Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 758

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 758: Episode 32: King of the Beasts (5)

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Why was there a ‘Little Kim Dokja’ here at all?

「They all like him, so that's nice.」

When I turned my head, I saw Lee Jihye whistling. Even her expression differed from that of the young Lee Jihye of the 41st round.

This was Lee Jihye of Kim Dokja Company, who had overcome every Scenario and even surpassed her Patron constellation to become the ‘Sovereign of the Great Sea.’

「Do you know how hard I worked to gather Uncle's fragments?」

I caught fragments of her thoughts through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

[Your understanding of this individual is insufficient.]

I couldn't hear everything, but that was enough to understand the situation.

「There was a universe besides the 41st round where ‘Kim Dokja Fragments’ had been scattered.」

And it seemed Jihye had gathered the Kim Dokja Fragments scattered throughout that universe.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name smacks its lips.]

Perhaps this Little Dokja was a kind of artificial life form made from those Kim Dokja Fragments.

More importantly, I couldn't sense a soul within this Little Dokja. That was probably why I had been able to possess it.

The child who had been lightly patting my cheek murmured,

"Did Uncle look like this when he was little?"

"Hyung was cute when he was young."

Shin Yuseong and Lee Gilyeong.

I slowly studied their faces. I was seeing them for the first time, yet they felt familiar. That was probably because I had already met the Shin Yuseong of the 41st round.

「"Just say the word, Uncle. I'll kill them all."」

No, perhaps I had met this Yuseong before as well.

「"You're Kim Dokja, Uncle."」

This girl had possessed her 41st-round self and saved me several times.

I carefully held the girl's hand as she tightly gripped mine. My grip was faint, but even that seemed to make Yuseong notice something.

"Huh."

Yuseong, who had been staring blankly at me, suddenly tilted her head.

"Uncle?"

Lee Seolhwa, who had been watching from afar, came over.

"What's wrong?"

"Maybe I'm imagining it... but I think Little Uncle's condition just changed."

At Yuseong's words, Seolhwa lifted my shirt and placed a stethoscope against me.

"Hmm, let's see."

Seolhwa, the Medicine Sage.

At a glance, she looked nearly identical to the Seolhwa of the 41st round. The difference was in the depth I sensed in her expression.

The Seolhwa of the 41st round had been oddly experimental-minded, while Kim Dokja Company's Seolhwa had the air of an enlightened seeker who had seen through every truth in the universe.

When our eyes met, Seolhwa's eyes curved gently.

"The fable's condition is stable."

The doctor who had steadfastly cared for the allies even where Dokja's eyes couldn't reach.

As Dokja had said, Kim Dokja Company could never have reached the Final Scenario without her.

Yuseong urgently clutched my hand.

"Uncle. Can you hear me?"

"Yuseong, don't bother Little Dokja-ssi too much."

"I wasn't trying to b-bother him."

A soft hand stroked my hair. Yu Sangah looked down at me with her usual faint smile.

Looking at that smile, I was newly struck by how Dokja's fable had failed to explain her fully.

Perhaps that was only natural.

Dokja's head was awash in TWSA, and his standards of judgment also came from TWSA.

「Pretty enough to slap Yu Junghyeok across the face three times.」

By TWSA's standards, Sangah was certainly that beautiful.

And it wasn't only her appearance. She had a gentle heart and warm consideration too...

Wait. Had I been talking only about Yu Sangah for a while now?

[The Fable Fragment Kim Dokja Who Admired Yu Sangah continues its story.]

No wonder something felt strange.

This must have been the core fable that made up this Little Kim Dokja.

"Doesn't that look really dangerous, though?"

Jihye, who had been watching the display, spoke up.

"What if they really die like that?"

Ji Eunyoo and Chae Yerin were still struggling as they drove the carriage on the screen. Swept up in the shocking situation, I had forgotten the people I needed to protect.

It was time to deactivate [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

[A temporary error has occurred with this skill.]

[You cannot deactivate Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3.]

Damn it. What was it this time?

I grew anxious.

Enemies were attacking the carriage we were riding on the screen. Eunyoo and Chae Yerin were strong, but it was difficult for just the two of them.

If I didn't go immediately...

"Should I possess someone again?"

At Yuseong's question, Gilyeong frowned.

"Shin Yuseong. Did you already forget getting hit by the Plausibility Backlash last time?"

"..."

"Or I could connect as a Constellation and use Deus Ex Machina..."

"Don't say something stupid. Outside Constellations can't interfere there."

"Then I'll just Descend directly."

"Didn't you hear that Descents are prohibited? If you do that..."

"That black guy Descended before."

"That's because it's Uncle Junghyeok..."

"Why can that black guy do it while I can't?"

As Sangah stopped the two children from arguing, Jihye looked at me and asked,

"Little Uncle. What do you think? Should we help them or not? I could sneak over and use [Instant Kill] just once."

My heart began to beat slowly.

I knew she didn't mean it seriously. Jihye didn't know that I had possessed this Little Dokja.

Even so, I found it difficult to resist the temptation in her words.

「If I could receive Kim Dokja Company's help.」

I thought in turn of Eunyoo, Chae Yerin, Killer King Chae Seongwoo, Uncle Dan-su, and Gyeong Se-in.

If I could receive Kim Dokja Company's help, perhaps I could ensure my allies' safety.

We would no longer have to face Scenarios prepared to die.

I slowly moved my hand.

I was about to speak to Jihye. I was about to ask her to help, to help make sure my allies didn't die...

Then a faint spark flashed through my mind.

「"Why did you want to become a writer?"」

Distorted sentences appeared over the face of the dying Han Suyeong.

「If I accept Kim Dokja Company's help here, wh ose st ory is th is?」

As I struggled to blink through several breaths, Jihye turned back to the screen.

「"I'll drive. Please deal with the carriage behind us."」

「"Yerin-ssi, didn't you say you were underage?"」

「"I am, but I've always wanted to try driving at least once."」

With a roar, the carriage on the screen accelerated.

The allies silently watched the speeding carriage.

「"Then I'll leave it to you for a moment. Yerin-ssi, have you ever played a driving game?"」

「"I haven't, but I'll pretend that I have."」

「"Good. Every game has rules, so let's follow them. I'll handle the carriages chasing us, so Yerin-ssi..."」

Just as Constellations had once watched their story, and just as Kim Dokja had read Yu Junghyeok's story, Kim Dokja Company silently watched ours.

"That person kind of looks like Sangah-unnie."

Yuseong spoke first.

"Not bad. Not as good as us, though."

Gilyeong, who seemed to be reaching puberty, left his own comment. The allies smiled faintly.

Meanwhile, Eunyoo blocked the other carriage's attack and toppled the two carriages charging in from both sides.

Sangah nodded.

"She's a skilled fighter."

"We fought like that too. Do you remember? Back then..."

The carriage raced onward. It was neither Apollo's golden chariot nor Surya's train. Even so, I knew what story the allies were seeing through that carriage.

「I miss.」

Hearing those thoughts, though I couldn't tell whose they were, I felt as if my chest were being torn apart.

Kim Dokja Company was here.

Even after their story had ended, they remained here, longing for stories. As they read my allies' story and mine, they had been thinking of one person for a long, long time.

「I want to see you.」

How much time had they spent remembering those years before one person's name finally became their lives?

Looking up at their faces, I began to doubt what I was trying to do for the first time.

「I intended to change the ending of the 41st round.」

What would happen to them if I changed a fixed worldline?

If the ending of the 41st round changed, would Kim Dokja Company, born from that ending, remain safe?

Would this world's Plausibility permit their longing?

"Kim Dokja!"

At the resounding shout, the allies all turned around at once.

Yu Junghyeok stood there.

"Kim Dokja!"

With a grim expression, Junghyeok prowled around, calling Kim Dokja's name.

Watching him, Jihye asked,

"Master, you said you fought Odin, right? Did you take a bad blow to the head?"

Unable to stand it any longer, Sangah approached Junghyeok.

"Junghyeok-ssi. What's wrong?"

Junghyeok glared at Sangah for a moment, then began searching the empty air around him again with frantic eyes.

For over ten seconds, he did that.

"Kim Dokja was here."

"What?"

"No, Kim Dokja came here."

"What do you mean?"

Junghyeok spoke as if frustrated.

"It means there is a ‘Kim Dokja’ here right now."

"What? But Dokja-ssi..."

Sangah's gaze turned toward me before she could finish.

Her eyes slowly widened.

Junghyeok noticed me at almost the same moment.

I had never known [phoenix walk] could be so fast. By the time I came to my senses, Junghyeok had grabbed me by the ankle, leaving me dangling in the air.

"No, Master! You can't pick him up like that!"

"What is this?"

"Those are the Uncle Fragments I gathered. Handle him carefully! He might break!"

Junghyeok's fierce eyes stared at me.

In my mind, I imagined deactivating [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] several times.

Junghyeok said,

"Kim Dokja."

"Master. That's not Uncle. The real Uncle is in there..."

Junghyeok looked at the screen Jihye pointed to.

Inside it, I was bouncing around in the rattling carriage, limp like a squid.

Junghyeok looked back and forth between the me on the screen and me in his hand with confused eyes.

"Wait. That Uncle over there... he's unconscious right now, isn't he?"