NOVEL NEXT chapter 603 - Author (4)
An illegal file uploader pretending to be the author.
What the hell has the world come to?
[The Constellation, ‘Tiger Who Eats Rice Cakes,’ encourages you anyway.]
The only reason he hadn’t been caught by [Lie Detection] was probably because he had actually typed out Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint himself.
But could that really be called “writing”?
As I found myself scoffing at the ridiculous judgment of [Lie Detection], a strange amusement welled up inside me.
「Then what about me?」
Fingering the lemon candy in my pocket, I thought about the real author who had written this story.
「How much of this story can I say that I’ve ‘written’?」
[The ‘Cinema Adventure’ will soon begin.]
When I turned back, Jung Heewon, fully prepared, asked me:
“Is it just the two of us going?”
“Yes.”
I glanced at the other teams. Most had filled their maximum allotment of three people.
A lingering [Transmission] filled my ears with regret.
—Are you really not going to team up with us?
—What a pity. We’ll look forward to next time.
It was the Iron Lady and the Old Man with the Pipe.
Both teams had considerable strength, but forming an alliance with them could easily cause problems in the scenarios to come.
Above all else—
“Let’s make sure we survive to see each other again.”
—I wouldn’t be able to look after Gyeong Sein and the ahjussi, Lee Dansoo.
“Please take care of yourself too, ahjussi.”
The two of them formed a team together with Lee Jihye.
“If you can’t keep up, I’ll just leave you behind.”
“I-I’ll do my best to keep up!”
Though Lee Jihye grumbled outwardly, she was soft-hearted inside.
Just as in the Emergency Defense Battle, she wouldn’t turn her back on them in a crisis.
Besides, both Gyeong Sein and Dansoo ahjussi had grown far from helpless.
Most likely, the only one here carrying a Constellation’s relic was Dansoo ahjussi.
[Hmm, looks like everyone’s finished preparing.]
With a sizzling buzz, the dokkaebi Bihyung reappeared.
[But it seems there are still some who haven’t managed to find a team…]
His gaze swept over the lobby.
[Don’t worry too much. Those without a team will be matched randomly.]
Random matching?
[Entry is commencing.]
[You have been appointed as the representative of your team.]
[Incarnation ‘Jung Heewon’ has joined your team.]
[Incarnation ‘Jung Jaewoo’ has joined your team.]
An awkward situation. I had deliberately avoided taking in teammates, yet here I was, forcefully assigned one.
“Um, h-hello.”
An unfamiliar man with a vaguely familiar face approached, bowing awkwardly.
He must have been ‘Jung Jaewoo.’
“I-It looks like we’re on the same team… I’ll be in your care.”
Looking closely, I realized he was the reader who’d been shouting earlier, “Anyone here read ORV?”
Watching him cry out alone like that had reminded me of Kim Dokja going around recommending Extermination Method, and I’d felt sorry for him…
But appearances alone weren’t reason enough to trust someone.
[Activating ‘Reader Comment Log’!]
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ID: rala99
Platform: Series
Total Comments: 103
Reader Level: 19
Completion Count: 1.62 times
You may spend coins to view this reader’s comments.
Currently available to view for free: 3 comments.
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Nothing too remarkable in the profile.
I immediately checked the comments.
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Came here for the free cookies~
—(Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Episode 1)
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They said there’s an event, but is this all the free stuff??
—(Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Episode 50)
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Already spent all my free cookies~~ But I’ll keep reading anyway~~
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I momentarily lost words.
“You’re Jaewoo-ssi, right? Let’s work well together.”
“Yes, please take care of me too.”
Beside us, Jung Heewon also gave him a short nod of greeting.
When Jung Jaewoo realized who she was, he nearly collapsed, bowing with an expression of awe.
“M-Me too! It’s an honor!”
Honestly, that was better.
Rather than being stuck with some shady, dangerous person, it might be better to have someone this guileless.
Then a small die appeared before my eyes.
[Please roll the die.]
I picked it up lightly.
Around me, other readers who had rolled already were cursing.
“Damn it.”
“A 1 right at the start?”
On their dice showing a ‘1,’ a dark aura flickered. It seemed the color of the die changed depending on the number rolled.
I studied the die closely.
If the scenario had already progressed to the Dark Star stage, I could have invoked the legendary fable 「God of Dice」 for aid, but…
“For now, I’ll give it a try.”
After exchanging glances with my companions, I tossed the die.
And then—
“Huh?”
The die shone gold.
[The result is 6.]
Jung Heewon’s eyes widened.
“Lucky, aren’t you?”
[Advance 6 steps up the staircase.]
[Double Chance! You may roll again.]
I rolled once more.
[The result is 5.]
[Advance 5 steps up the staircase.]
[You have reached the 2nd floor!]
So it was 10 steps per floor.
I hadn’t expected to reach the 2nd floor in one go.
And the luck didn’t stop there.
[You have entered a Bonus Stage!]
[Each team member receives a bonus of 1,000 coins!]
[You have gained an extra dice roll!]
The die appeared again. I rolled it for the third time.
[The result is 5.]
[Advance 5 steps up the staircase.]
[You have entered a Normal Stage!]
[This stage has no task.]
[In 3 minutes, another dice roll will be granted.]
Was this even possible?
A streak of luck beyond comprehension. From the start, I was allowed to roll four times in a row.
Jung Heewon looked at me in amazement.
“Suddenly possessed by the dice gods? Were you always this good at games?”
If it came down to luck, I was usually the unlucky type.
I’d never once won a simple comment raffle or cash event.
“Well… in my opinion.”
In , nothing happens by chance.
If such inexplicable fortune suddenly fell into my lap, then there had to be a narrative reason behind it.
For example—
“Jaewoo-ssi.”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to have some sort of passive skill?”
“Ah.”
Jung Jaewoo darted his eyes away and scratched his cheek awkwardly.
“U-um… am I allowed to say?”
“You don’t have to if it makes you uncomfortable.”
Was he more cautious than expected?
Seeing him apply Kim Dokja’s maxim so faithfully, I wondered if he was actually a diligent reader of ORV…
“N-no, I’ll tell you. It’s not a skill exactly… more like a trait called [Small Luck].”
The moment I heard the name, I was startled.
[Small Luck].
No explanation was necessary. It was exactly what it sounded like—a trait that magnified small strokes of luck.
In fact, [Small Luck] was something I had once considered giving to Kim Dokja himself.
「‘Author-nim, there are already too many protagonists who rely on luck these days…’」
…until Jee Uiyoo’s one remark had led me to scrap it.
And yet, here was a reader who actually possessed it.
“I don’t know why, but I’ve always been just a little lucky….”
With a bright smile, Jung Jaewoo began spilling out his stories unprompted.
“Like when I go to buy bread, there’s always one of the exact kind I want left. Or when I guess on a problem I don’t know the answer to, it’s always right… Not amazing, but these small bits of luck just keep following me….”
Looking embarrassed, he continued.
“So even here, I’ve survived several times thanks to luck. Like when I was on the subway, I happened to spot the insects right away…”
He told me how he’d escaped the riot at Cheongu Station by going aboveground, only to meet a pair of siblings who shared with him the ‘Lung of the El-Lion Monkey.’ (Probably the Killer King siblings.)
“When I asked if I could go with them, they said no.”
Then how he’d gone into the underground at Yaksu Station still chewing the lung, ran into non-human species, and barely managed to escape with someone’s help. (Likely the Five General Readers Association.)
“I really thought I was going to die then.”
How, while running again aboveground, he encountered a Rhinoceros of Poisonous Reading, only to be saved when someone killed it in passing. (Yoo Joonghyuk, maybe?)
“The sword was so fast I couldn’t even see it.”
And how, in his desperate flight, he’d suddenly come to his senses and found himself at Chungmuro Theater.
“There are a lot of fellow readers here, so I feel safer.”
I stared blankly at Jung Jaewoo.
So people like this really did exist.
A man truly blessed with luck.
“Ha, wait—should I even be saying all this out loud?”
Realizing belatedly, he clapped a hand over his mouth and glanced at Jung Heewon.
Fortunately, she was too busy scouting the empty 2nd floor lobby to pay attention.
Relieved, Jung Jaewoo asked again in a lowered voice:
“That person… she’s the Jung Heewon I think she is, right?”
“She is.”
“Gasp!”
He cried out so loudly that Jung Heewon turned around from afar.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing at all.”
Still out of breath, Jung Jaewoo struggled to calm himself before blurting again:
“Have you met any other members of
“Um, Jaewoo-ssi, let’s not talk about that right now. It might confuse Heewon-ssi.”
“A-ah, I’m sorry.”
He hung his head, crestfallen. Perhaps I’d been too harsh; I felt a pang of guilt.
[A ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) new die has been generated!]
I handed it to him to change the subject.
“Would you like to roll this time?”
“R-really? May I?”
“Yes.”
His face lit up as he nodded eagerly.
“O-okay, here I go!”
With an enthusiastic shout, Jung Jaewoo rolled the die. And—
[The result is 5.]
[Advance 5 steps up the staircase.]
Not the 6 I was hoping for, but a 5 was hardly bad.
That brought our total to 21.
Enough to reach the 3rd floor in one go.
Maybe meeting Jung Jaewoo really was good luck.
[You have fallen into a Trap Stage!]
[Move back 3 steps down the staircase.]
Huh?
[You have entered a Normal Stage.]
So [Small Luck] hadn’t activated this time?
“Get ready.”
[To clear this stage, you must watch the ‘Ending’ of the film.]
[The difficulty of this stage is high. Upon clearing, a ‘Ladder’ will be provided.]
[This stage is shared with the Forerunners.]
In the blink of an eye, a lush forest unfolded around us.
I recognized this place.
From the looks on their faces, Jung Heewon and Jung Jaewoo had realized it too.
From every direction, came the cries of massive monsters.
It had to be—that movie which Kim Dokja’s group had once cleared in ORV.
Jung Jaewoo muttered in disbelief.
“Holy crap… this is that movie, right? With the T-Rex—”
“It seems so.”
If it really was that movie, then despite the high difficulty, there were valuable items to be found.
For example, the ‘Enhancement Ampoule’ hidden in the central laboratory.
But there was one thing that bothered me.
「The stage is shared with the Forerunners.」
The system had clearly said so. Meaning, someone had already entered before us.
Who could it be?
Yoo Joonghyuk, perhaps?