WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 569: Episode 3: Protagonist(?) (6)

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I went through the newly added table of contents entries one by one. Another entry was added while I was looking.

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Episode 3: Protagonist(?) (6) +[21]

Episode 3: Protagonist(?) (5) +[24]

...

Episode 2: Rewriting (1) +[49]

Episode 1: The World After the Ending (2) +[41]

Episode 1: The World After the Ending (1) +[63]

Prologue: This Is Not a Notice +[98]

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A total of 568 chapters.

What on earth was going on?

Looking more closely, I saw that an event side story had been slipped in as well.

Come to think of it, I remembered writing a side story like that for a Yu Junghyeok birthday event.

But had I uploaded it as part of the serialization?

It would be nice if I could somehow check what it was about.

After hesitating for a moment, I decided to check the comments on the latest episode.

[A Daily Free Pass has been deducted.]

A free pass?

[One comment from this episode will be revealed at random, regardless of its order.]

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―First.

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The only visible comment was someone playing the first-comment game. All the others were hidden behind blacked-out blocks.

What was this?

I checked the comments on episodes that had been serialized long ago.

Looking more closely, I could view every comment up through Chapter 552.

The problem was the comments on episodes after that.

[You can view up to three comments per day for episodes serialized from Chapter 553 onward.]

[You currently possess 2 Daily Free Passes.]

[Once you have used all your Daily Free Passes, you can use coins to view comments.]

[3,000 coins will be deducted per comment.]

This was ridiculous.

Three thousand coins for one additional comment?

No, three thousand coins were my entire fortune right now.

I decided to use the free passes first.

Starting with Chapter 553.

[A Daily Free Pass has been deducted.]

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―Oh?

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Somehow, I felt wronged.

I tapped Chapter 556.

[A Daily Free Pass has been deducted.]

[You have used all Daily Free Passes available today.]

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―Wow, so this is a story about the author possessing Inho Cheon?

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Fortunately, this comment let me infer what the chapter was about.

The ongoing side story was definitely about my current situation, where I was possessing Inho Cheon.

My thoughts were a mess.

Who was serializing this?

Was someone writing this story under my name in my place?

If this was a novel, were my thoughts being narrated exactly as they were?

「Then was I thinking, or was I being thought?」

I didn't know.

There was nothing I could figure out right now.

"Um."

Jeong Huiwon came to find me during a break after the Food distribution was over.

"Can I sit beside you?"

"Ah, yes."

Huiwon sat on the bench where I was sitting. However, she didn't speak to me right away.

I'd been too distracted to notice before, but it felt strange all over again when I thought about a character I'd written sitting beside me.

This person wasn't just words on a page.

Her pale skin, long hair, and deep eyes looking at me were all real.

Jeong Huiwon truly existed before my eyes.

"I'm sorry about earlier. Se-in told me it was a misunderstanding. She said you looked a lot like someone she hated..."

"No, anyone could make that mistake. It's alright."

It wasn't that I resembled him.

I was him.

I took a canned drink from my pocket and handed it to her.

"Would you like one?"

"Ah, thank you."

We sat side by side and drank from our cans. As we looked out over the empty tracks together, I was reminded of the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Come to think of it, Kim Dokja had sat on the Geumho Station platform and talked with Huiwon too.

"The trains won't come anymore, will they?"

No matter how long we waited, no trains would come. The next train, and the one after that, would be the same.

Still, the fact that trains were no longer running didn't mean we would immediately die.

"We need to get used to walking now."

"You're calm, Inho. I could never be."

"I tend to imagine strange things."

At those words, Huiwon gave a bitter smile.

"That's strange. Se-in said something similar."

In the distance, Gyeong Se-in was teaching Uncle Dansu how to do squats.

She told him to keep his back straighter, not let his knees stick out too far, and that if he wanted to survive in this world, he needed to strengthen his lower body first...

"If Se-in hadn't been there, I probably would've died."

According to Huiwon, she and Se-in had been trapped in the same Area during the First Scenario.

I roughly knew what had happened.

Se-in had caught a bug for the panicked Huiwon, and the two of them had survived because of it.

"There must have been a lot of bugs, then."

"There was only one."

"What?"

Thinking about it, our Area had luckily had a vending machine, but not every Area would have been like that.

There must have been Areas with barely any bugs at all.

"I'm the only one who survived because of a bug."

"Then Se-in..."

"It was self-defense. You could say they were the kind of person who couldn't complain even if they died."

The look on Huiwon's face somehow resembled the Judge of Evil I knew.

But Se-in had killed someone? She didn't look like she could do that.

"By the way, Inho."

"Yes."

"Have we met before?"

"What?"

"Like what you said earlier."

What had I said earlier?

"That... never mind."

「Huiwon-nim... I love you... I really do...」

Goosebumps suddenly rose on my arm.

"Ah, that."

Come to think of it, it wasn't strange for Huiwon to misunderstand.

"Just forget it."

"Should I?"

"Yes."

I'd felt a strange gaze from afar, and Se-in had stopped squatting to glare in this direction.

Huiwon let out a sigh of relief.

"That's a relief. I was worried you might be a strange person."

"You don't need to worry about that."

I was afraid of what Ji Eunyu would say if she learned about this.

What kind of author confessed to a character he'd created?

Huiwon scratched her cheek as she watched me deny it so strongly, then smiled.

"Anyway, I look forward to working with you. I was a little surprised when I saw you handing out Food earlier. I never would've thought of it."

[The character Jeong Huiwon has a faint sense of trust in you.]

Only then did I understand why Huiwon had come to speak to me.

[More than half of the people in this Area currently consider you their leader.]

[You have become the leader of Geumho Station.]

[A Sub Scenario reward has been granted.]

[You have acquired 500 coins.]

[If you survive until the Fourth Main Scenario, you will receive additional benefits for completing the Sub Scenario.]

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist says your strategy is fairly good.]

Wow, there were even rewards like this?

Had Inho Cheon in the main story died right away without enjoying this either?

When I met Dokja, I was really going to treat him well.

Right. Dokja.

It was about time to meet the real Dokja.

* * *

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yep."

"Not yet. Wait a little longer."

Se-in and Uncle Dansu each held a pipe with cloth wrapped around the handle. They were the temporary weapons we would use for the time being.

"But are we leaving the Ironhead Gang here? I thought you gathered a gang so you could put them out front at a time like this."

It wasn't wrong.

Still, if I brought the Ironhead Gang along and ran into Dokja or Junghyeok, it could create an even more troublesome situation.

Se-in nodded as if she understood.

"True. It would be easy to misunderstand. But if you think about it that way, Inho being here is a problem in itself."

"If it's just me, I'll find something to say in my defense."

"What are you going to say?"

"You should be the one saying it, Se-in. Do you think Dokja or Junghyeok would listen if I said it?"

"Ah, is that how it is? Ugh... What should I say? I'm not good at talking. How far do you think those two have gotten by now?"

"The Even-Number Bridge Scenario has probably just ended."

In the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Dokja's group scattered when Dongho Bridge collapsed.

"Dokja will have been eaten by a Sea Dragon right away, so we'll most likely run into Junghyeok, Lee Hyeongseong, Yu Sangah, Lee Gilyeong... and the other members first."

That was the logical conclusion.

Of course, that was only if the Scenario had unfolded the same way as in the main story.

"We might run into Han Myeongoh too."

Uncle Dansu said that.

He seemed to have finally finished getting ready to leave, since something was shining above his head. It seemed he had received a benefit from his Patron.

That was a relief. At least his Constellation wasn't completely awful.

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist looks forward to the performance of the Incarnation Lee Dansu.]

"Are the three of us really going? Will we be alright?"

I was worried too.

After all, the people gathered here were two men born with one point in Constitution, Strength, and Agility, and a girl with the soul of a muscular man.

"Do either of you have a combat skill? Something like [Weapon Refinement]?"

Se-in and Uncle Dansu shook their heads at the same time.

[Weapon Refinement] was the most basic weapon skill in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

We didn't even have that basic skill.

Still, Se-in was confident.

"Don't you think we can handle a few Ground Rats? We have experience, after all."

I agreed.

Who were we?

We were a party made up of the writer of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, though Se-in and Uncle Dansu didn't know that yet, and readers who had read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint to the end.

In the end, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint was the story of a writer, a reader, and a protagonist joining forces to reach the ending. There was no reason we couldn't do it too.

"By the way, can we really talk openly about the novel like this? The Constellations..."

"It should be fine. Even early in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, everything about TWSA was filtered."

"But there's no guarantee it will be the same here..."

[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries grumbles, asking what they are talking about.]

[The Constellation Pig Living in a Brick House protests that the conversation filter seems to have been applied incorrectly.]

Se-in nodded in admiration.

"Wow, it's real. Just like Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint."

Was that an insult or a compliment?

I didn't bother asking.

We stepped into the tunnel leading to Oksu Station.

As the darkness of the gloomy tunnel closed in around us, the sound of our breathing grew louder.

One step, then another.

With every step, cold seeped into my ankles. The sensation of being exposed to danger was palpable against my skin.

All three of us seemed to be thinking the same thing, but nobody voiced their true thoughts.

In the end, Se-in, who had the soul of a muscular man, was the first to speak.

"Should we just go back? We can still meet them if we wait at Geumho Station. Do we really need to go looking for them?"

"It would be better for us to go meet them. Something might have happened."

"Right... The First Scenario changed."

"Let's take a look, and if it seems dangerous, we'll run away right away."

Of course, I had no intention of running.

For our future safety, the best option was to encounter the main characters at this point.

The worst-case scenario was that the other main characters, including Dokja, had died.

Even if they had all died, though, one person would still be alive.

Junghyeok.

The true protagonist of TWSA and the strongest Incarnation in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

If things truly went as badly as possible, someone had to meet Junghyeok in Dokja's place. They had to persuade and coax him, somehow seeing this damned Scenario through to the end.

「But which one of us could do that?」

While I was lost in thought, Uncle Dansu and Se-in chatted quietly. They must have become quite close while doing squats together.

"Did you sign a Patron contract too, Uncle?"

"Yes."

"With whom?"

"Sinister Strategist."

"Sinister Strategist?"

"Yes. A famous Constellation."

I'd clearly told him not to go around talking about it, but Uncle Dansu couldn't resist boasting.

For the record, Uncle Dansu was still confusing Sinister Strategist with Secretive Plotter, the strongest Constellation in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

And just then,

"It isn't that Constellation?"

He learned that this Constellation wasn't that Constellation.

"Did you perhaps read the novel carelessly?"

Uncle Dansu asked in a voice full of disbelief. Se-in frowned as she replied.

"What are you talking about? Do you know how thoroughly I read it? I've also read Kim Dokja Representative's Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Encyclopedia more than ten times. How many times have you read it?"

"What's that?"

"Never mind. The Constellation you're talking about is Secretive Plotter, not Sinister Strategist. How could you confuse the two?"

"That can't be..."

Uncle Dansu's pupils trembled as though an earthquake had struck.

"B-but Jiyoon definitely said this Constellation was the best..."

"Jiyoon or whatever has completely ruined you. That Constellation is obviously suspicious."

"Jiyoon is my daughter."

I was watching their conversation with interest when I suddenly realized I hadn't heard any messages from Sinister Strategist.

Talking about Sinister Strategist so openly, there should have been some response. Had they left the channel?

I suddenly grew uneasy. If Bihyeong's channel had lost popularity because of us, the planned Stream Contract might fall through.

"Bihyeong. Are you there?"

There was no reply, even when I tried speaking to him.

The communication hadn't been cut off, had it?

[Few Constellations whisper about who Sinister Strategist could possibly be.]

The Constellations were still reacting, so the channel didn't seem to be ruined.

I didn't know.

I could think through the complicated things later. Right now, it was time to move.

"Should we pick up the pace?"

"Alright."

"Let's do that."

One minute later.

"You're all moving even slower."

"Inho, you should lead the way. You're the leader."

This party wasn't some overpowered party made up of an author and readers who had finished the novel. It was just a party of cowards.

At this pace, it would be hard to reach Oksu Station even if we walked all day.

"Friends."

Unexpectedly, it was Uncle Dansu, who had been thinking about something, who came to our rescue.

"If it's alright, I think it would be better for me to scout ahead alone."

"What? You'll die, Uncle. Your Patron isn't Secretive Plotter."

"I know. My Patron is Sinister Strategist."

Uncle Dansu quietly placed his hand on the floor and muttered something under his breath.

"That's why there are things I can do."

A moment later, dozens of cockroaches gathered on the floor.

"E-eek!"

Se-in ran over and clung to my side. I stepped back to avoid her.

The cockroaches gathered around Uncle Dansu moved their antennae as if they were communicating with him, then formed a single line and began marching toward Oksu Station.

Se-in asked with trembling hands, "Uncle, isn't that [Inter-Species Communication]? How did you learn that skill? Is your Attribute Bug Collector?"

As far as I knew, there were hardly any characters in the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint with that skill.

Uncle Dansu wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"I received it from my Constellation."

From his Constellation?

His Patron had given him a skill like that?

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist has re-entered the channel.]

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist is surprised you have already come this far after leaving to eat.]

A thought flashed through my mind.

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist smiles with satisfaction at the cockroaches.]

No way...

It couldn't be, right?

Footnotes:

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