WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 456: Episode 86: The Square Circle (3)

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"Complaints?"

"Yes, I mean... do you have any complaints about working for the company...?"

The first person I went to see was Lee Seolhwa. Wearing a research uniform for searches and a small magnifying glass, she examined my face from every angle as though she had found an unknown medicinal herb, then said,

"Hmm, not really."

Even if she said that, there was no way she had no complaints.

"As the Representative, I've always felt sorry. I know you've taken good care of Seoul while I was away."

"Hmm."

"And I know it must have been very difficult..."

"Do you really think that? Don't you think staying in Seoul must've been more comfortable?"

Her sharp tone made me shut my mouth without realizing it.

"So you did think that. Was that your subtle way of mocking me?"

"No. Absolutely not!"

"I know the others were throwing themselves into dangerous Scenarios. But that doesn't mean staying in Seoul was comfortable. Not at all."

Seolhwa lowered her head and began searching through the bushes again.

"It should be around here..."

「Lee Seolhwa hadn't rested peacefully for even a single day.」

Her fable was speaking in her place.

「At the [industrial complex] where her Companions had vanished, Lee Seolhwa managed the ward alone and received patients. Injured Incarnations poured in every day. She saw their deaths, and each time she did, she thought of her Companions.」

"I won't be much help in the latter Scenarios. I know my own potential well, and my Constellation is only Historical. Still, I did my best."

The level of Status surrounding Seolhwa had clearly changed. Her combat ability hadn't grown stronger like the others', but... how should I put it? Her mastery of her skills felt much deeper.

"As long as anyone from Kim Dokja Company is still breathing, I'll save them. I'll make sure no one dies."

In truth, Seolhwa's growth didn't lag behind her growth in any round of the original story. If my guess was right, she would soon reach the realm of the Divine Physician of Life and Death. She was someone I absolutely needed for the ending I dreamed of.

"What kind of person was I in the book you read, Dokja-ssi?"

The sudden question caught me off guard.

"You were an important person."

"How important?"

Lee Seolhwa was the heroine of TWSA. But I couldn't exactly confess that she had been Yu Junghyeok's former lover. Junghyeok himself didn't seem to want that, either... and more than anything, I didn't know if that was truly a fair description of Lee Seolhwa.

What kind of person had she truly been?

"That is..."

Just as I was about to continue, Seolhwa cried out in delight.

"Ah, I found it!"

A small flower was clutched in her hand. It seemed to be the medicinal herb she had been searching for. I immediately recognized it.

「White Phosphorus Flower. The final ingredient for the Life and Death Pill.」

It looked like an ordinary wildflower, and eating it as it was had no effect at all. Yet without that herb, the miraculous Life and Death Pill could never be made.

Seolhwa smiled brightly like a child. Before my eyes was a vividness no sentence from TWSA could ever contain.

「This was Lee Seolhwa.」

So I stopped thinking about the sentences from TWSA. Then, in my inadequate words, I said,

"You're the best doctor I know."

Even a compliment made by a child would have been better than that. Still, Seolhwa smiled softly.

"Thank you, even if you don't mean it."

"I do mean it."

"Just wait. I'll make those empty words real."

As Seolhwa left to search for another herb, I realized something. What she had really wanted to know from the start hadn't been about TWSA. Unlike me, she was someone who didn't need such a novel.

[You have currently resolved 0 complaints.]

There had been no progress in the Scenario, but I didn't feel bad.

"It's not easy, is it?"

When I turned around, Yu Sangah was there again.

"No, it isn't."

"Of course it isn't. If you could settle conversations you've put off for so long as though you were clearing an event, would that be reality instead of a novel?"

"That's true."

"But you still have to keep trying."

I nodded.

"Who should I see next?"

"I'd like you to find them yourself this time, but I'll help you just once more."

Sangah theatrically shaded her eyes with one hand as she looked over the group.

At that moment, a message rang out.

[The contract employees of Kim Dokja Company currently have accumulated complaints.]

Contract employees? Did our nebula have any of those?

Then Sangah pointed somewhere.

"Try going over there this time."

The moment I looked in that direction, I realized who the contract employees were.

* * *

A little later, I spoke to the three people lined up in front of me.

"I have something to tell all of you."

"What is it? I'm busy, so make it quick. I have to go find the Black Flame Dragon's constellation artifact!"

Han Myeongoh shouted impatiently. Beside him stood Pildu Gong with an indifferent expression and Jang Hayoung, whose lips twitched. None of them looked happy about being called here together.

They had continued the Scenarios with us, but they still hadn't officially joined Kim Dokja Company.

"First, there's something you need to know."

I decided to begin with something they didn't know.

It was information the members of Kim Dokja Company knew, but they didn't. Information about TWSA.

I had worked up the nerve to tell them, but Pildu's response was lukewarm.

"There was a time when I believed stock market rumors, too. You're still naive."

"Excuse me?"

"Young people these days..."

It seemed Pildu hadn't really listened to what I said.

Myeongoh, on the other hand, seemed fairly shocked.

"Y-you mean you knew all of that and still left me to end up like that?"

Hayoung also looked surprised, though for a different reason.

"I see. That's why you knew so much even in the Demon Realm..."

Fortunately, their reactions weren't too serious. Then again, after a regressor and a Reincarnator had already appeared, my story might not sound all that remarkable.

I sighed inwardly in relief and continued.

"There's one reason I told you this. I want you to join Kim Dokja Company."

At my words, the three people looked at one another.

Pildu said, "Who gave you permission?"

[The Incarnation Pildu Gong has joined Kim Dokja Company.]

Was the word "sulky" invented for that man?

Myeongoh asked next, "Will my department head position be preserved?"

"Well, we don't have ranks like that, but I'll make one if you want."

"Make sure my salary is handled properly, too. Parental leave and overtime pay..."

[The Incarnation Han Myeongoh has joined Kim Dokja Company.]

Lastly, I looked at Hayoung.

[The Incarnation Jang Hayoung has joined Kim Dokja Company.]

"...So, Flame Dragon, what just happened was..."

Hayoung was using her Wall to spread news of her employment everywhere.

One after another, congratulatory messages from her Star Stream friends rang out.

Watching her genuinely happy face left me with mixed feelings again.

If I'd known she would be so happy, I should have let her join much earlier.

"By the way, Kim Dokja. Why did you suddenly let me join?"

Hayoung waited for my response, her eyes shining.

There were several reasons I hadn't let Hayoung join Kim Dokja Company. But today, I wanted to set those reasons aside.

I needed Hayoung. But I hadn't recruited her into Kim Dokja Company simply because she was necessary for the conclusion.

"Because I want to see the end of the Scenarios with you."

Hayoung's eyes widened at my words. Her sorrowful cheeks trembled, leaving my heart aching. Her beauty put even Junghyeok's to shame twice over.

Blinking her large eyes, Hayoung nodded vigorously.

"I'll really work hard!"

Hayoung clenched her fist and started typing again.

[Congratulations! You have resolved the complaint of a contract employee!]

[You have currently resolved 1 complaint.]

I'd finally succeeded once.

Being a CEO was such a difficult position.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon asks if the rumor is true.]

What rumor?

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire asks if you really confessed to Jang Hayoung.]

[The Constellation Oldest Liberator to the youngest, Sun Wukong...]

What kind of rumor was spreading?

Hayoung was enthusiastically tapping away at her virtual keyboard. What exactly was she writing so diligently?

"Hey, dinner's ready!"

Han Suyeong's shout came from the distance.

As the others gathered one by one at the delicious scent drifting from somewhere, Suyeong looked at Yu Junghyeok as if it were only natural.

"Let's see how good that cooking of yours is."

"Why should I share my cooking?"

Junghyeok glared at the others, then turned away and tossed out a few words.

"...There are leftovers over there, so eat those if you want."

We looked where Junghyeok pointed. Then everyone fell silent.

「They were looking at the essence of cooking.」

Like mice enchanted by the sound of a flute, everyone sat obediently at the table and rubbed their eyes in disbelief.

Dishes made with monsters Lee Gilyeong and Shin Yuseong had caught, and herbs Lee Seolhwa had gathered.

No... how could anyone make such a lavish feast from those ingredients?

I was certain even the First Emperor Who Dreamed of Immortality's table would have been less extravagant.

"Master, make sure you cook for my funeral."

"Why your funeral? Don't say things like that. It's bad luck."

Everyone began wolfing down the food. Huiwon, Jihye, Myeongoh, Pildu, Hayoung... everyone was eating mindlessly.

Even Suyeong and Sangah were saying,

"Wait, that's mine."

"There's plenty. Why are you being so greedy?"

They were fighting over the food.

"Mister, try this too!"

"Hyung, this one too!"

Lee Gilyeong and Yuseong, seated on either side of me, hurriedly shoved spoonfuls of food into my mouth. I chewed with my cheeks puffed out like a hamster and fed the children side dishes, too.

It was delicious. Really delicious. It was so delicious that, for a moment, I was grateful TWSA had become reality.

Yuseong, her eyes wandering as she ate some meat, muttered quietly,

"It feels like we're on a school trip..."

The moment I heard that, I wanted to beat myself to death for being grateful that TWSA had become reality.

A school trip. One of the things children had lost in this world.

I placed my hands on the two children's heads and said,

"That's right. A school trip."

Of course, I was the one learning something on this trip, not the children.

"Mister, what do you want to do when all the Scenarios are over?"

"Hyung is going to live with me."

"I wasn't asking you."

What I wanted to do after all the Scenarios ended. Normally, I would have laughed it off, but for some reason, I spoke without thinking.

"It would be nice to buy a really big house and live there together."

When I raised my head, the noisy surroundings had gone quiet. Jihye, Huiwon, Pildu... even Han Suyeong was staring at me with her mouth open.

Huiwon was the first to speak.

"Then Dokja-ssi is obviously buying the house, right?"

Huh?

"Mister's rich, so he can buy a house in Gangnam."

"I'll sell my land."

"It should be close to the children's school, while we're at it..."

I had no idea one careless remark would cause such a huge reaction.

For the rest of dinner, everyone talked about the house I would pay for. What the interior should look like, how many rooms it would need...

Huiwon and I were assigned dishwashing duty after losing at rock-paper-scissors.

I could have won every time with [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], but I couldn't do something like that even on a trip like this.

[A new fable has been acquired!]

[The fable One Who Plucked the Hairs from Their Conscience has been acquired.]

Right. I got a fable too, so that was nice.

As I scrubbed the dishes, I saw something falling from the distant sky. It was a meteor shower. Stars faded away, leaving long tails behind them.

Those were probably stars that were truly falling.

The Star Stream was being destroyed.

Huiwon, who stood beside me and looked up at the sky, said, "It reminds me of the Theater Dungeon."

I nodded. It certainly was similar to then.

We had been together on the dungeon rooftop that time, too. We watched the falling meteor shower and made wishes.

"You asked me to become your sword, Dokja-ssi."

Back then, I had asked Huiwon to become my Companion. And she had become the best Companion I could have asked for. I wouldn't have made it this far without her.

"But someone else really did become a sword."

At those words, I looked at the steel sword resting carefully on the ground. While everyone else rested, there was one Companion who hadn't been able to take part in this event.

Lee Hyeongseong's heart wasn't beating. There were moments when he seemed to regain consciousness briefly, but he remained in sword form, without moving.

"Don't worry. I'll definitely wake Hyeongseong before we move on to the next Scenario."

"Do you have a way?"

I nodded.

It wasn't only Hyeongseong's problem.

We needed a larger force now. Our goal didn't end with simply clearing the Scenarios.

To stand against the Administration Bureau and the entire Star Stream, we needed to start gathering Constellations who would take our side.

[The Constellation Master of Steel is looking at you.]

And Hyeongseong's Patron would be the first.

Perhaps my proud expression had made quite an impression, because Huiwon said, "But, Dokja-ssi."

"Yes."

"Is it okay to be acting so cool here? You're in the middle of a Scenario right now. You don't actually enjoy getting kidnapped and dying, do you?"

"Uh..."

At Huiwon's words, the Scenario window appeared before me.

[A day is coming to an end.]

[You have currently resolved 1 complaint.]

I checked the penalty for failing the Sub Scenario once more.

+

Failure: Death(?)

+

I looked up at the meteor shower in the sky.

"Maybe this will be my final Scenario."

Footnotes:

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