Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Web Novel KR)

At Kim Dokja Representative’s words, the voices of Readers calling each other’s names and nicknames instantly died down.

As heavy silence fell over the hall, I suddenly began to notice the specific appearances of the Readers.
People ranged from teenagers to those in their sixties.
Some looked like friends or siblings. One wore an apron, as if pulled here while cooking. Another wore a neat business suit. Someone else, in pajamas, hid bashfully behind a pillar.

It seemed this place showed everyone exactly as they had been “at the moment before transmigration.”
Whatever their original occupations were, here their attitude was the same.
A deep stillness where not even breathing could be heard.

At last, Kim Dokja Representative opened his mouth again.
【You must have many questions, yet no one is saying a word.】
Of course. The ones who had survived until now were all veterans.

Readers who had clawed through the First and Second Scenarios, stubbornly surviving the very depths of hell.
【It’s always the case that whoever steps forward first at a time like this ends up having their head cracked open. You all seem quite well-versed in clichés.】
As if understanding them, Kim Dokja Representative twisted his lips into a smile.
【But this time you can relax. I didn’t call you here to harm you. The banquet time is short, so please, don’t hold back your questions.】

The Readers glanced at each other.
Even with those words, they could not easily trust him.
Above all, he was a being terrifying enough to summon every single Reader here.

Perhaps with a single finger, he could kill them all.
「Of course, that’s only if he can withstand the plausibility for it.」
From the beginning, it was implausible for a high-grade Constellation to descend with their true body in the early scenarios, or to summon so many incarnations at once.

That was the only reason I dared to raise my hand.
Bzzzt.
The faint sparks that had been crackling across his body since earlier.

Someone already pushing their limits wouldn’t go out of their way to stage some flashy show like killing incarnations, like a dokkaebi might.
But then, someone raised their hand even faster than me.
Kim Dokja Representative pointed at him.

【Oh, please speak.】
A boy who looked in his mid-to-late teens. His unusually serious eyes left quite an impression.
“Who are you, and where is this place?”

【Curiosity about person and place. Good. That’s how stories always begin. Who is the protagonist, and where are we?】
After a light breath, Kim Dokja Representative looked around at the others.
【But whether I am someone, and whether this place is somewhere—that isn’t important. Because this story’s protagonist is not me. I am only—】
“Are you Kim Dokja?”

The boy’s blunt question made several Readers suck in their breath.
Surely, for most here, that was the greatest question of all.
Was this “Kim Dokja Representative” truly the Kim Dokja we knew?

Frowning slightly, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Kim Dokja Representative answered.
【Think what you will. I may be Kim Dokja, or I may not. What matters more is—】
“On second thought, you can’t be Kim Dokja.”

The boy’s voice carried a faint hostility.
Kim Dokja Representative froze.
【Why do you think that?】

“Because Kim Dokja would never bring us to a place like this.”
The boy’s voice was calm and rational.
Beside him stood a girl who seemed to be his family. Strangely, her eyes were closed.

It wasn’t like Cheon Inho’s narrow eyes—it seemed there was some other reason.
Seeing the two, Kim Dokja Representative smiled faintly.
【Are you siblings?】

“That’s none of your business—”
【How touching. So you think, if it’s the Kim Dokja you know, he’d never summon a blind younger sister into this world. Such a naïve thought.】
The boy clenched his fist, frowning, but the girl grasped his sleeve tightly, restraining him.
Kim Dokja Representative’s satisfied smile widened.

【Kim Dokja is not someone who would pity anyone for such a reason. If he really were, then he wouldn’t have let the grandmother die in the First Scenario.】
The line felt strangely familiar—until I remembered writing something similar myself once in ORV.
【He was the one who led people at Geumho Station to stab each other to death.】

Probably during the “Dual Song of Good and Evil” arc.
【And in the ‘Final Sacrifice’ scenario, he stood by while tens of thousands of Seoul citizens perished.】
Every word Kim Dokja Representative said was true.

And yet, hearing it, the Readers showed no sign of being shaken.
【Do you really believe that such a Kim Dokja wouldn’t bring you here for his own purposes?】
“He wouldn’t.”

【Why?】
“Because—”
“Because I’m a fragment of Kim Dokja.”

The interruption came from a girl across the hall.
About Jiyoon’s age.
“I know because I’m a fragment of Kim Dokja. Kim Dokja wouldn’t do something like this.”

The conviction in her voice lifted even my own heart for a moment.
She truly believed in Kim Dokja.
And perhaps she wasn’t alone.

“Are you really the ‘Kim Dokja Representative’?”
Even Uncle added his voice.
“I exchanged messages with Kim Dokja Representative before, and he didn’t talk like this.”

Others who had been holding back also spoke up.
“What the hell are you trying to say? We know what kind of person Kim Dokja is better than you do.”
“Why are you even dressed up as Kim Dokja? Stop stalling and show your real identity.”

Kim Dokja Representative inhaled deeply. Just that one breath made the very oxygen around us feel like it vanished.
Looking back, I saw everyone else had gone pale too.
【That damn Kim Dokja.】

As if relieved of pressure, he continued speaking.
【Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja. So noisy. Why do you all like him so much?】
His tone carried an unmistakable grudge.

【The only thing he cares about is the life or death of . He’s a heartless god, indifferent to how many extras die in his dream.】
It felt like needles pricking at my brain.
And part of me knew—yes, from another perspective, that interpretation was possible.

【In the story you loved, was Kim Dokja truly a good person?】
Behind him, a huge screen appeared. Scenes of scenarios played upon it. From the look of it, this was not the world-line we had just been in.
「“I wished… to see the epilogue of a certain novel.”」

It was the story I once wrote, and Readers once read.
From the First Scenario to the very last, the long journey of protagonist Kim Dokja and .
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.

A story written from Kim Dokja’s perspective, for Kim Dokja.
Kim Dokja Representative spoke.
【Surely you’ve all wondered at least once. In that world, what kind of lives were lived by those not chosen by Kim Dokja?】

At the feet of , heading toward the world’s end, nameless corpses piled high.
Their souls screamed.
That they had existed in that world.

That they, too, were part of the story.
But Kim Dokja never looked back.
【Deep down, you all know what it means to live as an ‘extra’ in this world.】

The Readers were silent. Even those who had defended Kim Dokja could say nothing this time.
On screen, the camera zoomed in on an incarnation dying alone, abandoned by the scenario.
An incarnation who died with no constellation’s gaze upon them.

That incarnation looked at me and spoke.
「“Save me…”」
Perhaps one of us had once transmigrated into that incarnation.

That death was no longer just the story of some extra.
It was our story.
“What is it you want to say?”

It was me who spoke.
“Do you want us to avenge the extras who died? Is that why you dragged us into this damned world?”
Kim Dokja Representative’s face split into a broad smile. A message flickered before my eyes—as if that were his answer.

[ agrees to register a new Sub Scenario for you.]
[A new Sub Scenario has arrived!]
+

_{Category: Sub (Individual)
Difficulty: ???}

Clear Condition: Through the ‘Pact of Another World’, you have transmigrated into this world-line. Cooperate with the other transmigrators to prevent the scheduled destruction and pioneer a new myth.
Time Limit: ―
Reward: Return to your original world-line, plus additional rewards.

Failure: Death
+
In a way, I had expected it.

Like Kim Dokja who once reached the 1,863rd regression, we were beings from another world-line.
Naturally, there would be a scenario about returning to our original world.
The problem was the content.

「Prevent the scheduled destruction, and pioneer a new myth.」
To prevent the destined apocalypse.
In other words, Kim Dokja Representative had summoned us because he wanted to change this world-line’s ending.

The boy who had first spoken earlier muttered,
“So it really is the ‘Pact of Another World’…”
Looking around, some Readers had already calmed down, quickly analyzing and calculating.

As long as they could prevent this world’s destruction, there was hope they could go back.
Organizing their thoughts, Readers raised hands here and there.
“Wait. At least tell us what world this is. Is this really Yoo Joonghyuk’s third regression?”

“Is also here somewhere?”
“Where’s Kim Dokja right now? Is he with us?”
At that moment, everyone was thinking the same thing.

The surest way to stop destruction.
To rely on those who had already stopped it before.
But—

【Why does that matter?】
Kim Dokja Representative’s tone turned sour.
【You’re not seriously thinking of relying on even here, are you? Honestly, it seems you still haven’t come to your senses.】

The chilly words made the questioning Readers flinch.
With a weary sigh, Kim Dokja Representative shook his head.
【Remember this well. The protagonists of this world are you, and this world exists only for you.】

His wavering eyes swept across the Readers, before he added with a faint smile,
【Please, create a myth worthy of being recorded upon the ‘Final Wall’. So that this world does not vanish in vain.】
For some reason, those last words sounded sincere.

【That is all for this banquet. Until next time.】
His figure vanished from the air, and beams of light appeared across the hall. Summoned Readers began returning one by one.
Startled, they called out each other’s names.

Snapping to attention, Gyeong Sein and I turned to each other.
We still hadn’t found Uncle Dansoo’s daughter.
We frantically shouted Jiyoon’s name, pushing through the departing crowd. In the process, I bumped shoulders with someone—it was the boy who had defied Kim Dokja Representative earlier.

The boy frowned.
“Hm? Could it be, you’re—”
But before he could finish, he and the girl beside him were swallowed up by a pillar of light.

In an instant, half the crowd was gone.
Now, no Reader who looked Jiyoon’s age remained.
“Inho-ssi—”

A beam of light flared right beside me, and Gyeong Sein disappeared.
Almost at the same time, the weight of Uncle Dansoo on my back vanished as well.
A deep hollowness swept through me.

So in the end, I hadn’t found anyone.
Then I spotted a familiar back in the distance.
A small frame, light brown bobbed hair falling to the shoulders.

My heart pounded violently.
「The one who had made me into a writer was there.」
The one who hadn’t abandoned me, even when the entire editorial team had.

My editor.
“Ji Eunyu-ssi!”
Alive.

I knew she would be.
The moment she turned to me, a pillar of light descended upon her.
Ji Eunyu’s wide eyes locked with mine in shock.

It felt like my breath stopped.
There was no time. Not even enough to ask what incarnation we had each transmigrated into.
All we could do was—

“Gwanghwamun!”
Set a meeting place. That was all.
With Ji Eunyu’s disappearance, no one remained in the hall.

I was alone.
Soon, I too would vanish.
I let out a light sigh and waited for my turn.

One minute. Two minutes…
I kept waiting.
Three minutes. Four minutes…

Something was wrong.
No matter how much time passed, no pillar of light swallowed me.
What?

Looking up absentmindedly, I saw the ceiling lights flickering on and off.
“Hello?”
I called out, but there was no answer.

“Hey!”
I shouted louder, but still, silence.
After a moment’s hesitation, I made up my mind.

Since it came to this, why not explore a little more?
Truthfully, there was something that had been nagging at me since earlier.
…

When I strained my ears, I heard it. A faint sound.
I hadn’t misheard.
Someone else was here, in this theater.

The sound came from the entrance of a screening room tucked in the corner of the lobby.
[Entrance to Theater 1].
A sign on the door read: “Now Showing.”

What could possibly be showing?
A movie?
As I carefully opened the door, a wave of déjà vu washed over me.

「“Inho-ssi? Inho-ssi! Please wake up!”」
Familiar voices, memories flooding back one by one. Chills crawled down my spine.
I knew this place.

「“Why won’t Inho-ssi wake up?”」
On the enormous screen, the scenery of Chungmuro Station. My companions trying to rouse my collapsed body.
And—

The countless little “Kim Dokjas” watching that scene, rows of tiny backs.
It was the very same theater I had once seen in a dream.
The little Kim Dokja I met that day hadn’t been a dream.

As I staggered forward, one of the little Kim Dokjas turned his head.
The nametag on his chest swayed as he moved.
rlaehrwk37.

His eyes widened, and just as he opened his mouth to say something to me—something icy clamped around the back of my neck, yanking me backward.
The grip was cold enough to chill my spine.
【Ah. You’ve seen what you shouldn’t have.】

A voice sank low as ice.
Turning my head, I saw Kim Dokja Representative staring straight at me.