WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 46: Episode 10 - Future War (4)
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"Clear a path to the flag stand!"
Judging by the direction he had come from, that guy seemed to be the Representative of the Myeongdong Group.
It looked like they had already coordinated with the Dongdaemun side.
[Myeongdong Representative Kim Hyungtae has activated the additional effect of the Red Flag!]
He had already changed the flag's color. And to red, at that.
The key to Capture the Flag lay in the flag's color. Starting from white, it went to red, blue, brown, purple, and black. Every time the color changed, the flag granted better additional effects.
[The Myeongdong Group is receiving the buff effect of the Red Flag!]
[Attack power and defense have each increased by 5%!]
If their flag was red, that meant they had already occupied at least one station or killed another station's Representative and stolen the flag.
Even at a glance, they seemed to have fairly decent combat power. But thinking that would be enough to target Chungmuro? Not a chance.
[The character Pildu Gong has activated Stigma Armed Zone Lv.6!]
[The character Pildu Gong has activated private property Lv.6!]
Pildu moved before it was too late.
"You insignificant little bastards...!"
If he had shown even the slightest sign of dragging his feet, I was prepared to use my command authority, so this was a relief. At this rate, leaving Chungmuro's defense to Pildu would be fine.
Eight Mini Turrets opened fire simultaneously on the Myeongdong Group charging toward the flag stand.
"W-What is this?!"
"Aaaagh!"
Chunks of flesh burst apart in midair. As expected, Pildu really was a cheat.
"Kuhuk! Everyone, gather up!"
The Myeongdong Group members belatedly packed themselves into a tight formation, but they were nowhere near capable of enduring the shells from an Armed Zone that had broken through to Level 6. It was a sight that made it worth letting him clear Emergency Defense on his own.
How many rounds had he fired? Bombarded by enhanced Mana shells, the Myeongdong Group members were riddled with holes in an instant and collapsed one after another. When Pildu was an enemy, he was terrifying, but when he was an ally, he was this dependable.
"T-There was nothing like this in the information we got!"
"Retreat!"
But they had nowhere to run.
"Where do you think you're going?"
[The special option of Unbreakable Faith has activated.]
[The Aether attribute has been converted to flame.]
The flame Aether streaming from the blade formed a wall of fire across their escape route. The moment they faltered in panic, Pildu's firing resumed.
"B-Break through! Hurry... kuhk!"
The Myeongdong Representative was hit directly by a Mana shell, and the flag came loose above his head. Pildu's eyes sparkled when he spotted it. That bastard, honestly.
"Want me to step on your back again?"
Pildu, who had been rushing over in a frenzy, froze like a stone statue.
"You damn bastard..."
I sprinted down the tracks and picked up the fallen Myeongdong Representative's flag. The despairing Myeongdong Representative's eyes lost focus.
[You have acquired the flag of the Myeongdong Group.]
[Your White Flag has absorbed the accumulated merits of the Red Flag.]
[Your White Flag has evolved into a Red Flag.]
I could feel a stronger power surging inside my body.
[You have taken one step closer to the King's Path.]
Flags after red amplified not only the Representative's abilities, but also the abilities of nearby group members. Aside from overall stats or S-grade and higher items, one of the few ways to raise basic combat power was through these flags. That was why groups ended up targeting stations beyond their own target station.
The other king candidates had probably already entered full-scale war to change their own flags' colors. In this world, the stronger you became, the more you got to enjoy.
[The remaining members of the Myeongdong Group await your decision regarding their fate.]
I grabbed one Myeongdong Group member lying sprawled nearby and asked,
"Why did you target Chungmuro?"
Something had felt off ever since I first heard what Ilhun had said. It was one thing if they knew Chungmuro had opened, but barging in as if they had been waiting for it made no sense. The strange gaze watching my companions, and the odd expression that bastard had made when he learned I was the Representative... these guys had known from the beginning what was in this station.
I held the blade to his throat and asked,
"Talk. Who told you about Chungmuro?"
The most likely answer was still the <Prophets>.
The ones those men in the Theater Dungeon had mentioned, the ones who knew hidden information other people didn't.
Just in case, I had searched through the TWSA file carefully, but the name <Prophets> had never appeared there either. Then who were they?
There were two possibilities.
One was that, because of some variable I didn't know, a new prophet had appeared besides Anna Croft.
And the second was... that there was another reader besides me.
Honestly, I thought the latter was more likely. The Prophet attribute wasn't something that blossomed so easily. And on top of that, the name <Prophets> was plural...
Well, we could find out for certain from now on.
I looked at Pildu and said,
"Still... couldn't you have shown a little restraint?"
"What mercy am I supposed to show idiots who charge in blindly?"
Pildu snapped irritably.
Unfortunately, the Myeongdong Group bastards had taken too many bullets to be in any state to answer anything. The moment I tried to question them, they all coughed up blood and died. In the end, there was only one person left to ask.
I looked down at Kang Ilhun, whom Lee Hyeongseong had carried over his shoulder. Bound by [Thread Binding], Ilhun's eyes rolled anxiously. Yu Sangah asked,
"Do you think everything was planned from the beginning?"
"Very likely. The moment the station opened, the two groups joined up and attacked. That means there was a prior agreement."
"To approach us with such kind faces..."
"Are you disappointed? Because we couldn't form an alliance?"
"...A little."
"Don't trust people too much. From here on out, things won't keep working out as easily as you hope, Sangah-ssi."
Sangah looked at me.
"I know. Even so... if possible, I still wanted to trust people. I've made it this far because I trusted them."
"Hey, how long are you two going to keep talking? Let's hurry up and squeeze some information out of him."
Huiwon's sudden rebuke cut in. Fair enough, this wasn't the time for life advice. I removed the thread gagging Ilhun's mouth. He looked like he was trying hard to stay composed.
"...What are you going to do with me now?"
"That depends on how useful the information you spit out is."
"Do you decide what counts as useful?"
So he had more backbone than I expected, talking back even in this situation. In that case, I would have to take the hard line...
Huiwon said,
"The Constellations have already deemed him an evildoer anyway, so should we try torturing him?"
"Why bother with torture? If he won't talk, we just kill him."
"What?"
Without hesitation, I drew my sword. Ilhun trembled as he looked up at me.
"I'm going to count to three. If you don't open your mouth before I hit three, you die. I won't take it back."
I deliberately activated [White Pure Star Energy] and drove my sword deep into the ground.
"One."
Grrrkkk!
The ground was gouged apart by the power of [White Pure Star Energy], and the blade began inching toward his throat. Fragments of stone sprayed onto his face.
"Two."
The heat from the blade now hanging right in front of him began to warm his face. A little more, and the Aether Blade would cut into his eyeball.
"Thr-"
"Dongmyo-ap!"
I grinned. Torture? No need. Ilhun, gasping for breath, shouted,
"...Th-there are people in Dongmyo-ap who told us about Chungmuro."
Dongmyo-ap, huh? Who was there again?
"Who are they?"
"T-They call themselves the <Prophets>..."
But something was wrong with him. His eyes slowly began to roll back, and then he stuck out his tongue and bit down on it like a dead man. A bad premonition hit me.
Don't tell me he had been put under [Suggestion]?
"Sangah-ssi, cover his mouth with thread!"
Before his jaw could close, thankfully, the thread Sangah summoned gagged him. A chill ran down my spine. To think they were even using [Suggestion] to control information... they were more meticulous than I had thought.
At the same time, though, I had the unexpected feeling that this might make things easier.
[Suggestion] was a skill that could only be used on someone whose face you had seen in person.
I looked down at Ilhun and muttered,
"You're a lucky man."
At the very least, as long as I had this guy, I could identify at least one of them for sure.
* * *
Before setting out on a full-scale search, I stopped by the theater rooftop one last time.
"That bastard still isn't awake yet?"
Maybe because she hadn't realized I was coming, I saw Jihye flinch. Yu Junghyeok was still unconscious, lying with his head in Jihye's lap. For a protagonist, the bastard sure had it easy. Even I, the reader, was dead tired right now.
"How's downstairs?"
"Don't worry about it and get some rest."
"My master... will he really be okay now?"
"He'll be fine. He might have a little trauma left over, though."
"...Trauma?"
"That bastard's mind is weaker than it looks. He'll probably get better after sleeping it off, so hang in there a little longer."
"You talk like you know him really well."
"I know him better than anyone in the world."
I answered absently and took a memo pad from my pocket, jotting down a few words with a ballpoint pen. I folded the filled page into a paper tile and handed it to Jihye.
"Don't read it. Give it to Junghyeok when he wakes up, okay?"
"...Got it."
Though I said that, knowing Jihye, she'd obviously read it.
Of course, I had only jotted down words that Junghyeok would understand anyway, so even if Jihye looked, she wouldn't get it.
Still, would the information on this note show up as ■■■ to the Constellations too?
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband dislikes ■.]
So that was it. I was about to turn away when Jihye opened her mouth.
"But can I ask you just one thing?"
"What?"
"Um, earlier at dawn. My master and you..."
For some reason, I felt like I already knew what she was going to say.
Damn it, as if Huiwon weren't enough, had Jihye heard it too? I'm an idiot. I had been so focused on the Constellations that I hadn't even thought about the humans listening nearby. It was exactly the kind of thing Junghyeok would laugh at me for and call stupid. What was I even supposed to say to explain this?
"So, like... you two..."
"What."
I decided to play dumb for the moment. Jihye's expression grew even more serious.
"I mean, you said all that stuff earlier, ajussi."
"What stuff."
"...Didn't we agree not to get lost in that kind of sentiment!"
Jihye shouted, deliberately imitating my voice. Hearing those words suddenly come out of someone else's mouth made me feel like I was going a little insane.
"The resolve from the first time you, um... that! Did you forget it already?"
"...?"
Something was weird here. This brat had heard an almost completely filtered version, hadn't she?
"Why do you think I followed you this far? Why are you alone? We're together!"
"No, wait."
"I'm always by your side! Don't lose hope! Think of our child!"
"I didn't say anything like that."
"Why do you think I came all this way for you...!"
At a loss for words, I stared at Jihye for a moment.
...No, how exactly did she hear it like that?
"S-So it really is like that? You and my master, I mean..."
I sighed and said,
"You little punk."
"...I knew it. Don't worry, I'll make sure this love letter gets delivered!"
It didn't seem like there was any chance she would listen to what I said, so I just shook my head and turned away. Fine. Junghyeok, I'm leaving everything to you.
The next moment, Indirect Messages exploded through my head.
[A considerable number of Constellations are deeply shocked by the true nature of the filtering.]
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband respects your preferences.]
[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire likes your camaraderie.]
[The Constellation Secretive Plotter is dumbfounded.]
[You have received a sponsorship of 600 coins.]
...Damn it, so there were more idiots after all.
Anyway, I had passed on everything that needed to be passed on to Junghyeok.
I hurried down from the theater.
While Junghyeok played the Sleeping Prince in the Forest, I didn't have much time to claim the gains that should have been his.
Footnotes:
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