< Episode 5. Villain (6) >
This is how a criminal caught in an absurd place feels.
I was a little resentful of Dansoo ahjussi, who stretched out without knowing my mind. If he had
picked Jophiel back then, none of this would have happened.
I turned to the oncoming Killer King and said.
"Wait a minute. Listen to me. You asked me if I had anything left to say."
"I didn't say I'd listen. I wasn't interested in hearing your excuses for slaughtering a dozen people
in the first place."
Apparently, [Eye of Sin] had recorded the nineteen people I killed with 'demagogy killing' as a
'sin'.
It was unfair.
I wanted to tell them everything.
I was actually the one who wrote Omniscient Reader, and the people I killed were the ones who
would later become the evil 'Cult of Life'.
"You look upset. You think your killing was justified, because that's the way this world works."
In a sense, it was the truth, so I had nothing to say.
"The Misreading Association were just like you."
"Misreading Association?"
Killer King looked wordlessly in his sister's direction, and Literary Girl 64 shook her head
stubbornly. It seemed like she didn't want to fight me.
"Yerin, we have to kill him now. The Eye of Sin isn't wrong, he's dangerous."
"...."
"We'll do it like we did with the Misreading Association guys, I'll finish him off."
The moment I heard those words, the back of my head tingled.
"Wait."
Suddenly, an unpleasant sensation crawled up my spine.
"Did you kill a 'real person'?"
"Are there real persons and a fake persons?"
"You know what I mean. Did you kill other readers?"
「"No one who has read the Book of Revelation all the way through is a bad person."」
I don't entirely disagree with Kyung Sein. There are certainly good and bad people among the
readers.
But whether they were good or bad, there is a bond that only those who have read the story
share.
I would like to believe that there is a promise, at least between fellow 'readers', that we wouldn't
turn a blind eye to anyone who knew the tragedy of this world.
"The 'Misreading Association' deserve to die."
However, right in front of me, there was a reader who disagreed.
A reader who had read this story 99 times, a reader who probably understood this world better
than anyone.
I told him.
"If you die here, you're really dead."
"Good. They were sociopaths to begin with."
With those words, I was convinced. This Killer King is out of his mind.
If I let him go, he would ruin the whole scenario, not to mention endanger the other readers.
But can I win against them?
If Killer King wasn't bad enough, Literary Girl 64 over there was a monster who could deal with
the Dark Keeper alone.
It was then that the surroundings began to turn colorless.
「Time stopped.」
Signs of the skill '⬜⬜'.
However, I didn't see anyone doing anything 'unexpected'. Why then?
[Your skill has reached a certain level.]
The reason was quickly apparent.
[Your exclusive skill '⬜⬜' is blossoming!]
[The activation conditions for the exclusive skill '⬜⬜' have been relaxed.]
[The skill will be urgently triggered when one or more of the following conditions are met.]
+
1. A specific character attempts an 'unexpected behavior'.
2. An important 'event' branch occurs (limited to 3 times per day).
+
Perhaps because I used the skill a lot, a new condition to trigger '⬜⬜' has been added.
If the skill is triggered now, it means that an important 'event' branch is coming.
And in Omniscient Reader, 'important' is the same as 'dangerous'.
[You have entered the 'Snowfield'.]
+
# Villain's Crisis
「At that moment, Cheon Inho
⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜....」
* At your current skill level, you can write a total of 200 additional characters.
+
[You can stay in the 'Snowfield' for a total of 5 minutes.]
Judging from Killer King and Literary Girl 64's attitude, it was unlikely that they would charge
straight at me.
That said, the danger wasn't coming from them.
The next time I looked up at the ceiling, I saw the culprit.
Since when?
Through the shadows of the 'Edge of Darkness', three shadows slid down the wall, clinging to it.
The moment I saw the series of footprints on the wall, I realized how they had managed to come
so stealthily.
[Thief Rat's Footprints].
A stealthy maneuvering skill that, while not as spectacular as Lee Jihye's [Ghost Walk], allows
them to literally move like 'dead rats' in the dark.
All three of them had small tear gas canisters in their hands, so it doesn't look like they're
approaching for good.
Judging by the distance, they'll attack in about 1.8 seconds.
At this rate, Killer King and Literary Girl 64 would die, or at least be mortally wounded.
Killer King was going to kill me anyway, so I might as well leave them be.
However,
「Villain's Crisis.」
I looked at the scene title and thought.
「But 'whose' crisis is this?」
I began to type a sentence.
[This story is plausible.]
[This story's reproduction success rate is 90%.]
[There's enough probability.]
[Do you want to check the reader's feedback?]
+
rlaehrwk37: Oh?
+
[Successfully recreating the scene.]
[Leaving the 'Snowfield'.]
「At that moment, Cheon Inho threw the spike in his right hand forward.」
"What—?"
The contemplative Killer King and Literary Girl 64 rolled their bodies to avoid the attack.
However, my spike wan't aimed at them.
Piyuuuu!
As my level 20 strength turned into kinetic energy and pierced through the darkness, the shadows
lurking between them let out a harsh sound and tore apart.
Something dripped through the darkness, and then something exploded in the air.
Chiiiik!
Thick purple smoke billowed out. I immediately recognized the smoke for what it was.
Poisonous fog.
Killer King's complexion turned blue.
"Yerin!"
The younger sister, who was very agile, quickly picked up her brother and took refuge near me.
I raised my hands in a sign that I had no intention of attacking. Literary Girl 64 dropped Killer
King on the ground and began to vomit. She must have inhaled the poisonous fog.
I asked Killer King.
"Who are they?"
"You would know better...."
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking."
Before he could answer, Killer King began to bleed.
His poisoning seemed worse.
Apparently, this was no ordinary poisonous fog. It was poison taken directly from the anal sac of
a 'poisonous rhinoceros'.
I took out my emergency supply of Elaine Monkey's Lungs and popped one into my mouth, then
handed the other to Killer King.
Killer King's eyes shook for a moment.
"Hurry up and bite it. Before you die."
Just before he took the lungs and bit them, Killer King spoke in a low voice.
"They are the Misreading Association."
The Misreading Association. I see.
So that's who they are.
The Seven Apostles had the cute side of utilizing Dionysus's indirect messages as a code, but
they didn't seem to have that.
Ssssssss.
Through the thick violet fog, the men with Elaine Monkey's Lungs in their mouths emerged.
Upon closer inspection, all three had grayish hairs sprouting from their faces.
I immediately activated 'Readers' Comments List'.
[The exclusive skill 'Readers' Comments List' is activated!]
[The person is not a 'reader'.]
That's strange. Wasn't 'Misreading Association' the name of a readers' community?
I activated 'Character List' just in case.
Then.
[The exclusive skill 'Character List' is activated!]
[Since you're viewing multiple character's information, it will temporarily change to 'Character
Summary'.]
+
Name: Yoon Shinmin
Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat
Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)
Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.15], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.15], [Magic Power Lv.8]
+
Name: Jung Hyunse
Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat
Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)
Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.13], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.15], [Magic Power Lv.6]
+
Name: Kang Junsik
Sponsor: Plague-Carrying Rat
Exclusive Attributes: Ratman (Rare)
Overall Stats: [Physique Lv.15], [Strength Lv.15], [Agility Lv.14], [Magic Power Lv.4]
+
Surprisingly, all three men were 'characters'. They even had the same sponsor and attribute.
Plague-Carrying Rat.
And Ratman.
All incarnations of the same constellation, all choosing the path of the outcast (人外).
Even though the outer species were strong in the beginning, did my friends who finished the
novel choose the outer species's path?
It couldn't be.
They're not readers.
Then why did the Killer King call them the 'Misreading Association'?
It was then that I heard a squeak in my ear.
[Your exclusive attribute is activated.]
[You understand the language settings.]
[You are interpreting the language of the Ratmen.]
And then a voice said.
—How's Killer King?
—Poisoned. —His sister. —Same. She can still move, but not for long. —There are others I haven't seen.
I'm getting more and more confused.
I thought only the readers could know that.
But how can people who've only been in this world for three days do that?
"Hey, excuse me. Guys."
The men were talking amongst themselves, as if they couldn't hear me.
—I can tell he's an apostle because he has monkey's lungs. —Is he a member of the Seven Apostles? —Most likely. —We'll have to get rid of him.
I was no match for the three of those rascals.
[The constellation 'Sneaking Schemer' looks down at his incarnation with a pitiable glance.]
At that moment, Kyung Sein and Dansoo ahjussi, who were sprawled on the floor, began to
twitch.
It looks like the poisonous fog is slowly spreading to them.
Fortunately, the two of them had eaten a lot of ground rat meat before falling asleep, so they
should be able to hold out a bit longer with the antidote effect.
"Narrowed eyes."
I turned my head to see a gasping Killer King staring back at me. His entire face was colored a
deep purple, as if the Elaine Monkey's Lungs couldn't keep up.
He's even weaker than he look. Didn't he level up any stats?
"Are you sure... you're not from the 'Misreading Association'?"
"I don't know such people."
[The other person has confirmed that the statement is true.]
Killer King opened his mouth.
"I'll believe you. You are certainly—"
"I'm no prophet, but I do know that it's not time for us to fight amongst ourselves."
Nodding, Killer King handed the monkey's lung he'd been biting to his sister.
"Yerin, I'm sorry, you'll have to do it alone this time."
Literary Girl 64 shook her head hard, but finally took the lung with trembling hands.
Killer King coughed and spoke.
"The enemy is a low-ranked outer species. Around an an 8th to 9th grade pattern, but... you
should be able to deal with them by yourself."
I seemed to recognize this brother and sister's fighting style. Apparently, the older brother, Killer
King, would be the brains, while the younger sister would do the actual fighting.
Killer King looked in my direction and said.
"I don't trust you. But...."
"You'll owe me a favor."
"I'll pay you back if I can."
With those last words, Killer King closed his eyes. He didn't seem to be dead, just trying to
survive his poisoning by minimizing his energy consumption.
I turned to the younger sister.
"I need you to take care of one. We need to finish this before your brother dies."
Literary Girl 64 staggered to her feet, as if she would do anything.
Meanwhile, the Ratmen's side had finished analyzing this side's power.
—Random item box secured. —We have a variable, should we rush in? —Killer King must be eliminated here. If we don't get rid of him now, we might not have a
chance in the future.
The Ratmen exchanged sullen glances.
[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' laughs sneeringly.]
The next moment, I felt a chill down the back of my neck.
It's like hundreds of rats were glaring at me through the purple fog.
The Ratmen, rising like tumblers, surrounded me.
The Ratman is an 8th grade outer species.
All three of them had excellent stats, and their attribute bonuses made them extremely fast.
Luckily, Literary Girl 64, who ran like a flash, took on one of the Ratmen, and an
unconventional hand-to-hand battle ensued.
Literary Girl 64's movements were slower than before due to her poisoning, but it seemed to be
enough to take down one Ratman.
That left two.
A Ratman's elongated nails sliced into my skull with obvious murderous intent.
I'm terrified. I'll die if I do something wrong.
I muttered an incantation to make myself stronger.
「I am Yoo Joonghyuk. Yoo Joonghyuk, super strong Yoo Joonghyuk, handsome Yoo
Joonghyuk.」
[The exclusive skill 'Incite Lv.3' is activated!]
Of course, just inciting myself to be Yoo Joonghyuk didn't really make me Yoo Joonghyuk.
But it would at least make me brave like him. And maybe I could even imitate him a little.
「A pale trajectory sliced through the air.」
Sugagak!
My strength level 20 blow sliced through the air, tearing the arm of one of the Ratmen in two.
Surprised by my strength, the Ratmen jumped back.
—Dangerous. The variable's strength level exceeds 20. —He's not afraid to get hurt. He's not an ordinary guy. —Stay away. We'll change the operation.
In an instant, the Ratmen had closed the distance and drawn out a long bamboo pole.
I had an ominous feeling.
"Dodge!"
I reflexively jumped out of the way and swung my sword. I heard the sound of something
bouncing off a Ratman's blade. But I didn't manage to deflect them all.
"Ah."
When I looked around, Literary Girl 64 had a dagger stuck in her thigh.
I quickly supported her and stepped back.
Literary Girl 64's complexion immediately turned purple.
Damn.
—His agility level is over 20. —Is there ever an apostle with two stats over 20? —Maybe it's an apostle possessing a named. —Is he from
The Ratmen craned their necks and looked up into the air at the same time. Like terminals
waiting for a signal.
—Says no. —Then let's get rid of him.
In that moment, I came up with a creepy hypothesis.
The Ratmen in front of me were not 'readers', but they knew information that only 'readers' could
know.
That means someone is feeding them information.
Maybe someone who could communicate with them in real time.
I reflexively looked up into the air.
「Did all of the 'Omniscient Reader' readers really only possess 'incarnations'?」
From across the pitch-black darkness, I felt a gaze upon me.
[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' looks down on you.]
I thought with a bitter smile.
Sooyoung-ah, isn't this a probability problem?
Author's Note
Hakhyun-ah, Sooyoung is also busy right now