Fiction in Fiction – IV

To say I was annoyed would be drastically understating things.

First of all, this annoying Tutorial system was preventing me from keeping an eye on and helping Jinhee.

Second of all, this setting seemed to be a sort of pseudo-reality that operated strictly on the rule of causality... or rather 'probability.' That meant that me going overboard would break the entire Tutorial in half and drop us all back on Earth.

Third of all, those dokkaebi things were being annoying and trying to forcibly interfere by spawning in random events.

Fourth of all, I kept getting spammed with messages from all these 'constellations.'

Fifth of all-

No. At this rate, I'd be here all day complaining.

Right now...

"Who are you?"

I blinked and lowered the completely bloody dokkaebi in my right hand, staring at the speaker.

It was a beautiful woman with white hair and a white fur outfit. She appeared sharp and proper, almost militant. And she also looked completely confused.

Aaah. Right. I'd been fighting against her monsters, but the moment that dokkaebi did a system announcement, I plucked it out of thin air and started pummeling it instead of paying attention to her.

...And from the look of the devastated surroundings around me, she probably tried attacking me too only to not cause a single scratch.

I stared at the dokkaebi one more time, wondering if I should let it go.

It stared back and opened its mouth with a smug grin. "Foolish constellation. Do you really think-"

I immediately punched it in the face one more time, shutting it up. After that, I folded it in half eight times and chucked it in a pocket space.

The dokkaebi still wasn't dead though. Those furballs were surprisingly durable... and weird.

Seriously, you'd think it'd have a name other than something as ordinary as 'Paul.'

But anyway.

I shifted my gaze back to the woman who called out to me and brushed off my hands. After that, I smiled and said, "Sorry about that. Had a bit of stress to relieve, and that furball was a convenient punching bag."

I had to see if I could convince Gula to let me take it out with me. It might be a useful damage test dummy.

Ooh, maybe I could install it in the Neutral Zone training grounds? That would work...

The woman tilted her head and hesitantly said, "There is... no need to apologize?"

She was treating me like a bomb set to explode.

Fair though, considering I basically no-selled her helpers and wiped out the dinosaurs she sent flooding out of that ominous portal in the sky.

I tossed my mana sword, letting it dissolve back into ambient energy, and then stepped forward.

The woman instinctively took a step back.

[The Foxy Wife warns you to not tempt fate.]

[The Sacred Empress is giving you a sidelong glance.]

[The Spectral Saintess says that she draws the line at turning fictional woman into real ones to add to your family.]

[The Kingmaker says it truly must be an innate skill...]

[The Grand Architect says 'The Harem God' suits you more.]

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' gives you a thumbs up.]

[The constellation 'Demon-Like Judge of Fire' says that a romance between a constellation and a disaster is forbidden! At the same time, she secretly pulls out a notebook.]

I'm not picking up any more women, okay?! Sheesh! Just because I happen to have a lot of women deeply in love with me because I helped them in the past doesn't mean that I'm going to pick up EVERY beautiful woman I see.

[The divine being 'Embodiment of Gluttony' presses X to doubt.]

How do you even *know* about that, Gula?!

[The divine being 'Embodiment of Lust' giggles.]

And shouldn't you be doing more important things Luxuria?!

Honestly! It's like these guys don't have anything better to do when the Parasite Queen is *literally* about to launch an invasion with our convenient absence...

"...Sir?"

I blinked and realized I had spaced out again.

Gotta stop doing that. Or at least learn to do it faster.

But anyway.

I held out my hand and smiled. "I'm Jihu. Not sure what's going on exactly, but I could use the help of someone like you. My sister, practically adopted sister, and an overly affectionate acquaintance got scattered around. I noticed that you could control monsters, so I'd appreciate it you'd cooperate."

The woman stared at my hand and frowned. "...And if I don't?"

"Well..." I paused to think about it. "It's not in my policy to cut down beautiful women-"

[The Foxy Wife swears to god that if you don't kill the Parasite Queen because of that bullshit reason, she's going to kick your ass.]

[The Kingmaker gives you serious glance.]

[The Grand Architect says that he knows you enjoy NTR, but that's a bit much.]

...I should have just broken this Tutorial in half at the start. Hah...

The woman looked even more suspicious at that and subconsciously covered her chest.

Seeing that, I ran my hand through my hair and said, "You know what? Never mind."

This was getting to be too much hassle than it was worth.

I turned my back on the woman and then took a quick look around. Finding the tallest intact structure, I started jumping through the air, forming temporary stepping stones out of mana.

[The Grand Architect's eyes sparkle and he says that you've become a proper Wuxia protagonist, complete with the beauties and world-breaking power.]

[The Kingmaker lets out a deep sigh and says he can't believe that reality is stranger than fiction.]

[The Good Win says that it is as expected of his imperial brother in arms.]

[The Mob Queen says that you and her daughter are truly a match made in hell.]

...This is going to keep happening until the Tutorial is over, isn't it?

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' asks if you have heard of the Fourth Wall.]

I blinked at the last message and then frowned. "...You aren't Neol, are you?"

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' tilts his head at the unknown name.]

[The constellation 'The Oldest Dream' raises an eyebrow.]

[The Fourth Wall trembles.]

[The divine being 'Embodiment of Gluttony' gives you a blank look.]

I coughed and kept moving.

Now, just what sort of mess did the girls get into now...?

xxx

[A few constellations are questioning the fairness of the broadcast!]

[A few constellations are suspicious of the priveleges you have received!]

Jinhee rolled her eyes at the messages as she casually swung a steel pipe she picked up. The air rippled as space compressed, and then an invisible slash tore apart the horde of Demonic Humans starting to gather.

After clearing out her surroundings, she took a look around and frowned. "Where is everyone?"

She had made her way back to the broken bridge. Not only that, but she had made her way over the broken bridge by using her cheat Energy Manipulation that she borrowed from her Oppa.

But although she was in front of Oksu Station where the next part of the story should start, there was no one here.

Not Deokja's female co-worker and potential love interest, not their creep of a boss who should have grabbed that girl to cross the bridge...

In fact, there wasn't anyone around at all.

Jinhee walked over to lean against the side of a building and frowned. "Is it because of Oppa?"

The plot was all sorts of messed up now.

Then again, that was what usually happened with self-insert stories. They didn't usually think of the consequences or forces at play and just tried to shoehorn an overpowered character into the setting.

Most just stopped writing after losing the thread, but it seemed like when it was reality, it just meant that things went wild.

Like causing the Disaster of Floods to spawn in early.

Speaking of which...

Jinhee glanced towards the towering monsters still visible in the distance and frowned. "Oppa hasn't killed the monsters, so does that mean that he won her over instead?"

It was possible- No, probable. Oppa *was* the MC-type who picked up every beauty he met.

But she had a feeling that her Unnis, including the ones she hadn't met, would murder him if he did, so...

...Yeah, she'd let him deal with that for now. Although Jinhee wanted to help her Oppa since it seemed like it was his fate to tangle with countless beauties and live a troublesome life, it was also *excellent* source material.

But anyway, that was fine. Although a plot point that she intended from 1/5 of the way into the story had been triggered early, Oppa's presence meant it was contained.

So-

[Sender: The Guide]

[Congratulations on being lucky enough to have someone else neutralize the Disaster of Floods]

[The next stage of the Tutorial will begin.]

[The Coin Rush will begin.]

[1. Rules of the Coin Rush]

> Using any means possible, obtain coins.

> Coins may be obtained by accomplishing certain tasks, or catching the attention of the 'constellations' observing the Tutorial world.

> The Coin Shop will be opened.

> A 'Safe House' may be purchased from the shop by spending 777 coins.

> You may test your luck at winning expensive coin items with the Gacha. 1 draw is 100 coins and 11 draws is 1000 coins.

[2. Requirements to advance]

> The duration of the Coin Rush will be 48 hours.

> You will automatically pass into Neutral Zone if you possess at least 1337 coins at the end of the time period.

Jinhee read the latest messages and then hummed. "Looks like this is Oppa's fault."

The messages reeked of upper management having to quickly adjust because there was someone who didn't fit the scenario plopped right in the middle of it.

Not that it mattered much to her.

"Open shop."

[Welcome to the coin shop, the Trove of the Crazy Bastard.]

Eh?

That wasn't what Jinhee remembered writing...

The contents of the shop were the same though.

Pop up messages listing various starter packs. Coin items meant to be used by constellations raising incarnations...

But that didn't matter.

Right now...

Jinhee clicked on the magnifying glass icon at the bottom of the window.

[The product search is limited to 5 times a day. Any additional searches will cost 100 coins per search.]

Jinhee grumbled and said, "Freaking microtransactions."

[Many constellations nod their head in agreement.]

[The constellation 'Secretive Plotter' is curious about your objective.]

[Doting Big Brother questions if you possess something similar to Transcendent Insight.]

Okay. Another bomb to unpack later from Oppa. But right now...

[Searching for 'Ancient Dragon'...]

If we were earlier in the scenario, and if it was as chaotic as it was elsewhere in the world as well...

[There are four search results]

> Ancient Dragon's Heart - 1

> Ancient Dragon's Bone - 1

> Ancient Dragon's Horn - 1

> Ancient Dragon's Divinity - 1 (Restricted)

Huh?

It was another thing that Jinhee didn't remember writing.

Curious, she clicked on the Ancient Dragon's Divinity.

---

[Item Information]

> Name: Ancient Dragon's Divinity

> Rating: EX

> Description: The essence of a dragon twisted by kindness. If properly assimilated, grants ungodly regeneration, strength, and mana. Obtained by a Black Bunny and Black Wolf doing a speed-run off-screen.

> Price: Contact Seller

> Stock: 1

[Would you like to message the seller?]

> Yes

> No

---

Jinhee frowned and then clicked on yes.