Only One Knew

[09:18 PM | Seoul Metro Line 2 | Subway Car 6, Approaching Gangbyeon Station]

The air had gone deathly still.

Even with the scenario's tempo shifting, even with the Predator cowed and Jin-hee forced into silence, a weight pressed down on Jae-hwan's shoulders.

It was the weight of another reader.

[A third Reader has entered Scenario #1] [Warning: Narrative Instability rising beyond safe limits]

[Narrative Divergence Rate: 11.8%]

That number was important.

In the original novel, a divergence over 10% meant scenario rebalancing, emergency punishments, or a wipe. But they were only in Chapter One. This shouldn't have been possible. Not yet.

Unless...

Unless someone else was doing what Jae-hwan had just done.

[System Notice | Hidden Path Activated: Observer's Walk]

The lights in the next subway car went out.

Not flickered.

They died.

The emergency bulbs didn't kick in. No system messages appeared. Just cold black silence.

Jae-hwan's system window flashed an urgent ping.

[Emergency Alert: Scenario environment breach]

[Multiple system observers have withdrawn from public viewing.]

[Admin Watch status: OFFLINE.]

For the first time, even the administrators seemed scared.

Han So-yeon gripped the handrails, eyes wide.

The survivors huddled behind her, whispering in fearful tones. Someone was sobbing quietly. The child's mother kept murmuring lullabies that sounded more like prayers.

Jae-hwan limped toward the door to the next car.

He turned back to Jin-hee.

"You coming?"

The Ghostwriter raised an eyebrow, still rubbing his wrist. "Wouldn't miss it. Besides—this next reader isn't one of mine."

Jae-hwan narrowed his eyes. "You mean they're not an official insert?"

Jin-hee gave a tight smile. "Let's just say... someone else is writing in the margins."

The door to Subway Car 7 hissed open.

No light spilled out.

Only a voice.

"I've read this story too. But mine had a different ending."

Jae-hwan's heart skipped.

The voice came from everywhere. Not just the shadows ahead, but the walls, the ceiling, the system window itself.

Jin-hee muttered, "Great. One of those."

[Unknown Reader Detected.]

[Designation: Whispering Observer]

[Status: ??? | Traits: Fragmented Consciousness, Story Bleed]

[System Error: Unable to retrieve full profile.]

The air in Subway Car 7 distorted.

Like ink in water, black lines spread across the space, forming vague humanoid shapes. Voices echoed from them.

One sounded like a child. Another like an old man. A third like Jae-hwan himself.

So-yeon's breath caught in her throat. "What... what is that?"

Jin-hee answered, tone grim. "A Reader who's lost the boundary between story and self."

Jae-hwan had seen hints of this in the old author notes.

It was called a Bleeding Reader—someone who had read too far, too deep, and became lost in the spaces between scenes.

In the original, they didn't appear until Arc 7.

But here it was. Now.

[Skill Check: Edge of the Author – Cooldown 59:45 remaining.]

Useless.

He steadied his breathing.

"Show yourself."

The shadows converged.

One took form.

A girl.

Or what might've once been a girl.

She wore a middle school uniform. Her eyes were pitch black with text scrolling inside them. Her skin cracked where too many system windows were embedded into her flesh.

She smiled.

"You're the Jae-hwan who refused the ending."

Jae-hwan frowned. "You know me."

"I know all of you. In every loop. In every version. In the one where you died in the first car. In the one where you became the monster. In the one where So-yeon killed you instead."

The girl tilted her head. "And in mine... you were my favorite."

[System Alert: Observer attempting Parallel Merge.]

[Effect: Scene duplication, memory bleed, identity instability]

[Auto-defense skill: Glitch Watcher – Suppressing fusion.]

Jin-hee stepped in. "This one's unanchored. She'll pull you into her memory if you let her talk too long."

"Then let's end the conversation."

Jae-hwan charged.

Ghost Step.

He flickered forward, pipe shard ready.

The girl's body twisted unnaturally, folding through dimensions like paper.

She reappeared behind him.

Whispered:

"In my story, you begged."

She touched his neck.

[Memory Intrusion Detected.]

[Scene: Kang Jae-hwan - Death #11,429]

"Please, not her. Take me instead."

Jae-hwan fell to his knees, eyes wide.

Images flooded him—versions of himself dying, killing, weeping, laughing. Different timelines. Alternate drafts. Abandoned author notes. AI-generated fanfics.

It was too much.

[Title Activation: Storybreaker]

[Narrative Link Severed.]

He gasped.

Broke free.

Then stabbed.

The pipe shard struck the shadow-girl's chest.

She blinked.

Looked down.

"Good. That's how my Jae-hwan did it too."

She crumbled into dust.

[Whispering Observer has withdrawn.] [Scenario Rebalancing In Progress...]

Jin-hee stared at the spot where she vanished.

"Do you see now?" he whispered. "The story isn't just changing. It's leaking. We're no longer inside one narrative."

Jae-hwan looked back at So-yeon.

Her eyes glistened.

And behind them...

[New Scenario Pending: Dead Zone - Early Initiation Triggered]

[Time Until Arrival at Gangbyeon Station: 00:02]

To be continue...