644 Episode 18 Father (2)

What does it mean to be a 'character' in a story?

Even in 'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint' there were some who suddenly became 'characters'.

For example, Lee Seongguk and Jung Minseop, who were prophets.

Together with Kim Dokja, they were characters from outside the novel, but over time they became 'characters'.

The point at which the two became 'characters' was right after the development of the scenario overtook the development of the novel they knew.

In other words, they became 'characters' the moment they passed the section where they knew what would happen.

Then, what about Ye Hyunwoo?

Unlike Lee Seongguk or Jung Minseop, he was a reader who had read 'Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint' completely as many as 50 times.

Nonetheless, characterization occurred.

What on earth is the mechanism of characterization?

First of all, I checked Ye Hyunwoo's 'character information'.

It was a list window that looked exactly like the characters, except for three question marks next to their names and some of their characteristics filtered out.

Perhaps the question mark next to the name is Ye Hyunwoo's real name, and the filtering of the characteristics is a characteristic related to 'reader'.

Just by looking at his overall ability and skill level, he could tell how hard Ye Hyunwoo had grown.

While I was genuinely delighted with the fact, I couldn't hide my slight concern.

Why did Ye Hyunwoo become a 'character' at this point?

No matter how much I think about it, I don't know.

If you think about it, the exact mechanism of 'characterization' has not been revealed in the end.

Lee Gilyoung and Yoo Sangah were also prominent figures 'outside the novel', but since the collection of information on the list of characters began much later than Lee Seongguk or Jung Minseop, I took a breath and called Ye Hyunwoo's name without expressing my emotions as much as possible.

"Hyunwoo-ssi."

"Yes?"

"Do you remember the contents of 'Omniscient Reader'?"

Ye Hyunwoo, who was staring at me, lowered his voice and asked.

"Are you talking about the Book of Revelation?"

"Ah, yes."

Come to think of it, the apostles called the novel that way.

"Of course I remember. You know how many times have I read it."

Without realizing it, my heart was beating fast.

“Inho-ssi? Your complexion is not very good..."

"Do you remember what our goal is?"

"Our goal? Seeing the end of this world, right?"

"And?"

"And..."

Why did I ask that?

I do not know.

However, I just wanted to check.

That even if he became a character, he is still the Ye Hyunwoo that I remember.

That he still remembers the story we had together and recognizes that this world is a novel.

I just wanted to check.

However.

"To be happy?"

I was dazed for a moment.

Suddenly, Kim Dokja's words came to mind. Ye Hyunwoo was laughing with an embarrassed face.

"Are you all right, Inho-ssi? Why are you suddenly asking such a thing?"

"Inho-ssi."

"Ah, yes."

Ye Hyunwoo reached out and grabbed my shoulder.

"You're in a strange condition. You seem to have a fever. You're breaking out in a cold sweat. Let's go into the tent for a while and talk."

I was dragged along as if being supported by Ye Hyunwoo and sat down on a chair provided in the tent.

"Eat this."

As I drank the warm leaf tea that Ye Hyunwoo gave me, I felt my breathing calm down a bit.

Anyway.

"How did you get this?"

"I acted a little cute to the constellations."

Ye Hyunwoo's grinning expression somehow resembled the Kim Dokja I remember. Does Ye Hyunwoo likes tea because he is also a fragment of Kim Dokja?

I decided to get straight to the point.

"I would like to hear briefly about the current situation."

The reason I came to Gwanghwamun was because of Ye Hyunwoo's message.

'Failed to secure the sword.'

Considering the end of the fourth scenario, it is now necessary to secure the 'sword of death'.

What the hell happened that they didn't get the sword of death?

"First of all, I think I should inform you about the situation after Inho-ssi departure?"

When I nodded, Ye Hyunwoo briefly explained what had happened over the past few days.

It is said that right after I left, the Chungmuro Group started to expand its influence. Anyway, the battle for the flag must have begun. There was no reason to take any more time.

Clear minor sub-scenarios, capture the flags of other stations,

"In the process, Seonah noona and Kyungsik helped me a lot."

Goo Seonah and Kim Kyungsik. Incarnations who have read the whole novel 8 times and 6 times, respectively.

Once again, I realized the potential of the Chungmuro Group.

Considering the combination of Gong Pildoo and Ye Hyunwoo, Chungmuro was, in fact, a group with the strongest fighting power at the moment.

"What about Killer King and his sister?"

"They left the station right after Inho-ssi left."

Well, Killer King will only hang out with his younger sister like Yoo Jonghyuk.

Yoo Jonghyuk must be on the move with Yoo Mia by now.

"After that, a war broke out with the neighboring stations, and I benefited from the 'Singijeon' that was given to me at that time."

Class A Replica Singijeon.

It seems that it was worthwhile to pass it on.

"Everything went smoothly until we ran into the coalition forces at Gwanghwamun Station."

"A union?"

"Yes. Allied forces, including the tyrant king, were waiting."

The Tyrant King was one of the most powerful kings in Omniscient Reader.

"No matter how good the Tyrant King is, it would be difficult to deal with the current leader and Hyunwoo-ssi."

I don't know if it's Gong Pildu or Ye Hyunwoo, but these two are a combination that more than doubles their synergy when they're together.

If Gong Pildu's [Armed Zone] and Ye Hyunwoo's [Magic Sharing] unite, there would be virtually no opponent to fear in the early stages except for Yoo Jonghyuk.

"Haa… Actually, I was thinking that too, but I was caught off guard."

To start with the conclusion, Ye Hyunwoo and Gong Pildu did not even have a proper fight with the Tyrant King.

"It was a mistake to divide the forces. Some of our main forces were ambushed inside the Palace Museum."

"So now the Palace Museum is…"

Before entering the tent, I saw the Palace Museum completely collapsed.

The building collapsed as if it had been bombed.

"Yes. That's right. Even if the entire building collapsed as an explosion occurred inside, it's impossible to enter the interior at all because of that."

There might be a way to blow up the building parts with Gong Pildu's turret and enter, but in that case, colleagues inside could get hurt.

Perhaps Ye Hyunwoo called me because of such a dilemma.

"The fact that he set a trap in the Palace Museum means he knows about the Death Sword."

"Yes, it seems that someone knows the information of the Book of Revelation."

I don't know if it's a reader or a member of the Misreading Association, but I understood the situation anyway.

"Who are the people who entered?"

"Seonah noona and Kyungsik..."

"Isn’t the old man able to get out?"

Reader Kim Kyungshik had the [Smoke Man] skill. [Smoke Man] is a skill that allows you to vaporize your body using smoke from a smoking pipe.

If it is unclear whether even Kim Kyungshik is alive or dead, then a serious problem must have occurred inside the building.

"We are also suffering from it. Originally, if something happened, Kyungshik Ahjussi was supposed to escape alone and inform me of the situation, but we lost contact..."

"Are there any other people inside?"

"There are a few other members of the group, but they are not very talented. And.."

Ye Hyunwoo hesitated a little before saying the last words, then added.

"Dansu-ssi also entered."

"Dansu Ahjussi?"

I asked in surprise.

Dansu Ahjussi must have followed Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon to Myeongdong Station.

"I saw him leaving with Lee Jihye too. They came here alone last night."

For a moment, I thought I knew what had happened, even though I hadn't heard anything.

If ahjussi gave up on the mission he was talking about and came back, there is only one reason.

"They said that Jiyoon is in that museum."

After completing my simple preparations, I stood at the entrance of the collapsed National Palace Museum.

"Inho-ssi. Are you really going to be okay by yourself?"

"I have to go alone anyway."

If it were me in the past, I would have entered with an escort.

But I couldn't bring an escort with me now. It was because I had to use a special item I had to enter that abandoned building.

"Change into the Ever-Changing Stealth Suit."

When I gave the command with [Incite], 'thoughts' turned into translucent clothes that covered my entire body.

One of its features is to change your appearance you want.

My body shrunk in an instant, and it shrunk to about the size of a thumb, as if I had used miniaturization.

Surprised, Ye Hyunwoo looked at me and exclaimed.

It was fortunate that I got the 'Ever-Changing Stealth Suit' in the decisive battle with RepresentativeKimDokja. First of all, the goal is to go down among the piles of abandoned buildings and infiltrate the dungeon of the Palace Museum.

I was about to go right through the collapsed stones, but Ye Hyunwoo called me.

"Inho-ssi."

When I glanced around, Ye Hyunwoo was looking at me with a complicated face.

Somehow, I seemed to know what Ye Hyunwoo was going to say.

"Inho-ssi… Are you really a reader?"

He must have some idea of who I am now.

So I didn't lie this time. Whatever he meant by 'reader'.

"Yes, I’m not."

"You must come back."

I nodded and went straight into the abandoned building. I quickly ran through the empty space between the stones. Shortly after, a collapsed marble lobby appeared.

I looked at the dead bodies of people who had been stretched out among the collapsed rubble. There were often familiar faces, but there were no Dansu ahjussi or readers' faces.

I raised my head and looked ahead.

The lobby to enter the dungeon.

What I'm looking for lies deeper.