The interior of the upgrade center was cold, sterile, and filled with the hum of advanced machinery. Kim Dokja lay on the surgical table, naked except for the sensors attached to his chest and temples. He watched the APG-Medical Robots moving around him with mechanical precision.
From the next curtain over, a muffled, dignified scream echoed.
"...Gah!" It was Klein. The 'Stat Enhancement' procedure was tearing his muscles apart and rebuilding them. Dokja grinned.
[The 'Fourth Wall' is protecting your mental state!]
"Sucks to be you, Mr. Moretti," Dokja chuckled, feeling absolutely no pain as the needles pierced his own skin.
—Subject Kim Dokja. Stat Enhancement complete.
—Strength +3. Speed +3. Stamina +3. Perception +3. Vitality +3.
—Proceeding to Unique Function Upgrade: [Story Sense].
"What is that?" Dokja asked.
—Advanced Neurotech Chips grant a unique function tailored to the user's abilities. Your 'Story Sense' will allow you to interpret, organize, and control your Fables with 40% greater efficiency. It acts as a nervous system for your narrative.
Dokja nodded.
The robot hesitated. Its optical lens spun.
—We have detected a hidden potential. Your body contains two conflicting powers: [Demon King] and [Angel]. They are in a state of perfect, fragile balance due to the [Fruit of Good and Evil].
—The AI system proposes combining them via the advanced chip to create a new function: '■■'. —Success rate: 10%.
"Ten percent?" Dokja raised an eyebrow.
—The risk is absolute. Failure may lead to 'Death of Self'. Rejection by the Star Stream. Erasure of all Stories. You would become an 'Outer Being born from the Inner'.
Suddenly, his body convulsed. It wasn't the surgery; it was his Stories.
[Great Fable, 'Torch that Swallowed the Myth', is roaring out in vexation!]
[Great Fable, 'Demon World's Spring', is protecting you!]
[Fable, 'King of a Kingless World', is protecting you!]
[Fable, 'The One who Opposes Miracles', is protecting you!]
They were screaming at him to stop. To not risk their existence. But one story hummed with a strange, dark resonance.
[Fable, 'Season of Light and Darkness', is satisfied and wants to help.]
A small, golden plaque fell out of his dimensional coat pocket, clattering onto the metal tray. The Grand Prize for the 'Duet Between Good and Evil'.
The robot scanned it.
—Catalyst detected. Success rate recalculated... 27%.
—However, to install function '■■', you must disable the Trait [Fourth Wall].
The world seemed to freeze.
[The 'Fourth Wall' is looking at you.]
[The 'Fourth Wall' is violently shaking!]
[Kim Dokja,] the voice inside his head growled. [This function... may destroy you.]
"I know," Dokja whispered. "But… To reach the ■■ of this new world... I need to become much stronger."
There was a long silence. Then, the presence in his mind seemed to sigh.
[...Fine. Stupid Reader.]
[The 'Fourth Wall' is deactivating.]
This new 4th Wall of his is much more… accommodating?
The moment the wall vanished, reality hit him like a truck.
The cold of the metal table.
The prick of the needles.
The terrifying, raw vulnerability of being naked and restrained in a room full of machines.
"Ah..." Dokja gasped, his breath hitching. "It... it's cold."
He heard Klein gasp in pain again from the next room.
This time, Dokja didn't laugh.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
'Mr. Moretti I'm sorry for mocking you! I regret everything!'
He began to pray. To whom, he didn't know. Maybe to the author of this twisted world.
Two more robots entered.
—Procedure complexity exceeds standard parameters. Transferring control to AI Genpha-Go (15F).
—We must bring the subject to the brink of death to restructure the existence.
—Please activate your [Demon King Transformation] and [Angel Transformation].
"Do it," Dokja gritted out. Black energy exploded from his left shoulder. White light burst from his right. A pitch-black, leathery wing tore through his skin. A pristine, feathery white wing erupted from the other side. Demonic horns spiraled from his forehead, glowing with a holy nimbus.
—Beginning fusion.
[Advance neurotech chip is merging with the 'Duet Between Good and Evil' Plaque!]
[Advance neurotech chip is merging with the 'Fruit of Good and Evil']
A needle, thick and humming with energy, pierced his neck.
"AGH-!" Pain. Pure, white-hot agony. His consciousness shattered.
[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is activating!]
***
His mind drifted through the void. He tried to reach the edge of the Demon Realm, but a massive, invisible barrier slammed him back.
[The 'Star Will' blocks your path!]
[New Arc begins in: 49:56:12]
"Fifty hours?" Dokja thought, dazed. "The upgrades took more than twenty hours?" He had no choice.
He let the skill drag him to the only connection he had left.
He opened his eyes.
He was looking down at a wasteland.
It looked like the aftermath of a nuclear war.
The ground was glass.
The sky was blindingly bright, scorched by a light that wasn't the sun.
Hanging in the sky, burning like a dark moon, was a massive symbol: A Black Lotus.
"Hajin..." Dokja realized.
[A Supreme status intervenes!]
[Primordial Light suppresses 'Devils Alliance' faction by 30%.]
He looked down at his hands.
They were pale, scarred, and strong.
He was wearing a white coat.
He wasn't Kim Dokja.
He was the Secretive Plotter.
The 1863rd Yoo Joonghyuk.
Dokja had already known Secretive Plotter's identity.
Boom! Three figures smashed into him.
The 4th Devil, Gamigin. A rider of pale horses, wielding death itself.
The 10th Devil, Buer. A lion-headed monstrosity that kicked with the force of a collapsing star.
The 40th Devil, Raum. A crow that stole 'strategy' and 'luck'.
The Plotter parried Gamigin's spear with the [Black Heavenly Demon Sword].
[Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship!]
[Giant Body Transformation!]
He grew to a titan, slashing the [Universe Slash] across the wasteland.
It was the power of a Transcender, the power of the strongest Incarnation.
But he was losing.
[Story 'Hell of Eternity' is weeping.]
[Story 'Lonely Pilgrim of Destruction' shows the weight of 1863 regressions.]
"It's a story of the loneliest man in the world…"
[The constellations of the absolute evil system are shocked by the combat ability of 'Secretive Plotter'.]
"Die!" Buer roared, kicking the Plotter into a crater. The Plotter stood up, wiping blood from his lip. His eyes changed. They weren't human anymore. They swirled with the density of a collapsing star. He raised his hand. "Gravity."
[The exclusive skill 'Character List' is activated!]
[There is too much information about this person. Character List is converted to Character Summary List.]
…
[Stigma: Regression, Transmission]
[Affiliation: Breaking the Sky Alliance, The Apocrypha]
[Attribute: Regressor (1863rd turn)(Myth),Ruler of Amusement (Legendary),…(skipped) Beyonder (Condenser Pathway)]
[Sponsor: ■■]
*Currently afflicted by Abnormal Status Condition: 'Loosing control'
…
The world tilted.
The three Devils were slammed into the ground by an invisible hand.
It wasn't just gravity.
It was the authority of a Great Old One.
The Plotter clenched his fist. "Supernova."
A star materialized in his palm.
[The 'Star Will' is pondering a new Modifier for the 'Secretive Plotter'...]
[Many Devils and Demon Kings are demanding the 'Plausibility Screening'!]
A real, burning star.
He crushed it.
Flash.
A directed gamma-ray burst incinerated Raum's left wing.
The power was terrifying.
It distorted space, fused atoms, and made the sheer concept of 'weight' infinite.
Suddenly, the Plotter looked up. He looked directly at the 'camera'.
He saw Dokja. "You..."
He tried to activate [Stage 3].
[Insufficient understanding of the character 'Secretive Plotter'.]
His view was forcibly ejected. He drifted across the battlefield, like a ghost.
He saw her.
A woman with blonde hair, running through the ruins, blood soaking her combat uniform.
Anna Croft. The Prophet. The antagonist.
[Character List]
[The information is too vast. Converting to
[Name: Anna Croft]
[Stigma: Story-Weaving Shapeshifter(???).]
[Affiliation:
[Attribute: Beyonder (Fool Pathway)]
[Sponsor: ???]
…
"Fool Pathway?" Dokja noted. "The same as Klein's?" Anna stumbled.
She effectively moved through the battlefield using Flaming Jump of Sequence 7 – Magician.
"And what's that Stigma? I don't remember such from Ways of Survival."
[Constellation who likes to change gender looks at you!]
"Huh? Loki?"
A shadow loomed over Anna Croft.
Demogorgon.
Baal's First Servant.
A two-headed beast of rot and madness.
"Found you, little rat," the heads hissed in unison.
Anna was cornered.
But where gigantic hand of Demogorgon hit only a Paper Figurine was found.
She activated her [Lv.2 Air Acceleration] unique skill from the Tower.
Her sword reached supersonic speed.
But it couldn't pierce through.
Spikes rushed out of Demogorgon's back.
Anna appeared meters away out of the flame. Her arm was cut.
"Poisonous," she felt dizzy.
[Stage 3: 1st Person Point of View activating!]
"Anna Croft."
Anna's eyes widened.
She looked at the empty air.
"...Kim Dokja? It's been a while." She smiled, a tired, desperate smile. "I saw you would come." She relaxed her guard.
Snap.
Dokja slammed into her body.
The sensation of having limbs again was intoxicating.
He drew her sword.
[The exclusive skill 'Bookmark' is activated!]
[The 5th bookmark, Kyrgios Rodgraim is selected!]
[The exclusive skill 'Electrification Lv. 23 (+13)' is activated.]
[Your current body configuration is different from that of the character.]
[Your status has overcome the penalty of the physical conditions.]
Blue lightning crackled around Anna's body.
[Constellation 'Demon King of Salvation' is descending into the Scenario!]
Demogorgon lunged.
Dokja sidestepped, moving with a speed Anna shouldn't possess.
[Constellation who likes to change gender is enjoying the battle.]
He channeled his Story into the blade.
He slashed. The lightning fused with Anna's ability to shift her arm's reach, extending the cut. Demogorgon shrieked as its arm was severed.
"You..." the beast gargled. "Who are you?"
"I'm the Kim Dokja," Dokja spat. He prepared the finishing blow. But then, the sky darkened. A pressure, infinitely heavier than Demogorgon, descended.
[Constellation who likes to change gender prepared some snacks.]
[Constellation 'Monarch Who Devours His Own Shadow' unleashes his status!]
[Demogorgon, the Leader ordered you to urgently help him he is carrying out a transfer into Bell.]
Kim Dokja knew this Modifier.
Demon King ranked 3rd, owner of the 4th Demon Realm, Nævar. He didn't attack.
[Giant Story 'The Abyss That Wears a Crown' has begun its storytelling!]
[Stage Transformation has occurred!]
[The 'Fourth Wall' is disabled.]
"In the fractured depths of the Third Realm, where even constellations struggle to keep their forms from unraveling, a throne stands upon a lake of devoured nightmares.
On that throne sits Azeroth Nævar, crowned not by metal, but by the shadow he tore from his own body…"
[The power of 'Fruit of Good and Evil' is worsening your guilty conscience!]
Dokja froze.
The guilt of his past, the guilt of leaving his companions—it all crashed down on him without the Wall to filter it. His soul began to fray.
[Warning! Incarnation 'Kim Dokja's' existence is fading!]
[Incarnation 'Anna Croft' is sharing your probability!]
[Incarnation 'Anna Croft' is dying!]
"No!" Dokja screamed internally. He tried to deactivate the skill.
[Error. System Conflict in 7th Floor Upgrade Center.]
[Disconnection failed.]
Nævar raised a finger. A beam of pure darkness shot towards them.
[Giant Story 'The Abyss That Wears a Crown' is growling!]
"They say he was born from a dying world's final curse…"
"Fuck," Anna's voice echoed in his head. She wanted to use Paper Figurine. "Let's fight together."
Suddenly, voice echoed.
"I told you, I like you. So don't die."
BOOM.
The beam didn't hit them.
A massive figure had interposed itself.
A man of impossible size, muscles bulging like steel cables, holding a greatsword that looked like a slab of iron.
[Constellation 'Goryeo's First Sword' gazes at 'Monarch Who Devours His Own Shadow'!]
Cheok Jungyeong.
But he was different. His hair was shorter and face somewhat different?
"Don't touch them," Cheok growled, parrying the Demon King's attack with a grunt of effort.
['Star Will' is doubting your Probability!]
Large probability storm was coming down from the glowing sky.
['Tower of Wish' is using its Authority!]
"'Stage Transformation' is prohibited here!"
Another voice came from behind, but Dokja couldn't see whose powers sent cracks through the 'Stage Transformation' of Nævar's Giant Story.
At that moment Dokja's connection was shattered.
[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has been forcefully cancelled.]
Darkness swallowed him. A final system message floated in the void, cold and absolute.
[System Alert!]
[Incarnation 'Kim Dokja' has died.]
[The existence 'Kim Dokja' is being erased from the Scenario.]