Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 259

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 259: Episode 48: A Character (3)

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"Looks like things are mostly sorted out."

I sighed as I looked at Junghyeok on the channel screen. I'd been worried that the Administration Bureau bastards might arrive first, but fortunately, Junghyeok had been faster.

Sending Uriel a message through Hayoung had been a good call.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire smiles brightly.]

Uriel was the one who had brought Junghyeok there. Junghyeok was surely still deeply upset with me over the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, so I'd figured Uriel's words would carry more weight with him than mine.

Hayoung, who had been looking at Bihyeong's limp body on the screen, said, "I've never seen a dokkaebi so helpless."

"It's because their species fables are intertwined. To face a Hunchback, at least a Great Dokkaebi has to show up, or four or more dokkaebis have to take it on together."

"...You know a lot. Aileen said everything about dokkaebis and Hunchbacks was shrouded in mystery."

"This is basic knowledge for a Constellation."

Of course, not every Constellation knew things like this, but it would be difficult to explain it all. As Hayoung stared at me in admiration, the screen briefly zoomed in on Biyoo crying and Junghyeok sheltering her.

「I'll avenge you.」

「Goodbye, Captain.」

「You worked hard.」

「I'll leave the rest to you.」

「Rest.」

The sentences only I could see flashed through my mind. Had those words arrived where they were meant to?

I didn't know. Still, I thought I knew at least one thing.

They could understand each other now, even without those words. Somewhere I couldn't read as a reader, they had surely reached one another.

For some reason, that thought made me feel lonely.

"...Kim Dokja?"

Hayoung was staring at me. Feeling awkward, I scratched my head and quickly spoke.

"Anyway, Junghyeok will handle things over there somehow, so we need to prepare here too..."

That was when a dense cloud of sand rolled in from beyond the industrial complex's walls.

...Damn it. Already?

Hayoung and I looked out the office window at the same time. I could hear the industrial citizens murmuring. Mark was also there, mobilizing the council members to calm everyone down.

[Well, well. There are some impatient Constellations here. There are still forty-eight hours left before the Demon King Selection.]

A familiar dokkaebi's voice rang out from the air. High above the industrial complex, Dokgak looked down at me with a smile.

[I'd originally intended to let things simmer a little longer...]

He was smiling, but his eyes were full of resentment toward me.

No matter how much he hated me, he couldn't start the Demon King Selection, with a Great Fable at stake, whenever he wanted.

[But it wouldn't be bad to start early this time.]

...What?

[You have acquired a new Sub Scenario!]

[The Sub Scenario, Preliminary Battle, has begun!]

When I saw the windows appear, I understood what was happening.

A Sub Scenario. That bastard had to do this when neither Bihyeong nor Biyoo was here...

Category: Sub

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: Protect or seize the industrial complex's fable core within the time limit.

Time Limit: 48 hours

Reward:

Attackers / Eligibility to enter the Demon King Selection

Defenders / Eligibility to enter the Demon King Selection, 200,000 coins, ???

Failure: -

I frowned. Even for a Sub Scenario, opening one like this at a time like this was clearly against Plausibility.

[Some Constellations express dissatisfaction with Dokgak's unfair proceedings!]

[A few Constellations demand a Plausibility suitability ruling!]

Fortunately, I wasn't the only one who thought so.

[Ah, I expected you Constellations to feel that way. It certainly is unfair. The number and status of the attackers and defenders aren't balanced.]

Dokgak smiled as if mocking me. It was a smile that asked whether I could even handle a Scenario like this. Anyone could see it was a blatant provocation.

[So I have adjusted the difficulty slightly. For this Sub Scenario only, the individual Constellations on the attacking and defending sides will possess equal status.]

At Dokgak's words, a faint aura rippled around my Incarnation body.

[The stats of all Constellations participating in this Scenario have been fixed.]

I slowly clenched and opened my fist. The Constellations on the attacking side had probably received the same penalty. I still couldn't tell whether my stats had decreased or increased.

[Some Constellations still protest that this Scenario violates Plausibility!]

Dokgak made a troubled expression.

[Ah, don't say such things. Really... You've all become weak. Have you already forgotten that Scenarios are only fun when they are difficult?]

The channel became a chaotic mess of Indirect Messages from supporters and opponents. Taking advantage of the confusion, Dokgak forced the Scenario through.

[You are currently the master of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex.]

[You have taken the role of defender in the Preliminary Battle.]

[You must protect the Factory's fable core from the Constellations of the attacking force.]

I looked up at Dokgak in the air and smiled bitterly.

All right. So that's how you want to play it.

"Kim Dokja, what are we going to..."

Instead of answering Hayoung, I immediately threw open the window and shouted down below.

[Industrial citizens. This is the first time I have addressed you directly.]

My declaration rang out powerfully, filling the entire industrial complex.

I drew another breath and shouted.

[Please remain calm and focus on my words.]

Hearing their duke's voice for the first time, the industrial citizens looked up at me. Voices rose from every direction.

"It's Kim Dokja!"

"That's the duke?"

I appreciated the welcome, but unfortunately, I couldn't live up to their expectations.

[I cannot protect you.]

There had probably never been a duke like this in the Demon Realm.

And I hoped there never would be again.

[So don't die pointless deaths here. Find your own way to survive and leave. Personally, I recommend the Yu Junghyeok Industrial Complex!]

The industrial citizens' mouths fell open at my absurd declaration. Even Mark, who had been calming them down, looked up at me as though he couldn't believe what he'd heard.

Still, there was no helping it. This was the only way to save them.

There couldn't be any unnecessary sacrifices in this Scenario.

[Would you like to liberate the industrial citizens from your industrial complex?]

"I'll liberate them."

[All industrial citizens in the industrial complex have been liberated from your influence.]

[The industrial citizens of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex have acquired the Escape Scenario.]

[The industrial citizens of the Kim Dokja Industrial Complex can now choose an industrial complex.]

[You have acquired a new Legendary-grade fable!]

[You have acquired the fable Liberator of the Industrial Complex!]

Amid the flood of messages, I made one final declaration.

[Leave, everyone. I will stop them until every last one of you has gone.]

It was a deliberately dramatic line. If Bihyeong had been here, he might have picked a fight with me over it, but he was lying unconscious far away.

[The industrial citizens of the industrial complex honor your noble sacrifice.]

Thanks, but I had no intention of making any noble sacrifice. I focused on the presences approaching from beyond the industrial complex's walls.

Four enormous presences.

At least four Constellations were approaching with me as their target.

"Hayoung. Take Myeongoh and the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog, then run without looking back. Don't even think about fighting."

"What? No!"

"Do it even if you don't want to. Go straight to where Junghyeok is. Hurry!"

There were four of them coming now, but there would be more behind them.

A Transcendent dog, a gender-ambiguous human, and a middle-aged man who had experienced pregnancy weren't enough to handle them.

"They only want me anyway."

I immediately ran down to the lower floor of the office and pulled out the Factory's fable core.

[The Factory has ceased operations.]

The important thing was protecting the fable core. To protect it, I didn't need to stay inside the industrial complex.

I opened Bookmark, used [Way of the Wind], and climbed straight up to the industrial complex's wall.

[Is this what you want?]

At the glow of the five-colored fable core, the four Constellations approaching from the distance raised their heads toward me.

[If you want it, come take it.]

* * *

Grrraaaaaah!

Terrifying roars rang out behind me. The equalized stats were the only reason I could run at all.

There were four of them and only one of me. No matter how high or low the enemy Constellations' status had been, I had no chance of winning now.

I ran over the wall with [Way of the Wind]. Once the Constellations confirmed that I was holding the fable core, they began chasing me with everything they had.

If they took me down here, they would gain eligibility to enter the Demon King Selection.

It wasn't strange for them to go wild like that.

Dokgak babbled mockingly at me as I fled.

[Hahaha! What a sight you are as you run away! Constellations, did you really stay in Bihyeong's channel just to watch someone like that?]

That bastard... If Bihyeong had been conscious, I wouldn't have suffered through a Sub Scenario like this.

But because Bihyeong wasn't here, there were things I could do too.

"I request a membership rank increase for the Dokkaebi Compendium."

I had already become a Platinum Member through two rank increases. Naturally, Platinum wasn't the highest rank.

[Your assigned dokkaebi is currently absent.]

[Due to your assigned dokkaebi's absence, the rank update will be processed automatically.]

[You have spent 500,000 coins.]

[Congratulations! You have become a Diamond Member of the Dokkaebi Compendium!]

[The Dokkaebi Compendium's item list has been updated due to your membership rank increase.]

Diamond Members could buy VIP-only products. If I remembered correctly, those items should have been released by now.

[You can now view the VIP-only item list.]

If Bihyeong had been here, he would have hidden this list from me no matter what. One of the items on it was part of Bihyeong's embarrassing past.

* Random Fable Box (ver. 1.3) - 20,000C

* Fable Fusion Box (ver. 1.3) - 200,000C

...Just as I thought.

Of course they were selling these insane coin items. Fortunately, the version of the renewed boxes was exactly the one I needed.

「"Damn it, who set these odds...? Why won't they disclose the rates?"」

Kim Namwoon had probably bought one of these by mistake in the seventy-first round and gone bankrupt.

[You have purchased 10 Random Fable Boxes.]

[You have purchased 1 Fable Fusion Box.]

[You have spent a total of 400,000 coins.]

The Random Fable Box was one of the few gambling items that allowed someone to acquire fables using only coins. Because its description claimed that it could even produce a quasi-Mythical-grade fable, Incarnations and even Constellations rushed to open these boxes when the item was released to the public later.

Of course, there was no need to mention that they all went bankrupt.

That was only natural. The chance of receiving a Historical-grade fable of high grade or above from this Random Box was less than 0.001%, and the chance of receiving a quasi-Mythical-grade fable was less than 0.00001%.

Then what made up the remaining 99.99%?

「"What the hell! Fifty Historical-grade fables? And they're all lowest-grade? Are you kidding me?"」

I snatched the falling boxes out of the air and tore the wrapping open with my teeth.

[Would you like to use the item Random Fable Box?]

I knew there was almost no chance of getting a good fable from these boxes.

So why was I opening them?

Because the fables I wanted were bad fables.

[You have acquired the fable Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.]

[You have acquired the fable A Monk Who Can't Shave His Own Head.]

[You have acquired the fable Hang It on the Nose and It's a Nose Ring.]

[You have acquired the fable Hang It on the Ear and It's an Earring.]

...

Just as I had seen in TWSA.

Version 1.3 of the Fable Box had over an eighty percent chance of producing fables related to the body. The fables most commonly acquired among them were 「Hang It on the Nose and It's a Nose Ring」 and 「Hang It on the Ear and It's an Earring」.

Pshshshshut!

Something like a snake's fangs shot toward me from behind and grazed my side and thigh. It was an attack carrying the power of a fable.

Gritting my teeth, I kicked off the ground and activated [Way of the Wind] at full force, then hid behind an abandoned building nearby.

I still needed a little more time.

[Whe... re... are... you?]

Ignoring the halting declaration, I checked the fables I had just acquired.

[Historical-grade Fable: Hang It on the Nose and It's a Nose Ring]

Description: Activates an effect that makes anything hung from the nose appear to be an accessory. It truly can be anything.

[Historical-grade Fable: Hang It on the Ear and It's an Earring]

Description: Activates an effect that makes anything hung from the ear appear to be an earring. This fable was made as a pair with Hang It on the Nose and It's a Nose Ring.

It went without saying that these fables wouldn't help me escape this situation right now.

But that changed if I used this item with them.

Name: Fable Fusion Box ver. 1.3

Grade: -

Description: Can fuse fables of different types. At a very low probability, randomly produces a higher-grade fable.

It was an item that produced a higher-grade fable at a very low probability when particular combinations of fables were mixed.

Normally, this item wouldn't have been very useful either.

Even if you put in the same fables, the result was different every time, and the chance of getting a good fable was absurdly low.

However, according to the characters' recollections, this version 1.3 Fable Fusion Box had a bug.

「"That box was discontinued because of that bug. Tch, I should have tried it before Anna Croft did..."」

The bug in version 1.3 of the Fable Fusion Box was that the first person to fuse certain fables would always receive a predetermined fable.

The moment I poured the two fables into the box without hesitation, a flood of light burst out. I rubbed my throbbing eyelids, then heard a single message by my ear.

[You have acquired the Legendary-grade fable Arbitrary Interpreter.]

Footnotes:

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