Why, why is it not me, but you??
Chapter 446
The Secretive Plotter is an entity who was not present in the original novel. He originally appears as a constellation competing for the right to sponsor Kim Dokja, although it is later revealed that he is actually an outer god who is simply masquerading as a constellation.
Appearance[]
The Secretive Plotter initially appears as a human-shaped shadow, which Kim Dokja describes as an "endless unknown darkness". He has a sharp and clear voice. His teeth appear as stark white against the rest of his form, and he is described as having long fingers, which he can remove and turn into probability, then expend said probability. He has lost 3-4 fingers in this manner, which have been renewed over time as he regained the sacrificed probability.[6]
When in his true form as Yoo Joonghyuk, the Plotter appears as his 1863rd round self. In this form, he looks like the 3rd round Yoo Joonghyuk, but he has a larger and more muscular build. He is extremely handsome, with a scar on his cheek. He generally has a sharp expression. In this appearance, he wears the white Infinite Dimension Space Coat, in an attempt to look similar to the altered 1863rd round's Yoo Joonghyuk.[7][5] His full adult form costs him probability, however, and should he use up too much probability or lose too much Status he will shrink into the smaller form of Yoo Joonghyuk as a child.[8] In this body, he is roughly similar in size to Yoo Mia, his younger sister.[9]
When he incarnates into the Journey to the West scenario he appears as a jet-black lump of shadows that wavered around.[10]
Kkomas[]
The kkoma Yoo Joonghyuks are significantly shorter than normal, being similar to Kyrgios Rodgraim in height. They have chibi-esque proportions, with large heads and small bodies. The kkomas generally wear cards on their chests marked with their regression numbers, in order for easy identification.[7]
The Plotter also has the ability to shift the physical forms of himself and of others. [999] uses this ability to disguise himself as a Murim dumpling and changes Kim Dokja's appearance as well.[11] Later, the Plotter turns Kim Dokja into a Murim dumpling.[12]
Personality[]
From the Messages sent to Kim Dokja and Company, he seems to be fairly like other Constellions. He particularly looks forward to Dokja's bouts of genius, planning, and deception. He is also fairly disappointed whenever Dokja overthinks and gets the short end of the stick in deals. He is fairly jovial with other Constellations, such as the Time Uriel arrives late to the stream and He happily gives the Drama. In person however, he has a much more serious demeanor, mainly due to him being Joonhyuk.
History[]
The Plotter began life simply as Yoo Joonghyuk, from the original Three Ways to Survived a Ruined World. Little is known about his early life; he had no memories of his parents or his own youth, as though he simply came into existence as a young adult. He was working as an RMT gamer when he was spotted by the director of the company that hired him. This director recognized his skill in gaming and helped him become a professional gamer. However, his rapidly growing career was disrupted when a baby—supposedly his younger sister—was dropped off at his doorstep. Yoo Joonghyuk hired detectives to locate his parents; they were unable to locate his parents, but found a house that was supposed to have belonged to them. Having been staying under the radar due to difficulties at work,[13] he left his house to follow up on this lead, taking the subway to the address.[14] This attempt, however, was derailed by the start of the scenarios.
In his 0th round (i.e. his first, original life), instead of choosing a sponsor, he was guided through the scenarios by the constellation he knew only as the Demon King of Salvation.[15] This round was extremely successful; under his constellation guide's watchful eye, Yoo Joonghyuk defeated the Dokkaebi King and successfully ended the scenarios with the rest of his party safe and sound. He lived a peaceful life thereafter, surviving well into his 60s; however, due to the effect of his earned attribute 'Life Lived to its Fullest', he began to age rapidly towards the end of his life. Close to his death, he accepted the sponsorship of the Demon King of Salvation and regressed in order to learn more about his own identity, the truth of his world, and the identity of his new sponsor.[16]
After this, Yoo Joonghyuk's memories of his first life were scattered and he lived through 1863 rounds of the scenarios. During his journey, he found that the Oldest Dream—the existence he believed was acting as his sponsor—was also the reason that the <Star Stream> and the scenarios existed in the first place. The knowledge that his sponsor was the cause of his extended suffering caused him to become furious at them, and he vowed to end their existence.
In his 1863rd round, however, upon finally making it to the Dokkaebi King (and losing all his comrades in the process), he learned from the King that he would not be able to cross the Last Wall and reach the Oldest Dream. Through unknown means, he became an outer god, hoping to acquire the power needed to break past the Wall. He spent countless years wandering along the various world lines he'd previously lived through, taking on the moniker of "Secretive Plotter" somewhere along the way. During this time period, the Plotter learned the technique of splitting his past regressions off from himself in the form of kkomas; this allowed him to preserve his memories externally, bypassing the memory loss caused by the outer god transformation.[17] He also created a space outside of the world lines referred to as N'Gai's Forest, which served as his residence while he oversaw the timelines. At some point, he made an Outer World Covenant with his past self from the 999th round, aiding the 999th not learn Yoo Joonghyuk in supporting his party through to the end of the scenarios in exchange for his life.
During the span of time in which he wandered through his past lives, the Secretive Plotter gained a number of Stories, but sacrificed a great deal of probability to move between the world lines, thus not gaining much overall in terms of power. He also learned more about the nature of his sponsor's existence during this period, but could not learn of a method to break past the Wall, and was thus filled with despair. It was around this time that he encountered the 3rd round's world line and detected an unfamiliar sensation surrounding it. Interest piqued, he masqueraded as a constellation and began to observe the world line.[4]
Synopsis[]
The Secretive Plotter identifies the presence of Kim Dokja within the 3rd round and watches him on the dokkaebi Bihyung's channel, interested in his foresight and competence. At some point, he also locates and watches over Han Sooyoung; possibly recognizing that she has foresight similar to Kim Dokja's, he offers her clone an Outer World Covenant to take her to the 1863rd round. In return, he asks her to find a way to kill the Yoo Joonghyuk of the 1863rd round. The Plotter intends to use Disconnected Film Theory to connect with the 1863rd Yoo Joonghyuk at the last moment and die alongside him, as he himself is still overcome with the despair of never being able to cross the Last Wall.[18]
As he watches Kim Dokja progress through the scenarios with an incredible success rate, the Plotter grows despondent and somewhat jealous, since the 3rd round's Yoo Joonghyuk is living a significantly better life than the Plotter had ever managed, all while losing much less than the Plotter had sacrificed.[3] However, the Plotter is also increasingly invested in the compelling narrative Kim Dokja and the 3rd round's Yoo Joonghyuk build for themselves. Recognizing that he's becoming identical to the constellations he so hates, and cynically presuming that this world line won't succeed anyway, the Plotter grows determined to return to his plan with the 1863rd Han Sooyoung and kill himself. His bitterness at Kim Dokja's continued success also makes him want to show the other man that he can't fix everything.[18] Thus, when Kim Dokja seeks his help to save the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex from the Nameless Mist, the Secretive Plotter forms another Outer World Covenant and sends him to the 1863rd world line, telling him to kill the 1863rd Yoo Joonghyuk.[19] After Kim Dokja leaves, the Wenny King appears and comments on how much the Plotter seems to favour him; the duo make idle conversation.[20]
Kim Dokja subverts his expectations, however, and though the 1863rd Yoo Joonghyuk dies, he also regresses through the use of Avatar, heading for a perfect ending in the 1864th round. Alarmed, the Plotter chases after him, but due to the Oldest Dream's interest in the new world line, the 1864th Yoo Joonghyuk escapes safely. Undeterred, the Plotter keeps searching, and upon locating the 1864th world line, he realizes it's in fact the world line he'd assumed was the 3rd round, and the world line where Kim Dokja comes from in the first place.[18]
Soon after, Kim Dokja asks the Plotter to complete the Outer World Covenant. The Plotter (likely already strained by his recent realization about the 1864th world line) is frustrated and angry by Kim Dokja's choice to remain in the 1863rd round, questioning him about it. He eventually calms and gives Kim Dokja the compensation for completing his personal scenario before sending him back to his original world line.[21]
The Secretive Plotter makes an appearance during the Great War of Constellations and Demons. When Kim Dokja summons the Indescribable Distance to fight off the Apocalypse Dragon, the Plotter finds and saves him from the resulting shock waves before he can be devoured. During this endeavour, he takes on the form of the altered 1863rd round's Yoo Joonghyuk.[2] The 3rd round's Yoo Joonghyuk arrives to try and retrieve Kim Dokja, but he's shaken by learning the Plotter's identity, and after some conversation, the Plotter defeats him easily and breaks his sword.[22] However, the sudden appearance of the Hounds of Tindalos forces the Plotter to make an escape with Kim Dokja.[23] Secretive Plotter brings Kim Dokja to his forest and engages with him the 3 Questions and Answers Trial, with Dokja losing the gambit and the Plotter stating that
Abilities[]
As Kim Dokja never successfully uses Character List on the Plotter, this list of abilities is incomplete. The abilities mentioned below are partially taken from what the Plotter has used in canon and partially predicted based on other Yoo Joonghyuks' abilities.
Personal attributes[]
- Life Lived to the Fullest (Legendary): Formerly possessed (0th round). An attribute that, at the cost of living a fixed lifespan, fully unleashes the user’s latent talents. In exchange for a little over 25 years of Yoo Joonghyuk's lifespan, this attribute allowed him to reach the end of the scenarios and defeat the Dokkaebi King in the 0th round.[16]
- Demon King (at least Legendary): Likely formerly possessed (0th round), due to his possession of the Story 'Demon World's Spring', which (in Kim Dokja's original timeline) arose by his becoming a Demon King.
- Regressor (1863rd turn) (Myth): An attribute linked to his stigma Regression.
- Ruler of Amusement (Legendary): The evolved form of the Pro Gamer (Rare) attribute, this boosts Yoo Joonghyuk's abilities in any game to the point where Kim Dokja compares him to a god.[20]
- Iron Blood Supreme King (Legend): Gained through the King's Road scenario.
- Demon King Slayer (Myth): As the name suggests, gained through killing a Demon King.
- Eternal Solitude (Quasi-myth): Likely gained through being the only one to retain his memories throughout his hundreds of regressions, and therefore having technically lived an eternity alone.
- Horror of the Stars (Myth): Likely gained through having killed an unknown number of constellations.
Personal skills[]
- Sage’s Eye: A skill similar to Kim Dokja's Character List that allows the Plotter to view the Attributes Window of another individual. Causes his right eye to glow gold when activated.
- Lie Detection: As the name suggests, this skill allows the user to detect if a statement spoken by another individual is a lie.
- Breaking the Sky: A skill linked to the Plotter's knowledge of Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship, taught by Namgung Minyoung.
- Giant Body Transformation: A skill that temporarily expands the user's latent power in order to imitate the larger form of a giant.[24] Taught to the Plotter by Briareus in the 2nd round.[25]
- Red Phoenix Shunpo: A skill that increases the Plotter's speed.
- Air Steps: As the name suggests, a skill that allows him to turn the air into invisible steps that he can walk on.
- Advanced Weapons Training: Evolved form of Weapons Training.
- Advanced Mental Barrier: Evolved form of Mental Barrier.
- Hand to Hand Combat
- Strong Self-Defense
- Crowd Control
- Reasoning
- Hundred Steps Godly Fists
- More unnamed skills.
Stigmas[]
- Regression (Stigma): Yoo Joonghyuk's trademark ability and the foundation of the plot of Ways of Survival, this stigma allows the Plotter to send his consciousness back in time to the beginning of the scenarios, regaining his original body while retaining all the memories of his previous rounds. He temporarily loses his skills and other abilities, although they can be regained through his second stigma.
- Transmission (Stigma): This stigma allows the Plotter to slowly regain the skills and abilities he had in previous regressions over time.
Stories[]
- King of a Kingless World (Legendary): Formerly possessed (0th round). Earned, as by Kim Dokja, by destroying the Absolute Throne in Main Scenario 5.[16]
- Demon World's Spring (Giant Story): Formerly possessed (0th round). Earned, as by Kim Dokja, by becoming the king of an unspecified Demon Realm (most likely the 73rd).[16]
- Season of Light and Darkness (Giant Story): Formerly possessed (0th round). Earned, as by Kim Dokja, by ending the Great War of Constellations and Demons by triggering the Apocalypse scenario, then averting the same.[16]
- Disciple of Breaking the Sky Sword Saint (rating unknown): Presumably acquired in the 2nd round, while studying under Namgung Minyoung. This Story forces the Plotter to call Namgung Minyoung "Teacher" and use honorifics for her.[26]
- Hell of Eternity (Giant Story): Also known as "Hellscape of Eternity" and more accurately translated as "Eternally Indestructible Hell". Similar to the Eternal Solitude attribute, this Story was most likely earned through the endless unceasing regressions that the Plotter was forced to go through.[27]
- Lonely Pilgrim of Destruction (Giant Story): Also known as "Pilgrim of the Lonely Apocalypse". Similar to the above Story, arose from the Plotter being the lone survivor of over a thousand apocalypses.[4] Acts as the Conclusion (結) for the Plotter's A Single Story. The "Destruction"/"Apocalypse" in this Story's name and "Ruin" in "Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World" are the same Hangul word.
- Numerous other Stories earned while traversing the various world lines.
Relationships[]
Wenny men and the Wenny King[]
The Secretive Plotter is liked by the wenny men, likely because dokkaebis are their mutual enemies. The Plotter seems ambivalent towards them; he and the Wenny King in particular have a relationship relaxed enough that they have peaceful conversations.
Dokkaebis[]
Dokkaebis generally fear the Secretive Plotter. This is most likely because his time-travelling abilities mean that the Bureau rarely has any information about him, and his immense power means that the Dokkaebi Bureau cannot track or control him. The Plotter, in return, has a strong hatred for dokkaebis, as they are the architects of the scenarios that brought him so much strife.
Yoo Joonghyuk (1864th)[]
Secretive Plotter is extremely jealous of the 1864th Yoo Joonghyuk because he has not had to endure the same suffering that Secretive Plotter due to the interference of Kim Dokja. He is angered that this Yoo Joonghyuk was rewarded, and he was not even though he endured thousands of years of torment.
Kim Dokja[]
Secretive Plotter is fond of Dokja's scheming nature and enjoy watching his plans in the scenarios. However, he also holds a large amount of resentment due to the fact that Kim Dokja has altered the scenarios so that Yoo Joonghyuk will not endure the suffering he should have. Kim Dokja was only able to do so because he read about all of Secretive Plotter's regressions yet Secretive Plotter receives no reward for it.
Oldest Dream[]
Secretive Plotter pities the Oldest Dream. He feels no hatred towards him despite the fact that he was the one behind all his suffering. Instead of killing him like he initially wanted, Secretive Plotter comforts him and takes him with him along with the 999th regression members.
Trivia[]
- Taking the year that ORV started (2018) to be the same calendar year in-text at the start of the novel, and assuming that all ages are given according to the Korean system, the Plotter's (chronological) date of birth is August 3, 1991.
- Han Sooyoung and Yoo Joonghyuk both tried to guess his identity, and Joonghyuk believed it to be Kim Dokja of the future.[28]
- As with all the other outer gods, Secretive Plotter takes inspiration from the Lovecraft mythos. Secretive Plotter's title is based on Nyarlathotep.
Gallery[]
Ebook Illustrations[]
Other[]
References
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 515 (read original)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chapter 413
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 418
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Chapter 430
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chapter 417
- ↑ Chapter 282
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 416
- ↑ Chapter 448
- ↑ Chapter 458
- ↑ ORV Novel Chapter 442 (read original)
- ↑ Chapter 424
- ↑ Chapter 449
- ↑ Chapter 518
- ↑ Chapter 525
- ↑ Chapter 523
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 Chapter 524
- ↑ Chapter 438
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Chapter 446
- ↑ Chapter 287
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Chapter 262
- ↑ Chapter 300
- ↑ Chapter 414
- ↑ Chapter 415
- ↑ Chapter 130
- ↑ Chapter 323
- ↑ Chapter 233
- ↑ Chapter 444
- ↑ Chapter 387