Chapter 153
Chapter 153
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 153
Chapter Title: Speedrun Broadcast, ON.
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Speedrun broadcast, ON.
[We've pretty much gathered everything worth taking from Japan. Time to head back to the Korean Peninsula.]
"No way! Absolutely not, no matter what happens, I'm never drifting at sea again! Never!"
O Dok-seo desperately resisted, her character sheet now listing "ocean" under phobias.
But it was unnecessary worry. There was no need to rely on Hamel's Travelogue a second time.
I'd remodeled the Inunaki Tunnel into the "Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel," gifting O Dok-seo a comfortable walking trip.
[Oh, and if you take just one step to the left there, your limbs will detach and you'll die, so please be careful.]
"Eeeeek?"
O Dok-seo was thrilled by the rare experience of walking through both Korea and Japan.
"Comfortable my ass! One wrong step and you're dead—this is hell! ...Wait, other loops used this place as a hideout? Are you seriously insane, mister?"
[Progress is slow. Please step it up. The character Yoo Ji-won crossed voids even on a bicycle.]
"Who the hell is that?!"
[Anyway. Considering this is still the ultra-early game, O Dok-seo's shrine maiden aptitude has already reached an absurd level.]
I brushed off the complaints from the young, MZ-generation O Dok-seo. Both the Saintess and I were too old to indulge the fragility of today's youth.
[O Dok-seo is now devouring every anomaly related to fiction. The 'Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel' we're walking through is fictional, too.]
[Hamel's Travelogue, Monkey's Paw, The Hated Drug, Magical Girl Story, Undersea Tunnel. No case comes close to an outsider god this quickly through creative works.]
[At this rate, she should be able to summon her status window without issue.]
"R-Really?"
[Yes.]
The Saintess declared it in my stead.
For reference, she was still being carried on my back, maintaining hundreds of meters' distance from O Dok-seo.
[Especially inside this tunnel. Conditions are optimal.]
[The Korea-Japan Undersea Tunnel itself qualifies as a work of fiction, functioning weakly as a 'temple' to the Operator of the Game of All Fictions.]
[Give it a try. Shout it out.]
"......"
From O Dok-seo's view, we were nowhere in sight.
In the pitch-black tunnel, darkness thick enough for ghosts to leap out any second, O Dok-seo muttered.
"...Status window?"
She jolted in surprise right after.
"I-It worked! The status window really appeared!"
[Do you see a translucent hologram?]
"Yeah! It's crystal clear right now!"
I clenched my fist. Perfect.
The [Operator of the Game of All Fictions], which normally wouldn't descend to the surface for at least five years, was already showing its hand.
Demons and gods alike couldn't refuse a summon. Resistance only weakened them.
O Dok-seo as the 'shrine maiden' and 'altar,' the Saintess's support, my strategy and commands, plus anomalies tied to fiction as 'sacrifices.'
We were drawing near the darkest of gods.
[Excellent. One week into the speedrun, we've partially manifested the 'Logout Game.']
[This anomaly ranks as an extreme hikikomori among outsider gods. Deactivating its lurk mode alone is a monumental achievement.]
[Now, let's check O Dok-seo's status.]
"Okay, sure. Calling it up now!"
The status window she described aloud went like this.
――――――――――
[Status]
Name: O Dok-seo
Title: 'Shrine Maiden of the Game of All Fictions'
Occupation: Oracle, RPG Character, Magical Girl, Shrine Maiden, Literary Girl, Protagonist
[Stamina: E] [Strength: D] [Intuition: B+] [Agility: C] [Intelligence: B] [Charm: B-]
Personality Traits: [Human-Hater] [Human-Worshiper] [Timid] [Passionate] [Misfortune (Status Abnormality)]
Exclusive Skills: [Omniscient Regressor's Perspective (EX)], [AT Field (S)]
*Omniscient Regressor's Perspective (EX)
: A precognition ability to read future events.
By reading a novel starring the character 'Undertaker,' you can grasp upcoming scenarios.
Knowledge is power. No matter how the world is tainted by voids, to you who 'knows in advance,' they're mere events.
Claim the protagonist's seat.
*AT Field (S)
: Rejects external interference.
Provides an absolute barrier against all physical forces trying to impact or harm you. Limited to once per day, lasting 1 minute.
You've observed this world's events from an 'omniscient' perspective. You're clearly superior to the novel's characters.
Turn bad endings happy. Or into even crueler bad endings. You were born to become this world's protagonist.
May fortune favor you.
――――――――――
"...That's what it says!"
Hmm.
After hearing her out, I flashed a sinister smile. Then whispered low enough for only the Saintess to hear.
"Disgusting. The outsider god must be desperate."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. It outright stamped 'Shrine Maiden of the Game of All Fictions' as her title. That's marking its territory—like a childish instinct."
"Sounds like good news for us."
"Of course."
From the [Operator of the Game of All Fictions]' perspective, it must feel like lightning striking out of a clear sky, in real time.
It analyzed and hacked me with effort. Groomed O Dok-seo as its champion to pit against me.
But now its champion and I were teaming up. How infuriating.
[The status window is begging her to become the protagonist.]
[Doesn't matter. We're already broadcasting the game. Her success is our success. The outsider god's backed into a corner.]
[So let's make her the real protagonist.]
Key events on the Korean Peninsula awaited us in sequence.
First up: Baekhwa Girls' High School Great Void.
The Saintess, O Dok-seo, and I entered Baekhwa Girls' High School. Naturally, we kept back, putting O Dok-seo out front.
After twists and turns, Avici was subjugated. Almost no changes.
—Except Cheon Yo-hwa's psyche, once tightly linked to me mentally, shifted targets this time.
"Dok-seo! Let's hang out this weekend!"
She latched onto O Dok-seo with a hug.
"Uh. Y-Yeah. Sure."
"Hehe. A void amusement park popped up where Lotte World used to be. Let's go!"
"...No, it's a void. Isn't that dangerous?"
Cheon Yo-hwa's mentality had always been unstable at Baekhwa Girls' High School.
Her cult's children—also her school friends—were dropping dead left and right, after all.
We slotted O Dok-seo into that mental gap.
The Hated Drug initially bred dislike for O Dok-seo in Cheon Yo-hwa.
But sharing a subjugation of an outsider god washed away that first-impression negativity.
[Baekhwa Girls' High School, cleared in ten days.]
[Avici's domain normally stretches time like taffy—extremely hazardous.]
[But it's also a 'room of mind and time.' We'll grow O Dok-seo here massively.]
Ten days outside meant years inside Avici's domain.
I trained O Dok-seo while staying out of Cheon Yo-hwa's sight as much as possible.
Didn't even step up as the main subjugator. Just snuck in a final cane-sword strike at the end. All spotlight went to O Dok-seo.
As a result, Cheon Yo-hwa and I stayed at arm's length.
"Oh. Hi, security guy!"
"Hey. Student council president, good work."
"You too!"
Cheon Yo-hwa probably still harbored subtle dislike for me. She just didn't show it.
But it didn't matter. The speedrun broadcast continued.
[Good.]
[O Dok-seo has now turned a character meant to like someone else into her best friend. Quintessential 'protagonist' behavior.]
[Everything's going smoothly.]
"......"
O Dok-seo chewed her lip.
I knew she felt uneasy about something, but we couldn't babysit emotions during an outsider god subjugation.
Next.
[The Ten Tribes are advancing south. At this rate, refugees north of the Han River will be annihilated.]
[Remnants of the national army and some Awakeners are prepped for a last stand, but it's not enough.]
[That's why we scouted Baekhwa Girls' High School early. O Dok-seo, Cheon Yo-hwa, and Baekhwa Awakeners save Seoul together.]
Fresh off level-up events in Avici's domain, O Dok-seo's party crushed the Ten Tribes effortlessly.
I filmed the whole battle on video.
Then uploaded it via Seo-gyu's SG Net (I'd saved him in the Tutorial Dungeon and left him in Busan).
-Anonymous: Who are those kids? They're insanely strong;
-Anonymous: Didn't the army get wiped by those Ten Tribes? How are they dropping them this easily?
-Historian: Much younger than me, but honestly respectable. Feels like hope's still alive in this world—heartwarming.
-Anonymous: What's their names?
-[Three Thousand]Witch Judge: O Dok-seo and Cheon Yo-hwa.
└Anonymous: Hey, it's O Dok-seo 'nim.'
-Goryeo Jang: But real talk, that magical girl transformation scene was kinda cringy?? lol
└Anonymous: O Dok-seo was super embarrassed after transforming lololol
└Anonymous: Hope of the peninsula is a magical girl and student prez... what is this world coming to.....
└Anonymous: Grateful for Ten Tribes subjugation, but yeah, kinda weird haha;
In this end-of-century apocalypse where civilization was crumbling.
The title of 'Awakener who fought to protect refugees and pulled off a miraculous victory' was priceless.
Fame was a valuable resource.
O Dok-seo leveraged her skyrocketing rep to post on SG Net.
-Literary Girl: [Tip] How to Quickly Grow Awakening Abilities Using 'Status Window' in a Short Time.txt
-Literary Girl: Really didn't wanna share this tip, but sucking honey alone in this tough apocalypse feels wrong, so here goes.
-Literary Girl: You all tease me every time I transform into a magical girl on SG Net.
-Literary Girl: Truth is, this magical girl transformation isn't my unique power—anyone can unlock it by following a specific route.
-Literary Girl: Next door in Japan, there's an organization called the Magical Girl Council with a Great Shrine Maiden Awakener...
Awakeners' interest exploded.
The peninsula's top fame-holder was spilling insider tips—natural reaction, but not entirely why.
O Dok-seo flaunted overwhelming specs. Yet the Hated Drug's subtle dislike lingered among people.
'Is she that great?' 'She's strong, sure, but worship?' Sinister, insidious feelings.
So many assumed her success was sheer luck—some secret cheat we didn't know.
Now she was dumping her 'personal know-how.'
Awakeners bit instantly, mistaking it for her hidden luck jackpot.
I monitored SG Net sentiment, then immediately invited the Great Shrine Maiden via Inunaki Tunnel.
"No way... Are there really this many Koreans wanting to join our council?"
Her eyes widened at the cluster of Awakeners in Haeundae.
"Beauty knows no borders, indeed! So many comrades abroad! Magical girls are beautiful, and beauty is justice! I'm not wrong!"
"Hey, what's that weird fox-tailed lady yelling?"
"Dunno. It's Japanese, but the dialect's too thick..."
"That's not dialect—it's straight-up archaic language, right?"
Overwhelmed with emotion, the Great Shrine Maiden eagerly established the 'Magical Girl Council Korean Branch' and handed O Dok-seo the branch chief role.
She even contracted hundreds of Koreans into magical girls on the spot.
Harsh truth for her, but Korean Awakeners hadn't gathered out of empathy for magical girl beauty.
In performance-obsessed Korea, word spread 'yo, magical girl class is OP in this game?' and they mashed the job change button without looking back.
-Literary Girl: Oh, and one crucial warning for magical girl contracts.
O Dok-seo landed the final blow on the spec chasers.
-Literary Girl: Magical girls must choose their guardian deity.
-Literary Girl: Technically, it can be a pet or houseplant, no issue—but pick a 'powerful god' for stronger magical girl powers.
-Literary Girl: My recommendation:
[Operator of the Game of All Fictions]
-Literary Girl: 100% guarantee: Contract this god, and you'll see your status window instantly, know your abilities, and learn how to efficiently grow them.
That day, four hundred Awakeners contracted the ultimate boss anomaly—without it ever showing its face.
In the end.
[The Operator of the Game of All Fictions responds to the users' call.]
The outsider god's message echoed in people's minds.
[The Operator of the Game of All Fictions declares the official game launch.]
Day 30 of the speedrun.
We'd dragged the outsider god—who'd hidden until the world's end—kicking and screaming to the surface.