WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 254: Episode 47 — The Demon King Trials (6)

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[You have entered the Hidden Scenario area.]

[Would you like to participate in the Hidden Scenario, Kim Dokja Game?]

Myeongoh, who had been staring at me, muttered in disbelief.

"...What the hell is this now?"

When I looked up, Biyoo kept shaking her head as if to protest her innocence.

[Baaat, baaat...]

This wasn't Biyoo's doing. Most Hidden Scenarios, like Main Scenarios, activated according to the will of the Star Stream.

But why at a time like this?

The next system messages gave me a hint.

[The current owner of the industrial complex is absent.]

[The Emergency Promotion Scenario is currently active.]

It seemed I had been away for too long.

"It looks like the Star Stream has decided I have no intention of inheriting the duke title."

"Now that you've come back, doesn't that make it fine?"

"It'd be nice if that were true."

Even after I entered the industrial complex, the Scenario's status didn't change.

Maybe the Star Stream's Scenario had gotten tangled because of the mutual impersonation Junghyeok and I had pulled off. A message had appeared then too, saying an error had occurred...

"...What? Kim Dokja Game? It's a free-entry Scenario?"

Hayoung, who had sleepily opened her eyes in the backseat, stretched and muttered.

[The real Kim Dokja of the current industrial complex is being selected.]

If things went badly, I really could lose my name like this. I turned to Myeongoh and asked,

"Are you going to participate too, by any chance?"

"Why would I do that?"

"What about you, Hayoung?"

"I don't want to become Kim Dokja."

For some reason, the face she whipped away looked oddly sulky.

"...Unless it was the Demon King of Salvation."

It seemed Hayoung had decided to separate me from the Demon King of Salvation to avoid facing reality. The last one I looked at was the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog.

Woof, woof!

I nodded.

"Then I'll be the only one participating."

"Will you be all right? Who knows what might happen in there..."

"No matter what happens, I have to go. It's my industrial complex."

The moment I applied to participate in the Scenario, a message window rose up at once.

+

Category: Hidden

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: Prove to the Constellations in the channels near the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex that you are Kim Dokja.

Time Limit: 3 hours

Reward: Inheritance of the duke title of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex, 200,000 coins.

Failure: ???

- All Kim Dokja aspirants in this Scenario will appear identical until the Scenario ends.

- The Kim Dokja aspirant who receives the most points from the Constellations within the time limit will inherit the name Kim Dokja.

+

...This was the first time in my life I'd ever gotten a Scenario like this. Of course, something this ridiculous had never appeared in the original story either.

[A new Kim Dokja aspirant has entered.]

[3 hours remain until the Scenario ends.]

[You must be recognized by the Constellations as Kim Dokja.]

[You are the 1,131st Kim Dokja aspirant.]

The instant the Scenario began, I was summoned to the outskirts of the plaza in the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex. All over the place, desperate struggles were already unfolding as people fought to prove they were me.

[Hahaha, everyone! Do you think that'll earn you recognition from the Constellations? Show them a proper Kim Dokja!]

A dokkaebi's voice rang out from the air.

It seemed the Administration Bureau had safely finished advancing into the Demon Realm while I was away. Those Hunchback bastards must have made things difficult... Still, those guys had a knack for showing up anywhere there was a story.

[Baaat!]

As if determined to do her part too, Biyoo began expanding the channel.

[A large number of Constellations have additionally entered the channel.]

I calmly surveyed my surroundings and looked over the other Kim Dokja aspirants.

"I'm Kim Dokja! Look!"

"I am Kim Dokja!"

The aspirants shouted my name with mosaic blurring over their faces. I was probably looking the same way to the other Constellations right now.

...Damn it, this felt weird.

Most of the aspirants just kept chanting my name and didn't show any particularly distinctive gestures. They had clearly been blinded by the duke title and joined first without thinking.

But not every one of them was that hopeless.

"I am Kim Dokja the Prophet!"

"I am the Demon King of Salvation!"

[A few Constellations show interest.]

[Aspirant No. 986 has earned 10 points.]

I paused for a moment as I watched several aspirants in plausible costumes shouting "Kim Dokja."

"I am the King of a Kingless World!"

[Some Constellations show interest in that aspirant.]

[Aspirant No. 986 has earned 20 points.]

...Not bad.

The deeper I went toward the center of the industrial complex, the more of them there were saying things that sounded convincing. I even saw Kim Dokjas dueling one another. I was wondering why only this area was such a bloodbath when a familiar Constellation's message rang out from the air.

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband insists that the real Kim Dokja is brave.]

...I had been wondering why he was so quiet. He had already gotten himself involved in this mess.

The sound of blades slicing through the air was followed by a gust of blood, and the Kim Dokja aspirants caught in the attack crumpled where they stood like bundles of straw.

"Gaaah!"

A sharp blade of Mana sliced another aspirant clean through the waist. As a few aspirants ran away, the murderous aspirant shouted,

"This is proof that I am Kim Dokja."

A bluish blade of Mana rose from the weapon.

At this point, even I couldn't help being surprised.

[A considerable number of Constellations are interested in that aspirant!]

[Aspirant No. 312 has earned 100 points.]

Aspirant No. 312's technique wasn't [White Pure Star Energy], but it looked pretty similar. After shooting me a brief glance, Aspirant No. 312 went right back to butchering the others. It was only for an instant, but the moment our eyes met, Aileen's words flashed through my mind.

「Since the dukes left, we've had some trouble with lackeys from other industrial complexes showing up...」

Only then did I start to understand how this was working.

Among the Kim Dokja aspirants here were lackeys from other industrial complexes. In other words, there were bastards being fed information about me and pretending to be me.

My mood turned a little complicated.

If I lost this game, some absurd bastard would end up entering the Demon King Selection in my name.

[Some Constellations show interest in you.]

[Some Constellations demand that you prove you are Kim Dokja.]

How could I prove that I was me? There were no resident registration cards or ID cards here.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire says the real Kim Dokja loves camaraderie.]

Uriel?

Just as I was about to shout in delight, one aspirant in the center of the plaza suddenly dropped to their knees and began sobbing.

"Yu Junghyeok! Yu Junghyeeeok! Get up! Please, get up!"

The sight of that Kim Dokja aspirant clutching an imaginary Yu Junghyeok and screaming made a laugh slip out of me. They clearly hadn't reviewed the Earth Scenario properly. I had never said a line like that, and I never would.

There was no way Uriel, who had been watching me since the earliest days of the channel, would fall for acting like that...

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is shedding tears.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire begs them to show what happens next.]

[Aspirant No. 32 has earned 300 points.]

...Right. I shouldn't trust Uriel here.

I shook my head as I passed Aspirant No. 32, but this time I heard an unexpected modifier.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon insists that the real Kim Dokja is a chuunibyou.]

...Abyssal Black Flame Dragon?

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon insists that, if someone is the real Kim Dokja, they will know what true chuunibyou is.]

True chuunibyou? As if I'd know anything about that... Or so I thought. To my astonishment, a Kim Dokja aspirant stepped forward with the message. Letting long bangs hang down, they covered half their face with one hand and muttered,

"Hey, hey, Yu Sangah-ssi. Do you know this? Heh heh. A reader, you see. A reader has a reader's life."

In an instant, my head became an utter mess.

It sounded like a story from before the Scenarios began, but how the hell did they know that? No, more importantly, I never said it like that.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is satisfied.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon has awarded 300 points to Aspirant No. 97.]

It felt like my sanity was being laid waste.

My lips trembled. At this rate, my name really was going to be stolen by people who made absolutely no sense.

I had to think calmly.

If I wanted to appeal that I was really Kim Dokja, I needed to remind them of events only the Constellations and I shared.

"Let go of that hand and get lost, you goddamn bastard!"

[Aspirant No. 32 has earned 200 points!]

Things only the Constellations and I knew...

"I like grinning! Sometimes I even give a bitter grin!"

[Aspirant No. 97 has earned 250 points!]

Only the Constellations and I...

"My favorite things are a China Dress and garter belts!"

[Aspirant No. 312 has earned 400 points!]

Damn it, what kind of thing even was there?

Instead of making it complicated, I decided to go with the easy answer.

I just had to directly tell them I was Kim Dokja through an Indirect Message from the Demon King of Salvation.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation cannot speak while this Scenario is in progress.]

...Damn it.

[1 hour remains until the Scenario ends.]

There wasn't much time left now. Quietly, I gripped Unbreakable Faith in my hand.

There was a limit to the number of Kim Dokja aspirants, after all. If I killed every Kim Dokja aspirant, then it was obvious that the last aspirant left would become the real Kim Dokja.

But I didn't want to use that method.

Right now they were all blinded by the power they stood to gain, but many of them were probably industrial citizens from my industrial complex. After silently gripping and releasing the hilt of my sword several times, I finally let out a sigh and shook my head.

「That wasn't like you.」

Damn it, Junghyeok was right. Dokja would never solve something like this.

I wondered: If I really were myself, how would I prove it? No, what did it even mean to prove "me" in the first place?

That was when the anomaly occurred.

"This is [Electrification]! The ultimate technique taught by 'Paradox of White and Blue'...!"

Aspirant No. 312 was shouting at the top of their lungs while holding a sword weakly crackling with electricity. Just as I was about to point out that it wasn't "Paradox of White and Blue" but Paradoxical White Purity,

A vast bolt of lightning struck from the sky.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

The blue lightning drove straight into the aspirant's blade and tore the body to pieces. Some of the aspirants screamed and staggered back, and the Constellations delightedly started throwing out points at random. In the middle of that cauldron of chaos, I kept staring up at the sky.

Rumbblee!

Something small was falling from above.

I had known the time would come, but I hadn't expected it to be this soon.

That tiny speck landed in the industrial complex plaza with a monstrous roar. White-blue lightning swept wildly across the plaza.

A small man stood at the center of the lightning, radiating an overwhelming presence.

Crackle, crackle.

From within the jumping sparks and pale dust, a voice spoke.

[Where is my disciple?]

A moment later, the owner of that voice revealed himself to the whole world.

[A large number of Constellations are shocked.]

Whether the Constellations were shocked or not, the small man was imperious beyond belief. And a few aspirants realized who he was.

"That build..."

"Wait, no way?"

They exchanged glances for a moment, then hurriedly ran over and threw themselves at the man's feet.

"I-it's me!"

"I'm Kim Dokja! Teacher!"

Countless Kim Dokjas prostrated themselves before the small man. Watching them, I clicked my tongue. It was good that they were quick on the uptake.

Crackle.

It would've been better if they had been that quick with their bodies too.

"Aaaagh!"

"Urgh!"

The Kim Dokjas struck by White Flash lightning were turning to ash one after another. Watching Teacher kindly discipline his disciples one by one as he came this way, I realized something all at once.

...I see.

From the beginning, "me" was never something I could prove on my own.

[Your personal fable has activated.]

[The fable Returnee's Disciple begins its story.]

Because "I" was, in the end, made up of things that were not me. Beyond the countless fleeing Kim Dokjas stood a man who knew the real Kim Dokja.

[Where is my real disciple?]

If I obediently stepped forward here, I would be torn to pieces just like the other fakes. Then a familiar voice rang out.

"Damn it, what is this? Why is every single one of them saying they're Kim Dokja?"

Hayoung, who must have followed after me at some point, was grumbling from behind. I looked at her and said,

"Jang Hayoung."

At the sight of me calling her name right away, Hayoung flinched and took a startled step back before asking,

"...Kim Dokja?"

I gave a small nod.

"You learned [Sky Splitter Sword Art], right?"

"...Of course I did. Why?"

I grinned and spread both arms wide.

"Use it on me right now."

Footnotes:

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