WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: smol_anon
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 5: Episode 1 - Launch of the Paywall (4)
A hollow laugh escaped my lips. I doubted what I was seeing, but no matter how many times I blinked and rubbed my eyes, it remained the same.
The file extension was .txt. So, the gift the author sent me now…really was their own novel?
[You have acquired an exclusive attribute.]
[Your exclusive skill slot has been activated.]
As soon as I opened the file, a message echoed in my ears. Considering the world had already changed to resemble TWSA, this wasn’t surprising. In the novel, all survivors gained exclusive attributes and the ability to use unique skills.
I thought out the words, ‘Attributes Window.’ If I had gained an attribute, I needed to know what it was.
[You cannot activate the Attributes Window.]
What? I tried saying ‘Attributes Window’ louder this time, but the result was the same.
This was absurd. How was I supposed to survive without knowing what skills or attributes I had? The old saying goes, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.” [1] But here, I couldn’t even know myself.
I glared into the air for a moment, then sighed and decided to read the file the author had sent me first.
[Your reading speed has increased due to the effect of your exclusive attribute.]
I didn’t know what attribute I had, but its effect allowed me to breeze through the beginning of TWSA in less than a minute.
...I found it.
My finger scrolling stopped at the part where the protagonist of the novel was about to take action in his train carriage.
「He looked at the people huddled near the rear door of carriage 3707. The cold metal of the lighter’s flint wheel was firm in his grip. In this life, he would make no mistakes. He would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
People trembled while wearing looks of terror.
He felt no guilt.
Everything would be over in an instant.
With a cold gaze, he scanned the crowd. Moments later, a sizzle—flames flared from his hand. That was when everything began.」
A chill ran down my spine, and I had to read the passage multiple times before the source of my unease became clear.
“...3707.”
I instinctively checked the number of the train carriage I was currently in.
[3807]
My carriage was directly behind the one the protagonist had been in during the prologue. My fingers trembled slightly.
...Wait. So, what was supposed to happen to the people in this carriage?
「He looked through an obscured window at the hellish scene in carriage 3807. Too late for them. It couldn’t be helped. Only two among them will survive anyway.」
Only two people would survive. Everyone else in this carriage would die. And I already knew who those two survivors were. Slowly, I raised my head and looked at Yu Sangah.
She was probably going to die.
And so was I.
“Dokja-ssi, look—”
Sangah pointed toward the front of the carriage. A high school boy who had been leaning against the door earlier was now standing in front of the priority seats. He had a slender frame and pure white-dyed hair. His school uniform name tag bore a familiar name.
Kim Namwoon. A name I knew all too well.
「The only survivors from that carriage would be Lee Hyeonseong and Kim Namwoon. But that doesn’t matter. Those two are all I need anyway.」
Namwoon, standing in front of the elderly in the priority seats, surveyed them with eyes as cold as a butcher selecting cattle.
“Who wants to volunteer?”
His voice was calm, but the chill in his tone made one of them flinch and stammer.
“W-what do you mean...?”
“You know exactly what I mean. It’s time to make a rational decision for everyone’s sake.”
People started to exchange glances, realizing what was about to happen. Unexpectedly, it was Manager Han Myeongoh from finances who stepped forward, rolling his sleeves up in anger.
“You little brat, what the hell do you think you’re—”
Kim Namwoon’s cold gaze locked onto Han Myeongoh.
“You want to die?”
“What...?!”
“You still don’t get it? Are you that clueless?”
Above us, the dokkaebi’s holographic screen was still playing.
[Save me… Save me, please!]
[Aaahhhh!]
[Die! Die already!]
The carnage wasn’t limited to our subway or Typhoon High. The screen showed people dying in real-time all over the world. Meanwhile, Hyeonseong stood to the side, futilely calling his unit, the ringing tone echoing uselessly. Namwoon sneered.
“Don’t you get it? The army isn’t coming to save us. We have to decide who dies.”
His blunt words made several people flinch.
“What are hesitating for? The creature said we’ve been ‘living for free.’ So, who all here have been living the longest without paying anything?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward the priority seats at the same time. The elderly, their faces pale, trembled under the gaze of the crowd. Namwoon was voicing what many of them secretly thought.
“It makes sense that those who’ve lived the longest should make the sacrifice. Or would you tell that kid over there to die instead?”
A young child, clutching at the hem of a woman who was probably his mother, shrank back. Namwoon chuckled as he glanced at Han Myeongoh again.
“Of course, I get what you’re thinking. Killing your own kind to survive—that’s something only human scum would do. But do those morals still hold in this situation?”
“...”
“Think about it. The world you knew ended just now.”
Myeongoh’s shoulders trembled, and he wasn’t alone. One by one, the look in everyone’s eyes changed. I was watching society’s abstract moral compass crack steadily with every person’s changed gaze. As expected, the one to drive in this wedge and cause this crack was Kim Namwoon.
“In a new world, we need new rules.”
This was Kim Namwoon, the young man who had adapted to TWSA’s world faster than anyone else.
He turned back toward the elderly.
“So, who’s it going to be? If no one volunteers in the next five minutes, we’re all dead.”
The elderly trembled, their expressions filled with panic as they stared at him.
“Well, if no one volunteers, I’ll just have to choose. So...”
Like a roulette wheel, Namwoon’s finger hovered over each of the elderly, pointing at them one by one.
This time, no one stopped him. Not Han Myeongoh. Not the other passengers. Not even Lee Hyeonseong.
The soldier’s clenched fist trembled at his side, as if he, too, had just made a choice.
Everyone’s expressions were so obvious, it was as if they were pulled straight from a cliched novel. Reading their thoughts was like leafing through that cliched novel’s pages.
「If no one dies in five minutes, everyone in this carriage will die.」
Their gazes hardened.
「If someone doesn’t die soon, then in five minutes, it’ll be...」
It was the most primal gaze a living being could hold. Finally, Kim Namwoon’s finger stopped.
“Looks like we’ve found our volunteer.”
Namwoon grabbed the collar of a trembling elderly woman and yanked her to her feet. As the old woman struggled, Kim Namwoon turned to the rest of the passengers.
“What are you all waiting for? Do you want to sit there and wait to die?”
Some passengers averted their gazes, but others responded. The first to move was a white collar worker wearing a backpack.
“...He’s right. If we don’t do something, we’re all dead.”
The speaker approached the elderly victim.
One by one, others began muttering.
“He’s right. Someone has to die... we don’t have a choice.”
“Damn it, I don’t know anymore!”
Two, then three. People who had been frozen in place started moving toward the priority seats. Even the men who had been lurking at the fringes; the students filming with their phones; the mother of the child from earlier, now left behind; even Han Myeongoh - they all joined the advancing group. They all knew that if this old woman didn’t die, it would be them next. One by one, they began halfheartedly lynching the elderly woman.
“C-come on, it’s only fair for those who’ve lived long enough to give up their place for us!”
“Just die already! Die!”
I remembered a passage I had once read in a novel.
「Executioners all pull the lever together. This way, no one can be sure who executed the convict on death row.」
I continued to watch the scene unfold as though I was re-reading those phrases. Completely detached from the scene, like a spectator in a separate world.
This was an unchangeable event. That elderly woman was already doomed. Even in the original scenario, she had been meant to die.
That’s when Sangah suddenly stood up. Instinctively, I grabbed her arm.
“I told you not to move.”
“Dokja-ssi.”
Her arm trembled in my grip. She clenched her fist, trying to hide the tremors betraying her emotions. I spoke firmly.
“If you go now, you’ll be their next target.”
“I know, but...!”
Her eyes were filled with fear, yet there was a faint fire in her gaze.
“I can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
I realized once more that some people always shone brightly, even in a world of a completely different genre from theirs.
“Sangah-ssi, please sit down.”
But the one who could change the story wasn’t Sangah. She wasn’t the protagonist of this world.
“But—”
“Just this once, listen to me. After this, I won’t stop you.”
After forcibly making her sit back down, I took a deep breath, turning away. I straightened my back, as my breathing came out shakily. Slowly, I loosened my ankles and flexed my wrists.
To be honest, it was a little early for me to make a move. This wasn’t part of my original plan.
“...Dokja-ssi?”
Ignoring her call, I scanned the crowd. Namwoon’s fist moved slowly, as if in slow motion. People had surrounded the elderly woman, like prison guards all cooperating for the collective execution of a convict.
I hadn’t stayed quiet out of fear of Kim Namwoon, or because I agreed with the passengers’ inhumanity. I was simply waiting for the right moment- the timing I needed for success. Which was…
Boom!
…now. The deafening sound left my ears ringing, and the train shook violently. People screamed as smoke poured in from the car ahead.
It had begun. He was finally making his move.
I lunged forward, pushing off the floor with my right foot. I raced past the screaming passenger collapsing to the ground, heading straight for the elderly woman.
“What the hell? Argh!”
Namwoon let out a strangled cry as he was knocked to the floor. It might’ve looked like I was trying to save the elderly woman, but that wasn’t my main objective.
Where was it?
I scanned the area quickly, as the kill-or-be-killed world meet my gaze. In the midst of this hellscape, a child was crying, clutching an insect collection case. It was the same boy from earlier.
“Excuse me for a second.”
I reached for the insect case the boy was clutching. The child instinctively stepped back, but I shook my head.
“Please.”
The boy hesitated before yielding, and not pulling away. Once I could finally reach my hand into the case, the unsettling sensation of grasshoppers’ exoskeletons pressed against my fingertips. I pulled one out and placed it into the boy’s hand before turning back to the crowd.
“Everyone, stop. Killing this lady won’t save you.”
In the stunned silence after the explosion, my voice rang out with surprising clarity. People began to turn and look at me, one by one.
“Let’s say you kill her. What will you do next?”
Their shocked expressions were priceless. What if I said a little more?
“Sure, killing her might buy you some time, since the dokkaebi will acknowledge that as the ‘first kill.’ But what happens after that?”
“Uh...”
“If the dokkaebi is telling the truth, each person will have to kill somebody. So, who’s next? The person standing next to you?”
They looked around in horror, finally realizing what would unfold.
Their expressions filled with fear. Deep down, everyone knew that the old woman was just the beginning.
It was Kim Namwoon who took control of the situation once again.
“What are you all afraid of? We can just kill that bastard next! Don’t start worrying about your turn already, you cowards! Your odds are fifty-fifty!”
I knew he would say something like that. With a wave of my hand, I cut him off.
“You don’t have to take such a gamble. You can survive without becoming a murderer.”
“What?”
“W-what do you mean?”
The crowd murmured in a frenzy. Kim Namwoon’s expression darkened.
“Have you forgotten? The scenario’s clear condition was never to ‘kill a person.’”
[Kill one or more living beings.]
The scenario didn’t specify that it had to be a human being. It only required the death of a living creature. Someone sharp among the crowd noticed the insect case in my hand and shouted.
“Bugs! He’s got bugs!”
The grasshoppers and crickets inside the plastic case were jumping around wildly. As the crowd’s eyes lit up, I nodded.
“That’s right. Bugs.”
I reached into the cage and pulled out a grasshopper. It was a particularly plump one, that I’d made a mental note of in advance.
“G-give me that! Hurry!”
“One bug! All I need is one bug!”
As people reached out and closed in, I slowly stepped back. The explosive frenzy that had been directed at the elderly woman was now diverted towards me.
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Why? Why was my heart beating with joyful excitement, even in such a tense situation?
“Do you want it?”
I waved the insect case in the air, like a matador provoking bulls. The moment a few impatient people sprang forward to try grabbing the grasshopper from me, I crushed it in my hand.
[You have attained the achievement First Kill!]
[You have obtained 100 coins as a bonus.]
I felt the vivid sensation of a life being snuffed out in my palm.
“Here, help yourselves!”
At the same time, I used my free hand to hurl the insect case with all my might toward the far end of the train. It was in the direction exactly opposite to the crowd formed around Kim Namwoon.
“You bastard-!”
The insects catapulted into the air promptly flew out in all directions, leaping towards their freedom.
Footnotes:
[1] A popular saying in the Art of War, by Sun Tzu.
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