Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 205

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 205: Episode 38 — Fake Revolutionary (5)

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Spy.

I had once read a passage in TWSA explaining the Spy.

「All positions in the ‘Revolutionary Game’ belong to one of two teams, the ‘Revolutionary’ or the ‘Dictator.’ However, there is one position that belongs to neither side. That position is the ‘Spy.’」

The most dangerous position in the Revolutionary Game, and the most cowardly.

That was why TWSA described the Spy as follows.

「The team that obtains the ‘Spy’ can win the game.」

In the Revolutionary Game, where information was paramount, the Spy held immense power. The Spy's ability could reveal the Position information of anyone they chose. There was a limit of ten people per day, but even that gave the Spy enough power to shake up the entire game.

And now, a man claiming to be the Spy had appeared before me.

"Are you Yu Junghyeok?"

The man's appearance didn't suit the Demon Realm at all. He had an oddly nondescript face. No, more precisely...

What was this? Why did he seem so familiar? He didn't look like anyone who had appeared in TWSA.

I answered him first.

"That's right. I'm Yu Junghyeok."

The man's reaction was somewhat strange.

"...Hmm. Is that so?"

At that moment, I realized something was wrong.

"You knew my name surprisingly well."

Normally, he should have asked, "Are you a Revolutionary?" Instead, he had confirmed from the start whether I was Junghyeok. The man shrugged as if it were nothing.

"Haha, it's a famous name."

Unlike his words, his eyes persistently studied my face. It was as if he were comparing me to someone he knew.

That was enough to make me certain.

「He knows Junghyeok.」

I quickly searched through the original TWSA, but no likely candidate came to mind. Junghyeok was the regressor, and officially, he hadn't entered the Demon Realm yet. There was no way anyone here could properly know him.

Someone perceptive might have recognized him from the Earth Scenarios, but that wasn't very likely.

Perhaps because of my unconvincing reaction, Jang Hayoung, Aileen, and Mark watched the man and me with tense eyes. They must have sensed something was off as well.

For now, I decided to find out who he was.

"What's your name?"

"They call me Aurelius."

"...Aurelius?"

I paused. I remembered hearing that name somewhere. Not in TWSA, but somewhere else.

"That's an unusual name."

"So people say."

"So you're the Spy?"

"That's right."

[Exclusive Skill, Lie Detection Lv.3, has activated!]

[The Lie Detection skill cannot be used in the Revolutionary Scenario area.]

...As expected, [lie detection] didn't work in this Scenario. There had been a scene where the Yu Junghyeok of the 111th round was frustrated after learning this skill didn't work either. I had tried it just in case, but apparently the result was the same.

Of course, if [lie detection] could be freely used, this Scenario would be much easier.

Still, [lie detection] wasn't my only skill.

[Exclusive Skill, Character Profile, has activated!]

Even with [Character Profile], I couldn't discern his exact Position. At the very least, though, I could find out whether he held a special Position.

[This person's information cannot be viewed through Character Profile.]

[This person is not registered in Character Profile.]

...What?

I fell silent in surprise.

[Information on this person is being updated.]

[This person's character information will be added in the next update.]

It wasn't the first time I had heard those messages, but I hadn't expected to hear them here. Unaware of my situation, the man asked,

"Hm? What's wrong?"

Someone who couldn't even be read through [Character Profile]. That meant this man hadn't appeared in the original TWSA.

In other words, he existed because of a variable I had created.

But how was that possible? This wasn't Earth, but the Demon Realm...

As I continued to hesitate, Mark asked,

"Did you come to join our side?"

"Perhaps I did, perhaps I didn't."

"What does that mean?"

"I came to save you. At this rate, it's obvious the Revolution will fail."

"...Did you come here just to dampen our spirits before we've even begun?"

"I'm not joking. Public opinion isn't favorable toward you. I don't know if you've been outside."

It was true that things had been noisy outside for a while. I could hear people pounding on the office door. We exchanged looks, then almost simultaneously headed outside. The moment we opened the door, the crowd's murmuring voices poured in.

"There's the Revolutionary!"

At someone's shout, the crowd all turned toward us. Nearly a hundred people glared at me like a swarm of bees. A few of them shouted at me in exaggerated voices.

"It's because of you! If it weren't for you!"

"My wife was hurt!"

Someone even threw a stone. Honestly, I was a little surprised. There had been casualties, but not enough for them to react this violently.

The voices continued.

"It was better when the ‘Night’ only came once every three days!"

Originally, before the Revolutionary Scenario had activated, the Night was supposed to come once every three days. But it had activated for two days in a row, so the people's fear had only grown.

Hayoung shouted at them.

"What the hell are you idiots talking about? Are you really going to act this pathetic? You'd rather cling to life while one person dies every three days?"

A few people flinched back at those words. Hayoung kept shouting.

"If that's how you want to live, then get the hell out of the industrial complex!"

"W-what does a brat like you know? Do you even know what it's like outside?"

Their voices were full of fear. Everyone here knew.

「All industrial citizens belonged to the industrial complex's Scenario. If they left this place, they would receive the Exile Penalty for leaving the Scenario area.」

Exile Penalty.

Everyone in the Demon Realm knew what that meant.

That was why people chose to spin the roulette wheel of death once every three days. But after the Revolutionary appeared, the interval between spins had shortened from three days to one.

"D-do we have to go through a Night like this every day now?"

"What are you going to do? What happens from now on?"

Voices full of terror. Aileen and the other council members tried to restrain them, but the crowd only grew more aggressive. When I turned my head, Aurelius was watching me with a vile smile.

"Do you understand how things stand now?"

A Revolutionary who couldn't earn the support of the industrial citizens was bound to lose.

I gave a bitter smile.

"You're one of the duke's people."

"That's not important. What matters is your choice."

"So what do you want?"

"Surrender to the duke. Then everyone except you can live. At this rate, the Revolution will fail anyway."

"You want me to sacrifice myself?"

"That's not what I mean. I'll find a way for you to live as well."

"How?"

"If you really are Yu Junghyeok, the one I serve will protect you."

"The duke will try to kill me."

"The one I serve cannot be compared to the Duke of Seisvitz."

Someone who couldn't be compared to the Duke of Seisvitz. It was quite an intriguing offer. If I hadn't been Yu Junghyeok, I might have considered it for a moment.

"Of course I refuse."

"I see. You'll regret this."

Aurelius left those words behind and disappeared into the crowd. The people who filled the space he had left shouted,

"Let's offer that bastard to the duke!"

"The duke said he'll end the Scenario if we bring him that bastard!"

"There won't be any more Nights!"

As if they had agreed beforehand, voices rose like wildfire.

It was very interesting.

I had seen a similar sight once before. It had probably been during the labor negotiations at Mino Soft.

"When the next Night comes, we're finished! We have to catch the Revolutionary before then!"

The crowd was moving under overwhelming incitement. The fearful expressions on their faces had turned hostile, and that hostility became resistance against me.

"S-someone catch that bastard...!"

I watched them for a moment, then stepped out before the crowd. When I walked forward without fear, the crowd was the one that became flustered. As people backed away to avoid touching me, the space around me parted as if Moses had performed a miracle.

"Are you that afraid of the Executioner?"

I took another step and drew Unbreakable Faith. The Blade of Faith trembled violently and burst with a pure white radiance. Several people fell onto their backs from the Mana waves, while others staggered away in panic. I spoke to them in a quiet voice.

"It seems you've all forgotten, but it isn't Night right now."

I raised my sword toward the sky. Then the Mana waves of [White Pure Star Energy], released from the Gold Dragon's heart, began to dye the heavens blue-white. Frightened by my sudden action, people cried out.

"W-what...!"

"He's going to kill people!"

"Aaaah! The Revolutionary is killing industrial citizens!"

People screamed, and I heard Aileen shouting. But I ignored every sound and ran through the center of the crowd.

Then I swung my sword directly at one industrial citizen.

"First."

He was one of the men who had been inciting the crowd moments ago. His heart was pierced clean through, and he died with his eyes wide open, unable even to scream.

[Exclusive Skill, The Fourth Wall, has activated!]

The sensation of killing settled at my fingertips.

It had been a long time since I had moved with the clear intent to kill someone. I had probably developed the habit of restraining myself for so long to maintain the King of No Killing.

But today, I wouldn't hesitate in the slightest.

Because right now, I was Yu Junghyeok.

"Second."

The blade, honed solely to kill, exuded a sinister aura as it drank blood.

Fwoosh!

Blood sprayed violently, soaking the front of my clothes. I saw the terrified eyes of the people around me. Then I moved my sword again and drove it into the last man's back.

"And third."

After killing three people in an instant, I looked around.

Screams and wails. Everyone in the industrial citizen quarters stared at me in grief.

It wasn't only the industrial citizens.

Aileen, Hayoung, and Mark, too.

They looked panicked, unable to understand what I had done.

A Revolutionary had killed ordinary industrial citizens.

No explanation could possibly make them accept it. But I had never needed to explain.

[A change has occurred in the Revolutionary Scenario!]

At the sudden message, everyone looked up at the air at once. More messages appeared in rapid succession.

[An Executioner has died at someone's hands.]

[Number of remaining Executioners: 7]

The faces of those who saw the messages began to change.

The number of people who had died was three.

And the number of dead Executioners was also three.

The people who had looked at me with trembling eyes were now screaming as they backed away from the corpses, as if they had seen something horrifying.

"A-aaaah!"

"An Executioner? They were hiding here?"

"Aaron was an Executioner! My god!"

Executioners had been hiding among the industrial citizens. Amid that immense sense of betrayal, the crowd slowly came to its senses.

The Executioners were dead.

The Executioners they had believed were invincible had died like ordinary people.

「Confronted with a story they had never experienced before, the people found themselves inspired in an unexpected way.」

The first person to rise drew a sword from inside their clothes. Their eyes burned with rage.

"Y-you bastards! Good riddance, you bastards!"

The industrial citizens who had threatened me moments ago began trampling and hacking at the dead Executioners' corpses. The crowd boiled with several times the fervor from before. Every one of them had lost something to the Executioners.

It was a miserable revenge, but it was the best they could do for those who had died.

I calmly walked through the crowd. Then I grabbed the nape of the man who was quietly trying to slip away.

"Ghk!"

"You're still as good at inciting people as ever."

The fleeing man, Aurelius, struggled in my grasp. A bitter laugh escaped me.

Why hadn't I recognized that face immediately? It was a face I could never mistake.

I gripped the trembling man's neck tightly and asked,

"Have you been well, Manager Han Myeongoh?"

Footnotes:

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