WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 595: Episode 9: Words That Cannot Be Written (1)

──────

When was it again? Was it around the time I was writing the "Catastrophe of Floods" episode?

When Kim Dokja was beaten by Shin Yuseong from the 41st round and his insides were torn out, Ji Eunyu said this.

「"Writer. Isn't it a little implausible for him to stay conscious with a hole in his stomach?"」

What had I said then?

I think I said something like this.

In Fantasy, even if someone's limbs were severed and their stomach was pierced, they could still talk.

And more than anything else.

「"Dokja has [The Fourth Wall], after all."」

Even if he didn't have [The Fourth Wall], what mattered was mental energy.

Back then, I thought mental energy could overcome anything. I believed that if there was something it couldn't overcome, it was only because there wasn't enough of it.

If I could return to that time now, I'd want to smack the back of my own head as hard as I could.

I'm sorry, Kim Dokja-ssi.

I was wrong.

It hurt terribly, didn't it?

Amid pain that felt as though my body would split in half, I begged Dokja again and again. I didn't know how long I had been begging when someone answered.

「······ ······ ······」

It was an extremely faint voice. I couldn't properly make out what it was saying, but I knew with certainty that it was composed of deeply compassionate, warm words.

The pain gradually faded.

Through my hazy vision, I saw thread tightly wrapped around my stomach. I reached out and touched the warm thread.

Beyond the fluttering thread, brown hair drifted like flower petals.

「······ ······」

I wanted to ask.

Who are you? Where is this?

Why did you save me?

「······ ······.」

My consciousness kept growing dimmer, and the words drifted farther away.

When I felt someone take my hand, something surged up inside me. [Incitement] or whatever, it felt as though a corner of my heart had collapsed.

I wanted to say it.

I couldn't do it alone.

I couldn't change this world or protect people by myself.

I wanted to ask for help. I wanted to ask them to protect everyone.

Then the person beyond the thread opened their mouth.

「No.」

* * *

"Inho-ssi! Inho-ssi!"

When I opened my eyes, Gyeong Se-in and Huiwon were right in front of me.

"He's awake! Inho-ssi is awake too!"

Chungmuro.

It looked like I had safely returned to where my original body was. I instinctively looked down at my stomach. My skin was intact.

"What on earth happened? Everyone suddenly collapsed, and Inho-ssi just wouldn't wake up..."

Huiwon gripped my shoulder tightly and let out deep sighs.

Seeing Gyeong Se-in quietly avoid my eyes, I realized no one had told Huiwon what we had gone through. It was probably the obvious choice.

"Inho-ssi, are you okay? You didn't hit your head or anything, did you?"

"Yes. I'm fine. Thank you."

Huiwon put a hand on my forehead, then got to her feet.

"Stay here for a moment. I'll get you something to drink."

As soon as Huiwon left, Gyeong Se-in and Mr. Dansu quickly sat beside me.

"Inho-ssi, you were there until now, right?"

"Yes... But wait a moment."

I closed my eyes and sorted through everything that had happened.

There were four major pieces of information I had learned in that "theater."

Firstly, the "Little Kim Dokjas" were watching this situation in the theater.

Secondly, the Representative was hostile toward Dokja.

Thirdly, the Representative was a "character."

Fourthly, someone had saved me from the Representative.

Every piece of information was shocking, and it was difficult to connect them into a coherent whole.

Still, one thing was certain. The Representative was using us to plot something.

And...

「...Company!」

I had heard something like that just before losing consciousness, but I couldn't remember exactly what had happened afterward.

I could barely recall that someone had helped me escape that zone.

Several deductions surfaced in my mind, then quickly vanished.

「No way.」

When I opened my eyes, Gyeong Se-in began chattering as if they had been waiting.

"Inho-ssi, that guy brought us here, right? Kim Dokja Representative."

"Yes. Judging from the circumstances, I think so."

"I didn't think he was that kind of person. I'm really disappointed. Do you know how much I read the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Encyclopedia he wrote..."

I almost told them that the Kim Dokja Representative who wrote that and this Kim Dokja Representative were probably different beings, but I kept my mouth shut.

It wasn't important right now.

"Still, he said he'd send us home if we somehow stopped the apocalypse..."

Would the Representative really keep that promise?

I didn't know.

If my guess was right, he was an Outer God, and we had formed an Otherworld Covenant. The promise should be valid.

That was only if we somehow managed to prevent the destruction within the Scenario.

"Inho-ssi, we thought something had gone terribly wrong because you woke up later than everyone else. Nothing else happened to you, right?"

I skipped the details and gave them a brief explanation. There were too many people around, and I didn't think this was the time.

"I don't know if it was a bug or something else, but even after everyone else disappeared, I remained there alone for a while."

"Inho, could it be..."

Mr. Dansu suddenly grabbed my hand. I lightly clasped it and shook my head.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't find Jiyoon."

"Ah."

Mr. Dansu's expression immediately darkened.

"It's not time to give up yet. There were many children around Jiyoon's age that I didn't get a chance to speak to."

"Really?"

To be honest, there hadn't been that many children Jiyoon's age. Still, there was no reason to tell him that now.

Gyeong Se-in added their own reassurance.

"That's right, sir. And this world is Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. Even if the worst happens, there's still a way."

"Se-in-ssi is right."

This world was Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Even if someone died here, it didn't necessarily mean permanent death.

Constellations ruled over the underworld in this world, and dead souls simply went there.

But would readers like me truly be able to go to the underworld?

Would we become worldline orphans like Shin Yuseong from the 41st round, unable to go anywhere?

The thought suddenly filled me with fear.

「Where had all the readers who had already died gone?」

I was staring blankly at the landing leading upstairs when I saw Seventh Apostle Ye Hyeonu coming down with a few people.

"Inho-ssi. You're awake?"

I gave a light bow to the teenage boy who hurried over to greet me.

Hyeonu glanced around, then whispered quietly.

"You were there too, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"That's a shame. If I'd known what you looked like, I could've greeted you."

Hyeonu had probably been in that theater as well. Which one of them had he been? I didn't know. I felt like I recognized a few of the readers, though.

"Maybe we'll get another chance. More importantly, is something wrong?"

The people who had come down from upstairs were in a commotion. Urgent shouts rang out, and others busily carried supplies.

"Ah, well..."

From Hyeonu's hardened expression, I could tell something had happened while I was asleep.

"Inho-ssi!"

Huiwon was running toward us from afar with water in her hands, and her expression was grim too.

I got up, wondering what on earth was happening.

[All Green Zones in the station have been destroyed, and the Main Scenario system is running rampant.]

An unexpected message rang out.

[The difficulty will be automatically adjusted according to the remaining Scenario schedule.]

That couldn't be.

This was starting now?

[The Scenario details have been updated!]

+

Category: Main

Difficulty: B-

Clear Conditions: All Green Zones in the station have been destroyed, causing the monsters scheduled to appear over the remaining days to run rampant at once. Survive against the overflowing monsters for the remaining time.

Duration: 8 hours

Reward: 2,000 Coins

Failure: ―

+

I recalled the explanation for "Emergency Defense" written in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

「Once the Green Zone Scenario runs rampant, it releases all the monsters scheduled to appear during the remaining time at once.」

The timing was even earlier than when Dokja faced Emergency Defense.

That meant we had to fight far more monsters than those that appeared in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Gyeong Se-in went pale, looked at me, and muttered.

"I-Inho-ssi. What do we do?"

In Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Dokja's group had destroyed every Green Zone and triggered Emergency Defense.

But Dokja wasn't in Chungmuro right now.

Then why had the Scenario begun?

[Green Zones have been destroyed far too quickly.]

[The difficulty of Emergency Defense has been adjusted.]

[Entry to this station is now prohibited.]

[Emergency Defense will begin in 5 minutes!]

Fortunately, we had been given preparation time.

I quickly looked over my Allies.

"It's okay. Everyone, calm down."

Even if the Scenario was harder than in the main story, the core of Emergency Defense was ultimately holding back the Tier-9 underground species Ground Rats and the Tier-8 underground species Grolls.

If so, the situation wasn't bad.

Thanks to Hyeonu, we could secure Pildu's help. More than anything...

"We have the strongest card, don't we?"

Hyeonu's face brightened.

"Do you have a hidden card?"

"I'm talking about Yu Junghyeok."

Junghyeok from the 41st round.

If that monster, who could kill a Poison Rhino from the very beginning, fought alongside Pildu, Emergency Defense wouldn't be a problem at all.

Whether Junghyeok would help us was another matter, but judging from how things had gone so far...

"You brats, get up already! This isn't the time to be loafing around! Damn it. That's why I told you back then..."

Pildu's booming shout rang out.

People who had brought sandbags from somewhere began quickly building fortifications around the platform.

But... where had Junghyeok gone?

"Inho-ssi."

Hyeonu turned to me with a dark expression.

"I didn't tell you earlier why I was fighting Yu Junghyeok, did I?"

Come to think of it, I had been summoned by the Representative so suddenly that I never got to hear Hyeonu's story.

"I wasn't fighting him because I wanted to. No matter what, why would a reader who's finished the novel choose to fight that monster?"

"Then..."

"That bastard was trying to destroy every Green Zone in Chungmuro."

A chill ran down my spine.

By the 41st round, Junghyeok must have known that Emergency Defense began once every Green Zone in Chungmuro was destroyed.

"Where is Junghyeok?"

"He went upstairs. While we were unconscious, he destroyed all the remaining Green Zones."

Hyeonu ground his teeth.

At that moment, someone tapped my shoulder.

"Oh, mister. You're awake?"

It was Jihye.

"My master told me to pass along a message. Ahem."

After clearing her throat on purpose, Jihye put a hand on her hip and imitated Junghyeok.

"If you really are Inho Cheon, you should be able to handle this much on your own."

There was no need to ask what exactly he meant by "this much."

[Emergency Defense has begun!]

Jihye added with a grin, "Then I'll be watching from over there."

With those final words, she lightly jumped up onto the landing.

Honestly, I wished Jihye would help too, but there was no time to persuade her.

Pildu shouted in his booming voice.

"It's starting. Everyone, gather!"

Having that man on our side was at least fortunate.

Hyeonu, standing beside me, spoke softly.

"Don't worry too much. I've been preparing hard since the first day in case this happened. It's a little earlier than expected..."

With a grunt, Hyeonu climbed atop a sandbag and stood tall like a ship captain, issuing orders to everyone.

"Take your positions! Do it just like we practiced this morning!"

They had apparently already finished practicing their formation. The people didn't panic and prepared to take cover behind the sandbags.

I found myself impressed anew.

This was a completely different atmosphere from the Geumho Station I had left behind.

People moved in orderly ranks, like a well-trained army.

What had brought them together so tightly?

"Who protects our land?"

"We protect it!"

Only then did I remember.

Right. Chungmuro was that kind of place.

A fortress of the landlord coalition, ruled by property magnate Pildu Gong.

And Hyeonu was commanding that fortress now.

"According to my calculations, with the fourth stage of the Invincible Castle Lord tech tree and the synergy from the Invincible Siege Formation, even Emergency Defense won't be a problem. The tech tree is still at stage three, but at this rate, soon..."

Why was someone like this still the Seventh Apostle?

Killer King should give Hyeonu the Second Apostle position immediately.

"We'll help too."

Gyeong Se-in and Mr. Dansu exchanged looks as they each gripped their weapons.

"Inho-ssi."

Huiwon stood in front of me as well.

"Don't go showing off for no reason. Stay hidden behind me."

Gyeong Se-in stepped forward with their shield. Mr. Dansu held his bamboo staff and called insects toward him.

Seeing Gyeong Se-in, Mr. Dansu, and Hyeonu together, I suddenly remembered the Representative's words.

「"He's only interested in whether Kim Dokja Company lives or dies."」

His words weren't entirely wrong.

In the end, all Dokja had been able to save was Kim Dokja Company, and in some ways, he hadn't even managed that properly.

Still, his story had been recorded and passed on. And there were readers who had read that story.

People who remembered better than anyone else how they had fought and what kind of lives they had lived.

「That was why this story still hadn't ended.」

Ground Rats cried out in the distance. Soon afterward, an ominous vibration came from the station tunnel.

Hyeonu shouted.

"Focus on defending your own land! Mr. Pildu and I will handle the rest!"

Ground Rats came pouring out of the darkness like a swarm of cockroaches.

After checking [private property] and [Armed Zone], Hyeonu gave a hand signal.

"Fire!"

Emergency Defense had begun.

* * *

Mini Turret fire rang out from the lower floor.

Crunch.

The woman bit down on the candy in her mouth.

She lightly dusted off her hands and rose.

"It's started. We should get going too."

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist asks if you really aren't going to help.]

"Why would we help? Our goal isn't to help them. You haven't forgotten, have you?"

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist nods as if hesitating.]

"We don't even have time to help. You saw it too. Where that Sunfish bastard went."

The woman in the white coat looked up at the stairs leading to the upper floor, her eyes blazing.

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist sighs and says that dark-clad man is trouble.]

The woman took out a new lemon-flavored candy, put it in her mouth, and said, "He's growing faster than I thought. If he becomes any stronger here, he may become difficult to control."

[The Constellation Sinister Strategist groans.]

"This is our only chance. If he went to that place, he'll definitely reveal an opening."

The woman looked down at the landing one last time.

Inho Cheon and the people of Chungmuro were fighting as they bled.

She watched that scene for a moment, as if trying to imprint it in her eyes. Then she sharply turned away and said,

"We end the 41st round's story here."

Footnotes:

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