"This is a story about despair that was never read."
\*
After receiving that intriguing message yesterday, something surprising happened to me.
I wrote the first sentence of the side story.
I can't tell you what that sentence is. It's a spoiler, and it's not even a particularly impressive sentence.
But someday, it might come to have a pretty good meaning. That's how it was when I wrote the first sentence of *Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint* too.
Everything began around noon today, with the sudden arrival of Ji Eun-yoo.
"Writer-nim, let's go somewhere together."
It didn't take more than an hour from the moment she grabbed me by the neck and shoved me into a taxi to when we reached our destination.
We arrived in front of a theater in Chungmuro, a place that had once been used as a setting in *ORV*.
**Kim Dokja's Banquet**
I stared at the banner hanging by the entrance of the theater. Judging by the name, it was definitely an event related to *ORV*.
Suddenly, I remembered the message I'd received yesterday from *Kim Dokja Representative*.
―Tomorrow at 7 PM, there will be a small fan event. If you have time, I'd love for you to come and enjoy it.
Could this be the event from that message?
I turned to Ji Eun-yoo and asked, "How did you know about this place?"
"The event host contacted our office. They said they wanted permission to hold a paid event but would donate all proceeds to an orphanage under Kim Dokja's name. I came just in case, for supervision."
So that's what they meant by the tickets being paid.
I nodded dramatically and said, "That's a good cause. But why am I here—"
"You were the one asking where your readers were."
I was suddenly reminded of the phone call I had with Ji Eun-yoo yesterday. She'd said that there were still readers waiting for my story, and I'd asked where they were.
I turned my gaze back to the theater.
Inside, the readers Ji Eun-yoo mentioned were gathered.
Blood rushed to my head, and my heart started pounding.
"But is it okay for me to go in?"
Seeing me hesitate, Ji Eun-yoo tilted her head.
"Why wouldn't it be?"
"I'm the author."
"It's fine. *Han Su-young* wrote it."
Watching her playful grin, I couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Right, she did."
After all, what kind of author am I, having been unable to write a single word for three years?
For today, I just wanted to shift the burden to that faceless Han Su-young. The reason I haven't been able to write the side story is because somewhere in the far reaches of the universe, Han Su-young hasn't written the manuscript, and Yoo Joong-hyuk hasn't delivered it.
That's what I wanted to believe.
At the entrance of the theater, life-sized cutouts of *ORV* characters were on display. Judging by the designs, they seemed to have been based on the art style from the webtoon that had once been serialized. The quality was impressive.
I admired each figure, recalling the characters' names as I looked at them.
The Demon King of Salvation, Kim Dokja. The Overlord, Yoo Joong-hyuk. The Black Flame Empress, Han Su-young. The Moonlight Swordsman, Yoo Sang-ah. The Judge of Destruction, Jeong Hee-won. The Iron-Blooded Commander, Lee Hyun-sung. The Beast Lord, Shin Yoo-seung. The Insect Lord, Lee Gilyoung. And the Otaku, Kim Nam-woon. Even minor characters like Bald Gong Pil-du and the Immortal Doctor, Lee Seol-hwa, and the fake protagonist, Jang Ha-young…
"This honestly looks better than what we made," even Ji Eun-yoo said.
It wasn't just the quality; the amount of dedication that had gone into it was moving.
I smiled wryly and added, "I'd believe it if you told me the actual webtoon artists made them."
"Didn't the real artists make these?"
"No way. After what happened, they all left."
Once upon a time, *Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint* had been adapted into a webtoon.
It started off great, with amazing writers and artists handling the adaptation.
But unfortunately, before the 10th episode could even be serialized, a lightning strike caused a massive fire in the studio, and the company went bankrupt. Coupled with the financial struggles of the management team, the *ORV* webtoon vanished after its 11th episode, leaving no trace behind.
"There's still hope, Writer-nim. If the side story does well, maybe the webtoon will get rebooted."
It was just like Ji Eun-yoo to still be that optimistic.
"I gave up on that dream a long time ago."
Ever since the webtoon failed, it seemed like some curse had befallen all *ORV*-related projects. If a movie was contracted, the production company would go under. If they tried to make figures or merchandise, the factories would go bankrupt.
After several incidents like that, no one made any more offers.
I paused for a moment and said, "Somewhere out there, there's probably a timeline where *ORV* didn't fail."
In that worldline, the webtoon likely became a hit, there were movies, dramas, and maybe even an anime. Not in this worldline, but still, I sometimes dream of it.
"We haven't failed yet," Ji Eun-yoo grumbled.
Together, we finished looking at the rest of the cutouts. The lineup was long, featuring characters like Uriel and Son Wukong, all the way to more obscure characters like Han Myung-oh.
But at the end of the line, there was a cutout of a character I didn't recognize.
Who was this?
It was a man with squinted eyes, but I couldn't place him.
Did *ORV* even have a squinting character?
If they had labeled the cutout, I would've known, but...
I thought about asking Ji Eun-yoo, but then I stopped.
I still had my pride as the author.
"Two, please."
"Please write your nickname on the name tag and attach it to the left side of your chest."
We received our name tags from the event staff and entered the theater.
Luckily, no one recognized me as the author of *ORV*. Which made sense. I hadn't written "ORV Author" on my name tag.
I glanced at Ji Eun-yoo's name tag.
**Genius Editor**
"Ji Eun-yoo."
She ignored me and we found seats near the back. From there, I could see the heads of the fans scattered throughout the front rows.
I was suddenly struck by the realization. All these people are my readers. Or could they be people Ji Eun-yoo had hired?
Looking at Ji Eun-yoo, I saw that her eyes were wide with surprise.
"There are over thirty people here, easily," she whispered.
Thirty people. It didn't sound like much, but it meant there were thirty core fans who had made time to attend this event.
I swallowed the lump of emotion rising in my throat and nodded.
Good job, Kim Dokja.
Since the event hadn't started yet, I could hear snippets of conversation from the readers in the front.
"Do you have the 'Divine Faction' figure? It's super hard to get now."
"Oh, yeah, I've got it."
"Wow. Do you have the 'Black Flame Empress' figure too?"
"I bought it immediately."
"Do you have the 'Dokja Figure'?"
"I do, but the head keeps wobbling…"
I had no idea what they were talking about. It sounded like some lingo known only to the seasoned fans.
We sat quietly, eavesdropping on the fan conversations.
"This is the twelfth event, right?"
"Yeah, the host said this is the last one."
"Really? There used to be way more people. The numbers have really dwindled."
"Yeah, people have been dropping off one by one."
It seemed that this mysterious *Kim Dokja's Banquet* was already on its twelfth iteration. Apparently, there used to be even more attendees.
And here I thought there were plenty of people now...
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"
A sudden voice made me turn my head. A large man, who looked like a real-life version of Lee Hyun-sung, was pointing at the seat next to mine, his face bashful.
I nodded.
"Oh, no. Go ahead."
"Thank you…"
The man bowed his head, and I noticed he was wearing a name tag too.
**JudgeHeewon**
He must have been a fan of the *Judge of Destruction*, Jeong Hee-won.
It had been a while since a stranger sat next to me, so I felt a bit nervous.
Sensing the awkwardness, Ji Eun-yoo spoke up first.
"Are you a fan of Jeong Hee-won?"
JudgeHeewon nodded shyly.
"Yes…"
And then, silence.
Ji Eun-yoo nudged me as if to say, "Come on, make conversation."
What kind of small talk was I supposed to make again? It had been so long since I last spoke to a stranger that I couldn't think of anything.
I thought about what Kim Dokja might say in this situation, then finally spoke.
"Hee-won's great."
"Oh, yes!"
It wasn't much, but seeing the man smile so brightly made me feel like
we'd already formed a strong bond. Like we'd just made a lifelong pact, we both nodded together, thinking about Jeong Hee-won.
Jeong Hee-won. Such a great character. I created her.
After eyeing my name tag for a while, JudgeHeewon asked, "Your nickname's funny."
"Thank you."
"Is your favorite character…"
"Well, I…"
I thought about it for a moment, but it was hard to choose just one character.
As the silence stretched on, JudgeHeewon seemed to think he'd made a mistake and quickly added, "Oh, maybe you're an 'All Characters' type. Sorry, I didn't mean to…"
I didn't know exactly what *All Characters* meant, but I had a rough idea.
I nodded lightly and said, "As long as it's not Chun In-ho, I like them all."
In case anyone's forgotten, Chun In-ho was the minor villain who died early in *ORV*.
JudgeHeewon knew him too, as his expression darkened and his voice lowered.
"Chun In-ho, that bastard."
"Yeah, he was bad."
"Should've ripped him apart."
"Well... yes?"
"Burn him in hellfire."
That was the end of our conversation.
The host appeared on stage. He was wearing a black suit and a white coat.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Kim Dokja, your host for the evening."
There was a smattering of applause from the audience. Even though his eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, his outfit bore an uncanny resemblance to Kim Dokja's.
Was it custom-made? The quality was impressive.
Soon, light flickered across the theater screen, and the event began.
Gentle background music played, and then the familiar font of the *Fourth Wall* appeared on the screen.
"And everything was recorded on the Fourth Wall."
Slowly, comments left by readers began appearing on the screen.
From the prologue to Chapter 551, the comments were displayed one by one.
"That's my comment!" a young fan in the front row exclaimed quietly. Everyone in the theater watched the comments together.
There were comments with lots of upvotes, funny or clever ones, and some that expressed heartfelt sentiments.
"Wasn't that when Kim Dokja first died?"
"Oh no, don't look at my comment! Skip it, quick!"
"Talk about an embarrassing record."
Reading through those old comments, I felt my heart fluttering.
From the two years *ORV* was serialized to the three years after it ended...
For five years, these readers had built a history.
I sat there in silence, watching the story unfold like a distant myth.
Photos of fan exhibitions and subway ads commemorating the characters' birthdays flashed by.
When an illustration of Kim Dokja standing in the snow appeared, someone whispered softly.
"That's from Kim Dokja's birthday."
"It really snowed in Seoul that day, didn't it?"
On the white screen, the words of the readers piled up like snow. Between those lines, I could see the footsteps of me and my readers walking together.
"Wasn't it worth coming?" Ji Eun-yoo whispered.
Without thinking, I nodded.
"Maybe I've been writing all these sentences just to see this view," I thought, feeling my heart race again.
If I was worthy, I wanted to say something to these people. I wanted to write for them again, without running away, without giving up.
I wanted to challenge this story once more.
"But can I really do it?"
That was when the host's voice rang out.
"Next up, we have a special message from the author."
The readers in the audience turned to look at each other, buzzing with excitement.
For a moment, I sat there dazed, then snapped back to reality.
"Writer-nim?" Ji Eun-yoo whispered in surprise.
My mind went blank.
Had Ji Eun-yoo secretly planned a fan meeting?
But judging by her confused expression, she was just as clueless as I was.
Looking at the stage, I saw the host smiling in my direction.
Should I stand up?
Just as I cleared my throat and prepared to rise with a "Well, if I must," the screen suddenly lit up with someone's face.
"Ah, ah."
Pale skin with a beauty mark. Dark hair tied back in a ponytail.
She didn't need to introduce herself. Everyone here knew who she was.
The real author of *Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint* had appeared.
---
**Author's Note:**
Hello, this is Sing Shong.
I'm so happy to be able to greet you again.
---
FOR MORE CHAPTERS READ ON MY OFFICIAL WEBSITE: MUGEXNOVELS.COM