[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' is flustered and asks you to wait just a moment.]
"Wait for what? The only reason you're like this is because you're a Demon King and no one ever taught you properly!"
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' protests that there is nothing left for her to learn!]
"Learning has nothing to do with whether you're a Constellation, a Demon King, or an Incarnation."
[The Constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire,' cackles, saying this is a fine sight.]
[The Constellations of the Absolute Good alignment praise your hard work in standing against a Demon King.]
[1,000 Coins have been sponsored.]
I had no idea just how severe my nagging had to be for things to turn out like this.
The Dark Sentinel had only listened to me nag for six hours before it lost its mind and went berserk; now I felt like I understood exactly who it took after.
When our Dokja did something wrong, forget six hours—nine was the minimum she'd get lectured for.
If Dokja, who was looked down upon as a mere Incarnation, could endure that, then what did that make this thing?
"Fine. You've been showering me with Coins this whole time, so I'll let this one slide."
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' lets out a sigh of relief.]
"But!"
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' tenses up at your next words.]
"Instead, swear an Oath of Existence and grant me exactly one favor. I won't ask for anything too unreasonable."
If it had been any other Constellation, I wouldn't even have been able to attempt something like this.
All Constellations were beings who had lived overwhelmingly longer than I had.
Nagging creatures like that might very well wound their pride.
Even so, the reason I could act this boldly lay in the nature of the 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust.'
Every time I was confused, she would show up, quietly throw some sponsorship my way, and leave. From that alone, it was obvious she was the type who enjoyed that kind of chaos.
That was why she was playing along with me even while I acted this insolently.
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' says you are insolent but amusing, and accepts your request.]
I didn't know whether those words really meant she was doing this for her own amusement, or whether she had some other purpose, but this was enough for me.
[The Constellations of the Absolute Good alignment take a liking to you for squeezing profit out of a Demon King.]
[The Constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire,' smiles as she looks at you.]
[The Constellation, 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius,' praises you, saying you did well this time.]
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter,' grows curious about what favor you will ask of the Demon King.]
The moment I finished speaking, messages from the Constellations started pouring in.
It felt like this had been happening a lot lately.
On the surface, it probably looked like a mere Incarnation had beaten a Demon King.
And this was still the early part of the Scenario, too.
Of course, they probably knew as well.
This time, the Demon King had only stepped back because she found it entertaining.
Ding!
[You have fulfilled the clear conditions for the sub scenario!]
[You have acquired 500 Coins.]
"Oh, the clear reward came in."
"Oppa, come here. We got all the rewards now, so let's head out."
It looked like Dokja had finished everything she needed to do too, so I guessed it was about time to get ready to leave.
[Y-You're not going to kill that thing?]
"Me?"
[Yeah, you. If you kill it, the reward will be huge.]
"No thanks. It belongs to one of the Constellations watching my channel, so killing it feels a bit... awkward. I've gotten a lot of Coins from that Constellation too."
Honestly, she might be the Constellation who had sponsored the most Coins on my channel.
She didn't sponsor often, but when she did, she went big. Really big.
[I-If you kill it now, you'll be the first to slay a Grade 7 demon species. I-I'm sure they'd give you over 7,000 Coins!]
"Puhahahahaha!"
[W-What's so funny?]
"You really don't seem to know how rich my Constellations are."
Snap!
[The Constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire,' sponsors 3,000 Coins.]
[The Constellation, 'Lily Blooming in Aquarius,' sponsors 3,000 Coins.]
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' sponsors 3,000 Coins.]
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter,' sponsors 1,000 Coins.]
[H-How is that even possible?!]
"See? The viewers watching my channel are as rich as they are famous."
I figured Asmodeus might throw down a large sum, but I hadn't expected the other Constellations to send Coins too.
The first two were of the Absolute Good alignment, so it was probably because I'd thoroughly screwed over Asmodeus and her subordinate this time.
Asmodeus was generous by nature, and since I'd declared I wouldn't kill her subordinate, I could understand her too, but why Secretive Plotter?
Maybe Dokja knew who Secretive Plotter was... but even so, I knew the major Constellations from Ways of Survival, and none of them used the modifier 'Secretive Plotter.'
"Hm... Secretive Plotter? Just what kind of Constellat—"
Thud.
A sound I absolutely should not have been hearing came from behind me.
[The Grade 7 demon species, 'Dark Sentinel,' has died.]
"Hahahahat! N-Now I can get stronger too! Kim Dokja, Kim Dokyun, you fucking bastards! You didn't see this coming, did you?!"
Did that idiot still think he was somebody?
If Dokja really believed in nonviolence, then why had she killed the Sea-Commander in the first place?
Had Han Myeongoh seriously watched Dokja kill the mole crickets and still believed she was committed to nonviolence?
Just because those were monsters? Then what about the Dark Sentinel right in front of us? That was a demon, not a human.
Even if my own words had been sincere, Dokja's words had obviously been a lie meant to get us through that moment.
"You stupid bastards! In a world like this, what kind of bullshit nonviolence is there? What, you got swept up by sentiment?!"
[You have completed an impossible achievement.]
[You have acquired 8,000 Coins.]
[Contributors: Kim Dokja, Kim Dokyun, Han Myeongoh]
"That's why trash like you can never be the one in charge. Got it?!"
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' gazes at the murderer before her eyes.]
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' will pursue the Incarnation who dealt the final blow in the murder of her subordinate until the day he dies.]
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' will place a terrible curse upon the final attacker!]
[Final attacker: Han Myeongoh]
"Ahjussi... putting me aside, did you really not catch on to why Dokja suddenly started talking about nonviolence after cutting down all those mole crickets?"
I could understand myself, but I had assumed there had to be some other reason Dokja hadn't killed it. So that was why.
The Dark Sentinel made babies? Then was that curse going to make Han Myeongoh, a man, give birth?
If so, that sounded pretty horrifying.
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' falls for your wickedness!]
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' has recommended your Scenario to the Star Stream.]
"Aren't you giving me way too much?"
I did tend to think of Constellations and Demon Kings as little more than ATMs that spat Coins at me, but even so, if they gave me too much, it really did become a burden.
"Oppa, let's check the rewards first."
"Right."
There was no need to worry about Han Myeongoh, who was standing there out of his mind.
Everything that happened to him was his own fault.
"Da~ rararan~ ddararan~ ddararan~ da~ thump clap-clap~ thump clap-clap~ ddarari-rara!"
"Oppa, kids these days probably don't know Tazza."
"Tazza is an immortal masterpiece!!"
No, there was no way they wouldn't know that masterpiece!!!
"Gilyoung, do you happen to know a movie called Tazza?"
"Ah~"
Right, I knew you'd know it!!!
"That old movie?"
Thud.
My world collapsed today.
I was the one who asked because he said he didn't know Tazza.
In a single instant, I turned into an old man.
This is too hard. I still want to cry.
The way we'd joke around saying, 'You're pulling tricks from the very first hand!'...
I miss it so, so much. You can take my life if you want.
Please just don't call Tazza an old movie.
.
.
.
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter,' cautiously asks what you were trying to say to him earlier.]
"Hm? It wasn't anything much..."
[Many Constellations tense up, saying that phrase usually comes out right before something very serious.]
"I was just going to say that if you're some no-name Constellation, you don't need to go into debt just to sponsor Coins."
[The vast majority of Constellations are appalled by your remark!]
[A small number of Constellations spit out the water they were drinking.]
[A very tiny number of Constellations make a huge fuss, saying this is an enormous incident.]
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter,' is enraged.]
[The Constellation, 'Demon-like Judge of Fire,' is horrified.]
[The Constellation, 'Goddess of Love and Beauty,' drops the wine she was drinking.]
[The Demon King, 'Demon King of Wrath and Lust,' clutches her stomach and starts laughing, saying you really are insane.]
If everyone knew what I was thinking, they'd understand how I felt.
"No, see, I know a bit about mythology. Greek mythology, Norse mythology, Egyptian mythology, all that. But no matter how much I think about it, there isn't any god who'd use the modifier 'Secretive Plotter.'"
I'd naturally learned about those things when I was young, back when I believed gods existed.
Of course, now I had no religion.
Wasn't it ironic? Back when there were no gods, I believed in them, but now that gods really did exist, I didn't believe in them.
"Besides, when the other Constellations were sponsoring 3,000 Coins, you were the only one who sent 1,000. Doesn't that make it look like you scraped together every last bit of money you had?"
[The Constellation, 'Secretive Plotter,' fumes at your perfectly logical explanation.]
[You have achieved an unbelievable feat.]
[A new 'Fable' is being created.]
[The Fable, 'Observer Who Blasphemed the Stars,' has been born.]
[You have acquired the possibility of a new stigma.]
"Oh, I got 'another' new Fable."
What exactly did Fables do again?
If I remembered right, getting Fables was what let you become a Constellation.
[You have achieved an unbelievable feat.]
[A new 'Fable' is being created.]
[The Fable, 'Speed Runner,' has been born.]
[You have acquired the possibility of a new stigma.]
"?"
Speed Runner.
It probably didn't just mean someone who ran fast, so if I thought of it in gaming terms...
It seemed like this had appeared because I'd managed to obtain two Fables by only the second Scenario.
After all, I'd pulled two different Fables out of a single Scenario, and a sub scenario at that.
I was probably getting closer to becoming a Constellation at the speed of a speedrun. Maybe I was the Incarnation who would become a Constellation the fastest.
And when that time came, I'd be able to protect Dokja... "perfectly."
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