Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 594

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 594: Episode 8: Representative Kim Dokja (4)

──────

【Hmm? You are.】

Kim Dokja Representative grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and studied my face for a long time.

An odd tension filled the air.

Come to think of it, this wasn't my first time meeting the Kim Dokja Representative. I had met him at the Chungmuro theater.

He had seen my face then and even checked my name tag.

Was that all?

He had given me a special benefit to help me adapt to this world, and he had read the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint I had serialized to the end. He had even left comments and reviews.

I wondered.

Would the Representative recognize me?

【Hmm.】

Or would he fail to recognize me, just as I expected?

【This is strange. How have you not returned yet?】

The Representative walked out of the screening room, dangling me by the scruff of my neck like a cat snatching a fish from a fishbowl.

Yu Junghyeok had done it too, but why did everyone who saw me insist on carrying me around like this?

Then again, had he really failed to recognize me?

After hesitating for a moment, I decided to put the plan I had only considered into action.

'Thought.'

The bracelet around my wrist trembled when I called its name in my mind.

I didn't know the exact reason, but unlike my other items, Thought of Almost Everything had been summoned here with me.

Either way, that worked out well for me.

"Wait a second. I don't really like being dangled around like this."

With the hand wearing Thought, I grabbed the Representative's wrist, the one holding my neck.

I felt the bracelet's surface resonate as it came into contact with his hand.

[Thought has come into contact with an unknown item.]

Would you look at that.

It had clearly touched skin, yet it called it an item?

[Thought has begun analyzing the target of contact.]

[It will take 5 minutes to complete the target analysis.]

[Maintain contact until the analysis is complete.]

The Representative seemed lost in thought and hadn't noticed Thought.

I spoke again in an aggrieved voice.

"I didn't enter because I wanted to. I was only trying to find a way out of here."

【What did you see in there?】

"Little kids were..."

[Someone is activating Lie Detection.]

The Representative was surely an Outer God. An Outer God would naturally possess [lie detection].

That was fortunate for me.

[Exclusive Skill, Incitement Lv.4 has been activated!]

「I witnessed little kids watching some kind of movie inside the screening room. But it was too dark to see clearly.」

[You have incited yourself.]

I immediately spoke.

"Little kids were watching some kind of movie."

【What movie was it?】

"It was too dark to see clearly."

[Someone has confirmed that your words are true.]

【Hmm...】

The Representative glared at me suspiciously, then slowly loosened his grip on my neck.

I didn't let go of his wrist.

[The target analysis continues.]

"Wait. Who are those kids? Why are there children here?"

【Do you want to know?】

I couldn't see the Representative's eyes behind his sunglasses. Still, I could clearly feel the murderous intent coming from beyond them.

"Well, I'm not that curious."

【Wise. A story becomes boring once you know its conclusion.】

The Representative nodded as if satisfied.

【More importantly, would you let go of my wrist now? I need to find out why you haven't returned.】

That would be a problem. The analysis wasn't complete yet.

"I still have one more question."

【Is it a question that requires you to hold my wrist?】

Murderous intent emanated from behind the sunglasses once more.

This time, I didn't back down.

"Who are you?"

【Hmm? As I said earlier, I am...】

"You're not the Representative I knew. I met him before I came here."

In reality, I had only met the Representative once, but I had known him for a very long time.

He had sent me messages every day while my serialization continued.

The Representative I knew was a very serious person who loved stories.

But what about the Representative standing before me now?

【What remarkable insight. Our appearances should be exactly the same...】

Unexpectedly, the Representative readily admitted the truth.

【You're right. The Representative who brought you here is another being. Is that enough of an answer?】

There were two Kim Dokja Representatives.

Perhaps there were more than two.

Could they be a group?

If so, what did this group exist for?

[More than 80 percent of the analysis has been completed.]

【Now it's my turn to ask. You are...】

"Why Kim Dokja, of all people?"

【Pardon?】

"If you were going to disguise yourself, you could've taken Yu Junghyeok's form, or someone else's."

【No, this is just...】

"Didn't you hate Kim Dokja?"

For the first time, the Representative's expression changed.

【Why would you think that?】

"Were you actually jealous of him? Is that why you took Kim Dokja's form and imitated him?"

The Representative's expression slowly hardened. It felt as if the vague clues of my deduction were beginning to come together.

[Your Exclusive Attribute has been activated!]

For a brief moment, the clues the Representative had left behind at the previous banquet branched out in my mind.

「Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja. How noisy. Why does everyone like him so much?」

He bore hostility toward Dokja.

「What kind of lives are those not chosen by Kim Dokja living?」

He sympathized with those who had not been saved by Dokja.

「Don't tell me you're planning to rely on Kim Dokja Company even here?」

And he wanted to complete the end of this world without Kim Dokja Company.

Therefore, my deduction was as follows.

"Did Kim Dokja... ruin your story?"

This man was a "character" who had failed to achieve the fable he desired because of Dokja.

That was why he had kidnapped readers who had read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint and brought them into this world.

「To create the story he desires.」

Who could it be?

A few people came to mind, but there wasn't a single name I could be certain of.

【Who... are you?】

A chilling aura began to flow from the Representative's entire body.

For a moment, I realized my mistake.

Had I dug too deep?

Tzzzzzzz-

Intense sparks began to leap up around us.

In my mind, I weighed the strength of those sparks against my life.

How much Plausibility would he need to kill me?

And how much more Plausibility could he afford to sacrifice?

[Item analysis has been completed!]

[This item is the Myriad Transformations Stealth Suit.]

[This item's grade is S.]

[To acquire the item's mimic form, you must be hit by the item's user at least 10 times.]

Thought's analysis had finished at just the right time.

「Myriad Transformations Stealth Suit.」

A clothing item that consumed a set amount of Mana to transform its user's appearance into whatever form they desired.

In other words, he was hiding his true appearance with the item's power.

'Thought.'

I immediately changed the bracelet's mimic form.

[The Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv.4 has been activated!]

'Transform into Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff.'

I swung Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff at the Representative with all my strength.

The Representative twisted his lips and casually reached out, snatching the bamboo staff from the air.

I had expected an attack like that wouldn't work. But striking him had never been my goal.

A bright light burst from the tip of the bamboo staff.

[The hidden option of Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff has been activated!]

It was a damaged constellation artifact, so it couldn't display its original power. Still, activating its hidden option wasn't a problem.

[Stigma, Turns Out It Was Skull Water has been activated!]

If he was wearing the Myriad Transformations Stealth Suit, he wouldn't be able to hide his true appearance from this Stigma.

Crackle.

[Turns Out It Was Skull Water is affected by the user's Status.]

[Your Status is insufficient to reveal the target's identity.]

Damn it. Was it impossible at my level?

For the briefest moment, though, I saw part of his cheek crack apart.

An unprecedented Status surged through the gap. A flow of fables so dangerous that it made my mind go blank. Beyond that lay an ominous sensation.

Demonic energy?

Then his fist drove into my abdomen.

【You seem to think I can't kill you.】

It felt like my stomach had split open and been pierced through.

Even though I was in soul form, I couldn't breathe.

【Actually, you're right. I can't kill you myself. There are restrictions on me.】

My left and right arms twisted in opposite directions, followed by pain as though both my legs had been severed.

I gasped. The instant I drew breath, something struck my solar plexus again.

My consciousness faded for a moment, then returned.

【But I can make you suffer pain worse than death.】

He pinned me to the wall while holding both my arms, then drove spikes formed of Mana into my wrists and ankles one after another.

Shk. Shk. Shk. Shk. Shk.

Five or six spikes pierced through my limbs in an instant.

Before the pain could spread, I activated my skill.

[The proficiency of the Exclusive Skill Incitement has increased!]

「I am Kim Dokja, who possesses [The Fourth Wall].」

【You certainly are different from the other readers. To think you can endure this much pain.】

He lightly lifted my chin with his long fingers and continued, sounding intrigued.

【Come to think of it, I heard that a special friend had been sent to another Representative...】

"If I'm a special guest, you should treat me specially."

I had to provoke him.

I had to provoke him further and make his Plausibility run wild.

"That's why you lost to Kim Dokja. This is all you've got."

The sparks flowing through his body had been growing stronger and stronger. Before long, he wouldn't be able to withstand the concentration of Plausibility either.

【I'm becoming more and more curious about who you are.】

The Representative smiled faintly at me.

He looked pleased, but he also looked furious.

【I'm suddenly feeling terribly nostalgic.】

The Representative's head slowly turned at an unnatural angle.

【Right now, you resemble someone I hated more than anyone, and wanted to eat at the same time.】

Shk.

Something burrowed into my stomach. The next moment, a piece of skin from my abdomen was clutched in his hand.

Pain that even Level 5 [Incitement] could barely withstand.

Tzzzzzt.

That was when something began to pour from the hole in my abdomen.

Golden, glittering sentences.