WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: smol_anon
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 1: Prologue - Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse
「There are Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse. I've forgotten a few of them by now. But one thing is certain. You, the one reading this, will survive.
―Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (THE END)」
The old smartphone struggled as it tried to display the web novel platform. Scrolling all the way down, then back up, over and over again. How many times had I done this?
“Is this for real? Is this really the end?”
No matter how many times I checked, the word was unmistakably there—THE END. The story had finished.
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『Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse』
Author: tls123
Total Chapters: 3,149
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The full-length fantasy novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse or ‘TWSA’ for short, had 3,149 chapters.
I had been reading this novel steadily since I was in the third year of middle school. Back when I was targeted by bullies and ostracized. When I failed my entrance exams and ended up in a third-rate provincial college. Even when bad luck got me assigned to a frontline military unit thanks to a random assignment, and later still, when I hopped between jobs, working as a contract employee for large corporations…
Damn, let's not get into that.
「Author's Note: Thank you for reading TWSA until now. I'll see you again with the epilogue!」
"Oh, there's still the epilogue left. So the next chapter is the real last one."
This was a grand journey that spanned over ten years, beginning in my youth and ending in my adulthood. I was filled with a sense of emptiness on seeing a world of its own come to an end, as well a sense of satiety on finally seeing that world reach its end. Opening the comment section for the final chapter, I rewrote my words multiple times.
―Kim Dokja: Thank you so much for everything, author. I'm looking forward to the epilogue as well.
It was a sincere comment. I wanted to write more, like "TWSA was the story of a lifetime for me" or "It may not have been popular, but to me, it was the best." However, I couldn’t bring myself to type those words.
―Average views: 1.9
―Average comments: 1.08
That was the average popularity of TWSA.
The first chapter had managed to reach 1,200 views, but by the 10th chapter, the views had plummeted to 120, and after the 50th, they dropped to just 12. From the 100th chapter onward, it had stayed at 1.
A single view.
Occasionally, there would be a "2" in between, but it was probably someone clicking by mistake. Staring at the countless "1"s displayed in the list of chapters, I felt a surge of emotion.
I was filled with gratitude.
To think that someone had written over 3,000 chapters of a novel for an audience of one, and for over a decade. It felt like this story really was just for me.
― This is an absolute must-read novel.
I hit the ‘recommendation board’ and started typing away. The author had written this novel all the way to the end for free, so the least I could do was write a recommendation. As soon as I pressed the "Submit" button, comments began to flood in.
―Is this some kind of new trolling? I looked up this guy’s ID, and he’s recommended the same novel multiple times.
―Isn’t self-promotion banned? Author, you shouldn’t be doing this here.
It hit me—I’d written a recommendation for this novel months ago too. Suddenly, dozens of comments piled up, calling me an "attention seeker" or worse. My face burned with embarrassment. I hurriedly tried to delete the post, but it was already flagged and couldn’t be removed.
“Damn it...”
The recommendation I’d written with all my heart had only brought shame to the novel. Why wouldn't anyone read such a fun story? I wanted to at least send the author some money, but as a low-paid employee barely scraping by, I didn’t have that kind of luxury.
It was at that moment that a notification popped up: 'You have received a message.'
―tls123: Thank you.
A sudden message, out of nowhere. It took me a while to realize what was going on.
―Kim Dokja: Author?
tls123.
The author of TWSA had messaged me.
―tls123: Thanks to you, I was able to finish it. I even won a contest.
I couldn’t believe it.
A contest? Did he mean ‘TWSA’?
―Kim Dokja: Congratulations! What contest was it?
―tls123: It’s not well-known, so you probably wouldn’t know about it.
Was he lying because he was embarrassed? But I hoped it was true. Who knows? While the novel flopped here, it might become a smash hit on another platform. The thought made me feel a little wistful, but if a story as good as this spread, that could only be a good thing.
―tls123: As a token of my gratitude, I’d like to send you a special gift.
―Kim Dokja: A gift?
―tls123: This story could only be brought into the world because of you, after all.
He asked for my email address, and I gave him one I used frequently.
―tls123: Also, the novel is going to be monetized soon.
―Kim Dokja: Wow, is that so? From when? Honestly, a masterpiece like this should have been paid from the beginning.
TWSA was updated almost daily, so if I kept up with it for a month, I’d spend around 3,000 won. [1] That’s the amount I had for a convenience store lunchbox.
―tls123: Monetization starts tomorrow.
―Kim Dokja: So does that mean tomorrow’s epilogue will also be paid?
―tls123: Yes, I’m sorry about this, but the epilogue will be behind a paywall.
―Kim Dokja: Of course, it should be! I’ll definitely pay to read the last chapter!
After that, there was no response from the author. It seemed he had logged off the site. A sense of emptiness washed over me. Now that he’d made it big, he wouldn’t even bother replying to my messages? My admiration quickly turned into petty jealousy. Why had I been so excited? It wasn’t even my novel.
“Maybe he'll send me a gift card? A 50,000-won[2] one would be nice.”
Naively, I was thinking such thoughts at the time, completely unaware of what would befall the world the very next day.
Footnotes:
[1] 3,000 won is approximately 2 USD.
[2] 50,000 won is approximately 37 USD.
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