ALL NOVEL C7
Chapter 7: First Incident (2)
I climbed the stairs, my footsteps silent, and slowly moved forward.
There were concrete pillars set at regular intervals and piles of cement bags stacked high.
I memorized where I could duck as soon as I thought I might look back.
“…….”
I pull out the baton from my arm.
I swung it in the air and it unfolded smoothly, and when I pressed the button, sparks glowed blue above the handle.
Five steps forward.
If I could just hit him in the back without being seen, this would be over quickly.
I stepped forward, arms raised high, and swung the baton at the man’s back.
With a spark that sent shivers down my spine, the man stopped screaming and collapsed, his whole body shaking.
“…Is that it?”
Tightening my grip on the baton, I approached the fallen man.
The man wasn’t moving, and he was bleeding from where his nose had hit the floor when he fell.
He can’t be dead.
This stun baton is labeled “non-lethal,” which means it will never kill anyone.
But even though I knew in my head that it was fine, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
The only fights I’ve ever participated in my life were petty arguments in school.
“Whoa.”
I lifted my head, and the blood staining the sky was slowly thinning.
It looked like the hemisphere around me would soon disappear if I waited any longer.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around.
I quickly turned around again and swung my baton at the fallen man.
“Ugh…!”
The man screamed, unable to continue his act.
After one more electric shock, his eyes widened and he showed his true colors.
[You have been caught.]
[The story cannot perform to its full potential.]
I pushed the man away with my foot.
The two shocks didn’t cause him to fight back immediately.
“You know what?”
“…….”
“If you were really knocked out, your powers would be released immediately, not slowly.”
By default, when a user falls unconscious, his story ends immediately.
If you transform using a story, it will be released immediately, if you applied a debuff, it will be removed immediately, and if you built a wall, it will be destroyed immediately.
In other words, there is no slow release of abilities.
Even if you can make it look like it.
“Get away from me!”
The man backed away, throwing junk around.
There were also flying objects so it was not easy to approach.
When he ran out of things to throw, he pulled the knife from his arm with a trembling hand.
…Strangely timid and passive for a man who had done this much.
“Hands up, don’t do anything.”
“What, what, what!! Why is the guy I missed this morning here……!!”
I gripped my baton tightly and slowly stepped forward.
Even though I’m holding a weapon, there’s no need to cower.
The man is already barely conscious.
“Even if I tell you, you won’t understand, so don’t interrupt me!! It must have only been a few hours since you awakened.”
“Stay away from me……!!”
The man backed away, realized he had nowhere to go, and clicked his tongue.
There’s a brief pause, and then the man clenches his knife as if he’s made up his mind.
“Aaaahhh!”
He stabbed himself in the palm of his hand.
Blood flowed from his hand as he stabbed and stabbed, but not a single drop fell to the floor.
Soon, the blood that had been lingering in the air gathered into the knife, forming a longer blade.
“What the hell did you do-”
I didn’t even have time to react.
As the man who activated his trait swung his sword wildly, blood gathered and formed a shape like a sword aura, flying towards me.
I ran sideways and tried to dodge, but it wasn’t perfect, and I ended up with a bit of blood on the hem of my sleeve.
Luckily, it’s not mine.
“I, I, I told you, don’t come.”
“You’re crazy…….”
My body flinched involuntarily.
That man. No matter how I look at him, he’s not normal.
His eyes were glassy and his hands were shaking, as if he was possessed by something.
Perhaps the reason he was able to build walls and isolate the area was because he was consuming his own blood and that of others.
The ability to pay with one’s life was always there.
‘Is he out of his mind?’
When I first saw the situation, I assumed it was someone who was a criminal but that wasn’t the case.
He didn’t look like he was used to hurting people.
He’s just someone who was scared and wouldn’t have done anything if he didn’t have a story.
Why would a man like that lock people up, and what would he do with them?
…I have a few plausible guesses.
“Hey.”
“Shut up and put down your weapons-”
“Is there someone talking to you in your head?”
“……!”
I took a step forward, anticipating the man’s reaction.
For a brief moment, the man’s expression, which had gone from wary to alarmed upon hearing my question, softened significantly.
Was my guess right?
“What did you hear? An order? A suggestion?”
The man started to answer, but covered his mouth with his bloody hand.
It was more likely an order than a suggestion.
“You don’t have to do this, I’m going to help you.”
Now that I know where he’s at, I give him what he wants most.
If it’s really something I can fix right now, we can end things on a good note right now.
This time I didn’t move forward, but waited slowly for a response.
Soon, the man spoke.
“My constellation… will grant me power in proportion to the life I gave……”
“…Constellation?”
What constellation?
Is there such a thing in this world?
“That’s right, the Holy Throne from the novel I wrote has appeared in real life, and has given me a trial!”
“……?”
“How could I miss this opportunity! I know better than anyone in the world what rewards will follow if I just listen well!!”
I’m speechless.
But from what he’s saying, I think I have a general idea of what he was going through.
Let’s try to put ourselves in his shoes.
12:00 PM. The cognitive revolution has begun.
Shortly thereafter, a voice in his head, a force beyond his comprehension, spoke to him.
As the conversation continues, he realizes that it’s the Constellation from his novel.
Time passed, and now he wants to get stronger, so he’s doing what the constellation tells him to do.
Isn’t this the same story?
It’s easy to misunderstand because you don’t know anything about it, and you’ve only heard what it says…….
But it’s a ridiculous illusion.
“That’s not the Constellation.”
“……what?”
“It’s just a trait that mimics the way the constellation talks in your novel. It’s your ability.”
No matter what the world has come to, there is no such thing as a real constellation.
So what about the voice he’s hearing?
It’s just a characteristic of the setting that speaks that way.
Just as I check my abilities with the status window, he checks his abilities with the “voice of the constellation”.
But I have to stop it.
Right now, he’s under the illusion that he can gain power by begging a non-existent entity.
[You have uncovered the identity of your opponent’s story.]
[NEW GAME provides information].
[…Your skill level has increased.]
Once I realized the identity of his creation, the Gift of Dreams forcibly injected the information into my mind.
—
[The Only Devotee of the Constellation]
#constellation, #hunter, #munchkin, #picaresque
User: Choi Bum-soo
Awareness Rating: B
Proficiency: Lv. 1
Characteristics: [Blood Flow Manipulation], [Guidance of the Constellation]
Story Completion: 0
—
This was the identity of the man named Choi Bum-soo’s story.
He believed that if he followed the novel’s protagonist, he could become successful.
But there is no need to follow the voice of the constellations.
He is the main character of the story, not some non-existent constellation.
I also noticed that the story was incomplete, but I didn’t care.
Because now, Choi Bum-soo reacted.
“…… Is that true?”
“Yes, so don’t think about killing people and end it nicely, right?”
“So… this voice, I could have just ignored it?”
I nodded silently.
I could see Choi Bum-soo, who looked like he was being persuaded or about to pounce, hesitated.
[The battle has been interrupted.]
[Considered undetected.]
[Guidance of the Constellations.]
A trait that gives useful advice to the user based on the personality of the Constellation in the story.
Think of it like a quest in a game.
A good constellation will ask you to do the right thing, while an evil constellation will suggest the opposite.
There are bonuses for following them.
Given what happened, this person’s constellation must be extremely evil.
Whatever Choi was ordered to do, if he succeeded, he would have gained great recognition, skill, and power…….but he doesn’t need to listen to such suggestions because it won’t make him a hero.
“It’s not too late, if you quit now, you can pretend it never happened, right?”
“…….”
“Even if you can’t be the protagonist, you can still act like one.”
I approached Choi Bum-soo slowly, trying to calm him down.
If he surrenders now, we can end this once and for all.
“I don’t believe you.”
But Choi Bum-soo’s eyes widened again and he glared at me.
The look in his eyes told me that he was going to do this.
“What?”
“How can I trust someone whose name I don’t even know? You could be lying.”
“…….”
“If I give up my own traits, who will benefit? Huh? I don’t think it’s me!”
I stopped listening to Choi Bum-soo.
I knew that whatever he said now would be taken as a lie.
[Not detected.]
[The story is working.]
While he was talking loudly I raised the baton in my hand high and aimed it at his head.
“Then don’t believe me.”
Choi Bum-soo didn’t even react and collapsed with the baton on his forehead.
He had already been shocked twice and could barely control himself.
Luckily, this time, he passed out for real.
By now, the dome that had enveloped the area had disappeared.
What could have been a major incident turned out to be a mere blip.
[The first ‘anomaly’ since the Second Cognitive Revolution has been solved!]
[Text Thief proficiency has increased: +70.0%]
The status windows and expressions look very similar to the game Dreams made.
After seeing this, I felt like I was back to normal, and my legs were getting tired.
Hopefully, I can keep my promise to be back in 30 minutes.
“Okay, then…….”
I folded the baton and put it in my pocket, glancing back at the man on the ground.
If I leave him like this, he’ll eventually wake up and do the same thing again but there’s no way to explain this to the police.
Maybe in three days, when the countdown is over.
“What now?”
Well, it’s time to make a decision.
[You are presented with four choices.]
[You are given two good options and two bad options.]
But why does this one come up so often?
Maybe it’s because it’s the first day.