Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 14: Unwritten Rules (3)

“How do you……that?”

The woman, striding confidently, stopped dead in her tracks.

It’s inevitable.

I may have thought that there might be a trait that allows you to figure out information about others, but I probably have never experienced it.

Though the way I found out was a little different.

“You’re giving away a lot.”

It was literal.

The direction of the story is revealed in the appearance that has changed due to the awakening of the story.

The way she let the two people next to her do all the work instead of stepping up to the plate and most of all, the way she kept looking down on others from above.

Taken individually, each of these may seem like a simple personality trait or individuality.

However, when you put them all together, you get a conclusion.

The trait she possesses is clearly [Possessed].

[The opponent’s traits have been revealed.]

[Your proficiency with Text Thief has increased +2.5%.]

As if waiting for me to repeat my conviction, her information unfolded before my eyes.

—

[Possessed A]

You can instantly envision what’s going to happen, like a plot twist in a novel you’ve already seen.

The more you use it, the less accurate it becomes in proportion to the value of the information gained.

Be careful not to mistake reality for a fictional world or become arrogant.

Current accuracy: 93%.

* This trait comes from a genre novel written by Lee Minjoo.

—

[Possessed] was the trait that stuck with me the most, along with [Regressed] and [Reincarnated].

A year ago, Dreams asked me to come up with a new trait and introduce the works I’ve been watching lately.

I suggested web novels and popular keywords, and a few days later, three talents were added to the game.

A series of traits that give you a lot of information, but have a fatal flaw: a usage limit.

Who should she recruit in the next three days?

What events happened and where?

What should she do with me, who suddenly barged into this place?

It was clear that everything was figured out by [Possessed].

“Are you sure you want to waste a trait that should be used sparingly? It seems like you’ve already used it several times.”

“I don’t know how well you know what you’re talking about.”

Lee Minjoo looked me up and down, then resumed her arrogant tone.

The unspoken rule of [Possession] was a side effect of seeing others as extras or maybe it was just the weirdness of the mask.

“I’m warning you again, just leave now, quietly, unless you want to end up like the people behind you.”

“……I’m not going to.”

I unfolded my baton.

There was no way my attack would succeed.

The gap in experience is important, but the gap in awareness is not.

Even if we somehow manage to hit her with the baton, I don’t even know how effective it will be.

“……Ew.”

But she doesn’t know that.

Even though she knows that her body has become stronger as she awakened the story, she doesn’t know if she will be able to survive being hit by an electric baton.

She’s never been hit by an electrified baton before.

Not once, not even before the story’s awakening.

Of course, I hadn’t, and neither had anyone else in the modern world.

That was enough for me.

The fear of the unknown is a weapon.

“It would be easy if two of them were awake. The three of you could have attacked me.”

“…….”

“But now? Do you think it’s possible?”

Her gaze shifted to my baton.

She doesn’t know how much to trust the awareness rating.

Maybe it’s her own personality that makes her even more distrustful.

She doesn’t even think about trying to use her power to do something about me.

The two men’s loyalty to her is beyond ordinary.

The story of her awakening is probably……

“You don’t have any combat attributes, your story is a ‘romance fantasy’.”

“……!!”

The moment I finished speaking, Lee Minjoo took a few steps backwards.

[+2.5%]

I didn’t have time to look at the reward information, so I just glanced at the result and put the status window away.

“…You, do you know me?”

“No.”

“You’re lying, then how come you know so much about me……!!!”

The guess was correct.

The only thing Lee Minjoo could bring to the fight was her awareness.

The moment I realized that, my expression relaxed, but the mask covered my mouth.

“There’s nothing you can do on your own, is there? You don’t have any useful traits for combat.”

“No…….”

“Then the [Possessed] trait won’t be enough.”

Just because it’s a specific genre of story doesn’t mean you can’t get traits for combat.

The main character’s abilities become traits, so depending on the story, they might even be able to use magic.

It just so happens that this person doesn’t have that trait right now.

Just like I don’t have a combat talent right now, so I’m just talking.

I could still take up a weapon and fight with all my heart and lose.

“Surely, I didn’t tell anyone about this…Then how……?”

At some point, Ms. Lee stopped listening to me.

She was alone, deep in thought, muttering to herself.

She kept glancing at me every once in a while, or running her hands through her hair.

Without saying a word, she turned around and ran away from me.

The last thing I saw of her was the unmistakable look of fear on her face.

“Whew.”

I watched until I couldn’t see her backside at all.

Has she gotten away?

Leaving her stunned companion behind.

She’s really gone, right?

“…Gone.”

I put the baton back in its holster.

It was an educated guess, but I was right, and the fight was avoided.

…Now that I think about it, I wonder if she felt like her identity had been stolen?

It must have seemed like a stranger knew her story.

I’ll have to be more careful next time.

This time, I had no choice but to just chase her away.

I was trying to find out the story. I wasn’t looking for a biography.

I don’t know. Let’s just get this over with and get back.

I grabbed a torch from the wall and approached the statue in the lobby.

A lone torch in the ruins?

I have to use it.

As I used the torch to light the bundle of unmelted candles in front of the statue, one by one, the finely crafted statue emitted a soft glow and spoke to me.

-Let me be forgotten.

-I’ll grant you a small favor, but only if you blow out the lights and go home.

The statue that spoke to me didn’t appear for nothing.

A character depicted as a divine being in a creation with a certain level of recognition has become an anomaly of reality.

If it’s a worldview that the whole world knows, it can invade the reality without an episode.

I thought it was just a setup for a parody in the game, but it turns out it meant a lot to Dreams.

The sculpture is based on the book Forgotten Gods.

It was a character from a famous action game with a storyline about reviving dozens of forgotten gods, one by one, and inheriting their power.

What’s the point of figuring this out?

He’s happy if you reenact the original story.

I get down on one knee, lower my posture, and look the statue in the eye.

I feel no shame in repeating the game’s lines.

“Are you content to live forever forgotten?”

There’s a moment of silence, and then the statue’s voice speaks again.

-…I have nothing more to lose.

Suddenly, the statue detached from the ground with a rattling sound.

The statue began to lose its glow and shrink, until it was small enough for me to pick it up with one hand.

In the original script, this means that he is allowing you to take it out in the world.

I blew out the candle and took the statue then hurried out of the church.

As I stepped outside, I heard a new voice in the distance.

“Wait, the hidden piece detection suddenly stopped working. What’s going on?”

“Isn’t it because you’re so close? You said you were almost there.”

“Oh, there they are!”

Two people appeared as I ducked into the alley.

Luckily, they ran right past me in their rush to get to the church they had just found.

I leisurely walked down the alley while checking that they were hurrying inside after seeing the people collapsed in front of the entrance.

Thus, my first goal of the day was accomplished.

* * *

On the way back, the sun set early in the winter.

The sun was almost down, and only a few signs were lit up under an indigo sky.

However, the scenery is no different from the daytime.

For example, there were people everywhere, talking about their stories.

“How long are we going to be here? It’s been hours.”

“…We don’t know yet.”

The same ones I saw in the daytime were still standing in the same spot.

Now, with the lack of undead and the poor results, there was an air of skepticism.

The only one to lighten the mood was the man who had invited me to join him during the day.

“In the old days, novels where you get stronger by repeating one thing for a few weeks were popular. It might have been wrong to expect something to happen overnight.”

“I guess so…….”

“A few weeks…then I’m out, I don’t have that kind of time on my hands.”

After collecting their thoughts, they disbanded, calling it a day.

I’m sure they didn’t make any progress over the course of the next few hours, but did the unwritten rules blind them?

Or did they really believe that there was a hidden piece?

But it made my life a lot easier.

Especially since their role was unintentionally large, and before I knew it, police and rescue teams had arrived and were taking turns guarding the city.

Ironically, the city center that suffered the most damage ended up being the safest.

Thanks to people who were too worried about public safety to care.

“Now what…….”

An involuntary sigh escaped me as I left the scene without anyone seeing me.

This is the last day I’ll be able to find anomalies so easily.

It would become harder to find as the days went on, the rewards would not be as readily apparent, and the undead would be stronger overall.

Even the “reveal” to find it was a problem.

It’s not like I have to run around looking for them.

The condition for development to occur is ‘showing noticeable actions.’

If it were a living thing, it would have to make me look at it and think, “It would be fun to go to this thing!”

But in the real world, there’s no resurrection.

There are no saves.

It’s impossible to know how long it will take to find the plot and finish episode one.

So, let’s take a long view.

Don’t think of it as entering the gate, think of it as entering the academy.

I’m not going to get very far in the episode anyway, and people are going to have to figure out how to keep themselves safe.

So let’s live a little dangerously and slowly find out what’s going on.

It’s not like I have a time limit.

“Phew.”

With that thought, my urgency disappeared and I felt a sense of relief.

Suddenly, my heavy steps felt lighter, and the house that seemed so far away was almost there.

I turned into an alleyway, avoiding the eyes of the undead that seemed so sparse.

“…….”

For some reason, only one streetlight shone in the long, straight alleyway.

And even that flickered repeatedly.

Under the starless night sky, the alleyway grew darker and darker, and then it glowed as usual.

Then, out of nowhere, a person appeared under the streetlight.

Although I was looking at it from a distance, it was clearly a person who hadn’t been there before.

I didn’t feel comfortable approaching him, so I stayed in place and took a closer look.

He stood in the center of the streetlight, standing still, his head slightly shaking but that’s as far as I could tell.

I didn’t know who he was, what he was doing, why he was doing it, or why he was making me uneasy.

I’d rather be given a choice and calm down.

I’d feel like I’d be back in the real world in a heartbeat, but it didn’t happen.

It was time to make my own decision.

I walked slowly forward.

He. No. She, thankfully, doesn’t move.

No hostility. Maybe I can let my guard down.

Red eyes, hair that I thought was black, but on closer inspection I can’t see it because she’s wearing a hat.

She was like a doll that didn’t breathe or blink.

If I could just get a little closer, just a little closer, I could get a better look-

“……!”

At that moment, the light from the streetlight flickered again.

It flickered several times in the space of a few seconds, which seemed abnormal, and then, suddenly, there was no human figure under the light.

I looked around and saw no one.

I run back and stand in the same spot, but nothing happens.

I even noticed that all the streetlights in the alley were back to normal without me even realizing it.

I feel like I’m finally back in the real world but I wonder if it’s because of what happened today.

I relaxed and asked myself a question that probably didn’t mean anything.

What just happened?

Was it just a coincidence, unguided by anything?

Maybe this, like the rest of the day, was the result of…other forces at work.