"What the hell are you talking about?"
The first one to react to my declaration was the big guy.
I've written a lot of characters like him throughout my entire writing career, so I know what to do
when this happens.
I tried to paraphrase Kim Dokja.
"You've been fighting against an impenetrable wall, and now you're done. As you've probably
realized by now, that's not going to get you out of this."
"What? How do you know that?"
"Don't turn a blind eye to reality."
Meeting my gaze, the big guy shivered.
"Unless you really want to die."
A chill ran through the station as if someone had poured it with cold water.
[The station's incarnations are startled by your words.]
[Your exclusive attribute's effect is strongly activated.]
[Your influence in the scenario area becomes slightly stronger.]
So this is my character's attribute.
Surprisingly, he's not a bad character.
"You might want to listen to this guy, he knows something about the situation."
As the ahjussi added his well-timed comment, people turned to look at me and shook.
I didn't miss the moment when the mood changed.
"Now, as you all know, this is real. It's not a movie shoot, it's not a dream. Neither the police nor
the army will come running to save you, and if you mess up, you could really die. However, if
you listen to me, you'll all be safe."
At last, a few people hesitantly gathered around.
About ten people.
It wasn't a bad start.
A young man in the front row asked.
"What are you, ahjussi, a soldier or a cop?"
"I used to be."
My words added to the uproar.
It wasn't a lie, as I had retired as a sergeant in the army.
It was then that the deacon, who had been listening from afar, approached.
"Do you really know something about this situation?"
"Yes, I do."
"How?"
"There's no point in going into detail, because frankly, no matter how I explain it, it's not an easy
situation. If I suddenly told you that God was angry at your sins and sent you a trial, would you
believe me?"
I gave a lighthearted example, but the deacon's eyes narrowed and he mumbled.
"Sins... trials...?"
I must have touched the wrong switch.
The big guy who was listening to the conversation beside me got angry.
"Are you kidding me?"
Normally, his gruff demeanor would have intimidated me.
But today's Lee Hakhyun was different.
"Anyway, if you want to listen to me, listen to me, and if you don't, go over there and keep
pushing against the wall. Honestly, I don't care if only this ahjussi and I survive."
This kind of brazenness would have impressed even Kim Dokja.
Perhaps the persuasion worked, a few people looked at each other and shared their opiniones.
The most active was the deacon.
"Brothers and sisters, let's hear what he has to say."
"Let's do it. We're all going to live with it, aren't we?"
As the mood shifted slightly in my direction, the big guy bit his lip and glanced at me.
By the way, when we were being beaten up, we 'deserved it', but now we were all going to live
together?
I took a breath and began to speak.
"Something happened that we can't understand with our common sense. We were suddenly
trapped inside by an invisible wall, and we were given this thing called a 'scenario'. First of all,
we need to start by acknowledging this as a reality. Do we agree on that?"
People nodded hesitantly.
I continued.
"If we don't clear this scenario, we will die."
"Do we really have to kill? No matter whatᅳ"
"You have to believe that for now, as surreal as it seems. It's better than making a bad decision
and dying. Have you checked the conditions for clearing the scenario?"
"Kill one or more creatures....."
Watching the people in front of me timidly close the distance between us, I took a step forward,
trying to be defiant.
"Gather a group of humans and ask them to kill a creature, which of course sounds like asking
them to kill each other, but there's a trap in that statement."
"What trap?"
I smirked, watching the big guy who said the same thing over and over again.
"You could have just told them to kill 'humans'."
Their eyes widened in disbelief.
"Then the solution is...."
"It's simple. We just need to find another creature we can kill."
With that, I slammed the vending machine with all my might. Then I pointed to a cockroach that
scurried out from underneath.
"Ah!"
People gasped as they realized.
I nodded.
"If we all work together, we should be able to collect bugs quickly."
"Let's do it, right now!"
"Let's all put down the vending machine!"
People now clung to the vending machine instead of the invisible wall.
Their faces became livelier, perhaps because this time they had a sense of reality.
"Push!"
The moment the vending machine was pushed, a can of soda fell out with the sound of shaking.
No one took the drink.
"One more time!"
The vending machine tilted, and soon I heard something break.
The next thing I know, bugs are falling out of the back of the machine.
"They're out! Let's catch them!"
I shouted to the rushing people.
"If you catch a bug, don't kill it, show it to me first!"
"What? Why?"
I continued to speak firmly, despite their wary glances.
"I need to see if it's carrying eggs."
"Eggs?"
"An egg might qualify as a life form, so if we find one, we can all live."
"Ah...!"
"Remember, you have other people's lives in your hands. Only we can save each other."
People glanced back at each other, then took off their shoes and socks and start catching bugs.
Some people hit the vending machines with their bags or fists, while others grabbed nearby fire
extinguishers and hit it with them.
Even the big guy who had been giving me a hard time joined in and kicked a vending machine.
The reader ahjussi —the one who's daughter likes Kim Dokja— slowly came to my side and
asked.
"Are you okay?"
"What about you?"
"I'm fine."
We watched the bustling crowd. Wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, the reader ahjussi said.
"You decided to save them all."
People scrambling to kill the bugs.
This would change the story of Geumho Station.
Those who were supposed to kill people and survive would kill bugs and survive.
Maybe even that big guy who wasn't in the original story.
"Is it because of me?"
The reader ahjussi lowered his head as if feeling guilty.
This will change the course of the entire novel, and we will face a future we don't know.
I put my hand lightly on reader ahjussi's shoulder.
"Don't think about it. I was going to do this from the start."
The number of people who caught one, two, and more insects began to increase.
Among them was the deacon, who had already secured his share of bugs.
"It's all thanks to you, brother. Thank you."
"No, it's not."
Perhaps this deacon was meant to die.
I felt a strange pang of guilt at the thought.
How many people have died like this in my novel?
[The character 'Kim Cheolyang' begins to trust you.]
It was then that I suddenly heard the character's inner thoughts.
My heart started to best fast.
I felt that something was finally coming.
As expected, I had an exclusive skill.
[The exclusive skill 'Character List' has been activated.]
[Character List.]
A skill that allows you to view the information of the characters in 'Omniscient Reader'.
It was a skill that Kim Dokja, the main character of Omniscient Reader, also had.
I tried to use the skill on the deacon.
[The exclusive skill 'Character List' is activated.]
+
Name: Kim Cheolyang
Age: 27 years old
Sponsor: None (No constelations are currently showing interest in this person).
Exclusive Attributes: Crouching Figure (General), Attention Seeker (General)
Exclusive Skills: [Irrational Blind Faith Lv.2.]. [Cognitive Dissonance Lv.3.]
Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.1], [Strength Lv.2], [Agility Lv.2], [Magic Power Lv.3.]
Overall Evaluation: Kim Cheolyang feels that his faith is currently being tested; he wants to be a
leader who is recognized by the people, but he has been unable to overcome his natural
personality and he's crouching down.
+
Character Kim Cheolyang.
I thought the name sounded familiar, and then I remembered that I had written down a character
named Kim Cheolyang at some point.
However, it was in one of over 10,000 notes, and I couldn't recall any details since the character
was included in an abandoned setting.
By the way, for an extra character, his exclusive attribute is pretty interesting.
'Crouching Figure.'
It was originally Jung Heewon who had the Crouching Figure attribute in the original version of
the story.
Depending on the circumstances, this trait has the potential to put him on the list of the 100
strongest in the world.
Is he a great unknown character?
Kim Cheolyang, who didn't know what I was thinking, kept talking.
"It's a good thing that this happened during the outdoor evangelism.... and I'm so glad we met
you."
"Oh, yes."
"Maybe the end of days has finally come, and like brother said, God is watching us."
He's probably watching us pretty hard. Grabbing a handful of popcorn for every head that
explodes.
"I think we're doing pretty well with your help, though."
"Shhh."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, I understood why I abandoned this character.
How dare he say 'pretty well'.
That line is a trigger in 'Omniscient Reader'.
—Hoo.
Shit. As expected.
—Here's another one who's playing tricks.
The message was atypical.
A message that used the one-on-one dokkaebi communication instead of the official channels.
It was an ominous omen.
There was no such development in the main story of 'Omniscient Reader'.
—Don't make it obvious, just listen. I'm telling you this specifically because it's funny.
When I quickly lowered my gaze and pretended nothing happened, Bihyung continued talking
with satisfaction.
—I see what you're thinking, but you'd better use your judgment. The constellations don't like
incarnations that are too smart.
Apparently, Bihyung was talking because of his own personal benefit.
Maybe they didn't like what I was doing.
I laughed bitterly as I looked in the air where Bihyung might be. What would you, a low level dokkaebi, know? I'm sure I know far better than you what the
constellations like.
—Sometimes it's wise not to think too hard.
That was all Bihyung said.
"Found it! I found another one!"
"We're not quite there yet, we've got a lot of people left—"
"The trash can! Let's look in the trash can, too!"
The number of people trapped together was exactly twenty-two. We needed to secure at least twenty-two bugs for everyone to survive.
"Found one!"
"Here, take another one!"
There were also people who had already caught bugs and were holding them for others. It was a
very moving scene.
It was hard to believe that these were the same people who fought for food in the original
'Omniscient Reader'.
The big guy picked up a large cockroach from afar and waved at me with a big smile on his face.
"Hey, is this one okay? It's a living thing too, right?"
I nodded.
[There are 21 minutes remaining.]
The bustling crowd slowed down noticeably.
I turned to them and asked.
"Is there anyone who hasn't caught a bug yet?"
No one raised their hand.
Twenty-two bugs, to be exact. That was the same number of people trapped here. It was a clean
sweep, the best possible result, without having to search for bug eggs.
"Hey, can we kill it now?"
"If we kill it, can we get out of here?"
Relief washed over their faces.
The pleasure that we had survived together without harming anyone.
After carefully checking everyone's hands for a bug, I nodded.
"Brothers and sisters, let's thank our insect brothers for their sacrifice!"
With the deacon's declaration, several people clapped their hands and slapped down the bugs
they held. When the tension eased a bit, some people asked silly questions.
"Can I step on it?"
"You don't have to kill it with your hands, do you? You just have to kill it."
When I told them they could kill them any way they wanted, they started stomping on the bugs
like dirty children.
Squish!
Similar sounds echoed around the room.
Even the big guy, who had torn off all the bugs' legs afraid that it would escape, crushed it with
his feet.
"Die! Die!"
I opened the pocket that held the bug. The dead bug was there, along with some thick body
fluids. I must have squeezed it too tightly earlier when I tried to save the ahjussi.
I could hear the crowd cheering.
"Is it okay now?"
I was a little worried about the change of the development at Geumho Station, but as I looked at
the reader ahjussi's faintly smiling face, I realized that it was okay.
Maybe now the people of Geumho Station will be able to live a completely different life from the
one I wrote.
"Nothing happened, are you sure it's over?"
Someone asked anxiously.
"Has anything changed?"
People looked at each other and asked.
"This thing is dead, right? It's it tough because it's a bug?"
The big guy who had been trampling the bug in the corner questioned.
I don't know how many times he trampled on it because the giant bug was crushed by the sole of
his sneakers and I couldn't find any trace of it.
I thought back to the first scenario of 'Omniscient Reader' and suddenly realized an eerie fact.
I turned to the reader ahjussi.
"Ahjussi."
"What?"
"Did you get the system message after you killed the bug earlier?"
"Yeah. The scenario is cleared..."
I pulled out the dead bug from my pocket.
A bug that I couldn't tell when it died.
A chill ran down my spine.
「I didn't receive any system messages.」
Author's Note
Turn it off and on again.