Episode 4-Ethan and George (1)

<Wandering the City>

After I was done destroying the coin farm and murdering the guards, I went back to last night's camping spot. I grabbed my bone sword and my wooden stick. My metal knife was destroyed, so I discarded it. I would have to find a new one from an item chest, or make something myself.

Besides that, I began to hold my weapons in each hand and wander around downtown Seattle. I walked under their massive skyscrapers and passed their football stadium. I passed cluttered streets, a McDonalds, a Walmart, and a Target. I didn't see anyone in sight, though.

(I couldn't even save anyone at the coin farm,) I thought. (All of them were morphing into outside species, or were complacent.)

[Moorim Masters are impressed that you killed all of those people with your bare hands!]

[They admire your ferocity and lethality!!]

[They have sponsored 2000 coins!!]

[Constellation "Secretive Plotter" is wondering what your next step is.]

"I don't know," I said aloud while staring at the sky. I looked towards the ground again as I continued to walk.

(Shit... if no one is here... then I won't be able to acquire a flag...)

[W hy not u se Omni scient Rea der's Vi ew Poin...t Lv....3?] Fragment of the 4th Wall said.

(Why would I do that?) I thought in response.

[It's a sca nn ing ski ll to see cha rac ters... with it -- yo u can fi nd char acte rs. Duh.]

(So much attitude,) I thought. (My own private attribute is teasing me.)

But... [Fragment of the 4th Wall] was right. Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage One allowed me to read simple actions and thoughts of characters. The second stage allowed me to understand the person more, and read more of their actions.

It was the third stage that confused me. It was a fickle stage, and it happened when I was close to death. I didn't know how I could activate it properly, but it seemed I could observe other people when I thought about them.

Truthfully, the skill could've been used in quite the perverted way, but I decided not to focus on that. There were some weird Constellations out there, and didn't want to be like them.

Anyways, [Fragment of the 4th Wall] was saying this: I could potentially use my skill to find kings. If I could read their thoughts, then I could find and kill them. I was no different from a hitman, but it was pretty cool.

[Constellations of "BDSM" wonder why you killed everyone at the coin farm.]

I was ignoring this message completely. I didn't need to deal with some of the Constellations' weird, spamming bullshit. When Herald comes back, we need to talk about putting some form of censoring on the text channels.

[Dokkaebi Herald has sent your commission: 1500 coins.]

[The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim has sent: 3,000 coins.]

It seems that I promoted the [Stigma] that Surt gave me, and that Herald was doing well from all of the publicity I was giving him.

[Dokkaebi Herald has sent you a message and has opened the communication chatroom!]

+

-[Oi, I heard you murdered a lot of people...]

-[I did.] I sent back.

-[Anyways, I was able to make some minor upgrades. My channel name is #HE-2020 now.]

-[Really? Why is that important?]

-[Don't you humans have something called "Discord Nitro?"]

-[Yeah?.... Okay?]

-[Star Stream is like that.]

Really? To see the Star Stream be compared to a popular gaming service was interesting. Hmmm.... If I wrote a book about it, and sold it on the Dokkaibi shop, then I could make a lot of money. I could title it, "How [Star Stream] is a Gacha Game that's Pay to Win."

-[Hello?]

-[I'm still here. Have you done what I asked?]

-[Yes, I'm observing the Incarnation "Marcus Santiago."]

-[What about his father?]

-[He survived the first scenario. He has a red flag now.]

"Shit..." I said angrily.

-[Mathew McFarland has leveled up his flag to a navy blue.]

-[Okay,] I responded, [what about Zelan Ali?]

-[He's in a different state, and he's not part of my jurisdiction. Fellow Dokkaebi Star Streamers can be quite territorial. Plus, we shouldn't even be doing this. We are really pushing our luck. If this continues, I don't know if "The Black One, Lord of Muspellheim" can protect us.]

-[It will be alright,] I replied.

(It has to be,) I thought.

[Incarnation "Ethan Nakamura" has ended the channel communication with Dokkaibi Herald.]

+

I didn't want to be rude, but I had to put several plans into motion. The timeline didn't change so much, but it was still annoying. If this proceeded the same way, then Marcus would fall into the clutches of Mathew McFarland. I remember when I read about it in the novel. I wanted to warn Marcus to run and get out of there, but I couldn't. He was just a character on a smartphone screen to me.

***

"Mr. Santiago, it's very good to see you."

"Same," Adler Santiago replied.

"Have you considered my deal?"

"Course," Adler replied curtly.

"Your decision then?"

"We gonna work together instead."

"Oh?" Mathew McFarland's eyes lit up with excitement, and his smile lines crinkled. "What does that mean, Mr. Santiago?"

"Adler, you sonvabitch."

Mathew McFarland raised his hands, as if to placate the gangster. But his smile was still sinister.

"What do you propose then?"

"My son is a dumbass. He ain't listening to me, so he needs some discipline. I'll give ya my son if you give me those teenage boys I saw earlier."

"What will you do with them?" McFarland asked.

"I heard they strong. My group needs more people that can fight."

McFarland nodded his head, as if agreeing with Adler Santiago.

"Alright, I'll accept the deal. Let's see if Marcus Santiago is as strong as they say."

That's how a foolish gangster of a father made a deal with a growing devil.

***

Adler Santiago traded his son over to Mathew McFarland in the original storyline because Marcus was too "carefree." In truth, Marcus actually had a conscience and didn't want to be similar to their father. Adler wanted an alliance with McFarland, but McFarland found out that Marcus's sponsor was "All-Devouring Wolf of Apocalypse." It was horrible. McFarland always found out because Marcus always trusted and told them, no matter which regression it was. When McFarland found out, he engineered a trap and killed Marcus's father. He isolated the boy, and slowly drove them insane.

When the writer of TWSA wrote from the perspective of Anna Croft, I found out that she tried to predict the future and save Marcus multiple times. But that motherfucker named McFarland had always set up multiple traps to trip her up, and made deals with demons to hinder her. Thankfully, McFarland didn't know that a reader was out there, also observing him.

If my plan went well, I could save Marcus. For now, let's see if George Machen is around the city.

[You have activated "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint" Lv.3!]

[You have used Stage 2!]

[You have activated the Stigma Flames of Muspellheim!]

I was a reader. If I could pair my [Flames of Muspellheim] - a heat-based stigma - with my skill "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint" stage two, then I could necessarily detect heat signatures and read thoughts at the same time.

Some dead humans that were infected by the fire-demon virus were coming towards me. In Washington, California and Africa, they were quite common. They were a Grade-6 species that were infected with a virus that lit them on fire.

Imagine the movie "World War Z" - which was written by Max Brooks - and imagine if all of those zombies were on fire. That was basically what was charging at me. With my wooden stick in one hand, and my bone sword in another, I began killing the fire-zombies with thrusts.

I felt like Kirito from Sword Art Online, or Jaehwan when he killed Commanders and Lords with his spirit weapon and void sword.

Truthfully, I felt more like Jaehwan. These fire-zombies were boring and weak to me. With my stigma, I was immune to their fire attacks, and my immune system was boosted when I used the coins to increase my stats such as Strength and Stamina. So, even if these fire-zombies were to bite me, I would be immune to the virus itself.

I became so bored, I began to sing some lyrics from a song:

"When I was a young boy, my father- Took me into the city - to see a marching band - He said, "Son, when you grow up would you be- The savior of the broken, the beaten and the damned?" He said, "Will you defeat them? Your demons- And all the non-believers, the plans that they have made? Because one day, I'll leave you a phantom- To lead you in the summer to join the black parade!!"

After that verse, I began to vigorously attack the fire-zombies. My bone sword ripped out their rotting hearts, and my wooden stick bashed in their heads.

[Constellation "Prisoner of the Golden Headband" has sent: 1000 coins.]

I was earning coins as I tried my new techniques. Sun Wukong would be admiring my weapon choice, for it was similar to his weapon, the Ruyi Jingu Bang.

[Constellation "Demonic Judge of Fire" has entered the chat.]

[Constellation "Demonic Judge of Fire" has seen Incarnation "Ethan Nakamura" kill actual demons made of fire.]

[They have sponsored 100 coins.]

This stingy Archangel... Well, if the storyline was proceeding normally, then they should have Jung Huiwon as their Incarnation. It means that I would have to train harder to become better.

(I'll meet the man in the white coat and slap them in the face,) I thought.

I began to sing another song, which was made by CG5, a YouTuber:

"As the wind whips 'round, I take a breath for victory. Wanna play tag, or wave your white flag? Cuz you'll never touch me!

King of hearts, all in, It's not a sin to wanna win. Can't see me flying like a bee, black and yellow energy, Only me on my team, naturally.

I see a dreamer over there by the water, But I got no, But I got no, Kakorrhaphiophobia. I see a dreamer, And he's ripe for the slaughter But I got no, But I got no, Kakorrhaphiophobia. Phobia, phobia, phobia."

[Constellations "The Nine Greek Musicians" say that your tone is a little off-beat.]

(I'm f*cking killing zombies,) I thought. (I think I'm being much more productive.)

I held my scathing words to myself, and focused on my opponents instead. I used my Kruk-bone sword to cut the last fire-zombie at the waist. They separated at the waist, and finally fell to the ground. After that was done, the place was a little cooler now. Most literally. Using my skill and stigma, I began searching this area like a hawk. I climbed buildings, and cars, and kept on searching until-

"I found you," I said aloud.

I began running towards the sole heat-source that was left. I ran for a few dozen meters, until I began hearing thoughts.

(This old gun... how the heck am I going to use this?)

If what I read was true, George Machen was a marine within Washington State, who was near the Seattle area. After their best friend died, they began to wander around without a king. They were found by Mathew McFarland, and actually refused to join the group. McFarland saw George as a threat, and they were insulted. They showed false hospitality to George, and lured them to their home-base. When George was sleeping at night, McFarland secretly smothered George to death with the very pillow George was using. Afterwards, they personally chopped up George and secretly fed them to Marcus Santiago. That was a partial reason why Marcus went insane. Marcus was slowing converting to an outside species.

(But as I a reader) I thought, (I can definitely save them.)

I continued to run towards the heat signature. They were inside an overgrown building, and were fiddling with a classic-looking rifle. It seemed brand new and kept in well condition, to an almost magical degree. I knew that this rifle was given to George from their sponsor [Anti-Confederacy.] It was a carbine, used by soldiers back in the Civil War of America. George was also armed with an old pistol, which was strapped to their side.

It was George Machen, a young man that was 26-years-old. They were described as handsome in the story, but they didn't appear that way to me. They seemed tired, and their blonde hair was becoming shaggy and overgrown - similar to the plants that surrounded us.

When they saw me, they didn't even flinch, as if they weren't afraid of death. I also knew another thing. When Mathew McFarland smothered George to death, George simply let him. When it happened, these were the thoughts that the author wrote, that showed what George thought as they died:

"As Mathew McFarland smiled with smugness, they pressed the pillow against George harder and harder. George flailed his arms in desperation, but eventually gave up. These were their thoughts-"

(I had a warm bed. I had some warm food. I think that's enough. N-now... now... I can finally see Jael...)

Mathew McFarland didn't know that George was stronger than them stats-wise. Mathew McFarland thought they had won, and were pleased with themselves. They didn't know this: as George suffocated, they cried tears of joy and thought of their best friend. Then the soul left the body, and hopefully met their long-lost friend in the afterlife.

<End of Chapter>

That's where the chapter ended. That chapter would never come, though.

"George Machen." I said as I approached. "I can see the future and..."

They looked at me with those tired eyes. I took a deep breath.

"I can save you."