[Uh-hum. I’m not this Ha-Yeong-or-rather, but someone simply passing b…. Damn it, hey, Disciple Sun. Get over here and fetch this elixir already.]

The blondie mountain deity spirit promptly gave up on her acting and called out to me.

Such a thing happened often back in the Journey to the West.

[A portion of judges are complaining that such events didn’t need to be imitated.]

[One additional point has been awarded.]

A spirit would suddenly pop out of nowhere and help out the group, saying that it was the will of the Buddha-nim or something similar. Such blatant acts of ignoring probability and deus ex machina ran rampant in the original Journey to the West; so much so that I had to wonder whether it was the very first ‘lump all lucky coincidences to one person’ type novel or not.

I courteously bowed a little and spoke. “Thank you for helping us out always.”

[….Only doing it because I’ve been told to.] Perhaps reminded of someone right now, Jang Ha-Yeong looked up at the sky with a resentful expression and muttered to no one in particular. [Count yourself lucky…. If I hadn’t been late, the role of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ would’ve been mine….]

That came out so naturally, didn’t it. It seemed that this role was supposed to be Jang Ha-Yeong’s.

“….Why did you want to perform this role?”

She looked at me with distant eyes before shaking her head with a smirk.

[Well, yeah, you wouldn’t know anything about how awesome the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ actually is.]

I thought about it for a little while, before speaking up with a voice overflowing with affection towards, uh, myself. “I also like the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ very much.”

[Oh, really? Have you heard some kind of Fables about him, then?]

“For instance, the ‘Liberator of the Industrial Complex’ he earned in the Demon World.”

[Oh-oht?]

That must’ve flipped a switch in her somewhere, because Jang Ha-Yeong suddenly started telling me a long-winded tale of her adventure. If I were to simplify the contents somewhat, it went something like this.

[So like back then, I managed to rescue the dying ‘Demon King of Salvation’, you see? So when you get right down to it, I actually saved the ‘Demon King of Salvation’. So? It was fun, right? It wasn’t….? In any case, we came to a mutual understanding right below the Root of Darkness and made a pledge of brotherhood. We worked together to liberate the ‘Industrial Complex’ from the grips of a dastardly Demon Duke, and…!]

….The story was more or less accurate, but I couldn’t be sure why it felt like I was stuck listening to a novel being read here.

[And then, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ looked at me with gloom-filled eyes and said, “My dear friend, become my warrior that will fight for my sake.”]

I began wondering if it was alright to let a baseless story such as this one to float around, but messages suddenly floated up in the air en masse before I could do anything about it.

[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is criticising the deity spirit’s nonsense!]

[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is arguing that it was him who performed the most heroics back in the Demon World!]

[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, is ridiculing the ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’.]

[Many audience members are getting interested in the Nebula <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s Fable.]

As things stood, I couldn’t really tell apart whether we were in the [Journey to the West] or [Kim Dok-Ja Company’s Disorganised Great Adventure Get-Together].

Maybe, that was what Han Su-Yeong was aiming for.

As the <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s Fable grew stronger, the potential ‘Great Fable’ we’d earn through this [Journey to the West Remake] would also become stronger, too.

[Fables of the <Kim Dok-Ja Company> are spreading throughout the <Star Stream> via word of mouth.]

Well, we’d have to wait and see if that was ultimately a good decision or not.

How long passed by like this? Yi Ji-Hye yawned out of pure boredom and spoke up. “Argh, just finish up and hand over the elixir, will you?”

[….Here.]

*

Another week went by.

We defeated countless Yogoes and also faced off against the Constellations from <Emperor> that showed up to retrieve those creatures afterwards.

[Those Yogoes that you subjugated earlier were creatures that I raised in my backya…..]

“Scram.”

Yu Jung-Hyeok kicked them away instead of me. Seemingly wanting to avoid fighting the ‘Conquering King’ Zhu Bajie, <Emperor>’s Constellations went away willingly even though they expressed their dissatisfaction over the matter.

[Outer God transformation progress percentage: 95%]

[Rate of your Outer God transformation has been slowed down.]

The rate of becoming an Outer God hadn’t progressed all that much during that time. On the other hand, our group’s rate of advancing through the Journey to the West was shockingly fast.

[Current rate of Journey to the West’s progress: 94%]

We had finally broken past the 90% mark.

Yi Ji-Hye spoke while panting breathlessly. “Wow, now that was really tough.”

“It seems that way, especially for today.”

“What are you even talking about? You are just riding a bus, aren’t you?”

I ignored her retort and confirmed the Fable chamber ranking, instead.

[Current ranking of the applicable Fable chamber is 4th.]

[Score: 21912]

[Many audience members are marvelling at the applicable Fable chamber’s stunning rate of growth.]

It hadn’t even been ten days, yet we had already brushed aside all the other, starrier chambers and climbed up to the 4th rank. I couldn’t help but respect Han Su-Yeong’s talent, even if I didn’t want to.

[Current number one in the rankings is the ‘Real Journey to the West’.]

[Score: 30408]

With our current speed, I thought that it’d not be impossible to catch up to Fei Hu, currently the undisputed number one in the rankings.

Of course, it was still too early to celebrate. The competition wouldn’t end even if we managed to surpass Fei Hu’s chamber and claim the top spot.

Because, the overall victor would be determined only after collating the total voted points and the judges’ opinions.

I looked up at the stars blinking high up in the night sky – at the Constellations, currently listed as mere anonymous audience members.

[A portion of audience members are holding animosity towards you.]

Without a doubt, <Emperor> must be watching the rise of our ranking right now.

⸢The pride <Emperor> feels about their ‘Great Fable’ is enormous.⸥

They would never accept their ‘Great Fable’ being inherited by a weak little Nebula. Besides, there was a good reason for them to feel dissatisfied with us, too.

Such as….

“There are a lot of them now, aren’t they.”

….The group of ‘Yogoes’ currently following us.

The ranks of ‘Yogoes’ filling up the footpath of the mountain were so humongous that I couldn’t even see their end anymore.

Every single one of them were creatures we had spared.

[The agreement with the Wenny King is underway.]

[In order to fulfil the agreement, you need to increase the shares of ‘Outer God’ for the applicable Fable to over 30%.]

[Currently, shares of ‘Outer God’ for the applicable scenario is 15.772%.]

The Journey to the West was marching closer to its end, yet the shares for the ‘Outer Gods’ remained depressingly low. I had saved that many Yogoes, but the percentage was only over 15….

But then again, it was pretty obvious why. Sure, there were a lot of them, but they didn’t impact our story all that much. Meaning, the core of the ‘Journey to the West’ hadn’t changed. They had been participating as mere ‘extras’ on this stage and not as its main actors.

The only reason why their shares had risen past 15% was simply because many in the audience ended up paying attention to this rather abnormal situation, that was all.

[Many audience members are looking at the ‘Pilgrimage’ in awe.]

[A portion of judges are focusing on the possibility of a new ‘Journey to the West’.]

[A small number of judges are worried about the perversion of the original…..]

This march of the Yogoes even earned a nickname, to boot: the Pilgrimage.

Countless Yogoes, journeying to India so that they could become enlightened on their existence.

[A portion of audience members are entering the applicable scenario in order to view the ‘Pilgrimage’.]

Heck, recommendations for our Fable chamber even showed up in the ‘Journey to the West’ recommendation bulletin board, too.

[Cool Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing, adorable Tang Sanzang, and the soft Sun Wukong.]

Author: uri9158

– Review: Zhu Bajie is so cool, and Tang Sanzangs are super cute, too.

[‘I’ve become the retired SSSSS-rank’, a masterpiece that initially sounds like a mass-produced Fable.]

Author: Non-Mass Production-type Maker

– Review: In all honesty, the real protagonists of the ‘Journey to the West’ are ‘Yogoes’. Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, they are all ‘Yogoes’. Yet the Journey to the West’s theme is infinitely closer to ‘humanism’. It’s because all the Yogoes appearing in the original had been humanised extensively from a human’s perspective. Meaning, Yogoes from the Journey to the West had to live as ‘humans’ after their status as Yogoes had been stolen from them….

….It felt as if the names of the authors were kind of familiar, but that must be a mistake on my part. Surely.

Whatever the case might have been, we were getting quite a few puzzling recommendations.

“They are still following us….”

Shin Yu-Seung walking at the rear of the group next to me kept glancing behind her as if something was bothering her. She seemed to hesitate slightly, but then, extended her hand out to a Yogoe acting like a puppy by her feet.

“….Hi?”

I was slightly nervous about the Yogoe suddenly attacking her, but thankfully, what I feared didn’t happen.

Yogoe crouched like an obedient puppy and rubbed its nose against the tip of her fingers. This guy was no longer the terrifying ‘Outer God’ that I knew of.

[SowarmSowarmSowarmSowarm]

They were not the ‘demonic beasts’ that Shin Yu-Seung could tame. Well, ‘Outer Gods’ weren’t designated as one of those friendly lifeforms, after all. They were simply ‘things’ that lost their usefulness, wandering around on the outside of scenarios.

Even then, Shin Yu-Seung carefully paid attention to them with a serious expression on her face.

[YuseungYuseungYuseungYuseungYuseung]

[NamemeNamemeNamemeNamemeNameme]

Did she actually understand them?

Could she understand their words and see what their real appearance was?

I hesitated a little before asking her. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Not at all. It’s like, when I keep looking at them, I find them kind of cute, in a way. And….”

Small tentacles resembling those of an octopus tickled the back of her hand like a stoke of foxtail.

“….A person I like appeared like this once before, you see.”

Suddenly, a short bout of migraine and dizziness rushed in along with a zing in my head.

[Exclusive skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ level 2, is forcibly activating!]

⸢Maybe, he could be here with us this time, too.⸥

I saw her determined eyes scanning the ranks of Yogoes and bit down hard on my lip.

[Notice to all Constellation-nims currently participating in the scenario.]

An unannounced broadcast suddenly came from somewhere.

The surrounding atmosphere trembled and Yogoes all looked up at the sky with worried expressions.

[TheycomingTheycomingTheycomingTheycoming]

[DontlikeDontlikeDontlikeDontlikeDontlike]

Cries of the ‘Outer Gods’ rose up from here and there.

A Great Dokkaebi appearing as a semi-transparent figure was being transmitted in the sky above.

[The ‘Journey to the West Remake’ scenario is gradually inching towards its conclusion. I heard that recently, due to the point gap between the upper ranks and the middle being too great, many Constellation-nims are half-way giving up on the scenario itself.]

What an ominous-sounding opening remark that was.

[<Star Stream> is fair with its opportunities. An eel that struggles can become a Dragon, and inversely, a Dragon ruling the sky can also fall to the ground, as well.]

For a moment there, the Great Dokkaebi seemed to have glanced in our direction.

[So, ending things here would leave behind a bit of a sour taste, wouldn’t you say?]

“Uh? What’s going on?!”

Along with Yi Ji-Hye’s loud yell, our surroundings began transforming. As the rays of bright light exploded, our group as well as the Yogoes had been transferred to the bank of a massive river.

[Fable chambers are being consolidated!]

[The ‘I’ve become the retired SSSSS-rank Sun Wukong’ has been incorporated into the ‘Great Fable’.]

(Sun Wukong knew which river this was.)

(They were now in the western riverbank of Tongtian River. This was the final hurdle before reaching India.)

The Great Dokkaebi laughed. [Deciding the first spot through just the score alone is not amusing. However, isn’t ‘finding out which ‘Fable’ is stronger’ the natural law of <Star Stream>?]

[Many audience members are cheering on and agreeing with that declaration!]

[A small number of audience members are smacking their lips!]

[A portion of judges are frowning at the interference of a Great Dokkaebi.]

As the messages streamed in, large pillars of light began flashing in various spots of the riverside.

[421st Fable chamber has been consolidated!]

[The ‘My Sun Wukong is broken from a certain point on’ has been incorporated into the ‘Great Fable’.]

We found another group exactly like ours over there.

The stunned-silly Yi Gil-Yeong shouted out. “Who are those people?!”

That group also featured Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse.

Indeed, they were a ‘Journey to the West’ expedition team from another Fable chamber.

[7133rd Fable chamber has been consolidated!]

[The ‘I thought I was Sun Wukong but I was just a regular monkey’ has been incorporated into the ‘Great Fable’.]

[6523rd Fable chamber has been consolidated!]

[The ‘Omniscient Sun Wukong Ruyi Bang’s Viewpoint’ has been incorporated into the ‘Great Fable’.]

As the pillars of light continued to descend, many ‘Sun Wukongs’ revealed themselves on the riverbanks. Some possessed weak Status, while some others possessed mighty ones. And then….

[1st Fable chamber has been consolidated!]

[The ‘Real Journey to the West’ has been incorporated into the ‘Great Fable’.]

….Some even possessed an overwhelming Status, too.

Every single one making up that particular Fable chamber was among the top elite of elite Constellations.

The ‘Sun Wukong’ currently ranked number one was looking over in our direction, his eyes burning in the pale-blue ghostly flames.

….As expected, it had come down to this.

I had been anticipating that something like this might happen. Because, at the rate the things were going, Fei Hu’s side would’ve lost to us in the points tally.

[A portion of judges are worried about your safety.]

[Judge, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’, is furious at this development!]

[Judge, ‘Bimawen’, is getting curious about the conclusion of this scenario.]

[Judge, ‘Meihouwang’, orders you to sweep every one of these people away!]

Not only that, the main judges were already siding with us to boot, too. Indeed, that side probably had no choice but to do something before the situation worsened even further for them.

[Details of the main scenario have been updated!]

The voice of the Great Dokkaebi resounded out next.

[And so, the final event of the ‘Journey to the West Remake’ will start now.]

<Episode 82. Outer God (3)> Fin.