Episode 5. Villain (7)

< Episode 5. Villain (7) >

Plague-Carrying Rat.

In Omniscient Reader, and in the setting of Ways of Survival, that constellation didn't appear.

Suddenly, it contracts three incarnations and sends them out to attack the 'Edge of Darkness'.

That rat is, like, 100% a reader.

I would have loved to have used [Readers' Comments List] on them, but unfortunately it doesn't

work on targets I couldn't see.

Unless they're possessing an incarnation, I don't know....

"Hey, guys, we don't have to fight."

I waved my hand at the Ratmen who were glaring in this direction and slowly backed away.

Even Literary Girl 64 I trusted had been poisoned, so it was now a three-to-one fight.

The odds weren't in my favor either way.

However, who am I?

The one who, according to Yoo Joonghyuk, was called 'The One Who Deceived the Stars' in the

40th round.

"Misreading Association, guys. I am not your enemy."

The great villain, the 'Evil Sophist' famous between the constellations.

[The exclusive skill 'Incite Lv.3' is activated!]

"Gentlemen, it looks like you're all villains. I happen to be a villain too."

I said, sneaking over to the fallen Killer King.

"So let's make a deal. Is he who you want?"

I grabbed the Killer King by the nape of the neck and lifted him up. Literary Girl 64, who was

crouched nearby, looked at me with despair in her eyes.

I smiled lightly at her, then turned back to the Ratmen.

One of the Ratmen said.

"We don't negotiate."

"Stay out of this, rats. I'm talking to your constellation, not you."

At my cold voice, the Ratmen frowned.

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is looking at you with interest.]

I smirked and began to talk.

"As you saw me fight just now, you noticed I'm pretty good myself. If I were to fight at full

strength, even your incarnations wouldn't come out unscathed. If three of your incarnations die

early on, wouldn't it be a big blow to a constellation like you?"

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is glaring at you.]

"Even so, do we need to fight each other? This is what you want, and I don't want to get blood on

my hands. It's a win-win situation. Give what you have to give, take what you have to take."

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' says the Seven Apostles can't be trusted.]

"I am not from the Seven Apostles."

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' has used 'Lie Detection'.]

[Your statement is true.]

Now even rats are using that skill. Well, that rat is a constellation too.

"I'll give you Killer King, in exchange for your random item box."

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' says they can't give you the box.]

"Then I'll take the rest of the items here, minus the box."

At my offer, 'Plague-Carrying Rat' seemed to ponder for a moment.

I could hear the Ratmen asking with their squeaks.

—What shall we do?

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' says to wait a moment].

I opened my mouth as I stealthily moved toward the wall.

"You don't have to ponder about it for long, just think about it. It seems like you've had a pretty

rough road yourself, and if we're going to survive in a world like this, we're going to have to

work well together. I don't want a plot where the villains turn against each other and end up

killing each other."

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' asks who the hell are you.]

Tsuchuchut.

Judging by the light sparks all over their body, they were about to unleash their status to

intimidate me.

However, 'Plague-Carrying Rat' didn't seem to be a very powerful constellation.

Nor would they be free from the constraints of probability at this early stage.

"I'm disappointed. You really don't know who I am? You must not have read the novel properly."

I took another step.

The rat warned me as if they felt something was strange.

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' tell you to stop.]

I don't know if I can do it.

"This is the body of the worst villain in Omniscient Reader."

With those words, I plucked out the 'dark flower' that was plugged in nearby.

For a moment, my shadow flickered ominously as the ash-colored torch that sucked in black

ether— the 'dark flower' lit up the surroundings.

"The one burnt to death with Hellfire."

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' orders his incarnations to kill you right away.]

The Ratmen whistled in unison and fired their poisonous darts.

I used Killer King as a shield.

Pow. Pow. Pow.

The wide-eyed Killer King shuddered convulsively. I had no choice, given the circumstances.

I'll save you, reader-nim, just hang in there. With Killer King in front of me, I began to charge at the Ratmen. For a moment, they panicked

and jumped back.

I flung the dark flower at them with all my might. It spun in the air, sailed past them, and

tumbled into the darkness behind them.

A wisp of black smoke billowed from the extinguished flame.

Black ether was being released.

—Beware!

Something began to stir in the center of the dense black ether.

「There was a 'boss monster' here that hadn't died yet.」

In the novel, Kim Dokja did not directly stop the monster's breathing. To do so would incur the

curse of the 'Demon King'.

[The ruler of the 'Edge of Darkess' is absorbing the black ether!]

Killer King, who had read Omniscient Reader nearly a hundred times, hadn't forgotten that part

either.

[The 7th grade demonic species, 'Dark Keeper' has revived!]

The black etheric energy from the dark flower revived the dying 'Dark Keeper'.

Squeak squeak, the Ratmen screamed, and three or four tentacles shot out of the Dark Keeper's

body simultaneously.

The Ratmen barely dodged the tentacles.

However,

Pusyusyusyuk!

They didn't have time to dodge the tentacles that sprang up from the ground below them. In an

instant, the three Ratmen screamed and struggled as their stomachs were pierced.

"Kallitu."

With the Dark Keeper's words, something slithered into the three Ratmen's bodies.

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is furious!]

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is increasing their synchronization with the

incarnations!]

Realizing the situation too late, Plague-Carrying Rat tried to intervene himself.

But it was a mistake.

Tsuchuchuchuchut!

[The 7th grade demon, 'Dark Keeper' has noticed the presence of the constellation.]

[The 7th grade demon, 'Dark Keeper' prays to its master.]

Kukukukuku.

The whole of the 'Edge of Darkness' shook as if there had been an earthquake.

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' panics.]

Someone was looking into this space.

A being far different from 'Plague-Carrying Rat'.

A cold sweat ran down his spine.

[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' frowns at the appearance of the demon

king.]

He is the owner of the 32nd Demon Realm.

[The constellation 'Commander of the Red Cosmos's face hardens.]

[The constellation 'Primordial Cow's eyes shine.]

Devil of Lust and Wrath.

The demon king Asmodeus.

[The demon king 'Devil of Lust and Wrath' stares at 'Plague-Carrying Rat'.]

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is dealt a fatal blow.]

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' groans in terror.]

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' has left the channel.]

A historical-grade constellation was wiped out with just one glance.

[The demon king 'Devil of Lust and Wrath' is looking at you with strange eyes.]

From the other side of the abyss, the demon king was looking at me.

[The exclusive skill 'Incite Lv.3' is strongly activated!]

「I am Kim Dokja who has the 'Fourth Wall'.」

I met the demon king's gaze undaunted.

[The demon king 'Devil of Lust and Wrath' is interested in you.]

[The demon king 'Devil of Lust and Wrath' will remember your name.]

After the message, the gaze vanished. All that remained was the Dark Keeper and me.

I sucked in a breath and stared at him.

"Are you going to fight?"

The Dark Keeper stared back at me and muttered something.

[You understand the language settings.]

[You are interpreting the language of the demon species.]

...from ⬛⬛ to ⬛. The king is watching you.

.... What?

With those words, it disappeared into the darkness with the ratmen.

[The 7th grade demon, 'Dark Keeper' has disappeared from the Ground Rat's Treasure Trove.]

[The 7th grade demon, 'Dark Keeper' has been defeated!]

[The sub scenario 'Kill the Keeper' has ended.]

[You have successfully looted someone else's sub scenario!]

[8,000 coins have been earned.]

[The constellation 'Commander of the Red Cosmos' admires your courage in the face of a demon

king.]

[1,000 coins have been additionally sponsored.]

I was preparing to fight the Dark Keeper if I had to. It was a relief.

So this kind of development is possible too.

In the back, I could see Dansoo ahjussi and Kyung Sein stumbling to their feet.

"Inho-ssi? Ouch! What the...."

Judging from their exaggerated voice, they must have woken up and faked a faint to look at the

situation.

I laughed bitterly and pointed at Killer King and Literary Girl 64 on the ground.

"Let's save them first."

*

According to Ways of Survival's settings notes, there are two ways to dispel the 'poisonous fog'.

Using the 'Elaine Monkey's Lungs', or feeding the 'Elaine Forest Essence'.

However, I couldn't guarantee Keeper King nor Literary Girl64 to recover with any of those two

ways.

Especially Killer King, who had been poisoned too many times because of me and his condition

was very serious.

"Kup, Kuhup."

Killer King, whose face was ashy, had foam on his mouth and was gasping for air.

Still, I can't let a reader who has read this 99 times die like this.

I pulled out the piece of 'poisonous rhinoceros's horn' I had hidden in my chest and ground it into

a fine powder.

Dansoo ahjussi asked.

"What is that?"

"I picked it up the other day when I met Yoo Joonghyuk."

If my ligaments were still intact, I would have gotten a bigger piece, but my arm was destroyed,

so I could only get crumbs.

Luckily, it was enough for now.

I mixed the horn powder with water and poured it into the mouths of Killer King and Literary

Girl 64.

After a few moments, Killer King and Literary Girl 64's complexions became noticeably

brighter.

「The poisonous rhinoceros's horn has an great effect on the 'poisonous fog'.」

I hadn't realized that it would be used in this way, as I had only created it as a 'Ways of Survival'

setting and hadn't used it in the main story.

"Everyone else should take some. It's good for treating the poisonous fog."

"How did you know about this?"

"I experimented with it as soon as I got a piece of horn."

"As expected of Inho-ssi...!"

I recounted what happened a moment ago to Dansoo ahjussi and Kyung Sein as they drank the

remaining bottled water.

I purposely didn't tell them about Killer King trying to kill us. I thought there was noo need to

create animosity at this point.

"There was also a reader who possessed a constellation? And that was a member of the

Misreading Association?"

Kyung Sein seemed almost out of breath when she heard the name Misreading Association.

"Oh, you fought with the Misreading Association?"

"Yes. But they were a little weird?"

Killer King is a also a Killer King, but the person possessing by that Plague-Carrying Rat looked

really strange. Even if they entered a novel, how could a person who had been living in the real

world until a few days ago suddenly turn into a killer?

Kyung Sein, whose complexion had turned blue, spoke up.

"If it's the Misreading Association, it's possible. Damn it, I can't believe we're meeting them so

soon...."

I became a little confused.

"Isn't it just a club?"

"Misreading Association is not just a club."

Huh? Then?

It was Killer King, who had finally regained consciousness, who answered my question.

"Misreading Association is the name of an illegal sharing site."

End of .

Author's Note

Due to an error on another platform, we had to rush to upload this chapter, which was scheduled

for Sunday at 7pm.

The next chapter will be published normally on Monday at 7pm. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused our readers.

T/N: If you ever enter Omniscient Reader or Ways of Survival, please refrain from killing people just because. Remember that you can buy the chapters if you can on Naver or Munpia. 10

chapters cost 1 dollar.