WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: ChaoticRain
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 198: Episode 37: The demon realm's landscape (3)
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“Wait, you're the one from earlier...!”
The pretty youth's eyes widened upon finally recognizing me. Before they could say anything, quick-witted Ailen swiftly accepted my coins.
“Fifty thousand coins. All right.”
“It really is fifty thousand coins...?”
The pretty youth stared back and forth between me and the coins, mouth hanging open in shock.
Fifty thousand coins wasn't a particularly large sum across the Scenarios, but by the standards of the 73rd Demon Realm, it was considerable. Constellations rarely visited this region because of the Demon Kings' influence.
Of course, fifty thousand coins was pocket change to me.
[The Kim Dogeza Legend Trilogy has been completed on planet peace land.]
[The pioneers of the region spread faith in you.]
[You have acquired 15,000 coins.]
Besides, I had coins coming in all the time. That was the good thing about being a Constellation. Even without sponsorships, fame alone made money.
The demonic nobles, who had been frozen in bewilderment, finally reacted.
“Who are you?”
I checked their information.
One was Demon Count Sirok. The other was Demon Baron Melen.
They were fairly well-known tax collectors in Seisvitz Industrial Complex.
“I told you, I'm a customer.”
Normally, I would've politely bowed and scraped, but manners only backfired against people like these. They were hyenas who only feared those who acted like they had plenty, even when they had nothing. Demon Baron Melen growled and stepped forward.
“You bastard, just...!”
“Stop, Melen.”
Sirok, who had been watching from the side, held Melen back.
It seemed counts were quicker on the uptake, at least.
[The character Demon Count Sirok is curious about you.]
[Your understanding of the character Demon Count Sirok has increased.]
I didn't miss the opportunity and activated my skill.
[Exclusive Skill, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, has activated!]
Then I began to hear Sirok's thoughts.
「He paid fifty thousand coins without hesitation.」
「No ordinary industrial citizen could ever pay that much. And look at how relaxed he is. He must consider fifty thousand coins pocket change.」
「Who is he? I've never seen him in this Area before. Wait, that demonic energy...」
「Could it be...?」
Just as I expected.
This was better, if anything.
Seisvitz Industrial Complex was already buzzing with rumors about a new Demon King. It wouldn't hurt to give these people information they could misunderstand. I spoke in the most arrogant voice I could manage.
“You've probably already guessed who I am.”
Sirok's expression changed drastically at my Yu Junghyeok-like tone. As though his suspicions had been confirmed, he belatedly nodded and treated me with respect.
“My apologies for greeting you so late, Your Excellency. Did you come from Gilobat Industrial Complex?”
“You may be slow, but it seems your head works.”
“But we weren't informed that you would be visiting this Area...”
“Do I have to tell lowly subordinates like you every stop along my route?”
“That is... My apologies.”
My brief answer seemed to make him understand everything.
「The freedom to travel without prior notice. That must mean at least a marquis.」
「Nothing good will come from getting involved with Gilobat Industrial Complex.」
Having thoroughly misunderstood, Sirok bowed deeply to me and gestured at Melen with his chin.
“Let's go.”
“What? But...”
“We only need to take what we're owed.”
Faced with his superior's cold judgment, Melen finally came to his senses and nodded. After taking the fifty thousand coins from Ailen, Melen snarled,
“You were lucky this time. But don't think it'll happen again, Ailen.”
The two demonic nobles left the clock shop after saying that. Sirok would probably report this to his superior immediately.
That didn't matter. It wasn't as though I hadn't thought that far ahead.
After the disturbance passed, an empty atmosphere settled over the clock shop. The pretty youth broke the silence.
“...You're pretty good. Who are you?”
I smiled quietly at the youth looking up at me with shining eyes.
“You'll take my commission, right?”
Ailen, who had finally regained her senses, looked at me.
“Um... Are you a noble?”
The demons had misunderstood, so there was no reason Ailen wouldn't misunderstand as well. I shook my head.
“I'm not a demon.”
“Then...?”
Instead of answering, I quietly removed my coat. Broken fable fragments spilled out amid sparks. When Ailen saw my body, her face filled with alarm.
“An Exile? Don't tell me, this commission is...!”
“That's right.”
Ailen took one look and seemed to grasp the scale of my fables. Her face went pale.
“B-but I've never handled fables on this scale.”
“Only you can do this. You're the only proper Fable Expert in Seisvitz Industrial Complex.”
I didn't miss the sudden tremor in her eyes at the words fable expert. As my consciousness began to collapse, I gripped her shoulders and added,
“Fix me, Ailen Makefield.”
* * *
Within my flickering consciousness, I sensed Ailen and several other people nearby. Snatches of their voices reached me.
“How can an Incarnation possess fables on this scale...?”
“Who could he be?”
“Fables of incompatible specifications are mixed together. My god. This fable seems Legendary-grade.”
“Is he really an Incarnation? His status doesn't seem to be that of an Incarnation.”
“He's still alive after consuming such dangerous fragments...”
If my proficiency with Lamarck's Giraffe had been higher, I wouldn't have suffered like this. If its fable absorption rate were high enough, its Attribute effect could neutralize other fable fragments even when they mixed together.
But this was different.
Like an immune response in the human body, the different fables were attacking one another to protect their own stories.
“Let's stabilize this first, at least for now.”
I heard Ailen's tense voice.
Ailen Makefield. According to the original TWSA, she had been a magitechnician from the planet Lindberg. An Incarnation who had studied magitechnics for years before discovering that the essence of this world was stories.
She hadn't achieved the deeds of a Transcendent, but she was one of the few Incarnations in the Demon Realm with the Fable Expert Attribute.
My consciousness flickered several more times. Once the surroundings grew quiet, strength gradually returned to my body. The chill caused by the Exile Penalty had lessened considerably, and the pain in my Incarnation body was slowly fading.
"Right Arm of the Poor Sword Master" and "Broken Heart of a Young Gold Dragon" also safely seeped into my Incarnation body without clashing with the other fables.
Coming to Ailen had been the right choice after all.
After checking over my entire body, I slowly opened my eyes. They met the eyes of the pretty youth staring down at me.
I was reminded again that the youth had a truly beautiful face. Calling them a pretty girl rather than a pretty boy might have been more fitting.
“Whoa!”
The pretty youth cried out in surprise. I tried to sit up slowly, but my body wouldn't move. Looking closer, I saw that my arms and legs had been tightly bound to an operating table. It seemed several spells had been placed on me to suppress the power of my fables...
When I looked around, the pretty youth was the only one there. Having noticed that I was restrained, they seemed a little calmer and spoke again.
“Hey, what are you?”
This worked out well. I needed some time alone with this one anyway.
“What do you think? You like quizzes, don't you?”
“...Who says that?”
“Just guess.”
Interest flickered in the pretty youth's eyes. As expected, this one took the bait easily.
After thinking for a moment, the pretty youth abruptly asked,
“Are you a Returnee?”
“A Returnee? Why do you think that?”
“It makes no sense for an ordinary Demon Realm industrial citizen to have that much money.”
“Not bad. Keep going.”
“You said yourself that you're not a demon, and you don't seem like an ordinary Incarnation either. But you have all sorts of rare fables. You seem pretty strong, too. Then there's only one answer.”
“Hmm...”
“How's my deduction?”
Something about those bright eyes made me want to tease the youth.
“For that deduction to be right, you need one assumption.”
“What assumption?”
“That every Returnee in the world is strong.”
“What are you talking about? Don't you know what a Returnee is? They're people who gained powerful strength in another dimension or on another planet, then returned to their own world. There's no way they could be weak.”
“You don't know that. You haven't met every Returnee in the world.”
“Well...”
“For example, a Returnee might hate their hometown and not want to return.”
The pretty youth's expression stiffened for an instant.
“They might have traveled through other dimensions several times and become frustrated because they never gained any special ability.”
“...”
“They might have gained a new body, only for that body to have no talent at all.”
“Wait a second.”
“Frustrated by that lack of talent, they might have settled down somewhere and decided to live an ordinary life.”
“...Who are you? Really?”
I smiled faintly and spoke.
“Hayoung. Are you enjoying life in the Demon Realm?”
“What?”
[Exclusive Skill, Character Profile, has activated!]
+
<Character Information>
Name: Jang Hayoung (Aslan Makefield)
Age: 23 (15)
Patron: None
Exclusive Attributes: Dimensional Traveler (Hero), One Who Turned Their Back on Their Hometown (Rare), Master of the Wall (Mythical)
Exclusive Skills: [Unidentified Wall Lv.1], [Vicious Tongue Lv.3], [Grumbling Lv.5], [Laziness Lv.3], [Sloth Lv.3], [Lethargy Lv.4]...
+
Grumbling, Laziness, Sloth, Lethargy...
Who would look at this character profile and think this was the second protagonist of TWSA? If Junghyeok saw it, he might have been offended that someone like this was on the same list of protagonists.
“H-how do you...!”
Still, Hayoung hadn't been like this from the beginning. Hayoung had tried, and tried again, but nothing worked. A huge Wall had always stood in the way. The results had simply failed to keep pace with the effort.
“Ah, right. You don't use your real name here. Should I call you Aslan instead?”
“How do you know my real name?”
Hayoung had already backed all the way to the wall and pressed against it. Seeing that, I remembered something from long ago.
―Author. I think it would be better to introduce a new character at this point...
What if I hadn't left that comment back then?
Would Jang Hayoung not have existed in this world?
―And while we're at it, make her a pretty female character...
Maybe that was why I felt responsible for this one.
I didn't know whether the author had created this character because of me. But...
―For the setup, hmm. Junghyeok is the regressor, so this one could be a Dimensional Traveler...
At the very least, if I hadn't written that comment then, this second protagonist wouldn't have been forced to travel between dimensions.
“You don't lack talent. You just don't know what your talent is.”
“What? Wh-what are you talking about...!”
Just as I was about to speak again, the door burst open.
“What is it, Aslan? What's all the noise?”
“Ailen!”
After seeing Hayoung's face, Ailen looked at me.
“What are you? What did you do to this kid?”
I shrugged without a word. Several people stood behind Ailen. They were probably the Seisvitz Workers' Council, Seisvitz's last conscience standing against the duke's ambition.
I liked people like that.
Hayoung's matter could be handled later, so should I deal with this first?
“Duke Seisvitz.”
“What?”
“His ambition is great. He turned down a high position in another major Demon Realm and came all the way out to this backwater.”
At my words, the members of the Workers' Council looked at one another. I stared directly at Ailen and continued.
“Duke Seisvitz must have asked you to make a Colossus for him. Isn't that right?”
“Huh?”
“That bastard recently toured the underworld and lost his mind a little. That's why he's making unreasonable demands of you, without knowing his place.”
“How do you possibly...?”
As I rattled off information they had never told me, the members of the Workers' Council were deeply flustered as well. I saw Ailen's body stiffen in shock. I continued without missing the opportunity.
“But this is your third refusal, so next time he'll take you by force. Are you prepared?”
The faces of Ailen and the other industrial citizens darkened at once.
They were influential figures on their own planet, but they didn't possess strength that could compare to a duke of the Demon Realm. I enjoyed the silence for a moment before smiling.
“If you accept my condition, I'll stop the duke for you.”
It had to be confusing. An Exile had suddenly appeared, knew every detail of their circumstances, and was making an absurd offer.
Ailen struggled to speak.
“Who... are you?”
No matter what, this was where it began.
It would've been nice to say, "I am Kim Dokja," but I couldn't do that yet. If I revealed my name here, the Constellations of Earth would learn that I was still alive.
Then...
Should I follow the original work this time?
Remembering the 111th round of the original work, I spoke in the most wicked voice I could manage.
“My name is Yu Junghyeok. I am the one who will become the Demon King of this 73rd Demon Realm.”
* * *
[Your infamy spreads throughout the 73rd Demon Realm.]
At the message that suddenly rang out, Yu Junghyeok looked up at the sky.
“...What?”
Naturally, the sky gave no answer.
Junghyeok's expression became strange. After thinking for a moment, he glared at the sky in disbelief and muttered once more.
“Kim Dokja?”
Footnotes:
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