Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 681

Chapter 681

As I stared at the communication request that materialized in my vision, a peculiar sensation washed over me.

There was no doubt I was inside the world of ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’.

I had endured the scenarios and encountered the other members of <Kim Dokja’s Company>.

[Applicant: Demon King of Salvation]

Yet, seeing that message made everything feel suddenly, profoundly unreal.

I wasn’t sure why.

Perhaps, on some level, I never truly believed the real Kim Dokja existed here.

Maybe that was the reason I felt so deeply unsettled by the confirmation that he does.

Why was I so affected?

My thoughts a tangled mess, I reached out and tapped the message.

But.

[The sender has not paid the coins required for ‘Midday Tryst’.]

I didn’t comprehend it at first, reading the words again and again. My initial disbelief slowly turned into exasperation, and finally, I could only laugh dryly to myself.

Gradually, a sense of the real world returned to me.

It was undeniable.

[A toll-free fee will be charged for ‘Midday Tryst’.]

This guy is definitely Kim Dokja.

My intuition told me so.

I let out a soft sigh and pressed the ‘Confirm’ button. Fine.

[The recipient has paid the fee.]

[‘Midday Tryst’ has been linked.]

Yet, nothing seemed different.

Since he had initiated the conversation, I expected a greeting, but Kim Dokja remained completely silent.

«Inho-ssi?»

The others, noticing my odd behavior, were looking at me.

It was natural; I had suddenly begun fumbling with my smartphone like a madman.

After a brief hesitation, I spoke. «Actually, I just received a message from Kim Dokja.»

All four of them stared at me simultaneously. Their eyes held a spectrum of different thoughts.

Eyes that questioned my sanity (Ye Hyunwoo), eyes concerned I might have hit my head (Kyung Sein), eyes that dismissed it as a youthful joke (Lee Dansu), eyes that asked if Kim Dokja wasn’t actually me (Killer King)…

If this were 45 days ago, everyone would have been captivated by my words, eagerly asking questions.

Is it true? Did you really contact Kim Dokja? Can we all survive together now?

But they didn’t.

It was proof they had fully adapted to this world.

「 In this world, there is no ‘Demon King of Salvation’ to save us. 」

To survive here, the readers had chosen to forget the name of their greatest known hope.

And it had happened naturally.

That reality felt somehow sorrowful, forcing me to play off the hope I’d just mentioned as a joke.

«Just kidding. What was it you wanted to know?»

Ye Hyunwoo, his expression softening slightly, resumed speaking.

In short, their questions were simple.

«How did the fourth scenario end that day?»

After collecting my thoughts for a moment, I began.

Starting with Han Sooyoung’s appearance.

«I assume that was Han Sooyoung?»

Kidnapped by Representative Kim Dokja along with an unconscious Yoo Jonghyuk.

«Was that Asmodeus?»

«Ugh, that sarcastic way of talking was suspicious.»

«I had a feeling.»

How I became certain ‘Representative Kim Dokja’ was Asmodeus; escaping his dimension using the ‘Death Sword’; being cast into the breakaway zone; fighting alongside Han Sooyoung against the ‘God of the Other World’, the ‘founder of the Absolute Throne’…

«An Outer God?»

«The ‘Absolute Throne’ was created by an Outer God?»

«If Kim Dokja says so, then it must be.»

And finally, how I used stories to kill that being.

Omitting only a few events I couldn’t yet share, I recounted to my companions what had happened that day.

«You killed an Outer God? So you gained a story from it?»

«Possibly.»

As I said this, I opened my backlog of messages.

There were many logs I hadn’t been able to check for 45 days. Among them was information about ‘stories’.

[A temporary error has occurred in the <Star Stream>’s system.]

[The name of the new story has not been decided yet.]

[The management bureau is closely reviewing your story achievements.]

I still couldn’t see the name or rating of my newly acquired story.

Was it because I lost consciousness?

Or was it because I accomplished something too incredible?

If you considered it, I had defeated a ‘God of Another World’, a being with a formidable title, during an early scenario.

Having achieved such an extraordinary feat by only the fourth scenario, perhaps the Management Bureau and the <Star Stream> itself were taken aback.

I didn’t know for sure, but eradicating a ‘god from another world’ should warrant at least a ‘semi-mythical’ grade story.

The management bureau, realizing that receiving such a story would disrupt the balance of the early scenarios, might be deliberately delaying it.

Anyway, there was nothing I could do but wait.

«You’ve done an incredible thing, Kim Dokja. Now you’ll be a little more like the real Kim Dokja.»

«Wow… with a feat like that, what grade of story will you get?»

Following the impressed Killer King and Kyung Sein, Dansu ahjussi also nodded as if everything made sense now.

«So that’s why the power of the ‘Absolute Throne’ isn’t activating.»

«Probably.»

After a moment’s consideration, I decided to hold off on mentioning the readers in the theater audience, including the man’s daughter, Jiyoon.

The final question came from Ye Hyunwoo.

«What happened to Han Sooyoung.»

«I don’t know. She vanished afterward.»

I didn’t want to say Han Sooyoung was dead. While she had clearly been seen disappearing, it was entirely possible it was an avatar.

The Han Sooyoung I knew would have absolutely prepared an escape route.

«Hmm… I think I understand everything you’ve told us.»

After hearing my answer, Hyunwoo exchanged a glance with Killer King, and then they left the hospital room, saying they needed to talk privately.

What had happened during my absence to make their expressions so grave?

I also had many questions.

What was the ‘phenomenon’ that occurred 45 days ago?
Was the seventh scenario the same as the ‘seventh’ I knew?
What was Yoo Jonghyuk doing now?
What had happened to ‘Shin Yoosoung’, who had been with me?

Clearly, that ‘Shin Yoosoung’ was not the Shin Yoosoung of this 41st world line.

Like me and the other readers, she was likely a being possessed from another world line we knew.

And that world line was most probably the 1,864th round, when Kim Dokja was alive.

If I could find Shin Yoosoung again, I might discover Han Sooyoung’s whereabouts.

«Ugh.»

Perhaps because I had moved suddenly, a delayed pain shot through all my joints.

I offered a pained smile to Kyung Sein and Dansu ahjussi, who rushed over in surprise to support me.

«I’d like to see what’s outside.»

After Yoo Jonghyuk obtained the Absolute Throne, Seoul had been largely pacified.

Of course, some still resisted Yoo Jonghyuk’s rule, but the factions that had been fractured and warring were now united under the King.

«Where was that raid area again?»

«Yeongdeungpo.»

«I heard there were quite a few items there?»

Listening to the conversations of passing incarnations, the theme of the ‘7th Scenario’ seemed to be ‘Raid’.

A scenario where target monsters appear in designated areas, and incarnations assigned as raiders form parties to hunt them.

The original seventh scenario was also about ‘monster hunting’, so the core content hadn’t changed much.

I wondered if a target monster had been assigned to me as well.

[There is currently no main scenario assigned to you.]

[The main scenario is being reassigned to you.]

Perhaps because I’d been unconscious for so long, no specific scenario had been allocated.

«So that meteorite—»

«Is it true? You found a meteorite there?»

I heard the fifth scenario was over, but people were still talking about meteorites?

It was hard to keep track.

I would have to ask the others later.

«I’ll make the first move this time, ahjussi.»

«Bring it on!»

In the square ahead, Kyung Sein and Dansu ahjussi were sparring. I wondered why they had suddenly started…

[Incarnation ‘Kyung Sein’ uses ‘Tekken Lv.8’!]

What I saw made my jaw drop.

Kyung Sein, leaping into the air, unleashed a barrage of powerful strikes, kicking up a cloud of dust from the rubble-strewn ground.

Kyung Sein wasn’t the only one who had grown stronger.

[Incarnation ‘Lee Dansu’ activates ‘Cryptic Flower Lv.6’!]

Chitinous material, like that of a grasshopper, covered Dansu ahjussi’s legs, and he used his newfound agility to deftly evade every one of Kyung Sein’s iron fists.

«Wow. Getting used to it now? Is that the evolution you got recently?»

«Earned it from a grade 6 servant last time.»

The gap of 45 days was significant.

Forty-five days ago, I was clearly at the forefront of the incarnations, but watching their battle, I felt I stood no chance of winning in my current, weakened state.

How long had they been training like this?

No, more importantly, who had been training them?

«Impressive, aren’t they?»

I turned, surprised, to find an unexpected person standing there.

«Those two worked extremely hard under Yoo Jonghyuk.»

Her voice was uniquely soft and calm. The woman’s white hair fluttered in the breeze.

«They’ve been training relentlessly every single day since you were hospitalized.»

I quickly got up and bowed to Lee Seolhwa.

Lee Seolhwa smiled and extended her hand, as if she already knew who I was.

I returned a light smile and shook her hand.

«You are Cheon Inho, correct? I’ve heard about you from the others.»

«Yes, that’s me.»

«They say I would be dead already if it weren’t for you.»

Lee Seolhwa slowly scanned the area around Gwanghwamun as she spoke.

Looking more closely, I spotted familiar faces.

Dayoung and her mother from Geumho Station.

Sergeant Kim Heonyeol and Jung Heewon’s younger brother, Jung Eunho, who had fought the Beggar Sect alongside me.

There was also Kim Namwoon, the ‘insighter’ I’d met on the way to Gwanghwamun.

«I wish I could hear those words from someone myself one day.»

It seemed that in this round, Lee Seolhwa had not become an antagonist.

Her voice, expressing her genuine feelings, was clear.

I said, «I heard you were the one treating me. I’m late in thanking you. If it weren’t for Lee Seolhwa, I probably would have died.»

«You know my name?»

«Of course.»

«I had a bet with Jihye about whether Inho-ssi would know my name.»

Lee Jihye from the 41st round was waving at us from a distance.

I waved back and said, «How could I not know? You’re my benefactor. I’ve heard many stories about you.»

«Stories? I haven’t been very active externally.»

I immediately regretted my words.

Since Lee Seolhwa hadn’t turned to evil in the 41st round, her name might not yet be widely known.

After a brief thought, I said this instead.

«I’m a fan of Donguibogam.»

«You know my sponsor?»

«How could anyone not know the greatest physician on the peninsula?»

[The constellation ‘Donguibogam’ greatly appreciates you and sponsors 100 coins.]

This was another benefit of having read ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ in its entirety.

Lee Seolhwa, looking at the message in the air, gave a wry smile.

«I think I understand why people speak so highly of you, Inho-ssi.»

«I’ll take that as a compliment.»

«Might I ask who your sponsor is?»

«My sponsor is—»

I hadn’t originally planned to reveal my sponsor here, but I felt a sudden urge to test a theory.

I held a faint hope that the ‘Lee Seolhwa’ before me might be special, like the Shin Yoosoung I had encountered.

«It is the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.»

In that instant, Lee Seolhwa’s expression shifted strangely.

It was subtle, but it made me nervous.

In this 41st round, at such an early stage, Lee Seolhwa had chosen a path of good, not evil.

If she recognized that modifier—

«The Demon King of Salvation? Hmm, this is my first time hearing of this constellation…»

Her expression didn’t seem deceptive.

«That modifier… feels somewhat similar to the constellation Namwoon contracted with…»

She even seemed to think I had made a contract with some obscure constellation.

I found it slightly unfair.

I admitted the modifier was a bit grandiose.

Still, he’s the main character… a constellation… and a mythical grade one, at that.

«The Demon King of Salvation… The Demon King of Salvation… Hmm… It feels vaguely familiar…»

What?

«Salvation… Salvation… Church of Salvation. Ah, now that I think of it, among the medicinal herbs I obtained from the Church of Salvation recently…»

Muttering to herself, Lee Seolhwa walked briskly past me toward the hospital.

I never realized it while writing the novel, but seeing her in person, she was a somewhat eccentric character.

The mad doctor-like Lee Seolhwa suddenly turned back to me after walking a distance.

«By the way, you’re still a patient. You know you shouldn’t overexert yourself, right?»

«Ah, yes.»

«Even if the exterior seems healed, the interior is still badly damaged. If you don’t receive proper treatment, you will develop serious complications later.»

The friendly Mad Doctor left me with those words and departed.

I turned my gaze back to the people training.

People drenched in sweat, dedicating themselves completely to their practice.

What Lee Seolhwa said was right.

Even those who appeared fine on the outside were likely rotting away on the inside.

How many times had they lost beloved family and precious friends?

「 «All misfortunes are ordinary. They seem special because they are captured in stories.» 」

Seeing it from that perspective, the sight of people swinging swords and spears looked different.

A scene that probably couldn’t have been captured in ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’.

Just like the people before me now, the characters in ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ must have grieved desperately in moments unseen.

What was Kim Dokja like?

Perhaps the Kim Dokja I had read about and written had many such moments I knew nothing about.

*Hmm.*

It was then that the smartphone in my pocket vibrated.

Had the time finally come?

I cleared my throat softly and spoke.

«Can you hear me?»

And then, the long-awaited moment arrived.

[Constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ has accessed ‘Midday Tryst’.]

Reading that message, I reflected on the past two years—writing and rereading Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint countless times.

Was the person now floating in the sky the Kim Dokja I knew?

I didn’t know. But,

—Hello.

That was my first encounter with the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

«Hello.»

It was our first greeting.