Side Story: Episode 14-1 - Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

**Episode 14. Hunt (1)** Yoo Joonghyuk strode forward without a hint of hesitation. He offered no explanation of where he was heading. Following him, albeit with a step or two separating them, were Lee Hyunsung, Kim Namwoon, and Lee Jihye. Maintaining a fixed distance, we pursued Yoo Joonghyuk and his group. How long did we chase them like that? As we walked alongside, Gyeong Se-in spoke up with a cautiously worried voice. "Is it alright to keep following them?" "He hasn't told us to stop, has he?" Instead of aligning with 'Chungmuro Station', we chose the path of ‘wanderers’. It was a dangerous decision, so before making it, I sought opinions from Gyeong Se-in, Uncle Dan-soo, and Jung Heewon. ― Chumguro would be the safest for now, but if I'm really in danger, I think Inho would be the one to save me. Gyeong Se-in. —Would it be alright to accompany and look for Ji-yoon together? Uncle Dan-soo. —If left alone, I'm sure you'd end up dying somewhere. Lastly, Jung Heewon. This made me wonder if we hadn't been companions in a past life. "Inho, thank you for the new sword. My thanks are long overdue." "Do you like it?" Jung Heewon swung the Mikazuki Munechika deftly in the air. "Very much." Yet her gaze never left Yoo Joonghyuk’s back. To still be filled with fighting spirit even after witnessing Yoo Joonghyuk’s martial prowess is truly characteristic of Jung Heewon. Excluding exceptional cases like regressors or reincarnators, the strongest among ordinary humans might well be Jung Heewon. After leaving Chumguro Station and completely emerging onto the surface, Yoo Joonghyuk came to a halt. He surveyed the ruined cityscape with uninterested eyes and then signaled his group to stop. "Wait." Placing a large spear into the ground, Yoo Joonghyuk alternated his gaze between the west and north streets, seemingly contemplating. From this point onward, west and north. Visions blurry, yet faint suggestions tapped at my mind, though I lacked the certainty of information to confirm them. How nice it would be to consult ‘Ways of Survival’. What I currently possessed were snippets of readers' comments and occasionally surfacing notes. From afar, Kim Namwoon, kicking the ground, glanced our way. Just as the grinning fellow started towards us, Lee Jihye's frigid voice interjected. "Don’t cause unnecessary trouble. Unless you want to meet your end by my hands." "Oh? Uh, right." While Kim Namwoon shyly averted his eyes, the one who approached us instead was the most moderate and kind-hearted of Yoo Joonghyuk’s team. "Hello, are you unharmed?" "Ah, yes. Thanks to you." "I apologize. Our leader tends to be the silent type." "It’s okay. We’re the ones tagging along of our own volition." With sturdy pectorals showcased, Lee Hyunsung smiled with honest eyes. His sincere expression made me fully realize I was inside Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. The genuine 'Steel-sword Emperor' Lee Hyunsung. Earlier, I was too engrossed in the battle to truly appreciate him, but seeing him now filled me with awe. Suddenly remembering something, I glanced over at Jung Heewon. However, Jung Heowon, meeting Lee Hyunsung, seemed to feel nothing in particular. Curiously, the odd atmosphere simmered somewhere else. "Se-in, did you happen to do bodybuilding?" "Huh? How did you know?" "Your shield movements gave it away. You utilized a wide squat stance while bracing and a hammer curl posture for upper defense. Correct?" "Wow, you noticed!" [Character 'Lee Hyunsung' has developed goodwill towards Incarnation 'Gyeong Se-in'.] Is this alright? Once more, I glanced at Jung Heewon. "Why?" "It's nothing." Upon reflection, there wasn’t any law stating that Jung Heewon must end up with Lee Hyunsung. After all, the 41st round and the 3rd round differ. Yet still, this... [A Constellation who enjoys gender swaps observes with a keen interest.] I chose to ignore it. Right now, confirming the newly delivered scenario took priority. + <Main Scenario #4 - Flag Seizure Battle> Classification: Main Difficulty: C+ Clear Conditions: (Text hidden due to length) Time Limit: 14 days Reward: 2,000 coins Failure: ??? + Indeed, the fourth scenario was the ‘Flag Seizure Battle’ as in the main story. When checking the clear conditions, a window displaying a lengthy message, similar to the main story, appeared. + [Clear Conditions] 1. Every Station’s representative possesses a ‘flag’. * Only the representative can hold the flag. 2. If you seize another group’s ‘flag’, you seize all their ‘Stations’. Conversely, if your ‘flag’ is seized, you lose all your Stations. 3. Even if you fail to seize the flag, it counts as seized if you kill the station’s representative, granting bonus points. + As expected. A new rule has been added once again. Flag retrieval is unnecessary if you simply kill the representative, and you even receive bonus points. I felt this inexplicable sense of awkwardness with the scenarios in the 41st round, just as back in the ‘Theater Dungeon’ scenario. It’s almost as if someone read the ‘main storyline’ of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint and customized the scenarios to their taste. Perhaps it's an over-analysis. + 4. Some locations outside the Stations have hidden ‘white flags’. + The second new rule. ‘White flags’ are also hidden in locations outside the stations, likely a hidden piece in this scenario. + 5. You must secure the ‘target Station’s flag within 14 days. Failing to do so results in the death of all your group members. * Currently, no ‘target Station’ exists for you. You cannot participate in this scenario. + The final condition was fairly similar to what I remembered. [Currently, you are a ‘wanderer’ with no affiliated Station.] [You cannot participate in the ‘Flag Seizure Battle’.] [A Hidden Scenario has been assigned.] I checked the newly appearing ‘Hidden Scenario’ window. + <Hidden Scenario - Wanderer> Classification: Hidden Difficulty: C **Clear Conditions:** Join a new group or defeat a group's representative and seize their flag. **Time Limit:** 3 days **Reward:** Obtaining participation rights for the 'Flag Seizure Battle' scenario. **Failure:** ??? + The Wanderer Scenario. This could be considered a sort of 'loser's revival match'. I called over Uncle Dan-soo, Gyeong Se-in, and Jung Heewon to discuss. "Everyone's seen the scenario, right?" "Yes." "Right now, we have three feasible options. The first is to approach another station and ask their representative to accept us." Since finding a 'group' would suffice to escape the 'wanderer' penalty, clearing the scenario wasn't really difficult. Gyeong Se-in shook her head. "If we intended to do that, we would've joined the Chungmuro group already. What's the second option?" "The second is to raid another station and snatch the flag. And the third is..." "Finding the hidden white flag, right?" "Yes, that's correct." "Then it's the third option, right? Usually, the third option is the right answer." It used to be so, in 'Kim Dokja's' Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint. Gyeong Se-in, glancing around, whispered to me. "Do you know the location of the hidden white flag? Like Kim Dokja did with the hidden 'Green Zone'." If only things would proceed smoothly. "No, I don’t know." "Eh? Then what are you going to do?" "We'll just have to take another station’s flag." In the end, the 'Flag Seizure Battle' was a contest of taking each other’s flags. Conflict was inevitable, and we had to destroy other stations. Only then could we open the hidden scenario 'Path of Kings' and earn the rights to challenge in the 'Absolute Throne' showdown later. Uncle Dan-soo spoke somberly. "It seems like it’ll be a tough fight. It would be nice if we could just take the flag, but things won’t go so smoothly." A station that has its flag stolen loses its sovereignty to the station that took it. Even in Chungmuro Station, disputes arose over this, so one can only imagine the chaos in other stations. Jung Heewon added her thoughts. "If we’re going to have to kill them anyway, we’ll feel less guilty if we don’t know them well." Her cold tone laced with animosity startled both Uncle Dan-soo and Gyeong Se-in. I soothed them with reassurance. "It’d be ideal not to kill anyone, but inevitable situations will arise. Everyone, steel yourselves." When considering the battles ahead, the skirmish we faced at Chungmuro Station was child’s play. Our opponents would be more cunning than Yoo Joonghyuk, less considerate than Han Sooyoung, and crueler than Gong Pil-Du. Even the ‘Misread Alliance’ we met recently showed as much. They were relentless, innumerable, and a criminal group that defied social conventions. [A Constellation, ‘Tail-cutting Snake’ smirks at you.] An indirect message appeared at the mere thought. It was the Constellations of the Misread Alliance. [A Constellation, ‘Rat that Brings Plague’ chides you mockingly to struggle all you want.] I remember that rat was expelled by Asmodeus last time, yet it seems to have snuck back. [A Constellation, ‘Tail-cutting Snake’ warns you that you will never reach even the shell of the stars.] It was a thoroughly unfair battle. The Misread Alliance could monitor us during channel broadcasts as much as they wished, leaking information to their Incarnations. After pondering a moment, I called Bihyung through ‘Dokkaebi Communication’. —What? What is it? ‘I have a request.’ Listing the Constellations within the Misread Alliance that I identified, I asked if Bihyung could block them from entering our channel. —Are you insane? How dare you suggest such a thing to our exalted Constellations! You’re just an Incarnation... ‘Listen. I hear your channel’s revenues have recently worsened, am I wrong?’ At the sudden mention of finances, Bihyung momentarily paused. —Impertinent. That’s none of your concern. ‘It’s all because of the sponsorship. The amount has likely decreased, correct?’ —It has decreased, but... I'm still searching for the cause. The deterioration was due to the Apostles continuously engaging in filtered conversations, causing the Constellations to leave. It seemed Bihyung hadn’t figured that out yet. ‘Did you examine the list of Constellations I mentioned? They probably have no sponsorship records.’ —True, they are ones without sponsorship records... Just as I thought. ‘Isn’t it time to start purifying the channel?' —Hmm. It’s not wrong, but still, sanctioning them just for lacking a sponsorship history... ‘Of course, that alone wouldn’t be reason enough for sanctions. But my concern is... I hear the Management Bureau’s channels were breached recently.’ —Where did you hear that from? There are some things that can be known without needing to hear them. ‘I suspect those guys didn’t come through legitimate ways.’ --- **Terms and Characters:** 1. **Gyeong Se-in (경세인) - She**: A member of Kim Dokja’s group seeking to survive in the scenario. She was curious about the knowledge of hidden locations similar to Kim Dokja's knowledge. 2. **Chungmuro Station (충무로역)**: A well-known strategic location in the battles. It was often seen as a safe option. 3. **Misread Alliance (오독협)**: Translated from “Misread Alliance," a known group with Constellations known for their harsh tactics. 4. **Tail-cutting Snake (꼬리를 자르는 뱀)** and **Rat that Brings Plague (역병을 부르는 쥐)**: Constellations antagonistic towards our protagonist, reflecting the theme of betrayal and filth. 5. **Bihyung (비형) - He**: A Dokkaebi responsible for managing scenarios and channel communications. He is portrayed as bumbling and unaware of certain truths. 6. **Mikazuki Munechika**: A reference to a famous sword, often depicted in narratives. It symbolizes strength and historical significance which suits Jung Heewon’s character. **Context and Puns:** 1. **Flag Seizure Battle (깃발 쟁탈전)**: A combat scenario where groups vie for control through battles over representative flags. 2. There are some richly contextual references to earlier events in the narrative, namely encounters with the Misread Alliance leading to this scenario's strategies.