NOVEL NEXT chapter 598 - Unutterable Words (4)
[You have entered the ‘Snowfield.’]
In the monochrome world, all blood looked the same.
Red blood, blue blood. Everything was dyed in gray across the snowfield.
It was bitter.
In such a vast world.
[Exclusive skill, ‘□□’ resonates with your emotions.]
There was not even a single page allotted for an extra.
+
Words That Cannot Be Written
「□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□□…….」
Based on current proficiency, you can add up to 260 more characters of narration.
+
[You may remain in the ‘Snowfield’ for a total of 3 minutes.]
I began to write.
It was not a story written for anyone else.
There are such stories. Stories without artistic value, without entertainment, yet unbearable not to write.
[You have narrated something that cannot be evaluated.]
[The success rate of reenacting the narration cannot be assessed.]
[The Plausibility granted to you cannot be measured.]
[Checking reader feedback.]
[No reader feedback exists.]
There was no feedback.
Only—
[rlaehrwk37 is checking your story.]
Someone was definitely reading this.
[rlaehrwk61 is checking your story.]
[rlaehrwk99 is checking your story.]
[rlaehrwk73 is checking your story.]
…….
[You have secured additional Plausibility through a certain number of recommendations.]
[Scene reenactment successful.]
[Exiting the ‘Snowfield.’]
When I slowly blinked, color returned to the world.
Right in front of me, a mole cricket was savagely tearing into the body of a dead citizen.
「Lee Hak-hyun knew. Why extras are never spoken of.」
He knew better than anyone.
It was not anyone else but the author who excluded extras from the story.
「Because their stories were already written.」
An unnamed mole cricket bit an unnamed human to death.
Killing that nameless mole cricket in return, I thought:
「This unwritten space between lines—that is their story.」
What had been a gray snowfield until a moment ago was now filled with red and blue blood.
A story not spoken of because it was everywhere.
Deaths that unfolded in the blank space where nothing was written.
「There is no sentence for extras.」
It was only natural.
The moment you write a sentence for an extra, they become the protagonist.
If one person becomes the protagonist, the rest become extras.
“Save me—”
“Aaaagh!”
Save one person, and another died.
I didn’t know the names of the dead. Even right beside me, I couldn’t properly see how they died.
The people lay with eyes open as if in grief.
And damn it all—even in this landscape, I was a writer. A detached chronicler, trying to put words over the blanks left by their deaths.
「And yet, someone must leave footprints in this snowfield.」
A mole cricket bit my thigh.
「In the end, someone must become the protagonist.」
I smashed its head, only for another mole cricket to sink its teeth into my arm.
「That is the reason this snowfield was prepared.」
I brought my weapon down on its head. But when I cut down one, two came. Kill two, and three more rushed.
“No, stop—”
“Inho-ssi! Stop! Inho-ssi!”
Glancing back at the staircase landing, I caught the faces of Gyeong Sein, Ajusshi Dansoo, and Ye Hyunwoo one after another.
Gong Pildu and Jung Heewon still seemed unconscious.
Lee Jihye was busy holding off the monsters flooding up the stairs.
“Ajusshi, what are you doing! Get over here already!”
Plenty of people still hadn’t made it up the staircase. The sandbag formation had collapsed, and they were cornered.
At this rate, Chungmuro Station would be annihilated.
I made a decision.
Whether it would work, I didn’t know.
“Imagination.”
There was nothing left but to try.
“Si—jyo.”
Imagination About Almost Everything babbled from its bracelet state.
I gave the order.
[Exclusive skill, ‘Incite Lv.5’ activated!]
“Transform into the Thousand-Shifting Camouflage Cloak.”
The Thousand-Shifting Camouflage Cloak.
The disguise item once worn by ‘Representative Kim Dokja.’
Back then, I had fulfilled the condition of “10 times hit” required to register its mimicry form, and managed to store it in the “Mimicry List.”
[Equipping ‘Thousand-Shifting Camouflage Cloak’!]
“Transform into a mole cricket.”
A moment later, brilliant light engulfed me and my form changed into that of a mole cricket.
They sniffed and circled me.
Some bared their fangs with hostility. Of course they would—just moments ago they had seen me as a human.
I used [Incite] on them.
“I am a mole cricket.”
After a few hesitant sniffs, one by one they passed me by.
The plan had worked.
I ran quickly against their flow, heading for the center of the platform.
Above, two giant centipedes roared toward the ceiling.
Just a little more.
Mole crickets howled all around.
And then—
「…… ……」
A strange voice reached me.
The moment I turned to trace its source—
[Your exclusive attribute has been activated.]
[You understand the settings of this language.]
[You are interpreting the language of mole crickets.]
「GoUp」
The mole cricket was speaking.
「RunRunRunRun」
「StayBesideMomAlways」
「JustALittleMoreJustALittleMore」
「UpUpUp」
One mole cricket paused in front of me.
「NotThatWay」
It added—
「YouShouldRunThatWay」
I asked it:
“Why?”
「BecauseWeWereToldBecauseWeWereTold」
Told. By whom?
The creature shuddered, glanced toward the tunnel, and then darted off again.
I hadn’t # Nоvеlight # heard the answer, but I thought I knew why it ran.
Humans weren’t the only participants in scenarios.
All beings in this world belonged to the ‘scenarios.’ Even these mole crickets were no exception.
「Mom」
「SaveMeSaveMe」
「SuffocatingSuffocating」
I looked down. Piles of mole cricket corpses riddled with bullets were stacked on the floor.
Several times more than the human bodies.
「Extras don’t even realize they are extras.」
A massive shadow loomed above me.
「You」
Since when? A giant centipede was bending down over my head.
「Why did you come here?」
I didn’t answer. I looked around.
This was exactly the station’s center.
Most people had climbed the staircase. The crucial thing now was to stall until Gong Pildu could redeploy [Armed Zone].
[Exclusive skill, ‘Incite Lv.5’ activated!]
“Look this way!”
At my command, the mole crickets turned toward me.
「WhatWhatWhatWhat」
「WhereWhereWhereWhere」
It wasn’t enough.
Once more I shouted:
“Over here!”
[Exclusive skill, ‘Incite Lv.5’ is used to the limit!]
[Skill proficiency for ‘Incite’ has increased.]
Blood sprayed from my nose.
This time, even more turned. Those charging ahead. Those attacking people near the staircase.
All of them looked my way.
「WhatWhat」
「WhoWhoWho」
「WhyWhyWhyWhy」
I recalled the ‘otherworldly divinities’ of Ways of Survival. The extras who perished namelessly in the world of Extermination Law.
I wasn’t Kim Dokja, so I couldn’t save the monsters.
On the contrary, I had to kill them all to clear the scenario.
“Imagination.”
Summoning it, the mimicry forms I’d stored flashed before me.
Mana Recovery Bracelet.
The broken staff of the Missionary Monk.
The Thousand-Shifting Camouflage Cloak.
Mana Furnace.
And…
This was the one item I’d never wanted to use. Its aftermath would turn this platform into a grave.
But I had no choice.
“Transform into a ‘Venom Bomb.’”
The Venom Bomb. An item dropped during the fight with the Odoc-hyup group in the Veil of Darkness.
A biochemical weapon, crafted from the anal glands of a Corpse-Eating Rhino.
I had picked up a spent bomb back then and registered it in the mimicry list.
[‘Imagination About Almost Everything’ restores a consumed item.]
[A rare chance has triggered a Mimicry Evolution event!]
[Mimicry form evolves to a higher performance grade!]
[‘Imagination About Almost Everything’ mimics a ‘High-Performance Venom Bomb.’]
A faintly glowing bomb appeared before me.
[This is a consumable item.]
[Once used, this form cannot be mimicked again.]
[Effect of ‘Thousand-Shifting Camouflage Cloak’ is cancelled.]
My body reverted to human, and the mole crickets growled, baring their fangs.
Yet none lunged. Even the giant centipede held back, wary of the thing in my hand.
They knew.
If I detonated this, every monster here would be annihilated.
「WhatDoWeDoMomImScared」
「HideBehindMom」
I stared at them for a moment.
「What’sHappening」
「HumanHumanHuman」
「Don’tWantToDieDon’tWantToDie」
Then I spoke.
[Exclusive skill, ‘Incite Lv.5’ activated!]
“There’s no need to die like this.”
I turned to the mole crickets, the centipede, the groles.
“Stop attacking the people and go back. If you do, I won’t kill you.”
[The Constellation, ‘Rat That Eats Nails,’ admires your boldness.]
[The Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes,’ opens its mouth at your proposal.]
[The Constellation, ‘Demonic Judge of Fire’ is astonished by your nobility.]
I knew it was unlikely.
But in theory, monsters and humans could clear the scenario without slaughtering each other.
[7 hours 12 minutes remain until the end of the ‘Emergency Defense Battle.’]
I continued.
“The ‘Emergency Defense Battle’ has a time limit. Even if we don’t kill each other, it will end eventually.”
A ripple of unrest spread through the mole crickets.
「Perhaps there could be a story where no one is the protagonist.」
Extras had died aplenty. Both monsters and humans knew it.
[The mole crickets feel confusion at your ‘Incite.’]
They too were only incarnations. They feared death.
They had families. Friends.
Lives.
Sparks exploded in the air.
[Some dokkaebis deem your attempt a threat to scenario progress.]
[Many constellations wish to see the scenario advance quickly!]
[The Plausibility of moves.]
[Your ‘Incite’ is cancelled.]
[‘Emergency Defense Battle’ resumes.]
[A minority of constellations laugh at your reckless action.]
Reading the messages, I thought:
「In the end, this world itself is one massive incitement.」
A mole cricket looked at me.
「ThereIsNoSuchStory」
At those words, the swarm charged.
I answered.
“Yeah.”
The explosion roared. A nauseating stench filled the platform as venom gas spread like a blizzard.
The monsters screamed. Giant centipedes and mole crickets sprayed black blood and collapsed.
Even the ones rushing from the tunnel dropped dead in droves. Watching them die, I thought:
「If the monsters hadn’t died here, would this story have been interesting?」
[The Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon,’ cheers at the sight of mass slaughter.]
[The Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes,’ says monsters taste best when killed.]
[The Constellation, ‘Prisoner of the Golden Headband,’ marvels at your idea.]
[The Constellation, ‘Dragon Lying Down,’ highly praises your stratagem.]
…….
Barely breathing, I staggered. I might collapse at any moment, but not yet.
I swallowed the powder of the Corpse-Eating Rhino’s horn bit by bit and began walking back.
One step. Then another.
Staggering, stabbing each mole cricket that approached, trudging through the fog-shrouded scene.
I fought back the nausea. Tripped over corpses, got up again.
Then I heard a faint whimper.
A dying mole cricket. I almost stabbed it with my thorn when—
Squeak.
I realized it was already dead. Instead, wriggling in its chest was a tiny creature.
A baby mole cricket.
I stared at it blankly.
「In the end, every story has a protagonist.」
Struggling faintly, it breathed as if pleading to live.
Its snout, exposed to the gas, was turning black.
I bent down and gathered the baby in my arms. Then I poured the remaining powder of the Corpse-Eating Rhino’s horn into its mouth, little by little.
Its faint cries slowly quieted.
[The Constellation, ‘Sneaking Schemer,’ is watching your story.]
With the baby mole cricket in my arms, I walked on. The fog revealed no path.
[The Constellation, ‘Lotus Blooming Under Moonlight,’ is watching your story.]
Guided by faint voices of the stars, I walked, and walked again.
My consciousness blurred.
Faint human voices reached me.
They were calling my name.
My toe caught against something hard. A stair. I had to climb.
[An unnamed Constellation is watching your story.]
I glanced back unconsciously.
The countless monsters and humans that had been here were now buried completely in fog.
I stepped onto the stair. A footprint appeared.
[You have achieved an unbelievable feat.]
It was a pitch-black footprint.
[Your first ‘Myth’ has begun to sprout.]
I climbed the stairs.