NOVEL NEXT chapter 606 - The Work (1)
These days, every time I faint, one thought keeps returning.
Perhaps this time, too, I might meet Kim Dokja.
And whenever I thought of meeting him, I always had a set of questions prepared.
Where exactly are you right now?
Why did you call me into this place?
And you—what story are you reading now?
[Current state of consciousness is unstable.]
Unfortunately, when I opened my eyes, it wasn’t the snowy plain.
What I saw around me was the dim scenery of a theater. The same theater I had seen before, where all the little Kim Dokjas had gathered.
The instant I regained my senses, the first person who came to mind was Jeong Jaewoo. In his final moment, Jeong Jaewoo had vanished in the form of a “little Kim Dokja.”
Could he be here too? Around the theater, I saw clusters of tiny backs of heads sitting close together.
Before, I might have thought they looked cute. But now, a chill lingered in the corner of my chest.
Perhaps—these “little Kim Dokjas” were all dead readers.
Just as I slowly opened my mouth, about to call Jeong Jaewoo’s name—
「“Yoo Joonghyuk.”」
The voice flowed from the speaker at the front.
On the screen, there were two figures. One was Yoo Joonghyuk in his black coat.
And the other was…
「“Who are you?”」
Yoo Joonghyuk asked, and someone replied—
「“I am the one who came to end your story.”」
It felt as if my heart had dropped with a thud.
No.
Those two must not fight here.
I had to get out of this place immediately.
I felt my body slowly scattering. My consciousness was waking up again.
—Wow, a battle of the century!
In my fading moment, I heard one of the little Kim Dokjas beside me shouting that out.
***
When I came to, Killer King was nudging me with his foot.
“You’re weak. To lose consciousness over such a trivial wound.”
Groaning softly, I pushed myself up. Around us stretched the darkness of night, the faint warmth of a campfire reaching me.
It seemed I had been helped by the Killer King siblings.
“Drink this.”
Killer King’s younger sister supported me as she offered me a teacup. The smell rising from it told me it was brewed with medicinal herbs.
“Thank you.”
From the color and aroma, it must have contained something like Elaine’s Dawn Dew or Baekon Grass…
Neither of which appeared in the original Ways of Survival.
“It’s not poison. No need to be suspicious. I don’t repeat the same trick twice.”
“I was just appreciating the fragrance.”
“It’s a new medicinal herb we discovered. Good for recovering magic power and mental stamina.”
As he spoke, Killer King took a demonstrative sip of the tea himself.
Watching a reader naturally discover and make use of materials never written by the author filled me with strange emotions.
Even after leaving the author’s hand, the story continued on its own.
「I wonder if Han Sooyoung knows this.」
With a faint headache, the dream I had just seen drifted back to mind.
As I glanced around nervously, Killer King spoke.
“Jung Heewon is over there.”
By the fire, Jung Heewon lay asleep under a light blanket. I brought a hand to her nose—her breathing was shallow but steady.
“She doesn’t seem to have external injuries. Was she hit by a mental attack?”
It seemed she still hadn’t recovered from the aftereffects of [Agitation].
Instead of going into detail, I briefly mentioned the culprits.
“I encountered the ODHC.”
As expected, Killer King’s posture immediately changed.
“Tell me everything.”
After letting out a short breath, I began my account—starting from the readers gathered beneath the theater dungeon.
Killer King didn’t need many words before he understood the situation.
“I see. The scenario has changed. A concession to the latecomers, perhaps.”
But when I mentioned the one calling himself “the Author,” his gaze sharpened ominously.
“The Author? You’re saying that bastard was with the ODHC?”
I couldn’t help but think—when Yoo Joonghyuk had been betrayed by Anna Croft in the 2nd regression, his expression must have looked just like this.
Yet Killer King quickly regained his composure.
“You may not know this, but [Lie Detection] can be tricked depending on the speaker’s faith, conviction, or the value of the information itself.”
I knew that much, but I nodded anyway.
“For him to claim he ‘wrote Ways of Survival’… it must mean he created an illegal text copy. In other words, he isn’t the true author.”
I couldn’t help but be impressed.
As expected of Killer King.
“Then, if it’s a ‘text-copy Author’… it must be him, after all.”
“You recognize him?”
“One of the ODHC officers. I’ve fought him before. What happened to him? Did you make sure he’s dead?”
“He should be. He was fatally injured.”
Killer King nodded with a dissatisfied look.
“I understand the situation. You managed to survive somehow.”
“When did you two arrive here?”
“Half a day ago, by outside time. Two days ago, by this stage’s flow.”
So the time scale of this stage was different from the outside.
Half a day outside—meaning they must have entered right as the Emergency Defense scenario began.
“With your skills, it shouldn’t have taken two days to clear this film.”
“We ran into the ODHC as well.”
“The ODHC?”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
Why had I assumed the ODHC would only be among the latecomers?
They, too, had read Ways of Survival through text copies. The sharp ones could have infiltrated the theater dungeon in advance.
“There were five in total. We ran into them right as we entered. Two were Rat’s followers, three were Snake’s. We killed them all, but the problem was—the Snake followers bit me before dying.”
As he spoke, Killer King revealed his arm.
“A curse.”
“Correct.”
“What kind of curse?”
“Curse of Direction Confusion.”
I recalled a setting note I had once scribbled down.
Those afflicted by this curse could no longer distinguish north, south, east, or west—and unconsciously kept straying down the wrong path.
“Luckily it has a time limit. It should lift once we escape this stage.”
“I see. So that’s why it took two days… wait. Hold on.”
Something didn’t add up.
Killer King should have been the only one affected.
“You have your sister. Couldn’t she lead the way?”
At my words, his younger sister stiffened with a startled expression.
Killer King looked at her blankly, then said:
“Yerin’s always been terrible with directions.”
His sister promptly kicked him in the side.
Killer King flinched faintly, then smirked slyly.
“Anyway, I have a request for you.”
“A request?”
“Guide us to the Central Research Building. Do that, and I’ll spare your life.”
Once again, his sister kicked him.
***
Meeting the Killer King siblings in this stage was a stroke of luck.
Killer King might be strange in the head, but when he was on your side, he was a powerful ally.
“It’s best if we set out right away.”
“Now?”
“Yes. With that curse, every minute we waste is dangerous.”
I traced a rough map into the dirt.
“I know the location of the research building.”
“Jung Heewon still hasn’t woken.”
Carrying her would indeed be risky. But time was short.
“She’ll wake soon. I’ll carry her myself.”
“You’re not hiding some scheme, are you? Once was enough to be tricked by you.”
Come to think of it, the last time I met these siblings was inside the Shadow of Darkness.
“You gave us a ‘Random Item Box’ that had already expired.”
A faint killing intent stirred.
I answered honestly.
“That’s true.”
“Did you use the box yourself?”
I shook my head.
I fully expected [Lie Detection] to activate—but no message appeared.
After thinking for a moment, Killer King asked:
“Then why did you put that note inside?”
Back then, I had slipped several pieces of useful information into the box. By now, Killer King must have used those clues to secure quite a few hidden pieces.
“Do you truly not understand?”
He stared at me for a moment, then turned his head sharply, as if embarrassed.
“No… I think I do.”
Just as I thought.
Killer King was the type who needed to figure things out on his own.
That’s why he had read Ways of Survival 99.8 times. Where most would simply read a compiled setting guide, he had dug through it himself.
“But in any case, moving out now would be unwise.”
Distant, intermittent roars of earth-dragons echoed through the forest.
Killer King continued,
“Whatever you did, it’s stirred the monsters into a frenzy.”
I thought back to the ODHC constellations who had interfered with me.
The Rat That Brings Plague had been forced out by plausibility backlash. But one still remained—
The Snake That Sheds Its Tail.
He was likely the cause of this chaos.
Since I couldn’t recall any established lore, he must have been a nameless, great-personage-class constellation.
Even such a nameless being was now a formidable obstacle.
“But you two are here. I saw you take down a 7th-grade earth-dragon easily.”
“That was only because it was an ambush. Face-to-face, it would’ve been tough even for us. And besides…”
[All earth-dragons in the stage have received the effect of the ‘Black Moon.’]
Killer King lifted his gaze to the moon above.
“Since that moon rose, the earth-dragons have been steadily growing stronger. If we ran into another 7th-grade now, even with a surprise attack, it wouldn’t be easy.”
“……”
“Fortunately, the ‘Black Moon’ has a fixed duration.”
[The effect of the ‘Black Moon’ will last for a total of 8 hours.]
His meaning was clear.
Common sense dictated we should wait. Wait for Jung Heewon to recover, and for the Black Moon to fade.
「That way, no one else would be lost.」
Because of my misjudgment, I had already lost Jeong Jaewoo. If I blundered again, Killer King or his sister might die too.
“Even so, we must go.”
I knew this wasn’t the rational choice. But rationality no longer applied to this world.
This was a novel.
「In a novel, you must think in ‘novelistic’ terms.」
I couldn’t let guilt destroy what was important.
Jeong Jaewoo had died.
But he lived on as a little Kim Dokja. Perhaps the same was true for the other readers.
They had not truly died.
And if they had not, then surely there must be a way to bring them back.
I had to believe that.
This was that kind of “story.” And in this impossible world, I had to plan for the next development.
「Block the scheduled destruction and carve out a new myth.」
How could I reach the proper “ending” of this tale?
“Yoo Joonghyuk may die.”
Killer King paused, then asked,
I nodded.
He didn’t use [Lie Detection]. Instead, he looked to his sister.
“Yerin.”
She only shrugged, as if to say, Do as you wish.
Killer King didn’t hesitate for long.
“To the research building, then.”
***
We pushed through the broad-leaf forest, heading straight for the Central Research Building.
We occasionally ran into 8th-grade raptor-type earth-dragons, and more rarely 7th-grade tyrannosaurs.
Though progress was slow, we steadily advanced.
The direction was correct. The research facility should indeed be this way.
Killer King followed without complaint. Sometimes he even broke branches ahead for his sister’s sake, or warned her to watch her step.
To be honest, it puzzled me.
All it took was a single warning—that Yoo Joonghyuk might die—for him to risk danger alongside me.
How could he accept that so easily?
“I’ve been wondering…”
I asked as Killer King snapped another branch aside.
“Why is it called the ‘Seven Apostles’?”
In Ways of Survival, “apostle” was never a positive word.
There, the apostles were dropouts who hadn’t read all the way to the end of the Great Methods of Annihilation—their officers, to be exact.
Killer King gave me a sharp look, as if to ask why I’d even bring that up.
Leaves shook as a soft sound rustled through the forest.
The rain had started falling again.
Maybe it was the patter of rain that made me miss his first words.
“We…”
I didn’t understand what he meant right away.
“…have not yet finished reading that story.”
The realization struck belatedly.
I had thought “Seven Apostles” was merely a borrowed name for their reader community.
But it wasn’t.
「The ‘Seven Apostles’ was a group of those who believed Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint had not yet ended.」
Because the story had not ended, they were involuntary “dropouts.”
“That’s why we call ourselves Apostles.”
Because they had left against their will, they bore that title themselves.
“But that story…”
Has ended.
Just as I was about to say so, something silenced my lips.
A flood of thoughts surged through me.
Why I and the other readers had been brought to this world. And the “side story” of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint that was still being serialized on its own within my phone.
Goosebumps prickled down my arm.
Could it be—that this world had no choice but to exist because…
“Why do you ask all of a sudden? Do you want to become an Apostle yourself?”
Killer King looked at me.
“Even if you did, I couldn’t accept you.”
“Why not?”
His thick brows furrowed as he answered:
“Because you act like someone who already knows the ending.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle.
But his face was serious.
“You knew hidden pieces even I didn’t.”
“That’s because—”
“And you keep making those strange expressions.”
“That’s just my eyes squinting.”
Ignoring me, Killer King glanced at my wounded shoulder as he added,
“Even your tolerance for pain. Do you… have the [Fourth Wall]?”
I had no idea how to answer.
For a brief moment, temptation rose.
Maybe I could tell him the truth—that I was the Author.
But just as quickly, another thought came.
「What use would that be, here and now?」
To call myself the Author, when I couldn’t take responsibility for anything in this story?
Maybe my face had looked strange, because Killer King smiled faintly and said,
“Don’t think too hard. I just don’t like how you keep acting like Kim Dokja.”
The silhouette of the Central Research Building appeared in the distance. At last, we were near our destination.
“…Though for a moment, I almost wished it were true.”
As he spoke, his expression seemed strangely lonely.
I thought of the other readers in the theater lobby. By now, perhaps they too were confronting the truth of this world.
「In this world, there is no Kim Dokja.」
They had read Kim Dokja’s story, wanted to know more of it—but were summoned to a world without him.
Then for whom did this story exist?
“Let’s get ready.”
As I halted, so too did Killer King and his sister.
We all knew—the real danger began now.
Killer King said,
“As you know, if things were proceeding normally, killing that 7th-grade earth-dragon should have satisfied the ending condition.”
He was right.
In the original Ways of Survival, the moment they killed the “Tyrannosaurus,” the ending message had appeared and the path to the research building had opened.
But since that hadn’t happened—
“It means the ending of this film is something else.”
Kugugugugu—
The ground rumbled.
On the road leading to the Central Research Building, something was waiting.
[The Theater Owner awaits the ‘ending’ you will create.]
A low growl raked across the earth. The ground quaked violently.
The Killer King siblings’ faces hardened, faint fear flickering in their expressions. Seeing that fear, I felt an inexplicable thrill.
Was this the emotion of an Author?
“There’s something stronger than a 7th-grade.”
Or was it because I too, right now, was simply one more reader encountering this story for the first time?
[6th-grade earth-dragon, ‘Lord of the Cretaceous,’ roars!]
And somehow, I had the sense that within this theater, the answer might be found.