762 Episode 33 Ball (1)

"Have you ever wondered why stars shine so brightly?"」

—Mass Production Maker

A hand holding a pen appeared in the empty void. The hand hesitated for a moment and wrote invisible black letters in the void of space.

Infinitely black text that seems to have sucked in the surrounding light.

The hand wrote once again.

Then another hand appeared in the void of space. It was a white and long hand. The hand also held a pen and wrote.

Bicheon Hori did not reply.

His hands seemed to be shaking with excitement, and sometimes with fear.

After a while the real hand began writing again.

The long white hand was silent for a moment.

In the distant universe, ignorant stars that could neither read nor reveal the letters twinkled.

The owner of the long hand wrote as if the ignorance was enjoyable.

I was worried, but I was very fortunate.

'Hound' is also 'a god from another world'. Could it be that they can't chase me to the unauthorized core scenario area?

"I lived."

"It really wasn’t easy this time."

As I opened the door to the fortress and entered, joking with my companions, what appeared was a long hallway.

Pictures decorated with colorful frames were hanging on the walls of the hallway.

"Wow, it’s moving?"

When I looked closely, I saw that they were all paintings made from fragments of stories.

A tiger yawning while eating rice cake. A pig building a brick house. A rabbit protecting its liver. The rat that won first place in a running competition. These were all animals from the famous Chinese Zodiac.

At that time, Dansu ahjussi discovered a strange picture.

"There’s also a 'turtle' here."

"Isn’t turtle a not a part of the Chinese zodiac?"

Then Yoo Jonghyuk answered.

"The Chinese Zodiac comes from the 12 letters used in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese Zodiac you know was not the Chinese Zodiac from the beginning."

"Do you know anything about that?"

"It’s common sense."

Indeed, it seems that if you regress about 41 times, you will receive that much common sense.

I suddenly became curious and asked.

"Have you ever been here?"

"This is my first time."

So close.

I thought that Yoo Jonghyuk from the 41st round might also know about this place, but isn't the 'Zodiac Ball' an event that is easily held?

"This is the first time that an event of this magnitude, such as <Zodiac>, has been held."

"Isn’t that saying too much disregard for the Chinese zodiac?"

Yoo Jonghyuk, who frowned slightly at my words, answered while looking at the end of the distant hallway.

"My goal is the end of all scenarios ."

At that declaration, the group of people walking behind each nodded their heads or secretly looked in my direction and raised their thumbs.

The end of every scenario.

It was absurd to talk about such a goal in only the 41st round, but even so, something was different about this '41st round'.

It wasn't just because I and the readers were there.

The only history that Yoo Jonghyuk here shares with Yoo Jonghyuk in the main story is from round 0 to round 1.

The timeline from the 2nd to the 41st was completely divided. Now, Yoo Jonghyuk of that story has endured dozens of rounds of life that no one knows about.

And he was so devastated that he gave up on the next round after only the 41st round.

The meaning of despair was clear.

So, if I can just calm him down so he doesn't despair...

"You look in a bad mood."

"It’s just my natural expression."

"You don’t know much about Kim Dokja. He always has that kind of face."

As I opened the door to the banquet hall while listening to Killer King's trivial comments, the huge hall came into view at a glance.

The hall was divided into a stage on the first floor and an auditorium on the second floor with thin curtains.

Because the banquet hall was so noisy, our appearance didn't really go noticed. Rather, it was fortunate.

A light noise was heard in the air, and Bihyung appeared.

"Your appearance has changed."

Bihyung's body had grown significantly compared to before, as he had just become a mid-level dokkaebi. Just looking at it, it looked like he had gained weight.

Bihyung must have thought something when he saw my expression, so he tapped my shoulder and whispered.

I don't know why he suddenly said such a thing, but I nodded and answered.

"I know."

Dokkaebi Reiki. Even when Kim Dokja went to the 'Constellation Banquet', that dokkaebi guided the way.

He was quite immature for a dokkaebi, and he seemed similar in this round as well.

Bihyung added as if making excuses.

"I know. Rather, it seems like there is a separate waiting room for the incarnations for this ball."

"I’m an incarnation too?"

The moment I saw Bihyung's expression, I belatedly understood why he was targeting other constellations.

As my companions were walking away, they looked towards me with worried expressions, so I gave them a quick glance to show that I was okay.

I was equally worried about them. Because I don't know what kind of guys there will be in the incarnations' waiting room.

Still, I wasn't too worried. Does it matter who is there? There's Yoo Jonghyuk here.

And if I was right, our colleagues who chose other 'forces' would also be in the waiting room. Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Jung Heewon, maybe even Shin Yoosoung. If you think about it, it was a solid lineup.

I followed Bihyung and organized the log of messages that had come in.

The new main scenario will probably be 'Zodiac Ball'.

We'll have to take a closer look at what exactly the task will be...

On the seat of the table in the corner, there was a nameplate with my constellation modifier written on it.

<Demon King of Salvation (Agent)>

Anyone can see that this is a temporary transfer position.

As I was looking at the empty seat next to me, I heard Bihyung mumbling as he received an urgent call.

When I turned my head, Bihyung had disappeared somewhere.

Is this what it feels like when I transfer to a new school and the teacher who introduced me disappears?

I sat at the table and looked at the symbols of other constellations. There were constellations glancing in this direction, and there were also constellations busy talking among themselves.

The composition of the banquet hall itself was not much different from that of the 'Constellations Banquet'.

What can be seen in the hall on the first floor are mainly great-grade constellations in the form of symbols. Most of them were not easy to recognize just by looking at their appearance.

I started by looking at those who used relatively easy symbolism.

Of course, the huge rice cake over there must be the tiger eating rice cake (the rice cake was torn off in several places, as if he had been seriously injured in the confrontation with me), and is the swollen liver the 'liverless rabbit'? A cut off rattlesnake's tail is the 'snake that cuts off its tail'.

Meanwhile, I also saw a familiar face.

On the left table, the fingernails that had been scratching the table were creeping towards me.

Rat eating fingernails.

There was a reader there who went against the words of the Chinese Zodiac and came to give us advice. However, he hesitated as if he was watching the other constellations, and then sat down again.

What stopped him was the ugly symbol of the 'bird beak mask'.

What is that mask?

A calming voice was heard from behind.

When I turned my head in admiration for his knowledge, a pure white line was fluttering there.

The moment I saw the golden dragon engraved on the top of the serenity, I realized who he was.

"Nice to meet you, Waryong."

A lying dragon.

He was the famous Dragon King of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Gongming.

"Are you also a participant in this scenario?"

The nickname for the lying dragon is Waryong. Since he also has the nickname 'dragon', I thought he might be eligible to participate in this ball.

But Waryong shook his head and laughed.

Try hard and hard. Come to think of it, Zhuge Gongming had such a secret story.

It seems that the 'Recycling Center' made quite an effort to bring Waryong as an evaluator.

You're a fan?

It was an embarrassing expression.

"You mean 'the one who brought ten lambs'?"

I looked up at the second floor auditorium.

Considering the time of the 'Constellation's Banquet', the second floor would naturally contain higher-ranking constellations than the first floor.

Among them, there must be a constellation that cheered me on.

As I thought about it, a little confusion came over me.

The fact that the location of the ninth scenario is here means that it is ultimately here with the constellations.

This means that we will compete with each other,

No, they wouldn't tell us to gather all the constellations and make them fight in only the ninth scenario.

Probability would also be insufficient.

It was then that a bright light came into the center of the hall. She appeared on stage as a young woman with a cute appearance and wearing a rich gothic dress.

The moment I wondered why on earth that constellation was here, a feeling of déjà vu shook my mind. Clearly, that constellation was present at the banquet hall where Kim Dokja attended.

It was a moment when the 'Zodiac Ball', a banquet for great constellations, suddenly turned into a gourmet association party hall.

At those words, light laughter flowed from beyond the curtain. On the other hand, no one laughed in the first floor hall.

As the head of the recycling center blinked the colorful stage lights in response, Euphrosyne grinned.

In response to Euphrosyne's words, someone in the audience on the second floor muttered, "Zodiac ball."

Originally, a 'ball' meant a social gathering place where many people gathered and danced. However, the constellations on the first floor all looked stiff. It didn't seem like they particularly wanted to dance.

The blatant ridicule heard from everywhere. Several of the constellations of the Chinese zodiac were seen trembling slightly.

Despite the teasing remarks, the constellations on the first floor could not even say a word in response.

It was natural.

Because the constellation on that stage was a 'narrative-grade constellation' that could not be defeated even if all of them fought against her.

As I listened to the endless laughter beyond the curtain, I was gradually realizing who this 'Zodiac Ball' was a 'social gathering place' for.

Until now, there has been no mention in any page of 'Ways of Survival' that the 'Zodiac Ball' was conducted in this way.

Why did such a variable arise in this round?

The question didn't last long.

For a moment, the eyes of the constellations were focused on me.

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