WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 223: Episode 42: Asmodeus (1)

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The hospital bed rattled as it rolled along. Industrial citizens from the industrial citizens' council, including Aileen, busily wheeled me somewhere. Finely broken Fable Fragments flowed continuously through the IV in my arm. Feeling the fables flowing through my body, I calmly sorted through the situation.

[You currently possess the right of succession to the Gilobat Industrial Complex.]

How had I become a Revolutionary, then finally gained the right of succession to the Gilobat Industrial Complex?

The answer to that mystery was simple.

「Kim Dokja killed the Dictator of the Gilobat Industrial Complex.」

At a glance, it looked like circular reasoning, but it wasn't. Because the Kim Dokja who killed the duke of Gilobat wasn't me.

Put simply, someone had impersonated me, built a reputation there, then eventually killed the Dictator.

[The Star Stream is correcting a Scenario error.]

[A new fable related to you is scheduled.]

What kind of lunatic could do something like that?

Obviously, there couldn't be two lunatics like that in the world.

「Kim Dokja thought. Junghyeok is currently in the Gilobat Industrial Complex.」

At first, I was simply overwhelmed with gratitude.

Hey, our Junghyeok had finally become a decent human being!

That bastard had stormed into the industrial complex to save me!

For a while, I was moved by that thought without giving it much consideration.

Then I thought about it, and there was no way that could be true.

Junghyeok had stormed into the Gilobat Industrial Complex to save me?

It was strange enough that Junghyeok knew I was in danger. He wasn't a Constellation and couldn't even connect to a channel, so how could he have known? That meant it was more likely he hadn't come to save me, but for the opposite reason.

He had noticed I was impersonating him and come to the Demon Realm to beat me up.

Then something must have gone wrong along the way, and he must have stopped by the Gilobat Industrial Complex by mistake. There, he probably got into some unnecessary trouble and overturned the entire industrial complex. As a bonus, he must have impersonated me to get petty revenge.

I couldn't even imagine how much rage someone would need to pull something like that.

"Don't move around. I'm treating you."

Aileen, who was tending to my fables, frowned and pushed up her glasses. I answered awkwardly.

"Sorry. I was having some bad thoughts. How am I doing?"

"Don't ask about your own condition as if it belongs to someone else."

Aileen let out several deep sighs, but she didn't look too unhappy.

"It can only be called a miracle. You're gradually recovering. The damage to your fables is too severe, so you shouldn't move carelessly... Still, I think you'll be fine if you rest for a while."

Perhaps because I had entered the Main Scenario again, even the feeling of breathing was different. People who had never been exiled and then returned to the Scenario wouldn't understand what it felt like.

「Kim Dokja thought. So this is a story.」

It felt as if a vast, warm world had embraced me. Ridiculously enough, I only now felt as though I was truly alive. It was terrifying just to think about whoever had designed this kind of sensation.

"Urgh..."

"I told you not to move around!"

Aileen's sharp voice was followed by intense pain.

[Your current fable composition is incomplete.]

Though my Incarnation body had begun recovering, my injuries were still severe.

Then again, surviving at all after ending up like this while defeating the Duke of Seisvitz was a miracle. Even I thought it had been a reckless battle.

Uncharacteristically, I didn't know why I had gone that far.

[A few Constellations are asking around about you.]

On top of that, I had summoned a Fable Weapon, so things would become extremely complicated from here on out. I opened the message log I had put off checking.

[The majority of Constellations in the channel have greatly admired your achievements!]

[You have received a sponsorship of 3,000 coins.]

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband nods at your confidence.]

[You have received a sponsorship of 4,000 coins.]

Sponsorship money for the first time in a while. How moving.

[The twentieth Main Scenario has ended.]

[You have cleared the Main Scenario, Demon Realm Revolution.]

[Your reward collection has been delayed due to excessive Main Scenario skipping.]

[Receipt of fables from clearing the Main Scenario is pending.]

There were a few problems, but the Scenario messages came through properly.

[Some Constellations are curious about your identity!]

[A few Constellations want to invite you to their nebulae!]

[Someone covets your Fable Weapon!]

The familiar nonsense had started again.

I could understand why they were making such a fuss.

「Fable Weapon Pluto.」

A Colossus was a rare weapon that could only be seen when Gigantomachia, one of the Great Fables, activated. It could trample the Factory, the totality of Legendary-grade fables, like a toy even without its summoner riding it.

Of course the Constellations would covet a weapon like that.

Still, it seemed that person hadn't arrived yet...

[The Constellation Father of the Rich Night is looking at you.]

...He was here, damn it.

[The Constellation Father of the Rich Night is looking at you.]

Fortunately, Father of the Rich Night did nothing beyond looking at me. He had every reason to be angry since I had used his Fable Weapon as I pleased... No, perhaps Hades simply looking at me was already frightening. He was the king of the underworld, after all.

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

[The Fourth Wall chuckles.]

Damn it, that irritating bastard was incredibly reassuring at times like this.

I was now a fabled-grade Constellation myself, so in terms of status, I might have been able to measure up to one of Hades's toes. The problem was my current condition.

The Incarnation body was the phenotype of one's status. Since my phenotype was ruined, the status of a Constellation would naturally be diminished. Wrapped from head to toe in bandages like this, I probably couldn't deal with even a snake, let alone Hades.

It was difficult to move even one arm, but at least I had my smartphone in my hand.

When I grinned, Aileen, who was wrapping bandages around me, frowned again.

"I told you not to stare at that for too long."

"My mother always said the same thing."

"You need absolute rest."

"Looking at this is absolute rest for me."

I deliberately didn't explain the details. Even if I did, she either wouldn't understand or it would all be filtered.

"How's the Seisvitz Industrial Complex? No, should I call it the Yu Junghyeok Industrial Complex now?"

"It's fine."

After the duke died, the industrial complex was gradually stabilizing again.

There had been much discussion about how to deal with the collection slaves and the remnants of the noble faction taken prisoner, but Aileen was handling it well enough.

Aileen watched me for a moment before asking, "You're not actually Junghyeok, are you?"

It was a question I had expected, so I nodded.

"That's right. I'm not Junghyeok."

"But Junghyeok is now the owner of this industrial complex."

That was certainly true.

My messages had mentioned it too.

[The current master of the industrial complex is Duke Yu Junghyeok.]

Duke Yu Junghyeok...

That bastard really ought to be grateful to me.

I looked at Aileen and said, "His esteemed lordship will come looking for me himself soon."

"...What kind of demon is Junghyeok?"

I snorted.

"He's not a demon. Though he can seem like one sometimes."

After wondering how to explain it, I decided to put it this way.

"The Junghyeok of this world is a good guy."

Aileen looked as though she didn't understand what that meant.

Shaking my head, I said, "More importantly, could you call Jang Hayoung and Han Myeongoh? I need to talk to them."

"All right."

I had cleared one hurdle, at least.

But literally, it was only one hurdle.

The Revolutionary Scenario had ended, but the next Scenario would be on a scale that couldn't even be compared to the Revolutionary Scenario.

[A few Demon Kings are interested in your activities.]

If I let my guard down even a little, I would be the one devoured.

I had to begin preparing step by step. Once Aileen's presence had completely disappeared, I opened the file on the panel screen without hesitation.

Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (First Revision).txt

Was it because I was seeing TWSA again after so long?

My heart beat faintly.

What did First Revision mean?

And why had the author given this to me?

The file screen didn't appear right away. Maybe it was because the smartphone Aileen made was an imitation. Its performance was bad enough to make me miss my old phone.

Only after a considerable amount of time did the file finally open.

"...Is the phone slow, or is the file just too big?"

At this size, it might lag even when loaded on an ordinary low-spec PC. Seeing such an enormous amount of text for the first time in a while made me feel slightly overwhelmed.

Damn it, how had I read all of this?

To find out where and how the story had been revised, I had no choice but to reread it from the beginning, comparing it with my memories one line at a time.

After reading about the first ten pages...

...It didn't seem to have changed much.

It still began on the subway, and Junghyeok still did the same things...

Besides, why were this bastard's lines still like this even in a revised version?

Was this really a revision?

「Junghyeok thought. 'If it had been that bastard, he wouldn't have thought this way.'」

A cold feeling made me stop scrolling.

Wait. Had there originally been a line like that?

「'If he had been there, I might have judged things differently...'」

Without realizing it, I scrolled back up to the previous page. The text stuttered because of the smartphone's performance, but I didn't have the leisure to care about that.

A dreadful premonition crossed my mind.

I had missed something.

...The first scene was the same?

No. This was a completely different beginning.

I left the scroll on the first page of Episode 1 of TWSA and stared at it blankly for a long time.

"...It wasn't the third round."

The First Revision of Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.

I reread the first sentence of that novel.

「And so, Junghyeok's fourth life began.」

The First Revision began with Junghyeok's fourth round.

「Junghyeok thought.」

「'In this round, that bastard does not exist.'」

Footnotes:

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