WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: smol_anon

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 25: Episode 6 - Hour of Judgement (2)

Just as I was about to speak, I heard Cheon Inho's voice.

“Oh, Dokja-ssi! You’re just in time.”

Cheon Inho spotted us and smiled as he approached. I had a bad feeling about this. Sure enough, he raised his voice for everyone to hear.

“Now that I think about it, didn’t Dokja-ssi have a lot of coins? How much was it again? I believe he was the wealthiest among us, wasn’t he?”

[The character Cheon Inho has activated the skill Incitement Lv.2.]

The crowd began turning their heads toward me in confusion.

“C-coins?”

“Who has a lot of coins?”

It didn’t take long for every eye to settle on me. Cheon Inho… that sly bastard.

“Did… Did you say Dokja-ssi did?”

“Please, save us! I beg you!”

Panting heavily, people started grabbing at my pants, and pleading desperately. There were over 20 people crowded around me. If I gave each of them coins, I’d be down by at least 2,000. But if I refused, I’d instantly become the villain of Geumho Station.

[Your understanding of the character Cheon Inho has increased.]

“Haha, Dokja-ssi. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough coins to help these poor souls… But you’re different, aren’t you? Are you really going to just stand by and watch?”

I sighed quietly.

I’d had enough of this nonsense.

[The constellations aligned with Absolute Good have labeled the character Cheon Inho as an Evildoer.]

I’d held back for long enough, dealing with these small fry.

“Please… Save me!”

“Please, I beg you!”

Their tearful, pitiful faces approached, and they latched onto me like leeches.

[Hahaha! This is getting interesting. By the way, there are only 10 minutes left!]

Bihyeong’s voice was filled with glee, while my companions looked at me in helpless confusion. After taking a deep breath, I slowly closed my eyes and opened them again.

“So… You want coins?”

I smiled.

“Why should I?”

I looked around at the crowd.

The first scenario was everyone’s Original Sin. That meant there wasn’t a single innocent person here. [1]

These were people who had trampled others to survive, yet couldn’t even take responsibility for their extended lives.

“W-what do you mean, why?”

“You have plenty of coins! You can spare some!”

In the chaos, Inho burst into laughter.

“Ah, I knew it. That’s just like you, Dokja-ssi.”

“…”

“Ever since you first arrived here, you’ve been like that. Selling food for coins instead of sharing it. Do you know how many people could have survived if they hadn’t spent their coins on your food?”

“He’s right! I spent my coins on food!”

“Give us our coins back!”

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted into something like a trial against me. This must have been what Cheon Inho wanted.

“Wait, everyone! What you’re doing right now is…”

“Dokja-ssi isn’t like that!”

Sangah and Hyeonseong tried to calm the situation, but the crowd was already beyond reason. And then, Inho drove in the final nail.

“Dokja-ssi, I’ll give you one last chance. Give the people their coins.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then something terrible will happen.”

The crowd of twenty began closing in.

“H-hurry up! Hand over the coins!”

Yet, no one dared to make the first move. Eventually, one of the Cheoldu Gang members stepped forward.

“What’s the holdup? Kill him! If we kill him, we’ll get coins!”

The man who stepped out was a large, burly figure. I began adjusting the settings of [Character Profile] to check his information.

+

<Character Summary>

Name: Han Minsang

Exclusive attribute: Thug (Common)

Overall stats: [Vitality Lv.8], [Strength Lv.8], [Agility Lv.8], [Mana Lv.2]

+

For a thug, his stats were pretty decent. He wasn’t always this strong… So, ‘they’ must have done it. Right, he was feeling cocky because of those boosted stats.

“Die, you bastard!”

With a loud cry, he swung a steel pipe at me. A steel pipe wielded with the force of Level 8 Strength—definitely something that would have terrified the old ‘Kim Dokja’...

Swish!

Along with the steel pipe, his arm was severed cleanly and rolled across the ground.

“AAAHHH!”

[Unbreakable Faith], now smeared with blood, emitted a white glow as it hummed in my hand. I calmly surveyed the crowd.

“A-ahh…”

The sight of the Cheoldu Gang member being taken down in a single strike left everyone pale. I had shown enough theatrics. It was time to start.

“Pathetic… Do you really think this situation is all because of me?”

I slowly scanned the faces of the crowd, one by one. On the other side, I saw Inho’s uneasy expression.

“You all know that’s not true.”

Their mouths gaped like fish as I continued, scattering my words like bait.

“You’re just scared of those guys. You know something’s wrong. You know you’re about to die. But all you can do is tremble in fear because those guys over there scare you so much.”

“H-hey, Dokja-ssi! What are you even talking about…”

“Because they’re stronger than you! Their overall stats are higher, and they have more coins! But you know what?”

I took a step toward the crowd, and they flinched backward like frightened fish. But by then, they were already swimming in my tank.

“Do you know why they’re stronger than you?”

I stepped forward again.

“Why do they have more coins than you? Because they’re thugs? Do you really believe that?”

[The surrounding characters are wavering.]

Even in fear, emotions spread clearly from face to face. Doubts shifted across their expressions.

“Come to think of it, how did Cheon Inho get so many coins?”

“Haha, you all know, don’t you? It’s from selling things, making deals—”

“And do you really think that alone could get him stats that high? Really?”

Cheon Inho fell silent. I turned my attention back to the crowd, addressing each of them.

“When I first came to Geumho Station, there were 87 people.”

“…”

“How many people are left now? By my count, there are fewer than 50. Do you know why that is?”

“Well, some went on patrol this morning and were killed by monsters—”

“Monsters? You still believe that?”

“Then what really happened…?”

“You idiots. Use your brains and think. Did those people really die because of monsters? Then why didn’t any of the Cheoldu Gang members die?”

The area fell into a heavy silence.

“And why did they return stronger than before?”

[The constellation Secretive Plotter nods at your reasoning.]

“Could it be…”

People started turning to Inho one by one. The Cheoldu Gang members stepped back, hesitating. It was time for me to drive in the final blow.

“They said it themselves. If they kill me, they’ll get coins.”

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband pulls his hair in excitement.]

“But how do they know that ‘killing people gives coins’ in the first place?”

“You… Inho-ssi, no way—?”

“Shut up! I’m being framed!”

As Inho took a step back, the Cheoldu Gang drew their weapons. Terrified, the crowd stepped back in fear.

[Hahaha! There are 7 minutes left!]

I stepped forward and spoke.

“If you have any dignity left, fight for yourself.”

The Blade of Faith let out a ferocious cry. The eyes of those who met my gaze were burning with rage.

“At the very least, take back what was stolen from you with your own hands.”

Right on cue, the Cheoldu Gang charged at me. I rushed forward to meet them.

“This is the kind of world we live in now.”

White flashes cut through the air, and the screams of men followed. Then someone shouted.

“Damn it, you’re right!”

“You bastards!”

The crowd finally began to move. All of them had killed someone before.

“M-mom!”

“Dayeong, come here! Take this! Do what we did on the subway!”

There was even a mother and child.

“You scumbags!”

And an older man as well.

“Get them!”

But it wasn’t an even fight. The numbers were about the same, but the Cheoldu Gang, who had been farming coins by killing people, had overwhelming combat power. At least, that would’ve been the case if I weren’t here.

Swish!

Several of the Cheoldu Gang members who rushed at me had their arms and legs severed. The sickening sensation of slicing through flesh coursed up my hands. The gang members who were forcibly taken out of combat looked up at me in terror.

“P-please, spare…”

At that moment, someone moved past me and thrust a sword into one of the fallen gang members’ mouths.

“I said I’d kill them.”

[The conditions for the evolution of the attribute Crouching Figure have been fulfilled.]

[The character Jeong Huiwon is awakening her attribute.]

A radiant, blinding light burst forth from her body.

I nodded in acknowledgment. The time had come.

[The character Jeong Huiwon has awakened the attribute Judge of Evil (Heroic).]

The Judge of Evil. The strongest of the three major judge-type attributes had just awakened from within her.

[You have greatly contributed to the evolution of the Crouching Figure attribute!]

[The character Jeong Huiwon will not hesitate to become your sword from now on.]

“Step back for a moment.”

Her eyes gleamed with a fierce, bluish light as she spoke to me.

“These bastards are mine.”

[The character Jeong Huiwon has activated the exclusive skill Hour of Judgment.]

[The constellations aligned with Absolute Good have approved the use of the skill.]

[The Hour of Judgment is now active.]

Huiwon’s sword, wrapped in a blood-red aura, traced a chilling path through the air. She moved with lethal precision, slicing through the Cheoldu Gang members like they were nothing. Blood sprayed in her wake.

“Kyaaaah!”

It was a complete massacre. Of course, Huiwon wasn’t the only one fighting. Sangah, Hyeonseong, and even Gilyeong were holding their own, each contributing in their own way. But none of them fought with the same raw ferocity as Huiwon.

As if she was born to kill, Huiwon slaughtered them, one after the other. When I cut off someone’s limb, she drove her sword through their heart. When I severed a leg, she went for their head next. She was finishing off all the enemies I had incapacitated, without a moment’s hesitation. It was as if she had been waiting her entire life for this moment.

“…”

The ground around us was soon soaked with blood.

Before long, the only person left standing from the Cheoldu Gang was Cheon Inho. His body had been pierced in several places by the angry citizens. Huiwon looked at me, and I gave her a nod. Cheon Inho, seeing this, gave me an unpleasant grin.

“Hah… You… bastard…”

His words never finished. Huiwon appeared behind him and drove her sword through the top of his skull, splitting his head from the crown to the jaw.

[All constellations in the channel feel intense exhilaration.]

With that, everyone stopped moving.

The battle was over.

Yet, no one could truly comprehend that it was over.

Just moments ago, we had been sharing roasted meat, feeling a sense of what it meant to live, exchanging lighthearted jokes on the way back, and savoring a moment of peace, however fleeting… but now, all of it felt like a lie.

In this godforsaken scenario.

Yu Sangah was crying.

Lee Gilyeong had closed his eyes.

Lee Hyeonseong was biting his lip hard enough to draw blood.

And Jeong Huiwon, drained of all her energy, was sitting in a pool of blood.

Yes, this was the reality of this world.

[The Survival Fee is now being collected.]

I heard the sound of something bursting in places throughout the area.

Those who had collected coins survived. Those who didn’t were now dead. And in the end, none of us had saved each other.

I addressed the others.

“Get up, everyone.”

Even if we raised our heads, we wouldn’t be able to see the sky from here. Still, I glared up at the heavens I couldn’t see, as though I was defying some enormous fate. Even the usually noisy constellations now said nothing to me in response.

“The scenario has only just begun.”

While everyone was still dazed in the battle’s aftermath, I alone was already thinking about the next scenario. It was a serene feeling, as though I was simply turning the page to a new chapter.

I had gained everything I needed from Geumho Station.

The next stage would be Chungmuro.

Footnotes:

[1] The Original Sin is a concept in Christianity of all mankind being sinful, since mankind’s ancestor Adam committed the first sin of eating the forbidden fruit. Taking a life in scenario 1 is the 'first sin' here, making every survivor sinful.

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