WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 136: Episode 26 — Scenario Destroyer (4)

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"Urk?"

As the heads of the men at the very front dropped clean off, the others nearby recoiled in horror.

"He killed them! That bastard killed them!"

"Wasn't he supposed to be the King of No Killing? That's not what we were told!"

The panicked men hastily drew their weapons. It didn't take any special technique to deal with small fry like these. I simply unfolded Blade of Faith and cut down the ones charging at me.

"Aaaaargh!"

I had meant to kill off everyone surrounding us cleanly. But the last one must not have been fully cut through, because he started screaming. I drove my sword into the man writhing in agony. Without hesitation.

"I-I wasn't told he was this strong...!"

"Run!"

Up until now, no matter who attacked me, I had tried not to kill them if possible.

Of course, that had been to keep from losing The King of No Killing. But after repeating that behavior for so long, I had developed a habit of holding myself back from murder. From now on, though, things would be different. If I didn't act aggressively when it was necessary, I'd only leave weaknesses behind. And the enemies to come would latch onto those weaknesses without ever letting go.

Once I made up my mind, there was no hesitation in my hands.

"Slow."

At the sound of the voice, I turned and saw that Yu Junghyeok had already sheathed his sword. The bastard who had killed far more of them than I had showed no emotion at all.

"W-we were definitely told you wouldn't cooperate with the Supreme King..."

The lone man left alive trembled as he staggered backward.

"Who put you up to this?"

"Th-that's..."

[The character Seol Ingu falls into deep anguish.]

In the next moment, the man's expression twisted completely, and he suddenly charged straight at me.

"Uaaaaah!"

This made no sense. He was rushing toward death in a situation where he had absolutely no chance of winning? A chill flashed through my mind. The man shouted like a martyr.

"For humanity's liberation from the Scenarios!"

...Liberation from the Scenarios?

The instant Yu Junghyeok's sword moved, the man's head fell.

"What are you standing there gaping at like an idiot?"

His brusque voice snapped me back to myself.

"Don't you think something's off?"

"He's an unusually loyal one."

"You know as well as I do that humans aren't creatures that hand out loyalty that easily. Especially in a situation like this..."

"While you were dragging it out, one of the ones hiding got away."

This bastard really was impossible to talk to. For the time being, we decided to track down the one who had escaped.

"By the way, are you seriously going to keep following me around?"

"..."

"You're not hanging around waiting for a chance to hit me, are you?"

Yu Junghyeok looked at me with that trademark murderous glare of his, then slowly opened his mouth.

"Come to think of it, I did say something like that."

"...I'd appreciate it if you'd just keep forgetting it."

Once we'd caught our breath and checked the area, I realized we were near Kkachisan on Line 5. Yu Junghyeok spoke first, sounding puzzled.

"Strange. The 'Hunting Scenario' should be underway in Seoul Dome."

"Who knows. Maybe that 'hunt' isn't that kind of 'hunt.'"

The roads leading toward Kkachisan, Ujangsan, Sinjeong, and Mokdong were stained with the blood spilled by Incarnations. There were corpses everywhere. There had been plenty of corpses before too, but the problem was the way they had been killed.

Yu Junghyeok studied the wounds on the bodies, then nodded.

"This was done by humans."

If a monster-hunting scenario had been underway, every wound on the corpses should have been bite marks or claw marks from monsters. But these bodies had clearly been killed by sharp weapons or artillery fire.

In other words, fighting had broken out here completely unrelated to the scenario.

Before long, we found the man who had fled.

"There he is."

Whiiik! Thunk!

But before we could even get close, an arrow flew out from somewhere and pierced the man's throat.

I drew my sword, thinking a new enemy had appeared, but the group that emerged was unexpectedly familiar. Hwarang armor. They stood around the dead man, speaking among themselves.

"No doubt about it. He's one of the Salvation Sect's remnants."

"Dispose of him."

Once I confirmed they weren't enemies, I ran toward them.

"Wait!"

The woman turned to look at me. Her face was worn down by hard fighting.

"Kim Dokja...?"

It was Min Jiwon, the King of Beauty.

* * *

From her, we heard one unexpected piece of news after another.

"The king factions have fallen apart?"

"The Maitreya King was the first to be hit, and after that the Wanderers' faction was attacked too."

For a moment, the area behind my ears went rigid, and dizziness washed over me.

"Don't tell me the King of Wanderers is dead?"

"We don't know whether the King of Wanderers is alive or dead. She's missing. As for Jeon Ildo, the Neutral King, he outright went over to their side."

If it was that "Neutral King," then yes, that was entirely possible. Sometimes "neutral" was just another word for the most cowardly people. My thoughts tangled. If something had happened to Mother, there was no guarantee Jeong Huiwon or Yu Sangah were safe either. Just what kind of bastards were these people?

"Is it that Yeouido faction we saw before?"

"No, it's a newly risen force. Bastards calling themselves the 'Salvation Sect'... Yeouido and everything else have all fallen into their hands by now."

...The Salvation Sect? Of course I knew that name well.

Because the Salvation Sect was an organization that held an important place in the original story.

But something about this was off. The Salvation Sect wasn't supposed to appear until at least the tenth scenario, after the Seoul Liberation Scenario had ended.

"The 'Salvation Sect' suddenly appeared the day you all left. Saying they'd liberate humanity from the Scenarios... and they've been wiping out any force that goes against them without a second thought."

Yu Junghyeok asked, "Where had a force like that been hiding? Every major group in Seoul should have gathered when the sixth scenario began."

"They weren't people who had been in Seoul."

I understood what she meant immediately.

Shuuuuuu...

It wasn't just one or two beams of light pouring down from the sky. It was as if spotlights were being cast from the heavens, with humans being summoned along with the columns of light. About half of them still seemed out of their minds, but the other half had remarkably sharp eyes.

Then a message was heard.

[You have entered a new Scenario zone!]

[The seventh main Scenario is currently in progress in Seoul Dome.]

The crowd summoned into the plaza numbered well over a hundred. None of them were dressed for combat. They all wore casual everyday clothes.

Yu Junghyeok muttered, "So it's already time for fresh personnel to be deployed."

At present, the only places where main Scenarios were underway were the capitals of each country around the world. But when a Scenario progressed, sometimes too many Incarnations died. Whenever that happened, the Administration Bureau would summon in a set number of additional humans according to internal regulations. Most of them were people randomly pulled from somewhere in that country. Just like right now.

"Uugh... Ughhh..."

Most of them were gripped by fear, but quite a few Incarnations were already scanning their surroundings with burning eyes. Judging by the look of them, they seemed to have just gone through the First Scenario before being brought here. Yu Junghyeok's eyes narrowed.

"Was the Salvation Sect made up of people summoned like them too?"

"Yes."

"That's impossible. People who were only just summoned shouldn't be able to defeat the existing Incarnations."

Yu Junghyeok was right. Of course, people summoned more recently would start out with better rewards than the ones I had received, because of balance adjustments. But that alone wasn't enough. Even if they died and came back to life, they shouldn't have been able to beat the existing Incarnations.

Min Jiwon bit her lip as she spoke.

"The leader of the Salvation Sect was strong from the very beginning."

Her trembling shoulders were those of someone who had faced true fear.

"Supreme King, I know you're strong. But don't ever fight that person. In strength and in cunning, that one has already gone beyond humanity. They aren't human. It's like looking at some other creature..."

It was then that a dokkaebi appeared among the murmuring crowd.

[Now then, everyone. Don't panic, calm down, and look this way.]

The new Incarnations focused on the dokkaebi like obedient children.

[All of you who were just summoned are like chicks who have lost their mother. Of course, some of you may already have chosen a good patron constellation, but you all know already that that alone won't make surviving in this world easy, don't you? So you need to find a 'group' that will protect you. A group that will watch over you until you can stand proudly as a single Incarnation.]

A few of the Incarnations shouted back.

"Here I thought it was something important. You think we came in here without even knowing that much?"

"If you're done talking, get lost!"

Before the dokkaebi had even finished speaking, the Incarnations started moving. Their confidence was understandable enough. There were some prophets even outside Seoul Dome. On top of that, Incarnations with the [Internet] skill had already leaked a fair amount of information from inside the dome. Most of them had probably done their homework before being brought in.

"The Supreme King! We have to stick to the Supreme King!"

"Right! They said the strongest among the Incarnations is the Supreme King!"

Finding their own way to an early death. Poor bastards. May they rest in peace.

"I heard the King of Beauty is benevolent."

"What good is that? She's weak."

"They say she's insanely pretty."

"...Should we try going over there first?"

Yeah, that side might be a little better. On the other hand, there were some who were more cautious.

"Idiots. The real power isn't the Supreme King or the King of Beauty."

I heard a few of them gathering with shadowy eyes and whispering among themselves.

"I heard the strongest one is some guy called the King of Massacre, or maybe the King of Immortality."

"King of Immortality?"

"They say he's a king who doesn't die even if you kill him."

"Holy shit. That's crazy."

"I also heard a rumor that the Supreme King and the King of Beauty are both just that guy's underlings. Supposedly there are tons of women following him around too."

Uh... could they possibly mean...?

"Seriously? Who is he? What's that king's name?"

"I don't really know the name..."

"Damn it, then how are we supposed to find him?"

"I heard you just have to find the ugliest king. Supposedly his face looks kind of blurry."

Feeling a gaze on me, I glanced to the side and saw Yu Junghyeok quietly staring at me. What are you looking at, bastard? Even if I'm uglier than you, my face isn't blurry.

"No, the latest trend is..."

Even in the meantime, the Incarnations kept talking. Which king was best, whose faction they ought to join... I had gone through all that trouble to get rid of the Absolute Throne, and this was the kind of thing they were saying. It left me feeling hollow.

It was then that I heard something like the sound of a horn in the distance. Min Jiwon flinched and stepped backward.

"We have to run."

No sooner had she spoken than a voice rode in on the wind.

"Pitiful sentient beings, being toyed with by the Scenarios of higher beings."

A vast resonance shook the entire space. Strangers appeared riding monster species that resembled giant elephants. I knew who they were immediately. Min Jiwon moved close to my side and spoke in a tense voice.

"It's the Salvation Sect."

As if they were deep in spiritual practice, the cultists sat cross-legged atop the elephants, murmuring something under their breath. The Incarnations were briefly captivated by the bizarre sight of the procession alone.

"We have come to save you!"

But Yu Junghyeok's expression turned strange as he looked toward the center of the Salvation Sect.

"I didn't think that one would chase me even into this life."

Footnotes:

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