Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 612

Chapter 612

In a direct clash against Han Sooyoung, victory was impossible. The disparity in their mastery of the scenarios, the depth of their accumulated stories, and their sheer life experience was far too great.

「 Yet, the words gathered at my fingertips whispered. 」

Here, it was different. While the disadvantage remained, this was the place to make an attempt.

Focusing my will, I sensed the heartbeat of the letters suspended in the air. The sentences first penned by Han Sooyoung and then reshaped by me. The instant I reached out, I felt a narrative coil around my fingers.

「 The Sea Admiral, Lee Jihye, grinned fiercely as she leveled her twin dragon sword at me. 」

The moment I grasped that sentence, a blade materialized in my hand amidst a brilliant glow. It was the sacred relic of the Maritime War God. Lee Jihye’s signature armament, the twin dragon swords.

「 «Annihilate, twin dragon swords.» 」

This was the Lee Jihye of the 1,863rd regression, a survivor of infernal scenarios and Murim training, who had finally arrived at the scenarios’ end.

「 Having endured the 95th scenario, she is, in both name and truth, ranked among the top 100 most powerful beings in the ‘Ways of Survival’. 」

The entirety of Lee Jihye’s compiled stories squirmed within my consciousness.

«Lee Jihye.»

Han Sooyoung, observing the sentence in my hand from a distance, spoke with casual indifference.
«Alright, give it your best shot.»

I stepped forward without a second thought. Feints were useless against Han Sooyoung. I immediately invoked the most powerful skill from Lee Jihye’s 1,863rd turn.

「 Boneless. 」

Transforming into a streak of light, I shot toward Han Sooyoung.

*Quadeuk!*

A violent shockload wrenched my right arm. Black flames erupted from Han Sooyoung’s left hand to meet the [Boneless] strike. Like a true abyssal black flame dragon, the [Black Flame] she exhaled scorched the entire floor black. Despite a clash of such magnitude occurring in what was essentially the beginning of the scenarios, no storm of probability was triggered.

«I understand the nature of this world,» Han Sooyoung said, smiling as if she’d read my thoughts. «Probability… it’s irrelevant here, isn’t it?»

In the next instant, a radiance of pure white flames shone from her right hand.

「 A sword shimmering with white fire appeared in her grasp. 」

I stared at the sentences coiling around the white flame sword.

「 All surrounding flames died out in reverence before her blade. 」

A cold sweat traced its way down my spine. I recognized what sentence Han Sooyoung was invoking.

「 Infernal flames. 」
「 Hellfire. 」

Abandoning thoughts of Yoo Jonghyuk and Jung Heewon for the moment, I hastily formulated a new sentence.

「 «Lee Hyunsung requires no sword. For he himself is the blade.» 」

In this world, imagination was paramount. A sentence’s power was dictated by the height, sharpness, and intricacy of the imagination that formed it.

「 True steel is born from ten thousand refinements. 」

The [Steel Sword], the stigma of the Steel Sword Emperor Lee Hyunsung, surged around me and blanketed the entire area. Yet, with my unrefined imagination, I couldn’t fully shield Jung Heewon and Yoo Jonghyuk. Ultimately, the deluge of flame struck Yoo Jonghyuk, encased in steel. The [Hellfire] melted the metallic shell, and I cried out from the searing heat.

Han Sooyoung’s [Hellfire] was far more potent and severe than the [Steel Sword] I had conceived. As the intense heat subsided slightly, I gasped for air and looked back at Yoo Jonghyuk, who was wreathed in fire.

Yoo Jonghyuk was completely unharmed. The [Hellfire] had bypassed the real Yoo Jonghyuk, burning only the armor I had fabricated. Han Sooyoung found my reaction amusing.

«You still don’t grasp the rules of this place,» she said.

Understanding dawned on me belatedly. This was the snowfield, the space between the lines of the story. Every sentence here was a ‘word not yet recorded.’ Therefore, until the record was finalized, our battle had no consequence outside this snowfield.

Han Sooyoung questioned me as I let out a sigh. «Why protect him? You don’t even know him.»
«This is Yoo Jonghyuk.»

Why did I feel compelled to protect this Yoo Jonghyuk?
«The Yoo Jonghyuk I saw was different from the one you wrote.»

Han Sooyoung had written of the 41st turn Yoo Jonghyuk and his heartlessness. Yet, the Yoo Jonghyuk of the 41st turn I witnessed was somewhat distinct from her description.

«Aren’t you vaguely aware of it too? For some reason, this Yoo Jonghyuk isn’t a villain. He isn’t the type to abandon his companions.»

«I’ve already written that he is, and that is what he will do. Stopping him here prevents unnecessary sacrifices.»
«Are you certain of that?»

Han Sooyoung answered with a brief silence.
«Fine.»
«I know who you are.»

There comes a time in every life when one must exhaustively defend themselves by insisting, «I’m not a bad person.» The longer one’s history, the more difficult it becomes to justify all that has transpired, and the more pointless it seems to try. I wondered if Han Sooyoung felt the same.

«Who I am is irrelevant. What matters is the story I write.»

I understood Han Sooyoung. She was an author who had meticulously crafted stories for a single reader alone. Had she regarded all her characters as real people, she never could have reached this point.

«If you want to convince me, use your sentences.»

I recalled the combat power rankings debated by readers. At the very least, figures powerful enough to subdue the present Han Sooyoung, the Oldest Dream.

Indescribable Distance.
The Last Dragon of the Apocalypse.

Yet, precisely defining their strength was challenging. I conjured images and formed sentences, but they rarely materialized correctly. The same held for deities from other worlds and the most powerful among the mythical constellations.

At that moment, my gaze met Yoo Jonghyuk’s, who was staring vacantly into the distance. His eyes held the black night sky. I seized the sentence that came to me almost on reflex.

「 Ways of Survival: The most righteous and loneliest Constellation of all. 」

The sound of a long-silent darkness stirring echoed behind me.

How about a sentence concerning that?
The ‘Stepfather of the Demon King of Salvation’.
One of the strongest three gods of <Olympus>, if I could borrow his power.

「 One of the three gods of <Olympus>, ‘Father of the Rich Night’. 」

A pitch-black darkness enveloped his entire form, and my right hand began to tremble violently. Even in this snowfield where anything was possible, this was an existence nearly impossible to realize with my imagination. The scythe of Hades materialized in my right hand, black as if carved from the abyss itself.

Simultaneously, Han Sooyoung’s left hand also wrote a sentence.

「 The place his spear touches will soon become the boundary of the sea. 」

I felt my ankles grow damp, and the snowy ground was instantly flooded with waves.

[‘Sea God’ Poseidon.]

The black night and the vast sea collided. The impact felt like it tore across the horizon, and the world spun multiple times. When my senses returned, I was on my knees, gasping for breath on the floor.

«Let’s stop here. You cannot defeat me,» Han Sooyoung stated, looking down at me. «I’ll have my fun when I return. It seems you lack the qualification after all.»

Qualification.
«Can you use [Avatar]?»

As Han Sooyoung spoke, countless dolls appeared around her.

Lee Jihye.
Yoo Sangah.
Lee Hyunsung.
Lee Gilyoung.
Jung Heewon.
Shin Yoosung.
Gong Pildu.

I stared numbly at those faces. Even knowing they were all fakes, Han Sooyoung’s [Avatars], I felt as if I were facing the entirety of <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

«Had you properly obtained the writer’s characteristics, you could naturally use it. You evidently do not possess them.»

I refused to accept it. So, again and again, I screamed internally.

「 Avatar. 」

But [Avatar] did not activate. Why couldn’t I use it? In this world where all was possible, why did that sentence elude me?

«It means you are not a ‘true writer’,» she said.

I screamed and charged at Han Sooyoung. A shell fired by Gong Pildu’s turret pierced my shoulder with a sharp *fissit*.

「 Arrows fell like rain, gun barrels of all kinds fired; the chaos was a thunderstorm. 」
「 «This is why I curse this land, yet I cannot abandon it.» 」
「 Therefore, the Great Founder is a point; the smallest is the greatest. 」

The Maritime War God.
The First Sword of Korea.
Kyrgios.

The Maritime War God and Lee Jihye’s Ghost Fleet exchanged cannon fire simultaneously. A thick sea fog rolled in, obscuring vision amidst the relentless bombardment. I closed in on Han Sooyoung instantly using Kyrgios’s [All-In-One]. The moment Han Sooyoung’s shadow wavered in the fog, Cheok Jungyeong’s [Three Sword Clashes] activated from her right hand.

「 This is a sword forged to conquer the sea. 」

But before it could be fully unleashed, something snared my ankle. It was Yoo Sangah’s [Arachne’s Web]. Immediately after, Lee Hyunsung’s [Mountain Breaker] slammed into my shoulder, and Shin Yoosung’s ‘Chimera Dragon’ breathed its fire down upon me. I tumbled into the sea, rolling over several times before vomiting blood.

Was this blood truly mine? Or was it even a substance belonging to this story?

Han Sooyoung’s voice reached me. «Enough. It’s impressive you’ve come this far without being a writer.»

I looked up at her, wiping my mouth with my sleeve. The Law of the Night remained. I had no convincing way to prove it, and I stopped my hand from moving toward my pocket, feeling it would be a coward’s move to write it there. I had my own methods. If I too was a writer, I had to compete using only my own sentences.

«Any method you choose is futile. I know precisely which sentences you will write,» Han Sooyoung said, her eyes gleaming brightly.

「 There is nothing new under the sun. All that will be written is but a variation of what has already been written. 」

Han Sooyoung’s primary stigma was finally revealing itself.

「 Predictive Plagiarism. 」

There was nothing in this world unknown to Han Sooyoung. She had lived through all these sentences; she had written them all.

«This world has no need for new sentences.»

Watching Han Sooyoung advance step by step, I thought of Kim Dokja. If I could become him, perhaps I could break this deadlock. Yet, no sentence concerning Kim Dokja would form in my mind. Even if it had, it likely wouldn’t have changed the situation, as Kim Dokja himself was not particularly skilled in combat. Had he truly left me with no recourse?

Was there truly no sentence in this world that Han Sooyoung did not know?

«Stop dawdling.»

The moment Han Sooyoung’s left hand pointed at me again, and the gun barrels of Lee Jihye and Gong Pildu swiveled toward me, I knew. There was. A word she did not know.

A memory struck my mind like lightning. Executing the plan would require time. I caught my breath and spoke.

«…Didn’t Kim Dokja return?»

Han Sooyoung’s expression stiffened. Without either of us saying his name, it was clear we were thinking of the same sentence.

「 The ending of 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』. 」

The moment Kim Dokja’s story returned, the system revived, and Han Sooyoung had laughed openly at the hospital room door. I had always believed Kim Dokja would return. It was an open ending, but every sentence of the climax pointed toward his comeback. Kim Dokja’s return existed in the reader’s imagination, beyond the reach of the author’s sentences. That’s why the scene remained undescribed. That’s why I couldn’t comprehend why Han Sooyoung was here now. If Kim Dokja had returned safely, there was no reason for her to be here.

«That,» Han Sooyoung began slowly, uttering strange words. «Has not been decided yet.»

Not decided? I couldn’t grasp her meaning. But at least one objective was achieved. I had bought enough time.

«He’s—»

With a sound like *Tsutsutsutsutsu*, sparks once again engulfed Han Sooyoung’s body. And in that instant.

「 A dark red coat fluttering amidst ruins. 」

I seized the hidden sentence.

「 Black wings piercing through the coat. 」

A sentence unknown even to Han Sooyoung, who wrote this entire world. A story that never appeared in the ‘Ways of Survival’ she authored.

「 ‘The one who deceived the stars’, the ‘evil sophist’. 」

I activated [Incite], dredging up the stories I had witnessed from the 40th turn.

「 I am Cheon Inho of the 40th turn. 」

Han Sooyoung stared at me, her eyes wide with shock. Formidable power surged through my entire being. The villain who had threatened Yoo Jonghyuk in the 40th turn and brought ruin upon the stars. The unprecedented evil who fought the final battle against the protagonist while wielding Yoo Jonghyuk’s venomous weapon: the Dark Heaven Demon Sword.

Sensing the extraordinary shift, Han Sooyoung sent a signal. Gong Pildu’s turrets unleashed their fire, and Lee Jihye’s [Ghost Fleet] opened up. Yoo Sangah’s threads twisted the space, and Lee Hyunsung’s [Steel Sword] detonated against me.

「 [Fable ‘When All Stars Close Their Eyes’ begins its storytelling.] 」

All the stars closed their eyes.

「 The main theme is pitch-black darkness. No starlight could illuminate Cheon Inho. No miracle, no light. 」

Han Sooyoung, flustered, glanced around hurriedly.

「 It was as if Han Sooyoung was utterly alone. 」

The moment Han Sooyoung, in her panic, wildly raised her left hand.

「 The Dark Heaven Demon Sword slashed across her back. 」

An intense shower of sparks erupted. She jolted at the sword’s touch. The blade made of sentences shattered, and I was sent sprawling messily across the floor.

The cut was shallow. But it had definitely connected.

As I scrambled to my feet, Han Sooyoung was staring at me with utterly blank eyes.
«You. What on earth—»

A cracking sound emanated from somewhere.

[The giant story ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ shakes uneasily.]

Fine scratches now marred the surface of the sentences that protected her.

「 «Sooyoung-ssi! Over there!» 」

It was a sentence I recognized.

「 In the distance, Lee Seolhwa’s hospital was visible. The stories flowing leisurely refused to let them fall. Stories poured forth from the hospital wards they knew so well. 」

The scene depicted by the sentence appeared vividly before my eyes. The members of <Kim Dokja’s Company> were rushing toward the hospital. Their story of awakening once more. The final story of <Kim Dokja’s Company>, who had struggled for so long to revive a single reader.

「 The door creaked open. Faint sunlight streamed through the wide-open window. 」
「 The manuscripts she had been editing all night were caught by the wind, scattering in a dazzling display. 」
「 There lay the story she had not yet finished. 」

A story written by Han Sooyoung, transcribed by me, and read by readers.

「 A sentence she had always wished to write someday, even if not now. Thinking of that sentence, Han Sooyoung laughed like a fool. 」

It was the ‘final scene’ of the 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』 as we knew it.

「 This is a story for just one reader. 」

«Wait. Stop! Stop it!» Han Sooyoung shouted, stretching out her hand.

With the image of her desperate cry, a brilliant light erupted from the snowfield.

And in the next moment.

「 Lee Hakhyun finally reached the end. 」