We immediately tried to 'reenact the story'. The first thing we did was divide into teams.
"I'll take charge of the stage."
It was Cha Yerin who took care of the stage.
"I gained new abilities."
Wearing a snail mask, she was recently able to handle the stories embedded in the 'mask'.
Cha Yerin muttered softly as she placed one of her hands on the floor, and a moment later a snail's nest grew from the floor.
[The story 'Snail House' begins its storytelling.]
It was no ordinary snail house. It was a space large enough for two adult men to stay there without any problems.
What's more interesting is that inside of this house is not actually a 'snail house'.
If it's a bathroom, it's a bathroom. A living room is a living room. A kitchen is a kitchen.
The ability of her story 'Snail House' was to be able to recreate its interior in whatever form she wanted.
Cha Yerin said, avoiding our gazes as if she was embarrassed, "I'm not yet familiar with stories, so it only lasts a day. It also takes about 30 minutes to make."
A house where you can decorate the interior the way you want. As long as I had this, there was no problem no matter where I stayed.
Kyung Sein said with admiration
"If you had acquired this ability a little sooner, we could have cleared 「The Three Little Pigs」 with it."
"It would have been difficult because it doesn't look like a brick house from the outside."
"Ugh, I can't lose, Dokja-ssi. I'll bring the stage props. Can I get a gourd and a plate?"
Before I could answer, Kyung Sein, who activated [Way of the Wind], flew into the sky.
Cha Yerin said,
"She has become a real flying squirrel."
Perhaps because it was combined with the story of the flying squirrel mask, Kyung Sein was able to use [Way of the Wind] faster than anyone else in the group.
Dansu ahjussi, who was watching next to her, also added a word.
"Then I…"
"You can stay still."
The man's face turned sour, so I quickly added.
"There are quite a few stories of turtles appearing. You will have a chance to become active soon."
"Then, I will practice [Way of the Wind]. Since I am a turtle, I should at least practice it consistently…"
"Good. If you gain any new insight, please let me know."
Meanwhile, Cha Yerin, who had completed preparing the stage, reported.
"The stage is ready."
The key event in this recreated story, 'The Fox and the Crane', was that the fox and the crane invited each other to their homes and served soup.
"Oh wow, it really is just like my old kitchen."
The crane expressed his admiration for the kitchen created by Cha Yerin.
Perhaps lost in a brief memory, the crane looked carefully at the two kitchens.
"This side too… yes. That fox friend's kitchen was just like this."
['Staging' activation conditions have been met.]
I nodded.
"If you're ready, let's get started right away."
['Staging' is activated!]
[The story 'The Fox and the Crane' begins!]
[Your 'mask' corresponds to the fable.]
With the system message, my body temporarily changed to resemble that of a fox.
It seemed like it was probably a phenomenon that occurred due to 'staging'.
I took a deep breath and spoke.
"I'll treat you today."
「 The grumpy fox said to the crane. 」
The voice of a story flowing out.
The crane owner looked at the sentence for a moment with eyes filled with longing, and then nodded his head willingly.
"Good, let's go to your house."
「 The crane answered with a smile. 」
We entered the fox's kitchen together. As everyone knows, the events that would occur in the future were predetermined.
The fox deliberately offers soup on a flat plate to the crane. The long-beaked crane cannot eat the soup on the plate, and the grumpy fox licks the soup clean from the plate as if teasing the crane.
It's a very mischievous and simple story.
"Now, please eat."
The crane saw the plate I served and smiled.
"The soup looks delicious."
"It's a very delicious soup."
"I remember the first time you served me this soup."
"It was already a long time ago."
The crane looked into the soup and he asked.
"Do you still think people will like this soup?"
That's a line that didn't exist originally.
I had no idea that the crane would make such an ad-lib, so I thought for a moment before answering.
"Not all soups can be loved equally."
"I guess so. I know."
The crane had somewhat sad eyes.
I watched the crane and opened my mouth again.
"But."
「 The grumpy fox looked down at the soup for a moment and then added. 」
"Someone will miss this soup. It must mean something."
The crane that heard those words was silent for a moment.
How much time has passed like that?
The crane's tears fell on the plate.
"As expected, I can't eat your soup this time."
With no one speaking, only the story continued to talk.
「 The fox ate the delicious soup, and the crane looked down at the plate of soup he couldn't eat. 」
It was truly a perfect recreation of the first half.
If only the next sentence hadn't been added.
「 And outside the kitchen window, a panda was chewing bamboo. 」
[Your approval rating drops.]
[Currently, 9% of prisoners in Zone 13 support you.]
After the first half of the 「staging」 was over, Cha Yerin was the first to open her mouth.
"Is the panda a MacGuffin?"
In another corner, there was Ye Hyunwoo, who repeatedly bowed his head to his companions.
"I'm sorry… I suddenly wanted to eat bamboo."
"No, why are you suddenly eating bamboo there?"
In response to Kyung Sein's scolding, Ye Hyunwoo lowered his head as if he had no shame.
"These days, strangely enough, I keep wanting to chew bamboo in prominent places…"
Dansu ahjussi asked me with a worried expression.
"Can you film the first half again?"
"This is not a movie."
There is no concept of reshoots in the story. Once activated, 「Staging」 is recorded as is.
In other words, all stories are like one-take movies.
"Why a panda! There's a panda there!"
Meanwhile, the owner of the original story was also turning insane.
I answered while ignoring the original owner's screams.
"For now, we don't have time, so let's start the second half."
The staging resumed immediately.
This stage is the crane's house.
「 Meanwhile, the crane that was tricked by the fox decided to take revenge. 」
The crane owner confidently placed a gourd on the table.
"Please enjoy, I will treat you today."
"It will taste good."
As expected from the owner of the story who has recreated the story countless times, the crane skillfully stuck its beak down and began to suck the soup from the gourd.
Of course I couldn't eat the soup. This is because the spout of the gourd containing the soup was too thin for me to eat.
「 Then the crane smiled and asked. 」
"Why aren't you eating? Are you wondering if you've been poisoned?"
I smiled bitterly.
"The soup in the gourd looks so delicious that I can't eat it."
"Is that so?"
We looked at each other and laughed.
This was the ending of 「The Fox and the Crane」, which everyone knows.
The story of the fox is that he gets back the karma of his mischief and decides to treat others well from now on.
I don't know if this kind of story is still popular these days, but it was sure to be popular with constellations who like good stories.
If it weren't for the next sentence.
「 But the fox foresaw this situation and called his friend. 」
When I suddenly raised my head, the crane owner was also looking at me.
"Friend?"
I don't remember doing something like that?
Before I could respond in embarrassment, the crane's kitchen door opened.
「 The fox's friend, the wolf, was there. 」
"I never understood it since I was young," said the wolf.
「 The wolf came straight towards the fox and the crane. 」
"Why can't you eat this?"
「 The wolf muttered as if he didn't understand and snatched the gourd from the fox's hand. 」
"Isn't it okay to drink it like this?"
「 The wolf put the bottle in his mouth and gulped down the soup. 」
I looked up at the wolf blankly. The surprised crane was also the same.
「 After a while, the wolf who had eaten all the soup in the vial spoke. 」
"It's delicious."
「 While everyone was silent, a panda was chewing bamboo outside the kitchen window. 」
"Cut! COOOOOOOO!"
[Your approval rating drops.]
[Currently, 8% of prisoners in Zone 13 support you.]
"Koooooooooo!"
The crane's feathers fluttered. If the prisoners nearby had not stopped him, I would have been killed at any moment.
"You guys! You guys ruined my story!"
[The 'stage' is polluted!]
[The plot of the story is distorted!]
"Just calm down for a moment."
"Do I really look like myself now!"
I spoke to reassure the crane, who was almost out of breath.
"Don't worry, it's all intentional."
"Intentional? Did you just say intentional?"
"Aren't you here to ask us to change the story? That's why we changed it to the way that's popular these days."
It was a lie.
"I swear on my name."
This story is ruined.
Perhaps now the story 'The Fox and the Crane' will be changed to 'The Fox, the Crane and the Wolf—often a Panda'.
The name of the story became strange, and the moral or standard of the story collapsed.
But I think this way.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' likes the idea of wolves.]
Just because it's a bad story doesn't mean it's not popular.
[The constellation 'Reclining Dragon' says he has learned a new lesson.]
In fact, some stories sell well just because they fail.
[The constellation 'The One Who Brought Ten Lambs' says the panda is so cute.]
"The evaluators say it's okay."
The crane looked puzzled at my words.
"Are they…?"
"These are people who have been summoned to serve as story evaluators."
I didn't start this bold plan without any safety measures in place.
If you are supplying stories, there must be standards for the stories to be delivered.
For reference, there are a total of three constellations that I have invited through Bihyung.
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' tells you to bring a hot story next time.]
The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon'.
This guy, who only likes 'cider'-centered stories, was perfect to represent the impatient constellations.
Of course, not everyone likes cider like the Black Flame Dragon.
There are certainly constellations in the
For example,
[The constellation 'Reclining Dragon' feels profound insight in the transformation of the story.]
In the cultured faction, the 'Reclining Dragon'.
This smart constellation was perfect for representing constellations with intellectual vanity.
However, in the case of this type, there were cases where they insisted that messy stories were good, perhaps because of their compulsion to somehow find meaning in the stories.
The third constellation was recruited to prevent it.
[The constellation 'The One Who Brought Ten Lambs' likes the friendship between the fox and the crane.]
Sensitivity, 'The One Who Brought Ten Lambs'.
I invited this constellation on the recommendation of Bihyung, but I have not yet found out their identity.
Even though sheep is included in their modifier, they don't seem to belong to the
However, looking at the standards for evaluating the story, I felt that it was somewhat emotional, so it could make up for the shortcomings of the other two constellations.
"If we can satisfy all three, we will be able to capture 80% of the
"Really?"
I nodded and looked at the sky.
'Bihyung, are you ready?'
Then Bihyung responded as if he had been waiting.
—Are you really confident?
'I heard the Constellations are waiting for news from me outside right now?'
—Yes, but.
'Then, even if you come up with a story like 「Dung pretending to be soybean paste」, they will still eat it. Which channel will you distribute the stories through?'
—I decided to stop by the Gourmet Association. The center director said it was okay if it was distributed through there.
Right. It's called 'Gourmet Association'.
'That's good because there are a lot of constellations with weird tastes there.'
—Did you have any friendships with the Gourmet Association constellations?
'I just heard something somewhere.'
[The story you were involved in was submitted through the management bureau.]
[The name of the story has been changed due to malformed staging.]
[The story 'The Fox, the Crane, and the Wolf—often Panda' is transmitted.]
The strange story we created pierced the ceiling of the center and disappeared, leaving behind a long tail.
As I watched the tail of the story drifting away, I felt a sense of nostalgia.
I felt this way when I started my first series.
After a long time, I turned on my smartphone and checked 「Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint」 posted on the platform.
The side story was still being serialized in real time on the platform.
I clicked on the most recent episode and checked the comments.
[One free daily pass will be deducted.]
[Regardless of the order, one comment from that episode will be revealed at random.]
—Poo◼️Oh?
I looked at the comments for a while and then tilted my head. ◼️What is that?
'Oro Castle' in the dark dimension.
In this place, the territory of 'Immeasurable Strictness', one of the 72 Demon Kings, there were informal gatherings held periodically.
In the
The Gourmet Association.
Like the hipsters of the
But today, a different gastronomic wind was blowing at the Gourmet Association.
"Hey, have you tried that?"
"Oh, of course."
Normally, they would have been retelling sword master stories, but today they were telling strange stories.
The Demon King 'Worthless Darkness' said with admiration.
"My God, isn't this a fable? A first-generation story."
"It's based on the first generation, but it's properly arranged."
He added, as if he found the idea of 'a person who overcomes trials one step too late' interesting.
"If you look at the title, it sounds a bit like 'Takamagahara'. Shutendōji, do you know anything?"
"Kyung! We didn't make it. I thought the stories about animals would be really boring."
As the 'Old Drinking Man' spoke in a grumpy voice, the 'Impatient swamp predator' added:
"The part this fox says is pretty delicious."
"What is this panda?"
"I think that's the point. It's unique."
Next, the 'Lord of Forgotten Envy' and the 'Owner of the White Castle' added their words.
"Interesting."
Even the constellations that would normally be at odds with each other agreed.
A rare peace that came to the Gourmet Association.
The constellations were immersed in their own thoughts for a long time in the brief peace.
It was at that time that some thugs had burst through the main gate of Oro Castle.
"What are you all eating?"
A young monkey that has grown into a golden beauty. Some of the constellations that discovered the monkey muttered in contemplation.
"Damn it, the monkey bastard is here."
While the constellations were slowly leaving their seats, there was the only constellation that greeted him.
He was 'One Who Overcame the Trials One Step Too Late'
"Oh, King Mifu. Are you here?"
Then the 'King of Stone Monkeys' also nodded slightly and asked.
"I can't see Jeongjunjwa today?"
"That guy doesn't show up often these days. Instead, you should try this."
"What is it?"
"It's a popular story these days. It's a story from the animal world. Have you never heard of it?"
The 'King of the Stone Monkeys' looked down at the story presented by the ' One Who Overcame the Trials One Step Too Late' and frowned.
"It doesn't look tasty. It's a story about kids who didn't make it into the Chinese Zodiac."
"Try it and tell me. It's a story that we worked hard to obtain."
The Monkey King tilted his head and reluctantly picked up a piece of story.
And after a while, hair sprouted from the Monkey King's arms.
"This... where does this story come from?"
"From the Recycling Center."
"Who made it?"
The speed at which King Mifu extended his hand toward the story became faster and faster. The ''One Who Overcame Trials One Step Too Late' smiled and replied to King Mihu.
"It's a guy named Kim Dokja."