Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Web Novel KR)

Would the Illusion Prison still function normally for someone who had no “trauma”?

[The constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer’, is curious about your trauma.]
[A constellation who has yet to reveal their epithet is watching you.]
Even as time passed, nothing appeared before my eyes.

So I really had no trauma?
Born into an ordinary family, I lived an ordinary childhood, growing up without any particular accidents or tragedies.
Sure, the long years of obscurity as a failed writer were difficult, but hardly enough to be called trauma.

I earned just enough by running errands for professors to scrape by, and even if I only ate triangle kimbap, I never skipped meals.
If that much counts as “trauma,” then there isn’t a single person in this world who hasn’t suffered.
So even if nothing appeared before me here, it wouldn’t be strange.

That was when a voice came through the thick fog.
「“There is no such thing as a person without trauma.”」
The mist split open, revealing the scene of a lecture hall.
Fresh-faced freshmen sat gathered in an oval. Some whose names I could barely remember, some I still occasionally kept in touch with.

And among them sat me as well, staring blankly at the professor.
「“Now, everyone, let’s each share one.”」
After saying that, the professor sat and pointed to a student.

The chosen student stood and immediately began to talk about their trauma.
「“When I was little, my homeroom teacher praised my diary as so excellent that she read it aloud in front of the whole class.”」
The tone was oddly proud.

Hearing that voice, the memory of what class this was began to resurface.
My Creative Writing Department had a notorious freshman initiation ritual.
They would gather all the newcomers in one room and force them to confess their traumas.

Looking back now, it was a ridiculously violent practice, but back then, there were people who believed such rawness was the true path to literature.
Clap clap clap clap.
As one person’s confession ended, another began.

「“My trauma is…”」
It was as if all the misfortunes of the world were gathered in that place. You could even call it a “competition of tragedies.”
Parents’ divorce, a grandmother with dementia who went missing, the family business ruined and seized, getting arrested for stealing a motorcycle, a burglar entering while they slept…

We were all only in our early twenties. How had they experienced such things already?
It was incomprehensible to me.
Even more incomprehensible was the professor jotting notes in a notebook, as if grading the traumas.
Finally, my turn came.

「“I…”」
I thought.
What was the greatest misfortune, the most shocking event in my life?

Being chased by a dog as a child? Too weak.
Getting put into remedial math class for low scores? That would just earn ridicule.
No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn’t think of anything convincing. Compared to my classmates, brimming with experiences, I had no story.

A story.
At that moment, a thought struck me. I drew in a deep breath, as though opening a universe, and spoke my first sentence.
「“I stabbed my father to death with a knife.”」

Once I began, the story spun itself.
I spoke of my mother, who loved books, and my father, who became violent whenever he drank.
Of my mother shielding me from my father, of the broken bottle rolling across the floor, of the feel of glass shards in my hand, and of the sharp edge plunging into my father’s soft back.

The more I spoke, the more vivid it felt, until I almost believed it had really happened.
If not here, then perhaps somewhere far away in another universe, some version of me had lived that life.
I was the one who started the story.

But by the time it ended, it was as if I had become part of that story.
「“That’s all.”」
The surroundings fell into silence. Students stared blankly at me, and even the professor forgot to grade, his mouth hanging open.
Only then did I realize what a huge mistake I had made. In my fluster, I added hastily—

「“Ah, it was a lie.”」
Perhaps that was my trauma.
「That I had no trauma.」

After that “false trauma” incident, my classmates always said the same things when they read my stories.
「“Another unbelievable tale.”」
「“It lacks sincerity.”」

Sincerity. What was that supposed to mean?
Even now, though I write web novels, I still don’t know.
If I had to describe it, sincerity was…

Like the ghost now floating before my eyes.
Smiling faintly, I approached the specter.
[Grade 8 Spirit-class, ‘Specter’, is watching you.]

I swung my thorn with all my strength. Though the blow was weak against a spirit, the specter’s face twisted little by little.
As it faded, the specter spoke to me.
「“I can’t feel you in your novels.”」

Why did people always want to blab their personal stories? Those tales weren’t interesting at all.
「“A writer should have their own individuality.”」
Puhak! With a burst, a hole opened in the specter’s face. Through the hollow, black darkness stared at me.

「“There’s nothing inside you.”」
I quietly stared back into the void.
[The constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer’, gazes at you with pity.]

There’s no need for pity. I don’t deserve it.
[A constellation who has yet to reveal their epithet makes a sorrowful expression.]
In a world where nothing ever happened, there was no sorrow and no joy.

Puhak!
Once more the thorn struck, and with a shrill screech, the specter collapsed.
Grabbing its neck, I spoke.

“Don’t die yet. There’s someone I need you to meet.”
And into the hole in its face, I called a name.
I didn’t know if it would work.

But if my guess was right—
—Who’s there?
And a moment later.

From within the fog, a voice responded.
—Yoo Joonghyuk? Is that you?
It wasn’t a voice I recognized.

—Who are you…?
But it was a voice I knew.
[Exclusive Skill, ‘Incite Lv.4’, is activated!]

‘I am Cheon Inho.’
I released the specter’s neck and rose to my feet.
Through the pale drifting mist, golden hair fluttered. A foreign girl, eyes wide in disbelief, stared at me.

—So it’s you. The one who deceived the stars.
I nodded slightly and spoke.
“Pleased to meet you, Anna Croft.”

+
rlaehrwk61: Wow, they meet like this?
rlaehrwk99: Come to think of it, that makes sense.

+
Yoo Joonghyuk once said:
「“So you encountered Anna Croft in the Chungmuro Tunnel. You must have recalled memories from the previous regression…”」

That story gave me two hints.
First, that there was a way to meet Anna Croft in the “Chungmuro Tunnel.”
Second, that I could obtain “memories” of the previous regression from her.

Anna Croft, who possessed [Past Vision], was the only one besides Yoo Joonghyuk who could ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) know information from the previous round.
And now, with Yoo Joonghyuk already suspicious of me, hearing the previous round’s tale from Anna Croft would be invaluable.
That was why I faced the specter without any anti-magic gear or skills—
To use the mechanism of the Illusion Prison to summon “Anna Croft.”

—How do you know my name? You shouldn’t know it at this point.
“Yoo Joonghyuk mentioned you.”
—You’ve already met Yoo Joonghyuk?

“It just happened that way. Judging from your reaction, it seems the order’s a bit off, though.”
Anna Croft’s pupils trembled slightly.
—That man… always so willful.

Judging by her words, Anna Croft and Yoo Joonghyuk already had some sort of connection.
I didn’t know how enemies had become collaborators, but now was the time to use what I’d learned.
“Yoo Joonghyuk is always like that. More importantly, I’d like to hear it now—what exactly happened in the last round? He said I could hear it from you.”

I thought I asked naturally, but Anna Croft’s eyes sharpened.
—Last round? What did Yoo Joonghyuk tell you? How much do you know?
“Does that matter?”

—Answer me.
[Character ‘Anna Croft’ activates ‘Lie Detection Lv.6’.]
I sighed lightly.

This damned “Lie Detection.”
“Did you forget I can deceive it?”
[‘Lie Detection’ confirms your words are true.]

Anna Croft’s face showed surprise.
—You… how…
“Let’s not waste time testing each other. What matters isn’t who told me what. Dragging it out may make me change my mind. Right now, I’m inclined to help you—but ten seconds from now, who knows.”

—…You would help us? Are you serious?
Did I say something wrong? After a pause, Anna Croft continued.
—Right before the last round ended, Yoo Joonghyuk told me this: if I met you in the 41st round, I should show you the memories of the previous one.

As expected.
—Honestly, I had no intention of complying. I don’t trust you.
“When even a villain repents for once, won’t you lend a hand?”

—Cheon Inho. Do you even know what you did in the last round?
“I don’t. I have no memory.”
—What on earth is Yoo Joonghyuk thinking… why would he choose a scoundrel like you…

Anna Croft sighed softly.
I felt the density of the Illusion Prison fog thinning. Time was running out.
“One last time—what happened in the previous round? I need to know that much to decide whether to help you or not.”

After a brief hesitation, Anna Croft finally spoke.
—Fine. Since you insist, I’ll tell you.
“About time.”

—Let us hope you have at least a shred of conscience left. And that by hearing this tale, you may feel even a fraction of the hellish pain.
I thought it ironic for the woman who once enslaved Yoo Joonghyuk in the 2nd round to say that. But then Anna Croft slowly closed one eye.
[Character ‘Anna Croft’ activates ‘Past Vision’.]

Past Vision. The unprecedented prophet skill that allowed her to peer into memories carried over from past timelines.
Crackle.
With a faint spark, images and sensations poured into my mind.

My eyes stung from acrid smoke. A stench of blood so thick it hurt to breathe.
It wasn’t the blood of one or two people. It was the smell of thousands dead, an entire field turned to a sea of blood.
「“Now, are you satisfied.”」

At the center of the blood-soaked land stood a man.
A black coat, a sword drenched in crimson.
Though his body was caked in blood and dirt, the radiance in his eyes had not dimmed at all.

He was gazing up at a sky dyed in eternal night. Whatever had happened, the stars had nearly vanished. Somewhere, the cry of a dragon echoed.
「“You cannot know what you have done.”」
The man’s calm voice sounded as if counting the few stars remaining.

「“What you have ruined. What destruction you have called down. You will never know.”」
Rage so extreme it had burned into ashes.
The futility and grief in his tone pierced my chest.

「A man who, as always, had staked everything on life.」
For a moment, clouds parted, and faint starlight illuminated his face.
「The Conqueror of the 40th round, Yoo Joonghyuk, stood there.」

He lowered his gaze, looking at someone.
And there, standing opposite him, was another man, wholly unbowed by his overwhelming aura.
A tattered crimson coat billowing in the ruins.

And from within it—black wings spread.
My heart thumped.
For an instant, I wondered if it might be Kim Dokja.

「“What an amusing face you make, Yoo Joonghyuk. Is that the look of a man thinking this round has failed, and he must start over again?”」
But the voice wasn’t Kim Dokja’s.
「“How convenient, isn’t it? Push the reset button and everything starts again.”」

The speaker laughed.
「“But remember this. No matter how great the craftsman, he can never make the exact same doll twice. The moment you push that reset button, this world does not disappear—it becomes eternal.”」
His words mocked the world itself.

「“This world will remain forever destroyed. I will dwell eternally in the deepest recesses of your memory, an immortal nightmare.”」
Half of his face was covered by a white mask. But I had no trouble recognizing him.
Because it was the same face I had seen the moment I first entered this world.

「“So go on, reset everything. And then struggle in eternal nightmare, slowly dying, you accursed regressor.”」
It was the Cheon Inho of the 40th round.