Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 605

Feeling his heart turn rapidly cold, Jung Jaewoo trembled with fear.

「Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared. Scared.」

He was going to die. He was going to die now.

【Oh dear, how pitiful. It’s all right. Be at ease.】

Someone spoke while gripping the back of his neck.

【You will not die.】

A bleak, shadowed voice.

Jung Jaewoo realized whose voice it was.

It was “Representative Kim Dokja.”

【Because there’s a story you need to see.】

A story. At those words, Jung Jaewoo’s heart suddenly pounded.

His dying body was coming back to life.

Was this how Kim Dokja felt when he resurrected with the authority of the “King of Nonkilling”?

All those thoughts about how he shouldn’t have read the novel vanished completely.

He’d been right to read this story after all.

He felt his head, hands, torso, and legs regenerate in turn.

Jung Jaewoo forced his eyes open.

He was seated in front of a movie-theater screen.

Huh.

His head felt oddly foggy.

One by one, what had just happened flickered through his mind.

Going to the theater dungeon.

Meeting the readers.

Meeting Cheon Inho and Jung Heewon.

Fighting the man who claimed to be the author.

And then—

Ah.

「‘Jaewoo-ssi.’」

A man’s face rose on the screen. And there was his own body, motionless, eyes closed.

I’m dead.

Strangely, he felt neither sad nor distressed. The story was still continuing before his eyes.

「‘Jaewoo-ssi.’」

Watching Cheon Inho shake and hold his hand, Jung Jaewoo thought:

He really did love stories too much.

He wanted to watch this story a little longer.

【Of course. You can, for as long as you like.】

Representative Kim Dokja patted his shoulder and then vanished.

Blankly, Jung Jaewoo stared at the screen.

On it, Cheon Inho was grieving. Facing that Cheon Inho, Jung Jaewoo sensed the far-off order of Story.

The stories he had read, hadn’t read, wanted to read.

As he drifted through the cosmos of Story, he began losing himself bit by bit.

Who was I, again?

Only, watching Cheon Inho sit with that devastated face, he wanted to tell him something. That he was okay. That though he’d been dragged into a slightly strange space, he was still here.

That he was reading this story.

Then a small keypad popped up before his eyes.

He gazed at it vacantly for a moment, then typed a line.

rlaehrwk41 : What is this~?

The Little Kim Dokja beside him turned to look.

rlaehrwk37 : Newbie?

Pinned to Little Kim Dokja’s chest was a name tag reading “rlaehrwk37.”

rlaehrwk37 : I worked hard to save you, and you went and died.

Absentmindedly, he looked down at his own chest.

“rlaehrwk41.”

After staring at his tag for a long while, rlaehrwk41 asked:

rlaehrwk41 : Who are you~?

rlaehrwk37 : Who do you think? Same boat as you. Rookie, you know “dn3,” right?

rlaehrwk41 : What’s dn3~?

At that, rlaehrwk37 put on a straight face and said:

rlaehrwk37 : Lurk Silently for Three Days

+

Rain fell.

Beneath the shelter of a dense broadleaf canopy, I buried Jung Jaewoo’s body.

[The Constellation, ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos,’ looks upon you.]

At the moment of death, Jung Jaewoo had worn an inexplicable smile.

Why? He’d said he regretted reading this novel—so why had he died smiling like that?

Was that his final bit of [Small Luck]?

[The Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire,’ offers you comfort.][The Constellation, ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius,’ sponsors you with 100 coins.][The Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon,’ asks why bury him if he’ll vanish anyway.]

The black flame dragon was right.

When this film’s ending arrived, this world would vanish. Then Jung Jaewoo’s corpse would disappear as well.

I knew that.

But it would be the same anywhere else. Earth, the solar system, the galaxy—everything would one day vanish.

Even so, we bury the dead. I don’t know why.

All I can speak of is in terms of novels. Some sentences gain meaning only when they’re buried between other sentences, unseen.

Maybe death is like that.

Jung Heewon did not wake easily.

Carrying her on my back, I followed the text-file author’s footprints. At some point, the trail cut off.

There, at the broken trail, lay the jar he’d dropped—“Yongjun.”

I picked up Yongjun and hung it at my belt.

If he’d dropped even his mainstay item, then by now he was either dead somewhere—or dying.

I stopped the pursuit.

[Reach the film’s ending.]

Killing him mattered, but escaping this film came first. Only by seeing it through could we return to our original world.

We’d lost Jung Jaewoo, and Jung Heewon was unconscious.

If I ran into the hidden “forerunner” alone, our team would be finished.

「I can’t lose anyone else.」

I covered Jung Heewon with my coat and kept walking through the rain. Sweat and rain mixed into a clammy film, and the ground had turned to mud that dragged at my steps.

GROOOOAR!

Whenever the roars of enormous monsters rang out, I leaned against a trunk and caught my breath.

This film ended when you escaped the island.

I would probably have to head to the central research facility again.

[The theater owner dislikes ordinary endings.]

From the sodden sky, occasional sparks crackled down.

[The theater owner accepts the proposal of the Constellation ‘Snake That Cuts Its Tail’.][The Constellation, ‘Snake That Cuts Its Tail,’ unfurls its fable.][Portions of this stage’s design have changed.][A black moon has risen over the stage.][Some monsters evolve under the blessing of the Constellation ‘Snake That Cuts Its Tail’!]

KUUOOOOH!

[The Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes,’ advises you to hurry.]

A chill ran down my spine, and I quickened my pace. But the research wing was too far, and they were drawing closer.

Like predators stalking prey, the brush shivered all around.

At last, I set Jung Heewon down and took the “Damaged Staff of Venerable Master Samyeong” in hand.

Grrrrrr…

From the grass emerged a pack of red-eyed raptors.

[Grade-8 Earth-Dragon species, ‘Raptor,’ bares murderous intent at you.]

One, two, three, four… eight in total. Individually Grade-8, but in a pack, they were monsters that could bring down a Grade-7.

[Activating Exclusive Skill, ‘Incitement Lv.6’!]

“I’m a raptor. I’m not your enemy.”

I tried it just in case, but it didn’t take.

[The Constellation, ‘Snake That Cuts Its Tail,’ smirks.]

A power stronger than Incitement—the sponsor’s dominion—held them in thrall.

「I am Yoo Joonghyuk.」

[Activating Exclusive Skill, ‘Incitement Lv.6’!]

Cracking the skull of the charging raptor with my staff, I thought:

「Since ‘□□’ didn’t trigger, I’m not in a death crisis.」

But what about Jung Heewon?

Guarding her where I’d propped her against the trunk, I leveled the staff around us.

Should I invest coins into my stats?

Or buy a new skill?

[Coins on hand: 25,400C]

No sharp solution came to mind.

Even if I hunted every raptor, it would still be a problem.

These raptors were among the weaker things in this stage.

CRUNCH!

In a moment’s lapse, one raptor sank its teeth into my arm.

I smashed its head with the staff tip. Shaking off the blood splatter, I triggered [Incitement] again.

“I am a ‘Tyrannosaurus rex.’”

[Activating Exclusive Skill, ‘Incitement Lv.6’!]

Drawing a deep breath, I let out the loudest bellow I could produce.

KROAAAAAAAR!

In an instant, the raptors aiming at me froze where they stood.

I stepped forward and roared again.

GROAAAAAR!

When the first raptor bolted, the second whipped around and fled as well. Three, four, five… in a flash, all but the two I’d felled turned tail and ran.

[The Constellation, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband,’ sponsors you 100 coins for your cleverness.]

I exhaled a breath of relief.

My throat throbbed from the excessive roar.

RUMMMMMBLE.

That was when the ground nearby began to quake.

A bad feeling prickled.

「Was it really me they were running from?」

On the left, broadleaf trees snapped like matchsticks, and a colossal forelimb of an earth-dragon species pushed through.

KUUOOOOOOH!

[Grade-7 Earth-Dragon species, ‘Tyrannosaurus rex,’ has appeared!]

In the main story, Kim Dokja, Lee Jihye, and Jung Heewon had combined forces to take this monster down.

But here, Kim Dokja and Lee Jihye weren’t present, and Jung Heewon was unconscious.

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!

Its massive tail scythed through nearby trees, shattering them as it whipped toward us.

I wrapped my body around Jung Heewon and rolled across the ground.

Damn it.

Blood kept streaming from the arm the raptor had bitten.

This wasn’t an opponent I could beat one-on-one.

All I really had was [Incitement]. If I was going to scare it, what should I Incite as?

「How far can I [Incite] this world as I am now?」

Mustering every scrap of imagination, I pictured the mightiest “dragon” I knew.

A monster incomparable to a Grade-7 earth-dragon.

Maybe it sensed what I intended; the warning signs of a plausibility storm were already prickling over my skin.

[The Constellation, ‘Snake That Cuts Its Tail,’ glares.]

“I am—”

[Activating Exclusive Skill, ‘Incitement Lv.6’!]

I slowly parted my lips.

[The Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon,’ realizes your intent and is startled.]

To save Jung Heewon.

To meet Yoo Joonghyuk once more at this theater’s end.

“The—of the Apocalypse.”

[Exclusive Skill, ‘Incitement Lv.6,’ is being pushed to the limit!]

Agony wracked me as if every cell were being wrung dry.

Just one last word.

Just the last word.

The tyrannosaur’s forelimb swung toward me.

ZZZZZZZZZT!

As if someone clamped a hand over my mouth, my tongue locked up. The final word wouldn’t come out.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

「If I die, will I become a Little Kim Dokja too?」

In the dimness behind my eyelids, a flash flared. Then—thud—something hit the ground and rolled.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a vivid pale-blue ether blade and the tyrannosaur collapsing with its forelimb severed.

“Huh?”

Beyond the dazzling [Baekcheong Internal Energy], a familiar pair of siblings’ faces came into view.

The man who had read ORV 99.8 times—Killer King—stood there.

“Why are you here?”

+

rlaehrwk41 : The people who saved me~

+

The text-file author, Yeom Il-woo, was sprinting with a stream of curses.

“Goddammit! Goddammit!”

The battle just now was still painfully vivid. A lunatic who’d read ORV a hundred times, and a crazy woman who could pummel even Grade-7 nonhumans.

“Bleeeergh!”

The crazy woman’s thrown dagger had shredded his arm, making him drop Yongjun, and the newbie brat who’d chased him had jammed a blade into his thigh, hobbling his movement.

He’d punched a hole in the newbie’s heart, but thanks to that, he himself was now on the brink of death.

[The Constellation, ‘Monarch of Gambling,’ bestows a blessing of luck upon you.]

His sponsor constellation had saved him.

With incredible luck, Yeom Il-woo tore through the broadleaf zone, avoided herds of dinosaurs, and ultimately became the first to enter the “central research wing.”

He even found a “hidden tunnel” leading straight up to the upper floors.

[You are the first to enter the research wing!][Enter the ‘Hidden Tunnel’?][Upon entry, you will skip stair levels at random.][50% chance to arrive on the ground 3rd floor, 40% on the ground 4th, 10% on the ground 5th.]

Without hesitation, Yeom Il-woo entered the tunnel.

[The stigma ‘King of Dice’ activates!][You enter the ground 5th floor!]

Ground 5th.

Where the “Reward Room” was.

Unable to hide his excitement, Yeom Il-woo stepped onto the 5th floor.

He had lost two teammates and even dropped Yongjun on the way—but fortune still favored him.

He spotted a woman who had arrived on the 5th floor ahead of him.

“Hey there. Are you alone?”

A bob-haired woman in a white coat.

The instant he saw her face, Yeom Il-woo’s expression lit up.

[The Constellation, ‘Monarch of Gambling,’ tells you not to approach her.]

He ignored it.

Whoever she was, anyone here was an “incarnation,” and very likely a “reader.” And if she was a reader, he was confident he could smooth-talk her as much as needed.

Surely there couldn’t be two lunatics who had read ORV a hundred times.

More than anything, the woman was beautiful.

“Let’s team up. I’m the author of this novel! You heard earlier, right? I’m the author of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint—”

Grinning foolishly, Yeom Il-woo reached out to her—and a chill sound sliced the air.

Even as his head rolled along the floor, Yeom Il-woo never grasped what had happened.

[The Constellation, ‘Monarch of Gambling,’ bulges his eyes in shock.][The Constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ glares at the ‘Monarch of Gambling’.][The Constellation, ‘Monarch of Gambling,’ hurriedly exits the channel.]

The woman watched Yeom Il-woo’s head tumble across the floor, then smiled faintly.

“Can’t even use an avatar if you’re just a plagiarist.”

She flicked the blood from her blade, wiped the edge, and glanced back over her shoulder.

“Hey, you lot.”

“……”

“Kim Namwoon. Lee Hyunsung. Still not awake?”

Kim Namwoon, who’d been collapsed in the back, staggered to his feet. With a twisted smile he said:

“You… you’re really strong. Heh heh heh. But compared to our captain—gkk!”

A whack to the back of the head knocked Kim Namwoon out cold.

“Knew you were awake. I told you not to wake up.”

Dragging the neatly-unconscious Kim Namwoon and the suddenly snoring Lee Hyunsung, the woman started for the stairs to the upper floor.

“Hey. What floor is Yoo Joonghyuk on now?”

At her question, Lee Hyunsung’s snoring cut off.

Then the woman said:

“Not you, Lee Hyunsung.”

Lee Hyunsung began snoring again, and an answer came from the air.

[The Constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ says it’s the final floor now.]

The woman let out a small sigh. Another message sounded from the air.

[The Constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ says everyone’s worried.]

“What’s there to worry about.”

[The Constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ says everyone’s worried about Soo-young noona—]

“Quiet.”

Han Sooyoung answered thus, then paused to look at the torn movie posters. Likely the films Yoo Joonghyuk had shredded while ascending.

「Originally, she had never come to this theater.」

Back when Kim Dokja cleared the “theater dungeon” in the 3rd regression, she had been elsewhere.

Even so, she knew what Kim Dokja had said here.

「‘I prayed to be allowed to see the epilogue of a certain novel.’」

When he said that then, did Kim Dokja know the story would stretch on this long?

「Do you still wonder about the end of this world?」

Leaving the shredded posters where they were, Han Sooyoung looked up at the ceiling.

Kim Dokja was probably still reading this story somewhere, even now.

As if speaking to that Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung murmured:

“You keep watching from there. I’ll do my job.”

Putting a period at the end of the story, and sending the reader back to reality.

That was the author’s role.