Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

The sight of Jeong Hui-Won running forward could be seen.

She slid among the ‘Nameless Ones’ like the moonlight sliding off the blade.

The answer she was searching for was there.

[Incarnation Jeong Hui-Won’s ■■ is ‘Salvation’.]

Everyone had their own ■■. Finally, the moment of choosing their own conclusions had arrived for the <Kim Dok-Ja Company>’s companions.

“Jeong Hui-Won!”

Her [Judge’s Sword] drew a spectacular trajectory. The companions watched that sword trajectory and hurriedly chased after her.

Yi Gil-Yeong was about to leap into the air along with Yu Sang-Ah, but had to stop because of a girl was about to be left behind.

“Shin Yu-Seung….”

Shin Yu-Seung standing there all alone, was crying. Standing in the exact same location as before, her feet not going anywhere, and her gaze fixed on one spot – it was quite clear what she was looking at right now.

[Fable, ‘Saviour of a Star’, is continuing on with its storytelling.]

It was the Fable that only Shin Yu-Seung possessed.

A Constellation and an Incarnation, connected through that radiating starlight. The light emitted by the Fable was so beautiful and radiant that Yi Gil-Yeong unknowingly reached out towards Shin Yu-Seung.

⸢Yi Gil-Yeong was envious of Shin Yu-Seung.⸥

Just what was it like for one person to understand another?

He was too young to truly understand the meaning of the word ‘understand’ itself. Sometimes he’d feel this sense of deprivation because of that, but on the other hand, he actually liked the fact that his age could be used as an excuse.

⸢It’s possible for you to not get it yet. But, that’s okay.⸥

⸢You don’t need to do this, but I’m sorry that we have to rely on you, Gil-Yeong-ah….⸥

⸢Hey, kid, stop showing off and get back.⸥

He was relieved. He even thought that it was a fortunate thing.

It was fortunate that he got to meet such people in a world like this one. People that he could rely on and act like a child, yet still could remind him with the fact that he was indeed a child.

⸢However, Shin Yu-Seung was here, too⸥

There was another child with them who didn’t act like one. It was a girl who always looked up at a star. Yi Gil-Yeong also looked up at the same star – the star he liked. He knew very well the sorrowful light that star emitted, and how its colour would change when it tried to hide its true intentions or tried to lie.

⸢However, he didn’t know as well as Shin Yu-Seung did.⸥

“How long are you going to stand around dazed like that? Let’s go.”

Shin Yu-Seung absentmindedly turned her head towards him. While meeting her gaze, Yi Gil-Yeong snatched up her hand. Then, the two kids began running. Sweat filled the tightly-held small hand.

‘I don’t understand Dok-Ja-hyung as much as Shin Yu-Seung.’

She was the Incarnation of the Constellation, ‘Demon King of Salvation’. No one could pry them apart or get in between them.

“You think you’re the only one worried about hyung? You think you’re the only one feeling sad?”

Yi Gil-Yeong shouted without even looking back and continued to drag Shin Yu-Seung. He hated the idea of looking younger than her. But for at least today, he wanted to behave like a child.

“I don’t like the Han River. I like oceans better. And I don’t like pizza but prefer fried chicken.”

He too had been saved by that star, that’s why.

“Going to the PC Bang! Playing phone games! And….!”

The star he liked so much could be seen in the distance. However, it didn’t look like a star now.

“And, also….”

The star, the subject of jealousy and envy from the Constellations that ruled the heavens, was now…..

[[■■■■■■■■■■■…..]]

….Now looked like a scary great demon from the webtoons the boy enjoyed reading so much.

The moment that huge head with tentacles wiggling about turned in his direction, Yi Gil-Yeong’s running legs froze still.

The king of another world, now grown to a height even taller than a skyscraper.

The ‘Enemy of the Story.’

The villain who would destroy this world.

⸢Did that demon look like Kim Dok-Ja to Shin Yu-Seung?⸥

“I….”

Yi Gil-Yeong muttered while trying to fight against his body’s trembling. Against the fear that that thing might not be Kim Dok-Ja he used to know.

[Do not get fooled!]

[That creature will destroy this world!]

[He’s a being that only cares about himself. To him, your survival holds no meaning at all.]

Actually, the Kim Dok-Ja he had been looking at was wrong.

⸢”Hyung, are you a god?”

“….Wha?”

“Or, are you the ‘protagonist’?”⸥

The fear that the words spoken by the Dokkaebis turned out to be correct.

⸢”I’m not a god nor am I a protagonist. In fact, I’ve been always envious of the real protagonist.”⸥

Yi Gil-Yeong finally managed to stop the trembling and worked up his courage to look up. The vast Outer God’s eye was now looking straight at the boy.

Kim Dok-Ja’s heart couldn’t be seen; not a single thing about that Outer God felt like Kim Dok-Ja.

The only thing remaining was belief.

– Gil-Yeong-ah. There is more than one way to form relationships.

Some time ago, he had a chat with Yu Sang-Ah regarding his dilemma related to Shin Yu-Seung. At the time, she answered like this after closing shut the book she was reading.

– It’s similar to how different people interpret the same sentence differently. So…

Yi Gil-Yeong wasn’t much of an avid reader so that comparison didn’t resonate with him. Still…

– I think I understand.

He too had his own skill of conversing with the others.

– It kinda feels different when talking to a praying mantis and a cockroach, you see.

The [Diverse Communication] was such a skill, that allowed him to communicate with species different than his. However, the boy lacked a skill to understand other human beings.

What kind of a person was Kim Dok-Ja? He wasn’t sure.

However, there was this one image that popped into his head first when trying to think of the person called Kim Dok-Ja – the sight of people with their heads or bodies blown up.

⸢”I’m going to trouble you for a bit.”⸥

And then, the face of Kim Dok-Ja as he placed a grasshopper within the boy’s grasp.

[Fable, ‘Insect King’, has begun its storytelling!]

Suddenly, the surrounding view shook and a Fable began waking up within the boy.

[Constellation, ‘Ruler of the Deepest Pit’, is grinning insidiously.]

A swarm of yellow locusts buzzing in from somewhere swirled like a tornado and began enveloping the entire world.

⸢On that day, Yi Gil-Yeong thought to himself that it’d been nicer for the whole subway train to be flipped on its head. Just like the grasshopper that died in his hands.⸥

This incredible feast of Status caused the ‘Outer Gods’ to scream.

Constellations of <Star Stream> began pouring out their messages.

[Constellations leaning on the Absolute Evil spectrum are warning the ‘Ruler of the Deepest Pit’!]

[Portion of Demon Kings are greatly astonished by the Incarnation’s power!]

The Fable flowing vigorously ignored the gazes of the Constellations and continued on with its storytelling. This story was something the boy hadn’t told any adults yet.

And it was a story that Shin Yu-Seung, also a possessor of the [Diverse Communication], knew a little bit of.

⸢”You didn’t even have enough money so why did you go and have a kid….”⸥

This intense stink of the brown coal, the sight of his father and mother lying on the ground like dead cockroaches – memories of him poking on the cold, unmoving flesh. A funeral without portraits came to an end, and the fatigued eyes of his relatives looking at him.

⸢”That girl Yeong-Mi, I knew she’d do something like this. She was told that that bastard wasn’t good for her, yet she….”⸥

⸢”So, who’s going to take that boy in? What about the eldest brother’s….”⸥

⸢”We can’t. There are three kids in our place already.”⸥

Yi Gil-Yeong didn’t know the proper words to describe his life that had been rejected from a very young age. He didn’t have any ability to explain or express how big of a wound that was. And that wound continued to fester, unable to be healed or discovered.

⸢”Look for an organisation. There are places that look after kids like him.”⸥

Yi Gil-Yeong got dragged by his aunt’s hand and climbed on the Seoul-bound train. And he felt dizzy while looking at the map of ant tunnel-like Seoul’s subway network.

There were so many tunnels here, and he didn’t know where he was heading off to.

The grasshoppers inside the insect catcher cried like a lost child.

⸢”This boy, really now! Throw them away! Hurry! They don’t live all that long, anyway. So disgusting!”⸥

What would’ve happened to him if the scenarios didn’t start on that day?

“Dok-Ja hyung!”

What if he didn’t get to meet these people?

“Dok-Ja hyung! I’m over here!”

Yi Gil-Yeong cried out loudly enough to tear out his vocal cords.

It was fine if his voice couldn’t reach its target. It was fine if he wasn’t Kim Dok-Ja’s Incarnation.

⸢”Gil-Yeong-ah. If you can’t say it, then it’s okay to not say anything. However, you must remember this one thing, okay?”⸥

The boy wanted to say this to him.

⸢”When you wish to say something, this hyung will be by your side to listen.”⸥

….That, Dok-Ja hyung wasn’t a villain.

….That, he was a just regular person who happened to rescue the boy from other regular people.

[Kill him! We only have to push a little bit harder!]

[They are failures from a different world-line! Do not mind it and push harder! Killing them now will end this!]

The ranks of the ‘Outer Gods’ fighting out in the front were crumbling now. One of the sides seemed to break down completely, then a group of Incarnations led by the Myth-grade Constellations began advancing towards Kim Dok-Ja. He needed to stop them somehow.

Tsu-chuchuchut!

[Applicable action is prohibited by the ⸢Bureau⸥’s Probability.]

[The target you wish to protect is the ⸢Enemy of the Story⸥.]

He needed to convince them that Dok-Ja hyung wasn’t a person like that. But, how should he…

Ku-gugugugu…..

Even as his enemies rushed in, Kim Dok-Ja simply stood there like a wall. He seemed to be saying something every so often, yet those words couldn’t be understood. Yi Gil-Yeong wanted to understand them, though. He hated leaning against the wall, all powerless and helpless. He wanted to stand on Kim Dok-Ja’s side.

He didn’t care if this sort of world was destroyed or not. If Kim Dok-Ja was the enemy of a story, then he’d also become this ‘Enemy of the Story’, too.

However, Kim Dok-Ja was too difficult to understand for him.

He hated the fact that he was a little kid. If only he was an adult. If only he was Han Su-Yeong, Yu Jung-Hyeok, or Jeong Hui-Won…

….If only he was Shin Yu-Seung.

He felt the sensation of the tightly-held hand. Shin Yu-Seung was still there.

“….You idiot. Wake up.”

The swarm of locusts flying around settled down.

Shin Yu-Seung spoke up. “I can’t understand ahjussi, either.”

[Exclusive skill, ‘Superlative Diverse Communication’, is activating!]

“I’m just doing my best trying to understand.”

The skill of these two kids that allowed them to control the Chimera Dragon activated simultaneously. And now, they were in the most optimum state to understand each other.

Yi Gil-Yeong couldn’t read Kim Dok-Ja. However, Shin Yu-Seung seemed to know how, at least just a little bit.

The Fable these two read together began rocking the world. And it was as if Kim Dok-Ja’s face could be seen ever so faintly now. It seemed like the figure of Kim Dok-Ja they knew was almost within reach.

[Fable, ‘Saviour of the Star’, is having a chat with the Fable, ‘Insect King!]

“Hey, kids.”

Han Su-Yeong stood next to them as if to provide protection. And Yi Hyeon-Seong, Jeong Hui-Won, and Yu Sang-Ah stood nearby to protect them in turn.

⸢Adults looking at the world together with the kids were here.⸥

Yi Ji-Hye’s battleship cast a shadow from the air. Both Gong Pil-Du and Yi Seol-Hwa could be seen near the cannons of the vessel. Yi Ji-Hye then unsheathed her sword as if to imply that she was ready to fire at any time she wanted to.

That prompted the Great Dokkaebi Onsae to ask them.

[Are you trying to protect him? Even though you know what kind of existence he is? He’s no longer the ‘Kim Dok-Ja’ that you know. The truth has been exposed to the rest of the world….!]

“Don’t make me laugh. That ain’t the truth. You think truth is that simple? What you’ve shown is simply edited footage. And that’s how you’ve all been creating scenarios so far, right?” Han Su-Yeong spoke to the approaching Constellations as if to issue a warning. “Don’t care whether he’s become the ‘Enemy of the Story’ or whatever, he’s still our comrade. So, don’t you dare touch him. Got that?”

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is roaring out!]

[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is exposing her Status!]

[Constellation, ‘Most Ancient Liberator’, is charging up his lightning!]

“You touch him, and we’ll kill you all.”

The moment the Constellations protecting <Kim Dok-Ja Company> made a move, the powerful momentum of the opposing Constellations froze still for a moment there.

Tsu-chuchuchuchut!

[A portion of Constellations agree with Incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’s’ words, and….!]

Great Dokkaebi Harong detected the tremor within the Probability and promptly cut the messages off.

[How laughable. You want to protect him? You lot who can’t even understand what he’s saying?]

[<Star Stream> is warning the Great Dokkaebis for their interference in the scenario!]

Frustrated by how the scenario wasn’t unfolding in the way they desired, a Great Dokkaebi enduring the aftermath’s storm asked them.

[Can you not see his current appearance?]

Incarnations that got near Kim Dok-Ja shrunk back and began retreating away. It was the same story whether they were Incarnations hostile towards him or carrying a favourable impression of him.

The Outer God, now reaching high up into the heavens. The moment everyone looked into his eye containing the abyss itself, they shuddered and collapsed on their butts.

[None of you know what he feels, what he desires, and what he thinks about. Because you are all measly humans. Because you are creatures that can never understand another existence even if you devote your entire lifetime to it.]

Everyone from <Kim Dok-Ja Company> looked up at Kim Dok-Ja. What the Great Dokkaebi said was true. They couldn’t understand him.

[The target you wish to protect is the ⸢Enemy of the Story⸥.]

As if to wake up the characters that had forgotten their roles, the Great Dokkaebi shouted out loudly. [None of you have a choice in this matter! Kill him. If you don’t, this scenario will not end!]

[‘King of the Stories’ is observing the direction of the Final Scenario.]

The oldest storyteller in this world was also watching the unfolding events.

Along with her companions, Han Su-Yeong raised her head, and looked at the place where the ‘King of the Stories’ was – the being that summarised all the scenarios. She looked at the endlessly-stretching [Final Wall].

⸢That wall is where their story would be recorded.⸥

“The scenario won’t end? Nice. Is that not what every reader wishes for?”

[Incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’ has gotten much closer to her ■■.]

Han Su-Yeong then looked up at Kim Dok-Ja. When she glared continuously at the giant head of the cephalopod, she thought that it began to resemble Kim Dok-Ja’s face just a little bit.

“The story I’m writing definitely requires that idiot Kim Dok-Ja’s presence.”

Han Su-Yeong roughly unfurled the bandages like an author ripping up the manuscript she didn’t like. Her Fable dyed in the [Black Flame] spread out in the air like pitch-black ink.

As if to imply that she could write as long as she wanted to.

[<Star Stream> is surprised by the Incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’s’ decision!]

[Many Constellations are astonished by the Incarnation ‘Han Su-Yeong’s’ ■■, and….]

[The target you wish to protect is the ⸢Enemy of the Story⸥.]

[Applicable action is prohibited by the ⸢Bureau⸥’s Probab….]

Tsu-chuchuchuchu….!

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is proud of his Incarnation.]

Han Su-Yeong smirked. “Let’s not end the scenario, forever.”

[Incarnation Han Su-Yeong’s ■■ is ‘Neverending Story’.]

<Episode 93. Omniscient Author’s Viewpoint (3)> Fin.