Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 673

Chapter 673

I stood frozen before the audience, like an actor who had lost all recollection of his script.

What was it I had just been told?

【I cannot express how lucky we are that you arrived in this world line. Wouldn’t you all agree?】

The kkomas Kim Dokja offered no reply. They simply watched me, their expressions unreadable, neither approving nor disapproving.

Their representative smiled, seeming genuinely pleased by their silence.

【Is it possible he still doesn’t understand his own identity?】

At these words, weary sighs drifted from throughout the audience.

[The story ‘Recorder of Things that will Disappear’ begins its storytelling.]

I turned back to the screen. It displayed the lives of myself and the readers.

But it wasn’t the complete picture.

Like shadows dancing on a cave wall, some scenes were distorted and enlarged while others were missing entirely.

The narrative on the screen was more dramatic than the reality I remembered, and it pointed to a clear object of blame.

It was a tale of good and evil, of heroes and villains, with a clear moral direction.

«Has our story always been portrayed like this?»

The image froze at my question. As the kkomas murmured among themselves, Representative Kim Dokja stepped forward.

I realized I still didn’t understand his goal. I didn’t know why he had brought the readers here, or why he was confronting <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

【You are correct. Because I must write a ‘new story’.】

A new story.

Representative Kim Dokja’s gaze fell upon Yoo Jonghyuk, who was collapsed on the floor.

【And a ‘new story’ requires a ‘new protagonist’.】

With a soft chime, the screen changed.

【I remember the first time I saw you.】

It showed the interior of Geumho Station.

A scene I knew intimately—the first scenario, the task of ‘proving our worth’.

「 Kim Cheolyang’s head burst apart with a wet, crushing sound. 」

The people of Geumho Station, Kim Cheolyang and the Life Sect, perished after falling into a trap.

The screen zoomed in on my face, capturing my expression at the precise moment of their deaths—a smile of inexplicable delight.

For a moment, I was speechless.

The scene had undoubtedly been edited. And yet, that expression was unmistakably my own.

【Your arrival was not something I planned, but now I believe it was for the best.】

The images continued to shift.

A scene where the course of events changed upon meeting Bang Cheolsoo’s group at Geumho Station.

「 «Prove it to me, then.» 」

The moment I encountered the 41st round Yoo Jonghyuk and was thrown into the Han River.

「 «It’s definitely Cheon Inho. In that case, this woman’s life is meaningless.» 」

Escaping with Jung Heewon as she awakened into a Judge.

[Incarnation ‘Jung Heewon’’s characteristics blossom into the character Destroying Judge (Hero).]

Meeting the Killer King siblings, defeating the ‘Dark Sentinel’, and obtaining the ‘thoughts of almost everything’.

「 «Cheon Inho!» 」

Confronting Anna Croft in ‘Welcome Prison’ and uncovering the past of the 40th round’s Cheon Inho.

「 «The moment you press the reset button, this world does not vanish, but becomes eternal.» 」

Encountering the Seven Apostle Ye Hyunwoo and Gong Pildu in Chungmuro.

「 «So this is Cheon In-ho… He is far more handsome than the version I read about.» 」

Saving Max by shoving him to the ground during the ‘Emergency Defense Battle’.

「 «If the monsters hadn’t died here, this story would have been far more interesting.» 」

Losing the reader Jung Jaewoo while clearing the theater dungeon scenario.

「 «I don’t want to die.» 」

Finally reaching the theater rooftop and coming face to face with Han Sooyoung.

「 «Is it really you, Han Sooyoung?» 」

For a moment, I forgot my current predicament and became lost in the memories. So much had happened in such a short time.

There were gaps between these scenes. Memories that were never recorded, yet remained perfectly clear in my mind.

The video halted again, and Representative Kim Dokja spoke.

【Because you are the one most suited to bring their story to an end.】

I couldn’t grasp who ‘they’ referred to.

Did it mean the characters who died in this round, or—? I turned my head and saw the kkomas Kim Dokja staring at the screen, their mouths agape.

What is written is not everything.

But that doesn’t mean what they were seeing was a lie.

The kkomas looked almost nostalgic.

I took a slow breath and finally spoke.

«So, I’m the protagonist.»

It was an absurd notion.

Any movie with me as the lead would undoubtedly fail.

«If you were secretly making a film about me, you should have gotten my permission first.»

My blunt tone made Representative Kim Dokja’s eyes widen slightly.

«If you’re going to do this, you have to pay the price.»

Whatever they intended for me as their protagonist, my best move was to seize any advantage. My current objective was to destroy the ‘absolute throne.’ If I could—

【Haha—】

«…?»

【Ahaha. Ahahahahah!】

It was a laughter bordering on mania. Representative Kim Dokja wasn’t the only one laughing.

A few of the kkomas were also smiling, as if they found this immensely entertaining.

【My apologies. It’s a reaction I find both infuriating and nostalgic.】

«What?»

【Excellent. I will pay your price. Will this suffice?】

[You have won 300,000 coins!]

A shower of coins materialized out of nothing. I stared blankly as a golden cascade scattered through the air. A deep sense of foreboding settled over me.

【However. I must be certain I have hired the correct actor.】

After a brief pause, his voice turned cool and precise, piercing straight through me.

【Kim Dokja.】

Just a name, three syllables.

Why did that name—a name I had called, read, and used countless times—sound so agonizing now?

[The attribute ‘He who peered into the abyss’ is activated.]

A wave of dizziness hit me.

It felt as if I were being pulled downward, a cold hand gripping my ankle and dragging me into the depths.

A recent memory surfaced, from when people had tried to incite me into being ‘Kim Dokja’.

The sensation was the same.

My soul was being drawn into an ocean deep, an abyss where I could hear the stories of the readers.

But what I heard there weren’t just the readers’ stories.

The screen changed once more.

「 «The person who will read my novel… is not you.» 」

Kim Dokja spoke within the memory, accompanied by the pained voice of someone familiar and the sight of blood spattering across the screen.

「 «Han Sooyoung. I’m sorry, but I truly don’t remember. I haven’t been reading Ways of Survival lately either.» 」

‘Maybe I really thought, ‘perhaps it isn’t Kim Dokja’.’

<Kim Dokja Company> spoke.

「 «Dokja, can you get up for a minute? If you keep lying down, you’ll ruin your back.» 」

「 «Why don’t you do some stretches with me?» 」

「 «Are you alright, Ahjussi? I’ll at least bring you a pack of stories.» 」

Memories of my time with them.

「 «Wow, you actually used that method?» 」

「 «I learned this recipe from a man.» 」

「 «Did you always have to do all of this alone?» 」

At the scenario’s conclusion, Kim Dokja was speaking.

「 «The other me might not have wanted this. The story… ended there…» 」

I found myself thinking again.

「 If I could be reborn, I hope I won’t be Kim Dokja. 」

A distant meteor streaked across the sky, haloed in light. The world seemed to expand and contract in an instant.

A pale, blue planet.

A meteor fell.

「 «I want to have my own story, too.» 」

A child born where the meteor landed began to cry.

I watched my infant self crying in my parents’ arms for a long time.

【Do you still refuse to acknowledge who you are?】

«…»

【Does it not anger you? Why did you have to endure so much suffering?】

【Why were you denounced as a ‘fake’ and stripped of your rightful place?】

His voice was like a narration drifting from among distant stars.

【Don’t you believe we should make them pay?】

Memories I could not deny, no matter how I tried.

As several kkomas Kim Dokja shook their heads, sparks flickered in the air.

Representative Kim Dokja spoke.

【Now it is your turn.】

His eyes were burning, as if he had been waiting for this moment his entire life.

【Prove that you were real. Defeat Kim Dokja’s Company and liberate this world line from their long and tedious narrative. It is time to create the paradise for extras that you have always dreamed of.】

Just then, Yoo Jonghyuk, who had been lying motionless on the floor, stirred slightly. He was gradually regaining consciousness.

【Please, stop Yoo Jonghyuk. I will provide you with the probability you lack.】

I had come here to stop Yoo Jonghyuk. To prevent him from claiming the ‘absolute throne’ and thus save this world from destruction.

【This is your final opportunity to change the very foundation of the universe that oppresses you.】

The foundation of the universe.

Hearing those words, I slowly began to regain my senses. Han Sooyoung’s words echoed in my mind.

「 «I have reached the ‘conclusion’ of all these stories. It is to stop this damned, never-ending tragedy!» 」

I had been furious when I heard her say that.

I wanted to demand why she was trying to stop me, when they were the ones who had twisted the world line of ‘Ways of Survival’.

The people of this world line deserved happiness, too.

The extras in this world also deserved to live their own lives.

Even if this world’s ending was predestined, it wasn’t a world she had the right to destroy carelessly. And yet,

「 Why did Han Sooyoung want to destroy this world? 」

The events of this world line happened but were never recorded.

Everything that occurred here served to fill the empty spaces between ‘Ways of Survival’ and ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’.

But what if the ending of this world line changed?

【Now, we will destroy the universe of Kim Dokja’s Company.】

I looked down at the theater floor, tangled with the countless footprints of the kkomas.

【We will shatter the foundation of the <Star Stream> that dictated your fate. It will destroy the ending of the world that only Kim Dokja knew.】

A conviction grew stronger within me.

Perhaps I am wrong.

Even if this world’s ending changes, the world of <Kim Dokja’s Company> might remain safe.

Perhaps only a new branch of a parallel universe will be born.

It might end just like that.

But if that isn’t the case.

If changing the ending results in the destruction of all world lines of 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』.

「 What if that was Han Sooyoung’s reason for trying to stop me? 」

When I lifted my head, Representative Kim Dokja was standing directly before me.

In his outstretched hand was a sword radiating a brilliant, holy light.

【Please, take it.】

A sword that could alter the ending of this world.

It was not the unawakened ‘Death Sword’ I possessed, but a fully realized holy relic, the Death Sword.

An item imbued with a medium-sized story, its constellations gleaming, capable of overthrowing the ‘absolute throne’ immediately.

【It is time to end their story with your own hands.】