Omniscient Reader's Perspective

Episode 5–Shadow Keepers (1)

Episode 1 - Shadow Guardian ([-])

【Then-then, everyone, do your best!Hee hee hee! 】

After saying these words, the ghost disappeared.

Food penalty and survival penalty.I already know the previous punishment.However, the latter is not part of the Inactivation Act.Maybe it was my contract with Bihun that led to this development.

Zheng Xiyuan confirmed that the biscuit in her pocket was gone, she asked softly.

"Only son, did you know that something like this could happen—"

"I did expect that. I thought about what ghosts would do to harass humans in the first place."

"Aren't you good at forecasting?"

I called Lee Hyun Sung and the others over, the situation is ready, now is the time to act.

"Give us back the food!"

"How did this happen?"

People from marginalized groups are crying.Chun In-ho and the mainstream group were also devastated by the sudden food shortage.My gaze met Qian Renhao who was biting his lip.

Maybe... you know what? No, that's not possible

If I could read his mind, then he would think so.

(You have understood exactly what the character 'Chun Imho' thinks.) [Your understanding of 'Chun Imho' increased] My understanding comes from this kind of thing?

I watched other people's expressions, trying to guess what they were thinking.But the previous information did not pop up.

At the same time, Qian Renhao quickly summoned people to organize chaos.

"Everyone come here, I have an urgent notice for you."

The message was simple: Things got worse, so more "scouts" from marginalized groups were needed.They must hurry.Now there is no food underground.

"We will not be distributing food to those who are not participating in Scout."

Despite the strong statement, there was no backlash from citizens.No, they cannot.In this case, it's an unavoidable outcome.People noticed this and volunteered to become scouts one by one.

Although the food is gone, hope still exists on Cheon Inho's face.As the situation deteriorated, more control shifted to mainstream groups.

When Li Xiancheng saw this scene, he became anxious and opened his mouth.

"Only son, what should we do now?"

"Of course we have to find food."

Hearing these words, the expressions of the team members became tense.get food.It can only mean one thing.

"Then we have to be scouts? There's still food on the ground."

"No, we will not go back to the surface. If we go back there, we will die unconditionally."

I looked at the gas mask on the floor, the battered gas mask that couldn't stop the poisonous mist.

"But we need food from the ground..."

"Lee Hyun Sung. The world has changed. Then food needs to change."

I look at the tunnel leading to the Jacques station.

"Wait a minute, only son...don't tell me?"

"Yes."

In this world, humans are no longer the top predators.Even though we're not carnivores, we don't necessarily have to be prey.

"We'll hunt monsters."

***

After a while, a few people from marginalized groups, including me, stood in front of the tunnel leading to the Jacques station.

"I see. Are you going onto the railroad tracks?"

I thought Cheon Ren Ho would challenge us when we refused to join the scouting group, but he seemed relieved that I was left out of the group.He might see me as a threat to his power.

"In the long run, we need a team committed to fighting this. Come back safe."

He's a fun guy.He talks like he's the captain.But the time for his completion is not far off.

[Your understanding of 'Chun Inho' has increased][Your understanding of the character 'Chun Inho' has reached a certain level. ]

I get it... I get it now.There are two main cases of personality "understanding" that are on the rise.

One of them is my love and trust in this character.The second is when I guess exactly what a character is thinking.Perhaps the latter is the case now.

(The character 'Cheon Inho' is suspicious of you.)

According to the accumulated understanding value, a vague concept of a person's emotion can be obtained.

"Oh, can members of my group join? I'd like some information on the attack."

In fact, Chun Inho won't let us leave so easily.I stared at the man behind him.Here's one guy who's willing to go with us and one unlucky guy.

"Should I go with them?"

"Hey, Brother Han, otherwise, what are you doing here? Don't you want to make up with your only son last night?"

"that......"

Joining us is Qian Renhao's team member, Han Mingwu, the head of the department.

"Only son, if you don't mind, I want to go..."

"I understand, let's go together."

Han Mingwu was surprised when I readily responded.He thought I would say no.Lee Hyun-sung looks sad, but I have an idea.

In any case, the five survivors in carriage 3807, including me, Lee Hyun-sung, Lee Ji-yong, Yoo Sang-ah, and Han Myung-moo, have all changed.

"Can I go too?"

"...Is it okay even if your body isn't fully healed?"

"Okay."

There is still one.Including Jung Hee Won, a total of six people participated in this group.To put it small, this is a pretty big number.

Well...

Of course, in the face of the impending crisis, the numbers are not many.

[A new sub-program has arrived!]

[Second case — getting food]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: E

Conditions for clearing: directly hunt and kill monsters that can be used as food and cook them.

Time limit: none

Compensation: 500 coins

fail:???

As soon as you step into the tunnel, a sub-plan flies in.

Before we get to the second main scene, we have to go through a sub-scene.

[There are several constellations looking forward to your performance]

We hadn't taken 10 steps before the dark tunnel became apparent.I illuminated the tunnel with a flashlight, but the outline of the surrounding area was not visible at all.

This proves that the curtains are blocking the light and that the real thing is behind the curtains.

"Only son, wait a minute, it's really dangerous from now on."

Jung Hee-won, who was standing next to me, stopped first.

"Are we really going down this road? No matter how I look, it's like suicide. And Ji Young."

"Actually, I was worried from the beginning. It's not too late, how about we keep Ji Yong? If possible, women..."

"Lee Hyun-sung, I'm not as good as you, but I know how to fight. I've taken kendo lessons."

"but......"

An unnecessary argument was about to heat up, so I interrupted it.

"Lee Hyun-sung. I told you. The world has changed. It is prejudiced to think that women are physically weak. Now, everyone can become stronger by improving their stats. But Mr. Jung Hee-won, there is something wrong with your words."

"......what is this?"

"Just as women are not weak, children are not weak either. Ji Yong, let them see."

Li Jiyong stood up.He looked around for a moment, then sat down on the tunnel floor and held out his hand.Zheng Xiyuan's eyes widened.

"Oh my God, what's that?"

"!cockroach!"

Han Mingwu yelled in fear.

The cockroaches that appeared in the distance connected Li Jiyong's fingertips with a blurred solid line.The cockroach listened to Li Jiyong's words like a good dog and disappeared into the darkness.

"I belong to the insect collectors."

Insect collector.Li Jiyong possesses the rare ability to simply communicate with insects through his "diversified communication" skills.

"It's nothing to us. It's safe to go 100 steps forward."

Li Jiyong showed overwhelming exploration strength, and everyone else was stunned.Li Jiyong boldly said to them.

"Thank you for your concern, but I am not following you to let you take care of me."

"Ah, yes."

Zheng Xiyuan nodded with a displeased expression on her face.Li Jiyong came to me, and I stroked his hair.

Li Jiyong's idiosyncrasies were not seen in the original Inactivation Act.Rescuing Li Jiyong was not a wrong choice in the first place.We passed a clean barrier into total darkness.

you have entered a dangerous area

"Yoo Sang Ah, it's dangerous to hold my hand while walking."

"Aren't you more frightened than I am?"

"No!"

The air in the curtains was sticky with humidity.

"Turn off the lights."

Yoo Sang Ah immediately covered the flashlight.Because the model didn't have light controls, she had to adjust the lights by hand.

"Ouch, don't shine it down."

Jung Hee-won felt sick when she checked the ground.There were torn corpses there.The bodies of those who tried to walk by were placed at their feet.

Yoo Sang Ah tightly closed her eyes, Han Myung Moo trembled, and even the bold Lee Hyun Sung started sweating.

Surprisingly, Li Jiyong was extremely calm, without a trace of fear on his face.I'm a little worried.This guy, does he think it's all a game?

"Some things are not human."

As Li Jiyong said, it's not just human corpses on the ground.There's something the size of a fully grown wolf.The corpses of these mole-like creatures were strewn about.

The ninth grade underground species, gophers.The name is reminiscent of creatures on Earth, but a name is just a name.They are underground piranhas.Gophers are persistent hunters who burrow in the ground in packs and target their prey.

However, the mice on the ground fell down as if they had been bombarded.

"Who the hell did it?"

Apparently, only one person can turn a gopher into this.Liu Zhonghe.He crossed the path alone to the next station.

But I still can't help thinking.It should have been tonight or tomorrow, and Liu Zhonghyuk in the third round will move on to the next stop.

Why is he so irritable? Has he become impatient? What is the reason?

"Only son, can we use this for food?"

"The thing is, we'd have to 'hunt' it ourselves, so that might not be possible."

"Well, a little uncomfortable. How about cooking? Do you want to cook over the fire?"

It can be baked, but the problem is that it must be a special fire.

"Xiyuan, you said you are good at swordsmanship?"

"Ugh, it's a bit of a stretch to say I'm good at it...but what are you doing now?"

I stabbed the gopher in the body and started cutting it with the knife.I don't know when I read it in the novel, but it's not as good as I thought it would be.

After somehow removing that tough skin, I managed to remove the spine.This is the first time, so I left many scratches, but it is usable.

"Why are you eating that?"

"Kendo requires weapons."

The stone boar doesn't have enough quills, but the gopher has only one bone in its spine, so it's a pretty good weapon to start the show with.

After cutting the cartilage leading to the leg and shaping it, the bone actually takes the shape of the knife.I gave it to Jung Hee Won.

"Thanks, I suddenly feel like I'm back in the Paleolithic age."

"You need to grind it finer for it to be useful. The surrounding stones sharpen the blade nicely.

"Understood, Captain."

Zheng Xiyuan began to sharpen the blade with a slightly excited voice.I raised my head and saw Li Xiancheng looking at this scene with a trace of envy.

"Do you want one?"

"Well, will you make me one?"

"Come closer, all of you. It's better if you learn how to do it. Let's work together."

In fact, this is my first attempt too.I couldn't have done this if the Inactivation Act hadn't included these details.

Why is the Inactivation Act unpopular? The reason is simple.The author writes too much background.

"...only son, you're a beginner, but you're good at it."

We sat down and made weapons together.This time it was a spear, not a sword.They don't have kendo skills, so I decided to use it to make the spear more stable.

Lee Hyun-sung's spear is made from the spine of the largest gopher, while Yoo Sang-ah and Han Myung-moo's weapons are made from the spine of a medium-sized gopher.Finally, Lee Ji-yong's weapon is made from the skull of a small gopher.

You yourself have successfully acquired the weapon

[Very few zodiac signs are interested in the primal nature of humans]

Zodiac has given you 100 coins

Everyone has received this information.

"Even for this kind of stuff, we get coins."

"I don't want you to die, do you have your own coins?"

"Yes, we have."

"Whenever possible, leave enough money aside to cover survival costs and invest the rest in your strength, stamina and flexibility. Otherwise, you won't survive."

"Ah, I'll remember."

We finished our preparations and started to move forward again.The 100-step distance mentioned by Li Jiyong is now in front of us.

[Sub-scene - Grain purchase has started!]

The mice on the ground crawled out of the ground.I quickly counted.One, two, three... exactly 13 of them.More than I thought.

Well...

The swarm of land mice drew a line and started threatening us.As soon as we crossed the finish line, the battle began.

"There's no plan. We're beginners. It might sound brutal, but honestly, I don't expect you to survive."

"that......"

"But you all survived, please."

Han Mingwu was the only one who was unhappy.Everyone else is tense, but looks determined.In particular, Jung Hee Won's eyes are impressive.

"Okay, let's try it. Everyone, please live!"

Just as Yoo Jong Hyuk tested me, I also had expectations for them.No matter how good a mentor is, a person without determination cannot survive in this world.

Ultimately, it's up to a person to save themselves.Everyone should take this opportunity to realize this clearly.

"Then let's go."

I also know who among these people I have to choose.

When we go one step further, the gophers start moving and the fight begins.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Chapter 20