Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 763

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 763: Episode 33: The Ball (2)

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[You all know who I'm talking about, right? Especially you people from the Gourmet Association.]

The focused gazes were burdensome.

Light laughter came from the second floor. I thought I heard someone mutter, "Is that Kim Dokja?"

[Constellations affiliated with the Gourmet Association are looking at you.]

Monsters on an entirely different level from Historical-grade Constellations sat there. Each of them claimed to be a regional ruler.

Cold sweat beaded at my neck, and it gradually became hard to breathe.

Dokja had fought monsters like them all this time.

I bit my lip and raised a hand to them. If I lost my nerve here, I would get nowhere.

After all, I was the one who had brought them onto this stage.

I altered the "animal fables" of Area 13 to create fables, then had Bihyeong distribute them to the Gourmet Association.

The fact that they had come all the way here meant they had taken the bait I scattered.

[Your fables are becoming known throughout Star Stream.]

[You have acquired 15,000 coins.]

The messages arrived in real time.

They were proof that our fables were steadily being consumed in Star Stream.

Fine, then. Consume them all you want. I would feed them fables until their bellies burst.

[Constellations affiliated with the Gourmet Association cheer for you!]

It felt as though blood would flow from my tightly bitten lip. Just as I was beginning to struggle under the Constellations' gazes...

[The Constellation One Who Brought Ten Lambs restrains the Constellations affiliated with the Gourmet Association.]

With that message, the pressure weighing me down vanished as if it had been washed away.

I barely managed a sigh of relief and gave a small bow toward the evaluator beyond the curtain.

Yet even after the evaluator intervened, some Constellations continued watching me.

They were the Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs on the first floor.

Their gazes were not as threatening as those of the Constellations on the second floor, but for some reason, I could sense resentment in them.

Euphrosyne spoke again.

[Anyway, thanks to you, we learned something. Old fables can be entertaining too! Just because fables are old doesn't mean they have lost their value to Star Stream!]

In short, had they designed this Scenario stage after being inspired by the animal fables I altered?

I had a bad feeling about this.

[In this Scenario, you will witness the reenactment of an old fable!]

A reenactment of an old fable.

Since this was the Twelve Zodiac Ball, the stage would probably be based on famous animal fables, including the Twelve Zodiac Race.

However, the Gourmet Association's direct involvement was an unknown variable.

There were many stubborn Constellations in the Gourmet Association, so perhaps something like the Bracelet Expedition, the Gourmet Association's stage in the original story, might be reenacted.

[Oh my, you all look so worried. Don't worry. We didn't bring something quite that outdated. What would be fun about doing the Twelve Zodiac Race again?]

Not the Twelve Zodiac Race?

Then was it really the Bracelet Expedition?

[Those who like first-generation fables, please bear with us just this once. Doesn't the Gourmet Association need to renew its image too? We can't be called a gathering of Constellations who only eat strange food forever, can we?]

It did not seem to be the Bracelet Expedition either.

Then what was it?

[Ahahaha, you are all so worried. Rest assured. We even received help from the dokkaebis of the Administration Bureau to design this Scenario stage!]

Euphrosyne lightly waved her hand toward the air. I could not see them, but Bihyeong and the other dokkaebis from the Administration Bureau were probably there.

I heard several Twelve Zodiac Constellations whispering.

[The Administration Bureau intervened? For a mere ninth Scenario?]

[Surely not. If the Administration Bureau moved before the Scenario even began...]

As if she had heard them, Euphrosyne nodded.

[That's right! A big event like this could never happen in a mere ninth Scenario. You're sharp.]

My ominous feeling was gradually becoming reality.

The moment a cruel smile appeared on Euphrosyne's lips.

[You are right.]

The balance of the world began to creak.

[Many Constellations wish to view this Scenario.]

[Constellations of the Gourmet Association gladly pay the Plausibility required to proceed with this Scenario!]

[The Plausibility of Star Stream is moving.]

They were only Scenario messages, yet Plausibility surged through the air.

It was a miracle that had only occurred a few times in both TWSA and Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

And I knew when this miracle occurred.

「When the Scenario's difficulty was abnormally raised.」

Dizziness swept over me, and my insides felt as though they were twisting. It was hard to stay upright, as if the gravity around me had been reversed.

After shaking my head several times and barely regaining my senses, I saw a message before me.

[The number of this Scenario has changed.]

[You have gained the qualification to participate in the 20th Main Scenario.]

* * *

The banquet was temporarily suspended.

The Twelve Zodiac Constellations and the Incarnations both needed time to recover from the shock.

The 20th Main Scenario.

The Scenario level had suddenly risen by eleven stages. Such a thing was rare even in the middle and later stages of the Scenarios, but I had never seen it happen in the ninth Scenario.

An eleven-stage increase in Scenario level meant its difficulty had been raised by just as much.

[I-Is this even possible...?]

Some Historical-grade Constellations began protesting.

[Whose decision was it to raise the Scenario's difficulty...?]

[Since when has Star Stream become your playground!]

The Twelve Zodiac Constellations who could no longer endure it pointed at the dokkaebis in the air.

I did not react and simply waited for the next message.

Such a dramatic change to a Scenario would inevitably bring a Plausibility Backlash. If my guess was right, the Administration Bureau must have put a safeguard in place to prevent the backlash.

[Participants in the ninth Scenario may choose whether to participate in the 20th Scenario.]

[If you choose not to participate, you will be expelled from the Recycling Center.]

[Those expelled will be reassigned a new ninth Scenario.]

Just as I thought. No matter how much of a mess Star Stream was, even it had limits.

[Dammit, if that was the case, you should have said so earlier...]

[I-I won't participate in the Scenario!]

In other words, choosing whether to participate in the new Scenario was up to them.

Constellations throughout the room began leaving the Recycling Center with their Incarnations.

It was the obvious choice.

No Constellation would want to take part in such an unpleasant Scenario.

[My, there are already Constellations making hasty choices.]

At least, that would be the obvious choice unless there was a reward worthy of it.

[What a shame. With this Scenario's rewards, even a lower-tier Historical-grade Constellation could become a fabled-grade Constellation in an instant...]

The Twelve Zodiac Constellations who had been leaving paused at Euphrosyne's muttering.

[What do you mean? A Historical-grade Constellation can immediately become fabled-grade?]

[If you're curious, why not remain in the Scenario? Oh, I'm not forcing you.]

Perhaps freedom did not exist in this world. The phrase "free choice" was nothing more than a mirage.

[Could it be true?]

[They can't lie about the reward.]

[If it can raise a Historical-grade Constellation directly to fabled-grade... could a Mythical-grade fable be the prize?]

[Hey, are you really leaving? We might never get another chance like this.]

[With a reward like that in the 20th Scenario, it might be worth trying.]

[It's better than suffering outside. The Gourmet Association bastards are annoying, but...]

Muted laughter came from beyond the second-floor curtain.

They must have already known that the Constellations on the first floor could never refuse this offer.

In the end, the place stars' desires sought was the same. It made no difference whether they were Historical-grade, fabled-grade, or Mythical-grade.

[Ah, for the Constellations who are curious, let me show you the Scenario reward in advance...]

And perhaps I was no exception.

[You've all heard of it, haven't you? The fragment of the Oldest Dream that has been circulating lately.]

The moment I saw the image appear behind Euphrosyne, it felt as though time had stopped.

[Allow me to introduce it. A fragment of the Oldest Dream.]

A Kim Dokja with the same face as mine was sealed inside a tank.

My brother, who had offered himself to save me and been sacrificed to the Scenario.

[The Demon King of Salvation.]

* * *

Demon King of Salvation.

Under the pitch-black night sky, Lee Gilyeong wrote those words over and over with his finger. The trails infused with pure white Mana vanished quickly, but he kept filling the fading trails with new ones.

"What are you doing?"

Gilyeong turned his head halfway at the question, then fixed his gaze on the sky again.

The owner of the voice snatched off his cap.

"Now you won't even look when your big sister calls you."

"What? Why?"

"Puberty?"

Lee Jihye placed the cap she had taken from Gilyeong on her own head. It fit perfectly without any adjustment.

Gilyeong grumbled.

"If you came to pick a fight, just go."

Jihye stared quietly at the sulky back of the boy's head.

She actually knew why the back of this boy's head had become so sulky.

"You said the activation condition for [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] is that Uncle and the target both think about each other at the same time."

Gilyeong froze.

Jihye looked down at him, then drew her sword and wrote in the air.

Demon King of Salvation.

The words were inscribed in the flowing hand of a master calligrapher.

Gilyeong opened his mouth slightly.

"You can do that too? Teach me."

Jihye gave a small sigh.

"Even if I write it like this, do you think Uncle will read it?"

"Still."

"Let's go inside. It's cold."

"Hyung..."

The tremble in his trailing voice made Jihye stop short as she turned away.

"Does hyung ever think about me?"

"Well, sometimes, probably?"

"I'm Lee Gilyeong, not any of them."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shin Yuseong is hyung's Incarnation, and Sangah-noona is hyung's closest friend."

Gilyeong hesitated for a moment before continuing.

"That guy in black, Seolhwa-noona, and you are characters from the novel hyung liked."

"Hey."

"But I'm nothing."

Mana flowing along Jihye's blade faintly lit Gilyeong's face.

"Why did hyung save me?"

How long had the child been agonizing over that question alone?

"I wish I could ask him just once. I don't need to ask anything else. I just wish I could have asked him once. I should have asked him then. I shouldn't have yielded to Shin Yuseong."

The aura of a fable began to seep from Gilyeong's entire body.

It was the fable of Demon God Abaddon.

Jihye's expression hardened.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself."

"Just once..."

"The fable is leaking!"

The moment Jihye urgently shouted and grabbed Gilyeong's shoulders, sparks flew through the air.

At first, she thought Abaddon's fable had gone out of control.

But that was not it.

The sparks were circling in the air nearby, not around Gilyeong.

"That, over there."

The place where Dokja had vanished after using [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] not long ago.