In the world of Melting Law, constellations are largely divided into two types.
Free constellations with no affiliation.
And affiliated constellations tied to a specific nebula.
[How dare a mere human insult the great stars?]
I swallowed hard at that thundering presence.
There are a few famous nebulae with mythological footholds on Earth.
Like Asgard from Norse mythology or Eden from the Apocalypse. And no less famous was the one the being before me belonged to—Olympos.
"…Don't get cocky. You're not even a god."
At my words, Yoo Sang-ah's expression changed.
It was a bit unnerving to see a constellation attempting a direct manifestation, but as expected…
"The early-stage plausibility of the scenario will never allow the gods of Olympos. Right?"
[What…!]
If there were no one to balance the plausibility, and a full manifestation of the twelve Olympian gods occurred, Seoul would already be utterly destroyed. And the resulting backlash would be catastrophic. Most of the Olympos gods may be half-witted in some ways, but they're not completely insane.
I looked at the threads of mana rippling around Yoo Sang-ah's body and spoke.
"Given the current plausibility, it seems you're the limit. 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth.'"
Just as there are great constellations in Korea, there are great constellations in Olympos.
In fact, the majority of Olympos is composed of such great constellations.
The Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth.
That was the epithet for Ariadne, the lover of Theseus.
"Sending the one with the lowest plausibility cost as a representative… Olympos really is petty."
[Silence! How dare…!]
Ku-gu-gu-gu.
The threads of mana swirling around her tore through the ground with explosive force. Just the act of releasing that energy cracked the earth around her.
Ariadne was not to be underestimated.
Even weak constellations imbued with story power are inevitably stronger than non-constellations.
But I knew one thing.
She could never attack me.
Pa-tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu!
Sparks leapt into the air.
The chains of plausibility were in motion.
Judging by the state, it wasn't a full manifestation, but even a partial manifestation that stole some of the avatar's will would consume an enormous amount of plausibility.
Moreover, Ariadne belonged to a major nebula constellation.
Her movements were bound to be noticed by other powerful beings.
Kuuuuhhhh—
Above Seoul Dome, [Great Hall] roared.
An unprecedented terror filled my ears and a chill ran through my body.
Yoo Sang-ah's complexion, upon whom Ariadne had manifested, had turned pale.
"Seems there's not much time. Shall we get straight to the point?"
This was the reality of constellations.
They may be the strongest in the Star Stream, but they can never cast off the heavy shackles of plausibility.
"Looks like the divine beings from another world have noticed you."
[…How does a human know that?]
"That's not important right now, is it? You didn't come out here to argue with me, right? The constellations enduring the plausibility for you probably don't want that either."
Kkwa-ru-ru-rung!
Thunder rolled around the Great Hall.
It was still too early for a great constellation to fully manifest.
I hurried my words.
"I will ask three questions. If you answer them, I will answer your questions as well."
[You propose an exchange of three questions and answers?]
"Yes."
A three-question exchange.
This was originally a method used among constellations to minimize the consumption of plausibility.
Ariadne glared at me as if displeased.
[A human knows the method of constellation negotiations…]
"Will you do it or not?"
[…Wait.]
Yoo Sang-ah's eyelids closed. Ariadne was likely communicating with the other Olympos constellations through her network.
[A constellation that dislikes interruptions seems interested in your proposal.]
It seemed spectators from Olympos had appeared as well.
Finally, Ariadne, having completed her communication, opened her eyes.
[Dialogue is permitted.]
A message sounded:
― The Holy Three-Question Exchange begins.― Each side may exchange three questions and answers.― Every question must be answered truthfully.― Each side may refuse an answer once.― The exchange does not end until all questions and answers are fully exchanged.
"I'll go first."
[Very well.]
― Using the first question.
"One: Why are you inhabiting Yoo Sang-ah's body?"
[….]
"Your domain is on the opposite continent, right? Aren't you busy with your own scenario there? Why here…?"
[To monitor the 'singularity' of this world.]
― First answer obtained.
"Singularity?"
[Is that your second question?]
Damn, she's pretty smart.
A question token disappears once the questioner vaguely understands the answer.
"Nope. Now it's your turn."
― Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' uses the first question.
[What is your identity?]
"Me? I'm one of the singularities you're watching."
―Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' obtained the first answer.
Ariadne muttered in confusion.
[…How do you know that fact?]
"Guess I really am a singularity."
I had only said it casually, never expecting it to be correct.
Ariadne's eyes narrowed.
[You are…]
"Don't get angry. Isn't that something you do all the time too?"
[A constellation that dislikes interruptions is amused by your wit.]
Ariadne's presence became tense and threatening.
But this was exactly how a three-question exchange was supposed to go. If you answered the other side's questions straightforwardly, you'd only lose out.
The trick was to use your own questions wisely while wasting the opponent's question tokens.
That intense mind game was the essence of the three-question exchange.
I continued speaking.
―Using the second question.
"Then for the second question: what exactly is this 'singularity'?"
[It refers to beings like you.]
Well, she's using her brain.
But that answer wasn't enough this time.
"Answer properly. You're not going to keep dodging forever, are you?"
[…In principle, they are the beings that appear in the 'Oracles'.]
"Could you be a little more specific? I have no clue what that means."
After a moment of thought, Ariadne continued.
[Originally, we had no intention of monitoring you. Discovering you was a coincidence.]
…A coincidence?
[We intended to monitor another being. One who carries the great wheel of fate on their back, who disrupts plausibility. Singularities are those kinds of beings.]
The moment I heard that, I immediately understood what a singularity was.
―Second answer obtained.
The Olympos crew had already located Yoo Jung-hyuk in this timeline.
For a nebula at the Olympos level, it was possible to search through vast amounts of filtered information to trace him back.
And, of course, they had the excellent information tracker Hermes.
Furthermore, as great constellations, they would have already noticed the timeline disruptions caused by Yoo Joong-hyuk…
Yet there was something strange.
Originally, information about a Returner should not have been something Ariadne could have accessed.
―Now it's my turn.
―Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' uses the second question.
[Who will you choose for the next
This was an unexpected question.
I hadn't imagined that Olympos would also be keeping an eye on me.
[A constellation that dislikes interruptions is listening to your words.][Several constellations who favor the Korean Peninsula are on edge.][Constellation 'Prisoner of the Long Orphanage' chants its epithet.]
It was a difficult situation, but there was no way around it.
"I won't answer. It wouldn't be fun if I said who I'm picking already."
―You have used your refusal token.―From now on, you can no longer refuse any questions.
As expected, Ariadne immediately continued.
―Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' uses the third question.
[Then the final question: how did you realize we were monitoring you?]
Damn, so this had been the goal all along.
Ariadne must have thought hard to craft this question. Simply asking about my identity could have allowed me to dodge the answer, so she made it as specific as possible.
I pondered briefly before speaking.
"I read the book carefully."
[What?]
"I read the book carefully, and that's how I realized it."
The message saying I had obtained the answer didn't appear, so it seemed she still wasn't satisfied. But I couldn't bring up Melting Law here. Even if I did, filtering would block it, and she wouldn't understand anyway. I also wasn't inclined to explain politely.
"Originally, we Koreans know your myths pretty well."
[…What do you mean?]
"You're quite famous in our country. So mainstream that even kids' cartoons are made about you. Surely you know you're very famous here, right? Anyone could tell you're from Olympos, not just me."
Through her trembling gaze, I could feel Ariadne's growing shock.
[That's impossible. A tiny country in the East…]
"The Labyrinth of Crete."
[…!]
"The half-human, half-beast monster."
Her eyes widened more and more.
"Your forgotten lover. Imprisonment on Naxos Island. Affair with the god of wine… Should I continue?"
[S-Stay! I understand well enough, stop!]
―Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' obtained the third answer.
Ariadne's face, completely wounded, twitched her lips.
[…How could a human from such a trivial small nation know my story…]
I sighed inwardly. Somehow, I had managed to get through without giving anything away.
No wonder Ariadne had such a low plausibility cost.
It was a relief that this scatterbrained woman had come as Olympos' representative.
The movements of the [Great Hall] were becoming increasingly unstable.
I spoke immediately.
"Then here's the last question. What was the content of the 'oracle' you received this time?"
Ariadne, after thinking for a while, narrowed her eyes as if measuring an invisible scale and finally spoke.
[That… cannot be told.]
―Constellation 'Lover of the Abandoned Labyrinth' has used the refusal token.
―All questions and answers have been fully exchanged.
―The sacred three-question exchange concludes.
I had expected this, but I still felt a twinge of regret.
The last question was actually the most important.
[A constellation that dislikes interruptions licks its lips in disappointment.]
Lightning fell from the sky as Ariadne frowned.
[My husband was curious about your story and indulged in a bit of amusement, but the play ends here.]
It seemed she finally realized time was running out, and her voice quickened.
[There is only one reason I have descended here. We, Olympos, warn you strictly: do not interfere with our actions. We are acting to prevent the world's destruction. This woman will grow into an excellent countermeasure against annihilation.]
"Why that woman?"
[It is meaningless to ask for a reason. Even the three sisters who measure the threads of fate do not know.]
Damn it. Those Olympos bastards always use fate as an excuse—just like in the original story.
[Incarnate bound by the scenario, the direction of fate is skewing. The flow of all the stars converges, and the story that determines the constellations' fate will begin.]
"What are you talking about? Are you referring to
[…It is surprising that you know even that. But knowing the information doesn't mean you should arrogantly assume you understand everything.]
Sparks burst around Yoo Sang-ah's body, reaching their limit.
It was a sign of the plausibility backlash.
[You, a momentary puppet, will never understand. But remember: when the end comes, if you do not stand on the right side—]
At that moment, lightning struck Yoo Sang-ah. I felt Ariadne's power being expelled from her glowing, white-hot body.
Ahhhhhhh…
Kzzzt!
A sound as if spacetime itself had been torn resounded, and Yoo Sang-ah collapsed like a doll whose strings had been cut. I rushed forward and caught her.
At that instant, I sensed a presence above.
I couldn't look up.
No one told me to, but I knew instinctively: if I looked up…
[Exclusive skill, 'Fourth Wall', offsets mental shock.]
Yet I found myself looking upward, almost hypnotized.
Something shimmered in the distant sky above the [Great Hall].
The entity that had nullified Ariadne's power was there.
It looked like a tongue, or maybe a tentacle.
But ultimately, it was like nothing else.
An indescribable, inexpressible fear stared straight at me.
A divine entity from another world.
Time seemed to slow. Sweat streamed endlessly down my forehead and back. The flow of time threatened to erase both my breath and my self.
When I finally gasped for air and blinked, the Great Hall had returned to normal. I gritted my teeth and shivered.
These are the beings I must fight.
In the distance, I saw Han Sooyoung running toward me.
The roars of excited monsters filled the dark moonlit night, and the screams of humans crouching under the falling lightning reached me intermittently.
There were many names associated with the end-of-times scenarios:
Ragnarök. Gigantomachia. Harmageddon…
I didn't know what Ariadne meant by the final act, but one thing was clear: something different from what I knew was about to begin.
And that was exactly what I wanted.
If everything went exactly like the original, I could never reach the ending I desired.
I gently laid the fallen Yoo Sang-ah down.
Her body seemed fragile enough to shatter at a touch.
Yoo Sang-ah's fists were clenched white-knuckled, refusing to yield to her own backing forces.
Humans are weak.
But there is one thing the stars, who fear only massive plausibility, overlook:
All myths of Earth ultimately originate from these weak humans they dismiss.
I lightly pressed my fist against Yoo Sang-ah's clenched hand.
[The power of 'Seolhwa' stirs deep within your soul.]
[Your first 'Stigmata' prepares to germinate.]
I would build a "story" that could withstand even the mightiest myths.
At that moment, a silver wolf ran through the darkness.
"Kiit… damn wolf."
The Queen of the Parasites, Antinus, frowned at her body. Her newly acquired form was, of all things, a wolf of the Imuntar species.
Of course, surviving alone was already miraculous.
At the moment her body had been torn by plausibility, if the nearby, unconscious Lycaon hadn't been there, she would have died immediately.
Drip, drip.
Black blood poured from Lycaon's body, struck by the fragment of disaster. The guide had a body unable to resist disaster. Antinus' remaining time was short.
"…Parasite into a new host."
Antinus shivered, thinking of the humans who had killed the Questioning Disaster.
Humans who had resisted the calamity that annihilated her planet. She had despaired at that unbelievable scene, and renewed her resolve. She would take revenge. The Earthlings who destroyed her home, Chronos… she would exterminate them.
Her antennae twitched at that moment.
"…This energy?"
A familiar power could be felt from somewhere. A strength reminiscent of the former tyrant of Chronos. Antinus quickened her pace.
If she could parasitize a being with such potential, revenge might not be impossible.
Finally, she reached her destination and encountered an unexpected figure.
She couldn't believe her eyes.
How… how could such a being exist on Earth?
"Ki, kiit—!"
Instinctively, she screamed. The boy's eyes flashed in the moonlight, emitting a terrifying light.
"A bug I've never seen before!"
The boy—Igil-yeong—smiled faintly at Antinus.