Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 193

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 193: Episode 36: Horizon of the story (3)

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There was a passage like this in TWSA.

「Demons live on the Horizon of the story. They are neither demon kings nor demonic species, but beings called ‘demons.’ They crave stories as much as dokkaebis do, and hate dokkaebis just as much as they crave stories.」

...Yes, that passage.

「If you have been expelled from a Scenario, there is only one thing you can hope for. That is the mercy of the Demons of the Horizon.」

[The Fourth Wall] was babbling on its own, leaving me with nothing to add.

I looked at the Demon of the Horizon. The figure looked old. Dressed like a vagrant at first glance, the Demon still wasn't hard to identify. Every Demon of the Horizon had a large hump on one cheek. Because of that, some people called them Hunchbacks for short.

Faint sparks crackled in the air, and the Hunchback took a step back.

"...Interesting. Even the Arch-Demon's Eyeball can't check your information?"

The Hunchback had apparently already tried everything possible to dig into my information. Yellow light swirled in one of the Hunchback's eyes.

The Arch-Demon's Eyeball.

The Hunchback possessed the same eye Anna Croft had.

That was only natural. The Demons of the Horizon had probably been the ones to tell Anna about the Arch-Demon's Eyeball. They were far more dangerous than an idiot like Bihyeong. If I underestimated them even slightly, I would be the one getting eaten.

Pretending to be relaxed, I began.

"Even a prophet can't read my information. You're behind on the news for a Hunchback."

The Hunchback frowned, pride evidently wounded.

"You knew I was coming?"

"Yeah."

"How?"

"You probably came for this."

I took out Dokkaebi's Egg from inside my jacket. The Hunchback's eyes wavered. The Hunchback knew what was inside it, too.

"That soul is mine."

The demon's hump began swelling ominously.

"That soul was sent here by another me from a parallel dimension. I own that soul."

The Hunchback took a step closer, and I took one back as I feigned ignorance.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"...I wondered where the soul that should have returned to the underworld had gone. So you intercepted it. It isn't too late yet. Return the soul."

"Return it? What kind of bullshit is that? Does the Star Stream have rules for handling lost property?"

Still the same distance apart, the Hunchback stared greedily at the egg. I looked down at it as well.

Inside it was Shin Yuseong from Yu Junghyeok's 41st round.

In that sense, what the Demon of the Horizon said was true. The one who had turned Shin Yuseong into a Catastrophe and sent her to this dimension was the Hunchback standing before me.

The wrinkles between the Hunchback's brows deepened.

"If you wish to play with words..."

"Let's ask her directly. She has free will too."

Without hesitation, I tapped the egg's surface and asked, "Yuseong, this person says they're your owner. What do you think?"

The egg trembled sharply.

"Hmm, I see. You're saying they aren't?"

"Hey."

Ignoring the Hunchback, I spoke to the egg again.

"Then who do you belong to?"

This time, the egg shivered. I nodded as if I understood.

"That's right. A ‘soul’ can't belong to anyone. Just as no one can own a ‘story.’"

No one could own a story. At those words, a sharp glint passed through the Hunchback's expression. The Arch-Demon's Eyeball spun rapidly. A smile appeared at the corner of the Hunchback's lips, as though this were interesting.

"Interesting, Demon King of Salvation. Are you proposing a negotiation with me?"

The Hunchback took the bait. I grinned.

"That's right."

"We have been watching your actions with considerable interest as well. But if you wish to negotiate, hand over that egg first."

"Do you not know what a negotiation is? That's a problem. I need this."

"You do not know the egg's value."

"No, I do."

The egg clung tightly to my hand as if it didn't want to leave me. I gently stroked it as I continued.

"Because the beings born from this egg can create a ‘channel.’"

"...Do you know what that means?"

"It means they can transmit a Star Stream broadcast outside the Administration Bureau's authority."

The Hunchback's hump quivered faintly. The lantern trembled in a flustered hand. I added, "In other words, this egg holds the potential to produce countless ‘stories.’ That's why you want it too, isn't it?"

The Hunchback fell silent for a moment, apparently quite surprised, and seemed to be probing my intentions. Yet no matter how closely the Hunchback looked, even the Arch-Demon's Eyeball couldn't uncover my thoughts.

"Do you intend to rebel against the Star Stream?"

"Rebel? Well. Can the Administration Bureau really be said to be all of the Star Stream?"

"At times, a part is no different from the whole."

"That's not something I'd expect a Hunchback to say... Fine. If that's the answer you want..."

The Hunchback's eye spun like a camera lens. I knew what the Hunchback wanted, so I deliberately pointed at the night sky and spoke like a revolutionary.

"I will destroy the world of those goddamn dokkaebis."

The Hunchback's face twisted like a demon's. I knew what that chilling expression meant.

That was a Hunchback's smile.

"I like you."

Winning a Hunchback's favor was simple.

All you had to do was curse dokkaebis.

* * *

The best-known folktale about the Demons of the Horizon, or Hunchbacks, was probably the story of the Hunchback Old Man.

It was a fable everyone had heard at least once as a child.

The kind Hunchback Old Man had his hump removed thanks to the dokkaebis, while the wicked Hunchback Old Man ended up with another hump because of them...

Looking at the Hunchback's hump, I asked, "So, are you the good one or the bad one?"

"Humans are always curious about such things. Even if I am one of the good ones, that doesn't guarantee I will take your side."

"Well, since you have a hump, you're obviously the bad one."

"That folktale is a World-Disseminated Fable. Stories are not always passed down accurately."

"That makes it increasingly certain that you're the bad one."

The Hunchback's hump trembled faintly.

According to TWSA, a Hunchback's hump served as a storehouse for stories. Countless fables waited within those humps for a new owner to find them. The Hunchback swayed the hump like a pendulum while checking a system window, then spoke to me.

"There are two things you requested."

I nodded.

"One is to return to the Scenario. The other is to acquire a new Incarnation body."

"That's right."

The Hunchbacks, who operated where dokkaebi channels could not reach, played a role similar to the Star Stream's black-market merchants.

For a price, they returned exiles to Scenarios and obtained rare items unavailable through channels. Of course, their price was very high.

"I can help you with both."

"Good, then help me."

"Give me the egg in return."

"I said no."

"Then I cannot help you."

Damn it, we were back where we started. The Hunchback seemed completely fixated on the dokkaebi egg. Since we were talking about it, I decided to make this clear.

"I told you, I can't give you the egg. Even if you take it back, you won't be able to use it. It only listens to me."

"Could it be...? Did it grow by consuming your fables?"

"That's right."

"Mixing dokkaebis with fables. You are a filthy bastard."

"Shut up. I'll give you something else instead of the egg."

"What can you give me?"

"Fables. That's all you people accept in the first place, isn't it?"

The only thing of value in the Star Stream was stories. Therefore, stories were the only thing Hunchbacks accepted as payment.

"...You sound very confident. What fable can you offer?"

"I'll show you."

I opened my list of fables.

"King of a Kingless World"

"One Who Opposes the Extraordinary"

"One Who Scorned a Storyteller"

"One Who Hunted the King of Catastrophes"

"One Who Slayed an Outer God"

"Demon King of Salvation"

...

"Silla-Tang Allied Forces"

"Insect Genocide"

I wondered when I had gathered so many fables.

Of course, only six were Legendary-grade or higher, but that was still something.

I was probably the only being in the world who had collected this many fables after barely clearing the tenth Scenario.

Even the Hunchback looked impressed.

"I knew you were remarkable... but this is truly remarkable."

Like a customer in a luxury store, the Hunchback examined each fable without holding back any admiration. The Hunchback's eyes gleamed greedily at the Legendary-grade fables in particular, and the hump had turned red with unmistakable excitement.

"It seems there would be no issue with using one in place of the egg."

"Of course."

"Must I choose only one?"

"For now."

It would depend on the fable's value, of course, but I had no intention of handing over all of them for this deal. That would be no different from losing my entire Constellation status.

The Hunchback chose a fable without hesitation.

"I will take this one: “One Who Slayed an Outer God.”"

"Don't you think that's a little shameless? It's the only quasi-Mythical-grade fable I have."

The value of a quasi-Mythical-grade fable could not even be measured in coins. No matter how important trading with the Demons of the Horizon was, I couldn't give up a quasi-Mythical-grade fable I had obtained with such difficulty. Besides, "One Who Slayed an Outer God" would probably still be useful when I encountered another Outer God in the future.

Apparently knowing the request was excessive, the Hunchback smacked their lips.

"Then this would not be bad either: “King of a Kingless World.”"

I shook my head.

"That's my birth fable. How could I give it to you?"

"I see. Then “Demon King of Salvation”..."

"I became a proper Constellation with that one. Would you give it away if you were me? I might get demoted."

"...Then I will settle for this. Give me “One Who Opposes the Extraordinary.”"

"I have a use for that later. Sorry."

The Hunchback stared at me as if I were ridiculous, then snapped, "What fable do you intend to give me?"

"I'll give you this one: “Silla-Tang Allied Forces.”"

It was the Historical-grade fable I had received after helping Shilla's Constellations, including Lady of the Sleeping Brocade, some time ago. The Hunchback's expression crumpled miserably.

"I would not take such a thing even if you gave it to me."

...Such a thing? That was harsh.

If Lady of the Sleeping Brocade heard that, she would cry her eyes out. It was a great fable about Shilla joining forces with the Tang Dynasty and stabbing Baekje in the back.

"Then how about this? “Insect Genocide.”"

"It is better than the previous one, but it is a common fable."

"I'll give you both. And if you need them, other Historical-grade fables too..."

"May I take that as meaning you have no intention of making a deal?"

Damn it. There weren't only idiots like Bihyeong in this world. That bastard had even agreed to a settlement ratio of ten to zero.

As I continued to hesitate, the Hunchback smiled faintly.

"I do not know how you are still sustaining your existence, but you do not have much time, do you?"

I felt as if my body temperature had dropped. The intervals between The Fourth Wall's stories were gradually growing longer.

[Your true body is collapsing.]

I had tried my best to hide it from the Hunchback, but my existence was in a highly unstable state. Unless I returned to a Scenario immediately, or at least obtained a new Incarnation body, the collapse would only accelerate.

「Stupid Kim Dokja thought: Damn it, then what fable should I hand over?」

...I'm frustrated too, so don't torment me at a time like this.

「Then, a fable caught Kim Dokja's eye.」

What do you mean, caught my eye... Huh?

I paused. Come to think of it, I had this fable.

"Then how about this one?"

Footnotes:

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