Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 578

Chapter 578

Episode 5. Villain (3)

Upon understanding that this world was the ‘41st round’ of Ways of Survival, Kyung Sein slowly sank to the floor and started performing planks.

For a moment, Dansoo ahjussi fell silent, seeming not to have fully processed the situation.

I let them be and waited.

Kyung Sein’s counting was audible.

“Nine, ten, eleven…”

In the distance, Bang Cheolsoo was speaking with Dayoung’s mother.

“Cheolsoo-ssi, how is it that you’re so fearless and courageous?”

“Haha, the life I’ve led is a bit different from others’.”

Suddenly, I felt the urge to smack Bang Cheolsoo on the back of his head.

“Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty… Inho-ssi.”

“Yes.”

“What do we do now?”

It appeared no number of planks could provide an answer, as he finally collapsed onto the ground.

I helped him back to his feet.

“It’s alright. We have Dansoo ahjussi and Sein-ssi. And Sein-ssi mentioned you’ve read the Omniscient Reader’s Encyclopedia, or something like that, ten times.”

“What good is that? This isn’t Omniscient Reader, it’s Ways of Survival. The 41st round is hardly covered in the novel. The only thing mentioned is…”

I know. It’s all about how terrible Yoo Joonghyuk was.

Just because this is the 41st round, some of the methods Kim Dokja used are no longer effective.

“Still, we can’t give up yet. It’s still early in the scenario.”

“But it’s the 41st round! Yoo Joonghyuk is a complete villain!”

Dansoo ahjussi, finally grasping the severity of the situation, murmured his daughter’s name.

Abruptly, memories of my writing days resurfaced.

While I was drafting the ‘Disaster of Floods’ episode, where the Shin Yooseung from the 41st round was a disaster, I got a letter from a reader through the management office.

Yoo Joonghyuk can’t be that much of a bad person. Honestly, the 41st round Yoo Joonghyuk is a plot hole; please correct it right away.

It was a message along those lines.

Back then, I thought, ‘Who do you think you are?’ But reflecting on it now, that reader had a point.

I should have just fixed it back then.

“He might become worse and worse, but perhaps he’s not beyond saving yet. Even in Omniscient Reader, Yoo Joonghyuk started as a psychopath. He changed later, so maybe there’s hope for him here.”

You can’t rewrite people, but you can rewrite characters.

It’s ironic that I’m defending someone who tried to kill me, but I refuse to surrender hope just yet.

[A constellation who hasn’t disclosed their modifier is observing you.]

[The constellation ‘Sneaking Schemer’ remarks that they’re uncertain what you’re discussing, but the man in the black coat appears to be a villain.]

As long as we proceed with the scenarios, we’ll keep crossing paths with Yoo Joonghyuk. We can’t evade him indefinitely.

After all, we’ll require his assistance to clear the final scenario.

Especially if this is ‘Ways of Survival’ and not ‘Omniscient Reader’.

“From now on, I’ll be the one to make contact with Yoo Joonghyuk. You should steer clear of him no matter what.”

“Will you be okay?”

“He did give me the ‘Elaine Forest Essence’, after all.”

“Isn’t that just to exploit Inho-ssi?”

“I think so too, and that’s good, because he won’t kill me immediately if I have some use.”

I’m certain he left me with something because he still has some expectations of me.

Besides, there were still secrets in this ‘41st round’ that I hadn’t shared—secrets I myself didn’t know.

For instance, there’s some sort of arrangement between Cheon Inho and Yoo Joonghyuk from a previous round.

No need to dwell on it now. We’ll have to uncover it gradually moving forward.

[The constellation ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband’ picks his nose and inquires how long the filter will remain.]

Please bear with us, constellations-nim.

We’re discussing something critical.

“Don’t lose heart; let’s just do what we can. Our progress isn’t poor. Heewon-ssi has awakened, Dansoo ahjussi knows insect taming, Sein-ssi has [Average Correction], and Sein-ssi, you’re investing all your coins in physique, correct?”

“Yes. Absolutely, but…”

I knew it.

True to the spirit of a muscle enthusiast.

If Kyung Sein can take on the tank role, our party now has a basic lineup of damage dealer, support, and tank.

So what does that make me?

“We have Cheon Inho to handle the talking, so we’re not too far behind <Kim Dokja’s Company>.”

Kyung Sein offered a faint smile at my attempt at humor.

Suddenly, Dansoo ahjussi, who had already bounced back, gave a firm nod.

“Inho-ssi is correct.”

“You recovered fast.”

“This is nothing.”

“You’re not from a different world than us, are you?”

“Jiyoon would be let down if I gave up over this.”

Perhaps the most disheartened person here is Dansoo ahjussi.

He isn’t even a dedicated reader of Omniscient Reader; he’s just someone who ended up possessing a character in the novel because of his daughter…

I grew somewhat curious about what kind of life Dansoo ahjussi had lived that led to him being here.

“Let’s retrieve the hidden piece first. Starting at Geumho Station was fortunate, so we have an edge over the others.”

“Ah! You mean, to acquire ‘that’…?”

“Right. Let’s go get it.”

At Geumho Station, there’s a notable hidden piece that Kim Dokja obtains.

The star relic, ‘Unbroken Faith’.

To acquire it, you must journey to the ‘Edge of Darkness’ at Geumho Station and enter the ‘Ground Rat’s Treasure Trove’.

Dansoo ahjussi’s expression turned somber.

“If that’s the plan, we should move quickly.”

“Oh, that’s right. Actually…”

Kyung Sein interjected as she sprang up.

“There are already people heading that way.”

No, you should have led with that, guys.

We swiftly completed our preparations and positioned ourselves at the tunnel leading to Yaksu Station.

I considered waiting for Jung Heewon to awaken, but I felt anxious knowing others had already gone ahead.

“Don’t worry about Heewon-ssi and proceed.”

When Dayoung’s mother offered to take charge, Bang Cheolsoo thumped his chest and declared, “I’ll protect Geumho Station!”

Dayoung’s mother nodded with assurance and glanced at Bang Cheolsoo.

I observed the two for a moment; a strange dynamic was developing. Something had definitely shifted, though I wasn’t sure if it was for the better.

“Let’s move.”

We entered the tunnel, and almost instantly, the sounds faded, swallowed by profound darkness.

This time, Kyung Sein was the first to speak.

“Isn’t it unfair to leave Heewon-nim behind and go?”

“You fed her the Elaine Forest Essence; she won’t wake up even if you try.”

“But we don’t have a DPS¹ now… Isn’t it risky?”

[1] DPS: damage dealer.

“We’re short on time. If they came through twenty minutes ago, they might already be at the ‘Edge of Darkness’.”

Honestly, I hadn’t anticipated anyone going ahead. In the original novel, Kim Dokja was still occupied with his hidden scenario.

“How many people went ahead?”

“Two, a man and a woman. They suddenly came down from upstairs…”

“Were they readers?”

This question was really meant to prompt her.

She responded without hesitation.

“Not sure, but probably, since the timing doesn’t allow for any characters to pass through. I didn’t get a good look because they were moving fast on a bike, but…”

A bike? This early?

“But Inho-ssi, you are aware there’s a boss monster at the ‘Edge of Darkness’, right?”

“Yes. I know.”

For reference, the initial boss monster in the ‘Edge of Darkness’ is the ‘Dark Keeper’.

Fortunately, Omniscient Reader outlined a method to handle it.

Kyung Sein’s eyes gleamed with hope as she asked, “Did you manage to buy [Purest Sword Force] or ‘Broken Faith’?”

I shook my head.

[Purest Sword Force] was sold out, and from what I learned through Bihyung, there were no sellers for Broken Faith, only a lengthy waitlist.

-Why is everyone after that mediocre item? Is there some update I’m unaware of?

Kyung Sein’s face fell.

“Then we can’t defeat the ‘Dark Keeper’? Even in the original, Kim Dokja only just beat it using [Purest Sword Force] and ‘Broken Faith’ together.”

“We’ll figure it out on the way.”

“Without ‘Broken Faith’, you can’t create ‘Unbroken Faith’…”

“First, we need to secure the random item box.”

Inside the Ground Rat’s Treasure Trove, guarded by the ‘Dark Keeper’, there’s a ‘random item box’ that allows ‘item upgrades’ on its first use.

Kim Dokja used the box to enhance his ‘Broken Faith’ into ‘Unbroken Faith’.

Kyung Sein shook her head.

“Well, you can obtain ‘Broken Faith’ later. Do you recall all the boss’s attack patterns?”

“Yes.”

The challenge is having the physical capability to execute those patterns.

I opened the reward messages I’d been postponing.

[There are currently 3 unclaimed rewards.]

I pressed the collect button one after another.

[You have claimed the reward for the hidden scenario ‘Serpent Slayer’.]

[The scenario was completed early due to interference from other sea creatures.]

[You have received a portion of the scenario’s reward.]

[2,000 coins have been acquired.]

Regrettably, I only got half the reward because the final blow was taken by the Sea Commander. However, the next reward more than compensated for the letdown.

[The incarnation you awakened, ‘Jung Heewon’, hunted the ‘Sea Commander’.]

[The incarnation ‘Jung Heewon’ successfully looted the rewards from the hidden scenario—‘Commander Slayer’ that another was undertaking.]

[A share of the looted reward is credited to you.]

[4,000 coins have been acquired.]

[An additional 2,000 coins have been earned for your first looting reward.]

Looting rewards?

Hold on.

Does this mean there was an incarnation hunting the ‘Sea Commander’?

My mind raced.

According to Omniscient Reader’s main story, it was Kim Dokja who hunted the ‘Sea Commander’ and claimed the reward.

Since Kim Dokja likely doesn’t exist in this round, it must have been an ordinary reader who knew Omniscient Reader.

What became of that reader?

[The constellation ‘Sneaking Schemer’ laughs softly.]

I feel for that reader, but gaining 6,000 coins from the looting was a tremendous windfall.

And that wasn’t the only reward.

[You have claimed the constellations’ sponsorship rewards.]

[6,800 coins have been sponsored.]

Jung Heewon’s awakening scene garnered significant attention on the <Star Stream>, and we received a substantial amount of sponsorship for such an early phase.

Prisoner of the Golden Headband, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, and other benevolent animal constellations contributed coins.

[14,800 coins have been earned in total.]

[Coins Possessed: 17,100 C]

Now I’m wealthy.

If I were Kim Dokja, I’d hoard this like it was my last coin.

But I’m not him.

rlaehrwk37: Anyone else had their rewards stupidly stolen?

……

……

rlaehrwk37: No?

rlaehrwk49: So what?