Chapter Text
Omniscient Reader's Side Story
sss-reader
< Prologue. This is not an Announcement > Omniscient Reader's
Viewpoint Side Story Prologue. This is not an Annoucement
Thank you for your patience, everyone.
I'm finally going to start writing Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint's side
story.
I've started, but I don't really know what to write about. I didn't write the
story with a prequel in mind.
While I was on hiatus, I read the comments you fans left on the last chapter,
and I was blown away.
You guys are geniuses.
I, on the other hand, am clueless... so clueless, in fact, that I haven't even
decided on a main character yet.
When I was writing the main story, it flowed nicely, but now my head is
spinning like someone slapped me hard on the back of the head.
Nevertheless, I'm writing a notice like this because I have to write a notice
first.
.
.
.
I stopped typing and hit backspace.
Shit, what am I doing? No matter how bad the situation is, this crap is not
what a professional writer would write.
I bit my nails and started to write a new sentence.
How about I start it like this.
.
.
.
Now that I think about it, I've never introduced myself before. My identity
was revealed in chapter 549 of 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint', but I'm
sure you've all forgotten.
To put it in Kim Dokja's words, I'm this kind of person.
Lee Hakhyun ( ).
My father named me after the noble crane, saying that I would fly like a
crane, and paid 300,000 won at the philosophy museum to make a name for
me.
Crane ( ), light fly ( ).
The philosophy museum that gave me my name later went out of business,
and it wasn't until then that my father discovered the hidden parenthesis in
front of the word "fly," which is the meaning of hyun ( ).
light fly
1. to fly (lightly)
In short, I am this kind of person.
Lee Hakhyun, 33 years old.
1. a (lightly) successful web novel writer.
For reference, the names of my only hits are as follows.
+
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - 551 chapters
Author Lee Hakhyun
+
A full-length fantasy novel with 551 chapters, "Omniscient Reader's
Viewpoint".
"Omniscient Reader" for short.
I have been living with this novel for two years, from my late 20s to early
30s, during the serialization period.......
.
.
.
I got that far and hit backspace.
It just became a bio. It's terrible. I'm not even the main character, so what's
the point of introducing myself?
Tsukukuskus.
That's not a probability spark, that's my phone ringing.
I pressed the call button, looking as serious as Kim Dokja preparing for the
possible aftermath. Then I heard the voice of the Dokkaebi in charge.
Dear Author.
It was the second worst phrase I'd been dreading lately.
"Yes."
You're writing the side story, right?
And this is the first.
"No."
The person sighing at the other end of the phone was Ji Eunyoo, my
dedicated editor.
Ji Eunyoo is a PD[1] who has been in the industry for a long time, and it
was because of this person that I wrote pure literature. If you think about it,
she was a lifesaver.
What do you want to write?
I replied in a somber voice.
"I don't know what to write."
You're not playing the game, are you? The new one?
"I just installed it."
Why are you on Steam?
"It just started automatically when I turned on my computer."
No, I just got a notification that you're playing a game.
I said, closing the game that was loading.
"Do you really think I play games only to play games? I'm just trying to get
ideas."
I used to believe that.
There's a theory that Ji Eunyoo has picked up in her six years as an editor.
Writers who play games to get ideas only keep playing games even if they
get ideas.
Actually, I think that's true.
What about the idea you mentioned before?
"I tried to write it but I couldn't."
Didn't you say you would do a crossover with your previous works?
We talked about it briefly.
I remembered the names of my previous works one by one.
Orc Philosopher
Infinite Prisoner
System Breaker
Wizard of the Undying World
Method Master
How to Become a Famous Writer
.......
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way that those works
could be related with my novel.
Moreover, 'How to Become a Famous Writer' is an outrageous story about a
person who becomes a 'famous writer' by being possessed by the writer Lee
Hakhyun (yes, that's my name), so there was no way I could do a crossover
with another novel.
And most of all,
"Why would I do a crossover with them?"
Most of those novels never made it to the paywall, and I stopped writing
them.
They were fun.
"That doesn't make me feel any better."
You said you got drunk and went up on to the rooftop and came up with
something. What about we do that again?
"I already tried."
Did you get any tingling sensation in the back of your head? Or a dream
with Han Sooyoung.
I sighed, unable to laugh or cry.
In the novel, Yoo Joonghyuk hit me in the back of the head, and Han
Sooyoung sent me a novel, even though she wrote it well...... I don't know.
Nowadays, I also think I'd rather it was real.
Eh, I'm sorry.
I know. I'm sure Ji Eunyoo is frustrated too.
We're hearing about the market crashing every day. I heard that Ji Eunyoo's
management is also experiencing financial difficulties. Many of the people
they had hired were leaving, and their writers were changing companies or
leaving the market one by one.
I wonder if it would help if I wrote a book in the meantime.
Anyway, there are a lot of readers waiting for your story.
"Where?"
It's an embarrassing story, but 'Omniscient Reader' was once a free
bestseller on the platform and it was quite well received.
I got readers who liked my novel, and I got responses on various
communities.
After finishing my work, I used to secretly search for 'Omniscient Reader's
Viewpoint' and see the reactions of readers.
It was all in the past.
No one remembers my novels anymore.
Don't say that. It's true.
Where are they then?
I swallowed the question that was bubbling up.
"I'll do my best."
I replied grimly and hung up the phone, realizing that I needed a drink
tonight.
I closed my laptop and headed to the local convenience store to pick up a
can of beer and some snacks. At first I picked up some potato chips, then
put them back down and grabbed a protein biscuit.
I'm at an age where I have to pay attention to these things.
After a quick checkout, I was sipping my beer when I remembered Ji
Eunyoo's words.
"There are a lot of readers waiting for your story."
By the way, the above hyphen ( ) is a symbol I use when I have a special
thought.
I'm having a special thought.
I wonder if there still are readers waiting for my story.
I finished my beer and went back to the web novel platform.
The next thing I know, I have a bunch of notifications. A system message
asking me to continue the series, and notifications from fellow writers
announcing the start of their serializations.
And then.
I enjoyed it, author.
From readers.
I'm a middle school student, 14 years old, and this was the first web novel
I've read in my life.............
Some of the notes were cute, some were desperate.
Reading this novel is the best part of my military life.......
They were all fragments of the story that readers had left for me.
And three years have passed.
The middle school readers would have become high school students. Those
who were in high school would be in college, those who were in the
military would have been discharged, and those who were job hunters
would hopefully be employed......
In any case, they would have become something else and left this story, and
I would still be here, a boring human being choosing protein biscuits over
potato chips.
—That was fun, author.
Suddenly, I heard an alarm and spilled some beer.
The alarm went off, and a message had just arrived via the platform.
I can't believe someone would still send a message to an author three years
after its completion.
—Sender: RepresentativeKimDokja.
When I checked the sender's ID, I immediately recognized it.
RepresentativeKimDokja.
When I was in the middle of my series, there was a reader with such a
nickname.
—It's been three years since I finished the novel. Every year at this time, I
go for a nostalgic drive, and I enjoyed reading it again this year. Every time
I read it again, I feel like I'm reading a different novel.
Suddenly, I remember three years ago, when I was reading the serialized
version.
I had to be the one saying that.
This reader used to comment every day and send me appreciation notes
every time.
In short, he deserved the nickname "Representative Kim Dokja".
—I don't know if you remember.
Of course I remember, because I still see those messages every now and
then.
I remember writing like crazy until the deadline every day, and then staying
up until the wee hours of the morning to read the messages and comments
from readers.
If it weren't for the people who stuck with me through it, I wouldn't have
been able to endure the solitude or write that last sentence.
I hesitated, then grabbed the keyboard. For once, I wanted to reply to a
reader with my own words.
But then.
—I'll have a small fan meeting tomorrow at 7pm. If you're free, I hope you
can come and enjoy it, and the I'm[2] going to give you a special gift as a
thank you.
A gift?
—I'm sorry, but tickets to the event are paid. I have to make a living too.
Suddenly, I remembered the prologue of Omniscient Reader.
In the prologue, Kim Dokja receives a note from the author, tls123.
It says that the epilogue will be released for a fee.
It was like a little joke, a prank, prepared by a long-time reader.
I started to write a reply.
—Thank you so much, dear reader. However, I will only accept your heart
as a gift. And if you have to pay to enter......, that's a purchase, not a gift,
right? (Uhaha) I hope he didn't actually get me a gift?
But even if he did prepare a gift, I couldn't carry take it. How could I
receive a gift as a shameless lowlife who hasn't even wrote a novel for three
years?
By the way, is it better to leave out this (uhaha)? Do people not use such
things nowadays?
Naively, I sipped my beer as I thought these things.
I had no idea what was going to happen to my life the next day.
Author's note
This is an 'Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint' story, but it is not from the main
story.
This story is still the story of Kim Dokja, but it is not meant for only one
Kim Dokja.
Thank you for your patience. Once again, we begin the 'Omniscient
Reader's Viewpoint'.
February 2023. Sing Shong.
[1] PD: Producer-Director.
[2] I'm: It could also mean "author".
Episode I. The World After Completion (1)