Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 563

Chapter 563

The man referred to as reader ahjussi, standing beside me, rolled his tense shoulders and spoke in a hushed tone.

«Don’t engage. Just run when I count to three.»

I had no way of knowing for sure, but he had likely read the entirety of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
I was certain of it.
Then again, I would forgive him even if he hadn’t.

«You should be the one to run, ahjussi. Your stats don’t seem very high.»
«No, I’ll buy us time together. We just need to hold out a little longer—»

With a wild boar-like screech, Lee Cheoldoo charged at me, swinging his pipe toward the back of my skull. I threw my full weight into a desperate lunge, crashing into him.
«Ouch.»
Lee Cheoldoo grunted, momentarily shocked, and dropped his weapon. Our difference in size kept him from falling.
An instant later, his gold-capped teeth flashed in a grimace.
«Trying to be a hero.»
Lee Cheoldoo easily pinned my arms and drove his forehead toward my face. Fortunately, I recalled seeing the ‘Headbutting’ skill in his [Character List] and jerked my head back, but the impact was still staggering. My vision swam and my legs buckled.
By the time my senses returned, he was already sitting astride me.

I forced my voice to sound calm. «Lee Cheoldoo. Leader of the Cheoldoo Group.»
His eyes widened in surprise. «What, you know me?»
«Do you plan on being a murderer for the rest of your life?»
«You son of a…»
Lee Cheoldoo let out an ugly laugh and hissed into my ear. «Isn’t that better than being dead?»

[There are 2 minutes remaining.]

I didn’t answer, instead turning my head to scan our surroundings. In the distance, a crowd looked on. Some were weeping, others were deep in prayer.
Kim Cheolyang was leading them in a hymn. Oh, worms, germs, whatever—they were celebrating my imminent death.
«Are you smiling?»
Lee Cheoldoo frowned, then wrapped both hands around my throat. A crushing pressure instantly cut off my air.

It struck me then that there was no one in this narrative that I recognized.

[There is 1 minute remaining.]

The righteous Lee Hyunsung wasn’t here. There was no Yoo Sangah to defend the weak, no Lee Gilyoung collecting insects. Jung Heewon, who confronts evil, was absent, and Yoo Joonghyuk, driven mad by countless regressions, was nowhere to be found, and…
Oxygen fled my brain, and a profound weakness spread through my body. As my sight began to dim, a solid thud echoed. Through blurry eyes, I saw Lee Cheoldoo stumble.
Behind him stood a figure, gripping a pipe with desperate intent.
It was someone I knew.
Someone more ordinary than any character from Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
A man whose only connection to this world was a novel he had read for a decade.
My protagonist, a coward at heart, who had repeatedly faced death for the sake of those he cherished.

「 Kim Dokja. 」

Another dull thud sounded, and Lee Cheoldoo roared, driving his fist into my face. As I spat blood, he turned his rage toward Kim Dokja.
I rubbed my eyes; the retreating back that looked like Kim Dokja’s resolved into the reader ahjussi, fleeing.

[There are 40 seconds remaining.]

Lee Cheoldoo caught him and wrested the pipe away.
I wiped my mouth and ran.

[There are 20 seconds remaining.]

Seeing the pipe raised high, I threw myself over the reader ahjussi, and we tumbled to the ground. A searing pain shot through my back.
Lee Cheoldoo screamed, «You lunatic! I’ll kill you both!»

[There are 10 seconds remaining.]
«You psychotic bastard! Now everyone will die because of you! Everyone—»
I looked up at him and managed a smile for the first time.
«I don’t care.»
Lee Cheoldoo’s shrieks merged with the cries of the onlookers and the frantic pounding of my own heart.

[There is 1 second remaining.]

Then.

[The given time has run out.]
[Paid settlement will begin.]

Every sound in the vicinity vanished.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, the world spinning violently.
I gasped for air and lifted my head. I blinked, checking my vision, my breathing.
Everything was intact.
The time limit had passed, and I was still alive.
A faint emotion stirred deep within.

The reader ahjussi lying next me pushed himself up. «Did… did we make it?»
I nodded. As I began to speak, a heavy thump sounded beside us.
It was the massive body of Lee Cheoldoo, now missing its head.
The horrified reader ahjussi shuddered and stammered, «Huh…?»
Beyond Lee Cheoldoo’s corpse, the bleak platform of Geumho Station was unveiled.

The first person I saw was the Life Leader, Kim Cheolyang.
He was mouthing words at me. Though I couldn’t hear him, the sentiment was easy to guess.
「 My God. 」
My gaze then found Lee Hyekyung, offering yogurt to her son; Jeong Hancheol, reuniting with his girlfriend; and Ji Hyungdong, discussing a chicken restaurant venture with his wife.
I wanted to ask them.
「 Does anyone here know what ‘1,863’ means? 」
Kim Cheolyang’s head burst apart with a soft puff.
「 Of course, no one knows. 」
Starting with him, people’s heads began exploding one after another.
Lee Hyekyung, Jeong Hancheol, Ji Hyungdong…
The characters were vanishing, as if they had never been more than words on a page.

I stumbled toward where Kim Cheolyang had stood.
Staring at the empty space, I tried to recall his face, but it was already fading from memory.
I couldn’t.
I had never described their faces.
They were setups that never found a home, remaining only as settings.

「 Cult of Life. 」
In the setting, the ‘Cult of Life’ was a group that deemed only their chosen as ‘life,’ slaughtering all others.
Lee Hyekyung, Jeong Hancheol, Ji Hyungdong… everyone in this story was the same.
「 The people in this zone become part of the ‘Cult of Life’ in every round they survive. 」
Those who go unrecorded will never be recorded.
They will persist here as mere ‘settings,’ unread by anyone.
「 All because someone designed them to be evil. 」

I looked over at the reader ahjussi, his mouth agape in disbelief. The horrific vista of Geumho Station was reflected in his eyes.
Looking at him, a thought formed.
I was being thought.
「 I want to write a novel. 」
Blood spread across the station floor like spilled ink.
No one was left alive except for us.
My legs slowly gave way.

The reader ahjussi muttered, utterly lost. «How can this be…»
«…»
«You were trying to save them, weren’t you…?»
I paused before answering. «Yes.»

In truth, Operation Germ had been destined to fail from the midway point.
No matter how I considered it, the constellations would never find this turn of events entertaining.
Still, I had kept that to myself.
Because of that, Kim Cheolyang, the Cult of Life members, and Lee Cheoldoo would not appear in the story.
I couldn’t speak for the rest of the world, but the history of Geumho Station would now align with the main narrative.
「 There is only one survivor in this area. 」

I looked up at the ceiling. In a blinding flash of light, Bihyung peered down at me. His expression was one of genuine awe.
Staring into the story-drunk eyes of the dokkaebi, I muttered a classic Yoo Joonghyuk line.
«Screw the Star Stream.»
I knew what awaited me.
I felt a trickle of blood run down the back of my neck.
[The will of the <Star Stream> is looking at you.]
This damned world, which only shows what the constellations desire, with its contrived direction.
That’s why my head would explode after all the others.

[A few constellations are looking at you.]
[The constellation ‘Monarch of the Small Fries’ is looking at you with amusement.]

I tried to quell the rising tide of terror.
I’m not afraid. When I die, this fear will vanish anyway.
I looked at the reader ahjussi one final time.
«Ahjussi.»
His hands trembled, as if he knew what was coming. Tears welled in his eyes.
«Oh, no, mate. No.»
I wanted to survive, at least long enough to meet Kim Dokja, to see the hero of my story.
But perhaps.
«Make sure you live to see the end.»
Perhaps I already had.
I prayed he would live long enough to witness the conclusion of this story.
I felt a draining sensation in my head, and then a pure white darkness consumed me.

In my final moment, I wondered how this scene would be written in a novel.
What would the reader say about my death? You might wonder too.
They’d say I deserved to die.
I could list countless reasons why.
For not killing the first bug I caught.
For failing to seize more control of the situation.
For feeling a flicker of sympathy for the characters I created.
….
Because the story is Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
No matter how many reasons I listed, there were enough to justify my death.
I was dying because I failed to prove my value.
That’s why I was so surprised.
Why.
I wasn’t dead yet, was I?

I snapped back to awareness.
I wiped the blood dripping from my head. It was a cut from Lee Cheoldoo’s earlier attack. Fortunately, it wasn’t deep.
My thoughts cleared. My breathing and pulse were steady.
「 I’m not dead. 」
Why in the world not?

[You have cleared the first scenario.]
I looked down at my blood-stained hands.
I hadn’t killed a single insect.
The bacteria weren’t acknowledged as living things.
So how?

[You have slaughtered a total of 19 creatures.]
[Slaughter story: 19 human beings.]
[You have earned 1,900 coins.]
[You succeeded in killing in a unique way that no one has ever attempted before.]
[A few constellations marvel at your killing strategy.]

When I turned my head, I saw the ahjussi’s face. He was crying, clutching my hand as if he couldn’t believe it.
Looking at him, I understood what had happened to me.

[The <Star Stream> has acknowledged your unique way of killing.]
[You incited people with false information, leading them to ‘kill themselves’.]
.
.
.
[The Bureau has given you limited recognition for your way of killing.]
[The Bureau has named your way of killing as ‘demagogy killing’.]
.
.
.
[Some constellations have sponsored you for the new scenario you have shown.]
[4,000 coins have been earned.]
[You have accomplished a non-existent achievement.]
[You have accomplished the ‘Demagoge Killer’ achievement for a phenomenal slaughter.]

I turned and saw my reflection in a screen door.
He was asking.
「 Did you truly not foresee this? 」
Kim Cheolyang, a member of the Ten Evils who existed only in the setting, did not survive at Geumho Station because of this man.
I knew who he was now.
He was the ruler of Geumho Station before Kim Dokja arrived.
A man who wielded propaganda, manipulated the masses, and formed a ‘group’ faster than anyone.
An incarnation who had survived several rounds of ‘Ways of Survival’ and risen to become one of the Ten Evils.
The reason this man was a character whose narrow eyes I had never seen.
It was because I had never described his appearance.
Because this character…
「 «I love them all, except for guys like…….» 」
Because he was the only character in the entirety of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint that I truly disliked.

The sound of tearing fabric echoed from somewhere, and the lights flickered violently. A groaning, crumbling noise filled the air.
I recognized the sound immediately.

[Main Scenario #1 — Proof of Value has ended.]
It was the sound of our known reality falling apart.

[300 coins have been acquired as a basic clearance reward.]
[100 coins have been reduced for the channel usage fee.]
[Additional compensations settlement will begin.]

One episode was concluding, and the next was about to begin.

[The character you are currently possessing is ‘Demagogue Cheon Inho’.]