WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 583: Episode 5: Villain (8)

──────

Odd Reading Association.

At first, the site had been a gathering for people who collected rare books.

It was a small club where people read books that had gone out of print in Korea and could no longer be read, or untranslated classics, then exchanged opinions among themselves.

However, as its membership gradually grew and the site expanded, problems began to arise.

"Some members started illegally sharing things on their own. They began uploading not only rare books, but also comics and novels that were being officially serialized."

Rumors spread that people could view paid content for free, and the site gradually grew until it took the form of a business. Adult advertisements were prominently displayed on the site's front page, and illegal gambling money flowed in.

A few more years passed. The founding members disappeared, and the site turned into a full-fledged illegal file-sharing site.

Even after hearing Gyeong Se-in's entire explanation, it didn't make sense.

"You said the Seven Apostles fought the Odd Reading Association before."

"Ah, yes."

"Then the Seven Apostles fought that illegal site?"

"Well, that..."

Gyeong Se-in glanced at Killer King before cautiously adding,

"The Seven Apostles got into a fight with anonymous readers. It turned out those anonymous readers were people who had illegally read novels through the Odd Reading Association."

Only then did I understand what was going on.

In other words, when they said "Odd Reading Association," they meant people who read and shared illegally distributed copies.

It seemed even those who had read novels through such channels had entered this world through Possession.

Killer King picked up where Gyeong Se-in left off.

"You might not know, but many writers have quit creating or taken their own lives because of the Odd Reading Association."

"..."

"They illegally consumed content that someone devoted their life to making. A lot of writers I liked disappeared because of them."

Among my fellow writers, there had been quite a few who had quit writing because of illegal sharing.

"Is that why you fought them?"

Killer King didn't answer and sharply turned his head away.

Honestly, I couldn't help being moved.

Even as a writer, I had only felt helpless about eradicating illegal sharing, yet Killer King, a reader, had been this proactive about it.

Instead of merely leaving comments, he was literally risking his life to fight here.

I suddenly became curious about the comments Killer King had left.

[The Exclusive Skill Reader Comment List has been activated.]

+

ID: killer_king

Platform: Sirius, print edition

Total Comments: 491

Reader Level: 99

Number of Completed Reads: 99.8

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

* Number of comments currently available to view for free: 3.

+

Without hesitation, I selected [View Comments].

+

I am Yu Junghyeok.

- Likes 0 / Dislikes 1

(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Chapter 1)

+

I am Yu Junghyeok.

- Likes 0 / Dislikes 1

(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Chapter 23)

+

I am Yu Junghyeok.

- Likes 0 / Dislikes 1

(Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Chapter 77)

+

I doubted my eyes.

Killer King sensed my gaze and frowned at me.

"What are you looking at?"

"No, it's just..."

"Keep looking at me like that, and I'll kill you."

"You really do talk like Junghyeok."

Killer King let out a quiet groan and got to his feet, deliberately pretending to look elsewhere.

For some reason, he reminded me of a sulky younger cousin. I was about to tease him again when a voice came from behind me.

"Um, thank you for saving me."

LiteraryGirl64, who had regained consciousness at some point, weakly bowed her head.

I waved my hands.

"It was nothing. We got lucky."

"We did get lucky."

Killer King added, sounding oddly pleased.

"At least the Random item Box wasn't taken in all that."

At his words, we looked toward the blackened box the Ratmen had dropped.

Killer King's group had probably come here for that box as well.

An uncomfortable tension was about to settle in when Killer King spoke first.

"I'll yield this to you."

LiteraryGirl64 nodded as though she agreed.

Gyeong Se-in's and Dansu's expressions brightened.

Still, I shook my head.

"No, it's fine. We'll just take the other items."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. The other items are enough for us."

I looked down at the items scattered across the floor.

There were D-grade items Dokja had picked up in the main story, along with other items that had never appeared there.

As though giving me one last chance, Killer King asked again.

"Didn't you properly read Revelation? You should know how valuable this item box is."

"We really only need the other items. Don't change your mind later."

Killer King hesitated for a moment, then hugged the item box to his chest, unable to hide the desire in his eyes.

"I owe you a favor. I'll repay this debt."

With that, Killer King turned around and began walking away in long strides.

LiteraryGirl64 bowed deeply before following her older brother.

After asking Gyeong Se-in and Dansu to sort through the items, I escorted Killer King's group to the entrance of the Dark Fold.

Right before stepping through the passage, Killer King stopped.

We were far enough away that Gyeong Se-in and Dansu couldn't hear us.

"I was going to kill all of you."

"You were. It was a really bad thing to do."

"Why didn't you tell them that?"

"You didn't kill us, did you?"

Killer King frowned at me as if he truly couldn't understand.

"What's your name?"

"Inho Cheon."

"Don't tell me you're that Inho Cheon?"

"Yes."

Everyone who heard that name seemed to react the same way.

"I can't believe someone had taken Possession of that scumbag's body. You're not going around killing people by using the Ironhead Gang, are you?"

"If I were, you would all be dead here."

"You... what the hell are you?"

I smiled and shrugged.

For an instant, a pitch-black aura flickered in Killer King's eyes. His [Eye of Sin] Stigma had activated.

I suddenly grew curious.

"What do I look like to you?"

In his eyes, "Inho Cheon" was labeled as "a murderer who killed over a dozen people."

「I am Lee Hakhyun.」

Then what would "writer Lee Hakhyun" read as?

"What..."

Killer King's eyes widened in the next moment. His entire retina was turning black, like overlapping letters.

I wondered what my sin read as in his eyes.

[The Constellation Commander of the Red Cosmos is startled!]

Tzzzzzt!

[The Stigma Eye of Sin has been forcibly terminated.]

Killer King groaned as if in pain. Holding the eye he had used the Stigma with, he stared at me.

"You couldn't possibly... No, that can't be. Something must be broken."

Killer King muttered to himself before looking at me again.

"A villain like that couldn't exist in this world."

Killer King looked at me.

His eyes were clear without [Eye of Sin]. Perhaps they were the eyes of someone who had read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ninety-nine times.

"I hope the story's blessing is with you."

After those final words, Killer King walked away without looking back.

His sister seemed to glance in my direction a few times before following her brother beyond the Dark Fold.

I stood there and waved until they had completely disappeared.

Hoping that the story's blessing would be with them as well.

* * *

Among the items Gyeong Se-in and Dansu had gathered, there were more useful things than I had expected.

"You should take this shield, Se-in."

"A Rusty Iron Shield is the golden rule for a tank."

The Rusty Iron Shield.

It had been used by Lee Hyeongseong in the main story.

Of all of us, Gyeong Se-in was the most suited to use it.

"I'll give you the Mana Recovery Bracelet."

"Is it really all right for me to accept this so readily... Thank you."

Dansu put the bracelet around his wrist as though it were a luxury watch and smiled with satisfaction.

Since he used [Inter-Species Communication], that bracelet would likely be quite useful.

There was also a ring with faint magic resistance, as well as gloves that raised defense by a very small amount.

It was a little disappointing, but for the early stages, this much was more than enough.

The last item that caught my eye looked like spoiled jelly.

+

Name: Unshaped Thought

Grade: D

Description: An old magical weapon that lost its form. It could have become anything, yet ultimately became nothing.

+

It had only existed as a setting. I hadn't expected it to still be here.

My certainty grew once more.

Just as I thought, this world contained countless settings from my notes, even ones that had never appeared in the main story.

「Then had I created those settings, or had Han Suyeong told me about them?」

That was when Gyeong Se-in spoke.

"By the way, Inho."

"Yes?"

"Why did you yield the Random item Box?"

I had wondered when they would ask.

Judging by her expression, she had wrestled with the question for quite some time. Anyone would think she had lost a winning lottery ticket.

Then again, this was more important than a winning lottery ticket now.

"I was curious as well, friend."

Dansu carefully raised his hand and asked.

It was natural that this would seem strange to them.

It wasn't just any item. It was a Random item Box.

It was an essential material for restoring Dokja's constellation artifact, Unbreakable Faith.

The reason I had yielded the item box was simple.

"That box can't be used anyway."

"What?"

"Someone else already used it."

"That's impossible... Who?"

"Did those Odd Reading Association guys secretly use it?"

I shook my head at Dansu's question.

"Someone had already been here before either our group or Killer King's group arrived."

I was certain. It had only been for a moment, but I had opened the item box myself and checked. Its number of uses was already 0.

Dansu asked,

"Was there another reader who arrived before us?"

"We started at Geumho Station and only got here today. Even that person who read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ninety-nine times only arrived today."

"Then who could have..."

"Logically, there's only one person who could have done this by now."

Gyeong Se-in gulped as though she had realized who I meant.

"Yu Junghyeok."

I nodded.

Oksu Station was only one and a half stops away from here.

For the current Junghyeok, who could defeat a Tier-7 Monster in a single blow, there had been more than enough time for him to have come and gone already.

Gyeong Se-in thought for a while before muttering,

"Come to think of it, Junghyeok only stole the Treasure in the third round, too. But I remember that he didn't know about the Random item Box then."

"There's a description that he heard about it from Flying Fox in the sixth round. This is the forty-first round, so of course he knows."

"Ah..."

Gyeong Se-in lowered her head with a hollow expression.

Dansu nodded, his face grim.

"It's certainly very different from the third round where Dokja was present."

"Very different."

It was only the forty-first round, but Junghyeok here had experience on an entirely different level from the third round in the main story.

It was safe to assume that Junghyeok would claim many of the items Dokja had used early on.

Gyeong Se-in suddenly raised her head.

"Wait. Then Killer King, who took that box earlier, is..."

He was probably furious that he had been deceived by a villain.

Gyeong Se-in asked with admiration in her eyes.

"When did you plan all that, Inho?"

"When I realized the box had already been looted."

"You're really mean and smart."

"Thank you."

"I'm glad I took your side. It's a shame about the box, but..."

Dansu looked over the items we had obtained and spoke quietly.

"Still, we got a lot."

Including Dansu's bracelet and Gyeong Se-in's shield, we had acquired quite a few items that would be useful in the early stages. It wasn't as though we had come away empty-handed.

Still, it felt a little disappointing to leave with only this much.

After thinking for a moment, I examined the place where the Random item Box had originally been.

Somewhere around here.

I sat on the ground and began digging.

Dansu and Gyeong Se-in looked bewildered by my sudden action. I spoke to them.

"If you don't mind, please help me. There's something bothering me."

"Was there a description of something else being here?"

"No, not exactly."

I wasn't certain either. Still, it was better than not checking.

「"Writer, I think this is a little... Even if it's the trend these days."」

Ji Eunyu's voice surfaced in my mind.

It was a memory from five years ago.

Back when I had been diligently writing the first draft of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

「"If you give out this much from the beginning, there won't be any tension."

"Then what do you think would be better?"

"I think it would be best to go with your original first option."

"That would be better, right?"」

How long had the three of us been digging?

Something hard touched my fingertips.

"Oh, there's something here!"

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist widens its eyes.]

We brushed away the dirt and lifted the object from the hole at the same time.

A moment later, black soil slid away, and the item we had uncovered finally revealed itself.

[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger opens its mouth.]

[A Constellation with an undisclosed modifier is startled.]

What we found was a black box with a familiar appearance.

Dansu and Gyeong Se-in stared blankly at the box, then asked me,

"Inho, could this be...?"

I remembered Ji Eunyu's words.

「"Yes, I think it would be better if they only found one box."」

There hadn't originally been just one Random item Box hidden here.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried