Father's Sacrifice
Ram slammed his head onto the desk.
It was because he had just peeked into Hae-il’s heart with the inner-thought magnifier.
[Ranks are just numbers after all]
“Hae-il… that’s not how it works…”
“R-Ram-nim…”
“Sam. Did I pick the wrong protagonist?”
“No, sir? He’s overflowing with conviction, has an upright personality, and even looks handsome. You couldn’t have chosen better!”
“No. Maybe I’m just worse at making stories than Pam…”
“Th-that can’t be! You’re far superior to that mass-production factory fairy! Comparison isn’t even possible! Hae-il is way better than Julian too!”
Gulp.
Sam grew tense.
Oh no. My “my protagonist sucks” disease is acting up again.
When a story board wavers, the first instinct is to blame others. But when nothing changes no matter how much you blame them, the arrow eventually turns toward your own alter ego—the protagonist. Insulting the protagonist is essentially insulting the Story Fairy themselves. So right now, Ram was blaming himself.
“Everything about Hae-il is great except his brain is a little…”
“Anyone who has everything is disqualified under Rule One of the Fairy Corporation protagonist selection manual, Ram-nim.”
That was true. To gain something, you had to give something up. The rest had to be covered with coins or minor interventions.
“Besides, Hae-il’s brain isn’t that bad. You saw it during the Champion Goblin fight, didn’t you?”
Kang Hae-il had sensed that Moon Junil’s orders were correct and changed his tactics. Thanks to that, the party cleared the dungeon with only one casualty.
“Then what’s the point! That Julian bastard took first place!”
Ram suddenly shouted.
“And we even made him lose his phone on purpose because he doesn’t realize it’s the problem! He still hasn’t talked to the elf! What the hell is wrong with him!?”
“Th-that’s…”
That was why Kang Hae-il had suddenly and absurdly lost his phone. They had spent coins to intervene. The spirits following the elf had hidden the nearby phone somewhere. It wasn’t an excessive intervention that disrupted the flow, so it hadn’t cost many coins. The problem was that Kang Hae-il hadn’t changed his behavior much either. He had only wandered around a bit looking for the phone.
“No! And why isn’t that pointy-eared bastard talking to him either!? We called her for that exact reason!”
If Kang Hae-il wouldn’t speak first, the elf should have. But she showed no sign of doing so.
“He even got teabagged!”
Instead, Julian was taunting him with a “I talked to the elf, nyah nyah~” attitude. And it wasn’t just talk.
[He even gave out a sub-quest.]
That single line had grated on Ram more than anything.
S-rank? More like SUCK-rank. Get off.
Quick-witted Constellations were leaving one after another, each offering their own creative interpretation of what “S-rank” stood for.
“……Damn elf.”
Ram’s shoulders slumped as he muttered.
“This is exactly when they’re supposed to be useful.”
Elves, sharing the same World Tree lineage, were the beings closest to the Story Fairies’ dimension. They resided in the story dimension yet could also touch the higher realms to some degree. That was why veteran Story Fairies often made good use of elves—they could be sent out as proxies without paying a large cost. But there was an equal amount of risk. They were difficult to persuade, and if they misinterpreted a fairy’s request, the flow could become even more tangled. The current situation was a perfect example.
“Elves are a double-edged sword, Ram-nim. Still, since you’ve gotten close to one… I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.”
“Where’s the boss?”
Venom filled Ram’s eyes.
“Y-you mean the Necro boss?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t just the Constellations who had been properly provoked by Julian’s teabagging. Ram felt the same.
I set everything up this carefully, and that guy’s hogging it all while bragging on top of it?
Julian’s words had been far too obvious. As if he wanted to be noticed.
And that bastard is even doing faint squats while sitting. It’s not even a squat exercise.
Grind.
Ram’s teeth ground together. A mere mass-produced hero from Pam’s factory had the nerve!
“You reinforced the boss enough, right?”
“Yes, though…”
The Necromancer boss was already strong. Now that the reinforcement was complete, it would crush Julian.
“Good. Let’s go.”
“Ah… Yes. But I still recommend not touching Julian…”
“What? Why.”
Because nothing good ever came from touching him… Sam couldn’t bring himself to say that and instead explained indirectly.
“Because he’s still in an extra state. There’s a limit to how many Constellations an extra can accommodate, and proper filtering is applied. Since most information is edited around Kang Hae-il, the majority of Constellations don’t even know who Julian is. He’s just a niche pick.”
Sam rattled off the explanation without pausing for breath.
“……Is that so?”
Ram seemed slightly convinced.
“Yes. So it would be better to proceed smoothly so that Julian disappears from the stage.”
It was perfect advice. Sam adjusted his glasses, thinking so, and his eyes sparkled.
“Just slowly wear him down. Like how it wasn’t the harsh wind but the warm sunlight that made the traveler take off his coat.”
Ram nodded at the traveler story.
“……Haa. Fine.”
He had finally accepted Sam’s advice!
“R-really!?”
“Yeah. Let’s just watch for now.”
“Ooh!”
While Sam was feeling satisfied, Ram looked at the monitor with an uneasy expression and asked,
“But Sam. What if that guy breaks through the extra wall…?”
“Huh?”
Sam waved his hands and laughed.
“Come on~ That kind of thing doesn’t break easily. It hasn’t been long since he got involved with Kang Hae-il, and there are plenty of supporting characters with significant roles. Why would he suddenly stop being an extra?”
“But this… look at this.”
Shiver…!
On the screen Ram pointed to, the area around Junil was shaking. The character, who looked like it had been roughly sketched with a few pen strokes, was gradually gaining detail for some reason.
What? Something really feels off.
Why? Was it because Kang Hae-il acknowledged his ability? Something like that alone couldn’t surpass this level.
Rank isn’t something you break through with ability.
Even with ability, how many extras were treated as nothing more than combat power measuring devices? Julian was no different.
Rank is… the narrative granted to you, the importance of your relationships… irreplaceability within the complex story structure…
All of these had to be satisfied. Even for a character whose original rank was low, surpassing it required all of these elements to be far superior. Therefore, Julian could never become a supporting character.
But… why?
Sam felt uneasy. There seemed to be some kind of mistake in the settings Ram had given Kang Hae-il.
Flip flip flip.
He rummaged through the setting book again. From Kang Hae-il’s family relationships, which could be called his origin, to his entire life.
「What happens to Hae-il’s father’s body?」
Ram’s earlier words echoed in his mind like a reverberation.
The father was set to die for the sake of story convenience and purpose… The method wasn’t written in detail…
Rustle.
Sam searched the settings once more. Of course it wasn’t something he had made himself—it was something Ram had planned, and several assistants had gathered to increase its realism before applying it to the story board. And they had scattered it into this new model, Story Board 3.0, a place full of variables. How could an accident not happen here? Especially with the ridiculous variable bundle called Julian…
Oh no. This is insane.
Sam’s eyes widened.
Don’t tell me…?
* * *
“You lost your phone around here?”
Meanwhile, Junil was helping Kang Hae-il search for his lost phone. He hoped that staying with Hae-il would increase his Constellation count, and he needed to exchange numbers today if he wanted to maintain their relationship going forward.
Above all, by playing music that made him look stupid, he was dealing mental damage to Kang Hae-il’s Constellations.
On top of that, he kept subtly bringing up the elf while teabagging.
“The elf actually talked to me first.”
He even mixed in some lies.
“Really? She ran away when I tried to talk to her. But when you’re around, she stays put.”
Kang Hae-il glanced at Isilen watching from a distance and spoke.
“Do higher ranks make them more cautious?”
Hae-il scratched his head. It was just a casual remark, but—
“……?”
Junil’s expression hardened for a moment.
This bastard…
“Ahem. Well, you said ranks are just numbers.”
Junil tried to pick a fight again.
“Yeah. Even S-rank isn’t anything special. I don’t get why everyone makes such a fuss. F-rank people live just fine too.”
Hae-il answered nonchalantly while searching through the bushes.
Haa……
Junil took a deep breath.
Should I just show off the wind spirit?
He could understand the pathetic behavior of people who, during internet arguments, ended up certifying their income. The thought of showing the wind spirit once and watching the Constellations scatter kept circling in his mind, but he stopped himself.
I have to use this as Sagosul.
If he revealed such a good item in his Moon Junil state, it would create restrictions when he used it as Sagosul later.
“Oh. What? It was in its original spot.”
At that moment, Kang Hae-il found the phone.
Original spot?
Junil blinked.
Grave…… alcohol……
The place Hae-il called the “original spot” was in front of a gravestone at someone’s grave. A bottle of soju and a glass had been placed there. It didn’t look like Hae-il had drunk from it himself. One corner of the well-maintained grass was damp.
[Kang Jungho]
The gravestone bore that name. The same Kang surname.
[One who walked a noble path for others and for society, and even at the end, ascended for someone else.]
Next to it was a flower basket that looked like it had been there for a while.
[Seoul Dongjak Fire Station, All Members]
It was a basket from the fire station.
Junil instinctively checked the date on the gravestone again.
That day.
It was a date he remembered too. He couldn’t possibly forget it. The day he bought the apartment. The day the world was sold off as a story board. The day the goblins first appeared. The day countless victims appeared on Line 4.
“Ah…… I didn’t come to see the elf. It’s my father’s birthday.”
Kang Hae-il explained, having noticed Junil’s gaze. Then he handed the glass to Junil.
“Since we met, it must be fate. Have a drink.”
“M-me…? Is that okay?”
Hae-il simply nodded without a word. Junil poured the alcohol into the glass three times, then approached the grave.
Damn it……
He could see it. A very small trace, but one that would be visible to someone who knew the whole story. The grass beside the grave had been replaced. Hae-il probably couldn’t even imagine it.
He’s not even here.
There was no body of the father Kang Hae-il longed for so much. And at that moment, Kang Hae-il spoke from behind.
“My father died during the Line 4 incident.”
“!”
Thud.
Junil’s hand, about to sprinkle the alcohol, stopped.
“My father wasn’t in ‘that car’.”
At the same time, the space around Junil began to shake.
Rumble……!
What is this?
Warning! Far too many Constellations are watching you compared to your rank!
The noise was so loud it made his eardrums ring. It felt as if the entire world was shaking…
Damn it! Why is this happening like I’m facing Constellations directly!?
This phenomenon only activated in situations where there was a risk of Constellations and characters meeting face-to-face. It was a phenomenon he had only experienced once in seven regressions.
Why is this happening to an extra?
Extras shouldn’t experience this kind of phenomenon at all.
Beep!
Caution! Strong recollection energy detected!
Leave this location immediately!
Leave? He couldn’t. His feet wouldn’t move. The space had already completely distorted.
This is… the constraint of the story.
It was a powerful story flow that even Julian’s power couldn’t do anything about. He had been sucked into the black hole-like existence created by the protagonist. The name of that black hole was “recollection.”
Ugh……!
Junil clutched his head. He couldn’t endure the pain. He had only felt this level of pain once before—when he had challenged Pam and been subdued. The terror, despair, and helplessness of feeling his very existence being crushed. The ground shook.
Rumble rumble rumble……!
The surrounding scenery distorted, blurred like spilled paint, and then changed. Into a familiar place.
[Next stop is Dongjak, Dongjak Station. The doors on the—]
It was a subway. The subway from that day.