Fridge / Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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Fridge Brilliance

• Just as the Star Stream's Scenarios of TWSA are 99 in total, the number of episodes Omniscient Reader has are also 99 in total.
• While his knowledge of the original novel is mainly what Dokja uses to get through the scenarios, his original job as a QA tester could also be what's helping him. Since his job was to test how he can break a game to find its flaws, of course he would use those skills to gain any advantage he could get.
• Of course not every person who enters the game will act like Dokja and the others. This is because if most of the others "characters" who make up the world now are side characters, they're obviously going to act like NPC's and only repeat certain lines or not believe their other group members as shown with the prophets.
  • It could also hint at the others having a form of sentience either through their interactions with Dokja or other "readers".
• Jang Hayoung's Ambiguous Gender and Kim Dokja's confusion when it comes to adressing her as female can be explained as due to being reincarnated in a male body and due to being written in a masculine way in Three Ways of Survival before Dokja's suggestion to make her female. But as seen later on, the 1863rd Regression of Han Sooyoung would have had no way of knowing who Jang Hayoung was to begin with, only being written into the story once Dokja mentioned her and referred to her as a male. In that sense, through a Stable Time Loop, Hayoung's gender became ambigious partly because of Dokja's own confusion of their gender while the story was being written in the first place.
  • Dokja's status as the Oldest Dream might also have affected Hayoung's gender, with Dokja's imagination changing it as a result of his own perceptions of Hayoung's character after reading the story.
• The confusion on whether or not Kim Dokja is ugly or not is given hints throughout the story.
  • Dokja mentions never having gotten insulted for his looks before, and while he was ridiculed for many things, not once does he mention being called ugly before the Scenarios.
  • Dokja also mentions that he thought he looked quite handsome, and for all the Self-Deprecation he gives himself before, during, and after the Scenarios, he never once calls himself ugly.
  • Characters often attempt to recall what Dokja's face looks like, and conclude that their memory of it is "blurry," with Lee Jihye unable to properly explain why she thought Dokja was ugly to Shin Yoosung.
  • Dokja is also shown being unfavorably compared to Yoo Joonghyuk, even when Dokja notes that only a handful of people are described to even be close to him in appearance in TWSA.
  • Yoosung, as Dokja's Incarnation, is shown to be annoyed and genuinely confused that people call Dokja ugly, noting that he really isn't.
  • Lee Jihye mentions that certain Constellations actively give her and other Incarnations coins whenever they call Dokja ugly, and her reaction during their reunion with Dokja after his ascending to become a Constellation imply she is surprised beyond her expectations of his looks.
  • Dokja gains a Fable based on the face of a handsome man, and it's noted not much really changes.
  • Dokja watches a recording of the Demon King Scenario in the 73rd Demon Realm, and complains of his face being aired squished, like someone punches it in.
  • Even certain Constellations note that Dokja's face is blurry, with Asmodeus and The Breaking the Sky Sword Saint in particular calling his appearance "unclear", and Prisoner of the Golden Headband actively unable to recognize Dokja when they first meet in person, using Dokja's trademark white coat and his outright confirmation to recognize him.
  • Uriel actively calls Dokja handsome multiple times, and is shown converting other Constellations of Eden to fawning over Dokja's looks.
  • People from the "real world" such as Yoo Sangah, Lee Sookyoung, and Han Sooyoung are also never said to think Dokja is ugly.
  • Han Myungoh is also shown to be able to recognize Dokja at first, but is later shown to have become a "character" through the Character List updates, and mentions not knowing what Dokja looks like anymore.
  • Yoo Joonghyuk also activelyy mentions his head hurting whenever he thinks about Dokja or his identity, with "an unknown power" acvely putting a stop to his imagination.
  • By the later points of the story. all of Kim Dokja's Company actively point him out as having attractive features.
  • One passage even outright implies that Dokja is unable to recognize himself when viewing Star Stream broadcasts, only realizing when he sees Lee Gilyoung and Shin Yoosung.
  • Bihyung also notes that Dokja is under the protection of the Great Dokkaebis and the Dokkaebi King.
  • This ultimately hints at <The Fourth Wall> or the <Star Stream> itself actively censoring Dokja's face, which explains why it only confuses "characters" in the former.
  • The other explanation is later revealed to be Han Sooyoung often describing Dokja's face as ugly due to her frustrations.
• The epilogue for Yoo Joonghyuk's story is left fairly ambiguous. Due to his entire life being broadcasted to constellations for countless regressions, the epilogue in a sense finally gives Yoo Joonghyuk the privacy his personal life never had.
• Why are there 1863 regressions in the original 'Ways of Survival'? Because the first subway opened in 1863. Fitting, considering the recurring appearance of subways throughout the novel.
• Kim Dokja describes the TWSA novel as being hard to read, and Han Sooyoung bluntly calls it trash. It makes sense after the reveal that the author is 1863rd timeline Han Sooyoung - she has to use what little time she has to write the novel before her past self takes back control, so there's no time for proofreading.
• Interestingly, the story of Omniscient Reader presents its own version of the "Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse" with the three main characters as well.
  • Yoo Junghyeok acts as the Regressor and the 1st protagonist of TWAS, Jang Hayoung acts as the Returnee and the 2nd protagonist of TWAS, while Sakyamuni/ Mandala's Guardian acts as the Reincarnator and the 3rd main protagonist in TWAS.
  • This setup mirrors the three main protagonists of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, with Kim Dokja as the Reader and main protagonist, Yoo Junghyeok as the Protagonist/Character and 2nd most influential protagonist, and Han Sooyoung as the Author and 3rd most influential protagonist in the story.
  • Kim Dokja's company eventually undergoes all three of the Ways of Survival during the epilogue as well, Regressing as a group in their first attempt to recover Kim Dokja, then becoming Returnees by traveling the different world-lines in order to return home, then finally Reincarnating through the power of the readers.
• All three of the main characters also end up playing the roles of the Three Ways of Survival of the main protagonists of ORV in their own right over the course of their stories and the epilogies as well.
  • Han Sooyoung acting as the Author of the original novel, becoming the Reader of Kim Dokja's commentary regarding Ways of Survival (which also acted as the beginning of her bond with Dokja), before becoming a significant Character in ORV as one of the main protagonists.
  • Kim Dokja acts as the Reader of the story, the one we follow and read the thoughts of the most, and becomes the Author of the various worldlines of the Star Stream as the Oldest Dream as well as the planner of the clearing of the 1864th regression alongside the revised 0th regression as a whole, with his role as Protagonist stemming from his status as the lone reader of 3 Ways of Survival and eventual main character of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
  • Yoo Junghyeok acts as the Protagonist of the story, being the main focus of Three Ways of Survival through his 1863 regressions, before he gains the Author atrribute during the end of his 1863rd regression, allowing him to be the co-Author of the 1864th regression alongside Kim Dokja and the eventual final version of ORV, before finally becoming a Reader in his own right after he survives his journey through the worldlines by reading Han Sooyoung's manuscripts.
  • In that sense, it is only when Kim Dokja, Yoo Junghyeok, and Han Sooyoung each finally play and fill out the roles of Reader, Protagonist, and Author during the story and the epilogue is the Story finally complete, and the Nebula as a whole has a chance to reunite.
• The opening line of TWSA "<There are three ways to survive in a ruined world. Now, I have forgotten a few, but one thing is certain. The fact that you who are reading this now will survive>" is Foreshadowing for how Han Sooyoung's 1863rd regression self (tls123) gradually loses her memories and her fables over the course of the 10 years she spends writing the novel, only remembering that Dokja, the eventual sole reader of her novel, would survive as <The Oldest Dream>.
• The interaction Dokja has with tls123 at the beginning of the story also foreshadows a lot of the events to come in the story:
  • The "gift" that tls123 gives is twofold, not just the TXT file that Dokja uses to guide himself throughout the scenarios, but also an opportunity for him to write his own ending to the novel he loves, both as himself and as the Oldest Dream.
  • tls123 thanking Dokja for allowing the story to come into the world references how the events of the story are a Stable Time Loop, with the future being written before the past and the events of the story conspiring to bring that future into existence.
  • tls123 telling Dokja that the epilogue would be monetized references how the current regression turn is also the beginning of the end (1864th turn) and also referencing how certain websites that host webnovels and webtoons can monetize epilogues for readers to read.
• The similar scenes in Chapter 5 and Chapter 513 of Dokja wiping blood from his cheek symbolizes him fully becoming a "character in the story", with the window representing how he used to think of himself as a "reader" from the outside in contrast to the later scene where his immersion to everything leads him to view everything in "character."
  • We can also see this from Chapter 354, where Dokja's statement while telling everyone about TWSA is "I want to be real companions" and his eventual refusal to read the rest of his TXT file.
• Alongside saving Dokja, the rest of Kim Dokja's company spends their time in the 1865th regression turn rewriting things that they regretted from the 1864th, with Jihye no longer becoming a Wounded Sword Demon, Yoosung saving her dog, Gilyoung saving the people he hated, Hyunsung leaving the army, and Sangah saving the grandmother mentioned in her and Dokja's train cabin.
• Dokja describes a smile appearing on Yoo Joonghyuk's face as he falls after their first meeting, potentially being the first sign that Yoo Joonghyuk had found a new companion to trust in, but also as Foreshadowing to his desire to meet Kim Dokja, spending his time from the 0th turn to the 1864th struggling in order to find the Demon King of Salvation, and unconsciously being happy to meet Dokja for the first time properly.
• Many of Yoo Joonghyuk's stranger movements confuse Dokja, because his knowledge of TWSA means he knows what moves Yoo Joonghyuk should be taking at any given time up until a certain point, and we can chalk it up to Dokja's influence forcing Yoo Joonghyuk to grow even faster than the novel's 3rd turn, but this is also foreshadowing how Yoo Joonghyuk is in his 1864th turn, unconsciously performing actions he had done in past regressions to progress further than before.
• SSSSS-Infinite Regressor being so similar to TWSA is referenced later on with the reveal of Han Sooyoung being tls123, with the shabbier writing and sloppier manner of TWSA being explained as Han Sooyoung's nighttime self not having the capability to proofread and edit her work, while the dreams she had from her night work would allow Daytime! Han Sooyoung to write her own version of TWSA's events, with it being much better received due to her being able to proofread and work on it more properly.
• Kim Dokja's status as the Oldest Dream and his helplessness as said constellation echoes the thoughts he has when Shin Yoosung asks him if he was a god.
  • "I feel strange. I definitely don’t know Ahjussi but when I’m with you, I feel like I understand everything about you. As if you are a ‘god’…
    If I was really a god then I would be the most incompetent god in the world. The most helpless god in the world who knew everything but couldn’t explain anything."
• Kim Dokja's surprise at the better writing in the revised versions of his TWSA txt file is Foreshadowing to the fact that these versions were not written by the original tls123, Han Sooyoung's nighttime self who didn't have opportunities to fix the text, but rather the Dokkaebi king she partners up with, who is mentioned to be a part time proofreader for a publisher.
• Yoo Joonghyuk's thoughts on Dokja's star seeming familiar despite never seeing it in his other regressions hints at The Reveal that The Oldest Dream/ another version of Kim Dokja has been watching over him throughout all of his regressions.
• Dokja receives two different versions of his "ending", one after he becomes the Oldest Dream and reaches Eternity and the other after he is saved by Kim Dokja's Company during the story's epilogue and subsequently reaches The Final Chapter.
• The final scenario is KDJ 'reading again' everything that has happened in the story until that particular point.
  • Dokja becomes the Outer God King echoing his ascending and becoming the Demon King of Salvation.
  • Dokja's appearance changes with his voices being excluded from the scenarios echoing his status as a Returnee when he resembled a squid to other people.
  • Dokja becomes an enemy of the star stream as an Outer God echoes 41th regression Shin Yooseung becoming evil and becoming an enemy of Kim Dokja's Company.
  • Dokja neither becoming good nor evil echoes the struggles of the Nebula with the Absolute good and evil Constellations and ultimately becoming "beyond good and evil."
  • The Stage Transformation activated on the bridge to escape echoes the beginning of the story with the Deus ex machina: bridge of even numbers saving Yoo Sangah and the others during the First Scenario.
  • The events leading up to the Infinite Sanctum echoes that of the events leading up to the activation of Hwangsanbeol(First Stage Transformation.)
  • Gigantomachia occurs all over again after all the events foreshadowing it and the Gigantomachia arc.
  • Gaecheon(開天) of Universe Tree, the Absolute Throne of the Prop Storage echoes the events leading up to Dokja becoming King of the Kingless World.
  • Uriel inherits Eden, the Most Ancient Evil Abaddon, Abyssal Black Flame Dragon becomes the Apocalypse Dragon, Mass-production-type Maker uses all of his coins for probability and echoes the 'Great War of Saints and Demons' with each of their respective positions echoing the actions of the major players of that arc.
• Each of the four walls comprising the <Final Wall> represent aspects or "tales" of Dokja's life, with each making up a theme of the <Final Wall> as a whole.
  • <The Wall of Impossible Communication> references the tale of an impossible communication, and of the disconnected communication between Kim Dokja and his mother. Through closing his mind to his mother, it makes up the first "theme" of his life, of an impossible communication between a son and his mother.
  • <The Wall That Divides the Good and Evil> references a tale of indistinguishable Good and Evil, and of the incident leading to his mother becoming a murderer instead of him, which was the right choice from Lee Sookyung's perspective, but which nonetheless leads to Kim Dokja being falsely known as a murderer's son. Making up the second "theme" of his life, of a story and choice indistinguishable from Good and Evil.
  • <The Wall that Decides Samsara> references a tale of a tragedy locked in a cycle, and of Kim Dokja learning of Yoo Joonghyuk's struggles through his regressions. This in turn draws the third "theme" of his life of the tragedy of Yoo Joonghyuk and his regressions.
  • <The Fourth Wall> references the entirety of TWSA being written on it, and protects Dokja throughout the Scenarios by absorbing and reducing the shock he receives. This draws the fourth "theme" of Dokja's life, of the novel TWSA protecting Kim Dokja from society for 10 years.
• Before Dokja becomes the Oldest Dream and divides himself in two, the narrator of the novel is referred to as "I", and afterwards as "Kim Dokja."
• Lee Hakyeon, the protagonist of Singshong's debut novel <How to become a star author> which was discontinued after 22 chapters, ultimately becomes a star author in ORV, being given the manuscript of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint in his worldine, and much later becoming the protagonist of ORV's side stories after descending into Cheon Inho's body.
• Singshong, the married couple who wrote ORV, are implied to have received ORV's manuscript from Yoo Joonghyuk through the cloud system, and ultimately imply that the readers of ORV are reincarnations of Kim Dokja in their own right.
• Throughout the story, there are multiple hints that Kim Dokja is actively trying to be an Unreliable Narrator, with the scenes in general implying that Dokja tries to lie to himself or to the readers that he has emotions, or that he is actively crying or upset by certain events in the story.
• Interestingly, all three of the main protagonists of ORV have at least two versions of themselves throughout the world lines, with Kim Dokja's being himself from the 3rd/1864th turn and as the Most Ancient Dream, Han Sooyoung in the 3rd/1864th turn and the altered 1863rd turn, and Yoo Joonghyuk in ORV's main timeline and as the Secretive Plotter. Secretive Plotter is himself divided into the 1863 versions of Yoo Joonghyuk, similiar to what happens to the Most Ancient Dream eventually being fragmented into thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of versions of Kim Dokja who are implied to read ORV's story.
• Singsyong favored the concept of the Ouroboros, a philosophical idea of cycle of cause and result connected to each other over and over again, since their previous work. ORV also delivers this message, showing the first worldline being completed at the last worldline, and in a lovely little coincidence of sorts, The date ORV was completed is the 2nd of February, 2020, which is 20200202, making a symmetry of sorts.

Fridge Horror

• How many people like Jeong Huiwon had the potential to be powerful characters in the original novel, but weren't because they were "side characters" and were most likely either cannon fodder or Killed Offscreen?
• The 'Outer Gods' which take the form of Eldritch Abominations whose appearance strikes fear into incarnations and constellations alike. They appear as disasters screeching incomprehensibly when 'probability' has been violated excessively, with Kim Dokja even earning a 'quasi-myth grade story' when his 'Fourth Wall' devours one. When Kim Dokja's story 'One Who is Loved by All' comes into contact with the outer gods following the Secretive Plotter, they are revealed to be discarded stories from other worldlines and are sentient leading to the question: just how many of these 'extras' were created and discarded in Yoo Joonghyuk's 1863 regressions?
  • It's revealed that some are deliberately used by some nebulas in recreations of their 'giant stories' in order to amass 'probability'. Since they are excluded from the scenarios, their true forms and speech cannot be comprehended many Kim Dokja meets are able to talk in fragmented sentences and continuously express their suffering over being used as sacrifices for the sake of the story.
  • The 'Outer God Kings' retain the most of their original form out of the outer gods and are easily recognised as 'Yoo Joonghyuk', and his companions from the 999th regression worldline. They are also noted to be somewhat insane due to their transformation into 'outer gods'.
• The novel's main worldline is the only one with Kim Dokja. It's revealed that the altered 1863rd regression's Han Sooyoung had travelled to another worldline to find 'tls123', the author of 'Ways of Survival'. She finds Kim Dokja in hospital due to a suicide attempt after his trauma and the constant bullying drove him to a suicidal depression and resolves to write 'Ways of Survival' for his sake. This is the only worldline where 'Ways of Survival' existed and Kim Dokja survived. The 'Kim Dokja' in other worldlines likely committed more suicide attempts without 'Ways of Survival' and 'Yoo Joonghyuk' to keep him alive, and was eventually successful.

Kim Dokja: I read this novel on a daily basis and survived.