WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 206: Episode 39 — The Unidentified Wall (1)

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I left Aileen, Mark, and Jang Hayoung to take care of things outside, then dragged the unconscious Han Myeongoh back to Aileen's office.

Honestly, this was unexpected.

To think Han Myeongoh was still alive.

Manager Han Myeongoh.

Before the third Main Scenario, he had tried to steal my contribution to Warden of the Dark and was cursed by the Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust.

He had disappeared before entering Chungmuro, so I naturally assumed he was dead. I never imagined I would run into him in the Demon Realm, of all places.

I tied Myeongoh to a chair in the office. I used the fable-suppressing restraints I had borrowed from Aileen.

「Kim Dokja thought, Manager Han had grown quite old too.」

Fine wrinkles covered Myeongoh's face. His skin had darkened all over. The wrinkles were one thing, but the skin was probably evidence of a species mutation. The longer I looked, the more I could see his old face. Still, the traces of his human days had faded enough that he was hard to recognize at a glance.

Yu Sangah. Lee Gilyeong. My mother and that delinquent Song Minwoo...

They were all people I had known before the Scenarios began, or even earlier, whose information I couldn't check with [Character Profile].

Myeongoh was the same. Because he had come to live in this world through me, he was someone whose information couldn't be read through the original [Character Profile].

"I know you're awake, so get up."

"Ugh... You bastard..."

I asked Myeongoh... No, the spy, or rather the self-proclaimed Aurelius.

"Did you give yourself the name Aurelius?"

"...!"

Seeing Myeongoh's eyes fly open, even the last lingering doubt inside me disappeared. Aurelius. It was the decisive clue that had made me certain this man was Myeongoh.

「A web novel? Mr. Kim Dokja, who has time to read that crap?」

It was what he had said when he caught me reading web novels back when I still worked at Mino Soft.

「If you're going to read, read something like this. If you're not going to build up your credentials, at least read good books.」

In Myeongoh's hand had been Meditations, written by Marcus Aurelius, Rome's wise emperor. He had apparently read only the first few pages over and over, because only the front of the book had been darkened from use.

"You always carried around Meditations even though you never read it. I see that pretentiousness is still with you."

"Y-you, who the hell are you?!"

Myeongoh struggled but couldn't recognize me. It was a good thing I had changed my face beforehand. Otherwise, I might have been the one walking into a trap.

I smiled slyly and asked, "Who do you think I am?"

At that moment, Myeongoh's expression changed.

"D-don't tell me...!"

As expected, Myeongoh was still Myeongoh.

Even a manager who got his job through connections needed some sense to survive in a company. Just as Myeongoh was about to speak, I covered his mouth with my palm.

"Mmph! Mmmph! Mmmph!"

"If you say it, you'll die here. So keep it to yourself. Understand?"

I was concerned that another transcendent being might be listening.

There were no dokkaebi channels here. Still, the lack of channels didn't mean there was no way for other beings to spy on someone.

[The Fourth Wall says, "The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust is looking at foolish Kim Dokja."]

...Not bad. You could tell me things like that too?

「Ahem.」

Demonic God of Wrath and Lust...

Like Constellations, Demon Kings had their own modifiers. After all, they were fallen Constellations too. Of course, some refused to use them out of spite...

If my memory was correct, Demonic God of Wrath and Lust was the modifier of the Demon King Asmodeus. It seemed Myeongoh had become his Subordinate. A high-ranking one at that, if he could share his field of vision.

"If you're going to keep spying, why don't you at least pay some coins?"

When I spoke to the empty air, Myeongoh's eyes widened again. He had realized who I was talking to.

Tiny sparks crackled in the air.

If I continued this conversation, there was a good chance Asmodeus would learn my information. I would reveal this "story" someday, but it wasn't time yet.

After thinking for a moment, I pulled a sword from the subspace inside my coat.

Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword.

It was the first time I had drawn it since destroying the Absolute Throne. A sword that could temporarily evolve into a constellation artifact with the power of the Northern Dipper Star Lords, and sever the connection between a Constellation and its artifact.

Normally, I would have needed the Northern Dipper Star Lords' help to bring out that power. But now that I was a Constellation, I could draw on a little of the sword's power without their help.

[Your fable reacts to Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword!]

"If you won't pay, get lost."

As I spoke, I swung the sword over Myeongoh's head. Fierce sparks flew from the casually swung blade, followed by a message.

[The connection between the Demon King Asmodeus and his Subordinate has been temporarily severed.]

Myeongoh's face had gone completely pale, beyond mere shock. He must never have imagined I possessed the power to sever his connection to a Demon King. I warned him, "Here, my name is Yu Junghyeok. Nod if you understand."

Myeongoh looked at me with complicated eyes. After thinking for a moment, he barely nodded. He was someone who knew the value of his own life, so he had probably made the right judgment. When I uncovered his mouth, he looked up at me while gasping for breath.

"How...? I heard you were dead..."

"I'm not dead. As you can see, I'm alive."

Myeongoh asked fearfully, "What are you going to do with me?"

"I'm thinking about it."

"Spare me! The years we spent together weren't short!"

"Not one good memory came out of all those years."

"I-I'm a spy. I can help the Revolution! I can see other people's positions!"

Considering he was saying that even now, it seemed Myeongoh really was a spy. Spies hadn't appeared even in the 111th round of TWSA, so it wouldn't be strange for an unexpected person to appear as one.

"I don't need a spy. I found the Executioners just fine without one."

Myeongoh's pitiful eyes shook again. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he suddenly asked, "Come to think of it... How did you recognize the Executioners?"

I had a rough idea of what he was trying to do, but I decided to play along for a moment.

"I didn't know they were Executioners."

"What? Then how did you...?"

What I said was true. Some Executioners had their appearances described in TWSA, but those descriptions had only been mentioned in passing. It was impossible to identify them from that alone.

I hadn't killed them because I knew they were Executioners.

I had only learned through occasional uses of [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] that they held "special positions."

「And that information was enough for Kim Dokja.」

Myeongoh, knowing nothing, shouted, "The people you killed could've been innocent, or they could've held vital positions! R-right! Like Fighters...!"

"Stop talking nonsense. You seem to think the other nobles will come rescue you if you stall for time, but they won't."

"H-ha ha. What do you mean?"

"The industrial citizens only fear the Executioners. Without them, even nobles can't easily enter the industrial citizen quarters."

Perhaps he thought everything was over now, because Myeongoh began struggling harder. With bloodshot eyes, he glared at me and screamed at the top of his lungs.

"If you kill me, you'll earn the wrath of a Demon King!"

That might have frightened me in the past.

"Do I look like someone who's afraid of a Demon King?"

I raised my status as a Constellation, to a level that the dukes of the industrial complex and the Demon Kings of other Demon Realms wouldn't notice. Still, no matter how faint it was, it was the status of a Constellation. It was enough to crush Myeongoh's spirit.

Resignation finally settled in Myeongoh's trembling eyes.

"...What do you want from me?"

It was the question I had been waiting for. Myeongoh had ties to the demons here. If he had any value, it was wiser to use him to the fullest.

"An Existence Oath. You know what that is, right?"

"Th-that..."

"If you want to live, make it. Otherwise, go outside and get beaten to death by the industrial citizens."

Myeongoh let out a sigh.

"What do I have to swear?"

"That you won't interfere with the Revolution. That you won't lie. That you'll answer my questions properly and cooperate with me wholeheartedly."

"...For how long?"

"One year."

"Damn it..."

When forcing someone into a violent oath like this, it was better to set a time limit.

If I demanded a permanent oath, the person making it might go insane. You had to give them hope that the oath would end someday, so they would be more willing to agree.

"...All right. I swear."

A small spark burst from Myeongoh's heart, and the oath was complete. Only then did I ask the question I had wanted to ask him.

"Manager Han Myeongoh. How did you stay alive all this time?"

Myeongoh began his story. What hardships he had endured after separating from us at Geumho Station, how he had been tossed around, and how difficult everything had been for him...

It was obvious he was trying to make himself sound as pitiful as possible, so I cut him off midway.

"That's enough. Just tell me the important part."

"W-what important part?"

"You were definitely cursed by a Demon King back then. So how did you become a Demon King's Subordinate? Asmodeus isn't someone easily fooled."

Asmodeus, one of the 72 Demon Kings.

No matter how glib Myeongoh was, there was no way he had the ability to charm someone like that. Nor did Myeongoh possess any unique fable.

Beings on the level of Demon Kings were as seasoned in stories as high-ranking Constellations. The life of a manager at a corporate affiliate couldn't possibly satisfy them.

Myeongoh's face gradually twisted into misery as his lips moved without sound. Just as I was about to press him again, he opened his mouth.

"...I gave birth."

"Excuse me?"

"Ghk... I, I..."

As I wondered whether I had heard wrong and was about to ask again, Myeongoh burst into tears and continued.

"I gave birth to a child!"

Footnotes:

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