WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 253: Episode 47: The Demon King Trials (5)

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Before long, we arrived at the Yu Junghyeok Industrial Complex, formerly Seisvitz.

Junghyeok hadn't said a word during the trip, and he was much the same after we arrived. The moment the engine of the X-grade Ferrari shut off, he got out of the car and said, "From now on, I'll act separately."

"...You'll come to the selection, right?"

Junghyeok gave a brief nod, then took a step and vanished from sight. I had an idea where he'd gone and what he intended to do. One thing was certain. Everything that crossed his path for a while would be destroyed.

"You don't need to stop him?"

I nodded at Hayoung's question.

My plan hadn't assumed Junghyeok would listen to me anyway. He only had to return safely by the time the Demon King Selection began.

What mattered was what I had to do now. Ignoring the minor formalities, I headed straight for Aileen's council chamber.

"You took your time."

It had been a while since I'd seen Aileen. The industrial complex's workload had left her looking haggard. She pushed up her glasses and handed me a report on everything that had happened.

"After you left, we had some trouble with agents from other industrial complexes... Still, the party members handled it well themselves."

"Party members?"

"The Yu Junghyeok Party. Don't you know? The ones who go around shouting, 'I am Yu Junghyeok,' every morning. It was founded shortly before you left. I suppose you never saw them."

So those were the bastards? Damn it. I'd thought I was occasionally hearing things.

Perhaps Aileen found what she'd just said absurd too, because she shook her head.

"Recently, a group that follows the Punisher has formed too."

"Did you find out who that woman is?"

"No. She suddenly disappeared right after the dukes left."

"Disappeared?"

A strange hypothesis crossed my mind. Yet no matter how I thought about it, it made no sense. There was no way that could be true.

Aileen let out a small sigh.

"But I don't know why I keep reporting to you. The owner of this industrial complex is Duke Yu Junghyeok."

"What does it matter who you report to? Anyway..."

"Shouldn't you return to your own industrial complex now, Duke?"

Come to think of it, this wasn't my industrial complex. Now that I was back in the Demon Realm, I had to check on the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex, formerly Gilobat. I'd left it in Mark's care, but I had no idea how things had turned out by now.

I looked down at the industrial complex outside the window.

A lot had happened since I came here. As I rose from my seat, Aileen stood too.

"Um, Duke."

What was she thinking? When I turned around, Aileen wore a strange expression. She looked relieved yet regretful, perhaps even sorrowful. Still, her voice was calm as she slowly spoke. Having learned about Aileen through TWSA, I knew when she used that tone of voice.

After rummaging through her clothes for a moment, Aileen held out a small box.

"This is what you asked for before."

Several small watches lay inside. I took one out and examined it.

It was a small pocket watch designed with intricate circuitry. When I placed my hand over it, I felt a faint vibration. Within that sense of time moving slowly but surely, everything that had happened passed through my mind.

The Horizon of the Story, the Revolutionary Game...

Memories that had retreated beyond my reach ticked away into the distance. I stared at the watch for a long time. When I looked at Aileen again, she was watching me with both wrists crossed. Similar watches were fastened around each of them.

"Duke Yu Junghyeok."

She crossed both wrists in an X. It was the greeting used in Lindberg, Aileen's homeland, when seeing someone off.

Two pulses crossed, conveying their vibrations to the other person.

Like the second hand of a watch, Aileen's pulse reached me through the air.

"This industrial complex will not forget your time."

* * *

After leaving the Yu Junghyeok Industrial Complex, I headed straight for the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex. Normally, it would've taken at least a week to get there, but with the X-grade Ferrari's jump engine, two hours would be enough.

As I sat in the passenger seat and watched the scenery pass by, I thought about Aileen's words.

"A dokkaebi, an ominous hunchback, and a few Constellations came too."

If it was a dokkaebi, it was probably connected to the Administration Bureau. The hunchbacked kind naturally meant the Hunchbacks. I couldn't guess who the Constellations were because they hadn't left their modifiers behind.

"Be careful. Many powerful beings in the Demon Realm are watching you."

I knew that without her saying it. Just the atmosphere flowing through the channel was unusual.

[A considerable number of Constellations are watching your actions.]

[Your modifier is spreading among Constellations affiliated with Absolute Evil.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire watches you with worried eyes.]

There were now three days left until the Demon King Selection.

When I glanced into the back seat, Hayoung and the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog were sleeping soundly, holding each other.

"Everyone must be tired. They fell asleep in no time."

Myeongoh spoke with a bitter smile from the driver's seat.

"Aren't you tired?"

"Not at all. If you're tired, Dokja-ssi, get some sleep too."

Myeongoh was carefully touching the dashboard as though he wanted to test every function of the X-grade Ferrari. Come to think of it, he'd always liked cars. Perhaps he noticed my gaze, because he cleared his throat for no reason and spoke.

"Ahem, life isn't easy, is it?"

"...?"

"It's something I've learned from living. That's just how life is. Sometimes things work out even when you don't do anything, and sometimes nothing works out no matter what you do."

I wondered what he was suddenly talking about, then realized he'd jumped to a conclusion after seeing my expression. I looked at Myeongoh with a bitter smile.

He'd been through a great deal in the Demon Realm too. In a sense, perhaps he'd endured harder times than I had.

"Manager, may I ask you something?"

"Ask me anything."

It seemed that a man who'd given birth in this world could wear quite a trustworthy expression. I repeatedly turned my smartphone on and off as I thought about what to say. Then, perhaps misreading my actions, Myeongoh suddenly spoke.

"...It was very painful."

"What do you mean?"

"What you want to ask. It's pain that would be hard for a human to bear."

I suddenly understood what Myeongoh was talking about. No, that wasn't what I'd intended to ask...

Still, now that he'd brought it up, I was curious.

"Where did it come out?"

"I gave birth with my heart."

"Did it hurt?"

Myeongoh took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth. He wore a serious expression.

"At first, I thought I'd just kill it."

The cigarette smoke he exhaled bitterly curved out the window.

"It was shameful and humiliating. It was ridiculous too. I wondered why I had to suffer something like that."

"..."

"I even tried the methods from dramas. You know, like eating a lot of soy sauce. It wasn't easy to get any at the time."

Listening to Myeongoh talk about this, it all felt unreal. It must have been hardship I couldn't even imagine.

"I was scared. What if it was a monster? What if it ate me? What if one day it suddenly tore open my stomach, jumped out, and killed me..."

"..."

"I spent countless nights alone, avoiding monsters, and that was all I could think about. What should I do with it? Should I kill it, save it, give birth to it, or..."

Even without using [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], it felt as if I could see the countless Scenario nights when Myeongoh fled and fled again. He continued with an expression I'd never once seen on him before.

"But do you know something? Funnily enough, months passed while I worried about that. While I worried about it, I survived."

The reason Han Myeongoh had managed to survive this vast Scenario.

"Then I suddenly realized it. Ah, maybe this child had saved me. So I decided. Whether I saved it or killed it, I'd give birth to it first."

The lit end of his cigarette fell and flew out the window. Myeongoh took out another cigarette. In that brief moment, his gaze drifted helplessly into the distance, then returned.

I knew Myeongoh well. If I had to name the ten worst people I knew, he'd definitely be one of them. Even so, at that moment, he somehow seemed like a decent person.

"She was endlessly beautiful. She wasn't human, but she was so beautiful that I couldn't believe I'd given birth to her."

"...I saw her too."

She was a beautiful little girl, beautiful enough for that Asmodeus to use as his Incarnation body.

A smile repeatedly appeared and vanished from Myeongoh's lips, as though even thinking of her filled him with affection. His story hadn't flowed smoothly, but I understood what he wanted to say.

After a short pause, Myeongoh said, "So you should do it too, Dokja-ssi."

"...Give birth?"

"No, what you're worrying about."

My flustered face reflected on the dark smartphone screen.

"I don't know what thoughts you live with, Dokja-ssi. To be honest, I never liked you much in the first place."

"I was well aware."

"But I can tell you've been a little strange lately."

I closed my mouth.

"I know things aren't going well. Nothing will go the way you want. Still, don't dwell on it too much. Do what your heart leads you to do."

"..."

"No matter what happens, you're the one who has to live through it. If you don't do it properly, you'll definitely regret it later."

I thought one really had to live a long time. Who would've thought the day would come when I empathized with this man of all people?

The lit smartphone screen showed the TWSA file.

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

I'd never had an experience like Myeongoh's. I'd never had a child, nor did I plan to. Even so, I felt that I understood Myeongoh's feelings a little.

Whether to read the Second Revision or not.

That was the only thought that had occupied my mind for the past few hours.

I was afraid reading that novel would influence me. It hurt to confirm the consequences of what I'd done, and I was afraid all my futures might already be decided.

But that was ridiculous from the start.

To put it the way Myeongoh would...

This story hadn't even been properly born yet.

Without hesitation, I opened the TWSA file. Then, as always, I began reading diligently. The Second Revision of TWSA once again began in the fourth round.

「It was the same then. In the third round as well, if it hadn't been for that bastard, Master would have died there.」

Some passages reassured me.

「Even so, it could not be changed.」

Some passages remained unchanged.

「That bastard is not in this round.」

I still didn't exist in Junghyeok's fourth round.

「The third round failed.」

I wasn't surprised because I'd expected it. I didn't know why the author had sent this to me. It might've been to frighten me, or perhaps the author wanted to use me to achieve an ending they wanted.

I couldn't even know if the one who'd sent this was really the author.

After taking a deep breath, I slowly closed and opened my eyes.

Then I thought, as if I were [The Fourth Wall].

「Kim Dokja thought.」

As if writing a sentence from a novel.

「I don't know what ending you desire. But whatever ending it is, I will create only the ending I want.」

After writing that sentence, I stared into the empty air for a moment.

Naturally, there was no answer.

Instead, [The Fourth Wall] reacted.

[The Fourth Wall wriggles as if pleased.]

The industrial complex came into view in the distance. It was my first look at the exterior of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex.

Then Myeongoh suddenly began slowing down sharply.

"What's wrong?"

"...A Scenario is in progress."

A Scenario? That couldn't be.

The Demon King Selection hadn't even started yet.

[Would you like to enter the Hidden Scenario area?]

Myeongoh carefully diverted the vehicle and approached the industrial complex. Its entrance stood wide open without a single guard. When I opened the window, the shouting from inside carried over clearly.

"I am Kim Dokja!"

"No, I am!"

"I am Kim Dokja! Me!"

Myeongoh and I turned to look at each other at the same time.

"What is this...?"

Then the system messages continued.

[The Hidden Scenario, Kim Dokja Game, is currently in progress.]

Something strange had happened in my industrial complex while I was away.

Footnotes:

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