Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (3)
< Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (3) >
The timing was perfect.
[Enter the platform now to check the new chapter of 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint'.]
By the way, I think this is the first time I've gotten an update message.
I was tempted to open my phone, but I couldn't afford to right now.
There was a bloody battle between humans and monsters going on a dozen meters away.
"No. What is that—"
Ye Hyunwoo's eyes widened at the sight of Jung Heewon's battle.
"Come to think of it, wasn't Cheon Inho originally killed by Jung Heewon? That's when she
became the 'Judge of Destruction'."
"That's right."
"Then how did Jung Heewon awaken now?"
"It's a long story, so let's just watch for now."
Covered in crimson blood, Jung Heewon had already cut off more than a third of the centipede's
legs.
'Demon Slaying Judge.'
The Judge's trait of causing an explosive increase in combat power against monsters resonated
with Jung Heewon's Kendo.
Sugagagagak.
With each swing of Jung Heewon's sword, half-dozen centipede legs were sliced off at once.
A precise and swift swordplay, dodging out of the centipede's line of sight, cutting only its feet.
Kyung Sein waved his shield and shouted.
"Uaaah! Heewon's the best!"
Lee Jihye, who had been lying idle in the stairwell, was also watching the battle with fascination.
"Wow, she's killing it...."
The majesty of single-handedly defeating a 7th grade monster species, a King at that.
It was a battle that only Yoo Joonghyuk was capable of, and now Jung Heewon was showing it
in front of our eyes.
She was so focused on the battle that her inner voice echoed vividly in my ears.
「I will never lose.」
What was in front of her now was a monster.
But in a sense, it wasn't the monster she was fighting.
「Next time, surely.」
She was alone, fighting an imaginary enemy, a man who was better with a sword than anyone
she knew.
Imagining his sword, she swung, and swung, and swung again.
「I have to be faster.」
Jung Heewon knew.
Yoo Joonghyuk's sword was the essence (精髓) of martial arts, forged by the time and effort of
countless masters.
She couldn't follow its trajectory now.
However, she could see where it was headed.
A sword forged to shatter the heavens of this world and make the stars fall.
Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship (破天劍道).
[The character 'Jung Heewon's skill proficiency is rising rapidly!]
Her sword was blossoming from the bitter defeat. A bluish aura was now permeating her ground
rat knife.
Dedicated Sword Force (罡氣功).
It was unmistakable. Though it was still faint, it was the Dedicated Sword Force used by the
masters of Murim.
[The constellation 'Maritime War God' is surprised by the talent of the incarnation 'Jung
Heewon'.]
[The constellation 'Goryeo's First Sword' has entered the channel.]
[The constellation 'Goryeo's First Sword' is looking at the incarnation 'Jung Heewon' with
interest.]
A technique that she learned on her own, without being taught by anyone, without even learning
a superlative skill.
Come to think of it, Jung Heewon was also extraordinarily talented in the original.
Could she reach the level of Yoo Joonghyuk in this turn?
[Your 'Free Comments Daily Pass' will disappear soon!]
Earlier, they promoted the new chapter, and now they're threatening me to take it away.
[You currently have a total of 6 'Free Comments Daily Pass'.]
[Free Comments Daily Passes accumulate up to a maximum of 2, and will expire if not used
within today.]
My head spun. I looked at my watch and it was almost midnight. The pass cost a whopping
3,000 coins.
Just in time, Ye Hyunwoo signaled.
"Everyone in the front, except for Jung Heewon, please step back for a moment! Let's work on
the line with concentrated fire from now on!"
With Jung Heewon and the giant centipede fighting it out, all the ground rats and grolls'
formation in the area collapsed.
Ye Hyunwoo didn't miss the opportunity and ordered the fire.
Dududududu!
There was a brief pause in the back-and-forth battle.
It would be fine to check the comments for a while.
I joined the crowd and slipped into the rear, then quickly opened my phone and turned on the
platform app.
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Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (3)+[24]
Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (2)+[21].
Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (1)+[32].
...
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That's a lot of chapters in a short time. At first glance, there are over 40 chapters.
What did I do to get this far already? I haven't even finished 'Emergency Defense Battle' yet.
Come to think of it, I still haven't figured out who wrote this.
"The people on the back, please check your equipment! We'll be back in action in five minutes!"
I was running out of time, so I decided to check out the recent comments.
Maybe they'd have some useful information.
[1 free daily pass will be deducted.]
[One random comment from the episode will be released, regardless of order.]
+
—Oh
+
....
Even if it's from a free pass, I get pissed off every time this happens.
Luckily, I still had five free passes left.
[1 free daily pass will be deducted.]
+
—Uh
+
I think it should be illegal in Korea to leave a one syllable comment.
[1 free daily pass will be deducted.]
+
—Yoo
+
Yoo?
I redeemed a pass once again.
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—Joong
+
If the next comment I see is 'Hyuk', I might actually want to die.
I was about to nervously redeem my fifth free pass.
[A new feature has been updated!]
A notification popped up.
[You can spend an additional 1,000 coins to see the comments that have received the most
'upvotes'.]
1,000 coins.
That's a bit expensive, but....
At least if a comment is highly recommended, it's more likely to contain nutritious information,
right?
[1 free daily pass will be deducted.]
[You have spent an additional 1,000 coins.]
[Checking the comment that received the most 'upvotes'.]
A comment immediately popped up.
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—Yoo Joonghyuk is stuck on the sunfish route again
Upvotes 236 / Downvotes 5
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Sunfish is the nickname of Yoo Joonghyuk, who often dies and regresses.
My head was spinning.
Did it mean that Yoo Joonghyuk was going to die?
But it couldn't be.
The Yoo Joonghyuk I saw in the 41st turn was more like a 'scumbag' than a 'sunfish'.
In the distance, I could see Jung Heewon, who had cut off all the legs of the giant centipede,
delivering the final blow.
"Get ready to go in one minute!"
The five minutes were already coming to an end.
I hesitated for a moment and used up the last pass.
[You've used up all the free daily passes.]
[You have spent an additional 1,000 coins.]
[Checking the comment that received the most 'upvotes'.]
+
—Yoo Joonghyuk is not the problem, Cheon Inho is about to catch up
Upvotes 189 / Downvotes 3
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I looked around with anxiety for a moment.
Gong Pildu was firing shells steadily, and the line of ground rats had been completely pushed
outward.
After finishing off the giant centipede, I could see Jung Heewon running towards me, stomping
on a ground rat's head.
There was nothing weird.
Time hadn't stopped, and the world hadn't turned colorless, so—!
———!
The floor of the platform exploded in front of me, sending me flying through the air as debris
scrawled and scattered.
With my ears ringing, I spit out dust and stood up. My vision hadn't recovered yet, so I couldn't
tell what happened.
A man who had been catching the ground rats a few moments earlier was being torn apart by
them, his body separated from the waist down.
Horrified people crawled on their asses.
The fort collapsed with a single explosion.
The ground rats had broken through the turret line and were tearing the incarnations apart.
"Help me! Help me!"
Gong Pildu's shattered turrets could be seen in the dust, his proud [Private Property] and [Armed
Zone] both destroyed.
Ye Hyunwoo was shaking the bleeding Gong Pildu.
"Ahjussi! Ahjussi!"
What the hell happened.
Surely everything was going well. There wasn't even a warning from '⬜⬜'.
What the hell.
Kkukukukuku.
A monster species emerged from the settled dust.
['Emergency Defense Battle' has entered a new phase.]
[An additional 7th grade monster species has appeared!]
Giant Centipede.
It was even bigger than the one Jung Heewon had caught. Jung Heewon stretched out her hand
and called out.
"Inho-ssi!"
There was another explosion from the ground.
[An additional 7th grade monster species has appeared!]
The tail of the beast protruding from the ground collided directly with Jung Heewon.
I barely caught the body of Jung Heewon that was sent flying.
"Heewon-ssi."
Jung Heewon let out a painful breath. It seemed that she had received a heavy blow to her back
when as [Hour of Judgement] was released.
A middle-aged man crawling on the ground next to me shouted.
"E-everyone, run!"
The middle-aged man stepped on my phone, which had fallen to the ground. Above the cracked
screen, the platform screen I was looking at floated.
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Episode 9. Words That Can't Be Said (3)+[34]
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The comments grew in real time.
All I could see was the comments of my readers.
I don't know how the chapters are actually written.
「"You've all thought about it at least once: In that world, what kind of life will those who are not
chosen by Kim Dokja live?"」
In the 5,000 characters of text, I wonder if our story is being written properly.
How many people died in this 'Emergency Defense Battle' that Kim Dokja couldn't see until the
end. How many suffered.
What stories were told.
Will the reader of this chapter know that now?
「"I believe you know the truth about what it's like to be an 'extra' in this world."」
Probably not.
Because their deaths are not stories people want to read.
[The constellation 'Prisoner of the Golden Headband' yawns and says he's getting a little bored.]
[The constellation 'Abyssal Black Flame Dragon' wants a novel scenario solution.]
Because a generic extra's death doesn't attract any of the stars' attention.
[A constellation who hasn't revealed their modifier is watching your choice.]
As I stood up with Jung Heewon in my arms, a ground rat pounced through the dust.
"What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?"
With a snap, it was sliced in half.
Lee Jihye was in front of me.
"Master told me to keep you alive."
She spat out the gum she'd been chewing, and didn't even look back at me as if she was bothered.
The giant centipede that had spotted us was coming this way.
"I can't catch that kind of thing either. I'll just buy time, so pull yourself together and go upstairs
now."
Lee Jihye is strong. This kind of adversity won't kill her.
The writer of this story knows it, and the reader knows it.
Perhaps Lee Jihye herself knows this.
「But what about Cheon Inho?」
I slowed my pace and stood beside Lee Jihye.
Lee Jihye's eyes widened as she killed the approaching ground rats.
"What?"
"Please take care of Heewon-ssi."
Lee Jihye, who received Jung Heewon without hesitation, looked at me in surprise.
I ignored her and started walking forward.
I stuck a thorn into the head of an approaching ground rat and kept walking.
"What the hell! Ahjussi! Do you really want to die?"
Die?
"I won't die."
If this really was a life-threatening situation, time would have stopped and the world would have
turned colorless.
And I would have a manuscript opening with all sorts of negative scene titles, like 'The Death of
the Villain', 'The Villain's Crisis', 'The Villain's End', and so on.
So this silence was a clear opening line for me.
「Cheon Inho won't die here.」
"Ah, stop! You're really going to die!"
The platform was littered with the bodies of dead ground rats and humans.
I blinked slowly, as if taking a photograph.
[Describe your own behavior.]
[You have spent 5 probability points.]
The reason I activate my skill now is not to survive.
[The exclusive skill '⬜⬜' is activated.]
It was only because I had something I wanted to write.
Author's Note
There are many things I want to write, but they won't let me.