Purple Hyacinth | Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

01

WHEN FICTION BECOMES REALITY
Purple Hyacinth | Chapter 01

In a noisy subway, Kim Dokja raised his head reflexively. He felt a pair of curious eyes staring at him. It was Yoo Sangah, an employee from the human resources team.

"Ah, hello," he said. "Are you going home from work?" The woman asked. "Yes, what about Yoo Sangah-ssi?" the girl sat down soon as the seat next to him became vacant.

"I was lucky the manager went on a business trip today." Yoo Sangah replied. "Do you normally take the subway?" Yoo Sangah made a dark expression. "That. . ."

It is the first time that he'd met Yoo Sangah in a subway train. There were rumors that Yoo Sangah had men driving her home every workday from the company.

"Someone stole my bicycle," she said. "You commute by bike?" Kim Dokja asked.

"Yes! I have a lot of overtime these days and seem to be lacking exercise. It is a bit annoying but is worth doing." she answered. "Aha, I see."

(Timeskip, let's fast forward a bit)

A notification appeared at the top of his smartphone. [ You have one new mail ]

He opened the mail, it was from the author of 'Ways of Survival'.

-Reader-nim, my novel will become paid from 7 pm. This will be helpful. Good luck.

[ 1 attachment ]

The author said he would give him a gift. What was the gift? He asked himself. He checked the time. He had exactly five minutes before the novel became monetized at 7 pm. He thought that he should leave a congratulatory comment to give strength to the author, since he was the only reader. However, he tried tying ruined several times in the search box but the result is always the same.

-The work does not exist.

The lights in the subway turned off and the train became dark. The subway train shook loudly and let out a metallic sound. It caused the girl beside him to scream and grabbed his arm. Confused voices came from everywhere. In the dark, one or two smartphones turned on.

"What is going on?" she asked. He pretended to be unconcerned and answered, "Don't worry, it isn't a big deal. It's probably a disturbance from a suicide. The engineer will soon make an announcement."

As he finished speaking, the engineer's announcement could be heard.

"—Telling all passengers on the train. Telling all passengers on the train." The loud surrounding became calm.

"See, it isn't a big deal. Now an apology will air—"

"—E-Everyone run away. . .Run-!" There was a beeping sound and the broadcast turned off. The inside of the train became a mess. A bright light flashed from the front of the subway train. There was loud drumming soon followed by a pop. Kim Dokja saw the clock—7:00 pm.

[ The free service of  planetary system 8612 has been terminated ]

[ The main scenario has started ]

———

「 Dokkaebi. The first time he appeared, someone said so. 」

That sentence suddenly popped up in Kim Dokja's head. The stopped train and darkroom give him a sense of deja vu. ". . .Dokkaebi?" Yoo Sangah muttered.

Kim Dokja's head was ringing. He was trembling uneasily as the novel he knew and the reality before him overlapped.

「With two small horns and wearing a small straw mat, the strange and fluffy creature was floating in the air. 」