteristics…' Klein thought to himself.
He then frowned, his analytical mind taking over.
"But... 'Circle Inhabitant'? I've never heard of it. The 22 Pathways of my world that I know. This... this woman... that 'rewind' ability..."
His eyes widened in dawning horror. "This must be a pathway from an Outer Deity."
Dokja summarized it for Hajin.
The implication hung in the air. The 'local fauna' weren't just monsters; they were agents of the Cosmos.
Hajin, in turn, looked at Kim Dokja. "And you? Your... 'Fable'. It was different from Klein's. It felt like it... pressed on them. My [Observation] just lit up with 'Status' warnings."
Dokja nodded, a faint, almost academic smile on his face. He was in his element now.
"That's a 'Giant Fable'," he explained. "In my world, 'Fables', or 'Stories', are our power. They are who we are. I am 'The Watcher of Light and Darkness' and 'Demon King of Salvation', they are my Modifiers. Those 'Stories' are part of me. But I'm not limited by only these stories. When I use them, I'm not just attacking; I'm imposing my 'narrative' on the world. That 'pressure' you felt was my 'Status'."
"Status..." Hajin repeated, filing the 'setting' away.
"But," Dokja continued, his expression turning serious, "the 'Star Stream' hates it when you use too much power, especially a 'Giant Fable' that are too overpowered for the Scenario. Imagine the concept of luck, like the chances that someone impossibly strong saves you in a face of an enemy. It's called 'Probability'."
He pointed at the spot where the 'Red Priest' had been.
"You saw it yourself. Look at that 'Red Priest'. Klein's... ghost-lady... she's a being that distorted luck… Probability. The moment she acted, the 'Star Stream' tried to punish her with a 'Probability Storm'. But her Pathway skills as I guess... " Dokja grinned, a look of pure, nerdy appreciation on his face. "...it was about 'Misfortune' . She made the man 'unlucky' leveling the probability, and it just... dissipated."
Hajin and Klein both stared at Dokja. His ability to analyze and comprehend their own powers was, frankly, terrifying.
Well, with [Observation and Reading] Hajin was one step ahead but still…
"We shouldn't stay here for long," Klein said, "My spiritual perception was triggered."
"What?"
Kim Hajin was confused.
"What about the loot! Let's gather it first."
Hajin is a great craftsman, maybe he could do something with it later.
"Kim Dokja what did he say?"
"Nah, never mind, just gather the loot quickly and we'll leave."
Dissatisfied, Klein turned back to the loot with thoughts like why is no one listening to him. The 'Circle Inhabitant' Characteristic was pulsing, its alien spirituality a beacon of danger.
"I need to confirm its pathway," Klein murmured. "If I can't use the Fog... I'll have to try a direct divination."
He stepped forward, his hand outstretched, his mind already formulating the divination statement.
The moment his fingers came within a foot of the Characteristic... everything stopped.
The shimmering light of the loot froze. The dust from the fight, still settling, hung suspended in the air. Hajin's hand, halfway to his chin, was motionless. Dokja's coat, billowing, was a statue of cloth.
Then, the world jerked.
The stone statue of the 'Marauder'... crumbled. Backwards. The chunks of stone flew onto his body, reforming into flesh.
The fine, red mist of the 'Hunter' ... rushed back, coalescing from vapor to liquid to solid, reforming into a man.
The ten bodies, including the woman's at the edge of the clearing, jerked back to their feet, their eyes snapping open. But they were blank.
The trio froze, their minds struggling to comprehend what they were seeing.
Kim Dokja's face went white.
[The Myth Story ' Hell of Eternity' is screaming a warning!]
[The Giant Story 'Torch That Swallowed the Myth' is baring teeth.]
[The Giant Story 'Season of Light and Darkness' wants to show what it's worth of.]
Stories of Kim Dokja were warning him of something
[The 'Fourth Wall' is protecting you!]
[A 'Story' of impossible 'Status' is overriding the scenario!]
Kim Hajin tried to activate his Stigma. It failed.
[Your 'Setting Intervention' has failed!]
[An external 'Setting' of a higher order is overriding your 'Story'!]
A new figure was in the clearing. He hadn't arrived. He was just... there.
It was a being of pure shadow and decay. A form that seemed to rot the air around it. Where it stood, the moss blackened, and the trees groaned, their life-force siphoning away. It was a humanoid shadow, but its very presence felt like a parasite on reality.
This was Termiboros.
The being ignored Dokja and Hajin as if they were furniture. Its "gaze," a cold, ancient, and deeply possessive intelligence, fell only on Klein Moretti.
A voice echoed in their minds, not as a sound, but as a direct, rotting thought.
"...Ah. I remember you."
Klein's blood, which had run cold, now felt like it was freezing solid. His spirituality wasn't just warning him; it was panicking, shrinking back from this... thing. He was on full alert, ready to use 'Traveling' in an instant.
"I do not know you," Klein stated, his voice perfectly level. He used his 'Clown' abilities.
Hajin couldn't understand what they were saying.
'Bruh, I should've created some Gift or Skill for myself to be able to understand everyone. My mom always told me to learn English.'
The shadow of Termiboros seemed to... smile.
"...You will."
It raised a hand, not at them, but at the ten resurrected Beyonders.
"This is your 'Destined' outcome. You do not kill them here."
He was anchoring a different 'Future' , one where their victory had simply never occurred.
The ten blank-eyed enemies, their wounds gone, their Characteristics returned, turned in perfect, horrifying synchronicity and attacked.