WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 564: Episode 3: Protagonist(?) (1)

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Episode 3.

* * *

「Does 'murder' mean I have to kill someone myself?」

Christina Page, the Finger Snapper, didn't appear in ORV, but there was an Incarnation in TWSA, the novel within ORV, who cleared the first Scenario using suicide.

She had been an FBI forensic hypnosis expert. By hypnotizing a criminal with her into committing suicide, she received credit for her first "murder."

Incitement Murder.

The method of murder I had been credited with was similar.

The people who believed the false information chose a path that led to their deaths because of me. I had been recognized for "indirect murder" as the person responsible for inducing their mass suicide.

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't believe murder like that was possible, but it had happened.

[The person you are currently Possessing is Inciter Inho Cheon.]

Maybe it was only possible because I had Possessed this guy.

[Your synchronization rate with the Possession target is too high.]

[Some traits of the Possession target have been deactivated.]

As I stared down at my bloodstained hands, what I had done slowly began to sink in.

What Fate would have awaited the people of Geumho Station if I hadn't Possessed Inho Cheon?

「Wouldn't they have suffered the same thing at Inho Cheon's hands anyway?」

Then who had killed them, the writer Lee Hakhyun or the character Inho Cheon?

Was I a murderer who killed people in this world, or a writer who described the deaths of characters?

After taking several ragged breaths, those complicated thoughts quickly settled.

[Your Exclusive Attribute has taken effect.]

This wasn't the time to fall into a moral crisis.

I would encounter people like Kim Cheolyang, the Life Church Leader, again and again.

I would have to keep killing people to survive in this world.

[Reward calculation has been delayed due to an unexpected Scenario inspection. Please wait.]

At least until I uncovered this world's secrets.

[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries has taken an interest in you.]

[Constellations of the Absolute Evil alignment have taken an interest in you.]

[Few Constellations are curious about your name.]

The moment the Constellations' messages began pouring in, I snapped back to my senses.

[Constellations of the Absolute Evil alignment sponsor you.]

[Constellations have sponsored you with 300 Coins.]

The interest of the Absolute Evil Constellations.

It seemed they had interpreted my Incitement Murder as an act of evil.

That wasn't a good sign.

At this rate, it would be difficult to gain sponsorship from the absolute good alignment.

[Constellations of the absolute good alignment are shocked by the tragedy in this Area.]

[Constellations of the absolute good alignment are moved by your heroism.]

Huh?

[Constellations of the absolute good alignment find your goodwill in trying to save everyone admirable.]

[Constellations have sponsored you with 300 Coins.]

[Constellations of the Absolute Evil alignment protest, asking what the hell that means.]

It seemed they were all interpreting things however they pleased.

"Um... are you okay?"

When I turned around, I saw the Reader Uncle looking at me with concern.

"Yes. What about you?"

"I'm fine, too. I have to be."

His face was still pale. Then again, it would've been stranger for anyone to stay sane in a situation like this.

I bowed deeply to him.

"Thank you for earlier. You saved my life."

Honestly, he should've received the sponsorship, not me.

Despite having a physique on Kim Dokja's level, he had fought the Ironhead Gang's boss to save me.

[Constellations of the absolute good alignment's eyes sparkle.]

The uncle shook his head.

"No. I owe you instead. If my friend hadn't killed the bugs, I'd be lying over there, too. But... did the bacteria work on you?"

He still didn't know that I had committed Incitement Murder against the people of Geumho Station.

I considered telling him the truth, but it was probably better not to.

"I don't know either. Those people killed the bacteria, too..."

"Could it be that only your bacteria died? I don't know whether that's possible, but..."

He seemed to have concluded that there was no other answer. Instead of replying, I looked toward the corpses.

Perhaps he interpreted my silence differently, because he hurriedly added, "It's not your fault. You did your best."

The Reader Uncle let out a quiet sigh and looked at me with a sorrowful expression. Then he turned toward the dead and murmured, "To be honest... they didn't seem like good people."

I felt guilty for deceiving such an innocent middle-aged man, but I still thought this was better than telling him the truth.

[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries admires your wickedness.]

[The Constellation Woman Pouring Water into a Bottomless Jar is moved by your kind heart.]

Still, what sort of character had this uncle Possessed?

His appearance wasn't familiar, so he was definitely an extra character.

Come to think of it, I had a skill that could find that out.

[You cannot use Character Profile on this person.]

[This person is a character, but not a character.]

I understood what was happening.

The uncle's body was probably a character, but the uncle's soul that had Possessed it wasn't.

[An Exclusive Skill has activated.]

That was when a strange message appeared.

[The Exclusive Skill Reader Comment List has activated.]

Reader Comment List?

[Would you like to use Reader Comment List on this person?]

I nodded experimentally.

[Checking this reader's profile information.]

+

ID: wldbsdldkQk80

Platform: Textpia

Total comments: 32

Reader level: 16

+

* You can use Coins to view comments written by this reader.

* Number of comments currently available for free: 3.

+

I could see something like this?

I looked at the uncle's grief-stricken profile.

Should I just look at one?

+

Jiyoon, are you reading novels in your room again?

―(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Episode 1)

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The uncle's first comment immediately appeared.

So it was true that he had a daughter.

Just one more.

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Jiyoon, open the door. I know you're reading a novel.

―(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Episode 7)

+

I could roughly guess how this uncle had ended up reading ORV.

Since I had already seen two, I might as well look at the rest.

+

How do I pay to unlock the next episode?

―(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Episode 25)

+

[Pay Coins to view additional comments.]

For some reason, I felt like I could trust this uncle.

Feeling needlessly sorry, I held out my hand.

"Should we introduce ourselves properly?"

"Sounds good."

"My name is Inho Cheon."

The uncle visibly panicked at my words.

I pointed to my face and gave a faint smile.

"That's this guy's name."

"Ah, I see. It sounded familiar..."

Apparently, Inho Cheon really wasn't that well-known.

"He's an early villain. You know, at Geumho Station."

"Ah...!"

"Yeah. That's right. That bad guy."

He also had nicknames like "the bastard who deserves to be torn apart" and "the bastard who deserves to burn to death in hellfire inferno," but I didn't mention those.

The uncle had already gone pale.

"Th-then what are you going to do now?"

"It's still early on, so maybe there's room for redemption? What about you? Who are you?"

"Apparently, I'm called Lee Dansu..."

That seemed to be the name of the character he had Possessed.

Lee Dansu. Lee Dansu.

No notes came to mind right away.

Still, if he knew the name of the character he had Possessed, could he see his own Attributes Window?

"Judging from my attributes and skills..."

"Wait. You shouldn't tell people things like that carelessly."

"Ah? O-okay."

The uncle seemed to remember something belatedly and pulled himself together.

"You sound just like Kim Dokja. Heh heh."

"Yes. It's better to act like him right now."

"Did you read 'that novel' all the way to the end?"

"Yes."

Strictly speaking, I hadn't read it. I had written it.

"Then everyone who read that novel is like us..."

Only then did I realize what the uncle was thinking.

"Don't worry too much. They all survived. Just like us."

His daughter especially would have survived.

She had skipped studying to read ORV so diligently. There was a one hundred percent chance she was alive.

The uncle gave a weak smile.

"Thank you."

"And should we call each other by the names we just mentioned from now on?"

"Sounds good."

The uncle nodded, his eyes slightly less tense.

We hadn't even talked about favorite characters or anything, yet a believable bond had formed between us before I knew it.

But that was all the time we had to build camaraderie.

[Geumho Station Area 3-4 survivors: Inho Cheon, Lee Dansu. Total survivors: 2.]

The system messages that had stopped began again.

[Additional rewards will be granted to the survivors in this Scenario Area.]

[You have acquired an additional 200 Coins.]

Bihyeong appeared in the air shortly afterward.

He must have finally resolved the tangled mess of the first Scenario.

[This is truly strange. There have been quite a few unusual Areas, but I've never seen a Scenario resolved like this... To think the Star Stream's production system could be used this way...]

I roughly understood what he meant.

Originally, at the end of the first Scenario, my head should have exploded at the same time as everyone else's.

But the Star Stream had decided that my head would explode last for dramatic effect. As a result, Incitement Murder had been recognized, and I survived.

Bihyeong grumbled while staring at me for a while, then smiled brightly and continued.

[Anyway, congratulations. You somehow cleared the first Scenario.]

I already knew what Bihyeong was going to say next.

The same was probably true for Uncle Dansu beside me.

[Now, now. You've overcome hardship, so you deserve rewards, right? As a reward for the first Scenario, you are now qualified to receive sponsorship from the esteemed Constellations! Waaah! What do you think? Excited?]

At last, the first major event of ORV, patron selection, was about to begin.

Then Bihyeong tilted his head.

[Hm, that's strange. You don't look surprised, and you don't look confused either...]

Of course not. We already knew about it.

If you had to revise the same lines more than a hundred times, you'd be in the same state as me.

[Have you still not come to your senses? You don't understand how weak you are right now. If you enter the coming Scenario like this...]

You wouldn't even be able to catch a single Ground Rat.

I knew.

Bihyeong stared at me as I yawned, then launched into a speech with an incredulous expression. He only stopped after hearing complaints from the Constellations.

[Few Constellations are tired of Bihyeong's explanation.]

[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries urges him to hurry up!]

Stars sparkled above Bihyeong's head, which had visibly brightened.

How many had gathered for this patron selection?

[Constellations really are impatient. All right, then. Let's begin!]

Since this was still extremely early in the story, I didn't expect any particularly great Constellations to have come.

There was a possibility that great constellations like Great Sage Equaling Heaven or Uriel might appear, like they had for Kim Dokja, but that had only happened because he was the protagonist.

At best, I expected guys like the Monarch of the Small Fries.

I wasn't expecting anything.

Not even a little.

Still...

Maybe not Great Sage Equaling Heaven...

But at least a Historical-grade Constellation would appear, right?

I had survived by the skin of my teeth...

A screen appeared before my eyes.

[There are a total of 10 Constellations waiting for your selection.]

Footnotes:

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