Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 372

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 372: Episode 70: A Story That Can’t Be Told (3)

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The moment Han Suyeong opened her eyes, she vomited blood.

Only after pitch-black blood had formed a large pool did Suyeong finally regain her senses. She was deep in a forest, not on the battlefield where she had fought Yu Junghyeok.

"I really almost died. That bastard Yu Junghyeok."

If she hadn't transferred her memories to the dummy Avatar she had left nearby at the last moment, she truly would have died.

[You have exhausted all of today's allotted Memory Transfer authority.]

[From now on, this Avatar will be your true body.]

It was all as expected.

[The fable Predictive Plagiarism hesitantly continues its story.]

The fable "Predictive Plagiarism".

It was the fable she had obtained after having that mysterious dream.

Through "Predictive Plagiarism", Suyeong had clearly seen several scenes.

Possible futures that changed according to her choices.

Kim Dokja's death, or Yu Junghyeok's death.

The one future she could reach by avoiding those terrible choices.

[Due to the penalty of Memory Transfer, your physical abilities have been greatly weakened.]

"If either of you is dead, I'll make you pay."

Grumbling, Suyeong read the currents of energy around her. She had to quickly find the direction those bastards were in.

Before long, two powerful Statuses registered in her senses.

Suyeong ran toward them.

This was the only future she had seen that had gone right.

Dokja wouldn't die, and the two would have a real conversation for the first time.

That was what Suyeong's "Predictive Plagiarism" had predicted, which was why she hadn't avoided Junghyeok's sword at the last moment.

Dokja had to be alive.

That was when she heard the sound of swords clashing in the distance.

They're still fighting? I even died so these assholes would talk...

She decided she had to give them a piece of her mind. The moment she pushed through the brush, Suyeong was horrified by the sight before her.

Booom! Booom!

Junghyeok was repeatedly slashing Dokja, who lay on the ground, with his sword.

"Hey! You fucking lunatic!"

* * *

‘Is it not possible?’

Junghyeok looked down at Dokja, who had collapsed on the ground. A thin wound left by the Black Heaven Demon Blade marked the unconscious Dokja's chest.

‘I'm sure I saw it.’

Gripping his sword again, Junghyeok focused.

Then, the next moment, he sensed a dark energy flowing from Dokja's body.

It was a wall.

The source of the strange feeling he had whenever he looked at Dokja.

‘There it is.’

A pitch-black wall made of countless lines of text.

Junghyeok raised his sword and struck the wall again. When the fable of a Transcendent hammered against it, the wall shook uneasily.

[The Fourth Wall is glaring at you.]

Whether it stared at him or not, Junghyeok struck the wall again.

‘Beyond this wall, perhaps...’

If it wouldn't open, he would keep striking until it did. If it wouldn't break, he would keep striking until it broke.

Then, the next moment,

"You lunatic! Have you lost your mind?"

A shrill voice came with a powerful blow to the back of his head. Blood trickled down and obscured his vision. Through his red-stained vision, Han Suyeong was looking down at Dokja.

"Hey! Dokja! Wake up! Wake... What, he's not dead?"

Junghyeok staggered, frowning.

"Han Suyeong, do you really want to die?"

"You already killed me once, asshole."

"I knew you wouldn't die."

"Don't lie. My acting was perfect."

Growling, Suyeong pointed to her Incarnation body, which was still collapsed in one corner and had been her true body until moments ago. The powerless, crumbling Incarnation body clearly bore traces of blood. It was blood that an [Avatar] shouldn't have shed.

Junghyeok said, "[Avatar] starts bleeding like a true body once it holds more than a certain amount of memories."

"Oh? And how did you know that?"

"I saw it in the records you wrote. More precisely, those written by you from the 1,863rd round."

"I wrote all sorts of things in that round. Damn it."

There were many things Suyeong wanted to ask, but she didn't bother. Instead, she poked Dokja's cheek as he lay unconscious.

"Looks like this bastard was completely fooled, though."

"It seemed that way."

"How was it?"

"He went mad and attacked me."

Suyeong snickered, then pinched Dokja's cheek as if pleased with him.

"What's with his chest?"

"It's punishment for making me eat dirt."

"Dirt?"

"There was something like that."

Suyeong quietly looked down at Dokja's cheek, stretched beneath her fingers.

The truth was, though he was alive, there was barely anywhere on Dokja's body that wasn't injured. They had fought hard enough to completely sweep away the surrounding forest, so it would have been stranger if he were unhurt.

Suyeong understood that the thoroughly ruined scene before her was proof of the conversation Dokja and Junghyeok had shared.

"So, did you get the answer you wanted?"

After a brief pause, Junghyeok answered.

"A little."

Suyeong couldn't fully understand the depth of feeling within those words. It belonged entirely to Dokja and Junghyeok. She felt disappointed by that, and a little lonely.

"You're coming back to Kim Dokja Company, right?"

Junghyeok thought for another moment, then turned away as though he had already said all there was to say.

Suyeong frowned.

"Hey. Answer me properly! I went through all that trouble to help you!"

"The Great war of Angels and Demons is right around the corner."

Junghyeok started walking away. One step, then two. Just as Suyeong was about to shout something again,

Tzzzt!

A voice came from Dokja's body alongside a burst of sparks.

「(Yu Junghyeok-ssi, some Scenario isn't the problem right now.)」

Startled, Junghyeok drew his sword.

The virtual wall surrounding Dokja was moving. Someone was speaking from beyond that wall.

「(Do you think you can talk alone for that long, say everything you want, and walk away?)」

No, more precisely, it wasn't the wall.

「(You should experience it too. What it feels like to be a reader.)」

A small hole opened in one side of the wall that had refused to break no matter how much it was struck, and someone's hand shot out. The hand casually grabbed Junghyeok by the hair and slammed his head into the wall.

* * *

When I regained consciousness, I was lying in pitch-black darkness.

What happened? Was I dead? What about Yu Junghyeok?

Thoughts rushed through my head as I slowly sat up. Nothing was visible no matter where I looked.

Then, a bright candela flared to life right in front of me.

「(Dokja-ssi, you were lying here.)」

‘Yu Sangah-ssi?’

「(Are you all right?)」

‘This is...’

「(The Library.)」

Only then did I understand what had happened. It seemed I'd lost consciousness and been sucked into [The Fourth Wall] again.

‘But was it always this dark?’

「(The Library isn't in good shape right now. All the lamps were broken by the aftermath of that battle, and the shelves were knocked over too. Everyone's busy fixing them.)」

‘I'm sorry. You're all going through a lot because of me.’

Sangah smiled softly and shook her head.

「(No.)」

‘Is there anything I can help with...?’

「(No. Just lie here. I'll sit and rest for a while too.)」

With a small grunt, Sangah sat lightly beside me.

In the dim candela light, Sangah's face looked exactly as I remembered it.

「(You did really well.)」

‘What do you mean?’

「(What you said.)」

It didn't take long for me to understand what she meant. Sangah must have seen everything happening outside from within [The Fourth Wall].

「(A real relationship starts by introducing yourselves to each other. Maybe the two of you can become real friends now.)」

‘I’d like that, but...’

I wasn't expecting much. Honestly, I'd be grateful if Junghyeok just calmed down. No matter what I said, it would be impossible to ease his sense of betrayal.

Books had fallen all over the floor.

Without thinking, I picked one of them up.

『Kim Dokja, Record at Age Fifteen, Volume 25』

I quietly closed the book and threw it deep into the darkness.

I threw it very far.

「(Um, Dokja-ssi.)」

‘Yes.’

「(I actually read some of that book.)」

‘How much?’

「(Actually, I read almost all of it. I found this more interesting than TWSA... I'm sorry.)」

My face burned, but there was no taking back something she'd already read.

‘It’s all right. It’s a little embarrassing, though.’

Once Sangah entered the Library, I knew there was a chance she might discover these memories.

Sangah picked up the books scattered over the floor one by one, brushing the dust from them.

They were all my memories.

I couldn't properly see Sangah's face in the darkness, but I could tell how uncomfortable she felt.

I picked up one of the books she had gathered.

‘It’s really been a while.’

The books in the pile all told my story.

Kim Dokja at fifteen. Kim Dokja at eighteen. Kim Dokja at twenty-three. Kim Dokja at twenty-eight...

I slowly turned the pages.

Kim Dokja without a father.

Kim Dokja without friends.

Kim Dokja who had lost his mother.

A life where something was always missing or kept disappearing.

「No one exists alone. Kim Dokja was always alone. That was why he was an only child, a dokja, and why Kim Dokja did not exist.」

It was a painfully fitting sentence.

「The only time Kim Dokja truly existed was when the only child, dokja, became a reader, also dokja.」

My life had been like a long review of a single book.

I spent my teenage years with TWSA, hiding behind the wall TWSA had made for me to avoid people's scorn.

「He was only alive when he read TWSA.」

I could feel Sangah watching me. Maybe it was just my imagination, but it didn't feel as if Sangah were the only one there. Perhaps the librarians hiding in the darkness were watching me too.

At that moment, an unexpected sentence appeared on the open page.

「Today, I met a strange person at an interview. Her name is Yu Sangah.」

The moment I read that part, I closed the book without realizing it.

Could Sangah-ssi have read this too?

「(Dokja-ssi, have you ever thought about this?)」

‘What? About what...?’

「(What do you think would have happened to us if the Scenarios hadn't begun?)」

It wasn't something I'd ever thought about.

If TWSA hadn't become reality then.

If TWSA had ended and time had simply passed, what would have become of me by now?

Would I still be alive?

Could I have kept living?

「(Would we have kept working at the same company?)」

‘My contract wasn't extended, so... I think I would've been looking for work at another company.’

I wouldn't have died that easily. Sometimes I might have wanted to die, and there would have been many nights when I reread TWSA until I fell asleep, but... I still wouldn't have died that easily.

Somehow, I would have kept living.

‘If it had been that kind of world, I probably wouldn't have become close to you either, Sangah-ssi. I would have changed companies, and we wouldn't have had any reason to keep in touch.’

「(Wouldn't we have contacted each other sometimes anyway?)」

‘I'm not sure...’

「(We would have. Even after Dokja-ssi left the company, I would have kept thinking of you. Dokja-ssi, you're a really strange person.)」

‘Is this revenge?’

Sangah smiled softly and continued.

「(I would always have wondered about you. Would you be doing well? Were you unwell? Did you manage to find employment? Were you married...?)」

‘I don't think I could have gotten married. I could barely take care of myself.’

「(You don't have to get married. I find living alone more comfortable too.)」

‘You too, Sangah-ssi?’

「(Yes. See? We definitely would have become close.)」

‘Would we?’

「(Of course. We could have joined a Spanish study group together, then joined a cycling club and ridden bikes together.)」

‘We could have recommended savings accounts or funds to each other while preparing for retirement.’

「(When we got old and weak, we could support each other while going to the hospital.)」

‘Maybe we could have lived near each other too.’

「(Of course. Maybe we would have been next-door neighbors.)」

We kept talking.

It was an impossible story. A story that could never happen now.

Just as TWSA had once been for me.

Sangah continued.

「(I wish Huiwon-ssi, Hyeongseong-ssi, Jihye, and... the other kids could live nearby too. ...Suyeong-ssi as well.)」

Even if such a world existed, they could never be together.

They were characters in a novel. They were...

‘That would be really nice.’

「(Ah, Junghyeok-ssi too. He has a terrible personality, but he's a good cook, so I think it would be nice to become friends with him.)」

Something suddenly welled up inside me.

「(Huiwon-ssi and Hyeongseong-ssi would... Hehe, anyway. We would all grow old little by little in a world without Scenarios, Constellations, or dokkaebis, meeting each other, talking, and sharing good food.)」

I remembered the countless worldlines I had seen with Secretive Plotter.

With so many worldlines, perhaps there was at least one.

「(It would be wonderful if there were a world like that somewhere, wouldn't it?)」

‘There might be.’

「(Dokja-ssi.)」

‘Yes.’

「(I was really happy to meet you, Dokja-ssi.)」

‘...’

「(I think it's time for me to go.)」

‘Yu Sangah-ssi.’

I'd actually understood for a while now.

Why Sangah was suddenly telling me these things.