The One-Star Scenario

Once again, about seven days. I had been given a week.

"Whew..."

"What's wrong, Sunbae? Is it something bad?"

Minhye asked worriedly, noticing my reaction.

I shook my head and chuckled.

"No, this one is fine. It's like a bonus stage."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Huh? A bonus?"

"Yeah. This is a scenario I wrote really half-heartedly for an assignment back when I was a college freshman. The setting is flimsy, and the plausibility is a mess. Compared to The Red Mask, it's child's play. I don't think we need to prepare too intensely this time. Let's take a good two or three days off to rest. Everyone's worked so hard."

At my words, everyone's faces brightened.

Perhaps because they could escape the dreadful ghost stories and enjoy a brief moment of peace, an air of relief washed over the room.

And so, we decided to take a short break for a few days.

The next day.

I sat alone in an empty classroom.

I turned on my laptop and opened the scenario file.

"Whew... It's so embarrassing looking at something I wrote as a freshman."

Holy water, of all things.

A plot device so incredibly convenient that the current me would never use it.

Besides...

With a flimsy scenario like this, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't I end it in one go using my Add Setting ability?

I glanced at the remaining time.

There's plenty of time, too.

I fell into a pleasant daydream, imagining what kind of setting I could add to end this B-grade comedy as easily, quickly, and perfectly as possible.

A few days later, on a weekend evening.

Having finished our brief rest, we gathered once again at Minhye's house—which was, to put it simply, our hideout.

The atmosphere was starkly different from the tense, solemn mood of our previous meetings.

Steaming hot pizza and fried chicken sat on the living room table.

It looked just like a group of ordinary college students gathering for a group project.

"Ah, meetings really taste best with late-night snacks," Deokhu said, picking up a chicken drumstick.

I took a sip of cola and walked over to the long list of scenarios taped to the wall. I pointed my finger at a title in the section where the one-star scenarios were grouped.

"Alright, just as the Judge notified us, this is our next assignment: Campus Black Magic Club. As you can see, it's a glorious one-star scenario."

At my words, Minhye, who was about to stuff a slice of pizza into her mouth, frowned.

"Black Magic ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Club... Just hearing the title gives off major B-movie vibes. Sounds super boring."

"Exactly."

I chuckled and sat back down.

"It's a scenario I half-assed for a general education assignment when I was a freshman. Honestly, you can barely even call it a scenario. It's just a bare-bones synopsis. The setting is full of holes, and the plausibility is nonexistent."

I opened my laptop and began to briefly explain the plot.

"The plot is very simple. A group of college students in an occult black magic club perform a demon-summoning ritual for fun, using an old magic book they stole from the library. But the ritual, which started as a joke, actually summons a real 'low-level demon' through a series of coincidences. The summoned demon seals the club room doors and brutally murders the trapped students one by one. It's a highly cliché B-grade occult slasher."

As soon as I finished the briefing, Deokhu clapped his hands excitedly.

"Then it's going to be incredibly easy this time. It really is a bonus stage!"

He set down his chicken bone and began to chatter away with excitement.

"Before the scenario starts, can't we just add a setting like, 'However, this demon is weak to garlic'? Then we just buy a whole sack of garlic, go in, and chuck it at its face. Wouldn't that end it?"

His solution sounded surprisingly plausible at first glance.

Minhye's eyes sparkled, looking intrigued.

"Oh, that's good! Or how about, 'However, this demon loses its strength when it watches K-pop choreography'? I could totally bust out some moves for it."

"No, that might just make it angrier."

While the two of them giggled and let their wild imaginations run wild, Seyeon, who had been listening quietly, spoke up in a calm voice.

"No, I don't think it'll be that simple."

Seyeon wiped her mouth with a napkin and looked at me.

"You said it yourself, Sunbae. Settings that shake the very foundation of the story won't work. A demon... is a massive concept that has existed throughout thousands of years of human history. Suddenly giving it a weakness like 'garlic' might be too much of a stretch, as it completely changes the genre of the story. Would the system even allow that?"

Seyeon's counterargument instantly cut through the playful banter.

The smiles vanished from Deokhu and Minhye's faces.

I nodded quietly.

"Seyeon is right. Add Setting isn't an all-powerful cheat key. If it were, the Judge would never have given us this ability in the first place."

"That's true."

"This ability isn't meant for our convenience. It's strictly testing our capability as 'authors.'"

We had to realize that just because a scenario had a low rating and was practically abandoned, we couldn't afford to take it lightly.

As expected, Seyeon was the first to search for a clue.

She had stopped eating long ago, rapidly searching for something on her tablet.

"Sunbae, about the fact that it's explicitly specified as a 'low-level demon' in your scenario."

She spoke without taking her eyes off the screen.

"I think this is a very important clue. It means the entity we have to face isn't a high-ranking, named demon from myths or literature, like Lucifer or Baal. If it were such an entity, a setting like garlic obviously wouldn't work. It wouldn't match the narrative's scale."

She spun the screen toward us.

The screen displayed data on various low-level evil spirits and minor demons from mythologies around the world.

"These nameless minor spirits often aren't bound to a specific culture or religion. Instead, they tend to show weaknesses to more primal things."

"That... sounds kind of complicated?"

When Deokhu tilted his head in confusion, Seyeon confidently continued.

"It's not complicated at all. From now on, I'm going to scour the library and online academic databases to find out what these entities commonly dislike or avoid. For example, certain symbols, metals, or plants."

"Hmm, very good."

At Seyeon's words, Deokhu's eyes lit up once more.

"Oh! If a specific metal is its weakness, what if I make a weapon out of it?"

He excitedly began pouring out his ideas.

"For example, if 'silver' is the weakness, I could melt down silver spoons or rings to make pellets and shoot them with a BB gun! Or I could make silver powder, put it inside a fire extinguisher, and spray it! Wouldn't that be effective?"

"Sigh... Get a grip, will you? The time for joking is over."

Minhye scolded him with a look of pity, but Deokhu remained undeterred.

"Our stage this time is the club room, right? I want to install mini CCTVs and wireless microphones beforehand so we can perfectly control the situation inside. We need to know exactly where it's hiding and what it's doing so that you can add a setting at the perfect timing, Hyung."

"Hmm, that's a good idea, but adding a setting has to be done before the scenario begins."

"Ah... Oh..."

While they moved passionately to find their respective roles, I began to reread the scenario I had written.

It might be even more dangerous precisely because it looks so easy.

I stared down at the childish sentences on the screen.

My current scenarios were different from this one.

Those scenarios were works I had agonized over for days, completing them through extensive research.

From the origins of the urban legends, the grudges of the spirits, to the rules of the curses and their weaknesses.

Everything was tightly woven with its own logic and plausibility.

That was why I could pinpoint the gaps in those stories and change their endings, but...

This one...

This was a scenario I had rushed through in a single night just to submit it for a freshman college assignment.

The setting was full of gaping holes, and the progression was purely convenient.

Weaknesses? I hadn't even given them a second thought.

It was just written so that when the protagonist fell into danger, a single bottle of 'accidentally discovered holy water' solved everything.

A flimsy set of rules is practically the same as having no rules at all...

An antagonist with a well-crafted script is actually easier to predict.

By analyzing their motives, goals, and behavioral patterns, you can read their next move.

But a madman with no thoughts or rules is different.

You can't predict where they'll bounce or what they'll do.

The 'low-level demon' of this B-grade scenario might be exactly that kind of entity.

Because I hadn't given it any specific settings, it might be pure chaos and malice itself, unbound by anything.

If so, we're in deep trouble...

As I fell silent, Minhye, noticing my quietness, asked worriedly,

"Sunbae, what's wrong? You look troubled."

"It's nothing. Just got a lot on my mind."

I forced a smile. There was no need to dampen the team's morale.

This anxiety was a leader's burden to bear alone.

I smiled once more.

And so,

the meeting continued late into the night.

A short while later.

On my way home after wrapping up the meeting,

I reflexively looked toward the hill where our university's club building stood.

It was already past midnight.

Huh...?

On the third floor of the old, dilapidated club building.

An ominous light flickered on and off at regular intervals.

I stared intently at it.