WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 565: Episode 3: Protagonist(?) (2)
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Wait. How many?
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<Patron Selection>
―Choose your Patron.
―The Patron you choose will become your steadfast supporter.
1. Monarch of the Small Fries
2. Reclining Dragon
3. Sinister Schemer
······.
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I blinked blankly.
This many Constellations had applied to be my Patron?
Was something wrong?
[The Constellations are waiting for your selection.]
I took a deep breath and steadied myself. This wasn't the time to get excited. First, I needed to see who had come.
There might have been many applicants without much substance.
Starting from the top, I checked each modifier.
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1. Monarch of the Small Fries
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I had expected this Constellation.
In ORV's original story, they were the Patron of Bang Cheolsu, Geumho Station's Assault Captain. They faded into obscurity after the early parts of the story.
In other words, they weren't worth considering.
[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries glares at you.]
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2. Reclining Dragon
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This Constellation's true identity was Crouching Dragon, Zhuge Liang. Their abilities were impressive for a Historical-grade Constellation.
They seemed to have admired my murder strategy, but unfortunately, I had no intention of choosing a Historical-grade Constellation here.
[The Constellation Reclining Dragon looks dejected.]
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3. Sinister Schemer
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You startled me. I thought you were Secretive Plotter.
Was this a knockoff?
No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't remember a Constellation with a modifier like this.
[The Constellation Sinister Schemer says they are very strong and that it would be good to choose them.]
The way they talked was suspicious from the start.
Secretive Plotter was an exception. As Kim Dokja said, a Constellation with such a feeble modifier was almost certainly weak.
Pass.
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4. Abyssal Black Flame Dragon
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This time, I couldn't help drawing in a breath.
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon has come after hearing rumors about you.]
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.
In ORV's original story, he was the Patron of Black Flame Demon Emperor Han Suyeong and one of the “early four” of Bihyeong's channel.
Seeing that modifier again after so long made me happy, even in this situation.
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon tells you to decide quickly.]
Still, I wasn't sure whether I should choose this bastard. He was undeniably powerful, but hadn't Dokja ultimately passed him up, too?
Besides, he had a history of making moves on Kim Namwoon, Han Suyeong, Dokja, and Junghyeok.
Wait. Did that mean I also had protagonist potential?
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon cancels Patron registration.]
[The number of Patron options has decreased to 9.]
Impatient bastard.
I hadn't intended to choose him anyway, so I wasn't disappointed.
Most of all, there were still six Constellations left.
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5. Nail-Eating Rat
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I suddenly began to regret sending Black Flame Dragon away.
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6. Primeval Ox
7. Rice Cake-Eating Tiger
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Not yet.
There were still three left.
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8. Pig Living in a Brick House
9. Dog Who Threw Himself into the Flames
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What the hell was going on?
It wasn't as if a limited pickup event for the Twelve Zodiacs was underway.
With my eyes closed, I took a slow breath and recited my personal lucky charm in my mind.
「I am Kim Dokja.」
Then I checked the final Constellation.
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10. ???
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Three question marks?
Could that even be a modifier?
The moment I thought that, lightning flashed through my mind, and the image of a dark theater rose before me.
「“What is the true identity of the Constellation denoted as ‘???’ in ORV?”」
There had definitely been a question like that at Kim Dokja's Banquet.
I knew the answer, too.
After all, there was only one Constellation in all of ORV whose modifier was written as “???.”
It was the most exalted being who watched over everything in this universe.
The Patron of the regressor Junghyeok, who craved only the next story.
[A Constellation that has not revealed its modifier is watching you.]
The protagonist of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint's original story.
With trembling eyes, I looked up at the ceiling.
「Oldest Dream.」
* * *
There were two beings called Oldest Dream in ORV.
One was young Kim Dokja, who appeared at the beginning of the novel.
The other was adult Kim Dokja, who inherited that modifier near the end of the novel.
Unless I was being deceived by some elaborate narrative trick, this was clearly the beginning of ORV.
Above all, Bihyeong's presence and the existence of Lee Jihye from Typhoon High proved it.
If this were after the end of ORV's original story, Bihyeong and Jihye wouldn't have appeared like this.
「Then was ??? young Kim Dokja?」
But that didn't make sense when I thought about it.
Throughout ORV, young Dokja had barely interfered with the story except to make Junghyeok regress.
Young Dokja probably didn't even realize he was a god.
Would someone like that apply to be the Patron of someone who didn't even appear in TWSA?
And while already being Junghyeok's Patron?
「Then was ??? adult Kim Dokja?」
That didn't make sense either.
Near the ending of ORV, adult Dokja's soul had been split down to the molecular level and scattered throughout the universe.
[A Constellation that has not revealed its modifier is waiting for your selection.]
A cold tension ran down my spine.
"Who······ are you?"
I hadn't asked because I thought I would really receive an answer. Yet.
[A Constellation that has not revealed its modifier looks at you.]
My breath caught, and a chill spread through my entire body.
Tzzzzt.
My entire body began to glow blue. Then terrible pain, as if my spine were burning, overwhelmed my consciousness.
.
.
.
【■■■ ■■.】
【This is a ■■■ playground.】
【You cannot interfere with the story of ■■■.】
【Even if you ■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■.】
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.
.
When I opened my eyes again, the uncle was shaking me.
"Get ahold of yourself, friend!"
My body swayed limply.
I snapped back to my senses.
Blood streamed from my nose.
What was that? What had just happened?
As I remained dazed, the uncle kept shaking me.
"I think I'm going to throw up······."
"Ah, I'm sorry. I suddenly saw the whites of your eyes. How did Patron selection go?"
"Patron selection······?"
[10 seconds remain until Patron selection is complete.]
This was insane.
I hurriedly looked at the Patron selection screen.
But.
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9. Dog Who Threw Himself into the Flames
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What had happened?
The tenth option I had clearly seen a moment ago was gone.
[5 seconds remain until Patron selection is complete.]
There wasn't much time to think.
Should I settle for a Historical-grade Constellation, or······?
I agonized until the very last second, then made my decision.
[Patron selection has ended.]
It seemed this world wasn't the ORV I knew.
I couldn't explain it well, but something important in this world was twisted.
[You did not choose a Patron.]
So I needed to watch the situation a little longer. I could choose a Patron later.
As long as I survived somehow.
"Friend?"
"Yes."
"Did you choose?"
I shook my head.
Whatever they took my reaction to mean, Uncle Dansu nodded.
"Ah, come to think of it, Dokja also······."
"Not that. I couldn't decide because I kept hesitating. There were a lot of good Constellations."
It was a lie, but this was what I had to say here.
[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger is relieved, saying that was indeed the case.]
[The Constellation Primeval Ox is relieved.]
[The Constellation Pig Living in a Brick House asks you to choose them next time.]
[The Constellation Nail-Eating Rat nods, saying that can happen.]
I had to say this to avoid being criticized by the Constellations that had applied to be my Patron.
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon criticizes you as a pitiful fool who missed your chance.]
[The Constellation Sinister Schemer narrows their eyes as they look at you.]
Fortunately, these reactions weren't too bad.
"How was it for you, Uncle?"
"I found it quite difficult, too."
"How many applied?"
"Four."
Honestly, I was surprised.
It made sense for me because I had done something so unusual, but four Constellations had applied to Uncle Dansu?
"Did any good Constellations show up?"
"Some names I knew appeared."
"Who?"
I tensed slightly.
The uncle had done a good deed by saving me, so if they were lucky, a decent Constellation might have shown up.
There were plenty of good Historical-grade Constellations on the Korean Peninsula. If someone like Bald Army General or King Heungmu appeared, the early Scenarios would be no problem.
"Um······ Commander of the Red Cosmos."
"Ah, Cosmos······."
I answered absentmindedly, then jerked my head up.
"Commander of the Red Cosmos?"
"Yes······."
Even as I looked at Uncle Dansu's uncertain expression, I couldn't believe it.
The Constellation they mentioned was a fabled-grade Constellation.
Commander of the Red Cosmos.
The Archangel Jophiel of Eden.
The one who visited the 1,863rd-round worldline with Dokja, and a star comparable to Uriel, who would later become Eden's Great Good.
With one strike of Jophiel's Stigma, lower-ranking demon kings would disappear without leaving even a trace.
"Is that an amazing Constellation?"
"Yes. Very amazing."
"Actually, I don't remember very well······ There were a lot of difficult words in the novel, and it's been a long time since I read it······."
I tried to calm the corners of my trembling mouth and asked, "What about the second?"
This time, the uncle answered confidently.
"It was Goryeo's Top Swordsman."
I let out an exclamation.
Goryeo's Top Swordsman, Cheok Junkyung.
One of Korea's powerful Constellations, known as Swordmaster Cheok.
Considering his potential in the later parts of the story, choosing him instead of a fabled-grade Constellation wouldn't have been a bad choice.
"Wow, that's incredible. What was the third?"
At that moment, Uncle Dansu's face looked strangely dignified.
I soon learned why.
"The third was God of Wine and Ecstasy."
I wondered if I had heard wrong.
"Who?"
"God of Wine and Ecstasy······."
"Really? You're not lying, are you?"
"Why would I lie?"
The uncle looked wronged.
Still, I felt like using [lie detection] on them.
No, how could this make any sense?
Jophiel and Goryeo's Top Swordsman.
And then God of Wine and Ecstasy, Dionysus?
Who was Dionysus?
He was one of the twelve gods of the great nebula Olympus, and a powerful fabled-grade Constellation who had supported Dokja from the beginning of ORV.
How could only Constellations like that show up?
I'd be happy if things went well for the uncle, but I was still a little jealous and upset.
"Who was the last one? Don't tell me the last one, too······."
"Well, the last Constellation surprised even me."
Surprised them that much?
For a moment, I thought of ???.
Could that option have appeared for this uncle, too?
"It was a Constellation called Sinister Schemer."
So it was just a Secretive Plotter knockoff.
The last one wasn't anything special.
"That one came to me, too."
The uncle looked oddly disappointed.
"May I ask how it was for you, friend?"
"About ten came to me."
"T-ten?"
"Though I couldn't choose any of them."
"May I ask which Constellations they were?"
"Well, Black Flame Dragon and······."
"Black Flame Dragon!"
Uncle Dansu nodded with their eyes shining like a child's.
Still, no Constellation besides Black Flame Dragon could compare to the ones on the uncle's list.
[The Constellation Nail-Eating Rat looks dejected.]
After thinking for a moment, I decided to make the wise choice that would preserve everyone's pride.
"And a dragon as famous as Black Flame Dragon."
"That's amazing."
[The Constellation Reclining Dragon sponsors 100 Coins in admiration.]
"And······ there were a few Constellations similar to Prisoner of the Golden Headband······."
"On Prisoner of the Golden Headband's level······."
[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger sponsors you with 100 Coins.]
[The Constellation Primeval Ox sponsors you with 100 Coins.]
[The Constellation Nail-Eating Rat sponsors you with 100 Coins.]
[The Constellation Dog Who Threw Himself into the Flames sponsors you with 100 Coins.]
Prisoner of the Golden Headband was a strong monkey.
For all I knew, they were a strong tiger, a strong ox, a strong rat, and a strong dog, so it wasn't entirely false.
Seeing the happy Constellations made me feel good, too.
[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries looks at you as if you are ridiculous.]
[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries calls Prisoner of the Golden Headband.]
······No way.
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband has entered the channel.]
No, wait.
[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger has left the channel.]
[The Constellation Primeval Ox has left the channel.]
[The Constellation Nail-Eating Rat has left the channel.]
[The Constellation Dog Who Threw Himself into the Flames has left the channel.]
I could almost hear Bihyeong screaming somewhere.
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband asks where everyone went.]
[The Constellation Pig Living in a Brick House says they couldn't see anything because they were inside their house.]
While the channel fell into chaos, Uncle Dansu, standing beside me, kept giving me a thumbs-up and talking.
"That's truly amazing. Such incredible Constellations······."
"No, it isn't. Who did you choose, Uncle?"
The uncle's main options were three.
Jophiel, Cheok Junkyung, and Dionysus.
All three were incredible Constellations, so from here on, it depended on the uncle's preference.
Whoever they chose, a smooth path until at least the middle Scenarios was guaranteed.
Uncle Dansu suddenly seemed to radiate an aura.
Looking closely, they were a little old, but an indescribable intelligence shone in their eyes.
And they had read all of ORV.
Wait, was this······?
Could this uncle be the protagonist?
Just as Dokja was the protagonist of ORV, perhaps Lee Dansu was the protagonist of this story.
The situation resembled Dokja's, with three incredible Constellations attaching themselves to them from the start.
My heart suddenly began to race.
If this uncle was the protagonist······.
I recalled the first sentence about Uncle Dansu.
"Sometimes, I thought about it. What would it have been like if I were the protagonist?"
It was such a perfect protagonist-like line that I found myself nodding.
"If I were Dokja, who would I have chosen in the first Patron selection?"
In the first <Patron Selection>, Dokja received unprecedented offers from Uriel, Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Black Flame Dragon, and Secretive Plotter, but committed the reckless act of choosing no one.
"That surprised me. I think I would've naturally chosen the strongest Constellation."
"Most people would."
Dokja had read all 3,149 chapters of the bizarre novel TWSA, which had 50,000 characters per chapter, and he was insane enough to memorize it all. That was why he could survive even after making such a choice.
But Uncle Dansu had only read 551 chapters of ORV, which had barely 5,000 characters per chapter, and they hadn't understood most of it.
"Yes······ I chose the strongest Constellation like an ordinary person."
"I think I can roughly guess who you chose."
Uncle Dansu smiled back and nodded.
"Yes. This Constellation is the strongest in the entire novel. I've forgotten a lot of other things, but I remember this Constellation's name."
The uncle had suddenly become so talkative that I felt a little uneasy.
Come to think of it, this uncle couldn't even remember who Inho Cheon was.
"Uncle. You may be disappointed, but Commander of the Red Cosmos is strong, though not quite the strongest······."
"I didn't choose some red flower."
"God of Wine and Ecstasy is fabled-grade, too. As you know, above fabled-grade is Mythical······."
"I don't like alcohol."
After quickly checking my surroundings, I lowered my voice.
"Uncle, I'm Korean too, so I really like Goryeo's Top Swordsman, but······."
"I'm not patriotic enough to call Cheok Junkyung the strongest."
"Then who did you choose?"
The intelligence I had seen in the uncle's eyes flashed with madness.
"Jiyoon always said this Constellation was the best in ORV. She said she would definitely marry him someday."
Marry?
“‘A man who endured the tragedy of endless regressions and finally saw the end of this world.’ That's what it said on the poster in Jiyoon's room.”
Only then did I realize what was happening.
No. It couldn't be.
Absolutely not.
There was no way a reader of my novel would confuse that.
Yet Uncle Dansu was already smiling confidently, with an expression like Dokja after breaking through the Final Wall.
"The strongest Constellation I chose is Sinister Schemer."
[The Constellation Sinister Schemer smiles brightly.]
Uncle Dansu suddenly began to look like Han Myeongoh when he chose Limping Trickster.
[The entry restrictions in this Area have been lifted!]
In the distance, men holding pipes came running toward us.
[The next Scenario will begin shortly.]
Maybe we would die before we even met Dokja.
Footnotes:
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