Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Novel MTL - Chapter 706

Chapter 706

Of course. Here is the paraphrased chapter:

706 Episode 26 Star Ladder (2)

My gaze was fixed on Kim Dokja through the shattered window of a ruined building.

He was wearing the face of Cheon Inho, yet he was unmistakably Kim Dokja.
The original Kim Dokja of this world.
The one who existed before any other.
He was the one brave enough to live, making the choices about what to hold onto and what to discard.
He chooses and decides before all other Kim Dokjas.
He carries the greatest burden of responsibility.

「 The salvation Kim Dokja offers is a harsh one. 」

The Demon King of Salvation.

「 Those he saves are wounded, as if rescuing a drowning person with the point of a blade. 」

He was hated for his rescues. He was condemned by the very people he saved for the pain he caused them.

「 «Don’t be ridiculous… what kind of salvation is this…» 」

But those he saved in that manner understood.

「 «Why would you…?» 」

They had seen Kim Dokja’s hand as he gripped his sword.

「 The reader’s hand is covered in countless scars. 」

When Kim Dokja saved someone with the knife’s edge, he too was cut by the blade.

「 «Don’t worry. If I die once and come back, they will vanish.» 」

The wounds on his hand healed swiftly, but the memory of those wounds remained.
People would check his hands repeatedly, needing the reassurance of seeing them whole.
They knew that one day, Kim Dokja would once again use those same hands to save them.

‘Constellation-nim.’

The Demon King of Salvation was staring down at his own hand.
It was my hand now, and so it bore no scars.
What memory had he recovered?
Even though I was using the [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint], I could not see into his past.

‘Constellation-nim?’

Kim Dokja looked up at the sky in response to my call.
The meaning of his smile was impossible to decipher. It seemed broken, bitter, or perhaps as if he comprehended everything.

«One more.»

With that unreadable expression, Kim Dokja seized the head of the black beast. With his other hand, he began to pull his own fragments from the creature’s back.

«One more.»

The predecessor, Yoo Jonghyuk, shuddered violently as if seized by convulsions each time an embedded fragment was removed.

Ooooh!

As agonized roars burst from the beast’s mouth, the people hearing them began to moan in sympathy.

«Ahhh…»

«What in the world—»

Their attention was now on the Demon King of Salvation, not the Black Beast.
The expressions of the people reflected in my eyes, which were sharing his vision.
They watched me, took steps back, looked upon me with fear, and fled.

Kgu gu gu!

I called out to Kim Dokja again.

‘Constellation-nim!’

Kim Dokja didn’t answer. He just continued extracting the fragments from Yoo Jonghyuk’s back.
Three, four, five…
Now more than half of the fragments had been reclaimed.
Yoo Jonghyuk, on his knees, looked up at me with pupils that were half-empty.
A sudden sense of foreboding washed over me.

「 Only one Kim Dokja. 」

Perhaps every Kim Dokja dreams of becoming that single, unified Kim Dokja.
And that ‘Demon King of Salvation’—
Wouldn’t he, too, wish to be that one original ‘Kim Dokja’?

«Don’t move.»

Kim Dokja, holding the black beast’s head with his left hand, drove his knee down to overpower it. With his right, he kept pulling out the fragments.
With each one removed, more of his memories returned.
His memories were his stories.
And as his stories returned, the power of the Demon King of Salvation grew stronger.

Tsu-tsu-tsutsu!

The situation was now truly perilous.
The demon, exhausted from Kim Dokja’s assault, had fallen completely silent.
But Kim Dokja was not finished.

«Stop this and come out. Unless you want to die.»

At his words, the soul of the demon that had tormented us emerged from Yoo Jonghyuk.

Ooooh!

The demon, with nowhere left to go, bled stories like flames.

「 I never had any ill intent. I never had any ill intent. 」

It was incredibly pitiful for a marquis-level demon.

「 Please, save me. Please, save me. 」

The demon continued to plead, as if it were itself a Kim Dokja.

「 I only. I only ever… 」

Kim Dokja spoke to such a demon.

«You wanted to be the Demon King of Salvation.»

The soul had no reply.

«Do you still wish to be the ‘Demon King of Salvation’?»

The soul trembled once more.

«Then come here.»

As Kim Dokja opened his mouth, the demon’s soul was drawn into it. It wasn’t entering me. I could sense it. The demon’s soul was being absorbed into the story of the ‘Demon King of Salvation’.
As the demon vanished, Yoo Jonghyuk, having lost consciousness, went limp.

‘Kim Dokja.’

I finally called his name directly. If he didn’t answer this time, I would force the [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] to shut down. But then—

—I’m listening.

Kim Dokja replied.

—I was remembering the old days.

I felt a measure of relief, for this was still the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ I remembered.

‘Did you get your memories back?’

His ruthless act of extracting the fragments was not something I could forget.
What memory had Kim Dokja seen that made him lose his reason?

[The story ‘Heir of the Eternal Name’ looks dissatisfied.]

Even the fragments were not being absorbed by my stories.
This meant the Demon King of Salvation had absorbed all eight ‘Kim Dokja fragments’.

—That…

Just as Kim Dokja began to speak in a bitter voice—

Tsu-tsu-tsu-tsu-chut!

Sparks erupted in the air and lightning struck the ground.
A probability backlash?
That couldn’t be. This scenario was supposed to be a safe zone from such repercussions.
Was it the cost of the Demon King of Salvation exceeding the scenario’s limits?
My body trembled from the strain. Even with [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint], I could not bear the price of supporting the Demon King of Salvation.
But that wasn’t it… no, wait.

Kurreung!

Another group of incarnations was approaching.
Incarnations who had been observing the situation until now.
As soon as Kim Dokja confirmed their ‘4th grade Earth Dragon’ equipment, he frowned at them.

Zarathustra?

«James. What is the meaning of this?»

Anna Croft moved to block them. She seemed startled by this unexpected action from her own group.

«I’m acting on ‘prophecy.’ Why?»

«Prophecy? I never gave you any prophecy.»

«I know. I’m done with your prophecies now.»

The man named James grumbled and looked back at the other incarnations.
«I was used because I was weak. I was trampled by monsters. All of us are tired of it.»

«What are you trying to say?»

«We have made a contract.»

A woman standing behind James stepped forward.

«Anna Croft, just like you.»

Anna, looking stunned, shook her head and muttered.

«It can’t be… what have you—»

[The constellation ‘Bald General of Justice’ is astonished at the incarnation’s choice!]

[The constellation ‘Maritime War God’ cannot believe his eyes!]

[The constellation ‘King Heungmu the Great’ shouts that you are insane!]

Yet, even these angered constellations dared not do more than send indirect messages.
The nebula backing these incarnations was a gathering of great-grade constellations.

[Nebula <Asgard> is watching the scenario.]

They occupied one of the highest seats in the night sky of the Star Stream.
Though only their indirect messages came through, an immense pressure followed.
Some incarnations found it hard to breathe and fell to their knees.
Anna Croft, her composure broken, shouted at the members of Zarathustra.

«Do you have any idea what you’ve done? You are now—»

«Asgard’s representative incarnations.»

The woman laughed as she spoke.

«Until now, the representative incarnation of ‘Asgard’ was one of you, but—»

James finished her sentence.

«Now it’s not.»

Simultaneously, a light rose from the ten members of Zarathustra.
I understood what was happening.
They had chosen to become the direct incarnations of Asgard.

[Incarnation James Johnson receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard’.]

[Incarnation Olivia Harris receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard’.]

[Incarnation Harper Davis receives the will of the nebula ‘Asgard’.]

A dazzling light enveloped the ten incarnations.

«<Asgard>! Save us!»

«We kept our promise! Now free us from this terrible scenario!»

Anna cried out to them in desperation.

«No! Stop!»

The incarnations of Zarathustra opened their arms to the sky. Then, their bodies began to oxidize in the intense light.
The incarnations, realizing too late that something was wrong, struggled and flailed, but the process was already irreversible.

«Uh, why—»

«Aaaaaa!»

Their skin disintegrated into powdery ash.

And then.

[The constellation ‘Cleanser’ descends!]

Stars began to descend into their vacant bodies.

[The constellation ‘The One Who Married Three Times’ descends!]

[The constellation ‘Valkyrie’s Daughter’ descends!]

…

The constellations, entering the bodies of the incarnations, opened their eyes one by one.
Half-body advent.
This was only the seventh scenario. Great constellations were attempting a half-descent here.
It was impossible.
Even to correct the ‘balance of probability’ shattered by the Demon King of Salvation.

«No, run away!»

Incarnations who grasped the situation turned and fled without a second thought.
It was the natural reaction.
The half-body advent of constellations was an event shocking enough to overturn the entire scenario.
So I was not worried.

[The Management Bureau is urgently intervening in the region.]

But the management bureau could not stop this.

[The sub scenario’s probability is suspended.]

[The probability of the <Star Stream> is shifting.]

[The management bureau is in contact with Asgard.]

The situation was beyond the bureau’s control.
But why then?
The half-body advent of the constellations was not being resolved.

[Nebula <Asgard> declares ‘Kinunggaf’ across the entire scenario area.]

Then, a shocking system message rang out.

[The giant story ‘Long Farmhouses’ begins its storytelling.]

[A ‘Stage’ has been created.]

The sky above the area swirled, and all the light from the heavens was extinguished.
Long Farmhouses.
I knew that name.
It was the first primordial void where the myth of Asgard began.
The first emptiness that existed before scenarios and stories.
If a nebula was permitting a stage, the meaning was clear.

—They intend to conceal everything that happens here now.

But why would they use such a powerful transfer so suddenly?
No matter the reason, this was a massive expenditure for the nebula’s giant story.
They would only do this if what they stood to gain was worth the colossal cost.
The ten seats, including Valkyrie’s Daughter, turned their gaze toward us.

[We meet at last, ‘Demon King of Salvation’.]

Hearing that, I felt I finally understood.

「 Asgard knows about the Demon King of Salvation. 」

If this entire scenario had been planned from the start.

「 Why did the demon in Washington impersonate the ‘Demon King of Salvation’? 」

Suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place.

「 This scenario was created to lure the ‘Demon King of Salvation’. 」

If the Dark Sentinel impersonating him, Yoo Jonghyuk becoming the black beast, and everything else was part of someone’s design—
Then their objective was clear.

「 The nebulae of this world are already gathering the ‘fragments of Kim Dokja’. 」