WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 557: Episode 2: Rewrite (2)

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I stared at the message that had arrived on my smartphone for a moment.

I wondered if someone was making fun of me.

Representative Kim Dokja.

Was this bastard the one who had sent me into ORV through Possession?

[You cannot reply to this recipient.]

As if it were only natural, I couldn't send a reply.

I decided to check the gift the Representative had sent first. Dokja had received a text file of TWSA, so I figured I had probably received something similar.

However, no matter how far I scrolled, I couldn't find anything like an attachment.

―In anticipation of your serialization, I'm sending you a small gift.

That was the end of the note. There was no attachment, and I didn't feel as if I had gained a new Exclusive Skill, either.

Then what was it?

Only then did I realize the note had been sent through a web novel app.

Wait. This app exists here too?

Perhaps because it was an app that didn't belong in this worldline, most of its menus didn't function properly.

However, the feature that let me check the novel I had written still worked normally.

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Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Total 551 Chapters

―Writer Lee Hakhyun

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A list of ORV chapters appeared on the familiar platform screen.

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······

Episode 1: Paid Service Begins (4) +[117]

Episode 1: Paid Service Begins (3) +[164]

Episode 1: Paid Service Begins (2) +[158]

Episode 1: Paid Service Begins (1) +[332]

Prologue: Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse +[681]

······

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This seemed to be the Representative's gift.

Just as Dokja had received a text file of TWSA from tls123, I had received ORV from Representative Kim Dokja.

It was a little disappointing, but better than nothing. Even a writer was bound to forget some of the setting three years after the ending.

I suddenly became curious about Dokja during the first Scenario.

What exactly had Dokja been doing at this point?

By now, it should have been around Chapter 4 or 5.

I immediately tapped Chapter 5.

―How is the protagonist so calm? Wasn't he a loser?

What appeared before me wasn't ORV's text, but a comment.

Had I tapped the wrong thing? I pressed the text again.

―This Scenario is way too hard...

Another comment.

At first, I thought it might be a bug.

However, after tapping several more times and seeing only comments, I finally understood what this gift was.

No way.

Some comments looked vaguely familiar, while others I didn't remember at all.

Naturally. It had already been three years.

―Wow, I think I'd die right away in the first Scenario.

My finger, which had been scrolling absently, stopped as if a heavy weight had suddenly been tied to it.

―Hmm... I don't think I could ever do it.

―He only acts like that because he's the protagonist. An ordinary person would've died already.

It felt as if dark, quiet air had dampened the tip of my nose.

All at once, I felt as though I had returned to the theater in Chungmuro.

I read through the stories of readers preserved inside the screen.

Readers who had been elementary school students, middle and high school students, college students, and office workers... readers preparing for military service or employment back then.

The histories they had lived through remained there intact.

―I don't think I could ever bring myself to kill someone... I'd probably just quietly wait for the end. Haha.

I thought of Judge Huiwon, who had solved the quizzes with shining eyes, and the young reader who had asked whether Dokja was alive or dead.

The reader who eloquently explained the secret of 1,863, the reader who remembered the total number of ■s... readers who had sat there with faces I didn't know.

"It won't move at all! What do we do?"

"Shut up and push harder!"

The readers who had come to the theater all disappeared into the light beyond the curtain, as though they had been pushed through after answering the quizzes correctly.

"Someone, somebody do something!"

What if...

"Please get us out! We have to get out of here!"

What if other readers had come here too, not just me?

"Save us! Please save us!"

[Current remaining time: 27 minutes.]

I knew this wasn't the time for thoughts like that. I had my own problems to worry about.

I had to survive and meet Dokja somehow.

Dokja.

"Hey."

Somehow.

"Could you perhaps..."

I had to meet him...

"Catch insects..."

I looked toward the voice.

Before me stood a middle-aged man who looked to be in their forties, with striking eyebrows and deep brown eyes.

It wasn't a face I recognized.

What had they just said?

"Could you teach me how to catch insects too?"

I watched the middle-aged man for a moment.

I couldn't read any ulterior motive on their face.

I could feel a few people in the distance turning to look this way.

If I drew attention here by mistake, I could ruin the entire Scenario.

After making a quick decision, I turned and pointed with my chin beneath the vending machine.

"Ah."

The middle-aged man let out a small exclamation, as if that alone had made them understand.

I warned them.

"Don't draw too much attention. We don't know how many are left."

They nodded cautiously, then bent down and began feeling around beneath the vending machine.

Pretending not to notice, I subtly shifted my body to hide them from the others.

Was it right to save this person here?

This choice could cause the Scenario's course to diverge from ORV. But...

"I found one. Thank you."

Before long, the middle-aged man found an insect too.

It was a tiny insect, too small even to tell whether it was pregnant.

"Kill it right away."

They nodded and immediately crushed the insect.

Then...

"Ah."

A faint light gathered in their hand for an instant after they killed the insect, then vanished.

Their slightly unfocused eyes were fixed somewhere in midair.

A Scenario Clear message had probably appeared.

Thankfully, killing insects still worked.

"As I thought, this really is..."

I watched the middle-aged man sigh, then abruptly asked.

"1,863."

"Excuse me?"

"1,863."

I wanted to be certain.

If this person had really read ORV, it was a number they couldn't possibly fail to understand.

The middle-aged man tilted their head for a moment before opening their mouth.

"What do you mean by...?"

I concealed my disappointment at their reaction, as if they truly didn't know.

Had it only been my imagination?

Then they added,

"If you mean 1,863... is that perhaps from that novel...?"

I reflexively turned my gaze and met their eyes.

Faint relief and despair mingled in them.

"Was I right?"

This middle-aged man was an ORV reader.

I didn't know whether they had been at the Event Theater with me, but like me, they had been sent here through Possession.

Their lips trembled as they muttered,

"How could something like this happen...?"

"Please lower your voice. We can't let the people around us notice."

"Ah, yes. Do you think there might be others too?"

"If there are, they'll definitely do something noticeable."

The middle-aged man didn't seem particularly quick on the uptake.

Even so, they had realized this was ORV's first Scenario and hadn't missed me catching an insect.

Then other readers would probably be similar.

At the very least, they would be watching us, or trying to find insects themselves.

[Current remaining time: 25 minutes.]

We watched the people for a while, but no one did anything particularly noticeable.

The middle-aged man asked,

"What are you planning to do about the rest?"

"The rest?"

"Those people."

I knew who they meant.

The people gripping their phones in fear, and those still struggling to push the transparent wall.

"Isn't this reality, no matter how you look at it?"

"..."

"At this rate, all those people will die."

I knew what they meant. An ORV reader might say something like that.

But I wasn't a reader.

"I can't save everyone."

I lowered my voice so the Constellations and other beings wouldn't hear this conversation.

"If we want to clear the Scenario safely, we can't change the course of events too much. You know that."

"Then the insect you caught earlier..."

As I hesitated, the middle-aged man asked,

"Why haven't you killed it yet?"

I took back what I had thought about this person not being quick on the uptake.

I answered firmly,

"Dokja wouldn't have saved them either. You know what kind of people they are."

"Dokja..."

The middle-aged man's eyes turned distant for a moment. They opened their mouth as if searching through fond memories, then gave a bitter smile.

"My daughter really liked that protagonist."

The question from before abruptly returned and lingered in my mind.

「If Kim Dokja returned to the first Scenario, what would he do?」

"Hey, you!"

Someone was charging this way like a wild boar.

It was the big man who had been making everyone push the transparent wall.

"What are you two doing? Can't you see everyone else working hard?"

Before I could answer, the big man grabbed me by the collar and roughly shoved me toward the vending machine.

The big man was incredibly strong, as if their Strength level was at least 7.

My feet left the ground in an instant, and I gasped for air.

Startled, the middle-aged man grabbed the big man's arm.

"Wait. You can't do th-"

The big man frowned and turned around, then released my collar and punched the middle-aged man square in the face.

The middle-aged man let out a faint groan and rolled across the floor.

"Didn't you hear me? Can't you see everyone else struggling over there? You think I wouldn't notice you two hiding here like rats?"

Steadying my breathing, I approached the big man and the middle-aged man.

Real violence.

Drops of blood splattered across the floor, and the middle-aged man reached out a hand as if pleading for help.

I thought someone would obviously stop this.

That was common sense.

Violence like that must not be tolerated.

"You should've helped when everyone was told to help. Tsk tsk."

"You two were hiding so only you could take it easy?"

"They had it coming."

When I turned my head, the people avoided my gaze as though they had never said any of it.

I felt as though I had suddenly come to my senses.

「This world is a novel.」

Clenching the insect in my pocket tightly, I thought.

Could I save the middle-aged man just by killing the insect and gaining a few coins?

No matter how I looked at it, the big man was physically far stronger than either of us.

[You are currently in a state of Possession.]

That was when a system message appeared.

[You can use the possessed target's Exclusive Attribute.]

[You can use the possessed target's Exclusive Skill.]

There was no reason to hesitate.

'Use them.'

[The possessed target's Exclusive Attribute has been activated.]

[The possessed target's Exclusive Skill has been activated.]

I had no idea who the person I had possessed was, or what their Exclusive Attribute and Exclusive Skill were.

Yet with the system messages, my mind suddenly grew calm.

It felt as though the things I had to say and the actions I could take were being neatly organized.

It was as if someone was whispering in my head.

「What's there to be afraid of? This has only gotten more interesting.」

Drawing in a breath, I struck the vending machine with all my strength.

Bang!

Startled, the people backed away a few steps.

Bang, then bang.

How many times had I struck the vending machine like that?

A new insect emerged from beneath it. It wasn't a grasshopper or a cockroach, but a tiny bug whose name I didn't know.

I looked down at it for a moment.

"What? You want to die?"

When I raised my head, the big man who had been beating the middle-aged man was glaring at me.

People had subtly gathered around and were watching me.

I opened my mouth.

"Everyone."

[The effect of the Exclusive Attribute has activated.]

It could have been an easy Scenario.

But the Constellations knew, the readers knew, and I knew that easy Scenarios weren't interesting.

"I have something I urgently need to tell all of you."

I could draw unnecessary attention and become everyone's target. I might do something pointless and ruin everything.

Even so, I had to do this now.

It wasn't because I wanted to become a hero.

You could say it was simply the last shred of pride I had left.

「"Writer."」

Ji Eunyu's voice lingered by my ear.

Supporting the fallen middle-aged man, I thought.

Perhaps this person was one of the readers from the theater.

Or perhaps this person's daughter was one of the readers from the theater.

I imagined the readers in my mind.

But the darkness in the theater had been too deep, and I couldn't clearly remember their faces.

「"Did you get some writing done?"」

So I decided to imagine the Dokja I knew.

A man with a pale face who often wore a cocky grin.

A friend who loved stories more than anyone in the world. He had willingly become the protagonist of my story, and in the end, he had truly become the story itself.

I sold his story, made money, and ate.

I survived.

"If you trust me and follow what I say from now on..."

I had to return what I had received to Dokja.

"I will save all of you."

With a story Kim Dokja still didn't know.

.

.

.

[A Constellation who has not revealed its modifier takes an interest in your story.]

Footnotes:

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