Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 585

Chapter 585

585 Episode 6. Star Relic (2)
«Demon King of Salvation! Watcher of Light and Darkness! I beg of you!»

As Kyung Sein’s prayer echoed, a brilliant light erupted from the box.

Then.

[An item of uncertain origin has been placed within the box.]

[Inside the box lies a lock of someone’s hair.]

A strand of hair?

Wait a moment.

Could something else have been mixed in?

[The item is triggering an unusual alteration!]

[The sacrificed item’s origin has been verified.]

[A top-grade item has manifested!]

[The number of remaining random item boxes is now 0.]

Soon, the radiant glow faded.

Kyung Sein, Dansoo ahjussi, and I exchanged glances, took a deep breath, and together lifted the lid of the box.

Resting inside was a vibrant, light-blue spirit, roughly the size of a man’s fist.

Kyung Sein scrunched up her nose.

“Its color changed? It looks like Biyoo’s droppings.”

“Let’s see what it is.”

I reached for the slime. But just as my fingers were about to touch it, the creature twitched and evaded my grasp.

Looking more closely, I saw the slime had eyes. Thin, narrow eyes.

“Giw—me.”

It even had a small mouth.

For a second, I thought it resembled me (Cheon Inho).

“Giw—me. Giw—me.”

Kyung Sein tilted her head.

“Is it cursing?”

“No, I think it’s saying ‘give me’. It seems to be asking for food.”

“How can you tell?”

“It sounds similar to how Jiyoon used to babble…”

After a brief pause, a concerned Dansoo ahjussi hesitantly offered some leftover ground rat meat.

The slime glanced at it, then suddenly leaped toward his hand. It wasn’t interested in the meat—it went straight for the bracelet he was wearing.

Dansoo ahjussi recoiled in alarm.

“Wilson!”

Apparently, he’d even given the bracelet a name.

Finding the bracelet unappetizing, the slime quickly spat it out and curled up with a disgruntled huff.

And in the next instant.

“Huh?”

The slime had now become a bracelet.

 

After we finished sorting our items, we left the ‘Edge of Darkness’.

Fortunately, ahjussi had a cockroach in his pocket, so finding our way out wasn’t difficult.

But… why did I keep feeling an itch on the back of my neck?

“Inho-ssi, is something the matter?”

“No, it’s just…”

I turned to look back into the impenetrable blackness of the ‘Edge of Darkness’.

“I just have this feeling that someone’s watching me.”

“Oh, it’s probably nothing.”

“Even the insects say there’s nothing there.”

If ahjussi said there was nothing, then there was nothing.

At this point, the only one his [Diverse Communication] can’t detect is Killer King.

He was probably somewhere, furiously clutching that now-useless box and muttering my name with murderous intent. I pictured Killer King, endlessly repeating ‘Cheon Inho’ to himself.

Well… at least I didn’t give him an empty box, so it should be fine.

If he makes good use of the notes I left inside, he should still earn a reasonable amount.

Of course, whatever he gets will pale in comparison to the bracelet now on my wrist.

[Item Information]
Name: Thoughts of Almost Everything

Rating: Star Relic (遺物)

Description: A mysterious slime born from a constellation’s obsession with studying ‘almost everything’.

When worn, it raises both Agility and Magic Power by 1 level.

* ‘Idea’ is capable of ‘mimicry’.

Formed Idea (意態).

‘Thoughts of Almost Everything’ can imitate any item it touches.

As a top-tier item, it cannot mimic objects through simple contact alone; specific conditions must first be met.

Once mimicry is successful, the form can be maintained until the mimicked object is destroyed.

However, ‘Thoughts of Almost Everything’ may, of its own volition, refuse to obey its owner’s ‘mimicry command’.

As the description implies, this was a potentially game-breaking item. Theoretically, it could become almost anything.

But ‘Thoughts of Almost Everything’ had two critical weaknesses.

First, it was unreliable unless the specific ‘mimicry’ conditions were fulfilled.

And second, the ‘idea’ itself could simply refuse the ‘mimicry command’.

So perhaps it wasn’t so overpowered after all.

Kyung Sein, standing beside me, gazed enviously at my bracelet.

“Sein-ssi, I’ll find a good star relic for you too.”

“Really? N-No, it’s fine.”

“What would you like to have?”

“Heracles’ Shield.”

What?

As we walked and chatted, we reached the platform of Geumho Station.

But Jung Heewon was nowhere to be seen.

“Heewon-ssi…?”

“Oh, she woke up about half an hour ago and left with some others to find food.”

Food.

It was time to start worrying about that.

I asked Bang Cheolsoo for a situation report.

“Did anything happen?”

Their uneasy expressions told me something had.

Bang Cheolsoo began his report, voice slightly tense.

“A few things occurred.”

The first was about strange creatures spotted near Geumho Station.

“Well, they weren’t exactly monsters, but they weren’t human either…”

According to Bang Cheolsoo, these beings had started appearing a few hours ago.

My thoughts raced.

“Did they look like rats?”

“Some were rat-like, others resembled lizards.”

I had a suspicion who they might be. Probably incarnations under the control of the Misreading Association.

“Anything else?”

“A scenario penalty has been applied.”

The scenario. Sure enough, I’d received a message too.

I opened my notifications, and they flooded in.

[A scenario penalty has been added.]

[Food stockpiling is now restricted.]

[All previously stockpiled food has vanished.]

[The ‘survival cost’ clause has been added.]

[From now on, 100 coins will be deducted every night as a ‘survival cost’. Failure to pay will result in death.]

[The ‘survival cost’ penalty will remain in effect until the second main scenario is cleared.]

A ban on hoarding food and a survival cost penalty.

No wonder Jung Heewon went searching for something to eat.

“Let’s gather everyone for a moment.”

Despite all their stored food being gone, the group didn’t seem utterly desperate.

Perhaps because this group began from a different place than in the 3rd turn.

They shared what they had and banded together facing the crisis.

“Gather around! The boss wants to speak!”

“Hurry, come here!”

The scattered, hungry people began to slowly assemble.

“Inho ahjussi!”

Dayoung, perched on Bang Cheolsoo’s shoulders, waved at me. As I gently took her hand, I suddenly thought of Yoo Joonghyuk.

He had come to Geumho Station the day the ichthyosaur swallowed me.

「 “Cheon Inho is already dead. Those left behind can come out safely. I’ll show you how to get food from now on.” 」

Back then, Yoo Joonghyuk hadn’t come to kill. Instead, he’d come to save them.

Thinking back, it was puzzling.

This is the 41st turn.

A world where Yoo Joonghyuk is known as the most merciless man in all of ‘Ways of Survival’.

Yet, he was trying to save these people.

“Inho-ssi?”

“Ah, yes. Is everyone here?”

Looking around, about 80 people had gathered.

Some must have left for other areas, aside from those who went with Jung Heewon to find food.

I began to address them.

“I assume you’ve all seen the ‘survival cost’ penalty.”

A few people flinched at the mention of the survival cost.

“That’s right, suddenly we have to pay every night…”

“How are we supposed to get coins?”

I explained calmly.

“You can earn coins through constellation sponsorships or by completing scenarios.”

“Scenarios… You mean like the one at the very start?”

“Do we have to kill people again?”

Fear returned to their eyes.

Most here had already taken a life in the first scenario. But few had killed for the sake of killing itself.

[The constellation ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’ scorns the weakness of the incarnations.]

[The constellation ‘Nail-Eating Rat’ suggests abandoning children who cannot fend for themselves.]

[The constellation ‘Monarch of the Small Fries’ warns against wasting effort on lost causes.]

The constellations weren’t entirely wrong.

But if we trained them with such brutality, most wouldn’t make it.

Dayoung tugging Bang Cheolsoo’s ear, Dayoung’s mother scolding her—they wouldn’t survive.

[The constellation ‘Dog Who Threw Himself Into the Flames’ comprehends your purpose.]

[A constellation who hides their name is observing your decision.]

So this choice was the least I could do for the extras who died without any chance in Omniscient Reader.

“You could kill people and take their coins, but I don’t recommend it, and I doubt any of you want to do that.”

“I-Is there another way to get coins?”

I nodded and looked toward the tunnel.

“Well, we’re low on food… which is actually good.”

“What? Why would you say that…”

Just then, from the tunnel direction, Jung Heewon and others appeared, dragging the carcass of a ground rat.

“Ah, Inho-ssi!”

Jung Heewon waved cheerfully, and I waved back.

“I searched everywhere, but there’s no food left, and the ground is covered in poisonous fog, so we can’t go up… So I brought this, thinking maybe we could eat it…”

“You did well.”

I instructed the Cheoldoo Group to haul the ground rat carcass onto the platform.

A few people backed away in shock.

“From now on, this is what you’ll eat.”

“What, we’re eating this? Do you know what that is…”

“It’s still meat. Just requires a different way of cooking.”

Declaring myself a ‘professional butcher’, I started carving the meat.

Jung Heewon, Kyung Sein, and Dansoo ahjussi began helping without hesitation, having seen this before.

“Take turns!”

Jung Heewon handed out pieces of meat to everyone.

Once everyone had their share, I pulled out the ‘Magic Power Stove’ I’d acquired from the ‘Edge of Darkness’.

“This is an item called a ‘Magic Power Stove’.”

I placed the sliced meat on the stove. Turning up the heat, the meat sizzled and cooked perfectly in just seconds.

Dayoung murmured excitedly.

“Mom, it smells good…”

After I sampled a piece to show it was safe, people quickly lined up at the Magic Power Stove.

Bang Cheolsoo and the Cheoldoo Group took over, rolling up their sleeves to grill the meat.

“Does anyone have salt?”

“Hyung-ssi, there’s no salt here, just eat it as is!”

Sounds of awe filled the air, and for good reason. They hadn’t tasted meat in the last three days.

But my real goal wasn’t just to fill their stomachs.

[The sub scenario ‘Food Acquisition’ has been completed ahead of time.]

[500 coins have been acquired.]

The sub scenario ‘Food Acquisition’ can only be cleared by cooking a ‘self-hunted monster’.

The carcasses Jung Heewon brought back were from ground rats hunted by Kyung Sein, Dansoo ahjussi, and myself.

The others likely didn’t get the same rewards we did.

“From now on, all food must be obtained by hunting monsters.”

At the word ‘hunting’, the faces of those eating grew tense.

“For now, I’ve shared the meat my companions and I caught, but this can’t continue. You must learn to hunt for yourselves to survive.”

My words were no different from what Yoo Joonghyuk had said when he came here.

He was right; he was trying to give these people what they needed.

They just weren’t ready to hear it then.

“As you can see from the scenario message, you earn coins by hunting and cooking ground rats yourselves. If you have no coins now, hunting just one today will get you 500 coins.”

Those who checked their scenario windows at my words exclaimed.

“It’s true, it says it gives coins.”

“But how can we catch a monster like that?”

“Everyone, don’t be afraid. I caught one, and so did this ahjussi.”

Kyung Sein and Dansoo ahjussi stepped forward to support my words, but I could see some people shaking their heads in doubt.

I quickly added before any objections could arise.

“We’ll show you how to catch them.”

 

Dansoo ahjussi, Kyung Sein, Jung Heewon, and I taught the people, step by step, how to hunt ground rats.

It was valuable knowledge we’d learned through blood and tears, something not written in the text of Omniscient Reader.

Kyung Sein, her body still marked with bites, straightened her shoulders and said.

“Their attack patterns are very simple. If you stay calm, they’re easy to catch!”

Though they’d bitten us plenty despite those ‘simple’ patterns.

[The constellation ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos’ is satisfied with your actions.]

[The constellation ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos’ proclaims your good deeds.]

[Constellations of the ‘absolute good’ alignment approve of your actions.]

[1,200 coins have been sponsored.]

In this world, good deeds translate into coins.

No matter what you do, the outcome of your actions is directly tied to currency.

I wondered if Kim Dokja had felt this way too.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. We were too weak and unprepared for the coming scenarios.

I could understand why Kim Dokja was so fixated on coins. Having a lot of coins didn’t mean you could do much immediately, but it certainly opened up more options.

Next destination: Chungmuro.

To deal with the bald man at Chungmuro, I needed to start accumulating coins now.

The Ten Evil of Chungmuro Station.

Armed Fortress Master Gong Pildu.

Though he was a character as notable as a single hair in the original story, Gong Pildu was a formidable antagonist in the early stages.

[Coins Possessed: 11,800 C]

This was a world where even early skills like the [Woryeong Sword Technique] cost 8,000 coins.

With my current coins, I didn’t have enough to raise my stats, let alone provide for my companions.

I wished coins would just rain from the sky. Kim Dokja seemed to earn them just by existing.

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ has entered the channel.]

I looked up at the channel entry notification.

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ is snooping around Geumho Station.]

Lily Blooming in Aquarius.

Gabriel, the archangel of <Eden>, had joined the channel.

I wondered what brought her to this obscure channel, but then her attention seemed to focus on a specific point.

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ is looking at incarnation ‘Kyung Sein’.]

“No, hold the sword like this.”

“Like this?”

“Stay still. I’ll show you.”

Jung Heewon was adjusting the stiff posture of Kyung Sein.

Even from a distance, I could see Kyung Sein’s reddening ears.

I had forgotten for a moment.

Forgotten that Jung Heewon’s original title was [Judge Heewon].

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ tilts her head.]

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ makes a trial sponsorship of 100 coins to incarnation ‘Kyung Sein’.]

Upon receiving the coins, Kyung Sein shuddered as if deep in thought.

“L-Like this? Is it okay?”

“Stretch your arm further, like this.”

It was a sight that brought tears of blood to my eyes, having sold my conscience and innocence for coins.

Holy constellation Gabriel.

The one you just sponsored is actually a muscular man. You’re being deceived.

I stood up, thinking it was time to tell my companions we should head to Chungmuro.

And in the next moment.

[The constellation ‘Lily Blooming in Aquarius’ calls her companion.]

My eyes widened at the name of the constellation entering the channel.

[The constellation ‘Demon-Like Judge of Fire’ has entered the channel.]