553 Prologue. Side Story Notice

Everyone, thank you for waiting for so long.

Finally, we begin the side story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

I've started it, but I actually have no idea what to write. This story was not written with a spin-off in mind in the first place.

While I was taking a break, I read the comments fans left on the main story, and I was really surprised.

You guys are geniuses. On the other hand, I have no idea. How thoughtless I am… In fact, I haven’t even decided on the main character yet.

When I was writing ORV, the content was written smoothly, but now my mind is completely blank, as if someone had hit me hard on the back of the head.

Nevertheless, the reason why I am writing a notice like this is because I think I should at least write a notice.

.

.

.

After writing up to that point, I stopped typing and pressed backspace.

Damn it, what am I doing? No matter how bad the situation is, this is not something a professional writer should say.

I bit my nails and started writing a new sentence.

How about starting like this?

.

.

.

Come to think of it, I've never introduced myself. My identity is revealed in chapter 549 of 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』, but I'm sure you've all forgotten.

To put it like Kim Dokja, I am this kind of person.

Lee Hakhyun (李鶴翾).

My father, saying that I would fly like a noble crane, paid a huge sum of 300,000 won at the Philosophy Hall and named me like that.

The crane’s wings are spread wide. (학 학(鶴)에 날 현(翾).)

The crane’s wings are spread wide: it means a person’s skills and talents reaching their full potential. In other words, just as a crane spreads its wings to fly, a person's skills and talents are unfolding and reaching their full potential.-Thanks to @Lili for the idiom and the definition.)

The Philosophy Hall that gave me my name went bankrupt shortly after, and it was only then that my father discovered the parentheses hidden in front of the word “翾,” which means “to fly.”

1. (lightly) fly

In short, this is who I am.

Lee Hakhyun, 33 years old.

1. A (lightly) hit web novel author.

By the way, the name of my only hit is:

A long fantasy novel consisting of 551 chapters, 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.

Abbreviated as “ORV”.

I have been working on this novel for two years, from my late 20s to my early 30s…

After writing up to that point, I pressed backspace again.

I just introduced myself. It's even terrible. What am I supposed to do by introducing myself when I'm not even the main character of the side story?

Tsutsutsu.

That wasn't the sound of a probability spark just now, it was my cell phone ringing.

I pressed the call button with a serious face, like Kim Dokja preparing for the aftermath of probability. Then I heard the voice of the dokkaebi in charge.

―Author-nim.

This was my second most feared word these days.

“Yes.”

―Are you writing the side story?

And these are the first.

“No.”

The person sighing on the other end of the phone was Ji Eunyu, the dedicated editor.

To put it bluntly, Ji Eunyu is a producer who has been in this industry for a long time, and if I had to be specific, it was because of this person that I, who used to write pure literature, was dragged into this industry. If I think about it that way, she was a lifesaver.

―What do you want to do?

I answered in a gloomy voice.

“That’s right. What should I do?”

―You’re not playing a game right now, are you? The new one that just came out?

“I just installed it.”

―Why are you connected to Steam?

“It just turns on automatically when I turn on the computer.”

―No? I just got a notification that a game started?

I said, shutting down the game that was loading.

“Am I really playing a game to play? I’m playing to get ideas.”

―I once believed that. I did.

Ji Eunyu has a theory that she has gained from working as an editor for 6 years.

Writers who play games to get ideas will only play games even if they get ideas.

Actually, I also think that's true.

―What about the idea you mentioned before?

“When I actually tried to write it, it didn’t work.”

―You said you wanted to collaborate with your previous works? We talked about it briefly back then.

I recalled the names of my previous works one by one.

『The Orc Philosopher』

『Infinite Instructor』

『System Breaker』

『The Wizard of the Undying World』

『Method Master』

『How to Become a Star Writer』

…

No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way for those novels and ORV to blend naturally.

Furthermore, 『How to Become a Star Writer』 is an absurd story about the writer Lee Hakhyun (yes, that’s my name) being trapped inside a novel and becoming a “star writer,” but there was no way I could use such a novel as a collaborative work.

And above all,

“Why collaborate with a failure?”

Most of those novels stopped serialization without even converting to paid publication.

―I enjoyed them all.

“Even if you say that, it doesn’t comfort me at all.”

―You said you got drunk and went up to the rooftop before and something came to mind. Can’t you try that again?

“I already did.”

―Also, do you feel any tingling sensation in the back of your head? Or like Han Sooyoung appears in your dreams?

I sighed, unable to laugh or cry.

In the novel, Yoo Joonghyuk hit me in the back of the head, Han Sooyoung sent me the novel, and I wrote it well, but… I don’t know. These days, I sometimes wish it had actually happened.

―Ugh, I’m sorry.

I know. Ji Eunyu must have said that because she was frustrated.

News of a market downturn is coming in every day. I heard that Ji Eunyu's management is also experiencing financial difficulties. Many of the people they hired are leaving, and their affiliated writers are changing management or leaving the market one by one.

I wonder if it will really help if I write a side story in the midst of all this.

―Anyway, there are many readers waiting for author-nim’s story.

“Where are they?”

It’s embarrassing to say, but “ORV” once ranked first on the free bestseller list on the platform and was doing quite well.

There were readers who liked my novel, and responses started to appear on various communities.

After I finished my novel, I would secretly search for “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” and feel happy seeing the readers’ responses.

It was all a story of the past.

No one remembers my novel anymore.

―Stop nitpicking. There are.

So where?

I swallowed the question that suddenly came to my mind.

“I’ll try hard.”

After answering gloomily and hanging up the phone, I thought I should have a drink today.

I closed my laptop and went to a nearby convenience store to buy a can of beer and some snacks. At first, I picked up potato chips, but then put them back down and picked up a protein biscuit.

Am I old enough to care about this now?

After doing a quick calculation and drinking beer, Ji Eunyu’s words came to mind.

For your information, the single parentheses (「」) above are symbols I use when I have special thoughts.

I’m having special thoughts right now.

Are there really still readers waiting for my story?

I emptied my beer and logged back into the web novel platform.

In the meantime, a lot of notifications came in. A message from the system asking me to continue serialization and notes from fellow writers announcing serialization.

And.

―I enjoyed reading it, author.

Messages left by readers.

―I am a 14-year-old middle school student this year. This was the first web novel I have ever read ㅜㅜ…

Some messages were cute, and some were earnest.

―Reading this novel is the joy of my military life…

They were all fragments of stories left for me by readers.

And three years have passed.

The readers who were middle school students must have become high school students. The readers who were high school students must have become college students, the readers who were soldiers must have been discharged, and the readers who were job seekers must have gotten jobs… I hope so.

Anyway, the readers have become something and left this story, and I am still here, a boring person who chooses protein biscuits instead of potato chips.

―It was fun, author-nim.

I suddenly felt a pang and spilled some beer.

When I saw the notification go off, I realized it was a message that had just arrived through the platform.

Who would have thought that someone would still send messages to the author three years after serialization ended?

―Sender: RepresentativeKimDokja.

When I checked the sender’s ID, something immediately came to mind.

RepresentativeKimDokja.

When the serialization was in full swing, there was a reader with that nickname.

―It’s already been three years since ORV ended. Every year around this time, I reminisce about the old days and binge-read, and I enjoyed reading it this year as well. It’s also interesting because it feels like reading a different novel every time I read it again.

A memory from three years ago suddenly came to mind. They really enjoyed reading the novel back then.

That’s what I wanted to say.

This reader left comments every day and sent me messages of appreciation every time.

In short, he was a person who fit the nickname “RepresentativeKimDokja” very well.

―I don’t know if you remember.

Of course I do. I still see messages from back then.

I remember writing until the deadline every day, and reading the messages and comments from readers with my exhausted body before going to bed.

If there weren’t people who endured that time with me, I wouldn’t have been able to endure that loneliness or write until the last sentence.

I hesitated and then grabbed the keyboard. This time, I wanted to reply to the readers, not with a novel, but with my own words.

However.

―There will be a small fan event tomorrow at 7 PM. If you have time, please come and enjoy it. I will also give the author a special gift as a thank you.

A gift?

―Sorry, but admission to the event requires a fee. I also have to make a living.

At that moment, the prologue of ORV came to mind.

In the prologue, Kim Dokja receives a message from the author, tls123.

A message saying that the epilogue will be released for a fee.

In other words, this note seemed to be a small joke prepared by a long-time reader.

I started writing a reply.

―Thank you very much, reader-nim. But, I will only accept the gift in my heart. And if the admission ticket is paid… isn’t that a gift that I purchased? (hahaha)

There’s no way they really prepared a separate gift, right?

But even if they really prepared a gift, it would be something I couldn’t accept. How could I accept a gift so shamelessly after being unable to write a side story for 3 years?

By the way, is it better to leave this (hahaha) out? Don’t they use things like this these days?

Naively, I was sipping my beer while thinking about such things at that time.

Without knowing what would happen in my life the next day.

Author’s Note

This story is a spin-off of “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint,” but it is not outside the main story.

This story is still the story of Kim Dokja, but it’s not for just one Kim Dokja.

Thank you for waiting for so long.

Once again, let’s start “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.”

(February 2023, Singsong)