Chapter 432: Episode 82 – Outer God (1)
The Constellations rushing in flinched after checking out the title card floating in the air.
“....What’s up with this episode? He’s ‘not hiding his powers’? What?”
“Never mind that and just kill him!”
I sighed out grandly while looking at all those weapons brandished at me.
....That damn Han Su-Yeong.
I began wondering if this was how every character felt inside.
Characters that had to follow along with the plot that the author had cooked up, and had no choice but to overcome the obstacles set before them. Yu Jung-Hyeok had overcome such trials and tribulations for tens of thousands of years.
If I had one advantage over him, then that would be me knowing who the author of this particular scenario was.
Swiiiiiish!
Two strands of sword auras tore apart right before my eyes. I easily avoided the attacks with airy footsteps and thought to myself.
I had a chat with Han Su-Yeong in the past about a certain something.
There are two types of writers in the world. One, a diligent type of writer who plots everything out in advance. And then, the genius beautiful girl writer who entrusts herself to the feelings of the moment without relying on prior planning.
Oh? And which one are you?”
Hey you dumbass. You asking me because you really can’t tell?
So, then. That genius author-nim had written this very scenario, did she?
[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, is readying some beer.]
[Judge, ‘Bimawen’, is readying some drip coffee.]
So, you want to abuse me a bit for the sake of satisfying the tastes of the main ‘readership’, was that it? I stared at the sky and muttered out. “Hey, listen. You know that this is a trade, don’t you?”
[Scenario Master is tilting her head after hearing your words.]
Even if that was her ‘reaction’, Han Su-Yeong should’ve realised what I was talking about here. In the meantime, the Constellations had me surrounded.
“You came riding on a bus this far, so it’s time that you make your exit.”
Making an exit.... Now, where would these idiots learn such a scary phrase from? “We’ll have to wait and see who will make their exit first, now don’t we?”
I couldn’t activate either the [Lightning Transformation] or [Way of the Wind]. Not only that, I couldn’t use my usual [Unbreakable Faith], either.
After all, it’d be troublesome to let others know that I was ‘Kim Dok-Ja’. Still, there was no need to utilise my main attack options when dealing with these low-levelled mobs right now.
Tsu-chuchuchuchut....
Because, I was none other than ‘Sun Wukong’.
[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is nodding his head.]
[You’ve been permitted to use a portion of ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’s’ Stigmas.]
If I was a regular Constellation, dealing with such a Stigma would’ve been a tall order. However, I was a ‘Fable-grade Constellation’, and possessed three different ‘Great Fables’, to boot.
Ku-gugugugu!!
This time, the onomatopoeia was not made by someone’s mouth but from actual thunders cracking in the sky for real. As the lightning bolts flashed in the air, I yanked out a handful of hair and blew them into the air.
[Stigma, ‘Body Outside Body Magic’, is activating!]
The ‘Body Outside Body’ technique.
Simply put, it was Sun Wukong’s version of the skill [Avatar].
“W-what is this?!”
“Kuwaaahk!”
The clone Sun Wukongs proliferated in the blink of an eye and began pummelling the enemy Constellations to pulps. Suddenly, narration speech bubbles floated up above the heads of the clones rushing forward.
(“The Demon King of Salvation!”)
(“Isn’t hiding!”)
(“His powers!”)
It seemed that she had momentarily forgotten that she was the narrator here.
Tsu-chuchuchuchuchu....
I only borrowed the power of a single magic skill, yet the condition of my body worsened noticeably. It was exacerbated by the fact that I was gravely injured already.
....Goddammit, why hasn’t Yu Jung-Hyeok come out of the fog yet?
[Your Incarnation Body’s recovery is being delayed!]
[Condition of your Incarnation Body is worsening!]
I gazed at the murky interior of the fog and pretended to be unconcerned. The retired Sun Wukong needed to look strong, no questions asked. And I must never go all out, no matter what.
⸢Kim Dok-Ja thought to himself. ‘I’m Yu Jung-Hyeok.’⸥
I bit my lips and formed the expression similar to the coolest person that I knew.
“Screw this.... We’re retreating!”
It seemed that my ploy worked, as the Constellations began retreating from the perceived threats to their lives.
[A great number of Players are exiting the scenario!]
In the blink of an eye, the only things remaining around me were the empty husks that the Constellations left behind.
“Euh, euh....”
However, even these husks possessed egos. They were creatures tasked with acting as Yogoe ‘extras’ in this world.
Suddenly, my heart began beating irregularly.
[Chaos is writhing within in your heart.]
[Rate of Outer God transformation is accelerating.]
[Stigma, ‘Fiery Golden Eyes Lv.???’, has been forcibly activated!]
As my vision burned in the crimson hue, the collapsed Yogoes revealed their true appearances.
[WhereisthisWhereisthisWhereisthis]
[AhAhAhAhAhAh]
[AgainAgainAgainAgainAgain]
Yogoes carrying suffering expressions had their heads shoved against the ground while screaming out. It wasn’t that difficult to understand why. I had witnessed similar existences to them on the ‘Isle of Reincarnators’ already.
They were creatures mobilised to fill up the ‘lacking Probability’ in the Fable chambers of this [Journey to the West Remake]. Expendables, cursed to eternally repeat the life of being used as extras of other stories.
The problem here was, what was the ‘real identity’ of those creatures?
[Power of Chaos is writhing within your heart!]
Pain welled up in my chest like vomit.
I staggered unsteadily and approached one of the Yogoes. The moment my hand touched its slick body, its appearance changed.
To that of a tentacled cephalopod-type monster.
Pages of the ‘Ways of Survival’ flipped open in my head.
⸢Some Nebulas deliberately nurture the cast-off skins of the lower-ranked ‘Old Beings’.⸥
⸢They use these beings as sacrifices to fill up the necessary Probability of the scenarios.⸥
My heart was beating much louder than before. Indeed, such sections did appear in the ‘Ways of Survival’. However, it never revealed which ‘Nebulas’ did such things even until the end....
It can’t be, it was the <Emperor>?
[Pilgrim Sun, stop right there!]
I looked up into the sky and sure enough, one of the Constellations in charge of the heavenly worlds was busy making his descent. I wasn’t sure of his name. Probably some loser like Metal Lord of the West or Lingji Bodhisattva or something. Well, there were literally hundreds of Constellations with similar names like that in the <Emperor>, after all.
[Those Yogoes are beasts that used to cultivate at the foot of Yeongchi Mountain! However, they stole and drank the sacred oils from the Great Leiyin Temple where Buddha was residing and became Yogoes as a result. Please, show them mercy and graciously pardon them of their sins and hand them over to.....]
After realising the truth, I finally understood why <Emperor> folks wanted to retrieve these so-called Yogoes. From their perspective, these creatures must be like their resources.
A must-have resource in order to operate the scenarios.
[A portion of judges are satisfied by the story’s reflection of the original work.]
[5 additional points have been awarded.]
[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, is yawning in boredom.]
The defeated Yogoes either dying or reverting back to the property of the deities. That development, without a doubt, truly reflected what happened in the original work, something that hadn’t changed in the past thousands of years.
However, if that was the correct flow of events and the correct rules of the [Journey to the West], then....
[WhoamIWhoamIWhoamIWhoamI]
....Then, what meaning was there to the lives of these Yogoes?
[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is looking at you in puzzlement.]
When I didn’t say anything for a while, the Lingji Bodhisattva opened his mouth once more. [Hmm, hmm. In any case.... It is fine for me to take the Yogoes away, yes?]
In the end, the narration decided to step in first.
(Sun Wukong nodded his head and towards the Lingji Bodhisattva....)
“I can’t let you do that.”
(....Said that he can’t allow that.)
I sensed the angry gaze of the Scenario Master bearing down on me from the sky. It was a reproachful gaze, seemingly asking me what I was thinking of when making such a reply.
The Lingji Bodhisattva was stunned just as much as she was, it seemed. [....What did you say?]
“Whatever the case may be, you people don’t look after these guys properly anyway.”
[W-what are you talking about?]
“You’ll just mobilise these Yogoes as extras in other Fable chambers.”
[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, is looking at you with deeply intrigued eyes.]
[Judge, ‘Bimawen’, has closed the book he was reading and is now looking at you.]
[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is paying attention to your words.]
The panicking Lingji Bodhisattva yelled out loudly. [They are nothing more than simple Yogoes. You’re chasing after a greater purpose in this journey, so why are you minding the fate of these worthless creatures?]
“They are folks who also carry out the ‘scenarios’ as well. You’re supposed to pursue Buddha’s teachings or discuss the true meaning of the universe and be on the righteous path, so how come you’re so disinterested in the lives of those that are not human?”
While saying such things, I began thinking about Han Su-Yeong. Did she already plan out the ‘conclusion’ of this scenario?
[Many audience members are intrigued by your argument.]
Just like what Han Su-Yeong said earlier with her own mouth, she was the so-called ‘genius-type’ writer who relied on the feelings of the moments to create the overall narrative. But that also meant she’d suffer the torture of creation, always wary of the potential responses the readers might display.
[Scenario Master is waiting for your next declaration.]
She probably had to participate in this scenario in a hurry and didn’t enjoy the luxury of time to come up with a satisfying conclusion nor to establish an overarching theme.
Indeed, it’d be already pretty tough to create storylines that would constantly excite the audience members.
But, what if I aided her in her quest?
I slowly got up and, while standing in front of the Yogoes, raised my voice. “I shall take these guys with me.”
As the Lingji Bodhisattva’s expression was filling up with pure astonishment, I could also see the Yogoes falling into confusion as well.
There were some things that could only be seen from the perspectives of a writer or the reader, and some that could only be understood by being one of the main characters.
[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, likes your unwillingness to concede defeat.]
[Judge, ‘Bimawen’, likes your unwillingness to concede defeat.]
[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, likes your unwillingness to concede defeat.]
[150 additional points have been acquired!]
[The theme of the applicable Fable chamber is beginning to change greatly!]
Yogoes were now looking up at me.
[A possibility of a new ‘Great Fable’ is germinating!]
[Shares for ‘Outer God’ has been generated for the new ‘Great Fable’!]
....As I expected. However, the messages didn’t end there.
[The agreement with the Wenny King is activating!]
[In order to fulfil the agreement, you need to increase the shares of ‘Outer God’ for the applicable Fable to over 30%.]
[Currently, shares of ‘Outer God’ for the applicable scenario is 0.0003%.]
....0.0003%???
As I began despairing at that nonsensical percentage, the Lingji Bodhisattva began yelling again in mid-air. [You fool! You’re truly boundlessly arrogant, aren’t you! Do you think you’re the real Pilgrim Sun or some such??]
This Bodhisattva must’ve forgotten about his role for a second there, because he began pouring out powerful Status at me. It was right after I had finished dealing with the Great Sage’s Probability, so I no longer possessed enough energy to contend with that.
But, just before the waves of Status, fired like lightning bolts, could stab into me...
“Hey, you. Did you know that you sound exactly like Dok-Ja ahjussi?”
....Along with that voice, the lightning bolts split apart in the air.
I looked around and saw that the sandy fog had died down already. My companions were approaching me from the distance. And then, Yu Jung-Hyeok was standing before me as if to shield me. He glared at the sky, and pointed the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] scattering electrical energy at the opponent.
“I won’t say this twice. Scram.”
[Y-you bastards.... This insult, I will definitely....]
The Lingji Bodhisattva sweated buckets out of sheer fright and quickly disappeared, leaving Yu Jung-Hyeok to look at me with an icy expression. His [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] was pointing at me next.
“Didn’t I say I’ll kill you if you don’t behave yourself?”
“Uh.... My apologies.”
“I’ve defeated the ‘Yellow Wind’ Demon King.”
“....Congratulations.”
I began aiding the Yogoes still collapsed on the ground.
[WhoareyouWhoareyouWhoareyou]
They stared at me in fear, but eventually came closer and sniffed my hands. However, they still scampered away in a hurry. Like some sort of abandoned puppies, they hid behind distant trees and began peeking around the corners at me from their hiding spots.
[A portion of abandoned Yogoes are now following you.]
Yu Jung-Hyeok addressed me. “You know that this is a meaningless action, right?”
“....”
“The <Emperor> Nebula will retrieve them once this Fable chamber is complete.”
“I’m aware of that.”
“Something like that has happened thousands of times to them. Your kindness means nothing to them.”
“I’m also aware of that.”
“They will perform the exact same roles in the exact same scenario in the future, and forget all about you. They won’t be able to remember anything about you.”
“Do the ones that can’t remember anything....” I stared straight at Yu Jung-Hyeok and replied. “....also forget about their sorrow, too?”
His eyes staring back at me trembled powerfully. I remained still as he continued to shiver. Was it because we had already reached the 94th scenario? His face was covered with quite a few scars now.
“You....”
Before he could form a proper sentence, the kids arrived first. When I took a closer look, though, our companions had ballooned up by one.
“As expected of my Mast..... N-no, hang on. You’re the Senior Brother in this place, right? In any case, you were so cool! What was that technique earlier? Please teach me that!”
Her energetic voice caused my heart to ache even before I noticed it.
Ah, I see. So, you were our ‘Sha Wujing’, then.
[‘Player 2’ -nim has joined the group!]
“Hi~ Sun Wukong. Hey, you sure know how to run your mouth, don’t you?”
Yi Ji-Hye, wearing a T-shirt with a large butterfly printed on it and chewing on bubblegum, lightly slapped me on the shoulder and extended her hand to me.
(And so, all the main actors of the [Journey to the West] have finally gathered.)
I smiled faintly and extended my hand towards her. But then, my body suddenly collapsed as if the ground beneath my feet had disappeared.
“Uh? What’s wrong with him?”
Yi Ji-Hye hurriedly supported my collapsing frame. As the faintest trace of demonic aura leaked out from my body, my vision grew dim at the rate of knots.
[Your Incarnation Body has currently sustained great damage!]
[Rate of Outer God transformation is accelerating!]
[Outer God transformation progress percentage: 71%]
It seemed that there weren’t that many days remaining in my happiness-filled journey.
*
⸢”I shall take these guys with me.”⸥
Han Su-Yeong heard the words coming out of the display panel and her jaw dropped to the floor. Her lemon candy rolled around on the floor.
Yi Su-Gyeong happened to be tidying up the vicinity just then; she cautiously came closer and asked. “Did something happen?”
Han Su-Yeong remained utterly stupefied until then, but her lips finally began bobbing up and down a little. “N-no, wait. That guy.....”
She looked at the list of characters on the holographic display.
[Player 1, ‘Yu Jung-Hyeok’ -nim, is playing the role of ‘Zhu Bajie’.]
[Player 2, ‘Yi Ji-Hye’ -nim, is playing the role of ‘Sha Wujing’.]
[Player 3, ‘Yi Gil-Yeong’ -nim, is playing the role of ‘Tang Sanzang’.]
....
........
[Player 8, ‘Watcher of the Light and Darkness’ -nim, is playing the role of ‘Sun Wukong’.]
She stared at that list for a very long time, then suddenly rubbed her eyes while tilting her head back.
How long passed by like that?
Han Su-Yeong let out “Ah, aaaah” noise, and started cackling away.
Yi Su-Gyeong cautiously asked her again. “....Are you Black Flame Dragon right now?”
“No, no. I’m Han Su-Yeong. Han Su-Yeong the moron, actually.”
Han Su-Yeong opened her eyes, her cheeks flushed ever so slightly.
Holographic messages began rising up one after the other.
[The declaration made by the applicable individual is welcomed by many audience members.]
[A portion of judges are awarding additional points for ‘twisting cliches’.]
[Current ranking of the applicable Fable chamber is 25th.]
“You arrogant schmuck. Who asked you for your help?”
Her fingertips pressing on the key panel for some reason looked more cheerful than before.
“Being number one is what I do best, you idiot.”
<Episode 82. Outer God (1)> Fin.