[Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] had been Kim Dokja’s exclusive skill.It consisted of three stages, each granting a different level of perception.Stage 1 — reading a character’s simple actions and emotions.Stage 2 — hearing their inner thoughts.Stage 3 — sharing their field of vision or fully immersing within their perspective.I knew the skill well.The problem was why it had only activated after the [Record Restorer] finished its repairs.There’s no reason Cheon Inho should have [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint].That could only mean this skill had formed during the process of restoring my own record.And maybe, it wasn’t entirely impossible.Just as Mr. Dansoo and other readers possessed “Kim Dokja fragments,” it wasn’t out of the question that I, too, had one buried somewhere inside me.After all, in a sense, an author is also a reader of his own work.If I happened to hold a fragment of Kim Dokja—the one who had mastered [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint]—then…No. Overthinking would only waste time.Right now, I needed to decide how to use it.“Yooseung.”I called the girl beside me.If memory served, the conditions for activating [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] were threefold:The target must be a character.My understanding of that target must reach a certain level.The target and I must be thinking of each other simultaneously.If I spoke to Shin Yooseung now, there was a good chance all three conditions would be met.She looked up at me, her small eyes glinting faintly in the dim light.But for some reason—No matter how long I waited, the skill didn’t activate.Was my understanding of her too shallow?Or was it that she wasn’t thinking about me?After a moment of silence, she spoke.“You called me differently before.”“Differently?”The memory hit me belatedly.Get down, Shin Yooseung.When I’d used [Incitement] earlier, emulating Yoo Joonghyuk, I had shouted her name like that.It hadn’t been intentional.Because at that moment, I had truly believed I was Yoo Joonghyuk.That’s what [Incitement] did to you.“You didn’t use honorifics then, either.”“That… I’m sorry. It was a skill backlash.”“You can talk to me casually if you want.”Her voice carried a trace of hope, and I didn’t know what to say for a while.“I’ll try.”“Really?”It was such a small thing—not using formal speech.Just calling her name as it was.A simple act, yet for me, strangely difficult.I knew why.Looking at Shin Yooseung brought back too many memories.The Shin Yooseung of the 41st round—To me, she was the one who had wandered the maze of worldlines for millennia, descended as the Calamity of the Flood, and been reborn as a dokkaebi.What I was seeing now was the child before all that tragedy had yet to happen.Maybe that was why I couldn’t look her properly in the eye.“Have you found a way?”The voice that broke my thoughts belonged to Literature Girl 64.“Not yet, Yerin.”It had been a long time since I’d called her by her real name.She was the only reader here whose real name I knew—The one who had read the works of “Lee Hak-hyeon.”She didn’t know that I was Lee Hak-hyeon.Even so, seeing her brought a quiet sense of familiarity.Shin Yooseung tugged at my sleeve.“She’s your friend?”“Yes.”“Close friend?”Why did Yooseung always ask that about everyone she met?Maybe it was her cautious nature.“Yes, we’re close.”That answer didn’t come from me—it came from Literature Girl 64.The two locked eyes. Shin Yooseung’s gaze was oddly probing; Yerin’s returned one, just as unreadable.Then Yerin said, softly, “We both love books.”“Books?”Yooseung’s golden eyes flickered violently.Yerin’s face stiffened. And then—Something’s wrong.A soft whisper brushed against my ear.The Shin Yooseung of the 3rd round didn’t have golden eyes. The 41st round either. Which means this Shin Yooseung must be—“Yerin?”“Yes.”[‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has been deactivated.]The moment she looked at me, the voice stopped.There was no doubt.What I had just heard were her inner thoughts.But how?Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint could only target characters.And Literature Girl 64 wasn’t a character—she was a reader.A chilling realization solidified in my mind.What if this version of [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] can also read readers?I immediately turned to Killer King.He was already staring back.[Exclusive Skill, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint,’ Stage 2 activated!]What are you glaring at?His voice came through instantly, unguarded and arrogant.Right now, Cheon Inho is closer to Kim Dokja than any of us.…What?Then if I get rid of him, I’ll be the one standing closest to Yoo Joonghyuk.Absurd fantasies. But unmistakably, they were Killer King’s real thoughts.Next, I tried thinking of Mr. Dansoo.But I heard nothing.He was probably too far away—or perhaps he simply wasn’t thinking of me.If I could just make him think of me…Then maybe I could locate him through the labyrinth.I rummaged through my coat and pulled out an item.The Horn of Provocation.A relic from slaying an ancient nautilus.Once blown, my voice would echo throughout the entire labyrinth.If Mr. Dansoo heard it, even for a moment, he’d think of me.It was a gamble worth taking.The problem was that if he was too far away, Stage 2 might not reach him.“Yerin.”“Yes?”“The iron gauntlet you used before.”“The gauntlet.”She left out the question mark, already understanding.Killer King, polishing his sword like a mimic of Yoo Joonghyuk, chimed in dryly,“The secret art, Dark Spinning Breaker, I presume.”That was probably what it had been called.Anyway—“Use it on me. Now.”If Stage 2 wasn’t enough, I’d push it to Stage 3.***In the darkness, a man was thinking.Who am I?He was thinking about himself.Who was he?He found the question oddly philosophical.No one truly knows who they are.We’re only called something when we’re born.He tried to recall what he had been called.Lee Dansoo.Yes.That was the name people called him.But no—that wasn’t truly his name.It belonged to someone else—the man who had once owned this body.He was only borrowing it.Then what was his real name?His name was—“No Jiyoon. No Jiyoon.”At the sound of that voice, memories began to surface.Right. He was No Jiyoon’s father.No Kyunghwan.That was his name.My father told me to live guarding against even the smallest misfortune—he named me so that I’d always remember. Thanks to him, I’ve lived without any great hardships.Indeed, No Kyunghwan’s life had been easy, peaceful.He’d been handsome since childhood.Never once caught a flu everyone else did.Did well in school, got along with everyone.He’d been lucky enough to enter a prestigious university with his reserve number,And even luckier in the military—assigned to an easy post.Using the housing fund he’d saved since youth, he bought a modest but cozy apartment,And met a beautiful, intelligent woman who felt like destiny.They had a lovely daughter.It was such a fortunate life that he often wondered if he was borrowing someone else’s luck.Perhaps his happiness existed only because someone far away in the universe had become miserable in his place.He sometimes imagined that unseen, unfortunate person,And sang short songs for them on his way home from work.His wife had loved those songs.Then one day, misfortune found him too.Nothing extraordinary—just ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) one of those tragedies that could happen to anyone.His wife died.The problem was how.If it had been a car crash, or heart failure, he might have accepted it through tears and outrage,Telling himself it was bad luck.But his wife had been killed by—“This stone.”A stone. Small enough for a child to hold.‘They say it fell from the sky. There was a meteor alert that night, but this region wasn’t even on the list…’A meteorite.A tiny fragment that had crossed millions of light years of darkness,survived reentry, and pierced her body clean through.‘A disaster. Truly terrible luck—’Could that really be called luck? He couldn’t understand.He thought of that unseen someone beyond the stars again.Was this truly a disaster?Or had someone, jealous of his happiness, thrown a stone at him from the other side of the cosmos?From then on, No Kyunghwan often looked up at the sky.He pondered the unimaginable malice that could fall from beyond it.His father had been right.Guard even against the smallest misfortune.He began living entirely for his daughter’s survival.He took her to school himself.Wrote a will in case he suddenly died.He kept her close at all times, never letting any danger near.His daughter loved him for it—at first.But in time, that understanding curdled into resentment.“Can’t you stop?”She stopped eating.Stopped going to school.It was fine, he told himself.She could study later.At least home was safe.At home, no meteorites could fall from the sky.But he hadn’t realized—That even inside the house, meteors could still fall.“Yoo Joonghyuk.”A name that had fallen from some unknown place like a cosmic stone.“I’m going to marry Yoo Joonghyuk.”***[‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ has been deactivated!]“—Ugh!”I lurched upright, nausea wrenching through me.The timer in the air showed I’d been unconscious for barely ten minutes.Killer King caught my arm. “Did you find him?”“Yes.”“How?”It worked.[Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] had truly activated.I had become Mr. Dansoo—No Kyunghwan—for a moment, and seen his memories.After quickly describing his approximate location to Killer King and Literature Girl 64, I said,“There’s no time to explain in detail. I used the Horn of Provocation—by now, the enemies will have noticed us.”Footsteps echoed throughout the dungeon. The False Readers were also hunting him.“We have to find him first.”There was only one way to make that happen.Blood welled up in my throat again as I looked at Literature Girl 64.“Hit me again. This time—hard enough to actually kill me.”

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