Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 247

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 247: Episode 46: A Fresh Story (2)

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[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation has placed a bet of 1,000,000 coins on the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]

All the Constellations turned toward the system message ringing through the hall. Betting coins on a fight that was clearly at a disadvantage. It seemed my actions had caught their interest.

[The Constellation Thunder of Thursday has taken a liking to you.]

[The Constellation Goddess of the Morning Star has taken a liking to you.]

Only a few Constellations reacted that way. Most were simply swept up in the fever of the heated gambling match.

[Hahaha! What a madman! Then I'll bet 500,000 coins too!]

The Predator of the Hasty Swamp, who had sided with the Ice Flower Divine Maiden from the start, fired the first shot. Then the other Constellations who had only been watching began joining in one by one.

[The Constellation Gourmet of the Quiet Island has placed a bet of 20,000 coins on the Incarnation Zhuge Lingling.]

[The Constellation Master of the White Castle has placed a bet of 30,000 coins on the Incarnation Zhuge Lingling.]

……

Messages poured in one after another. Most of them bet coins on Zhuge Lingling, the Ice Flower Divine Maiden. Only a handful of Constellations, including me, bet on Junghyeok.

[The Constellation Queen of the Darkest Spring has placed a bet of 300,000 coins on the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]

……Huh?

When I reflexively looked at Persephone, she was still wearing that unreadable smile. I asked in a slightly worried voice.

[...Are you sure about this?]

[Hm? What do you mean, am I sure?]

Her question left me with nothing to say. Then again, maybe betting 300,000 coins was nothing to Persephone.

Someone else butted in on my behalf.

[Hmph, old lady. Doesn't Hades scold you for throwing around your secret funds like that?]

[I'm not an old lady, so Mass Production Maker, watch your tongue.]

[Ahem, if you've lived that long, you're an old lady.]

[Watch your mouth if you don't want to be thrown into Tartarus... Wait, did you bet too?]

At Persephone's question, the Mass Production Maker grinned.

[The Constellation Mass Production Maker has placed a bet of 150,000 coins on the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]

The Mass Production Maker looked at me and said,

[This month's settlement from the Dokkaebi Compendium wasn't much, so I couldn't bet a lot.]

He had, in fact, bet the exact price of the Eoren's Sword - Replica I had bought. Either way, I was grateful that he had bet even a single coin on our side.

Thanks to that, the increasingly excited Constellations began throwing coins around without restraint.

[The Constellation Goddess of Joy and Festivities has placed a bet of 50,000 coins on the Incarnation Zhuge Lingling.]

The coins at stake snowballed and soon surpassed six million. By then, even the Constellations of the Gourmet Association couldn't help losing their heads.

[Kill him! Hurry up and kill him!]

[I'll kill you if you take my coins!]

They were no different from the humans who came to the arena...

It was strange that they could get excited over something like this even after living through stories like those. As if he had read my mind, the Mass Production Maker laughed.

[They've lived through stories like that, so they're even hungrier for stories like this.]

[...Perhaps that's true.]

[Humans and Constellations alike are just children before a story. Still, do you have a chance of winning?]

[Are you getting worried?]

[Ahem, no, it's not that...]

[If there isn't a chance, I'll make one.]

This was no different from backing myself into a corner. If Junghyeok died here, this round would be ruined. If things were going to turn out that way anyway, it was better to see things through properly.

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.]

We won't lose.

[You are currently unable to connect to the target.]

Oh? Junghyeok... So he was still going to act like that.

That wasn't my only option, though.

"Biyoo."

[Baht.]

As if she had been waiting, Biyoo waved her hand and brought up a personal panel before me. The screen soon unfolded.

Krararararara!

The Predator of the Hasty Swamp let out an eerie cry as they opened their huge jaws and spewed a horrific poisonous mist.

Aaaaaaagh!

The martial artists touched by the scattered fog screamed as they melted away completely. Judging by the Descent, the Predator of the Hasty Swamp seemed to be using more than a third of their status. Even a third would be enough to devastate the entire tournament grounds and still leave them power to spare.

It also helped that the surrounding Constellations were supporting them with Plausibility.

The monster dragon's kick ground away the foundations of the tournament grounds. The destructive power was immense, though it wasn't on the scale of peace land or Dark Castle. An Outer God had descended back then.

That didn't mean this situation was better than peace land or Dark Castle.

Kyrios, the Paradoxical White Purity, had been there during peace land, while Cheok Junkyung, Goryeo's Top Swordsman, had been at Dark Castle.

So who was here now?

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation is looking at the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]

Junghyeok frowned irritably at my message.

"Kim Dokja. Are you done?"

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says it is still in progress.]

"Still?"

For a moment, suspicion passed through Junghyeok's eyes. He glared at the Predator of the Hasty Swamp and asked,

"Did that thing show up because of you?"

Sharp bastard.

"...Kim Dokja."

His anger was truly enormous. I held out my hand as an apology.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation has sponsored the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok with 100 coins.]

"I don't need it!"

Then the Predator of the Hasty Swamp moved. The Predator was a primordial lizard that ruled over all the swamps of their planet. A head belonging to the being who had once been the Ice Flower Divine Maiden protruded from their back.

Aaaaaaah!

It was the horrifying scream of the Incarnation whose body had been taken. Accompanied by that cry, the charging lizard swung a massive tail at Junghyeok.

"Urgh..."

Just brushing against the tail dealt a heavy blow to the tiger god aura surrounding Junghyeok's body.

It seemed Junghyeok hadn't reached Stage 2 of Transcendence Form yet. Then again, even for Junghyeok, raising his Transcendence Form by a stage in just two weeks would have been impossible. Driving the Ice Flower Divine Maiden into a corner like that while still at Stage 1 was already a talent worthy of a demon.

That meant there wasn't much time.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation requests possession.]

Junghyeok had already experienced Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint several times, so he would understand what I meant from that alone. Yet his response was unexpected.

"No."

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says everyone will die at this rate.]

"I won't die."

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says this isn't the time to be stubborn.]

Even if I descended into Junghyeok and used Electrification, I wasn't sure I could defeat that monster. There was also the method of using The Fourth Wall like last time, but that was only possible for Constellations who used mental skills.

Kuooh!

Junghyeok dodged the attack with quick footwork, and the enraged Predator of the Hasty Swamp prepared another poisonous mist. Judging by the sparks bursting around their mouth, this time an attack of truly terrifying power was coming.

I urged Junghyeok, but he wouldn't budge.

"Go do what you need to do, Kim Dokja."

It was an unexpected development. No, why was this bastard being so stubborn?

I hurriedly looked around. If things had come to this, I had no choice but to borrow someone else's strength, even if it ruined the Martial Arts Tournament.

There was only one strong person here who could help us.

Namgung Minyeong, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

She was strong enough not to lose to Kyrios or Cheok Junkyung, so she could handle that monster easily. Before long, I spotted the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint sitting in the stands and eating dumplings.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation requests assistance.]

Even at my message, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint only kept chewing her dumplings. Every now and then, she fed a dumpling to the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog sitting beside her with its legs tucked underneath it. Jang Hayoung and Han Myeongoh were also sitting side by side in the stands below, stuffing dumplings into their mouths.

No, what the hell were these people doing?

Growing desperate, I sent another message.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation...]

That was when Junghyeok reacted.

"Shin Yuseong. Are you listening?"

With those words, Biyoo appeared.

[...Baht?]

"Turn off Kim Dokja's screen."

Biyoo looked at Junghyeok as if she were troubled.

I didn't know how much of Shin Yuseong's memories remained, but when I thought about it, the two of them had a rather complicated relationship.

That was only before her reincarnation, though. Things were different now. There was no reason for Biyoo, who was now my dokkaebi, to listen to what Junghyeok said.

Then Biyoo, who had been sitting on my shoulder, suddenly looked at me with an apologetic expression.

[Baht, baaht...]

"Biyoo?"

[Baaht... Ku... Koo...]

With absurdly bad acting, Biyoo pretended to drift off to sleep. At the same time, the personal panel turned off and Junghyeok disappeared.

[The connection has been severed.]

"No, what the...?"

I couldn't understand what was happening. Why had Biyoo suddenly done that?

There hadn't been any mention of a situation like this in the revised version of TWSA, either.

Waaaaaah!

At the sudden roar of cheers, I turned toward the panel installed near the stage.

[What is that...?]

Startled Constellations rose one by one and approached the panel.

Before I knew it, Persephone and the Mass Production Maker had also moved close to the panel. Nearly a hundred Constellations crowded in front of it at once, completely blocking the screen.

[No, wait! Move aside!]

I tried to squeeze through the gaps, but the mass of Constellations was too solid. All I could hear was the thunderclap that struck as the screen flashed.

Yet the sound alone told me clearly.

Sky-Splitting Sword Lightning.

It was a true sword thunderbolt, on an entirely different level from the one I had stolen and used.

Kyaaaaaaah!

The Predator of the Hasty Swamp screamed as if struck by a devastating blow. With martial arts at that level, I didn't need to see the answer.

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint had stepped in.

I finally let out a sigh of relief. With the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint involved, Junghyeok would be safe. The tournament would be ruined, but... that was a hundred, a thousand times better than Junghyeok dying.

Then someone shouted.

"The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's Disciple!"

"It's the Sky-Splitting Sword Maiden!"

...The Sky-Splitting Sword Maiden?

[I shouldn't have looked down on the martial arts of an Incarnation.]

[Hah, how could someone do that... with only the power of a Transcendent?]

[Hahaha! What an interesting ability. Did that bastard from Asgard perhaps do this?]

[It's not to my taste.]

One unfamiliar constellation's declaration after another heated the hall.

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband is astonished.]

[A constellation who likes gender-swapping writhes with delight.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire sheds tears of indignation.]

Both in the channel and the banquet hall.

The flood of messages was enough to make me dizzy.

[My coins! No! My coins...!]

Aaaaaaah!

No, what the hell was happening...?

I drew in a deep breath, released my Status, and shoved through the Constellations. When I finally reached the front of the panel, another enormous thunderbolt struck the screen.

The powerful lightning turned the entire screen white. The light gradually faded, and blackened ash drifted like snow in its wake.

A man stood proudly beneath that falling snow.

It was Junghyeok, holding up his sword with an arrogant expression.

At his feet, the giant lizard burnt black by the lightning lay limp. Junghyeok stepped over the lizard's corpse and walked toward one corner of the tournament grounds. Without anyone's permission, he pulled out the black demonic blade embedded there.

"There is no second place in this tournament."

It was the Black Heaven Demon Blade.

"So this is mine."

Only then did the announcer's voice ring out.

"The winner of the Martial Arts Tournament has been decided!"

I had no idea how something like this was possible.

Even after rubbing my eyes and looking again, the situation was obvious.

It wasn't the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint... Junghyeok had defeated the monster?

"The winner is the Sky-Splitting Sword Maiden, Yu Junghyeok!"

No, so what the hell was the Sky-Splitting Sword Maiden...?

My question didn't last long. System messages flooded my ears.

[The Sub Scenario, Gourmet Association's Wager, has been completed.]