A burning pain was felt from my cheeks several times.
“Kim Dokja! Hey! What is this?”
My vision blinked and my consciousness slowly rose to the surface.
[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ is strongly activated!]
“Uh…”
My voice didn’t sound like me. It was only a moment but it felt like I had become a different existence and came back. A terrible sensation remained in my entire body. The shoulders being touched by Jang Hayoung’s fingers trembled.
“What’s wrong with you?”
I couldn’t clearly remember what had happened. I asked the Fourth Wall to check the Attributes Window and then I heard a voice…
I rubbed my temples and asked, “…How did I faint?”
“I don’t know! I came running because of a sudden lightning bolt!”
“Lightning?”
“Do you know the sparks that appear when you break the probability? That…”
“Did it strike like lightning?”
Jang Hayoung nodded. “It was the first time I had seen something so big.”
My coat and other clothing were charred black. I couldn’t believe that the coat with the automatic restoration function was damaged like this… The ceiling of the office looked like it had been hit by a meteorite.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Of course, I’m fine…”
Rather, I felt lighter. It was impossible. My body was burnt like this but my spirit was clear. The power of my stories felt fuller.
[The effect of the exclusive skill ‘Reading Comprehension’ has increased understanding.]
I saw the message and a previous memory emerged. That’s right. I had obviously seen such a message.
[Your understanding of the character ‘Kim Dokja’ has increased.]
The message marked me as a character. It was something that never happened before. Cool energy filled a corner of my chest.
I had seen the presence of ‘characters’ many times.’ They were those who came from outside the original novel but was eventually assimilated with the original. They were mostly those who stopped reading the novel.
I urgently summoned the Attributes Window. ‘Attributes Window.’
However, the Attributes Window didn’t easily open. The reason was obvious.
[The Fourth Wall is looking at you.]
I started sweating.
「 Kim Dok ja look ed for 15 se conds. 」
‘I’m sorry, really.’
Who knew who much time had passed? In fact, 10 or 15 seconds to look at the Attributes Window was a tight time frame.
「 I wi ll no t see you for the mo ment. 」
‘Wait, let me ask you something.’ I grabbed the Fourth Wall before it was about to disappear. ‘What the hell is behind that wall?’
It was a vague memory but I definitely saw something before I fainted. I looked a bit closer and it seemed I had been talking to someone. There were clearly a few shadows.
「 …Sleep y. 」
Then the Fourth Wall fell asleep. The function was still working but the consciousness had turned off. Shit.
[You have acquired a new story!]
[The story ‘Looked into the Abyss’ has been acquired.]
[This story doesn’t have a rating.]
I stared at the messages in the air with blank eyes.
Looked into the Abyss. I knew the existence of this story from the original novel. I couldn’t prevent the goosebumps.
Unrestrained questions flooded my head. Why did I get this story here? What was the relationship between that story and being called a character? Was I now a character or was I still a reader? I… Was I still able to change the future?
“Kim Dokja?” Jang Hayoung was staring at me with emotional eyes.
How much better would it be if my situation was as clear as his eyes? If I could read myself like I read these eyes…
At this moment, there was a flash in my head.
「 What if I use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint on myself? 」
I never thought of it before. There was clearly something lurking inside me that I didn’t know. I didn’t know if it was something the author left behind or if it naturally permeated me during the process of the world changing. The obvious thing was I needed to figure out what it was.
However, I hesitated to use Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.
…Could I figure it out using this? In the first place, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint was a skill that read the thoughts and movements of the target…
[…Kim Dokja? Are you okay?]
I barely escaped from the mire of thoughts thanks to the dokkaebi floating in front of me. “Bihyung?”
I stared at Bihyung with a stupid expression. Didn’t he say he was leaving earlier? Bihyung started stammering.
[Ah… after the sudden storm…]
He said he was busy but he must’ve been observing in the vicinity. In any case, he was a sneaky fellow. I couldn’t trust him.
[D-Don’t get me wrong. I forgot to tell you that I came back.]
As I spoke to the dokkaebi with calm eyes, Jang Hayoung looked over here with the frightened eyes of a rabbit. I patted his shoulder with a gentle gesture and asked Bihyung. “What aren’t you saying?”
[As you know, the Demon King Selection will be a very big event.]
It was already expected. The story of what happened at the Gourmet Association must be spreading between the constellations. Some of those present would certainly participate in the Demon King Selection.
[It isn’t just getting bigger, there is also a fight over the broadcasting rights. You might’ve expected it but I’m not the only one dispatched to the Demon World.]
“Then?”
[You know the dokkaebi on the other side.]
I knew the dokkaebi?
[It is a guy with a huge grudge against you.]
There were two of them. However, one was in Murim so there was only one more left. “…Is it Dokgak?”
[Yes.]
Dokgak. The dokkaebi, who was in charge of the Japanese channel, had been humiliated by me and Bihyung.
I was lucky at the time but now it was different. Among the dokkaebis mentioned in Ways of Survival, Dokgak was a person with outstanding talent regarding channel management. If he was chosen as one of the dokkaebis to lead this ‘Demon King Selection’, the future schedule would never flow smoothly.
[In any case, be careful. The channel management is good so… wait a minute. What about your dokkaebi?]
“Dokkaebi?”
Come to think of it, I felt very lonely. Through the cracked ceiling, the constellations shining in the sky could be seen. It was strange. I might’ve ordered the blocking of the channel but I should be hearing their complaints. Yet I didn’t hear any messages.
“Biyoo?” I called out a name with an uneasy heart.
Biyoo didn’t appear. At first, I thought she was sleeping again. However, minutes passed and there was no Biyoo. An ominous premonition struck me.
…Don’t tell me?
“Biyoo!”
Biyoo had disappeared.
***
[A new constellation has entered the #BI-90594 channel.]
.
.
[The constellation ‘Bald General of Justice’ is greatly moved by your return.]
[The constellation ‘Maritime War God’ is welcoming you with a smile.]
[Many constellations are welcoming your return!]
I entered Bihyung’s channel and familiar names greeted me. I couldn’t rejoice at all despite the baptism of cheers.
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is asking the whereabouts of the dokkaebi ‘Biyoo.’]
Some of the constellations answered immediately.
[The constellation ‘Bald General of Justice’ is wiping his head like it is difficult.]
[The constellation ‘King Heungmu the Great’ is coughing and placing his thumb and index finger together.]
[Some constellations say they are willing to answer if you give them coins.]
…It turned out that the constellations of the Korean Peninsula had little money. I rummaged for coins in my pocket while Jang Hayoung opened his mouth. “Perhaps she was caught in the storm?”
Biyoo wasn’t from the bureau and didn’t have a mighty story to protect herself from a great storm. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that she was swept away by the storm. However—
“It can’t be. There were no signs.”
If that happened, terrible debris could be seen. However, there were no traces of Biyoo. It felt as if someone had completely ripped away Biyoo’s existence. Who was it? Who took Biyoo…?
Bihyung looked up from where he was biting his nails. Our eyes met and we realized that we had the same idea. Biyoo was the only dokkaebi with an independent channel.
[Fuck, it’s those guys.]
“The wenny people.”
The sentences of the original novel flowed into my head.
「 The only scenario area that isn’t under the jurisdiction of the dokkaebis. It is the Demon World. 」
As written in Ways of Survival, the Demon World was essentially the area of the wenny people. In such a zone, they confirmed there was a dokkaebi who wasn’t a member of the bureau.
-The soul is mine.
The first time we met, he had coveted the Dokkaebi Egg. The value of an independent channel was so large that it couldn’t be calculated at present.
A giant story event was currently taking place in the Demon World. There was no way the wenny people would miss something happening in their sphere of influence. They had definitely stolen the channel for the Demon King Selection.
The wenny people were inherently resistant to probability. Thus, they would’ve been able to take Biyoo when I was unconscious and there was a storm around me. Dammit… why at this point?
[Leave it to me. I’ll find them.]
I could see anger in Bihyung’s eyes.
[The dokkaebis’ honor is at stake. She might not be a member of the bureau but I can’t see this.]
“Let’s go together.”
Bihyung shook his head.
[It isn’t long until the Demon King Selection. In the meantime, aren’t there certain things you should be doing?]
That’s right. The remaining time was really short. If I misused this time to find Biyoo, I might be defeated at the start of the competition.
“…Why are you doing this?”
[You belong to my channel now.]
Bihyung avoided my gaze while replying.
[I’m just moving for my channel. You have to win. That way, the constellations will like you and my channel will become bigger.]
Then Bihyung disappeared into thin air.
Jang Hayoung asked, “…Is it okay to believe in him?”
There was nothing as stupid as a question about believing a dokkaebi. Putting aside my belief in Bihyung, there was no race as mysterious as the dokkaebis in all of the Star Stream.
I sighed briefly. Yoo Jonghyuk’s situation wasn’t good right now and Jang Hayoung wasn’t strong enough to pursue Bihyung.
A presence that could help me was in the night sky but the problem was that I was now in Bihyung’s channel. In other words, all messages I sent through the channel would be inevitably read by Bihyung.
If so… there was only one way. “Jang Hayoung, call the wall.”
***
There were quick footsteps in the darkness.
[Baat, baaaat!]
Biyoo burst out crying as she was trapped in a cage.
[Baaat! Baat…!]
An elderly man with a small lump on his left cheek was running along a dark road. There was an excitement in his urgent steps. The old man was in a very good mood.
[The age of the dokkaebis will now end.]
The old man was excited at the thought of showing off his achievement to the other wenny people. He couldn’t describe how envious he was when a fellow colleague recently came up to him bragging about gaining the ‘story of beating up a dokkaebi.’ Now he brought not a story about beating a dokkaebi but a dokkaebi itself. The old man patted Biyoo’s cage like it was adorable.
[My child, you will be the first ‘wenny person’ with a channel.]
This was the long wish of the wenny people. It was to take back the dominance of the story from the dokkaebis.
[■■’s streamer. From the hell of this terrible scenario, I will free the slaves…]
The lump on the old man’s left cheek swelled greatly. The lump wriggled excitedly as it touched the cage containing Biyoo. Biyoo stared at the lump with terrified eyes and urgently looked around. She searched for help but unfortunately, there was no person to rescue Biyoo present.
[Hey.]
To be precise, it wasn’t a ‘person.’
[Won’t you put that lump away?]
TL: Rainbow Turtle
