Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 700

Chapter 700

I studied Anna Croft’s expression with detached focus. Even the smallest details of her appearance offered valuable insight.

Her eyes seemed stripped of a certain depth. Dark shadows lingered heavily beneath them.

She likely hadn’t slept properly since the crisis in Washington began.

That exhaustion was the reason for her reckless decision now.

“What if I truly am an agent of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

Anna Croft paused at my question but did not reply.

“Would you really detonate a nuclear weapon right here? Are you prepared to annihilate all of Las Vegas just to kill one suspected member of his inner circle?”

“I was the one asking the questions here.”

“And if I answered, would you believe me? You’re aware that [Lie Detection] has no effect on me.”

“That is your assertion.”

“Would you like to test it?”

Anna Croft bit her lip and remained silent.

“Anna, you won’t set off that weapon. You are the one who wants to protect ‘Zarathustra’.”

I suspected the tactical nuclear device wouldn’t function correctly anyway, but I knew Anna Croft had no real intention of using it.

Doing so would destroy the very ‘Zarathustra’ she sought to defend.

“Cheon Inho, what could you possibly know about me—”

“Then tell me. About your profound sense of duty, and why you wish to erase all illness from this world. What is the ‘end’ you see in your dreams every night?”

「 «Please. You too, come with me to my ‘end’.» 」

I recalled what Kim Dokja had once heard.

Eventually, this ‘Anna Croft’ would reach her own ‘end’. It might be brighter than she imagined, and perhaps it was not beyond this world after all.

“How could you possibly—”

“It seems I know a fair amount about you, doesn’t it?”

Anna Croft’s expression hardened as the balance of the conversation shifted to me.

“Anna Croft. My connection to the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is irrelevant. What matters is your current desperation, and the fact that I am the only ally left to you. If things continue as they are, the American continent will fall. Do you wish to fail this round completely?”

Anna Croft looked as if she were under a sustained assault. Under normal circumstances, an attack like this wouldn’t have shaken her composure.

But now, she was profoundly weary.

“What is it that you want, Cheon Inho?”

“It seems we can finally have a productive discussion.”

There were many things I wished to know.

My most pressing question concerned the fate of Yoo Jonghyuk and his companions.

But that question was not suitable here.

Even if Anna confirmed they were alive, I had more immediate problems to solve first.

I organized my thoughts.

Kim Dokja is not here now.

But if ‘Kim Dokja’ were here, this is undoubtedly how he would have begun.

“Then let’s not waste time. Stop this. I know what you’re concealing.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No matter how challenging the scenario becomes, it’s inconceivable for you to be performing this poorly.”

I remembered everything Han Sooyoung had said about ‘Anna Croft’.

Though Anna often found herself bested by Kim Dokja, that was only because her opponent was Kim Dokja.

She was the strongest incarnate in America, a figure even the regressor Yoo Jonghyuk treated with caution. She who fulfilled her own prophecies, who deceived even the nebulae, and who dreamed of a ‘perfect ending’.

A person like that would never struggle so helplessly in only the seventh scenario.

That is, unless she was facing a truly crippling form of interference.

[The exclusive skill ‘Incite Lv.10’ is activated!]

“Anna Croft. You are currently under the influence of [Hypnotic Incite].”

As I spoke, Anna Croft’s pupils trembled.

“From this moment, you will awaken from this [Hypnotic Incite]—”

“No, stop! Wait!”

Anna Croft collapsed backward into her chair with a heavy thud, as if struck on the head.

Then, the air shimmered and a woman materialized from within a transparent cloak. The ‘Hermit’s Cloak’. It was a familiar face.

“How did you know?”

A bad habit had formed in me since arriving in this world.

Whenever I met someone new, I used the [Reader Comment List] first.

[Check the reader’s profile information.]

ID: FantasyQueen90

Platform: Best Noble

Total number of comments: 80

Reader Level: 5

Number of completed readings: 1 time

*You can use coins to check the comments left by the reader.

*Currently, the number of comments that can be checked for free is 3.

I had already used the ‘reader comment list’ on Christina when I entered the car to Las Vegas, so I knew.

That she was America’s ‘apostle’.

I slowly looked at the window that appeared before me.

‘Best Noble’ was an unfamiliar name, likely an American platform.

Number of complete reads: 1 time.

“It would be strange if I didn’t know. You’re the one who reduced Anna Croft to this state. The Anna I know would never exercise such poor judgment.”

“…”

“You brought me here for a reason. What is it?”

Christina Page.

She had retrieved me even after confirming the indirect message from the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ in Korea.

It was impossible that the Demon King at the Washington Dome was the real ‘Demon King of Salvation’.

Bringing a subordinate of the enemy into her own base made no sense.

And yet, she did it.

The reason was obvious.

“What is your relationship to the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

She knew the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ in the Washington Dome was an imposter.

“Please answer me. Is the ‘constellation’ you serve truly the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

Not a ‘Demon King’, but a ‘constellation’.

I met her gaze.

Seeing the deep light in her eyes, I understood what she was hoping for.

I slowly rose from my seat, walked to the window, and drew back the curtain Anna had closed.

Darkness had fallen. Stars glimmered in the distant night sky.

I gazed quietly at one particular shining star.

“What would you do then?”

After a long moment, I turned my head and saw Christina on her knees.

“Please.”

Her expression was shattered, all her pent-up resolve finally released.

“Washington… Please, save our Zarathustra.”

I quickly deployed several safety measures, including [Sound Wave Blocking Lv.1], to prevent other constellations from overhearing.

[Some constellations are suddenly complaining that they can’t see you.]

Fortunately, Anna had also prioritized security, so the constellations seemed completely unaware of our conversation.

“First, dispel the [Daily Invoice] you placed on me, and then we will talk.”

Christina wiped her tears and canceled the [Daily Invoice].

[Your soul returns to its original body.]

For the first time in a while, I felt the full sensation of being in my own body.

I took a deep breath, sat back on the sofa, and asked Christina.

“What exactly happened in America?”

Having calmed somewhat, Christina laid the unconscious Anna Croft across her lap and began to speak slowly.

After hearing her story, I controlled my emotions and reached a conclusion.

“So, to be clear, you are saying the Demon King who appeared at the ‘Washington Dome’ is not the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

“Yes.”

“What about the symbol of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ that was witnessed?”

“It’s true that the symbol of a high-ranking demon species was seen. But he is not a true ‘Demon King’. I knew the moment I saw him in person.”

I had suspected as much.

However skilled she was at using [Nightmare], Christina was still far too composed to have confronted a real Demon King.

Any ordinary incarnation would have been broken—unless they were Yoo Jonghyuk or Kim Dokja.

“Then why does Anna believe that Demon King is the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?”

“Because I told her he was.”

“Why would you lie?”

“That…”

“And according to Anna, the people in the Washington Dome also identified him as the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.”

Christina bit her chapped lip. Her eyes darted as she looked me over, seemingly deciding that honesty was her only option.

“I need to explain something first to tell that story.”

“Be brief.”

“I never intended for any of this to happen. I didn’t mean to ruin the scenario this badly.”

Christina was defensive.

From her tone, it was clear she hadn’t worsened the situation out of malice.

The same was true for the other American apostles.

「 «In times like this, you have to catch bugs. Everyone, look for bugs.» 」

「 «Protect your children first. If we fight together, we can kill even the monster species!» 」

「 «We must not fight each other! We must all solve the scenario together!» 」

The initial situation in the United States wasn’t so different from Korea.

The problems began just after the first scenario ended.

「 «Now… what are we supposed to do?» 」

American readers had few advantages from the start.

There was no guarantee the American scenario would mirror Korea’s, and even if it did, geographical knowledge offered little help.

Communication between the apostles was also difficult due to translation issues.

In that situation, the apostles chose only one way to survive.

「 «We have to find Anna Croft.» 」

They eventually found Anna Croft and united under her leadership.

After meeting the main character, Anna, they began to believe they could survive.

That hope lasted until they discovered the true nature of this world.

「 «Oh my god, I don’t think ‘Kim Dokja’ is here.» 」

The crucial point was that this world was not that of ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’.

This world was the 41st round of ‘Ways of Survival’.

A world where ‘Kim Dokja’ could never exist.

The apostles were plunged into despair. Some began to believe in the apocalypse; others gave up on the scenario or ended their lives, convinced they were doomed.

Meanwhile, Christina and a few other apostles fought on resolutely, supporting Anna Croft.

They cleared the second, third, and fourth scenarios with impressive results.

And they received certain items as rewards.

“Disaster option.”

They were given a choice of which ‘disaster’ would arrive in the fifth scenario.

Normally, it would have been wiser to choose ‘Kronos’.

Because the disaster of Kronos was a known quantity.

But then, someone had an idea.

Couldn’t the ‘disaster’ summon someone they knew?

«Wait a minute, you can’t mean—»

Just as the Disaster of Floods, Shin Yoosoung, had arrived from another worldline, some ‘disasters’ were summoned from beyond this one.

So then.

Christina hung her head in shame.

“Yes. We requested that the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ be summoned as the ‘Disaster’.”