The Reader's Fight (3)

To commemorate becoming a Constellation, I bought what was commonly known as a “boss chair”—an executive chair—from the general store.

I sat down in the chair, then bought a bottle of champagne called Krug Grande Cuvée 168 from the general store.

Slosh!

I stared at the dark green bottle in my hand, then shook the hell out of it.

Why shake an expensive champagne? Simple. Today was the day I became a Constellation. In other words, a day worth celebrating. So I was going to pop this bottle in honor of the occasion.

Once it was thoroughly shaken, I peeled off the gold foil wrapping the neck, then yanked out the cork, wire cage, and metal cap all at once.

Pssshhh!

“Hell yeah! Today’s a goddamn killer day!”

Ahahahahaha—!

Champagne sprayed endlessly from the bottle, soaking both me and the chair, but that was fine. Today, I was the protagonist.

Gulp! Gulp!

“Ahh! That’s the good stuff!”

I put my mouth to the bottle and drank what was left after nearly half of it had already sprayed out. A little luxury like this was perfectly legal for one day.

And as if they understood my mood, the Constellations started sending me sponsorships.

I smiled at the flood of congratulations from the countless senior Constellations. Then I covered one eye with my hand and whispered,

“Heh… I’m fucking awesome. I’m a goddamn legend!”

But of course, there were always people who had to rain on the parade. Constellations were no exception.

“Ha…!”

Even so, I kept smiling and flipped off the constellations glittering in the night sky.

“If you’re so jealous, why didn’t you slap on a Constellation badge before the fifth main scenario started like me? Or at least scrape together a million coins!”

You’re not seniors to me. You broke-ass, personality-bankrupt gutter trash without even coins to your name!

“Come down here if you’ve got a problem, you bastards!”

Having just witnessed Park Jinwoo’s long-overdue bickering with the Constellations up close, Han Sooyoung muttered under her breath.

“Fuck… did that guy just become a Constellation?”

Kim Dokja, looking equally dazed, answered.

“Seems like it…”

“For real? For real for real?”

“Didn’t you see the system messages just now?”

Han Sooyoung blinked hard, still unable to believe it.

“No, but he’s a Constellation. Those stars up in the sky—insanely powerful Constellations! And it was that easy?”

“Normally it’s not easy. But for him… apparently not.”

“I told you he’s a mutant. How the hell is that even human, fuck.”

Just then, an indirect message floated up in front of them.

“Whee~♪ Hell yeah! That’s the stuff!”

““……………””

That guy is a Constellation…?

Watching Park Jinwoo guzzle champagne straight from the bottle while cackling, Han Sooyoung and Kim Dokja shot him flat, dead-eyed looks.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been quietly observing from beside them, clicked her tongue and muttered,

“…Pathetic.”

Kim Dokja and Han Sooyoung both nodded at once. Caught between the three women, Yoo Sangah simply watched Park Jinwoo with an awkward expression.

Tug-tug.

Someone carefully pulled at her hand. Yoo Sangah turned her head.

Shin Yooseung was looking up at her with an anxious face. Reading that expression, Yoo Sangah smiled gently.

“What’s wrong? Why do you look so worried?”

“Unnie… if Oppa becomes a Constellation, does that mean he’ll fly up into the sky like the other Constellations and leave us…?”

“Ah…”

Yoo Sangah shot Kim Dokja a helpless look for backup. Unfortunately, even she didn’t know the answer, so she couldn’t respond to Shin Yooseung’s question.

Kim Dokja caught the glance, stepped closer to Shin Yooseung, and said,

“You don’t have to worry about that, Yooseung. Even if Park Jinwoo became a Constellation, he still has to keep participating in the scenarios.”

“Ah… thank goodness.”

Shin Yooseung let out a sigh of relief and broke into a bright smile.

Han Sooyoung, standing behind Kim Dokja, looked at her and asked,

“Hey, wait a second. So if you don’t form a sponsor contract and just collect five Stories, you can become a Constellation?”

“Yeah.”

“…Ah, shit. Should I just not form a sponsor contract either?”

At that moment, Park Jinwoo, still drinking champagne, walked up behind Han Sooyoung and spoke.

“Well… I wouldn’t exactly recommend it.”

“What? Why?”

“There are already some bastards sending me indirect messages that are basically threats not to become a Constellation. But it’s your choice in the end. Think it over.”

Finished speaking, Park Jinwoo tilted the remaining champagne into his mouth.

Gulp! Gulp!

“Ahh! It’s been so long—this stuff is good!”

“You’re the only one drinking…? What about us?”

“Are you even an adult? You’re so tiny I thought you were a middle schooler.”

“What? Hey! Where the hell do I look like a middle schooler?!”

“Shouldn’t you be happy if someone says you look like a middle schooler? It means you look young.”

“If you’d said high schooler, maybe. Calling me a middle schooler is just teasing!!”

Then Park Jinwoo’s eyes twitched. His expression hardened as he stared at something. He turned his gaze toward the sky.

Curious about what had made him react like that, the party followed his line of sight.

There, floating in midair and scattering red sparks, was a red dokkaebi.

What now, again.

“……………”

Fuck, there goes the drinking mood.

I scowled at the system message floating in front of me and looked up at the sky.

There, the low-ranking dokkaebi Dokgak was looking down at me with that irritating smile of his. Other low-ranking dokkaebis hovered around him, watching his mood. And farthest back, Bihyung—the manager (storyteller) of the channel we operated in—was shrinking into himself, casting cautious glances between me, Kim Dokja, and Dokgak.

Ah, right. That bastard was still around.

I’d been so drunk on becoming a Constellation that I’d completely forgotten about Dokgak.

I looked up at him and his smug smile and said bluntly,

“You bastards are slacking off. We cleared the sub-scenario—where’s the reward?”

Twitch!

Dokgak’s eyebrows twitched at my words. But even as a low-ranking dokkaebi, he was a professional storyteller. He quickly smoothed his expression, snapped his fingers, and continued.

【Ah, of course we must give it to you. My apologies. A rather poor mistake on my part.】

Snap!

…Fuck. After spending 360,000 coins, 50,000 as a reward looks like pocket change.

The seniors’ sponsorships and achievement rewards had patched some of the loss, but I still needed another 100,000 coins to fully break even.

…No, no. Don’t act like a miser. Today’s a happy day, and for a mere 360,000 coins I got a broken skill like Hiraishin no Jutsu. That’s a net gain.

I sorted my thoughts, looked up again, and said,

“There’s more you’re supposed to give. When are you handing over the additional rewards?”

【Ah, of course. Naturally we must. You are the one who made this scenario so entertaining, after all.】

Maybe because Dokgak operated in Japan, his passive-aggressive snark was next-level. I’d never been to Japan myself, but I knew about the famous “Kyoto dialect” from the internet.

Dokgak turned his head toward Bihyung.

【Bihyung, prepare the rewards.】

Bihyung’s eyes went wide at the sudden order.

【Pardon?】

Dokgak’s face twisted. He glared at Bihyung.

【Prepare the rewards. Do I have to say it twice?】

“………….”

Kim Dokja and I narrowed our eyes, watching Dokgak and the way Bihyung shriveled in front of him.

That bastard dares to bully our channel’s albino furball manager?

Bihyung, still reading Dokgak’s mood, hesitantly protested in a small voice.

【But the one currently in charge of the sub-scenario is Dokgak-nim…】

【Bihyung.】

Dokgak’s expression hardened. He moved to stand in front of Bihyung and looked down at him.

【I hear your channel has grown a bit lately. Seems the rumors were true.】

【Ah, no! That’s a misunderstanding!】

Bihyung broke into a cold sweat and hurriedly denied it, but Dokgak showed no intention of stopping.

【The sixth scenario is one that Korea and Japan undertake together, yes? Have you forgotten?】

Dokgak was pulling rank on Bihyung. We’re about to work together soon—want to get fucked over then? That was the message.

Understanding the threat, Bihyung lowered his eyes and hastily apologized.

【I’m sorry. I’ll prepare them right away!】

【Start immediately.】

【Yes, sir!】

Bihyung made a miserable face and began rapidly moving his hands through the air. He was using his own coins to pay out the additional SSS-rank item rewards to us.

I carefully examined the options on the three SSS-rank items listed in the Item Select window.

The Infinite Dimensional Subspace Coat, which had a special “subspace” option in its inner pocket allowing the wearer to carry large amounts of items.

The Black Flame Gauntlets, which greatly amplified the performance of darkness- and fire-attribute skills.

And finally the Sylphid’s Leap Boots, which allowed the special option “Leap” to be used three times a day.

“……………….”

After checking the options, I fell silent. Why fall silent looking at high-performance SSS-rank items?

The reason was simple.

I already have all three of those options as skills, fuck.

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The subspace coat was covered by My Small Hideout. The gauntlets by Enchant and Amplification. The leap boots by Flight Maneuver, Path of the Wind, and Hiraishin no Jutsu.

“Hmm…”

The only real choices left were the subspace coat or the gauntlets.

If I wanted defense and insurance against mid-rank dokkaebis slapping penalties on me like in the Ankok region, the subspace coat looked good. If I wanted to boost the power of Flames of Destruction and the fire/darkness damage of Enchant, the Black Flame Gauntlets looked better.

Hmm… for emergency preparedness, the subspace coat is probably better? It’s also useful on Peace Land.

On Peace Land, if you abandoned the right of the disaster, you turned into a small humanoid. Your clothes no longer fit and you ended up naked. But this subspace coat automatically shrank with the wearer, so you never had to worry about that.

While I was still deliberating over the SSS-rank items, Bihyung came wobbling over to me with a dejected face.

【…Please choose your reward.】

Then a dokkaebi transmission came through from him.

The scale in my heart had already been tipping toward the subspace coat anyway. Bihyung’s words sealed the decision.

【Bihyung?】

【…Yes, sir!】

Apparently still displeased with Bihyung’s attitude, Dokgak called his name again.

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【You need to explain the items to the Constellations as well. Did you forget?】

【Ah, underst—】

“Hold it.”

I snatched Bihyung’s body out of the air just as he was about to fly up at Dokgak’s words.

【Hm? What is it?】

Dokgak looked down at me with a puzzled expression after I intercepted Bihyung mid-flight.

“Is this bastard looking down on a Constellation without a modifier? Why are you calling away the guy who’s explaining the item options to me? Am I not a Constellation?”

【………….】

“You explain the item options to our seniors yourself. Don’t dump the work on our albino furball.”

【…I-I understand. Another rather poor mistake on my part.】

Dokgak forced down the expression that wanted to twist, glared at me and Bihyung, then began explaining the items to the Constellations’ chat window floating in front of him.

Bihyung looked at me with moved eyes for a moment after I stood up for him, then quickly pulled himself together and opened another dokkaebi transmission.

I avoided Bihyung’s incredulous stare and walked over to the party.

“What are you all picking?”

Kim Dokja spoke first.

“I’m taking the subspace coat.”

“I’m… ha. Stuck between the Black Flame Gauntlets and the coat.”

“I’m also deciding between the subspace coat and the leap boots.”

Han Sooyoung and Yoo Sangah were both staring at the item window, deep in thought.

I approached Shin Yooseung, who was silently looking at the window, and spoke to her.

“What about our Yooseung? What are you picking?”

“I… don’t really know. Oppa, what do you think would be good?”

Shin Yooseung looked up at me with sparkling eyes. I picked the item that would suit her best.

“Right now, the leap boots would help Yooseung the most.”

“The leap boots?”

“Yeah. For the fights coming up, the leap boots are the item that’ll help you immediately. The subspace coat is convenient for storage, but that’s all. The gauntlets only show their true performance if you have fire- or darkness-attribute skills or stigmas—and right now, Yooseung doesn’t have any of those.”

“Okay. Thank you, Oppa.”

“No problem. But don’t just trust my choice. You can go with whatever your gut points to.”

I turned my head toward Yoo Joonghyuk. She was staring at the item window with a blank expression.

“What about our Joonghyuk? What are you picking?”

Yoo Joonghyuk shot me a sidelong glance, then quietly opened her mouth.

“Why should I tell you that?”

I answered with an incredulous look.

“Because you’re getting an SSS-rank item thanks to me.”

“……Haa.”

Faced with that solid fact, Yoo Joonghyuk stayed silent for a moment, then let out a small sigh. She slowly began to speak.

“I intend to choose the Infinite Dimensional Subspace Coat.”

“Yeah, that’s the safest pick.”

Once the party had roughly decided, I shouted up at Dokgak, who was looking down at me.

“I’m choosing the Infinite Dimensional Subspace Coat.”

【An excellent choice. Then let us move to the distribution location at once.】

Dokgak wore a creepy smile, eyes gleaming as he looked down at me.

【Additional rewards cannot be distributed here for procedural reasons.】

I already knew where that distribution location was, but I deliberately put on a clueless face.

“Where’s the distribution location?”

【I shall escort you into my ‘Dokkaebi Hat’.】

‘Dokkaebi Hat’.

In traditional fairy tales a “hat” was a piece of clothing, but here in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint—more precisely in Ways of Survival—a “hat” referred to a kind of “room” where every dokkaebi concealed their true body.

Grab!

The moment she heard that the distribution location was Dokgak’s Dokkaebi Hat, Kim Dokja’s expression hardened. She seized my shoulder and looked up at Dokgak.

“That’s a problem. I’d prefer you just give them here.”

At Kim Dokja’s reaction, Bihyung behind Dokgak watched us with anxious eyes. Dokgak narrowed his eyes at the sudden interruption.

【Hmm…. You’re not even the principal party, so reacting like that is rather inconvenient. Incarnation Kim Dokja. Because of your attitude, I may have to cancel the item distribution scheduled for all six of you?】

“Go ahead.”

Twitch!

Dokgak flinched at Kim Dokja’s calm reply. Han Sooyoung quickly sidled up beside her and whispered,

“Hey, hey! Are you crazy? What’s suddenly gotten into you…?!”

“Just wait a second.”

Dokgak smiled darkly at Kim Dokja’s confident attitude.

【…Interesting.】

Then he opened a dokkaebi transmission to both of us.

Dokgak’s transmission and his spoken words began to overlap for the two of us.

【Park Jinwoo, Kim Dokja. I’ve heard your stories often. You’re so famous that even Constellations on the land across the peninsula know about you.】

Dig-dig.

I quietly dug at my ear at Dokgak’s words.

“Hoo~”

When Kim Dokja and I contracted with Bihyung inside the ichthyosaur’s stomach, we had set the commission rate at 10 to 0.

What did that mean? Simply put, we didn’t have to pay Bihyung any coin commission at all.

Would Dokgak really contract with us at the same 10-to-0 rate as Bihyung?

The answer was “no.”

I waved my hand dismissively.

“Cut the bullshit and just give us the SSS-rank items.”

【…………….】

Dokgak’s expression hardened.

【Interesting. I’d heard you were bold even in front of dokkaebis, and today I see the rumors weren’t false. If that’s how you want to play it, so be it. I originally planned to announce this after distributing the ‘rewards,’ but….】

Dokgak tore his gaze from us, raised both hands toward the sky, and shouted,

【To all the Constellations who have been watching the scenarios with such interest—I regret that I must deliver some unfortunate news. Unfortunately, among the channels operating in Seoul Dome, a channel that has been illegally manipulating scenarios has been discovered.】

“Haaawn…”

I couldn’t help yawning at Dokgak’s tedious speech starting up again.

Bihyung looked bewildered as the other low-ranking dokkaebis around him suddenly put distance between themselves and him.

Dokgak continued with a chilling smile, pointing at Bihyung.

【It is Dokkaebi Bihyung’s #BI-7623 channel.】

【Wh-what? M-me?】

Dokgak completely ignored Bihyung and kept talking.

【After investigation, the low-ranking dokkaebis of Seoul Dome have concluded that the excessive scenario manipulation by that channel has violated ‘Probability.’】

“You talk too fucking much. Boooo—! Don’t they know the three-line summary in Korea? Storyteller, resign!”

Crack!

Veins stood out on Dokgak’s face. He glared at me for a moment, then pointed at Bihyung again and raised his voice.

【Therefore, this dokkaebi, representing the low-ranking dokkaebis of Seoul Dome, formally requests that the Bureau conduct a ‘Probability Suitability Judgment’ on the channel in question.】

Finished speaking, Dokgak grinned with a creepy expression and looked down at me.

But his face soon froze solid.

“Haaawn…. Is this a lullaby? Just listening to your voice makes me sleepy, man.”

Because I was sitting in the boss chair I’d bought from the general store earlier, yawning widely.

Behind Kim Dokja, Han Sooyoung spoke with a slightly tense face.

“What the hell is this fuss? Why is he suddenly picking a fight with perfectly fine Probability?”

“What else? He’s just looking for an excuse to start shit.”

Bihyung, face pale and eyes brimming with tears after Dokgak’s accusation, opened a dokkaebi transmission to us.

Bihyung glanced at Kim Dokja and shook his head.

At Kim Dokja’s words, Bihyung finally looked a little more relieved and nodded.

Kim Dokja pointed at me and shouted at Dokgak.

“Hey, stop wasting time and just give the rewards already? Can’t you see the Constellations getting bored?”

“Hear, hear! You’re boring as hell!”

I had no choice but to wave one hand and shout along under Kim Dokja’s pointed look that said read the room.

Dokgak, watching the two of us, slowly opened his mouth.

【That is difficult. This matter is more important than reward distribution. This matter also concerns you, Kim Dokja, and Park Jinwoo beside you.】

Snap!

Dokgak snapped his fingers, and a giant screen appeared beside him.

On the giant screen, scenes of Kim Dokja and me began playing in succession.

First scene: Kim Dokja placing pressure points on Lee Seolhwa to help free her from Antinus’s control.

Second scene: Kim Dokja and me watching the fierce battle between Lycaon and Antinus.

Third scene: me fighting Myeong Ilsang, with the party watching through the My Room window.

Fourth scene: me deliberately not killing Myeong Ilsang and toying with him, followed by the party thoroughly beating the subdued Disaster of Questions.

After showing the various scenes on the giant screen, Dokgak looked down at us.

【Do you see the common point in these scenes?】

Kim Dokja fell silent for a moment in thought, then suddenly flinched and looked up at Dokgak.

Dokgak smiled coldly.

【These four battles share one common point.】

He pointed at the first scene.

【Incarnation Kim Dokja could in fact have killed the Poisonous Serpent and stopped the ‘Disaster.’】

He pointed at Antinus in the second scene.

【She could have killed Antinus and stopped the ‘Disaster.’】

In the third scene he glanced at me.

【Park Jinwoo could have easily killed the ‘Disaster of Questions’ when facing him. And their companions could have helped him.】

In the fourth scene he continued as if lamenting.

【In the final scene, they deliberately kept alive a Disaster they could have easily killed, staging a situation where other Incarnations might have been harmed.】

Dokgak looked us over.

【Yet they ‘deliberately’ chose not to do so.】

“Wait! You—!”

Kim Dokja, belatedly realizing what Dokgak was doing, twisted her face and shouted at him—but Dokgak ignored her and kept talking.

【Constellations, Incarnation Kim Dokja and the newly risen Constellation Park Jinwoo colluded with the channel’s storyteller ‘Bihyung,’ deliberately concealing their power and manipulating the scenario’s development!】

Dokgak stretched both hands toward the sky again, voice booming as if to fill all of Seoul Dome.

【They toyed with the scenario through forced staging and maliciously created frustration—solely to ‘stage’ the catharsis at the end. Solely to squeeze coins out of all of y—!】

Whoosh!

Something flew toward Dokgak’s head.

Crash!

【Guh…?!】

The object struck Dokgak’s head dead-on. Something shattered, and broken fragments spilled over his head.

“Ahhh! You fucking bastard. That felt so good.”

Gulp! Gulp!

What I’d thrown at Dokgak’s head was the empty champagne bottle, and the culprit was me.

【P-Park Jinwoo…! What in the world is this…!】

“Shut up, you bastard. I was wondering what you were going to say—turns out it’s just politics.”

I hated bastards who toyed with people through politics like that.

I pulled a megaphone (for the Dome channel) out of My Room and sneered.

“That politics you love so much? This time, I’ll give it a try, you bastard.”