WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 293: Episode 55: Happy Memories (1)

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Han Suyeong once said this.

- The first time I used [Avatar], I made a clone... I gave it too many memories, and it suddenly became uncontrollable, so I couldn't take it back.

"[Avatar]... That's interesting. Where did you hear that?"

[The character Han Suyeong is curious about you.]

[Your understanding of the character Han Suyeong has increased!]

Suyeong's clone looked at me as if she found me interesting.

Her gaze was so vivid that, for a moment, I wondered if she really was a clone. Even the real Suyeong wouldn't have been that composed.

"I'm somewhat acquainted with your original. She's got a loose tongue."

"Hmm... It's a childish provocation, but I'll let it slide this once. And you're wrong. I'm not Han Suyeong's 'clone.' I'm the real Han Suyeong herself."

"What?"

The shape of her lips as she smiled was exactly like Suyeong's.

"I have memories she doesn't."

"Memories? What memories?"

"Unlike her, I can keep my mouth shut, too."

Gripping the hilt at my waist, I said, "I heard clones can survive even if their heads are cut off."

Since I had come this far, I had no intention of dragging this out. Unbreakable Faith in my right hand gave a fierce cry.

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation looks at the Incarnation Han Suyeong.]

The fabled-grade Status I released made the entire room shake heavily. Noisy voices rose from below, but Suyeong didn't look tense at all.

"A Demon King? You're a bigger shot than I thought."

Then I realized why she was so relaxed.

Tssssss!

A web of Plausibility spread throughout the room.

The Status I had released rapidly subsided.

[This area is a Time-Limited Non-Aggression Zone.]

[Combat within this area is prohibited for the next hour.]

So she had set up a Time-Limited Non-Aggression Zone.

"Did you make a deal with a dokkaebi?"

"Someone who can control Junghyeok has come here. I had to do at least this much."

I decided not to think of the person before me as a mere clone any longer. Maybe, just as she said, this one was the real Han Suyeong.

At that moment, a system message appeared.

[The character Han Suyeong has activated Eye of Truth!]

[Eye of Truth]. At least when it came to ATTRIBUTE DETECTION, it was a skill comparable to Anna Croft's Arch-Demon's Eyeball. In that brief moment, Suyeong had tried to read my information.

[The Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall has activated!]

[The Fourth Wall is completely counteracting Eye of Truth...]

Sparks flew, and Suyeong hurriedly cancelled her skill.

"...You've got an annoying skill."

Suyeong didn't get greedy. She didn't try to force her way through [The Fourth Wall] like Junghyeok, nor did she look flustered like Anna Croft. Even that calmness was something the Suyeong I knew didn't have.

Suyeong smiled as if she truly found this amusing.

"Cut my head off later. Want to play a game first? Do you know Sacred Three Questions?"

It was the exchange of questions and answers I had once had with Ariadne of Olympus.

"We both have things we're curious about, don't we? Let's exchange them one at a time."

I didn't know what she was plotting. Still, this could clearly be an opportunity for me too.

I nodded. "Fine."

"Let's make one rule, though. We can lie."

"Then what's the point of exchanging three questions and answers?"

"Isn't it fun?"

Suyeong's catlike eyes curved softly. It wasn't hard to figure out what she was thinking. I grinned.

"Sure. Fine."

A message appeared in midair with my answer.

[Sacred Three Questions has begun.]

- Both sides may exchange three questions and answers.

- Each side may refuse to answer once.

- The exchange will not end until the questions and answers have been fully exchanged.

"I'll go first."

- You have used your right to ask the first question.

"Tell me the details of the Otherworld Covenant you made with Secretive Plotter."

Suyeong's eyes wavered slightly at my first question.

[Your understanding of the character Han Suyeong has increased!]

The key to this exchange was asking questions specific enough that the other person couldn't easily evade them, then making the most of any information I could infer.

Suyeong spoke as if she were sulking.

"You knew that much? This won't be easy."

"Just answer the question."

"Does that mean you made an Otherworld Covenant too?"

She really was quick on the uptake. That was like the Suyeong from the third round.

Suyeong continued, "I made a contract with Secretive Plotter, wagering the completion of 'a certain world.' If I granted what he wanted, he agreed to help bring the world I wanted to completion."

- You have received the first answer.

It wasn't a straightforward answer, but it wasn't entirely useless either.

What mattered was whether her answer was true.

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Lie Detection Lv.6!]

[The character Han Suyeong has activated Poker Face Lv.10!]

[Lie Detection has been neutralized by the effect of Poker Face!]

As expected, she knew how to use that skill.

The list of skills I had checked through [Character Profile] included [Poker Face]. As long as she had that skill, it was impossible to judge whether her answer was true through [Lie Detection]. Of course, that didn't mean I had no solution.

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint!]

[Your understanding of the person has become sufficient, and Stage 2 of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has activated!]

Now that she had become a character, I could read her thoughts just by asking a question. But the next moment...

...

「I knew it.」

「I told you.」

「Hey, don't step on my foot!」

「What are you peeking at?」

...

Hundreds of voices rang out at once, and pain like my head was about to burst seized me. I didn't even have time to cry out in shock before hurriedly cancelling the skill.

[The Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has been deactivated!]

When I looked at Suyeong blankly, she wore her usual smile.

"I thought so. I figured you'd have a skill like that."

"...What was that just now?"

"Can that count as your second question?"

I shut my mouth reflexively. Suyeong smiled mischievously.

"Well, I'll answer this one as a freebie. It's an application of the [Avatar] skill."

Only then did I understand what had happened. Suyeong had used her clones to divide her consciousness into hundreds of selves.

Watching Suyeong look so pleased with herself, I felt my heart race for the first time in a while. I had never faced an opponent like this before.

Suyeong opened her mouth.

"My turn."

- The Incarnation Han Suyeong has used her right to ask the first question.

"You wrote a novel called TWSA, didn't you?"

Some questions contained information within the question itself.

I could tell exactly what she thought of me. Time to show off one of my specialties.

"That's right. I wrote it."

[The character Han Suyeong has used Lie Detection Lv.10!]

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Poker Face Lv.5!]

Sorry, but I had the [Poker Face] skill too. Right before crossing into this round, I had bought a whole pile of necessary skills from the Dokkaebi Compendium.

[Lie Detection has been narrowly neutralized by the effect of Poker Face!]

At that message, Han Suyeong's lips curled up faintly.

"You're really interesting."

The feeling was mutual.

* * *

"Is this man really Yu Junghyeok?"

Lee Seolhwa asked, touching her lips as if she couldn't believe it.

Before her stood the Steel-Blooded Monarch Yu Junghyeok, whom she had only heard about. Junghyeok stood as motionless as a life-sized cutout, staring blankly into space as though she weren't there. In that short time, people had gathered around him.

Lee Jihye was the first to scold them.

"Did you all come to sightsee or something? You've seen him on the screen plenty of times. What's the big deal?"

"It's fascinating. We've never seen him stand this still before. How did they do it? Did they poison him?"

Even Han Donghoon, who had been sitting in the control room, brought up a panel window to observe Junghyeok. Kim Namwoon crept over beside Junghyeok and struck an odd pose.

Click.

Click.

Jihye frowned as she watched him.

"...What are you doing right now?"

Startled, Namwoon seemed to decide there was nothing he could do since he had already been caught, and floated his phone into the air. A hand stretched out from Namwoon's shadow and held the smartphone in his place.

"Hey, get in the picture too. You don't get chances like this often."

"What? Let go of me. Why are we taking pictures?"

Jihye growled as Namwoon grabbed her wrist.

Click.

A picture was taken. It showed expressionless Junghyeok, Namwoon giggling, and Jihye throwing a fit.

"Hey, soldier! Don't just stand next to us, move! We're taking pictures!"

Hyeongseong, who had been standing there blankly, got an earful. Seolhwa walked over and smacked Namwoon on the head.

"Namwoon, I told you to speak politely to Hyeongseong-ssi, didn't I?"

"No, I don't want to. Stop nagging me already!"

Click.

"But is he really safe?"

"Should I stab him once?"

"Don't do that. The guy who came upstairs earlier set some strange trigger. If we're not careful, we'll all be wiped out."

Click.

"A trigger? What kind of trigger?"

"It seems he ordered him to go berserk if anyone harmed him."

"Hmm, harm... Then what about this?"

Namwoon grinned and casually placed a hand on Junghyeok's shoulder. Junghyeok didn't react at all.

"What? This much is fine? Then how about this?"

People gathered around the hollow Junghyeok, laughing and chatting. Some were fascinated, while others were having fun.

Click.

In the photographs taken over and over, Junghyeok's expression was gradually changing. A faint emotion stirred deep in his empty eyes. Yet Junghyeok, who had no proper consciousness, had no way of knowing what that emotion was.

"Huh? Didn't he just move?"

"Aren't you mistaken?"

"No! He really..."

All he knew were the words Kim Dokja had left behind.

Remember a happy memory.

- Warning! Warning! The Archangel of Flame is approaching!

The allies around Junghyeok raised their heads in surprise at the warning ringing through the air. Namwoon was the first to shout.

"What? Fuck! Why is that crazy bitch coming here?"

"We're screwed. Everyone, get ready. Uncle Hyeongseong, hurry upstairs and tell master!"

As the Allies scattered, Junghyeok remained where he was. A few people bumped into him as they passed, as if he were in the way.

Remember a happy memory.

As the situation grew urgent, Junghyeok watched the enormous panel screen floating in the air.

A brilliant angel burning amid crimson flames advanced with an eerie glow in her eyes. Every time the angel's burning sword moved, the ruins around her became a sea of fire.

Junghyeok tilted his head. Somewhere in his empty memories, he had seen that angel before.

A happy memory.

For some reason, that memory was both strange and familiar. The memories were distant and cold, as if a thick wall stood between them.

In that memory, she had been a small doll.

- The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire grins.

- The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire hopes you will not cause unnecessary sacrifices.

It wasn't his memory. It was only a record left on someone's wall, and he had only peeked at it. That memory belonged to a world that did not exist for him. It was fiction.

- The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is moved by your camaraderie.

Still, Junghyeok couldn't understand why he remembered that fiction so clearly.

- The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire rubs her cheek against you.

The burning archangel was looking at him through the screen.

Like a child who had just learned to speak, Junghyeok murmured, "...U-Uriel."

Footnotes:

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