582 Episode 5. Villain (7)

Plague-Carrying Rat.

In Omniscient Reader, and in the setting of Ways of Survival, that constellation hadn't appeared.

Yet, it suddenly signed contracts with three incarnations and sent them out to attack the 'Edge of Darkness'.

That rat was 100% a reader.

I would have loved to have used [Readers' Comments List] on them, but unfortunately it didn't work on targets I couldn't see.

Unless they were possessing an incarnation, there was no way to know.

"Hey, guys, we don't have to fight."

I waved my hand at the Ratmen who were glaring in this direction and slowly backed away.

Even LiteratureGirl64, whom I had relied on, was poisoned, making it a three-on-one fight.

The odds weren't in my favor either way.

However, who was I?

The one who had been called 'The One Who Deceived the Stars' by Yoo Joonghyuk in the 40th turn.

"Misreading Association members, I am not your enemy."

The great villain, the 'Evil Sophist' famous among the constellations.

"Gentlemen, it looks like you're all villains. I happen to be a villain too."

I said, sneaking over to the fallen Killer King.

"So let's make a deal. Is he who you want?"

I grabbed Killer King by the nape of the neck and lifted him up. LiteratureGirl64, who was crouched nearby, looked at me with despair in her eyes.

I smiled lightly at her, then turned back to the Ratmen.

One of the Ratmen said.

"We don't negotiate."

"Stay out of this, ratmen. I'm talking to your constellation, not you."

At my cold voice, the Ratmen frowned.

[The constellation 'Plague-Carrying Rat' is looking at you with interest.]

I smirked and spoke.

"As you saw me fight just now, you noticed I'm pretty good myself. If I were to fight at full strength, even your incarnations wouldn't come out unscathed. If three of your incarnations die so early, wouldn't it be a heavy blow to a low-tier constellation like you?"

"Even so, do we need to fight each other? This is what you want, and I don't want to get blood on my hands. It's a win-win situation. Give what you have to give, take what you have to take."

"I am not from the Seven Apostles."

Now even a rat constellation is using that skill.

Well, that rat is a constellation too.

"I'll give you Killer King, in exchange for your random item box."

"Then I'll take the rest of the items here, minus the box."

At my offer, the 'Plague-Carrying Rat' seemed to ponder for a moment.

I could hear the Ratmen asking with their squeaks.

—What shall we do?

I opened my mouth as I stealthily moved toward the wall.

"No need to overthink it, just be reasonable. It seems like you've had a pretty rough time yourself, and if we want to survive in a world like this, we need to cooperate. I don't want a plot where the villains turn on each other and end up self-destructing."

Tsuchuchut.

Judging by the light sparks all over its body, it was about to unleash its status to intimidate me.

However, the 'Plague-Carrying Rat' didn't seem to be a very powerful constellation.

Nor would it be free from the constraints of Probability at this early stage.

"I'm disappointed. You really don't know who I am? You must not have read the novel properly."

I took another step.

The rat constellation warned me as if it felt something was strange.

As if I would.

"This is the body of the worst villain in Omniscient Reader."

With those words, I plucked out the 'Dark Flower' that was plugged in nearby.

For a moment, my shadow flickered ominously as the ash-colored torch that sucked in black ether—the 'Dark Flower'—lit up the surroundings.

"The one burnt to death with Hellfire."

The Ratmen whistled in unison and fired their poisonous darts.

I used Killer King as a shield.

Pow. Pow. Pow.

Wide-eyed, Killer King shuddered convulsively. I had no choice given the circumstances.

I'll save you, dear reader, so hang in there.

With Killer King in front of me, I began to charge at the Ratmen. For a moment, they panicked and jumped back.

I flung the dark flower at them with all my might. It spun in the air, sailed past them, and tumbled into the darkness behind them.

A wisp of black smoke billowed from the extinguished flame.

Black ether was being released.

—Beware!

Something began to stir in the center of the dense black ether.

In the novel, Kim Dokja did not directly stop the monster's breath. To do so would incur the curse of the 'Demon King'.

Killer King, who had read Omniscient Reader nearly a hundred times, hadn't forgotten that part.

The black etheric energy from the Dark Flower revived the dying 'Dark Keeper'.

Squeak squeak, the Ratmen screamed, and three or four tentacles shot out of the Dark Keeper's body simultaneously.

The Ratmen barely dodged the tentacles.

However,

Pusyusyusyuk!

They didn't have time to dodge the tentacles that sprang up from the ground below them. In an instant, the three Ratmen screamed and struggled as their stomachs were pierced.

"Kallitu."

With the Dark Keeper's words, something slithered into the three Ratmen's bodies.

Realizing the situation too late, the Plague-Carrying Rat tried to intervene.

But it was a mistake.

Tsuchuchuchuchut!

Kukukukuku.

The whole of the 'Edge of Darkness' shook as if there had been an earthquake.

Someone was looking into this space.

A being far different from 'Plague-Carrying Rat'.

A cold sweat ran down my spine.

He was the owner of the 32nd Demon Realm.

The Devil of Lust and Wrath.

The Demon King Asmodeus.

A historical-grade constellation had been defeated with just a single glance.

From the other side of the abyss, the demon king was looking at me.

I met the Demon King's gaze undaunted.

After the message, the gaze vanished. All that remained was the Dark Keeper and me.

I sucked in a breath and stared at him.

"Are you going to fight?"

The Dark Keeper stared back at me and muttered something.

...From ■■ to ■. The King is watching you.

...What?

With those words, it disappeared into the darkness with the Ratmen.

I was preparing to fight the Dark Keeper if I had to. It was a relief.

So this kind of development is possible too.

In the back, I could see Dansoo ahjussi and Kyung Sein stumbling to their feet.

"Inho-ssi? Ow! What the..."

Judging by their exaggerated voices, they must have woken up earlier and faked being unconscious to observe the situation.

I laughed bitterly and pointed at Killer King and LiteratureGirl64 on the ground.

"Let's save them first."

According to Ways of Survival's settings notes, there are two ways to dispel the 'poisonous fog'.

Using the 'Elain Monkey Lungs', or feeding the 'Elain Forest Essence'.

However, I couldn't guarantee that Killer King or LiteratureGirl64 would recover with either of those two methods.

Especially Killer King; he had been poisoned too many times because of me, and his condition was critical.

"Kup, Kuhup."

Killer King's face was ashen, and he was gasping for air with foam at his mouth.

Still, I couldn't let a reader who had read the novel 99 times die like this.

I pulled out the piece of 'Poison Rhino's horn' I had hidden in my chest and ground it into a fine powder.

Dansoo ahjussi asked.

"What is that?"

"I picked it up the other day when I met Yoo Joonghyuk."

If my ligaments were still intact, I would have gotten a bigger piece, but my arm was destroyed, so I could only get crumbs.

Luckily, it was enough for now.

I mixed the horn powder with water and poured it into the mouths of Killer King and LiteratureGirl64.

After a few moments, Killer King and LiteratureGirl64's complexions became noticeably brighter.

I hadn't realized that it would be used in this way, as I had only created it as a 'Ways of Survival' setting and hadn't used it in the main story.

"Everyone else should take some. It's good for treating the poisonous fog."

"How did you know about this?"

"I experimented with it as soon as I got a piece of horn."

"As expected of Inho-ssi......!"

I recounted what happened a moment ago to Dansoo ahjussi and Kyung Sein as they drank the remaining bottled water.

I purposely didn't tell them about Killer King trying to kill us. I thought there was no need to create animosity at this point.

"There was also a reader who possessed a constellation? And that was a member of the Misreading Association?"

Kyung Sein seemed almost out of breath when she heard the name Misreading Association.

"Oh, you fought with the Misreading Association?"

"Yes. But they were a little weird?"

Killer King was one thing, but the person possessed by that Plague-Carrying Rat was truly bizarre. Even if they had entered a novel, how could someone who had been living in the real world until just a few days ago suddenly turn into a cold-blooded killer?

Kyung Sein, whose complexion had turned blue, spoke up.

"If it's the Misreading Association, it's possible. Damn it, I can't believe we're meeting them so soon......."

I became a little confused.

"Isn't it just a club?"

"Misreading Association is not just a club."

Huh? Then?

It was Killer King, who had finally regained consciousness, who answered my question.

"Misreading Association is the name of an illegal sharing site."

Author's Note

Due to an error on another platform, we had to rush to upload this chapter, which was shceduled for Sunday at 7pm.

The next chapter will be published normally on Monday at 7pm.

We apologize for any confusion this may have caused our readers.

T/N: If you ever enter Omniscient Reader or Ways of Survival, please refrain from killing people just because. Remember that you can buy the chapters if you can on Naver or Munpia. 10 chapters cost 1 dollar.