The stone in my hand trembled like it was alive.
[You have acquired a new story!]
[The story ‘The Stone and I’ wants to continue.]
It was a first for me. I just touched the stone and a story occurred? There were all sorts of complicated hypotheses in my head but I didn’t have an answer.
[The probability of the first generation is around you.]
[Currently, the Fourth Wall is in a very thin state.]
The only doubts were these two system messages. Yoo Hosung stared at me with suspicious eyes. “I see, you are a reincarnator. Is that right?”
I
t seemed he had the wrong hypothesis about me.
“Were you stoned to death in your previous life? That’s why the stone is…”
“No.”
“Oh, you’re a stone head. That’s why the stone―”
I picked up a branch thrown by Yoo Hosung.
[The material of the story is sensitive to you.]
[The story ‘Kim Dokja Likes a Branch’ has begun!]
I glanced towards the dazed Yoo Hosung who had a gaping mouth. “I’m afraid that my head isn’t that bad.”
By my side, Lee Jihye glared at me. Yoo Hosung shouted with wide eyes.
“H-Hold this!”
I accepted the flower that Yoo Hosung gave me.
[The story material has an affinity for you.]
[The story ‘Kim Dokja with a Flower’ has begun.]
Yoo Hosung continued to give me things and I accepted all of them.
[The story material has an affinity for you.]
[The story material has an affinity for you.]
My surroundings were filled with singing stones and flowers. After much agonizing, Yoo Hosung made a decision.
“…Grab me.”
“Where do you mean?”
“Here, grab me here.”
Yoo Hosung’s eyes were blazing. I understood his anger. The ‘real stories’ that took 10, 100 or even 1000 years to build up were easily obtained by me… he was bound to feel like this.
“If you wish… please excuse me.”
I sighed and placed a hand on Yoo Hosung’s shoulder.
…Why was this small shoulder so hard?
Yoo Hosung said, “There is no change. Is it limited to inanimate objects? Hrmm…”
[The character ‘Yoo Hosung’ shows a small liking towards you.]
The shocked Yoo Hosung withdrew from my hand. “W-What is this?”
The next second, I heard a message in my ears.
[The story ‘Person Who is Loved by All’ has been acquired!]
***
It was the other residents of the village who showed interest in me while Yoo Hosung was in shock.
“It has been a long time since I’ve seen this crazy talent.”
“Huh, this is a rare friend… did you come from the outside?”
“Are you interested in the cattle feed?”
I accepted the cattle feed that the woman gave me in a dazed mood.
Human Kim Dokja. This was the first time I received such attention in my almost 30 years of living. I… was talented?
「 (Dokja-ssi is definitely talented. You’ve been reading this novel for over ten years.) 」
Perhaps her librarian’s work had been busy lately because Yoo Sangah sounded tired.
‘Is it related to reading the novel?’
「 (I can’t think of anything else but that.) 」
‘This has never happened in the meantime…;
Come to think of it, that wasn’t true. There were some characters who had good feelings towards me as soon as they saw me.
「 (Maybe it is because the wall is thinner?) 」
I heard Yoo Sangah’s words and thought it was possible. I didn’t know the exact reason but it was possible the failure of the Fourth Wall had closed the distance between the world and me. Then how far did this power apply?
Looking back, Lee Jihye seemed to have her own sense of pride as she muttered to herself while holding a branch in her hand. I poked her with my finger.
“Eek!” The startled Lee Jihye screamed. “Ahjussi, are you crazy? The finger that touched poop…!”
It didn’t work. Now, let’s see…
I poked the shoulder of Cheok Jungyeong sitting next to me.
“Is this a challenge?”
“That’s not it.”
…This didn’t work either. Then what were the principles behind it? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t figure out how my talent worked.
“It is really fucking talent. I can’t explain it any other way.”
The one who spoke with Yoo Hosung, who had been preoccupied with his thoughts for a long time.
Ferocious anger was seething on his face.
Yoo Hosung approached me with a child’s stride. “You might not know but I hate strange fates the most. In particular, I hate those like you who don’t try hard and easily obtain something.
One Invincible Fist Yoo Hosung was such a person. He liked people with a persistent spirit and cared for those who strove to overcome their insurmountable talent. In Yoo Hosung’s eyes, a man like me was a criminal who would destroy the first generation with talent.
“For the first time today, I am going to break my belief.”
Huh?
“I will teach you Story Control.”
***
I didn’t know why Yoo Hosung changed his mind. The only certainty was that he discovered some possibilities from me. As if to leave a lifelong disciple, Yoo Hosung troubled me day and night.
“Phenomena and truth aren’t the same. Using a story properly means understanding its language.”
“Solid ground is needed to leap into abstraction. That is the details of the stories you have built up.”
…Etc. There were so many ghostly words that I thought it would be better to read Ways of Survival again.
I ate a tangerine that the villagers gave me and thought hard about it.
“Stupid guy. It is a face that doesn’t understand anything.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t try to understand it if you don’t know. Not everyone will learn control in the same way.”
“What are you saying?”
It was like I was struck.
“It is your problem from the beginning. You lack respect for the elderly.”
“…”
“You must learn how to listen first.”
“I don’t think I can listen better than this.”
“I’m telling you to listen to the words of your story!”
…Words of the story? Was this mentioned in Ways of Survival?
“You already have the talent to communicate with stories. It is the talent to listen to their emotions and words.”
It was true. I didn’t know when but I was able to read the stories, just like they were people.
“However, I want to control the stories, not chat.”
“The stories aren’t controllable.”
The one saying this was the person who taught the method to control stories.
“Can you control your thoughts?”
“Of course I can…”
“Then don’t think of anything for five minutes.”
I nodded as if it was easy. Don’t think, don’t think…
Damn, I was thinking ‘don’t think’. I tried hard to escape my thoughts but it wasn’t easy.
In five minutes, many things passed through my head. For example, the probability of Yoo Jonghyuk becoming a girl and killing the demon kings or Han Sooyoung suffering from an unknown delirium declaring, “I’m sorry for plagiarizing Kim Dokja at the time”…
I raised both hands and surrendered. “…I can’t do it.”
“You’re a fool.”
[The story ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is laughing at you.]
“This is what you have to do from today. Listen to the words of the story.”
“But…”
“Don’t be afraid. No matter how big the story, they are stories that you gained.”
Turning away, Yoo Hosung looked like a teacher for the first time.
“A story can dominate us but sometimes it tells us the way.”
From that day on, I started practicing Story Control. To be precise, it was practice to hear the voices of the story more accurately.
[The giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ is annoyed by your interest.]
The stories were unfamiliar to me but after a day or two, they started to gradually open up. I listened to the voices of the stories that had refrained from expressing their emotions so far.
[The story ‘King of a Kingless World’ says it was very happy at the time.]
The stories told their tales and I heard them. The stories became the memories we accumulated.
The feeling of pleasure as the Four Yin Demonic Beheading Sword broke the Absolute Throne. Yes, I really enjoyed it. It was because this was my first story.
[The story ‘Person who Opposes the Miracle’ says the returnee was really troublesome.
That’s right, the Myung Ilsang bastard was really tricky. I fought with Yoo Jonghyuk and Han Sooyoung and still almost died.
[The story ‘One Who Hunted the King of Disasters’ misses the taste of the snake wine.]
[The story ‘One Who Killed an Outer God’ is asking you to remember.]
Every time I heard these words, I was immersed in my memories. On the other hand, it was hard to suppress the urgency if I delayed here for too long.
Han Sooyoung, Yoo Jonghyuk, Anna Croft…
Those who pursued a different ending from me might already be knocking at the door of the next scenario.
[The story ‘Demon King of Salvation’ says you shouldn’t run away anymore.]
I focused on the story again. From a certain point, the voices of the stories grew and I found it hard to distinguish between reality and the illusion. My sense of space was fading. I couldn’t tell if I was in the story or if I was listening to the story in reality.
[The story ‘Revolutionary of the Silver Screen’ is hungry for a new revolution.]
Yes, I’m sorry. I neglected you for too long.
[The story ‘Gourmet Association’s Heretic’ is complaining of hunger!]
[The story ‘ Miracle Gambler’ wants another big bet.]
In between, dream-like screens passed by.
-Dokja-ssi. We almost died. Do you know?
-Ahjussi!
The voices of the party members were faintly heard from somewhere.
-…Oh, how cheap. You are training alone?
-We will learn quickly! Who can we learn from?
I had a thought while listening to those voices. If this was really a dream, it was a sweet dream.
-…Why am I not getting a story? Dokja hyung got a story from doing this.
-Get your hands off him, Lee Gilyoung.
-You stay away, Shin Yoosung.
In my dream, I heard the children muttering things like ‘Ahjussi and I’ or ‘Dokja hyung and Lee Gilyoung’. I didn’t know how they would use such stories even if they did obtain them but…
[The giant story ‘Demon World’s Spring’ is looking at your story together.]
Why? I listened to the voices of the children and felt warm. In my dim vision, countless stories were watching the scene with me.
[The story ‘Person Who is Loved by an Archangel’ likes your stories.]
[The story ‘King of a Kingless World’ is watching the children.]
[The story ‘Giant’s Liberator’ is looking at the party members with fond eyes.]
All the stories resembled me and I resembled all the stories. If so, that guy alone on the other side was surely part of us.
[The giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ is turning away from you.]
I spoke to it. ‘Stop being grumpy and come here.’
There was no answer. The one who threatened other stories with its size was turning its back to us. Its head was drooping like a child reading something.
Maybe I already knew. This was a small child immersed in its own story. Still, such stories couldn’t exist alone.
I spoke carefully to its back. ‘It looks interesting.’
The Torch That Swallowed the Myth looked up at me and raised its body.
「 You…! 」
The story will a very large body glared at me. Strangely, I wasn’t afraid of it. This guy was a story. All stories had to flow somewhere.
‘Where do you want to go?’
It couldn’t easily answer my question and shut its mouth. It probably couldn’t answer. I knew its heart.
‘Come with me.’
「 …To where? 」
I slowly opened my mouth and spoke. I wanted all my stories to reach ■■.
The story asked,「 What is at the end of the whole story? 」
‘I don’t know. Still, at least we won’t be alone.’
[The story ‘Hell of Eternity’ is looking at you.]
After a while, I felt the stories wrapping around my fingertips. My body floating in the waves of the story gradually became heavy and I slowly opened my eyes.
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
My legs were numb. I looked down and saw Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung leaning against them while sleeping. They weren’t stories. They were children with real bodies. I lightly stroked the hair of the children.
[The giant story ‘Torch That Swallowed the Myth’ is listening to your story.]
Finally, I was ready to leave for the next scenario.
***
At this time, the only survivor of the 331st island was moving towards the next scenario.
[You have slaughtered all participants on the island.]
[You are the only survivor of the 331st Island.]
[You are qualified to enter the following scenario.]
A black coat was flapping and the Black Demon Sword shone. Looking at the portal to the next scenario, Yoo Jonghyuk was reminded of the insidious presence he met just before coming here. The outer god in the third round whose identity was unknown.
-I can’t tell you the full contents of the revelation. It is too much of a breach of probability, even for me. However, I can give this much. This way, it will be a fair fight.
He turned on the smartphone and a text file appeared.
『 Han Sooyoung – Record of the 1963rd Round (First) 』
Yoo Jonghyuk moved towards the portal while opening the first chapter of the story he didn’t know.
TL Note: Due to personal reasons, I have quit and will no longer be translating Omniscient Reader. A new translator has already found so there should be no gaps in the chapters, but some terms and stuff might change.
