Chapter 202
Chapter 202
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 202
Chapter Title: The Ghostwriter's Authority
-----------------------------------------------------------------
6
National Highway Management Corps meeting room.
“I’m sorry…….”
O Dok-seo knelt on the floor and raised her hands.
The members gathered in the meeting room looked at her with utter disdain. Only the fresh, adolescent brains of teenagers could handle the shame and humiliation, making O Dok-seo’s deltoids tremble.
“Pfft. Pffft…….”
Sim A-ryeon, one of the attendees, was brimming with energy for the first time in ages as she unleashed an auditory one-two punch.
“F-Fallen…… a Fallen Awakener who degenerated because they didn’t want to write. I fell too, back when I was the Saintess of the North blocking the Monster Wave…… But Dok-seo, you’re even less human than I was. Please mature a little, mentally. How long are you going to live like a child and be a nuisance to everyone around you?”
“Fuck…….”
O Dok-seo shuddered.
To be officially certified as having a lower mental age than “Goryeo Jang Villain.” It was an achievement of near-miraculous difficulty, and she must have been moved by her own accomplishment.
No Do-ha, the leader of the National Highway Management Corps, was also in the meeting room. She rested her chin on her hand crookedly and stared at me.
“Undertaker Awakener. Is it really possible to fall for such a retarded reason……?”
“This is a first for me too, so I’m a bit flustered. But nine times out of ten, a Pariah God meddled in the middle.”
“A Pariah God……?”
“In my view, Dok-seo’s absurd slump and burnout are a kind of curse stemming from the ‘Operator of Myriad Phenomena.’”
Tigers leave their hides after death, and Pariah Gods leave traces even after being subjugated.
If it were a bit earlier, explaining it as akin to “post-mortem resentment” would have clicked perfectly, but since that one had fallen into a chronic illness comparable to O Dok-seo’s, it was no longer usable as a metaphor.
In any case, Pariah God-level anomalies are inherently difficult to eradicate completely.
The best you can do is seal them.
No matter how tightly you seal a jar in the kimchi fridge, a faint funky smell still lingers—just like that, sealing a Pariah God brings various side effects.
For O Dok-seo, who carried the Operator of Myriad Phenomena’s laptop in her item inventory every day, she was inevitably always exposed to this curse.
“Ah. So like how the Baekhwa Girls’ High School Guild Leader sometimes snaps into a split personality, this O Dok-seo girl gets her slump triggered……?”
“Yes. It turns her into an AI dependent on itself, makes her unable to write without it. It’s probably scheming to seize control back from Dok-seo through all sorts of means.”
“Y-Yeah! Uncle’s totally right!”
O Dok-seo cried out desperately.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a scream.
“There’s no way I’d ever truly, sincerely not want to write……! I’ve always wanted to help you, Uncle! Back then too! Right now too! But that wicked Pariah God keeps interfering with me……!”
At that moment, Sim A-ryeon muttered from the side.
“Ah. W-Wait. Does that mean my symptom of never being able to stop doing villain shit on SG Net no matter what I do is also due to a Pariah God? I thought something was off, but sure enough…….”
“…….”
“…….”
O Dok-seo fell silent. So did we.
And then, as if nothing had happened, I spoke.
“Dok-seo. By now, the Fallen’s authority should have started manifesting in you.”
“H-Huh? Authority?”
“Yeah. When the Saintess fell, she could stop the world’s time forever. Dang Seo-rin could wield an entire city like her limbs. You’ve probably been granted something on a similar level.”
“…….”
“You’ve already got some inkling of it, right? That’s why you’ve become aware that you’ve become a Fallen yourself.”
Dok-seo fidgeted.
“I do have something…….”
“Tell me what it is. You can put your hands down now.”
“Y-Yeah.”
O Dok-seo pulled out her laptop from her backpack.
“I’m not totally sure yet myself…… But I discovered this phenomenon.”
True to its anomalous technology, the laptop booted up in less than 0.1 seconds.
Soon, an AI chatbot appeared on the screen.
――――――――――
>> Enter a prompt…….
※ GPT-MSYH may make mistakes. Please don’t neglect cross-verification.
――――――――――
“This thing. Back when I used it to write novels before, the output was kinda sloppy, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah…… But as I leveled up wandering the Void and stuff, the AI’s level went up too, knowingly or not.”
“Oh ho?”
“I even asked the AI about ways to cure my slump, and it suggested exploring the Void to gain all sorts of experiences. Looking back now, that was probably all buildup for the Pariah God to recover its existence.”
So that’s what happened.
O Dok-seo turned her head.
“A-ryeon unnie. Play rock-paper-scissors with me real quick.”
“Y-Yes?”
“I wanna test something. I’ll do paper, so you do rock. It’s an ability that activates only if I win.”
“Ah. Okay. Got it.”
“Got it? I’m paper, you’re rock. Rock—paper—scissors—.”
O Dok-seo threw rock, and Sim A-ryeon threw scissors. Both wore perfectly natural expressions.
“There. I just beat A-ryeon unnie, right? So for opponents I ‘defeat,’ this effect triggers.”
Tap tap. O Dok-seo typed on the laptop.
――――――――――
>> Describe what will happen to Sim A-ryeon within the next 2 minutes. No death or injury, respect character, minor embarrassment level.
――――――――――
Ding.
After a slight lag, AI-MSYH spat out sentences in a rush.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Sim A-ryeon. The legendary healer didn’t show it outwardly, but deep down, she welcomed today’s incident.
‘Dok-seo’s gotten a bit stronger lately and is getting all cocky.’
‘I could become a Fallen anytime I wanted too. I’m just obediently in seclusion because the Guild Leader told me not to.’
‘I need to log in anonymously to SG Net and let everyone around know what a nuisance O Dok-seo is as a writer…….’
‘For the public good!’
――――――――――
All eyes in the meeting room turned to Sim A-ryeon.
Sim A-ryeon jumped in shock.
“Eek. I-I’ve never thought anything like that!”
“…….”
“It’s all lies! You all know how much I adore Dok-seo! Y-You evil anomaly! How dare you slander and frame me like this……!”
AI-MSYH’s response wasn’t over yet.
Ding ding. More sentences poured out.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Of course, the petty Sim A-ryeon’s sordid inner thoughts were completely seen through by the Heavenly Demon O Dok-seo.
‘How pitiful and pathetic!’
‘Those who curse the talented speak of the world’s unfairness; those who curse the untalented nitpick personal laziness.’
‘They’re the type who see shadows instead of light everywhere, so in truth, they have no eyes. They exist yet don’t, live yet are dead—truly, their lives are like dust.’
Such extraordinary insight was precisely the discerning eye of O Dok-seo, the Heavenly Demon who was born a man of letters and reborn a warrior, excelling in both pen and sword.
――――――――――
All eyes in the meeting room turned to O Dok-seo.
“N-No! It’s just that the data piled up weirdly, so I keep showing up as the Heavenly Demon, that’s all!”
“…….”
“A-Anyway, this stuff doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter at all. Look at the next sentences!”
We did.
――――――――――
MSYH >> Heaven is impartial, granting fortune to the virtuous and misfortune to the base.
Thus, at that moment, Sim A-ryeon sneezed out of nowhere while standing still, startled into stumbling over her words, and finally fell flat on her butt—truly a farce summarizing her life.
――――――――――
Eek, Sim A-ryeon blinked—
“A-Achoo, ach, achooo!”
A sneeze burst out. Achoo! Achoo! They wouldn’t stop, and with teary eyes, she looked around.
“W-Wait a sec! Sorry! S-Sniff, achooo! Suddenly, dust got in my nose and the sneezes won’t st…….”
In her fluster, Sim A-ryeon backed up and caught her foot on a chair leg.
“Eep? Eek?”
Thud!
In physical ability rankings among guild members, Sim A-ryeon always tied for dead last with Ha-yul, and she lost her balance all too easily, tumbling down.
“Eek! O-Ow, it h-hurts……. Hng…….”
A soft groan echoed through the meeting room.
No one had touched her, yet she’d put on a solo show.
The members, having witnessed the entire sequence firsthand, all turned to stare at O Dok-seo.
“Hmm…….”
O Dok-seo took off her hat and scratched the back of her head.
“So this is my ability… or rather, my authority as a Fallen. I can manipulate the actions of people I’ve ‘beaten,’ you could say…… More precisely, I ask the AI what’ll happen and find out…….”
[Scenario Creation].
From now on, the ability to ‘prophesy’ what will happen in the world, then forcibly ‘execute’ that prophecy.
That was the new Fallen’s authority.
7
At first, it was just idle amusement.
Or to regain some motivation, even if small, by using the AI—that’s what O Dok-seo confessed.
――――――――――
>> My slump just won’t go away. How can I regain my passion for writing?
MSYH >> Everyone goes through slumps.
MSYH >> A writer’s asset is experience. How about broadening the experiences most people never have, or deepening the ones they have?
MSYH >> Everything in the world has pros and cons. The Voids may be poison to some, but to a writer, they could be an endless field of medicinal herbs providing new experiences.
――――――――――
At a glance, the AI’s advice seemed reasonable.
O Dok-seo felt reassured because it was an utterly ordinary response anyone could give.
It wasn’t something only an anomaly could produce.
――――――――――
>> I’m scared of the Void. Scared of anomalies. Gaining experience is good, but those experiences are sharp like thorns, and as they pile up, thorn trees grow in my heart.
MSYH >> What wounds one person deeply may mean nothing to another. It depends on mindset and resilience.
MSYH >> Cultivate your mind. Define yourself as the strong one, and actually cultivate strength approaching that. Awakener power is deeply linked to the spirit.
MSYH >> As a first step in building mental muscle, how about designating yourself as the ‘Heavenly Demon’?
――――――――――
Like countless anomalies, the Myriad Phenomena Amusement gradually eroded O Dok-seo’s mind.
O Dok-seo lived hugging her laptop whether in the Void or not.
Even the Saintess, who always kept a watchful eye on Awakener, didn’t detect anything amiss.
Seeing O Dok-seo typing on the keyboard, the Saintess judged, “She’s working hard to overcome her slump.”
Peeking at an unfinished novel would be rude.
—The ‘first reader’ of O Dok-seo’s works was the Undertaker’s privilege, not hers.
So the Saintess didn’t pay attention to the sentences on the laptop screen.
For a full 7 years.
――――――――――
>> How do I claim the hidden opportunity in this Void?
>> Is there a way to maximize absolute defense ability?
>> Lately, I feel sorry when I see Undertaker Uncle. Tell me ways to avoid overlapping schedules with him as much as possible.
>> About how to beat Cheon Yo-hwa.
――――――――――
The result.
O Dok-seo, once merely a half-baked prophet, gradually became complete.
The birth of the Fallen, the ‘Ghostwriter.’