At last, I’d gained a new Attribute.[You have acquired a Legend-grade Attribute!]A Legend-grade one, no less.I whispered Attribute Window in my head. Almost immediately—[Due to a current system error, the Attribute Window cannot be opened.]Right. Just like Kim Dokja, I couldn’t access my own attribute list.[You have acquired the Attribute, Record Mender.]Thankfully, this time, the name of the new Attribute appeared right away.Record Mender.I’d never seen it before.[The Attribute Record Mender activates.][Record Mender is affected by your acquired Vanished Record.][Record Mender begins to mend your missing records.]Mend my missing records?[Time until record restoration complete: 1 hour 30 minutes.]I wasn’t sure what it meant, but apparently something would change in an hour and a half.[Someone has noticed the birth of a new Record Mender.][The Recorders of Terror have become aware of your existence.]Then came a suspicious message.The Recorders of Terror—if I remembered right, that was a collective term for writers who recorded the divinities of other dimensions.And now they were aware of me?Could they perceive incarnations, just like constellations did?[Some of the Recorders of Terror regard your existence as a threat.]I’m a threat?Who knew.For now, there was too little information to go on.All I knew was this: the people from Geumho Station who had died in the third round were alive here.“Inho! You’re alive!”“Ugh—Boss!”By then, the golden glow had faded from Shin Yooseung’s eyes. She looked at me and asked,“Are they people you know?”I nodded lightly.Anyway, Bang Cheolsu was still clinging to me like a leech.I smacked the back of his head, buried against my arm.[The constellation Lord of Small Fry has sponsored you with 100 Coins.]Still the same.***Bang Cheolsu had plenty to unload; he clung to me, talking nonstop about everything that had happened.“So the tunnel suddenly collapsed and we couldn’t reach Chungmuro where you were, Boss. Damn, I thought we were goners—”A tunnel collapse, sudden scenario changes—Even from a brief listen, I could tell they’d been through hell.With how unpredictable this round was, it was a miracle any of them had survived at all.As I listened, my eyes roamed toward the Geumho Station survivors watching from afar.The first who caught my eye were the Heartless Mother and Daughter—Dayoung and her mother.Dayoung’s mother—who, in the third round, had struggled to save her daughter and ended up as fertilizer for Paradise.“What’s your total stats?”“Not telling.”“Must be lower than mine.”Dayoung and Shin Yooseung were chattering like a pair of sparrows.I turned back toward Bang Cheolsu, who was still babbling.“So then, Boss, I went and—”[The constellation Lord of Small Fry hopes you’ll keep spending time with his incarnation.]I eyed the flag stuck in his belt and said,“Bang Cheolsu.”“Yes, sir?”“You became a King.”He froze, then scratched the back of his head with an awkward grin.“Uh, if you want it, Boss, I’ll hand the flag over right now. I was keeping it for you anyway.”I looked down at the flag he suddenly held out.The color was lighter than mine, but it was still a Purple Flag.If I took that, I’d reach the next tier—Black Flag—right away.That would complete the Path of the King scenario and grant me the official King Attribute.It would certainly be the easier route.But—“That’s yours.”I couldn’t bring myself to take it.[The constellation Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss demands to know why you won’t take something offered for free.][The constellation Demon-like Judge of Fire nods at your decision.][The constellation God of the Sea admires your camaraderie.][You have received 500 Coins.]I didn’t know why, but that flag was one thing I didn’t want to steal.Maybe it was because of the eyes watching from afar—Dayoung, her mother, and the others.Or maybe it was a selfish wish as a writer—wanting to see Bang Cheolsu and these people live their story a little longer.“B-Boss…”Bang Cheolsu’s eyes glistened.[The constellation Lord of Small Fry is moved by your noir spirit.][You have received 500 Coins.]Before things got any more sentimental, I quickly waved him off.“Anyway, I’d rather hear about this dungeon now.”***Thirty minutes later, I stood before the dungeon entrance.[Would you like to enter the Labyrinth?]Even the entry chime sounded different from the original scenario.“Are you sure the Star Jewels are in there?”Bang Cheolsu nodded.“Yes, sir. We saw people who’d already gathered them.”“The Seven Kings of Seoul, I assume.”“Huh? How did you know?”Obvious enough.Even in the original story, only the Seven Kings had obtained the Star Jewels here.“No matter how strong you are, Boss, if you meet any of the Seven Kings, avoid them. Those guys aren’t normal.”“I’d imagine not. They’re Kings, after all.”This wasn’t the third round—it was the forty-first. The Seven Kings here would be far stronger than before.Still, there was no turning back.Whether the ones inside were the Seven Kings or the Old Readers’ Alliance, if I wanted to collect the Star Jewels, I had to go in.They were essential to summoning the Fourfold Calamity Sword.“Boss, can’t you wait for us? Just three hours—we can reenter after that.”“Three hours is too long. See you later.”Apparently, the dungeon imposed a reentry cooldown once you left.It would have been nice to go in together, but I didn’t have that luxury.If my hunch was right, the other readers—and Mr. Dansoo—were inside already.“I’m ready, mister.”At least I wasn’t going alone.“You’re sure about this?”“Yes. I want to go.”As Shin Yooseung said that, she looked back at Dayoung a few steps away.Dayoung glared and slashed the air with a threatening hand chop.“Dayoung! Don’t do that!”Her mother’s scolding made the girl pout. Shin Yooseung watched her quietly, then said,“I need to get stronger. So I won’t be scared when I meet bad adults again.”Maybe seeing another kid her age had stirred something in her. Determination burned in her voice—and that determination made me strangely sad.“There are ways to meet good adults too.”“Good adults always die fast.”The words carried an eerie sense of déjà vu. A dull ache pulsed in my head.I rubbed my temple lightly and said,“If it looks dangerous, you escape right away. Understood?”“Yes!”It hurt to admit, but to clear this scenario’s final chapter, I needed Shin Yooseung’s help.Was this how Kim Dokja felt every time he went with her?“Please, be careful, Boss!”Leaving the Geumho Station group bowing behind us, I entered the labyrinth with Shin Yooseung.[You have entered the Star Labyrinth.]As soon as we stepped inside, a pitch-black corridor stretched out before us—like the hall of an underground prison.At least there were no “Newbie Hunters” this time.I kept my guard up, scanning every direction. Then came a flurry of system messages.[A new Sub Scenario has arrived!]+Sub Scenario – Star LabyrinthType: SubDifficulty: A++Clear Condition: Explore the Star Labyrinth and obtain the hidden Star Jewel.Time Limit: ―Reward: 3,000 CoinsFailure: No penalty for scenario failure.* Special rules apply to this scenario.+Star Labyrinth, huh.I scrolled down to check the special rules.+1. A Labyrinth Warden will appear in this labyrinth.+A warden?What, like a Minotaur?+2. Every three hours, the labyrinth undergoes Relocation. During Relocation, the entire labyrinth is engulfed in flames and its internal structure changes.3.You may enter a nearby Safe Zone to escape the flames. Entering a Safe Zone allows you to exit the labyrinth.+A timer appeared before my eyes.[Time until next Relocation: 1 hour 54 minutes.][Find a Safe Zone.]Tricky, but the pattern wasn’t too hard to grasp.As long as we found a Safe Zone before time ran out, we’d survive.The real problem was how many more rules there might be.+4. Every incarnation who enters the labyrinth receives a Dust Man.+A small clump of dust appeared above my head, sprouting tiny eyes. It drifted about, then opened a small mouth and squeaked,―Byul byul byul (twinkle twinkle).It circled me once, then began devouring the sparkling shards scattered across the floor.[Your Dust Man has collected 1 unit of Star Dust.]So that was the rule here. I was starting to get it.“Wow, mister! Look at this!”A Dust Man had appeared beside Shin Yooseung too.Chirping byul byul, the little thing flitted around us, greedily gobbling up the glittering fragments on the ground.[Your Dust Man has collected 1 unit of Star Dust!]Shin Yooseung watched in awe.“I think I get it now.”+5. When a Dust Man gathers enough Star Dust, it produces a Star Jewel.+Right on cue, the next rule revealed itself.As expected, the dungeon’s goal was to raise the Dust Man and harvest Star Jewels.+6. Dust Men of the ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) same group can be combined via [Fusion].+“Should we try combining them?” she asked.“Go ahead.”Since we were in the same group, there was no point raising separate ones.When I chose [Fusion], my Dust Man opened its mouth wide and swallowed hers whole.[You have absorbed incarnation Shin Yooseung’s Dust Man.][The Dust Man of the Seoul Station group grows stronger.]Maybe because there were two now, it started collecting Star Dust much faster.“Let’s keep moving.”We proceeded carefully, maintaining full awareness.Signs of brutal fighting littered the path ahead—bodies stabbed, hacked, and left to rot, their murderous intent still clinging like stains.Scattered near them were bits of Star Dust—relics of their brief lives.[The constellation Black Flame Dragon of the Abyss says things are finally getting interesting.][Several constellations look forward to your performance.]We quietly gathered the Star Dust, like handling remains.Why had these people died here?Most of them probably didn’t even know what the Fourfold Calamity Sword was.[A few constellations click their tongues.]No—maybe I did know why. They died so they could become part of a story.“Good adults really do die fast.”I turned. Shin Yooseung was staring down at a woman’s corpse.I stopped beside her and looked at the same face.Unfamiliar.I didn’t know her—and probably never would.But Shin Yooseung seemed to.“You knew her?”“She’s the one who tried to stop me from entering the solo dungeon.”I laid a hand on her shoulder.“Yooseung.”“Yes?”“Are you all right?”She hesitated, then nodded.I couldn’t read her expression, couldn’t tell whether she truly was. But her eyes looked… deeper somehow.“People dying—it happened before the scenarios too, didn’t it?”“That’s true.”“We just didn’t see it as clearly.”I hadn’t expected that kind of statement. It caught me off guard.She quickly waved her hands.“Sorry. That was rude. Sometimes I just say weird things without realizing it.”“It’s fine. I agree. Death has always been there. It just wasn’t this blatant.”Even before the scenarios, people died.People killed each other.They killed, and then talked about those deaths over drinks—as if it were nothing. Because it was a world where such talk was allowed, we all thought it was trivial.“Do you have a religion, mister?”“No.”“Me neither.”In theory, any god could exist now as a constellation, so believing in one shouldn’t have been strange.But maybe that was exactly why I didn’t want to believe in anything.“Do you think humans have souls?”“Yes.”Perhaps I’d answered too firmly. Shin Yooseung blinked wide-eyed.“Then where do souls go when they die?”“To the afterlife, I suppose.”“Does that place have scenarios too?”“It might.”“Then dying isn’t much different from living here.”“In a sense, yes.”She looked straight up at me.“Still, mister—you can’t die.”I nodded.“You too, Yooseung.”We offered silent prayers for the woman’s peace. The drifting ashes on the floor looked like fragments of her soul scattering into the dark.[Your Dust Man has collected over 100 units of Star Dust!][Within the Star Labyrinth, your Stamina stat increases by 1.]Even amid death, we grew stronger.We ran into a few other incarnations, but the moment they saw my Blade of Conviction, they turned tail and fled.I was quietly grateful—it wasn’t a day I wanted to kill anyone.[Current Star Dust collected: 302]Staring at the counter, Shin Yooseung said,“Mister, at this rate—”“Don’t say it’s going smoothly.”“What?”That was when the Dust Man above us froze.―Byul? Byul? Byul?[Very little Star Dust remains in the Star Labyrinth.]Of course.No scenario ever stayed easy for long.[To obtain more Star Dust, hunt other incarnations.]So that was it—this labyrinth was designed to make us kill each other.To gather all seven Star Jewels, how many incarnations would I have to slaughter?New rules appeared before I could dwell on it.+7. An incarnation who acquires a Star Jewel experiences a dramatic increase in total stats.8. Each acquired Star Jewel raises your Madness level.+…Madness?―Byul! Byul! Byul!The Dust Man above me began to convulse violently.I realized why a moment later.[A nearby incarnation possesses a Star Jewel.]“Mister.”I nodded.A faint tremor rippled beneath our feet.Something—someone—was approaching.One of the Seven Kings of Seoul is nearby.

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