The transition to the
Khalifa's gift was indeed unusual.
When the light faded, the group stood on a sprawling, jade-tiled plaza that stretched toward an endless horizon of golden clouds.
Clancy Islet and Auction House were gone.
High above, the architecture of the Heavenly Palace loomed—magnificent pagodas that seemed to stretch into the very fabric of the Star Stream, their golden tiles shimmering with the reflected light of a thousand constellations.
This was the headquarters of the
Ding! Ding! Ding!
The air around them erupted with hundreds of holographic advertisement windows, overlapping and flickering with aggressive colors.
[Recruiting: 'The Real Journey to the West'! Extras' roles available except Sun Wukong. High Fable shares!]
[Join Room #442: 'Sun Wukong is always Drunk'. Comedy-genre. Guaranteed 50,000 Coins!]
[Room #901: 'Tang Sanzang forgot about Sun Wukong's eighth-grader syndrome'. Drama/Fantasy]
[Room #2831: "Special Event Chamber: 'Djinns have taken over the West!'" – Join the Corruption Alliance for extra rewards!]
[Role Opening: Tang Sanzang's White Horse. Note: Must be comfortable being ridden by a 2-meter tall Ogre.]
[Room #69: "Beyond the Horizon: 'Journey with Beyonders'." Looking for Sequence 5 and above!]
Boss stood frozen, her eyes darting between the flickering blue windows. She tried to swipe one away, but instead accidentally opened a sub-menu for "Monkey Headband Customization." Her expression turned from confusion to a subtle, simmering frustration.
[URGENT: Need a Sha Wujing who is actually a Sequence 6 or higher. Room: 'Beyonders of the Sandy River'.]
[DJINNS AND EVIL INCARNATIONS ONLY: Join 'The Devil's Journey to the West' and assassinate Tang Sanzang!]
"Hajin," she muttered, her finger hovering awkwardly in the air. "The windows... they won't stop moving."
Hajin reached out and gently swiped his hand through the air, dismissing her localized UI.
"Ignore them, Boss. Those are just private 'Fable Chambers' looking for extras. Small-scale scenarios where incarnations and constellations play out variations of the myth to earn crumbs of probability. If we join one of these, we'll just be extras in someone else's bad fanfiction."[1]
Boss continued muttering, her brow furrowing as she swiped at a window that was trying to sell her a "Monkey King Ear Headband" for 500 coins.
Hajin couldn't help but chuckle at how cute Boss looked like.
The grimace disappered from his face as she pierced him with her usual deadly look.
'How I missed all of these!'
Cheok Jungyeong was currently staring at a window titled 'Zhu Bajie: The Gourmet Association Special'.
"They're looking for someone to eat three tons of meat during the spider demon arc. Maybe this scenario isn't so bad after all," he rumbled, his stomach letting out a sound like a distant earthquake.
"We aren't here to eat, Geyong," Hajin said, his eyes scanning the jade plaza.
As they walked, Hajin's mind was full of different thoughts.
He hadn't opposed Boss's decision to come here because he knew they needed a Great Fable to qualify for the Final Scenario. But more than that, he was just trying to keep up with his 'Reader' and 'Fool' companions.
They could face Outer Deities now!
'But can I do it?' that's what he asked himself. 'I wonder what would our nebula's name sound like?'
A Nebula. He was already thinking about it.
A union between the Chameleon Troupe, the Tarot Club, and
'The Empty Page'?
'The Last Truth'?
Suddenly, a sharp pang of anxiety struck him.
He remembered what Boss told him yesterday.
"I'll be right back," Hajin said, stopping near a massive pillars carved with dragons. "I need to... use the facilities."
Miss Justice giggled, her emerald eyes seeing right through him.
"Hah!" Cheok Jungyeong rumbled, slapping Hajin's shoulder with the force of a falling truck. "Whenever the kid gets nervous about a big fight, he always needs a heavy evacuation. Go on, Hajin. Go do your 'big business'. Empty your tank..."
"Geyong I guess that's enough, we got it the first time." Khalifa poked him on the side.
"Stage fright, Hajin-ssi? You must be very nervous... Don't worry I can..!" he was moving faster than she could manage to use her [Placate].
Hajin sighed, ignoring the crude jokes, and slipped behind a marble partition. He took out the silver dagger, slicing air with it, and pulled out the [Book of Truth].
A translucent spiritual barrier concealed the restroom.
«Where are Kim Dokja and Gehrman Sparrow?»
A white streak of Stigma burned away.
His eyes widened as the text manifested.
[Target 'Kim Dokja is currently located inside: The Tower of Miracles.]
"The Tower...?" Hajin whispered. He remembered that name. In his original notes, it was an unfinished "Easter Egg"—a mere concept. He hadn't written it into the main story properly(except for the fact that The Creator's Sacred Grace would lose its former honour after its humiliating defeat in this Tower), yet here it was, manifesting in the Convergence.
A smirk played on his lips until another text appeared.
[Unable to locate target 'Gehrman Sparrow'.]
'Hm? What is it even supposed to mean?!'
After another ten seconds he closed the book and sliced the air with the silver dagger once more, deactivating the barrier.
As he returned to the group, he saw a Dokkaebi hovering in front of Boss.
"If you don't have a Room ID, move along!" the Dokkaebi snapped. "This is the 'Journey to the West Remake', not a tourist trap for low-rank incarnations. Do you even have an Author?"
Blink.
Hajin used his boots, blinking through space and appearing instantly between Boss and the Dokkaebi.
The sudden displacement caused a ripple in the air that made the Dokkaebi flinch.
"We want to participate," Hajin said, his voice flat and dangerous. "Create a new Fable Chamber for us."
The Dokkaebi sneered.
"And who are you supposed to be? Another 'Black Lotus' cosplayer? What's the concept? Who's the Author? We don't accept blank scripts."
Ouroboros, who had been standing silently in the back, narrowed his silver eyes.
The air around him began to shimmer with a pale, mercurial light.
"How irritating," the Angel of Fate whispered. "Perhaps I should loop this conversation back to the beginning and erase your birth. It would save us at least three minutes of boredom."
"Wait," Hajin said, putting a hand on Ouroboros's shoulder.
Another Dokkaebi, more refined and wearing a suit, hurriedly drifted over.
"My apologies, Great Beings! My colleague is... new. He doesn't recognize a King of Angels when he sees one. Please, follow me to the Private Waiting Room."
With a snap of fingers, the group was warped into a space that looked like a traditional scholar's study, filled with floating brushes and blank scrolls.
"Now," the polite Dokkaebi said, bowing. "To register a Great Fable attempt, I need to know your roles and the overarching 'Concept' of your remake. And most importantly... who is the Author?"
The group looked awkwardly at each other. Audrey seemed to use her abilities to erase her existence from everyone's minds. Boss looked at the floor; Cheok Jungyeong looked at his sword's hilt.
When Anna Croft was ready to say something, Hajin sighed and stepped forward.
"I am."
"Very well," the Dokkaebi said, opening a registration scroll. "And your roles?"
Hajin's eyes scanned his companions, his [Observation] skills instantly shuffling the archetypes.
If they were going into a world governed by narrative laws, they needed roles that resonated with their true natures.
"Boss will be Tang Sanzang," Hajin stated.
'She's the leader, and she's already used to being protected while making everyone else work.'
Boss blinked. "The monk? But I don't know any scriptures."
Boss looked like she wanted to protest, but the Dokkaebi was already writing it down.
He ignored her and continued:
"Cheok Jungyeong is Zhu Bajie."
Cheok Jungeyong smiled.
'Pure muscle and gluttony for battle.'
"Khalifa is Sha Wujing."
'Spatial manipulation fits the 'Curtain of the River' role perfectly.'
"Ouroboros will be the White Dragon Horse."
'He' remained indifferent.
'A King of Angels carrying the group through fate.'
"Audrey and Anna Croft will take the roles of the Bodhisattvas."
"Yi Yuri and Droon will be the Supporting Spirits."
The Dokkaebi scribbled furiously.
"And what about Sun Wukong? You are short for one person, Mr. Author."
Hajin smiled, and it was a cold, ominous expression.
"We're doing a special concept."
The Dokkaebi paused.
"The concept is simple."
Hajin leaned in, his voice dropping.
"The Author in the Shell. Our story is about a Sun Wukong who is actually the Author of the world he's transmigrated into," Hajin said, "He knows the end of the journey, he knows the secrets of every Yogoe, and he navigates the scenario by manipulating the plot from the inside."
He pointed a finger at himself.
"I will navigate the scenario with the knowledge of the original text, but the world will adjust its probability according to my actions, not the script."
The Dokkaebi froze. "An Author... inside the Fable? A... meta-narrative remake? But the Star Stream requires the events to adjust to the Author's actions. If there's no central control over the plot..."
"The events will adjust according to my actions," Hajin interrupted. "I won't be following the script. I'll be editing it as I walk."
The Dokkaebi looked panicked.
"I... I have to ask my superiors. This concept is too irregular! It challenges the authority of the Nebula Emperor's original Fable—"
Suddenly, massive, golden system windows manifested in the center of the room.
[Constellation 'Most Ancient Liberator' nods in agreement.]
['Meihouwang' is interested in your 'Remake'.]
['Douzhanshengfo' is agreeing to your concept.]
The Dokkaebi's jaw dropped.
[Three of five 'Sun Wukongs' have given 'Their' permission!]
The Great Sage, Sun Wukong himself, had given the green light.
"I... I understand! The Great Sage has spoken! The Fable Chamber 666, is now officially open! What name would you like to give to your Remake?"
Hajin scratched imaginary beard.
'Since when has my beard stopped growing? I remember in the Recorded Past it was pretty long!..'
Thinking back to those times reminded Hajin of one thing.
He was, he is and he'll always be an Extra.
Superfluous in his own history
In the past, he still was.
In the present, he still is.
In the future, he'll still be.
Even in Convergence he's still an Extra.
"The name is... 'The Extra's Journey to the West'"
"Well then," the Dokkaebi stammered, clicking his fingers. "Good luck, Mr. Author-Sun Wukong."
The world dissolved into a kaleidoscope of gold and black.
Kim Hajin felt the familiar weight of a staff in his hand and the rustle of a tiger-skin kilt.
[Main Scenario #94 – 'Journey to the West Remake' has begun!]
===
< Main Scenario #94 – Journey to the West Remake >
Category:Main
Difficulty:???
Clear Conditions:Work together with other Constellations/Gods/Outer Deities and/or Incarnations/Beyonders/Heroes/Djinns to create 'Fable chamber' and remake the Journey to the West. The remade Journey will be evaluated in real-time by judges as well as audience members. Through the judging criteria which may include 'Popularity', 'Degree of Faithfulness to the original', and 'Originality', overall points will be assigned at the end. The Fable that manages to acquire the highest number of votes will be judged the winner of the scenario.
Time Limit:―
Reward:Great Fable related to the 'Journey to the West', goodwill from the Nebula
Failure:―
*The copyright to the reconstituted Fables will be shared between the Nebula
●Depending on the judges' votes, you may acquire either a 'Legendary' or 'historical' grade Fable.
●A participant may only take on one role.(Excluding extras)
●Additional Coins will be rewarded according to the rankings.
===
[You have entered the stage 'The Five Elements Mountain'.]
[1] Hajin, poor you, you are already a part of fanfiction like that, LOL ;3