843 Episode 45 Ten Evils (1)

Three days had passed since Yoo Joonghyuk was resurrected. Usually, other Messiahs would perform some great miracle within three days of their resurrection, but our King didn't show any such signs.

The first time Yoo Joonghyuk spoke was when I suspected that the one I had summoned was not King Yoo Joonghyuk, but someone who happened to have the same name.

"I'm hungry."

"Yes. That's really nice to hear."

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't recognize me right away. I think it was probably due to the effect of the 「Stone Head」 trait.

An hour after declaring hunger, Yoo Joonghyuk's eyes began to glow a little. Then, after two hours, Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly clenched his fist at me.

And after about three hours, a question came flying in.

"What are you?"

"Wow, are you curious about that now?"

"I asked you what it was."

"I'm Cheon Inho."

"No."

"Did you notice?"

The penalty for the 「Stone Head」 trait is a 'slight' decrease in intelligence. Fortunately, it didn't seem to decrease enough for me to not be recognized.

Yoo Joonghyuk glared at me for a moment and then said.

"You came for the 40th Round, too, didn't you?"

"You didn't do this because you knew I'd come, did you?"

Instead of answering, Yoo Joonghyuk looked down at his own body and asked.

"Why did you tie me up?"

"I'm preparing for an emergency. The other Ten Evils were worried."

"The other Ten Evils? All the Ten Evils except you died in the 40th Round?"

"I brought them back to life. Just like you."

As I seemed to be able to communicate with Yoo Joonghyuk, the Evils who had been cowardly hiding behind the various concealments of Geumho Station began to show their heads one by one.

"The One Who Deceived the Stars. Are you talking to the tyrant right now?"

"Stop doing useless things and use [Incite] quickly. We need to subdue him in the first place."

"Are you going to curse him first, or feed him some poison? I've already prepared to go up and kill him."

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had confirmed the appearance of the Ten Evils, glared at me with his eyes wide open.

"You, did you use [Deceased Summoning] on those guys too?"

"Yes, yes."

"Why would you do something like that—"

"I don't know either. Strictly speaking, it wasn't my doing."

Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to have guessed the situation from my answer.

I shouted while exaggeratedly spreading my arms to reassure the Ten Evils.

"Now, the tyrant you've been waiting for has finally been resurrected. By the way, this tyrant has a low intelligence so he won't attack people recklessly. Oh, maybe it's the opposite."

"Cheon Inho!"

Ye Hyunwoo, who had become lost in thought, pointed behind me and shouted. There, Yoo Joonghyuk had released his restraint in an instant and grabbed me by the back of the neck. His strong grip made it a little sore, but I waved my hand lightly toward the Ten Evils, still hanging in the air.

"I'm safe. I'm not dead yet, am I?"

I looked back at the platform of Geumho Station while hanging on to Yoo Joonghyuk's hand. A cold wind blew from the tunnel toward Oksu.

I suddenly laughed. Come to think of it, it was also around here that I first met Yoo Joonghyuk in the 41st Round.

"Are you debating whether to kill me again?"

Yoo Joonghyuk didn't answer.

Just from that silence, I realized that we had changed. We had been through a few things together. It may not be a great bond, but we definitely had a history together.

As Yoo Joonghyuk slowly put me down, the Ten Evils who had been hiding quickly started to run toward me one by one.

I looked at those villains and said,

"You know, right? You and I have something to check in this Round."

Yoo Joonghyuk nodded. "If we don't check that properly..."

"We won't be able to see the end of the 41st Round."

I don't know about the scenarios that will unfold. I don't know if we will be able to survive this Time Fault or if we will be able to clear the Last Scenario.

But at least one thing is certain.

Even if our story fails, that failure will change a very important part of the universe.

Asmodeus laughed quietly at Bicheonhori's point.

After a brief silence, Asmodeus muttered.

At a point when there were only 25 days left until the final chapter of the scenario, the Ten Evils and I were sitting on a bench at Geumho Station, absentmindedly.

Looking at Yoo Joonghyuk swinging his spear into the air from afar, Ye Hyunwoo, who was sitting on the bench right next to me, muttered.

"I didn't know I could really be on the same side as the tyrant."

Then, as if they had been waiting,

Kyung Sein and Lee Dansu nodded.

"That's right."

"I don't know why he's keeping us alive. What on earth did you say to the Supreme King?"

As expected, everyone was scared of Yoo Joonghyuk.

"You must have used [Incite]. Tell me what keyword you used on Yoo Joonghyuk."

In the meantime, Kang Ilhun, who had been resurrected, added a word.

I stared blankly at the Ten Evils who were just picking out pathetic words. Kang Ilhun responded to my gaze.

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm just curious."

In fact, back when I was writing the main story, I didn't even care what they looked like. That's understandable, because the role of the 'Ten Evils' was nothing more or less than an obstacle in the beginning.

However, in the 40th Round, the Ten Evils survived and were right in front of the 'Final Wall'.

And that was the problem.

Yoo Joonghyuk and I had to clear the Last Scenario with these guys. I checked the Ten Evils I learned about one by one.

First, the Evil Kang Ilhun.

Kang Ilhun, who was active as a 'Rumor Expert' in the 40th Round, controlled the public by becoming the speaker of Cheon Inho with his more developed [Rumor] skill. When <The Underworld> was destroyed, it was Kang Ilhun who inflated Cheon Inho's discord in the middle.

However, Kang Ilhun's fatal weakness was that he had almost no merit except for this [Rumor] ability.

Next, the Evil Ye Hyunwoo.

In the 40th Round, Ye Hyunwoo was called the 'Disappearing One'. The reason was simple.

"Where did that bastard Ye Hyunwoo go again?"

"It seems he made eye contact with Yoo Joonghyuk again."

It was because of his habit of disappearing at important moments. Ye Hyunwoo would disappear in an instant, no matter how dire the situation. He abandoned his colleagues, abandoned his friends. He was someone who could disappear at any time for his own survival.

That was the Evil Ye Hyunwoo.

"Lee Dansu-ssi."

"What?"

"Do you have a daughter?"

"No, I don't."

"I knew it."

"What was your intention behind asking this?"

'Ghost Slayer' Lee Dansu was explained last time, so let's skip it.

I looked at the old Kyung Sein one last time.

"What do you see? Surely you're not in love with me again, are you?"

Kyung Sein, who talks nonsense whenever she gets a chance, was called 'Strong-Weak-Weak-Strong' in the 40th Round. It's obvious what kind of person she is just by hearing her nickname, so I want to skip the explanation, but if I had to explain it anyway.

"Cheon Inho, you know that the one who fell in love is the 'weaker one', right?"

Kyung Sein was a villain who had trained the [Insect Massacre] story to the limit.

It would be helpful if weaker rascals than Kyung Sein appeared, but the problem is that the Constellations of the Giant Nebula are what we have to fight.

"Aren’t there any more helpful Ten Evils? Why, Dokhee, Reinheit, Gong Pildu—"

Ye Hyunwoo, who had reappeared in response to my question, quirked his lips.

"Are you seriously asking?"

"Yes."

"They all died because of your scheme."

"What about the other Ten Evils?"

I thought of the Ten Evils that appeared in the main story. For example, Jo Jincheol of the Gyeonggi Alliance, Choi Hangyu, the explosive monster who rode in the same car as Yoo Joonghyuk, or even Kim Cheolyang, the Life Cult Leader of Geumho Station…

"Weren't they all killed on your orders?"

"On my orders?"

"You clearly said it yourself. The Ten Evils that have survived until now are the Ten Evils that are worth using."

Ten Evils that are worth using.

In other words, Jo Jincheol, Choi Hangyu, and Kim Yang were not worth using according to Cheon Inho’s standards in the 40th Round.

They were either uncontrollable or there was some other reason. I sighed and continued.

"Just in case, are there any survivors among Yoo Joonghyuk's comrades?"

I ignored the Ten Evils who looked at me like I was crazy and continued to ask.

"If there's anyone whose head we can retrieve..."

"Oh, do you need a meat shield?"

"No, I didn't say that..."

"If that's what it's for, it's Lee Hyunsung. By the way, if I tell you how Lee Hyunsung died because of your scheme..."

"Yes, I understand, so that's all."

I hastily cut off his words. I was afraid that Yoo Joonghyuk might hear.

I realized anew. What did Cheon Inho do to Yoo Joonghyuk? And which character am I possessing?

I looked back at Yoo Joonghyuk, who was training his spear from afar, and thought. Is it really okay for Yoo Joonghyuk to be my comrade? Even if he has a memory loss, can he become comrades with the villain he once hated the most in the world?

I suddenly slapped my cheek.

I don't know why, but ever since I entered this 'Time Fault', I've been having strange thoughts.

I'm not Cheon Inho. But I keep thinking like Cheon Inho and talking like Cheon Inho without realizing it. Maybe it's natural since I've possessed Cheon Inho from the 40th Round... but what should I say? It seems like it's getting a little too much.

"Cheon Inho."

Ye Hyunwoo called me in a serious voice.

"The King's condition is strange."

I stood up in surprise. Yoo Joonghyuk, who had clearly been practicing stabbing just a moment ago, had suddenly collapsed on the floor.

Lee Dansu stood up as if he knew it would happen and shouted.

"Finally, that's right!"

"As expected, you're the Evil Sophist. When did you spray it?"

"Is it time to rule the tyrant?"

I ignored the Ten Evils who were babbling nonsense and hurriedly checked Yoo Joonghyuk's condition. The moment I painfully turned over Yoo Joonghyuk's upper body, which had collapsed due to his poor physical strength, I heard a growling sound from somewhere. It wasn't coming from my stomach.

Yoo Joonghyuk was looking up at the sky with a pale face.

"Why did you make me possess a body like this?"

"That's your original body."

"I'm hungry."

I sighed. I was about to say that it was fortunate that he collapsed because he was hungry, but then,

"I see a strange message."

"What message is it?"

"It says that I will die if I don't eat food within an hour."

I quickly called out to the Ten Evils. After all, this was Geumho Station, and since it was their base from the beginning, I thought there might be food stockpiled.

But.

"There's nothing to eat?"

"That's right. <Olympus> and <Vedas> guys did it."

I heard that there was almost no food left for humans to eat in the Korean Peninsula. It was because the Giant Nebulae scattered the 「Earth Pollution」 story all over the planet in order to kill off the humans on the surface.

"Then what did you eat to survive?"

At my question, the Ten Evil looked at each other and answered with a grin.

"We are undead, so we don't need much food."

"You need less. So what did you eat?"

"Underground..."

"Oh, is there something underground?"

"We ate dirt."

I thought I heard wrong.

"What did you eat?"

"You were the one who [incited] us like that."

The Ten Evils seemed a little embarrassed that they had survived by eating dirt, so he made an excuse.

"Soil is nutritionally excellent food. All crops absorb the nutrients in the soil and—"

I hesitated for a moment before speaking to Yoo Joonghyuk.

"Yoo Joonghyuk. Do you want to eat nutritionally superior food?"

"No."

"Yes, I will serve you right away."

"Yoo Joonghyuk, eat dirt."

The Ten Evils, shocked by my declaration, all looked at Yoo Joonghyuk. They all looked curious about when Yoo Joonghyuk would eat dirt.

What?

Yoo Joonghyuk spoke with his eyes glaring as if spitting blood.

"That kind of thing... I won’t eat it even if I die."

I wanted to say that he’s already eaten it several times, but that wasn’t the important thing.

You’re saying that the instigation isn’t working?

"Then what are we going to do?"

"We have to cook."

Yoo Joonghyuk, who got up with my help, took out small kitchen utensils from his bosom. A small table, a cutting board, and even a kitchen knife. I wanted to ask why he was carrying those things in his coat, but it seemed stranger that Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t have those tools when it came to the final scenario.

"Oh my god, I can see the king’s cooking!"

In the meantime, the Ten Evils who were excited to see the king were exclaiming in admiration.

Yoo Joonghyuk ignored the onlookers and started cooking.

I asked him with a slightly fearful look, knowing Yoo Joonghyuk’s new trait.

"What are you going to make?"

"Evil Spirit Yukhoe."

That was nonsense. How could you get Yukhoe from an Evil Spirit that didn’t even have a body in the first place?

"I have the ingredients."

But there were the ingredients.

According to Yoo Joonghyuk’s explanation, when a Transcendent that can use the sword cuts a soul body, there are cases where a cross-section of the soul body temporarily materializes.

I picked up a dark lump of meat and asked.

"So you’re going to eat this?"

"If I sprinkle some seasoning and do a little bit of preparation…"

At that moment, Yoo Joonghyuk’s kitchen knife exploded in the air.

"Bam! Supreme King! I knew it!"

"You were after us after all—"

Yoo Joonghyuk slowly sat down while watching the Ten Evils running away from the flying kitchen knife.

"Damn it."

It had been a long time since I saw Yoo Joonghyuk despairing.

I quickly raised him up and asked.

"What if I make it?"

"I don’t eat food made by others…"

Looking at Yoo Joonghyuk, who was on the verge of starvation, I also felt a faint sense of despair. I wondered if this situation made sense.

We had reached the Last Scenario. But the biggest obstacle blocking our path here was not the Constellations or the scenario, but 'food?'

I desperately thought of something Yoo Joonghyuk could eat. I thought about feeding him stories like before.

Stories were not considered 'food'.

In other words, in order to save Yoo Joonghyuk now, I had to somehow make a dish that he could eat.

However, this guy only eats the food he makes. In this situation, there was no way I could make food for him—

I looked at Yoo Joonghyuk blankly, then naturally put my hand inside my coat. After a moment, I was holding a small piece of a recipe in my hand.

A light cheer came from inside the quiet library. I heard.

Cheon Inho's voice floated over the daily newspaper in real time. The kkomas Kim Dokjas who confirmed that line shouted in unison.

Among them was the Demon King of Salvation — the Eldest Kim Dokja.

It had been quite some time since he had entered the [Fourth Wall]. At first, the small library was quite stuffy, but as time passed and the fragments of Kim Dokja gathered, the library gradually grew in size.

The Eldest Kim Dokja took out a book from the corner of the library and returned to the newspaper.

『The Recipe for Murim Dumplings』.

The Youngest must be reading this diligently by now.

The Eldest Kim Dokja smiled happily as he thought of the Youngest who was diligently learning the recipe to make dumplings.

Although he had also visited the 1,863rd world line, the 'Time Fault' that the Youngest entered this time was a bit different.

Above all, the Youngest had to clear the 'Last Scenario' of the 40th Round in order to complete this 'Time Fault'.

Although he couldn't contact the Youngest directly due to the 'Fear' penalty, the Eldest Kim Dokja would constantly take out books in the library and read them whenever he had time. He thought that he might find some information that would be helpful to the Youngest.

From the 'Ways of Survival' that he had read in the past to 'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint' written by Han Sooyoung.

And today, the Eldest Kim Dokja discovered a rather unusual bookshelf.

A bookshelf that had been pushed aside by other bookshelves and had not been noticed until now. The moment he saw the titles of the books on the bookshelf, the Eldest Kim Dokja realized what kind of bookshelf it was.

『The Origin of Memory』.

All Kim Dokja have a bookshelf that contains their own history.

This bookshelf probably contains the Youngest's 'past'.

The Eldest Kim Dokja hesitated for a moment before taking out a book from the bookshelf. As expected, the bookshelf contained the Youngest's memories.

As if opening an old album, the Eldest Kim Dokja began to turn the pages with a faint smile.

However, every time he turned the page, Kim Dokja's expression hardened a little.

Why is that?

The Youngest's name was disappearing in real time from the book.

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