An Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Chapter 64 - Episode 10-Disaster of Lasers (3)

"My, my, how very interesting. You are Mrs. Dixon Carson. Oh, my apologies."

I smiled a sick grin under my helm.

"You are a Miss Dixon Carson now since you've been recently widowed. How insensitive of me."

"Argghh!!!"

This woman shrieked like a banshee and tried to charge towards me. Her son held her back. Slaves and soldiers alike gathered in the cafeteria. Most of them kept silent.

"Hello, everyone. I am the King of Chaos and Revenge, also known as the Lord of Anger."

I looked to one man and saw him flinch.

(Activate Character Profile.)

+

Name: Edison Fran

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Age: 33

Constellation Support: Cotton Gin Creator

Personal Attributes: [University Graduate] (Rare), [Advanced Engineer] (Rare), [Advanced Business Man] (Rare), [Corrupt Business Man] (Common), [Being the Fall Guy] (Common)....

Personal Skills: Tinkering Lv. 10, Mental Calculation Lv. 10, Business Practice Lv. 10, Leadership Lv. 10, Studying Lv. 10, Social Skills Lv. 9, Underground Networking Lv. 8, Darkweb User Lv. 8, Reading Reports Lv. 8, Management Lv. 7....

Overall Evaluation: Edison Fran was a starry-eyed University Graduate who studied business and engineering. Hoping to work for a company centered on technological advancements, he successfully graduated and worked at one company. He was promoted several times because of his proper leadership and social skills and earned the reverie of his peers. Upgraded to a profitable management position, he dealt with paperwork concerning budgets, etc. After discovering misaligned payments and heavier cargo loads on their transporters, he found his business was secretly carrying illegal drugs and weaponry inside robotic parts, which were shipped to foreign countries.

He confronted his director and threatened to contact the authorities, but his superior black-mailed him: there was paperwork of Edison overseeing the parts creation and shipment. Realizing he was a fall guy and stuck in a corrupt agency, Edison Fran - with a guilty conscience - worked desperately to hide the crimes. If captured by the FBI, he would've been sent to Federal Prison along with the company leaders. He hopes for a fresh start after the Fall.

+

They had a very in-depth history. How did my [Character Profile] know so much?

[H e is an in-de p th cha rac ter in ASS. Th ere is a lo t of in for ma tion abo ut him.]

So, it seems my [Character Profile] used the novel as it's information pool?

[It go es be yond th at too.]

(Interesting.)

I went off track because of the Character Profile. I clapped my hands and made many people flinch.

"Everyone, as your new King, I've decided to create a scenario to commemorate my success!"

I glared at Miss Allison and her son.

"Many of you should be familiar with it. It is an entertainment scenario."

The boy named Rubin became pale along with his mother.

"Grab them."

I ordered flare zombies to grab the two humans.

"No! No! Let go!"

"Get off!!"

I took a penny from my pocket, a currency belonging to the old world. I looked for some men and picked four from the group. I ordered each man to confess whether they believed in racism. Three out of four supported it, so I ordered the other man to return to his place. I picked another, and I confirmed his bigotry.

"Choose one side."

"Excuse me?"

"Call it. Heads or tails. Now."

The man realized his situation. His fate was up to the flip of a coin.

"H-heads."

-!Fling!-

-!Ding ding ding!-

I flicked the coin, and the metal rang against my fingernail. When it fell onto the floor, it rang out even more. I looked downwards and saw which side it fell on.

"Lucky man. You may return."

The man, who grew a visible sweat, returned to his place amongst the people.

"It doesn't mean that one of you is spared, though."

I chose another man. He was a bigot on the first try. As I continued to flip the coin of fate, I felt like Anton Chigurh from "No Country for Old Men." I never watched the movie, but I did view "The Vile's Eye" YouTube video about Anton's character. In one scene, he decides the fate of one character by flipping a coin. The man called it correctly and survived another day. These men weren't so lucky.

"I now have the four entertainers. Anyone who wishes to watch, follow after me. We shall go to the front of the school."

***

-!CLINK!-

"W-what are you doing?"

"I'm gathering the actors for my newest show."

I had my flare zombies clamp those chains with heavy balls at the end to each prisoner's right ankle.

-[Herald?]

-[Yes?]

-[I need you to generate a scenario. Here are the contents.]

I sent the message to Herald. The scenario I created was in the sub-category.

-[You seem more of a Dokkaebi than me at times.]

-[Reveal the scenario once I begin it.]

-[Alright.]

"For everyone present, I've decided to create an entertainment scenario to commemorate my ascension as a King! This scenario is called <Run for your Life>!"

I approached the five men I had chosen.

"This scenario is straightforward."

I pointed down the block. If one looked closely, one could see a drawn line on the ground.

"If you successfully run down Summit avenue and make it past the intersection at E Pike street, you get to live. You'll become a formal prisoner, and you'll be treated humanely. Although," the reattached necromancy gem on my helm pulsated as I issued a command, "you'll be chased by my flare zombies. If you are caught, you die. Then you'll become part of my legion of undead. Understand?"

"No! No! Don't do this to my son!! NO!"

Allison Carson was screaming her lungs out. As I slowly approached, I heard Fraggy narrate.

[Ethan Nakamura was now looking down at Allison, who looked right back at him, trying to discern the expression of the face behind the Helm of Darkness. Ethan thought of his reply and was about to ask calmly.]

"Did you show mercy when the slaves pleaded!?!"

-!THWACK!-

I kicked her in the stomach, and she buckled from the pain.

[Ok ay, Eth an did n't as k ca lmly.]

"How many slaves pleaded for mercy from you and your husband?! How many of them were in your situation and said the same words?! How much mercy did you give?! I'm going to make a bet. You gave none at all. Isn't that right, everyone?"

I turned to look at the former slaves. I looked at one woman and ordered her to tell the truth.

"Tell me the truth. Did Allison Dixon Carson spare anyone when one of you pleaded with her?"

I looked at this young woman. She appeared to be in her early twenties. I saw her face and how it moved. It was the face of someone who was about to lie. I smiled under my helm. This girl would know the price of lying to the King.

"Y-ye -- aaahhhH!!!"

The punishment was exacted, and the girl fell onto her knees.

"Why lie to your King? Why lie for this person? Why are you trying to protect them?"

I knelt to this woman's eye level.

"I think I know why, but I'll get to that later. First, my little event needs an appetizer. Oh, I also forgot to mention something."

I turned to the primary source of entertainment.

"My dear runners, if all of you die when evading my flare zombies, then I'll make you devour the former King's wife. But if one of you - at least one of you - survive the run, then I'll spare her. Simple, right? Now, back to Miss Allison."

I looked at the pathetic thing. This woman was adorned in an old-fashioned dress reminiscent of the 1800s; I assumed it was a Southern garment that women used to wear. It was white lace but quickly became dirty from the ash on the ground. She reminded me of Elizabeth from the psychological horror movie "Antebellum." Or as one YouTuber named "Cinema Summary" called her: "this snooty, bougie, white bitch in a dress..."

"I had thoughts of beating you."

-!KKssshhhhh!-

"I wanted to use my Crimson Mana Sword and lash your back until gaping wounds appeared."

Sweat beads cascaded down Allison's forehead.

"Then I wanted to pour salt water onto your wounds and watch you writhe in pain. Those were punishments African American slaves had to endure. I decided not to, though."

[Fable "Ender's Game" is stimulating your conscience.]

I wanted to drag this woman outside and beat her, but when I had such thoughts, my fable reminded me of distant memories: when I kicked Stilson to death and when I saw Kim Namwoon beaten by the 7th Apostle. So, I decided not to. Instead, I would make others do it.

[Br uh.]

"Miss Allison, I decided not to mutilate you beyond repair. But that doesn't mean I've barred anyone else from doing so."

I looked at the former slaves standing far away.

"Besides sexually assaulting this woman, do whatever you want. Rip her hair out, gouge her eyes, the works."

After declaring this, I stood silently, waiting. No one stepped forward.

[Constellations that love cruelty can feel the awkwardness of this moment.]

"Ha! What is this?! None of you are going to step up and take revenge?"

[Constellations of wrath are encouraging the Incarnations!]

[Constellations of wrath are sponsoring the Incarnations to take action.]

"Even though you've been suffering all this time? Don't you think it's your reward for waiting this long?"

The woman I addressed earlier was muttering.

"Excuse me, but may you repeat what you said?"

"We don't to. We're not monsters."

The meek woman from before glared in my direction with an untold fierceness.

"We're better than them. We're not going to stoop to their level. We're not going to join this barbaric act!"

I looked at this woman, defending the hill of morality she stood on. I looked at every former slave and saw grief in their eyes. But I also saw something else: humanity. The moral codes from before the Fall permeated their spirits, still bound them to its shackles. How? How do you break that? I grinned. I remember one Reddit post about Kim Namwoon and how he was more intelligent than we thought. Most of the readers of TWSA agreed he was a dull-brained chunni, but one Reddit post showed how cunning and socially intelligent he was in the First Scenario. He successfully persuaded everyone to target the elderly by appealing to morality. It sounded contrary, but this was how he did it:

["What're you hesitating for? You heard what that guy said earlier, that we all 'live for free'. So then, who here's been living for free the longest?"

People's eyes simultaneously turned to the accessible seating. The elderly's terrified faces turned deathly pale. Perhaps at this moment, Kim Namwoon's words spoke to the hunger that they all kept hidden.

"In a situation like this, it's obviously the geezers that've lived the longest who should make the sacrifice. Or are you gonna tell the little kid over there to die?"

The child, holding the collar of the woman who appeared to be his mother, hid behind her. Kim Namwoon let out a hollow laugh as he watched the child...]

Yes, this is how he did it. He appealed to "logic." To save the youth, they should kill the elderly. How would I appeal to logic in this situation? I pondered this and finally came to an answer.

"Do you understand the situation you're in? The Constellations are giving you a shred of their precious attention, and you want to waste it because of your old morality?"

I glared at everyone.

"Everyone, the Constellations want to throw money at you! All you have to do is repeat what you did in the First Scenario! Don't you know which scenario we're in? We're in the scenario of kings! We have to conquer one station per day to survive, or everyone dies! We need to gain strength first, and how do we do that? With coins, the currency that dictates the Star Stream! The currency the Constellations are promising to give if you attack this woman! How easy is that?!"

After making my speech, I needed to put the cherry on top.

"Or are you willing to stay weak and die? You and all the children in this group?"

I saw some men and women contemplate. They were probably thinking, "How much am I supposed to hit her? One punch? Two? How long will I have to do it?"

I needed to add more fuel to this fire.

"Whoever can add the biggest bruise to this woman will personally receive five thousand coins from me."

That very last sentence spurred people to run towards Allison Carson, and I was slightly surprised. They were all children.

"NO!! NO!!"

-!THWACK!-

-!POUND!-

With their little hands and feet, they punched and kicked their new victim.

"NO! Stop!"

Former slaves were trying to rush forward, but I glared at them and activated my flag.

[You have used the authoritative power of the flag!]

[You have ordered some of your subjects to freeze in place temporarily!]

All the soldiers and former slaves froze, and I saw their muscles strain against my order.

"You can't stop this."

[Some Constellations are loving this scenario!]

[Some Constellations enjoy the children's ferocity!]

[Some Constellations love watching little kids beat up older people!]

[Some Constellations are dismayed from the children losing their innocence!]

(Innocence? You brought this upon them, stars in the sky. If you never came to this planet, these types of scenarios would've never happened.)

I looked at the kids crowding around Allison Carson. I thought about it, and it made sense that the adults didn't step forward. Adults hide their desires and have greater self-control. They are complex, and they put on pretenses because they fear how others view them.

Children are different. They're not afraid to speak the truth, and they talk honestly when a situation demands it. Some children do put on an act when it comes to pretenses, but many don't bother. They are blatant in their desires, have less self-control, and have extreme emotions.

I understood why people manipulated children. It was easy. They didn't have critical thinking skills, and they were highly emotional creatures. You could bend their temperaments in any direction you desired.

(These thoughts feel familiar.)

[Fable "Ender's Game" is reminding you of its contents!]

The past flickered into my mind. I remembered boarding the shuttle and heading to School. I remember Graff manipulating my fellow Launchies to hate me. In the end, I was no different. Just like him, I was bending the emotions of these children to hate another person. To be honest, I probably didn't need to do much.

-!THWACK!-

-!Puck!-

-!Thwick!-

"Die, die!"

"S-stop!"

The children hated this woman more than anything in this world. They probably felt grateful to me; I freed them and offered them the chance to exact vengeance on their oppressor. I looked at the kids beating Allison Carson and tried to imagine how it must've been for them. How did it feel to be hated, to watch your adult protectors suffer, who cannot do anything? It must've been the most demoralizing thing.

With their tiny fists and feet, they pounded Allison Carson until she wept. I was bored watching this until one child pulled something from their pocket: a rock.

(Ooh, interesting.)

"Yaarrgh!!"

With a battle cry unfit for a child's lungs, the young boy smashed the stone against the woman's forehead so hard it split open. Blood leaked out and dripped down onto the cement.

"Congratulations, young man, you are the winner of a large sum of coins! Not only from me but from the Constellations as well!!"

[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" senses the edginess in the young child and has sponsored 200 coins.]

I walked to the child, who stood dumbfoundedly. He was looking at the sky, seeing the donations from the stars. I gently grabbed his hand and pressed his index finger to mine. I finished the transfer of five thousand coins, and the boy's eyes widened further. I had faith in this child. After all, he does have a Fragment of the 4th Wall.

"You did well, Preston Doyle."

Here was the boy I saw in my dreams a long time ago. To me, it felt like years. To him, it was a few days. If I remember correctly, his mother was killed in a Colosseum created by coin farmers. And his father... I killed his father when he was converting to an outside species.

"Please, return to the others."

The young boy nodded and ran back to the crowd.

[Fragment of the 4th Wall is resonating with another Fragment Holder!]

Preston Doyle looked back at me as he did.

"Okay, runners, it's up to you. If you lose, this excuse of a human dies. You get a ten-second head start. Go."

Soon, Herald summoned a scenario window.

+

[Sub-scenario - Run for your Life]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: C

Clear Conditions: Cross the drawn line at the end of Summit Avenue.

Time Limit: No time limit

Reward: Life, Humane imprisonment

Failure: Death

+

"Ten."

"Go! GO!"

"Nine."

I counted, and the men ran. A scenario such as this should've been easy, but the shackles on their ankles were another story. When I finally counted to zero, I unleashed my flare zombies.

[Some Constellations love this production!]

"No! Stay away!!"

Three flare zombies swarmed one man.

"Stop!! What are you doing!?!"

One man pushed another to the ground to provide a distraction.

(Wow, playing dirty, are we? Too bad.)

If these flare zombies were uncontrolled, then they would've taken the bait. The sacrifice was in vain because I sent one flare zombie to chase after that traitor. He tripped on his own feet and tried to stand up quickly, but it was too late for him. Soon, the rest fell like dominoes. The only one left was Rubin Carson, the son of the Confederate ringleaders. I was content to watch him die until this happened.

[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is forcibly activating!]

(What?!)

[Mom... I'll save you... I'll make it to the end....]

Rubin's tired thoughts flooded in.

[I'll save you....]

[I'll save you!!]

[I'll save you...!]

[I can make it!!]

Suddenly, Fraggy's narration began, and I was his sole listener.

[Fragment of the 4th Wall has said, "Ethan Nakamura felt the fires of anger erupt within his soul as he watched Rubin Carson run so desperately. The angry Asian boy didn't know why he felt this way, but he suspected his narrating Fragment of the 4th Wall did. He wanted his Fragment to shut up, but it continued."]

I winced from hearing these words.

["As his Fragment spoke, Ethan crept closer to his answer. He knew why he was enraged by Rubin's valiant display."]

[I can make it...!]

Fraggy's narration and the runner's pleading thoughts entered my mind.

(Shut up!)

[Fragment of the 4th Wall has said, "While Ethan Nakamura ran away from his mother in the sub-scenario, Rubin Carson ran to save his mother in this sub-scenario."]

[Mom, I'm so close...! I can sa-]

"You can't save ANYONE!!!"

Rubin Carson evaded all of my flare zombies and was meters away from the finish line. I couldn't see it, but I assumed his face carried the light of hope. I wondered how his hopeful face crumbled when a hidden flare zombie jumped out and tackled him.

"No! Rubin!!"

I left the screeching Allison Carson to flail on the ground. Like a grim reaper, I approached the boy. He had multiple bite marks on his arms already.

"No! No!!"

Tears streamed down his face. Was he crying for himself? It made sense because he was about to die. Or... was he crying for the parent he couldn't save? I didn't know, and I didn't bother to try.

[You have activated "Blackening" Lv. 3!]

[Your attribute "Anger Lord" is activating!]

"You were too narrowminded. You might've survived if you paid attention."

The boy screamed as he was bitten. This game was geared against him, but it was never rigged to be impossible.

"You can't save anyone!!"

-!CRUNCH!-

"You can't save yourself!!"

-!THWACK!-

"You think you could save others!?!"

-!PWAH!-

"You left your mother to die!!"

-!CRACK!-

"You're a goddamn failure!!"

I grabbed this boy's head and slammed it against the ground.

"Gah!"

I clutched my palpitating chest. As I did, Fragment of the 4th Wall spoke again.

[Fragment of the 4th Wall has said, "Ethan Nakamura knelt onto the ground and felt his heart. After beating the boy, he contemplated. When he said those things..."]

(Shut up.)

["Was he saying it to Rubin Carson?"]

(Why are you doing this?)

["Or was he saying it to himself?"]

"Egghhhh!!"

"Gruuueeeghhh..."

All four men were infected because I heard the characteristic moans of zombies. I looked at this boy, whose eyes gradually yellowed and blackened. I linked his consciousness to mine and forced him to stand up.

"It's time to pay your mother a visit."

***

"NO! What have you done?! No!!"

Allison Carson was a hysterical mess. Rightly so.

"You have visitors, Miss Carson."

She tried to crawl away desperately.

"Devour her. Peel the flesh off her bones."

"Stop!"

Former slaves and soldiers charged forward and held my flare zombies back.

"Stop them!!"

"Hold them back!"

(Hm? The freezing command must've ended.)

These two different groups of people worked together to save this heinous woman. Why would slaves protect their former oppressors? I had the answer to that. I stared at the woman who defied my command earlier.

"I asked you this question: Why are you protecting this person? Thinking about it now, I don't think you are."

Men and women held the flare zombies from behind, making sure to avoid their clamping jaws. I continued.

"You're protecting yourselves. You're protecting your weak values by pretending to be good people. You're trying to convince yourselves that you're still the same people before the apocalypse, still the people who believe in justice and fair trials. You want to reclaim your lost humanity."

I walked to Allison Carson and gripped my Crimson Mana Sword.

"But know this: you'll never survive the scenarios with a human heart."

-!Kkssshhhh!-

I impaled her chest with my blade, driving it deeper and deeper. The woman's eyes rolled, a feeble gasp escaped her mouth, and she slumped to the ground. The people holding my flare zombies in place looked haunted but eventually relented. They let go of the undead, and four undead surrounded the dead body to feast on it. One didn't, though. The recently infected boy, Allison's son, stumbled slowly. It was almost imperceptible, but I heard it.

"Mom... I'm sorry..."

"Wow, what incredible willpower. Such a shame."

-!!Thwish!!-

"That you have to be wasted."

I decapitated the boy with a swing of my sword, and his head rolled onto the ground.

[Constellations of retribution love this scenario!]

[You have been sponsored 600 coins!]

***

It was tiresome work. I had to reorganize the soldiers and people. After hours of it, I saw the morning light.

(Time to pull a gamer move.)

I found a place in this school to rest my head and sleep. I resigned the fact that I would speak with Preston Doyle and Edison Fran later. Right now, I could barely keep my eyelids open.

(Do I keep my helmet on?)

I was unsure at first but decided to wear it as I slept. Assassins could creep into the room I was in, and the survival story I've been building would end anticlimactically. I ate [Ellain Forest Essence], which would heal my body as I slumbered. With some hesitance, I laid my body against the soft bed. It only took a few seconds to finally lose my consciousness and fall into the land of dreams.

***

[Wa ke up.]

[Wa key, wa key.]

[Eth an. Ge t up.]

I opened my eyes.

(Fraggy? Am I awake?)

I got up to look around, but noticed I was in a void.

[Yo u're hav ing an impo rtant dream. You ha d a few ho urs of sle ep al rea dy.]

(Jeez, what is this, am I an employee of a black company?)

[Lo ok.]

I looked at the shifting landscape. Wisps of darkness pooled until color came into this world. Was I using Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint in my sleep again? It's been so long. The scenery shifted until my feet firmly stood on solid ground.

(It's incredible...)

I was always amazed by this ability. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint placed my soul somewhere in the world or recreated the world perfectly in my mind. I didn't know which one it was, but it didn't take away that this moment felt realistic.

(Sadly, it's still the apocalypse.)

Dark clouds of ash and smog covered the sky like a heavy blanket, and the sun was nothing but a red dot. This scene appeared no different from the hundreds of post-apocalyptic media out there.

-!!Swishwrooosh!!-

I heard gushing water collide against the Earth and the soft "swish" as it receded. Looking away from the sky, I turned my head to the left and saw gentle waves receding from the shores of a beach. Was this the Puget Sound or somewhere else in the world? I looked to the right and saw apartment homes tucked into the tree line of Evergreens.

(I'm probably still in Washington. Why am I here?)

I needed to look around. I walked down a sidewalk, hoping to find a convenient sign telling me where I was. To my surprise, I actually found one. It stood on dried grass, and the wooden beams pierced the dirt. I walked towards; as I did, the dry, yellow grass crunched beneath my feet. I craned my neck to look down and read the name of this location.

[Alki Beach Park]

(So, this is where I am.)

I tore my attention away from the sign and looked further. When I did... I didn't know if my breath could've been stolen while dreaming, but if it was possible, then it happened to me.

(There it is. The next phase of my plan!)

In the distance was a red, reflective meteor. I ran down the sidewalk as fast as possible until I could see it clearly. I remember having a dream about this before.

[The Disaster of Lasers!]

In that dream, I could only identify the general area; I concluded it was along the Puget Sound. Now... I had its exact location. Just as I was about to reach the meteor and touch it, a message box materialized.

[Fragments of the 4th Wall are resonating!]

[Someone is invading your dream!]

[Da ng it.]

There could only be one person who could do that.

(Mathew McFarland. The bastard himself.)

The post-apocalyptic - but still beautiful - beach faded away, and I was back in the void. It made sense. McFarland's soul was empty and disgusting, so of course, there would be nothing in it.

(Hello, Ethan. After hours of trying to reconnect with you, I've finally done it.)

Chapter 64: Episode 10-Disaster of Lasers (3)

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
EnderGolem997

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Chapter 64: Episode 10-Disaster of Lasers (3)

CREATORS' THOUGHTS EnderGolem997

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CREATORS' THOUGHTS
EnderGolem997