Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 581

Chapter 581

581 Episode 5. Villain (6)
This must be what a criminal feels like when they’re caught in a ridiculous situation.

I felt a flicker of resentment toward Dansoo ahjussi for making a move without understanding my intentions. If he had just chosen Jophiel back then, none of this would be happening.

I turned to face the approaching Killer King and spoke.

“Hold on. Just listen to me. You asked if I had any last words.”

“I never said I would listen. I had no interest in hearing your excuses for slaughtering over a dozen people from the start.”

It seemed the [Eye of Sin] had logged the nineteen people I eliminated using ‘demagogy killing’ as a ‘sin’.

It felt deeply unfair.

I wanted to explain everything.

That I was actually the one who wrote Omniscient Reader, and those I killed were destined to become the vile ‘Cult of Life’.

“You look offended. You believe your killing was justified because that’s simply how this world operates.”

In a way, it was the truth, so I had no rebuttal.

“The Misreading Association members thought just like you.”

“Misreading Association?”

Killer King glanced silently toward his sister, and Literary Girl 64 shook her head firmly. She appeared reluctant to engage me in a fight.

“Yerin, we need to kill him now. The Eye of Sin isn’t mistaken; he is dangerous.”

«…….»

“We’ll handle it like we did with the Misreading Association. I’ll take him out.”

Hearing those words sent a chill down my spine.

“Wait.”

An unsettling feeling suddenly crept up my back.

“Did you kill a ‘real person’?”

“Are there real people and fake ones?”

“You know what I mean. Did you kill other readers?”

「 «No one who has read the Book of Revelation all the way through is a bad person.» 」

I don’t completely disagree with Kyung Sein. There are definitely both good and bad people among the readers.

But regardless of their nature, there is a bond shared only by those who have read the story.

I want to believe that there is an understanding, at least between fellow ‘readers’, that we wouldn’t ignore anyone who comprehends the tragedy of this world.

“The ‘Misreading Association’ deserved to die.”

Yet, right before me stood a reader who challenged that belief.

A reader who had experienced this story 99 times, one who likely understood this world better than anyone.

I told him.

“If you die here, it’s permanent.”

“Fine. They were sociopaths to begin with.”

With those words, I became certain. This Killer King has lost his mind.

If I let him be, he would wreck the entire scenario and put all other readers in jeopardy.

But could I actually defeat them?

As if Killer King wasn’t trouble enough, Literary Girl 64 over there was a monster capable of handling the Dark Keeper single-handedly.

It was then that the environment began to drain of color.

「 Time stopped. 」

The sign of the skill ‘⬜⬜’.

However, I didn’t see anyone performing an ‘unexpected action’.

Why then?

[Your skill has reached a certain level.]

The reason soon became clear.

[Your exclusive skill ‘⬜⬜’ is blossoming!]

[The activation conditions for the exclusive skill ‘⬜⬜’ have been relaxed.]

[The skill will be urgently triggered when one or more of the following conditions are met.]

1. A specific character attempts an ‘unexpected behavior’.
2. An important ‘event’ branch occurs (limited to 3 times per day).

Perhaps from frequent use, a new condition for triggering ‘⬜⬜’ had been added. If the skill activated now, it signified an important ‘event’ branch was imminent. And in Omniscient Reader, ‘important’ was synonymous with ‘dangerous’.

[You have entered the ‘Snowfield’.]

# Villain’s Crisis

「At that moment, Cheon Inho」

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜

* At your current skill level, you can write a total of 200 additional characters.

[You can stay in the ‘Snowfield’ for a total of 5 minutes.]

Given the attitudes of Killer King and Literary Girl 64, it was unlikely they would charge at me directly.

That meant the danger wasn’t coming from them.

When I glanced up at the ceiling, I found the source.

Since when had they been there?

Through the shadows at the ‘Edge of Darkness’, three figures slid down the wall, clinging to it. The moment I saw the series of prints on the wall, I understood their stealthy approach.

[Thief Rat’s Footprints].

A covert movement skill that, while less flashy than Lee Jihye’s [Ghost Walk], lets them move like ‘dead rats’ in the darkness.

All three held small canisters of tear gas, suggesting their intentions were far from peaceful.

Judging the distance, they would strike in roughly 1.8 seconds.

If this continued, Killer King and Literary Girl 64 would die, or at least suffer fatal injuries.

Since Killer King intended to kill me anyway, I could just let it happen.

However,

「 Villain’s Crisis. 」

I looked at the scene title and wondered.

「 But a crisis for ‘whom’? 」

I started to type a sentence.

[This story is plausible.]

[This story’s reproduction success rate is 90%.]

[There’s enough probability.]

[Do you want to check the reader’s feedback?]

rlaehrwk37: Oh?

[Successfully recreating the scene.]

[Leaving the ‘Snowfield’.]

「 At that moment, Cheon Inho threw the spike in his right hand forward. 」

«What—?»

Killer King, deep in thought, and Literary Girl 64 rolled their bodies to evade the attack.

But my spike wasn’t aimed at them.

Piyuuuu!

My level 20 strength converted into kinetic energy, piercing through the darkness. The shadows lurking between them emitted a harsh noise and were torn apart.

Something dripped in the darkness, and then an object exploded in the air.

Chiiiik!

Thick purple smoke poured out. I instantly recognized what it was.

Poisonous fog.

Killer King’s face turned pale.

«Yerin!»

His nimble younger sister swiftly grabbed her brother and took shelter near me.

I raised my hands to show I meant no harm. Literary Girl 64 dropped Killer King on the ground and began to vomit. She must have inhaled the poisonous fog.

I asked Killer King.

«Who are they?»

«You should know better…….»

«If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.»

Before he could answer, blood began to trickle from Killer King’s mouth.

His poisoning appeared severe.

This was clearly no ordinary poisonous fog. It was poison extracted directly from the anal gland of a ‘poisonous rhinoceros’.

I took out my emergency supply of Elaine Monkey’s Lungs, put one in my mouth, and offered the other to Killer King.

Killer King’s eyes wavered for a second.

«Bite it now. Before you die.»

Just as he took the lung and bit into it, Killer King spoke in a low voice.

«They are the Misreading Association.»

The Misreading Association. I see.

So that’s who they were.

While the Seven Apostles had the quaint habit of using Dionysus’s indirect messages as code, these ones didn’t seem to bother.

Ssssssss.

Through the dense violet fog, men with Elaine Monkey’s Lungs in their mouths emerged.

On closer look, all three had grayish hairs sprouting on their faces.

I immediately activated ‘Readers’ Comments List’.

[The exclusive skill ‘Readers’ Comments List’ is activated!]

[The person is not a ‘reader’.]

That was strange.

Wasn’t ‘Misreading Association’ the name of a readers’ community?

I activated ‘Character List’ just to be sure.

Then.

[The exclusive skill ‘Character List’ is activated!]

[Since you’re viewing multiple character’s information, it will temporarily change to ‘Character Summary’.]

[Character Summary]
Name: Yoon Shinmin

Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat

Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)

Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.15], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.15], [Magic Power Lv.8]

[Character Summary]
Name: Jung Hyunse

Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat

Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)

Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.13], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.15], [Magic Power Lv.6]

[Character Summary]
Name: Kang Junsik

Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat

Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)

Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.15], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.14], [Magic Power Lv.4]

Surprisingly, all three men were ‘characters’. They shared the same sponsor and attribute.

Plague-Carrying Rat.

And Ratman.

All incarnations of the same constellation, each choosing the path of the non-human (人外).

Even though non-human species were strong early on, would my friends who finished the novel really choose that path?

They couldn’t have.

They aren’t readers.

Then why did Killer King call them the ‘Misreading Association’?

It was then that a squeaking sound reached my ear.

[Your exclusive attribute is activated.]

[You understand the language settings.]

[You are interpreting the language of the Ratmen.]

And then a voice spoke.

—How is Killer King?
—Poisoned.
—His sister?
—Same. She can still move, but not for long.
—There’s someone else I don’t recognize.

My confusion only grew.

I thought only readers could know that.

How could people who’ve only been in this world for three days manage it?

“Hey, excuse me. You guys.”

The men continued their discussion, as if they couldn’t hear me.

—He’s an apostle; I can tell by the monkey’s lungs.
—Is he with the Seven Apostles?
—Probably.
—We’ll need to eliminate him.

I was no match for all three of those scoundrels.

[The constellation ‘Sneaking Schemer’ looks down at his incarnation with a pitiable glance.]

Just then, Kyung Sein and Dansoo ahjussi, who were collapsed on the floor, began to twitch.

The poisonous fog was slowly reaching them.

Fortunately, the two had eaten plenty of ground rat meat before falling asleep, so the antidote effect should sustain them a little longer.

“Narrowed eyes.”

I turned my head to see a struggling Killer King staring at me. His entire face was a deep purple, as if the Elaine Monkey’s Lungs weren’t enough.

He was even weaker than he looked. Hadn’t he leveled up any stats?

“Are you sure…… you’re not with the ‘Misreading Association’?”

“I don’t know any such people.”

[The other person has confirmed that the statement is true.]

Killer King spoke.

“I’ll believe you. You are definitely—”

“I’m no prophet, but I do know that now isn’t the time for us to fight each other.”

Nodding, Killer King passed the monkey’s lung he’d been biting to his sister.

“Yerin, I’m sorry, you’ll have to handle this alone.”

Literary Girl 64 shook her head vehemently but finally accepted the lung with trembling hands.

Killer King coughed and said.

“The enemy is a low-ranked non-human species. Around an 8th to 9th grade pattern, but…… you should be able to manage one by yourself.”

I seemed to recognize this brother and sister’s combat style. Apparently, the older brother, Killer King, acted as the strategist, while the younger sister executed the fighting.

Killer King looked in my direction.

“I don’t trust you. But……”

“You’ll owe me a favor.”

“I’ll repay it if I can.”

With those final words, Killer King closed his eyes. He didn’t seem dead, just conserving energy to survive the poisoning.

I turned to the younger sister.

“I need you to handle one. We must finish this before your brother dies.”

Literary Girl 64 wobbled to her feet, determined to do whatever it took.

Meanwhile, the Ratmen had finished analyzing our strength.

—Random item box secured.
—We have a variable; should we rush?
—Killer King must be eliminated here. If we don’t remove him now, we may not get another chance.

The Ratmen exchanged grim looks.

[The constellation ‘Plague-Carrying Rat’ laughs sneeringly.]

The next moment, a chill ran down my neck.

It felt like hundreds of rats were glaring at me through the purple fog.

The Ratmen, rising like jacks-in-the-box, surrounded me.

The Ratman is an 8th grade non-human species.

All three possessed excellent stats, and their attribute bonuses made them exceptionally swift.

Luckily, Literary Girl 64, moving in a flash, engaged one of the Ratmen, and a fierce hand-to-hand battle broke out.

Her movements were slower than before due to the poison, but she seemed capable of handling one Ratman.

That left two.

A Ratman’s extended claws aimed for my skull with clear intent to kill.

I was terrified. A single mistake would mean my death.

I muttered an incantation to bolster my courage.

「 I am Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk, incredibly strong Yoo Joonghyuk, handsome Yoo Joonghyuk.」

[The exclusive skill ‘Incite Lv.3’ is activated!]

Of course, just telling myself I was Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t actually make me him.

But it would make me as brave as him. And perhaps I could mimic him a little.

「 A pale trajectory sliced through the air. 」

Sugagak!

My level 20 strength slash cut through the air, severing the arm of one Ratman.

Startled by my power, the Ratmen leaped back.

—Dangerous. The variable’s strength level is over 20.
—He isn’t afraid of injury. He’s no ordinary guy.
—Keep your distance. We’ll alter the plan.

In an instant, the Ratmen created space and produced a long bamboo pole.

A bad feeling washed over me.

“Dodge!”

I instinctively leaped aside and swung my sword. I heard the sound of something deflecting off a Ratman’s blade. But I couldn’t block them all.

“Ah.”

I looked over to see Literary Girl 64 with a dagger embedded in her thigh.

I quickly moved to support her and retreated.

Literary Girl 64’s complexion instantly turned purple.

Damn.

—His agility level is over 20.
—Is there an apostle with two stats over 20?
—Maybe it’s an apostle possessing a named character.
—Is he from <Kim Dokja’s Company>?

The Ratmen craned their necks and looked upward simultaneously. Like terminals awaiting a signal.

—Says no.
—Then we eliminate him.

In that moment, a disturbing hypothesis formed in my mind.

The Ratmen before me weren’t ‘readers’, yet they knew information only ‘readers’ could know.

That meant someone was feeding them information.

Perhaps someone who could communicate with them in real time.

I instinctively looked up into the air.

「 Did every reader of ‘Omniscient Reader’ truly only possess ‘incarnations’? 」

From within the pitch-black darkness, I felt a gaze upon me.

[The constellation ‘Plague-Carrying Rat’ looks down on you.]

I thought with a bitter smile.

Sooyoung-ah, isn’t this a probability problem?