WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: ChaoticRain
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 220: Episode 41: Real Revolutionary (4)
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Thud. Thud.
As pistons moved violently inside the cylinders installed at the Factory's joints, house-sized grinders spun with a deafening roar. Fable Fragments that hadn't been fully processed protruded from its shoddy exterior like screws.
It was proof that this Factory was not yet a finished product.
The duke frowned slightly as he watched the Factory's outer frame rattle uneasily.
‘It isn't satisfactory yet, but this isn't bad.’
Factories. Any high-ranking noble in the Demon Realm had a Fable Weapon like this. Their power varied greatly, of course, but Seisvitz's Factory was particularly unusual.
‘My visit to the underworld was worth it.’
It stood a full forty meters tall. Resembling a giant statue, the Factory had been modeled after the Colossus of the underworld, whose exterior the duke had barely managed to glimpse after persuading one of the underworld's judges.
Naturally, the duke's Factory was only a replica with a fraction of the Colossus's output.
‘I can't be satisfied with this much, but...’
As if offended by the duke's thoughts, the Factory let out a harsh groan.
Rumble!
The grinder blades overturned the ground completely. In the dust that covered the area in a pale haze, more than ten buildings in the industrial citizen quarters collapsed at once. Like a child destroying a carefully made toy, the duke destroyed them with persistent movements.
[Few Constellations enjoy the satisfying destruction!]
[A few Constellations point at the fleeing industrial citizens!]
It was a story accumulated over a long time.
The history of the Seisvitz Industrial Complex, built up over countless years.
Yet the duke didn't hesitate.
“Arghhh!”
As the duke gathered the fables bursting from the grinder, he thought indifferently.
‘They're only Sacrifices for a greater story.’
Four hundred years. Enough time for an ordinary dynasty to rise and fall.
For that entire time, the duke had been this place's Dictator. He had once loved everything about the industrial complex. At times, he had been a benevolent ruler; at others, a tyrant. There had been times when he sought to raise the industrial citizens' happiness through gentle rule, and times when he slaughtered them through harsh oppression and tyranny.
He had been happy or sad, and sometimes, he had fun.
Then one day, only one emotion remained for the duke.
‘I’m sick of it.’
After visiting Olympus's underworld, that thought became even stronger.
‘Why do I have to keep devouring stories like this?’
The duke couldn't forget the luxurious banquet laid before the Queen of the underworld.
An otherworldly Sword Master, a great sage, a Ninth-Circle Archmage...
Seisvitz had sincerely admired the finely prepared pieces of fable.
So there was food like this in the world.
With a completely entranced expression, the duke savored the flavor bursting inside his mouth.
“You seem to have quite a refined palate.”
When the duke came to his senses, he realized Persephone hadn't touched the food in front of her at all. Persephone had looked at the fables greedily scattered across the duke's plate as though they were junk food.
The Duke of Seisvitz couldn't forget the humiliation he had felt then.
‘I’m going to the next Scenario.’
A greater story. Greater stimulation.
And he would seize greater power.
‘I’ll become a Demon King. I’ll devour incomparably greater fables than those damned bastards and live on.’
To do that, abandoning one insignificant industrial complex meant nothing.
[...What kind of “revolution” is this?]
The industrial complex was seized by a faint tremor at the duke's booming voice.
[Look. There is no such thing as “revolution”! It is all just role-playing for the Scenario! Nothing more than a meaningless game repeated countless times over four hundred years. You are fighting for something so futile!]
Though Seisvitz had also been part of that Scenario all along, the duke shouted those words. Only then did it feel as if there could be something next.
‘Now I can go.’
The shout actually seemed to succeed to some extent.
Taking great comfort in his own words, the Duke of Seisvitz felt liberated beneath the countless Constellations' gazes. A crude pleasure gained by denying himself. For the first time in a long while, Seisvitz felt like the center of the world.
Then...
“Does that make you happy?”
Someone asked that question.
* * *
It was me.
「You...」
...Damn it. Being able to hear someone's inner thoughts too clearly was a problem too.
[The character Demon Duke Seisvitz's delusions are running wild.]
[Exclusive Skill, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Level 2, has activated intensely!]
Thoughts overflowed wildly from inside the duke. His blatant and sinister ego seemed to scatter everywhere so openly that anyone watching would feel sorry for him. It was so bad that even those who couldn't use [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] could feel it.
[The Constellation Nail-Eating Rat recoils at the duke's words and actions.]
[The Constellation Nouveau Riche Snake Boss says he is fine because he has no hands or feet.]
For even those bastards to react like that... The duke, completely unaware of the situation, smiled at me.
[So you're the Fake Revolutionary.]
“Who's fake?”
Using [Bookmark], I activated [Way of the Wind] and raced through the industrial complex. A massive strike grazed my back. Only a crater remained where the grinder had passed, as if a bomb had exploded there.
...This could devour a low-ranking Historical Constellation whole.
It was power my current Incarnation body couldn't possibly endure.
That was the power of a Fable Weapon. A weapon that allowed beings who weren't Constellations to become comparable to them.
On top of that, while the Duke of Seisvitz wasn't a Constellation, he was a member of the demonic species with Historical-grade fables comparable to those of low-ranking Historical Constellations.
Boom!
Bombs rolled out from inside the grinder and covered the city in flames. Industrial citizens who had lost their homes ran out crying. Beings who had lost their homeland, come to the Demon Realm, struggled through life, and would now meet their end here. The industrial citizens who had lost their workplaces looked up at me with soot-stained faces.
As I watched them, I thought that I hated Scenarios just as much.
But... damn it.
「Kim Dokja thought. He didn't want to admit it, but...」
I thought I understood, at least a little, why this Scenario existed.
[Way of the Wind] tore through the currents of air and opened a path. In an instant, I launched myself toward the Factory's head and activated [Electrification] once more.
[Your Incarnation body's durability is in danger!]
I had wasted Bookmark's duration when I briefly lost consciousness earlier.
I had about twenty minutes left.
Crackle!
Blue-white lightning surged from my right hand and struck the Factory's head. Its exterior caved in slightly from the recoil.
[Urgh...?]
As expected, I lacked striking power. With my current Incarnation body, I couldn't even produce a quarter of my original firepower.
[Not bad.]
My endurance wouldn't last long either. Still, I had to fight here.
I had to defeat this bastard with my own hands.
[I am releasing the status of a Constellation!]
[Your Incarnation body is severely damaged, so only a minuscule amount of your power is being released.]
As a portion of my status was released for a brief moment, the Factory stopped moving temporarily. I didn't miss the opportunity and gathered Mana in both fists.
[This presence? Don't tell me, you...!]
Boom! Boom!
[Broken Heart of a Young Gold Dragon has activated!]
Whenever my Mana rapidly decreased, the Gold Dragon's heart spinning tightly near my chest replenished it. The Factory's hard outer shell gradually began to peel away beneath my repeated blows. Screws flew out, and unprocessed Fable Fragments leaked through the cracks.
「Kim Dokja thought. If only his Incarnation body were intact, this would have been a fight worth trying.」
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband watches you anxiously.]
Bearing that gaze without wavering, I struck the Factory's armor again and again with fists filled with Electrification. If I had known I would fight this desperately, I should've learned more diligently from Kyrios.
I didn't have the talent for it anyway, so it probably would've been impossible.
[Your Incarnation body's durability has reached its limit.]
[If you do not stop fighting immediately, the collapse of your Incarnation body will resume.]
My breath grew increasingly ragged, and my fists gradually slowed. Despite those strikes, the Factory remained intact. The duke spoke as if delighted.
[Thanks to you, this industrial complex's final Scenario will be very sweet.]
I knew I couldn't win. I hadn't been fighting to win from the beginning.
「Kim Dokja looked down at the industrial citizens watching him from below.」
People were watching me. Some with their mouths half-open, others with both hands clasped desperately.
I could see Aileen and Mark too.
They all looked different, but their eyes held the same expression.
「The Revolutionary is fighting.」
It was enough for them to think that.
「There is a revolution.」
Whether it was real or fake didn't matter.
Once it had been written into a sentence, once many people believed in it, it would inevitably gain power.
Just as fables became reality.
[Your influence over this Scenario has become more firmly established.]
Then, the Factory's massive arm blocked my attack. I was thrown from the Factory with a violent shockwave.
[Your fighting spirit is admirable, but you cannot win. Because you are fake.]
I pushed myself up from the ground and said, “You're right. I'm not a Revolutionary. But revolution exists.”
[Such a thing does not exist.]
“Why do you think that? Because you were once a Revolutionary too?”
[...!]
“Because even if a revolution occurs, it only repeats an endless cycle of power structures?”
It wasn't as if I couldn't understand the Duke of Seisvitz's feelings at all. I knew well enough about the tragedy of the Revolutionary Scenario.
「What does a Revolutionary who causes a revolution become?」
“Just because you failed doesn't mean everyone will fail.”
There were terrible Scenarios. There were tragic Scenarios.
But...
“There are no meaningless Scenarios.”
No matter how trashy a Scenario was, people were the ones who lived through it.
Feeling happy or sad.
Fighting back and struggling against the impossible.
Some died, but others saved one another.
That was the Scenario of TWSA that I knew.
That was why I had been able to read all of that long TWSA.
Moving my body became increasingly difficult. If I had acted according to the original work, I wouldn't have suffered like this.
「Yu Junghyeok thought. If he didn't know who the Revolutionary was, he could just kill everyone until they appeared.」
In the end, Yu Junghyeok of the 111th round made the worst choice.
But I didn't want to do that.
That was why I kept fighting this damned battle.
Boom!
Another blow from the duke bent my back helplessly. As I flew away, the Factory's huge hand reached toward me.
[Your story is quite appetizing. I will eat you.]
This bastard had already visited the underworld and awakened to the taste of fables. Of course the duke would go mad at the sight of me. Yet just as the duke's enormous hand was about to close around me, someone ran toward me with all their strength, hugged me, and rolled away.
A familiar woman stood amid the drifting dust.
“What are you doing?”
It was Aileen, chair of the industrial citizens' council.
Frowning, I braced myself against a wall and stood up.
“Move.”
“You've done enough.”
Aileen showed no sign of moving aside. The moment I saw the determined expression on her face, a chill ran through part of my chest.
Wait, don't tell me the Revolutionary is...
[Hahaha! Where are you hiding, Self-Proclaimed Revolutionary!]
At the duke's voice, Aileen turned around. Realizing what she intended to do, I hurried after her.
But just before she could stand before the duke, someone shouted.
“The Revolutionary is here!”
It was someone I had never seen before. They pointed at themself and shouted.
[Someone has made a Revolutionary Declaration!]
They might have been a member of the industrial citizens' council, or an industrial citizen who had been hiding until now. An extra whose name and face I didn't know, who was never even mentioned in TWSA.
[What...?]
“No, I am the Revolutionary!”
This time, it was a woman's voice. Another face I didn't recognize. Her shoulders trembled pitifully, but she stood firmly on both feet and shouted.
That started it. Voices burst out everywhere.
[Someone has made a Revolutionary Declaration!]
[Someone has made a Revolutionary Declaration!]
Not only Aileen, Mark, and the industrial citizens from the council, but Incarnations who had been hiding in the streets until now came outside and shouted. Holding simple weapons, with bodies unable to resist at all, they shouted.
“I am the Revolutionary! Kill me!”
The industrial citizens' resolve as they revealed their only card was desperate.
Countless industrial citizens advanced on the Factory like a rising tide, each holding a weapon. A heat that could have moved even me spread through the industrial complex like wildfire.
「It was a sight that had never appeared in the TWSA Yu Junghyeok had lived through.」
Suddenly, I felt regret.
I wanted to show this sight to Yu Junghyeok of the 111th round too. If he had seen it, he surely would have made a different choice.
Then...
“I am the Revolutionary Yu Junghyeok!”
Someone shouted.
“I am Yu Junghyeok!”
“No, I am!”
...What? No, wait.
“What are you talking about? I am Yu Junghyeok!”
For some reason, people were now shouting a name instead of “Revolutionary.”
Countless Yu Junghyeoks in the industrial complex were rising up.
[Someone has made the Yu Junghyeok Declaration!]
No, this... Wait a minute.
[Confusion has occurred in the Star Stream's achievement system.]
* * *
At that moment.
A man in a black coat and a small doll sitting on his shoulder arrived at the industrial complex.
“Is Kim Dokja really here?”
[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire nods vigorously.]
Footnotes:
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