"The path of Transcendence is different for everyone. So, do not try to chase after him, and search for the path only you can tread."

He wordlessly clenched his fist tightly. As if he didn't want to permit any of the Fables to leave him.

"....Have you heard any new information, Master?"

The Breaking the Sky Saint shook her head.

It had been over a week since Kim Dok-Ja's disappearance.

Unfortunately, neither his whereabouts nor the location of the 'Secretive Plotter' had been discovered until now.

"You say that he crossed over from another world-line."

"That's correct."

"I do not know what his aim is, but if he bothered to enter this world-line at this point in time, then it's possible that his goal is somehow related to the 'Final Scenario'."

Yu Jung-Hyeok agreed with her opinion. In other words, there was a good chance that he'd encounter the 'Secretive Plotter' again by going to the location of the Final Scenario.

"However, the current situation is that the can't enter the 'Final Scenario'."

He nodded his head.

- Fables you have acquired are insufficient to approve your partic.i.p.ation in the 'Final Scenario'.

On that day they failed to enter the 'Final Scenario', the one-sidedly sent that communique in their direction. However, he thought that made some sense. Because, not only were they a newly-created Nebula, the number of Fables they managed to acquire was also rather small, as well.

However, one couldn't strictly argue that when taking into consideration the grade of the Fables they had acquired. Especially so with the ⸢Season of Light and Darkness⸥, the Great Fable they earned the last time that would be extremely hard to find its equal anywhere in the .

- Where is the representative of your Nebula?

In the end, everything boiled down to Kim Dok-Ja's absence.

After the person possessing the highest percentage of the Nebula's Fable shares left the group, the aggregate amount of Fables for the whole Nebula had become simply too inadequate.

It was unknown what Yu Jung-Hyeok was thinking to himself as he maintained his silence. And how long went by like that? He slowly raised himself up off the floor, sheathed the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] and although still unsteady on his feet, got ready to leave.

"Where are you planning to go?"

"I'm leaving to acquire a new Great Fable, Master."

He needed to acquire the qualification to get to the 'Final Scenario' even without Kim Dok-Ja's shares. was neither that fool's private army nor his underlings. This group needed to be able to protect themselves without him around, and even if they end up losing him somehow....

….They needed to be capable enough to clear the 'Final Scenario'.

[Baht....]

Biyu murmured in despondency from somewhere in the empty air. Yu Jung-Hyeok silently stared at her for a little while, before activating the [Eye of Sage] to sift through the information he possessed in his head.

There weren't that many locations left at this point in time where he could acquire a 'Great Fable'. When flipping that statement around, it also meant that the remaining Fables would be that much more powerful than others.

He had already acquired one powerful Great Fable called the ⸢Season of Light and Darkness⸥. If he managed to earn 'that Fable' on top of this, then it might be possible to fight against the 'Secretive Plotter' once more.

The Breaking the Sky Sword Saint watched Yu Jung-Hyeok walk away and asked him. "Are you planning to go alone?"

"I've always been alone, Master."

"But, that path is the one already tread by the other party."

His Master's words caused Yu Jung-Hyeok's figure to flinch.

In the next moment, a voice came out from beyond the walls of the training hall.

"Hey Yu Jung-Hyeok, where are you?? We gotta get going, now!"

With the blinding light behind them, the members of opened the door and rushed inside the dojo.

s.h.i.+n Yu-Seung, Yi Gil-Yeong, Yi Ji-Hye, and Han Su-Yeong....

It was unknown since when they got ready to leave, but regardless, everyone from the Nebula was here.

The Breaking the Sky Sword Saint spoke again. "They are precisely your Fable now, Jung-Hyeok-ah."

Something that the 'Secretive Plotter' did not possess.

Yu Jung-Hyeok dazedly looked back at his Master, and she addressed him again.

"You don't have to fight alone in this regression turn."

*

The location of the new 'Great Fable' was four days away. It would've been so much quicker to get there by borrowing the powers of the Dokkaebis, but the current situation didn't permit that.

- You cannot borrow the powers of Dokkaebis you are friendly with.

- You must never reveal the truth that you're 'Kim Dok-Ja'.

All thanks to the stinking agreement I had with the 'Wenny King'.

Because of it, I couldn't enter Biyu's channel or send word of my wellbeing to the .

In the end, I had no choice but to personally drive the [X-grade Ferrarghini] I purchased from the 'Ma.s.s Production-type Maker' to the destination.

The kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok number [999] polis.h.i.+ng his [Heaven Shaking Sword] atop my shoulder grumbled softly. "Your driving sucks."

"Then, why don't you drive? By the way, you're not planning to stick to that appearance now, are you?"

Without a doubt, we'd run into Constellations that will recognise us once we entered the scenario location. The existence of the kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok was just too eye-catching.

Well, Yu Jung-Hyeok himself was just too famous by now, so....

"Indeed, I am too inconspicuous like this."

[999] seemed to be pondering something. His body suddenly jolted a bit, before a 'Pow!' noise resounded out and he transformed into a Murim dumpling.

I was shocked silly by this event. But [999] sounded utterly disinterested as he addressed me.

- This should be fine.

"....Hey, you. Carrying a dumpling around on my shoulder will be even more eye-catching, you know?"

- Why don't you change your pathetic appearance as well?

Just as the kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok couldn't maintain his original appearance, I too needed to make sure that my ident.i.ty as 'Kim Dok-Ja' wasn't discovered.

The now-dumpling-fied Yu Jung-Hyeok roughly rubbed the dumpling skin all over my face as if he was trying to paint a wall. I sensed the Fable on my face change as creaking noises resounded out. How long pa.s.sed by like that?

By the time I opened my eyes, I ended up freaking out by what I saw.

[999] spoke to me as I stared dumbfoundedly at the mirror, my eyes blinking non-stop.

- It's done.

Holy moly. This might not be enough to slap Yu Jung-Hyeok's cheek silly, but still.... It should be enough to make me ponder whether I should slap him or not, at least. (TL note at the end)

I rubbed my new statuesque face and muttered to myself. "....Can't I keep this face forever?"

- If you do, you'll be struck by the storm of Probability's aftermath.

As if he had touched something dirty, [999] diligently patted down his dumpling body. Completely disregarding whether he was doing that or not, I continued to stare at the mirror.

A long time ago, I absorbed the Fable fragment of the 'Casanova Who Died During s.e.xual Acts' and became pretty good looking for a while, but this was on another scale compared to that.

I spoke in an admiring tone of voice. "It's true that the 999th regression turn is amazing. The 3rd turn doesn't have skills like this one, you know."

- ….3rd turn?

"Oh, you didn't know? Yu Jung-Hyeok in this place is the 3rd turn. And this is the 3rd turn world-line, too."

The kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok number [999] stared deeply at me for a while after hearing those words, and asked me a question.

- Why do you think that?"

"What do you mean why....?"

I was about to reply with "Because, the 'Ways of Survival' starts off with the 3rd turn, that's why" but stopped. I decided to refine my answer just a bit.

"....Because, the beginning was the 3rd turn, that's why."

- But, why does it start from the 3rd turn? Don't know how numbers work? The beginning is the 0th turn.

He was right.

The first chapter of the 'Ways of Survival' started off from Yu Jung-Hyeok's third turn, but if you get technical about it, then you could say that the story began with his 0th turn.

I felt a bit weirded out after thinking like that.

….Why did I come to Yu Jung-Hyeok's 'third turn', anyway?

I wasn't going to follow the 3rd turn's story as it was in the original, so there wouldn't have been a reason for me to start in this particular turn even if that's where the novel began.

…..I don't know. It's not as if I can figure this out right now, anyway.

"Yu Jung-Hyeok in this world-line said that he was the 'third turn'. So, this place is the third regression turn."

And the information I confirmed through the [Character List] said so, too.

But then, [999] spoke in a mocking tone.

- Trusting such information at its face value. How naïve.

"What?"

- Never mind. We've seemed to have arrived.

Along with the blinding light, the lengthy dimension tunnel finally came to an end. What appeared next was a giant Gate leading to the new scenario's location.

I spotted a group of beings waiting to enter in front of the Gate. I collected the [X-grade Ferrarghini] and joined the group.

A Constellation was manning the entrance to the scenario location, rather than the usual Dokkaebis. But that made sense, since the host for this 'Great Fable' scenario was a Nebula.

Although it was one of the largest Nebulas out there, it had almost no point of contact with me until now.

[Next.]

It was a Constellation holding a ma.s.sive three-p.r.o.nged spear on one hand, while wearing a combination of aged crimson crown and armour set.

The domineering Status exuding from his entire body attested to the fact that he was a Fable-grade Constellation possessing a pretty hefty Status.

The Guardian of Buddhist Laws, Virudhaka. (TL: In Korean and Hanja – 증장천왕/增長天王)

He was one of the Four Heavenly Kings that protected the entrance of the , the headquarters of the Nebula .

[Next.]

Not too long afterwards, my turn came around.

Virudhaka glared at my face intently as if he wanted to discover anything suspicious on it and eventually, threw out his first question.

[Your purpose for visiting?]

[I came to partic.i.p.ate in the Great Fable.]

[Your Modifier.]

Obviously, I couldn't use the 'Demon King of Salvation' here. Fortunately, I did have a brand new Modifier I received not too long ago.

[It's the 'Watcher of Light and Darkness'.]

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Fin.

(TL: "slapping XX's cheek" is not a literal act of physical violence, but simply a popular saying in Korea that implies "you're so pretty that it puts the other party to shame".)