Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint – Side Story - Chapter 7
——————
NOVELMX.COM
Join our Discord for release updates!
——————
Chapter 7. Rewrite (5)
People who witnessed the Prime Minister’s death in real-time lost their composure and rushed towards the transparent wall they had just pushed.
“We have to get out of here now! Break this wall!”
“Try pushing it again! It might give way!”
[All types of entry and exit are restricted until the scenario in this section is completed.]
Panicked individuals clung to the transparent wall, resembling a swarm of insects stuck to a flyscreen.
Taking a short deep breath, I shouted loudly,
“Everyone, pull yourselves together. There’s still plenty of time.”
[The constellation, ‘Monarch of Small Fries’, looks at you with strange eyes.]
[Very few constellations are surprised by your composure.]
“The ones who died are the members of parliament, not us.”
People looked up at me with vacant expressions.
[Some incarnations begin to depend on you.]
[Your influence in the scenario area has exceeded the threshold.]
Now, with people’s rationality paralyzed by fear, it was my opportunity.
“We can still choose a way to survive.”
A way to survive.
Citizens who had been sitting nearby began to stand up one by one, looking at me.
“B-but. But they’re all dead! The President, the Prime Minister—”
“They were just ordinary people, carrying those titles by chance.”
The sound of someone sobbing was heard.
“Get a hold of yourselves. If you lose your sanity here, there will be only one option left.”
“….”
“Then, most of the people here will die. Of course, there will be survivors, a very small minority.”
As I said this, I glanced briefly in the direction of a burly man.
At that moment, the burly man growled and glared at me.
I continued speaking while glancing briefly at the burly man.
However, that was his mistake.
People nearby started to gather towards me, wary of the burly man.
“What’s going on, guys?”
People realized.
The weak finding a way to survive in the lawless ecosystem where rules and regulations had collapsed.
I continued my speech, “No one needs to die. The strong and the weak, everyone can survive. Don’t be disappointed just because the insect failed. The insect was just the ‘first method.’”
The expressions of the people changed one by one.
Among them, the most dramatically changed was Kim Cheolyang, the butler who had earlier proclaimed that ‘smooth sailing.’
[Character ‘Kim Cheolyang’ finds your words persuasive.]
[Character ‘Kim Cheolyang’ feels strong trust in you.]
“Is there another way? Besides insects or killing people…,” someone asked in confusion.
While people were in chaos, I thought and thought again. If the ‘insect’ was blocked, I had to find a new solution.
The first thing I did was to open my phone and check the comments on the ‘First Episode’ of ORV.
– If killing an insect works, can’t bacteria work too? Bacteria are also living organisms.
This was a story I hadn’t written.
– Even if you stay still, doesn’t stomach acid kill bacteria? Then, wouldn’t you survive without doing anything?
– Oh, come on, that’s ridiculous.
It was the collective intelligence of readers, imagining a world line that existed only as a possibility.
– What’s the principle of hand sanitizer? Can’t it kill bacteria?
– If you wipe the bacteria off your palms, won’t you survive?
– There are bacteria everywhere.
– What happens if you commit suicide?
“Now I will explain the ‘second method.’”
*
rlaehrwk37: But does that really work?
*
[Current remaining time: 16 minutes.]
“Here’s a lighter.”
“Clothes are made of fibers, so they’ll catch fire quickly, right?”
“Doesn’t matter what item it is, right? Bacteria will be attached to anything.”
To execute the ‘second method,’ people quickly brought the requested items.
“Will this really work?”
After a slight nod from me, people began piling up the donated clothes at the center.
Our plan was simple. If insects didn’t work, kill another organism, one that may be too small to see but exists everywhere.
Kim Cheolyang, the butler, asked with concern, “But will bacteria be accepted? Bacteria aren’t visible, are they?”
“God is also invisible. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not a living organism.”
Kim Cheolyang seemed slightly annoyed at my words.
Thinking my joke might be too much, I quickly added, “In biology class, we learn that bacteria are living organisms, even if we can’t see them.”
Seeing Kim Cheolyang still not fully convinced, I explained further, “Think of it like extraterrestrials. There might be living organisms on distant planets, but we can’t see them, right?”
“Brother, there are no extraterrestrials. Only followers of cult religions believe in such things.”
“Anyway, it’s just an example.”
“Okay, I understand. Even if we can’t see it, it’s considered a living organism.”
While he nodded, even I wasn’t a hundred percent confident in this strategy.
Killing an unseen organism – would that be acknowledged as a clear solution?
In reality, even in ORV, there was no clear answer to that question.
[The constellation, ‘Monarch of Small Fries’, is interested in your strategy.]
[Very few constellations are curious about what you are trying to do.]
However, there is a universally acknowledged ‘solution’ in all scenarios.
[It will be a way that the Constellations can interestingly accept.]
[ED/N: This sentence spoken by mc was in 」and 「 symbols, however they do not show on the website and make the sentence invisible, going forward we’ll be using [ ] instead.]
I murmured softly, looking at the ceiling.
“Maybe what we kill isn’t so important. How the observer feels about it might be more critical.”
“Excuse me?”
“What we’re probably killing is one of these bacteria.”
I opened my phone and showed a list and images of bacteria we might kill.
Bacteria that are constantly distributed in subway stations but are never actually seen.
Creatures that, because they can’t be seen with the naked eye, would normally go unnoticed.
Now, people had to kill these microorganisms to survive.
“After looking into it, I found that bacteria are actually living things.”
“This time, we might succeed, right?”
Still, perhaps due to the thought of a new breakthrough, people’s faces brightened a bit.
Of course, not everyone felt the same.
“Everyone’s gone crazy.”
The burly man, seemingly displeased with the situation, grumbled while glaring at me and the others.
However, he discreetly checked around, then quietly opened his phone to search for something.
I subtly extended my head to peek at his search terms.
― Bacterial life
― Insect life
― Organism
― Dermatitis
― Propecia side effects
[PR/N: LMAOOO the dude is taking propecia, HE’S BALD AHAHAHA. Maybe that’s why he’s so salty? Also Dermatitis is a side effect of taking propecia if I remember correctly]
While interestingly perusing the search term list, the reader uncle nearby whispered, “Will this method work? You won’t be able to confirm the killed bacteria.”
“We have to do what we can. Just because they couldn’t find the bodies of people killed by missiles doesn’t mean they say it’s not a murder, right?”
If we had a microscope, we could directly confirm the death of bacteria, but realistically, it was impossible.
So, we had to try anything we could.
In a situation where we couldn’t see the bacteria, we had to perform actions that clearly indicated an intention to kill them.
——————
NOVELMX.COM
Join our Discord for release updates!
——————
This way, the Constellations would understand what we were trying to do.
“If we burn them, will the bacteria really die? What if they don’t?”
“He’s going to die, you know. What’s the reason for boiling water to drink? It’s because everything gets disinfected.”
“Is that so?”
“Brothers, didn’t you look it up earlier? You need to understand the principle of death and kill accurately.”
“Oh my, Sir. Even if we live to be old, we still won’t understand what you’re saying.”
Kim Cheolyang explained to the frustrated people, “Oh, well, when you apply heat, proteins in bacteria denature and they die, okay?”
I looked at Kim Cheolyang, who was also glancing at me, and nodded silently.
After a while, a small campfire flickered to life in the center of Geumho Station.
*
― rlaehrwk99: But if the logic holds, then just staying still is enough as the acids in the stomach should kill bacteria, so we should survive, right?
― rlaehrwk24: The stomach is an acidic environment, so it’s hard to see it as an intention to kill.
― rlaehrwk99: If you exert force and control the stomach to kill, wouldn’t that work?
― rlaehrwk24: What are involuntary muscles…
― rlaehrwk37: Yoo Junghyuk might be able to control the stomach with force.
*
People threw the bodies of dead insects or random items they had into the fire.
Kim Cheolyang tossed his phone case, and the reader uncle tore up a receipt from their wallet.
Others threw in shoes or even plucked their own hair to add to the fire.
The burly man, discreetly watching everyone, quietly took off his socks and tossed them into the flames.
“My socks, dammit…”
After the burly man’s words, no one else spoke.
10 seconds, 20 seconds…
People silently watched the bonfire burn.
Sitting in front of the bonfire with serious expressions, it felt like attending a religious retreat.
People thought about the unseen bacteria as if praying to an invisible deity.
I was no exception.
In the sacred flames, invisible bacteria rose.
It was burning.
We believed it was burning.
However, imagining the death of invisible bacteria was as challenging as imagining the faces of readers whose names I didn’t even know.
What happened to the readers?
Like the reader uncle muttering something with clasped hands, other readers must be living somewhere in this world.
The judge Heewon sitting next to me, the girl who was curious about Kim Dokja’s life and death, the reader who knew 1,863 secrets, and the reader who memorized the number of ■…….
With closed eyes, I imagined them completing the first scenario safely.
“Has anyone received any messages or something?”
At someone’s words, people turned to each other, exchanging anxious glances like devotees waiting for the revelation of a deity.
“Oh, there’s something in front of my eyes…”
At that moment, a divine revelation appeared before everyone.
[Due to excessive scenario deviation, errors have occurred in system message output and reward distribution.]
[Scenario clear status will be automatically determined after the expiration of the designated time.]
Someone startled and murmured, “What is this again?”
Regardless of the content, the message was simple.
Regardless of our future actions, we wouldn’t know the scenario’s clearance status until it concluded.
I sighed, wondering if the management would intervene to this extent. A spark crackled in the air.
[What on earth are you all thinking?]
A tired-looking Bihyung, appeared.
[This season is really strange. Why are you all behaving like this? First killing bugs, and now killing bacteria… Because of you all, there’s an error in the scenario system. Message output is blocked, so we can’t preview the results!]
Looking at Bihyeong’s fuming, it seemed that this situation was not the management’s intention.
People were equally perplexed.
“Where’s the justice in this? If we can’t know whether we passed this properly or not…”
“Hey! Did we solve the scenario?”
“Are bacteria considered life forms? Please, give us an answer!”
Bihyung frowned at the complaining individuals.
[Well, that’s…]
As Bihyung began to speak, another spark crackled in the air.
[The ‘Absolute Evil’ faction’s Constellations warn the goblin ‘Bihyung.’]
[The ‘Absolute Good’ faction’s Constellations warn the goblin ‘Bihyung.’]
[The Constellations watching the scenario do not want the dokkaebi interfering in the scenario.]
Something felt off about this.
[Hmm… if the Constellations say so.]
Bihyeong scanned the incarntions with a cold gaze.
[Finding the answer is also part of the scenario; I can’t reveal the answer. However, as a special service, I’ll let you know what will happen if you fail the scenario.]
Upon hearing this, I checked the timer.
[Current remaining time: 10 minutes.]
Finally, the time for ‘it’ to appear had arrived.
Author’s note: Thank you.
——————
NOVELMX.COM
Join our Discord for release updates!