WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 582: Episode 5: Villain (7)
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Plague-Bringing Rat.
Neither in ORV nor in the settings of TWSA was this Constellation meant to appear so early. Yet it had suddenly contracted with three Incarnations and sent them to raid the Dark Fold.
That rat was one hundred percent a Reader.
I wanted to try using [Reader Comment List], but unfortunately, it couldn't be used on a target without a visible form.
Unless it possessed an Incarnation body...
"Hey, everyone. Let's not fight."
I waved at the Ratmen glaring at me and slowly backed away.
Even Literary Girl 64, whom I had trusted, had been poisoned, so it was now three against one.
There was no way I could win.
But who was I?
According to Yu Junghyeok, I was the being called "One Who Deceived the Stars" in the fortieth round.
"Members of the Readers' Association. I'm not your enemy."
I was the very archvillain the Constellations called the Sophist of Evil.
[The Exclusive Skill, Incitement Lv.3, has activated!]
"Just looking at you, I can tell you're villains. I happen to be one myself."
As I spoke, I quietly moved toward Killer King, who lay nearby.
"So let's negotiate. Is this friend what you want?"
I seized Killer King by the nape and lifted Killer King up. Literary Girl 64, slumped nearby, looked at me with despair.
I gave Literary Girl 64 a faint smile before turning back to the Ratmen.
One of them spoke.
"We don't negotiate."
"Rat bastard, don't butt in. I'm talking to your Constellation, not you."
The Ratman frowned at my cold voice.
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat looks at you with interest.]
Smiling, I began to speak.
"You saw me fighting just now, so you know I can hold my own. If I seriously fought with everything I had, your Incarnations wouldn't come out unharmed. If all three of your Incarnations die this early, won't that be a serious blow to you?"
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat glares at you.]
"Do we really need to fight each other, though? You want this guy, and I don't particularly want blood on my hands. Let's make this a win-win. We'll give what we need to give and take what we need to take."
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat says it cannot trust the Seven Apostles.]
"I'm not part of the Seven Apostles."
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat is using Lie Detection.]
[Your words have been confirmed to be true.]
Now even rats were using that Skill.
Well, it was still a Constellation, even if it was a rat.
"I'll hand Killer King over to you, so give up the Random item Box you have."
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat says it cannot give you the box.]
"Then I'll take the rest of the items here, excluding that box."
Plague-Bringing Rat seemed to consider my offer for a moment.
I heard the Ratmen squeaking as they asked,
―What should we do?
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat tells them to wait a moment.]
I slowly stepped toward the wall as I spoke.
"You don't need to think about it for long. Think carefully. It seems you've chosen a pretty difficult path, too. If we want to survive in a world like this, shouldn't we cooperate? I don't want this to become a story where villains fight among themselves, only to get killed off in the end."
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat asks who you are.]
Tzzzt.
Light sparks ran across my body. It seemed Plague-Bringing Rat was planning to release its Status and intimidate me.
Still, Plague-Bringing Rat didn't seem to be a particularly powerful Constellation. At this early stage, it probably wasn't free from Plausibility restrictions either.
"I'm disappointed. Do you really not know who I am? It seems you haven't read the novel properly."
I took another step.
Perhaps sensing something strange, the rat warned me.
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat tells you to stop.]
Could I pull this off? I didn't know.
"As for who I am, I'm ORV's worst villain."
With those words, I pulled the other flames embedded nearby free.
The ash-gray torch blazed as it absorbed black Aether. As the other flames lit the surroundings, my shadow flickered ominously for an instant.
"The bastard to be burned to death by hellfire inferno."
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat commands them to kill him at once.]
The Ratmen blew through their pipes in unison, firing poisoned needles.
I used Killer King as a shield.
Pew. Pew. Pew.
Killer King's eyes flew open, and their body trembled convulsively. It couldn't be helped.
I'll save you, so hang in there a little longer, Reader.
Using Killer King as a shield, I charged at the Ratmen. Startled, they leaped back.
I threw the other flames I held at them with all my strength. Spinning through the air, the other flames flew past them and rolled into the back of the Dark Fold.
Black smoke billowed from the extinguished other flames.
Black Aether was being released.
―Watch out!
Something began to rise from the heart of the thick black Aether.
「A 'boss monster' still lived here.」
Kim Dokja in the main story hadn't personally delivered the killing blow to that monster. If he did, he would receive the demon king's curse.
[The ruler of the Dark Fold has absorbed black Aether!]
Killer King, who had read ORV nearly one hundred times, seemed to remember that part as well.
[Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark, has resurrected!]
The Mana of the black Aether flowing from the other flames resurrected the dying Warden of the Dark.
At the Ratmen's squeaks of terror, three or four tentacles shot out from the Warden of the Dark's body at once.
The Ratmen barely avoided the tentacles.
But then,
Fwoooosh!
The Ratmen couldn't avoid the tentacles rising from the floor behind them. In an instant, three Ratmen had their bellies pierced and thrashed about with shrieks.
"Kalidu."
At the Warden of the Dark's words, something began to writhe into the bodies of the three Ratmen.
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat is enraged!]
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat has raised its synchronization rate with its Incarnation!]
Having finally grasped the situation, Plague-Bringing Rat attempted to intervene directly.
That was a mistake.
Tzzzzzt!
[Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark, has sensed a Constellation's existence.]
[Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark, has offered a prayer to its master.]
Rumble.
The entire Dark Fold shook as if an earthquake had struck.
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat is flustered.]
Someone was looking into this zone.
A being on an entirely different level from Plague-Bringing Rat.
Cold sweat ran down my back.
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband frowns at the demon king's appearance.]
He was the master of the 32nd Demon Realm.
[The Constellation Commander of the Red Cosmos stiffens.]
[The Constellation Primeval Ox's eyes light up.]
The Demonic God of Wrath and Lust.
Demon King Asmodeus.
[The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust stares at Plague-Bringing Rat.]
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat has received a fatal blow.]
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat groans in fear.]
[The Constellation Plague-Bringing Rat has left the channel.]
The majesty of defeating a Historical Constellation with a single glance.
[The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust looks at you strangely.]
The demon king watched me from across the abyss.
[The Exclusive Skill, Incitement Lv.3, has activated powerfully!]
「I am Kim Dokja, who possesses The Fourth Wall.」
I didn't back down and met the demon king's gaze.
[The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust is interested in you.]
[The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust remembers your name.]
With that final message, the gaze vanished as though it had never been there. Only the Warden of the Dark and I remained.
I breathed heavily and glared at it.
"Do you want to fight?"
The Warden of the Dark looked at me silently, then muttered something.
[You understand the setting of the relevant language.]
[The language of the demonic species is being interpreted.]
―O one who came from ■ of ■■, the king is watching you.
...What?
Leaving those words behind, it vanished into the Dark Fold with the Ratmen.
[Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark, has disappeared from Ground Rat's Treasure Trove.]
[You have defeated the Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark!]
[Sub Scenario Defeat the Warden has been completed.]
[You have successfully plundered someone else's Sub Scenario!]
[You have acquired 8,000 Coins.]
[The Constellation Commander of the Red Cosmos is impressed by your courage in facing the demon king.]
[You have received an additional sponsorship of 1,000 Coins.]
I had been preparing to fight the Warden of the Dark if necessary, so this was fortunate.
So a development like this was possible.
Behind me, I saw Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Se-in coughing as they got up.
"Inho? Ah! What is this...?"
Judging by the exaggerated muttering, someone must have woken up long ago and pretended to be unconscious while assessing the situation.
With a bitter smile, I pointed at Killer King and Literary Girl 64, sprawled on the ground.
"Let's save those people first."
* * *
According to the TWSA setting notes, there were two symptomatic treatments for deadly poisonous fog: using Ellain Monkey's Lungs, or feeding someone Ellain Forest Essence and putting them to sleep.
Yet Killer King and Literary Girl 64 were in a condition where recovery couldn't be guaranteed even with those methods.
Killer King's condition was especially serious, since Killer King had been hit by too many poisoned needles because of me.
"Cough, hack."
Killer King's face had turned ashen, and foam was now forming at Killer King's mouth as Killer King struggled to breathe.
Still, I couldn't let a Reader who had read it ninety-nine times die like this.
I took out the Poison Rhino Horn Fragment I had hidden in my pocket and ground it into a fine powder.
Uncle Dansu asked,
"What is that?"
"I picked it up when I met Yu Junghyeok before."
If my ligaments had been intact then, I could have gotten a larger piece, but with one arm ruined, all I could recover had been fragments.
Fortunately, this was enough for now.
I mixed the horn powder with bottled water and poured it into Killer King and Literary Girl 64's mouths.
After a little time passed, their complexions visibly improved.
「A Poison Rhino's horn has a detoxifying effect against deadly poisonous fog.」
It was something I had only created as a TWSA setting and never used in the main story. I hadn't expected it to be useful like this.
"The rest of you should drink a little as well. It's very effective for treating deadly poisonous fog."
"How did you know something like that?"
"I tested it as soon as I got the horn fragment."
"Just as expected of you, Inho...!"
I told Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Se-in, who were drinking the remaining bottled water, about what had happened while they were out.
I deliberately left out the part about Killer King trying to kill us. There was no need to create hostility in the current situation.
"There was a Reader who had possessed a Constellation? And they were a member of the Readers' Association?"
Gyeong Se-in looked as though they could barely breathe when they heard the name Readers' Association.
"Y-you fought the Readers' Association?"
"Yes. But that person seemed a little strange."
Killer King was one thing, but the person who had possessed that plague rat had looked truly disturbed. Even if they had been transported into a novel, could someone who had been living in reality only days ago suddenly turn into a murderous maniac?
Gyeong Se-in went pale before speaking.
"If it's the Readers' Association, that's possible. Damn it, to make enemies with those bastards from the very beginning..."
I was a little confused.
"Isn't it just a club?"
"The Readers' Association isn't just a club."
Huh? Then what was it?
Killer King, who had regained consciousness at some point, answered my question.
"The Readers' Association is the name of an illegal file-sharing site."
Footnotes:
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