WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 596: Episode 9: Words That Cannot Be Written (2)

──────

[The character Pildu Gong's Stigma Armed Zone Lv.5 has activated!]

A full level five Armed Zone.

With Pildu's thunderous barrage, every Ground Rat at the front was reduced to pulp.

Dududududu!

The Ground Rats kept pouring in, trampling over their companions' corpses.

"We're being pushed back! Watch out!"

Before ten minutes had passed, the line of sandbags at the front collapsed. Ground Rats squeezed through the gaps and howled, and a few citizens overcome by Fear screamed as they broke formation.

"No! Hold your positions! Don't run!"

A man whose arm had been bitten was dragged forward like a fish caught on a line.

"Arrrgh!"

Someone reached out too late, but the man was swallowed by the horde of Ground Rats. His screams didn't last long.

Gyeong Se-in's shoulders trembled faintly at the front.

"Inho."

As someone filled the dead man's vacant spot, I answered.

"Yes."

"Until now, it never really felt real."

Blood sprayed everywhere, and screams rang out.

People kept dying even as we spoke. They were people who had never properly exchanged names with us.

"Even after entering the novel, even after seeing people die, it still didn't feel real. I kept thinking maybe this was all a dream, that I'd wake up in my bed after getting some sleep."

Another person died, and someone else filled the empty space.

"But now it feels real."

As Se-in shook off a charging Ground Rat, he said,

"I really don't want to die."

I thought I knew why Se-in's feelings had changed so suddenly. It was probably because the situation had now changed.

"I want to survive... I have to survive and go home."

Because there was now hope that we could return to our original world.

「Prevent the destined destruction and forge a new fable.」

"Somehow, I'm going to clear every Scenario and go back."

Se-in stabbed a Ground Rat that had climbed over the sandbags.

He killed one, then another, then another.

I had no idea how many he had killed in that short time. Between breaths, Se-in said,

"The first thing I'll do when I get back is turn on my computer. I'll post about it on the forum. I'll brag that I was actually transported into Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint."

"...That's the first thing you'll do?"

"I'll say I saw Jeong Huiwon and Inho Cheon there, and that I met Yu Junghyeok. No one will believe me, but someday, I'll definitely tell them."

Before I could decide what to say, the man in front of Se-in died. Se-in stepped into the vacant spot without hesitation.

"And I'll definitely read the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint side story, too. The author said they would serialize it."

I gave a bitter smile.

Maybe turning on my computer would be the first thing I did, too.

"We're being pushed back again! Prepare the Molotov cocktails!"

As the second line of sandbags began to buckle, Ye Hyeonu gave the signal for the first time.

Several men at the rear took empty soju bottles from their clothes.

"Throw them!"

At Hyeonu's command, Molotov cocktails flew through the air. Gasoline splashed from shattered soju bottles, and flames erupted in the center of the platform.

Kieeeeee!

As the startled Ground Rats scattered in confusion, Pildu's shells rained down on them.

They had even prepared Molotov cocktails in that short time. The Apostle Society lived up to its reputation.

"We can't be pushed back! It takes a long time to set up [Armed Zone] again!"

The core of this defensive stand was Pildu's [Armed Zone].

If the line collapsed any further, we would have to deactivate [Armed Zone]. With our current strength, we couldn't cover the sudden gap in firepower.

The Ground Rats' advance slowed slightly, and a man guarding the front sandbags shouted behind him.

"Let's make more Molotov cocktails! Push the line like this and send every last one of those bastards into the flames..."

Something burst through the man's stomach.

It was the horn of a Groll, a Tier-8 subterranean species.

"Urk, urgh! Aaaaargh!"

"P-pull it out! Hurry!"

"Mr. Pildu! Help us!"

"Everyone, move!"

Dududududu!

The Groll with a man impaled on its horn thrashed wildly after being hit by bullets.

Monsters from Tier-8 onward didn't fall easily, even to Pildu's bullets. They needed to be hit cleanly at least four or five times before they went down.

And there wasn't just one.

Grolls that had emerged from all over the platform charged at the sandbags like heavy tanks.

To make matters worse, Pildu's barrage stopped.

"Damn it, I need to reload! Everyone, buy me some time!"

The front line was about to collapse.

"Se-in."

It was finally our turn.

"Yes."

Se-in had invested everything into Constitution and possessed the broken skill [Average Correction]. With a shout, Se-in grabbed the Groll's horn while Mr. Dansu sent cockroaches flying to cover the Groll's eye area.

Grrrooo?

Huiwon's sword severed the back of the Groll's neck.

Its head dropped with a thud.

After we took down three or four Grolls in quick succession, Pildu finished reloading and his bullets swept across the platform.

Dududududu!

The monsters at the front were swept away before the firepower of the [Mini Turret]. People cheered.

"Those guys are pretty good!"

"Protect Pildu!"

"We can do it! We can hold out!"

We had overcome the immediate crisis, but there was no reason to be optimistic.

Only a little over thirty minutes had passed. Pildu already looked exhausted. His Mana was running out.

In the original story, Dokja had provided him with a large quantity of Intermediate Mana Recovery Potions, but now...

[The Constellation Defence Master looks concerned.]

As more time passed, more Ground Rats began rising again after being struck by shells.

Just as I was wondering whether I should open the Dokkaebi Compendium now,

"Kid."

Pildu wiped the sweat from his forehead and called Hyeonu. Hyeonu silently approached Pildu from behind and stood with his hands clasped together. His small body was enveloped in a brilliant blue light.

I immediately recognized the skill.

[Mana Charge].

A skill that increased the user's Mana recovery speed in exchange for restricting movement.

Soon, I could feel Mana boiling within Hyeonu.

Wooooong.

It was Mana well beyond level thirty at a glance.

To have that much Mana in only the third Scenario.

Hyeonu had clearly ignored Strength, Agility, and Constitution, investing everything into Mana. No sane person would make that choice.

"Here I go, mister."

The moment Hyeonu's small hand touched Pildu's back, a faint thread of Mana formed between them.

[Mana Sharing].

It was the same method Yu Junghyeok had used to transfer Mana to Dokja when they fought Myeong Ilsang, the Calamity of Questions, in the original story.

Rich Mana began flowing throughout Pildu's private property.

The [Mini Turret]'s rate of fire, which had slowed, returned to normal.

Dududududu!

Hyeonu was using himself as a Mana tank.

"This is the fourth stage of the Housebound Armament Lord tech tree."

Hyeonu met my eyes, wiped away the beads of sweat on his face, and spoke with confidence.

"「Infinite Ouroboros」."

High-level Mana combined with [Mana Charge], [Mana Sharing], and [Armed Zone].

I was amazed by the precision of the mechanism, and horrified that there was actually a person willing to do something like this.

Dokja would have been shocked too, if he had been here.

[A Constellation whose modifier has yet to be revealed is impressed.]

[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger is astonished!]

[The Constellation Reclining Dragon nods, saying it is quite good.]

Lee Jihye, who had been watching us from the landing behind us, whistled.

"Wow, that's incredible. I wish I had someone like that too."

As the [Mini Turret]'s rate of fire increased, the tide of battle shifted.

Huiwon and Se-in were enough to deal with the occasional Groll, so the others had time to rebuild the collapsed sandbags.

The men making new Molotov cocktails muttered.

"This is more doable than I thought."

"Yeah, at this rate, it'll go smoothly..."

No, wait.

[Emergency Defense has entered a new phase.]

A message rang through the air as if it had been waiting for those words.

At this point, I wondered if Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint needed to filter out the phrase "going smoothly."

[A new beast species has appeared in Emergency Defense!]

This message had never appeared in the original story. To begin with, Emergency Defense wasn't a Scenario with phases.

[A Tier-7 Monster has appeared!]

A massive shadow stirred near the tracks. A deafening roar, like a subway train scraping along bare ground, shook the floor beneath our feet.

"Th-that, what is that?!"

What emerged from the tunnel wasn't a subway train.

It was a massive monster, easily fifteen meters long.

'Giant Centipede.'

The moment they saw the hundreds of legs hanging beneath its iridescent shell, the men lost their will to fight and crowded around Pildu.

"Aaaah! This is insane!"

"H-how are we supposed to kill that..."

It could be killed. Yu Junghyeok could probably do it, at least.

The problem was that bastard wasn't here.

When I glanced over, Hyeonu's expression had stiffened too. It was only natural that he was flustered.

"Inho."

He was asking if I had a clever trick.

I stepped forward.

"We'll handle this one."

"You have a way?"

"We have to fight it head-on and kill it."

"That thing? How?"

"Well... Stab it with a sword?"

"Um... Inho, I don't know how many times you've read it, but that's not just a Tier-7 Monster. It's a large species. Even the fourth stage of my Invincible Castle Lord tech tree struggles against a monster like that. Speaking from my experience after fifty completed reads..."

Instead of answering, I looked to the side.

Huiwon, who had just cut off a Groll's head, was approaching.

"Huiwon."

Huiwon shook the blood from the Ground Rat Sword and nodded.

"Hide well. I won't be able to protect you this time."

She gave my shoulder a tough pat and walked away.

Hyeonu watched her blankly, then gave a bitter smile.

"Jeong Huiwon? I know she's strong. She's one of the strongest in Kim Dokja Company when it comes to combat ability. But even Jeong Huiwon, at this point..."

"Well, I have a tech tree prepared too."

"What?"

That was a lie.

But you didn't always need to be prepared for things to go well.

It had been the same when I wrote novels.

Sometimes an episode written from an idea that came to me right before serialization was more entertaining than one I had prepared for days.

"Watch."

Huiwon was that kind of idea to me.

[All the Constellations in the channel agree to the activation of Hour of Judgement.]

An idea that had suddenly come to me when I had given up on everything.

[The character Jeong Huiwon has activated Hour of Judgement!]

Jeong Huiwon charged at the centipede, scattering dazzling radiance.

As I watched her, I thought that if all these Scenarios truly ended and we could return to reality...

「Perhaps I would be writing this very moment.」

That was when my phone rang.

[A new chapter of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has been updated on the platform.]

Footnotes:

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