Chapter 51

1 My plan was clear. The First Disciple, aka the plagiarist, had limited knowledge of the early parts of TWSA. And as is often the case with people in the know, he was very possessive of his knowledge and would try to hide it even from the Oracles. On the other hand, the Tyrant King, one of the Seven Kings of Seoul, found out about the existence of the Oracles and had been using them. One who wanted to monopolize the information, and one who wanted to gather more of it. It was obvious what would happen when those two faced each other. “…So you want to recreate the Revelation?” Seongguk asked. “Yes, that’s right.” The plan was simple: Make copies of the plagiarist’s novel, then spread it to each station. That was the gist of it. A part of the Revelation owned by the Oracles has been leaked! The groundwork had already been laid. Thanks to Donghoon’s “Comment Manipulation,” information about the Oracles had been widely disseminated on the internet. If people thought the Revelation file was leaked, it would create chaos. A small number of the early renouncers who had survived would try to obtain the hidden intel, and the Tyrant King would make his move as well. “But…we don’t remember the story of SSSSS-Rank Infinite Regressor. How can we make the file?” “Why do we need the story of the plagiarized novel?” “Eh?” “We know the source material.” “Oh…!” exclaimed Minseob, yet he still looked worried. “The problem is, we already made use of all the secrets we knew, so…” “I’ll tell you about more. Weave that information into the early plot of TWSA, and make it sound like it’s secret intel for acquiring powerful items.” That should get the attention of our plagiarist and the Tyrant King. Seongguk smiled awkwardly. “This is funny. I can’t believe I’m creating one of these files. I always just read them.” Did these two…read bootleg copies? “But don’t we become just like the plagiarist by doing this?” Minseob asked. “We’re copying from the original story to make this file…” He had a point. I thought about it for a bit. “There’s a saying: A plagiarist doesn’t want you to know about the source material. A parody is more fun if you know about the source material. And an homage wants you to know about the original work.” “Oh, that’s an interesting point.” “By that logic, what we’re doing is an homage.” It’s true. I genuinely want more people to know about SSSSS-Rank Infinite Regressor…so I can destroy that plagiarist bastard! We borrowed Pildu’s laptop and started typing. None of us had any experience writing a novel, so we had to work together. Minseob started pulling his hair out. “Ugh, I had no idea writing was so hard… Props to writers out there…” “Just whip something up real quick. It doesn’t need to be that polished. As long as it has enough tantalizing bits to draw people out. In fact, an incomplete writing might serve as better bait for the Oracles. What we’re going for is a mixture of truths and lies.” Looking over what Minseob was typing, I added, “And let’s change the names of the characters in the novel. I’m a bit worried, you see.” It might be too much of a shock to characters like Hyeonseong and Jihye to read about themselves. Like it or not, they’d eventually find out that this world was based on a novel, but that didn’t have to happen now. Minseob then said something unexpected. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that.” “Huh?” “Actually, Seongguk and I tested this out by telling a few characters that this world was a novel, but they didn’t understand us at all. It’s like they’re NPCs in a video game… No matter how serious we were, they thought we were joking.” Didn’t see that coming. I remembered hearing Minseob and one of the Disciples openly referring to TWSA characters as things like “side character.” Looking back, those characters’ reaction to that—of the lack thereof—did seem…rather strange. “That’s how the First Disciple was able to easily identify the Oracles,” Minseob continued. “TWSA characters seemed to resent hearing that they were in a novel, or pretended not to hear it. It may have also been the reason the Disciples insisted on using the term ‘Revelation.’” Hearing that made me feel a bit uncomfortable. “…What do you think is the difference between the novel characters and us?” “Sorry? Well…we’re real people and they’re fictional characters? Is there more to it than that?” “Then at what point did this world become the one in the novel?” “Hmm… When the first scenario started, maybe?” I still wasn’t satisfied with Minseob’s explanation. In my eyes, Seongguk and Minseob were “outsiders,” just like me. That was why I couldn’t see their info when I first met them. However, since the recent update, I could see their info via “Character Profile.” So are these two “real people” or “novel characters”? Or does everyone eventually turn into a character as time passes…? At that moment, I looked at Sangah and Gilyeong across the platform. [Exclusive skill “Character Profile” has been activated.] [This person is not registered in “Character Profile.”] [Currently collecting data about this character.] Luckily, I still couldn’t see their information. Sangah noticed I was looking and smiled at me, followed by Gilyeong. “Dokja, what’s wrong?” “It’s nothing.” I felt relieved, but I didn’t know why. We completed the novel’s rough framework soon after. It wasn’t very good at all. Had we tried to serialize it on one of the major websites, it would’ve flopped hard, but that didn’t matter now. “First, let’s spread the rumor that the Revelation has been leaked.” “Is there enough time for that?” Seongguk asked. “I’ll ask Donghoon. With his Reclusive Loner attribute, the rumor will spread in no time.” “Ah, Donghoon… Got it. Not every station has internet, though. What about them?” “I’ll be sending someone for that.” I looked behind me. Ilhun Kang nodded, as if he had been waiting for his cue. “Oh, I see. He’d be perfect for that… I forgot about him.” Seongguk agreed with me. “Ilhun, are you ready?” Ilhun used to be the vice leader of Dongdaemun, and letting him live had been the right choice. He looked a bit nervous, but he replied, “Leave it to me. When it comes to gossip, I’m your man.” [Character Ilhun Kang is relying on you.] [Your understanding of character Ilhun Kang has increased.] It was time for him to show off his attribute, Rumor Expert. Forty-four hours remained until the end of the scenario. The battle would begin within a day. Thanks, Donghoon. Don’t mention it. I’m just repaying you. [Character Donghoon Han trusts you a little bit.] Donghoon Han, the Reclusive King of Shadows, began to open up to me. Saving him from the Oracles’ clutches worked much better for me than I thought. I sense an inexplicable familiarity with you Familiarity? It’s like I’ve known you for a long time… By any chance, are you a reclusive loner, too? Maybe. Every human is a reclusive loner in some way. …You think so? There’s like this unseen wall between us. It’s hard to explain, but I don’t hate it. Shouldn’t a wall be a bad thing? I only trust people who have this kind of wall. I think you have to face someone’s wall in order to understand them. Donghoon is only seventeen, but he sounds like a wise man. A wall… He may be right. You’re more desperate because you cannot climb over some walls. Anyway, I’ve spread the rumor. So how are you going to share the so-called “Revelation”? Through the internet again? No. If we use the internet, any random person could read it. I’m going to sell it. Sell it? How? I began explaining my plan to Donghoon. Forty hours remained until the end of the scenario. I gathered up the members of the Chungmuro group. “This won’t be easy. If we don’t take over Changsin Station within forty hours or so, our entire group will die. But the faction occupying that station is no pushover.” “Ha, has anything ever been easy for us? So who’s our enemy this time?” “He’s called the Tyrant King,” I answered Huiwon’s question. “He’s currently one of the Seven Kings in Seoul, and he controls the biggest territory out of all the factions in the north.” “What kind of person is he?” Hyeonseong asked. “He started in Dobong-gu, and he’s establishing his own kingdom. I hear he takes beautiful men and women as his concubines and kills or enslaves anyone he deems ugly.” Huiwon frowned with concern. “Then I guess he’ll make you a slave, Dokja.” “……I think you’re in danger of that, too, Huiwon.” “I don’t wanna become a concubine, though… How about we just kill him?” “That’s easier said than done. He has a powerful sponsor. We have two options—we can either seize his flag or claim his home base, Dobong Station.” Neither option was easy, so the group looked nervous. It was time to tell them the real plan. “For now, we’ll head to Gwanghwamun.” “Huh? I thought we were going to fight.” “We’ll let them come to us.” “How?” “I’ve leaked some information to lure them. He’ll take a while to get there, so we’ll wait for a bit before setting out. Everyone, get ready and—huh?” “…What’s wrong?” A sneaky smile came across my face. “Nothing. This is just moving a bit faster than I thought.” I received a text from Donghoon. I’ve spread a rumor that people can find a leaked version of the Revelation in the auction house. Is that okay? Yes, that’s okay. Good job. I then received some system messages. [The item you have listed in the auction house has been sold.] [The item you have listed in the auction house has been sold.] Bihyeong’s voice came out of thin air Your attribute is Con Man, isn’t it? How are the constellations reacting? They’re super hyped. Some of the censoring is starting to come off, too… A bunch of constellations even bought it for their incarnations. Still, this will draw even more attention to you. Are you okay with that? Doesn’t sharing this information put you at a disadvantage? Not at all. I had plenty of information. And the intel I’d leaked wasn’t something I needed. Instead, it would damage someone else. Just give me my coins. Here you go, jerk. [16 copies of the Revelation, SSSSS-Rank Infinite Regressor, have been sold in the auction house.] [You have gained 16,000 coins.] Obviously, I didn’t leak the information for free. The people who’d want this kind of intel would already have sponsoring constellations, so they’d have no trouble purchasing it through the auction house. If the Revelation, which contained important intel, was free, people would question its authenticity. Still, sixteen thousand coins? Just like that? This is shaping up to be quite a lucrative business. I addressed my companions. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go take a quick nap.” “…Aren’t you being a bit too lax about this?” “There are things I can only do while I’m asleep.” I lay down on the ground. I didn’t know where Sangah got a blanket from, but she put it over me. Huiwon clicked her tongue in disbelief. And I fell asleep instantly. The system’s message came to me as I was passing out. [Exclusive Skill “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” Lv.3 has been activated.] Based on what I’d discovered so far, “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” had three levels. Level 1: It allowed me to read a character’s simple desires and feelings. Level 2: It allowed me to read a character’s thoughts. Level 3: It allowed me to see a character’s surroundings and even experience things from their point of view. I’d experienced level 3 twice, once in my dream, and the other time while in suspended animation. I had seen Junghyeok leaving Geumho Station in the dream, and I had witnessed what happened in Chungmuro in suspended animation. There was a common factor. My consciousness had to be hazy and unstable. But that wasn’t the only condition for “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” level 3 to be activated. There was another, more important condition… “Sir, are you seeing this? Damn it… Am I doing this right?” Ilhun mumbled to himself. Then he spoke, while looking into the air. “I’ve spread the rumor in the Tyrant King’s territory. They’re about to make a move. Um… You’re hearing this, right?” A character and I must be thinking about each other at the same time. Soon after my vision went blurry, I could see what Ilhun was peeking at. A man was laughing, flashing his white teeth. He wore a dazzling king’s outfit and a bizarre-looking crown as he slowly got up with the help of nearby slaves. “What about the new Revelation?” “It seems to be authentic, my lord. I bought it with coins, so it must be real.” “Who leaked this intel?” “It was likely one of the Disciples.” “How reliable is it?” “We checked several of the secrets mentioned in it and verified that they were all real.” The man let out another teeth-baring laugh. “We march to Gwanghwamun. We’ll secure the area before anyone else arrives.” Good. The Tyrant King is making his move. That left the other side. I thought about Minseob. “Sir, he’s arrived.” Nice timing. Minseob was already at the designated spot in Gwanghwamun. Soon, I was able to see his surroundings. “That’s gotta be him, in the black hoodie. I’m sure of it.” Shapes of people were moving near some building. As I expected, he got there first. The plagiarist. One of the most useful secrets from the third loop was located in Gwanghwamun. I bet he was anxious about it and came running as soon as he could. “The problem is, it’s not just him. A bunch of others came here, too. The kings from Yeongdeungpo and Yongsan, and it looks like more are en route from Seongdong-gu… Sir, isn’t this getting a bit out of hand?” No, it was what I wanted. The characters who had been laying low were revealing themselves. I didn’t have to look for them anymore, so it was better for me. The War of the Kings, the final phase of the fourth scenario, was about to begin.