Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 682

Chapter 682

After my initial words, a wave of nervousness washed over me.

Even though Kim Dokja wasn’t my superior, my first greeting came out stiff and overly formal.

Perhaps…?

No. Still, it’s a clue.

He’s a constellation.

“Ah, hello. It’s good to meet you.”

Without meaning to, another polite phrase slipped out.

Since this was my first time meeting him face to face, showing respect seemed appropriate.

But was this truly our first meeting?

Now that I thought about it, I had encountered Kim Dokja a few times within the ‘Snowfield’.

What was his demeanor then? Did Kim Dokja also offer a simple ‘hello’?

I recalled Kim Dokja’s face, the one who had spoken to me with a sorrowful expression in the snow.

—Ah, yes. Nice to meet you.

The moment I heard those first words, the image of Kim Dokja in my mind shifted.

The faint sadness in his eyes was replaced by a strange laziness, and his warm expression turned into that of an office worker drained from exhaustion.

—But is it alright to talk like this? ‘Indirect messages’ cost a lot of coins.

What?

“Oh, yes. It’s fine.”

Even as I thought that, I ended up responding that way.

—Thanks.

Another brief silence followed.

I waited.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

I began to wonder what was happening.

“Hey……?”

—Uh, hold on. What are you up to right now?

He seemed somewhat detached, or maybe his mind was elsewhere.

One thing was clear: he wasn’t the Kim Dokja I remembered.

“I suppose you’re busy with something important…”

No. Now that I considered it, ‘Kim Dokja’ might genuinely be occupied.

Kim Dokja is an observer of this world.

To maintain it, he must be watching over everything constantly.

Therefore—

—I’m reading Ways of Survival.

Yes. Ways of Survival.

—This is a really engaging part.

Ways of Survival… TWSA?

—Right now, Yoo Jonghyuk…

?

—He clashed with Poseidon…

For a second, I thought I’d misread.

I focused harder, scrutinizing the message Kim Dokja had sent.

—It was a real shock. Jonghyuk, this guy has already grown so much. So, in this regression…

I read it again and again.

The gist of Kim Dokja’s message was something like this:

That bastard Yoo Jonghyuk. In the early regressions, he was so frightened of the constellations he’d flee, but look at him now.

…

Was it because the Pacheon Swordsman beat him so badly last time that he turned things around, or did Anna Croft smack him in the head again and shake something loose?

…

So now the kid, who’s just become a Transcendent constellation, is finally squaring off against Poseidon, a myth-grade constellation. What can I say? It’s kind of magnificent, isn’t it?

…

I felt my mind going blank.

Who was I talking to right now?

—Anyway, that’s why Yoo Jonghyuk is in danger…

It wasn’t Yoo Jonghyuk who was in danger—it was me.

I knew Kim Dokja loved TWSA. But no matter how obsessed he was, this wasn’t normal. He couldn’t have lost all his social skills to this extent—wait.

Since he is ‘Kim Dokja’, maybe this was exactly right.

I took a breath and adjusted my approach.

My opponent was Kim Dokja.

He was insane about Ways of Survival.

So.

“Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World is a great story.”

—You know TWSA?

“Of course.”

—Oh?

It worked.

—You’re well-informed, huh? Whenever I recommended it, no one ever read it…

All constellations are obsessed with ‘stories’.

After cherishing stories for so long, the stars eventually became stories themselves.

Maybe the tale of Kim Dokja becoming a constellation was still unfolding.

—Which part of Ways of Survival is your favorite?

“The episodes where Yoo Jonghyuk dies.”

—Yoo Jonghyuk dies constantly.

“That’s what makes it interesting. Even though he always dies, he always chooses to live again.”

Truthfully, I’d never properly read ‘Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World’.

That’s right—I knew of ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’, but I didn’t know the contents of ‘Ways of Survival’.

Because I never wrote it.

So my answer wasn’t based on ‘Ways of Survival’; it was the most basic, cunning reply someone who knew Yoo Jonghyuk could give.

—Well, I guess that’s one way to see it.

“Huh?”

—But he wasn’t always so powerful.

If you hadn’t read ‘Ways of Survival’, you wouldn’t know. I stayed quiet for a moment before asking bluntly.

“…Are you having fun messing with me?”

I thought I heard a faint, mischievous laugh from somewhere.

It was a little frustrating, but it seemed he was finally ready to talk seriously.

“Do you realize this is our first meeting as constellation and incarnation?”

—Well, yeah.

“But from the very first greeting, you launch into talking about Ways of Survival? Normally, people introduce themselves and exchange names. That’s how social interaction works.”

—Socializing… It’s been a long time since I heard that word.

There was a strange, almost wistful tone in his voice.

Was he thinking of someone?

Now that I considered it, Kim Dokja only became sociable after the apocalypse began.

—Alright. Fine, I’ll introduce myself first.

As if stretching, Kim Dokja began.

—I am the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

A straightforward and clear introduction.

The Demon King of Salvation.

That was the title of the being known as ‘Kim Dokja’.

“I am…”

—Now, Cheon Inho. Your real name is Lee Hakhyun. A person from another world line, possessing someone else’s body.

“You know everything.”

My voice trembled slightly.

But of course he knew. He’d probably been watching me the whole time.

“Then you must be aware of the current situation.”

—What situation are you referring to?

“You were watching. No—we met and spoke in a dream last time. Did you forget?”

—A dream? Isn’t this the first time I’ve talked to you?

I paused. As I suspected, this ‘Kim Dokja’ I was speaking with wasn’t the one I’d met in the ‘Snowfield’.

Then who was this ‘Kim Dokja’?

And if this ‘Kim Dokja’ was someone else…

“Then, the Kim Dokja who spoke to me in the ‘Snowfield’…”

—What did he look like?

“He looked like Kim Dokja.”

—There must have been a certain feeling, an atmosphere.

“I’d say he seemed a little sad.”

—Sad… Is it the second one? Or maybe not…

Second?

—Anyway, it wasn’t me. This is my first time meeting you, and to be honest, I’m not all that interested in you.

Yeah. You’re ice-cold.

—Your story isn’t very interesting, honestly.

It’s not interesting.

I was taken aback. I never expected to hear that from Kim Dokja.

—It’s too heavy and dark. Your actions and decisions lack something… that main character quality.

“Well, I—”

I wanted to argue.

It’s natural—I’m not the main character.

But did I have the right to say that now?

Even with incomplete memories of my past life, I was here because of it.

I came here wanting to have my own story and discover who I am.

All that’s left is the question of whether I have any right to speak on such matters.

Do I?

—If you keep dragging the stories attached to you like chains, one day they’ll crush you. You’re the youngest.

Dazedly reading the message, I suddenly looked up.

“What did you just say?”

—You’ll be crushed to death by stories.

“Not that, the part after.”

The youngest.

He’d called me that.

—Ah.

The Demon King of Salvation sounded almost bored, like he was counting regression turns in ‘Ways of Survival’.

—That’s because you’re the ‘last Kim Dokja’.

From the moment I realized I was part of Kim Dokja, I’d had a suspicion.

“Maybe there’s more than one Kim Dokja in this world.”

Thinking about it, it wasn’t impossible.

I am the reincarnation of 49% of Kim Dokja.

If that’s true, other Kim Dokjas could exist in a similar way.

It was very possible.

And maybe one of those ‘Kim Dokjas’ was the one scamming me right now.

—Hey, just give me 500 coins.

“No.”

—If you pay 500 more coins, I can switch to voice chat. Sending messages is annoying, so hurry up.

[500 coins have been spent.]

[The Midday Tryst convenience feature has been added.]

I watched my coins get taken. It crossed my mind that I might have been wrong about Kim Dokja all along.

Wasn’t Kim Dokja originally a pretty shady guy?

“So you’re the ‘first’?”

—Yes.

Kim Dokja’s clear voice echoed in my head. Yes—it was exactly the voice I’d imagined for Kim Dokja.

—You’re the one who called me.

“I called for ‘Kim Dokja’.”

I missed the Kim Dokja from the snowfield.

Where did that kind, handsome Kim Dokja go? Why was there a thug wearing his face?

—No. You called for the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

Right, that’s true. What’s the difference?

—You don’t know what that means?

A memory surfaced then.

Back when I was fighting the otherworldly god, ‘the founder of the absolute throne’, I’d called out to Kim Dokja for a sponsorship contract.

To be precise, I called for ‘Kim Dokja’s modifier’.

As far as I knew, Kim Dokja had four names in total.

And the only one who answered me was the Demon King of Salvation in front of me.

“Wait, so when you say ‘first’, you mean…”

—That’s right. ‘The order in which the modifiers were created’.

Kim Dokja’s first modifier was the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

He was reborn as a constellation through the story of ‘King of a Kingless World’ as his origin story, and he earned the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ story on the final floor of the Dark Castle.

The narrative that composed him began to come into focus. Little by little, I started to understand his identity.

“So, ‘Kim Dokja’ is split up by modifiers?”

—Well, aside from the smaller fragments, I guess the main piece broke up that way. I’m the first of them.

He emphasized being the firstborn with noticeable pride.

Anyway, it was a letdown for me.

“Then you aren’t ‘Kim Dokja’.”

If this Kim Dokja is the ‘Demon King of Salvation’, he likely only has memories tied to that story.

By his own account, he wasn’t Kim Dokja but the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

—I’m not? I’m not Kim Dokja?

“You are the Demon King of Salvation.”

—Kim Dokja, the ‘Demon King of Salvation’. If I don’t have every story related to Kim Dokja, does that mean I’m not Kim Dokja?

“Not exactly.”

—I am Kim Dokja. If I’m not Kim Dokja, then who is?

Who indeed?

I envied that confidence.

Maybe what made Kim Dokja himself wasn’t his memories, but his attitude.

—By the way, I didn’t expect you to call me. Should I say I’m lucky or unlucky?

“What do you mean?”

—This isn’t the first time I’ve entered a ‘sponsorship contract’ with you.

Another memory came to mind.

Back when the 41st regression had just started, after the first scenario, ‘Proof of Value’, I’d found a strange modifier in the ‘sponsorship list’.

“Was that you?”

The only entry on the list was three question marks.

It seemed Kim Dokja was behind it, as I’d thought.

—To be precise, it was me and the other Kim Dokjas.

Other Kim Dokjas?

—We weren’t separated back then.

Kim Dokja grumbled slightly and went on.

—Anyway, something went wrong at that time. During the process of contacting you, a split happened. I broke away then.

In other words, at the start of this regression, Kim Dokja was one, not several.

“Why did that happen? Who divided you—”

—I don’t know. I don’t have clear memories of that period.

Anyway, he was split apart and now existed as the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

Kim Dokja yawned lightly, as if it were no big deal, and continued.

—By the way, you’re the youngest. Didn’t you have a reason for calling me?

The reason I called Kim Dokja.

“Yes, I did.”

But when I tried to speak, no words came out.

What should I ask first?

Should I ask for advice on how to reach the end of the scenarios?

Should I ask why the 41st regression began, or if he knew anything about Han Sooyoung’s whereabouts?

No. Maybe what I really wanted to ask was—

—You really have all the frustrating traits of ‘Kim Dokja’.

Hearing that from Kim Dokja himself made me feel even less confident.

Maybe Kim Dokja didn’t like seeing me like that.

I let out a sigh.

—Ugh, alright. Let’s start from the beginning. What are your specs? Your overall abilities? Characteristics? There’s no one else listening, so speak freely.

“That is…”

The answer didn’t come easily under his sudden questioning.

What are my overall abilities, what characteristics do I have…

“I don’t know all my characteristics. I can’t see my Attributes Window either. Ah, I recently acquired a trait called [Circulatory Retardation], but—”

—What skills can you use?

“Not many. With [Sentence Strengthening], [Incite]…”

Kim Dokja listened quietly. His calmness was overwhelming, and before I knew it, I was speaking steadily.

“And…”

As I talked, my thoughts gradually became clearer.

It felt like the time I’d spent in this world as ‘Cheon Inho’ was unfolding vividly before me.

—What about items?

“My main item is this bracelet. It’s called ‘Thoughts of Almost Everything’. It can mimic and transform into any weapon.”

—Stories?

“I have two.”

—What?

I listed the two stories I possessed.

One was ‘Recorder of things that will disappear’, earned by defeating the ‘God of Another World’ at Seoul Station.

The other was ‘tenacious martial arts master’, given by the Ark of the Beggar Sect.

“There will be one more soon. I dealt with a fairly high-ranking otherworld god. Even if it’s not myth-grade, it should be a ‘semi-mythical’ story.”

Once again, I thought my specs weren’t bad.

Three stories by the seventh scenario.

Even after being unconscious for 45 days, this was solid progress.

It was an achievement.

Maybe I’d been too pessimistic.

Actually, Kim Dokja’s voice didn’t sound all that displeased.

—Well, that’s about standard for the seventh scenario.

I could almost see Kim Dokja’s characteristic smile.

I felt like a novice writer receiving feedback for the first time.

How would my sponsor, who loved stories more than anyone, evaluate the life I’d lived so far?

—You’re not the ‘Immortal King’, are you?

“I’m not.”

In this regression, the ‘Immortal King’ was Lee Dansu’s attribute.

—What about ‘Eight Lives’?

“I haven’t been anywhere near Peace Land.”

‘Eight Lives’ was an attribute gained by defeating Yamata no Orochi in Peace Land.

—Did you sign a resurrection contract with <Eden>?

“Is that even possible this early?”

—Okay. I didn’t ask because I expected it.

“Then why did you ask?”

Really, why had he asked? There was no need.

—I thought I was about to fall asleep.

That was the ‘Demon King of Salvation’’s first assessment of me, Lee Hakhyun.