WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 606: Episode 11: Work (1)
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* * *
Lately, I found myself thinking the same thing whenever I passed out. Would I meet Dokja again this time?
I was always thinking of questions to ask him if I did.
Where are you now?
Why did you call me here?
What story are you reading now?
[Your current state of consciousness is unstable.]
Unfortunately, when I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the Snowfield.
A dim screening room stretched around me. It was the theater where the Little Kim Dokjas had gathered before.
The moment I came to my senses, I thought of Jeong Jaewoo. At the very end, he had turned into a Little Dokja and vanished.
Could he be here too?
Small backs of heads were huddled throughout the screening room.
Before, I would've thought they were cute. Now, a chill settled in one corner of my heart.
What if all these Little Dokjas were dead readers?
I slowly opened my mouth, about to call Jaewoo's name.
「“Yu Junghyeok.”」
A voice came from the speakers ahead.
Two people stood on the screen. One was Junghyeok in a black coat.
The other was...
「“Who are you?”」
When Junghyeok asked, someone answered.
「“Someone who came to end your story.”」
My heart dropped.
No.
Those two mustn't fight right now.
I had to get out of here immediately.
My body slowly began to scatter. My consciousness was waking up again.
“Wow, the showdown of the century!”
In the final moment, I heard a Little Dokja beside me shout.
* * *
When I came to, Killer King was poking me with his foot.
“You're weak. Passing out from such a minor wound.”
I groaned softly and pushed myself up. Night had fallen around us. I could faintly feel the warmth of a campfire.
It seemed Killer King and his sister had helped me.
“Please drink this.”
Killer King's sister supported me and handed me a teacup. It smelled like tea brewed with medicinal herbs.
“Thank you.”
Judging by the color and scent, it seemed to contain Ellain's Dawn Dew or White-Warm Herb...
Neither ingredient appeared in the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.
“It's not poisoned, so you don't need to be suspicious. I wouldn't do that twice.”
“I just smelled it because the tea smells nice.”
“It's a medicinal herb we discovered recently. It's good for recovering Mana and mental energy.”
As if to demonstrate, Killer King gulped down his tea.
Watching a reader naturally find and use material the Writer hadn't written, I felt strangely moved.
The story was continuing even after leaving the Writer's hands.
「Would Han Suyeong know this?」
A faint headache came over me, and the dream I had seen earlier flashed through my mind.
I looked around anxiously, and Killer King spoke.
“Jeong Huiwon is over here.”
Huiwon was asleep by the fire under a light blanket. I held a hand beneath her nose and felt her faint breath.
“She doesn't seem to have any external injuries. Was she hit by some kind of mental attack?”
It seemed Huiwon still hadn't recovered from the aftermath of [Incitement].
Instead of explaining everything, I briefly mentioned the culprit.
“I encountered the Misreading Association.”
As expected, Killer King's posture changed.
“Tell me in detail.”
After letting out a light breath, I began with the readers gathering beneath the Theater Dungeon.
Killer King understood the situation before I had even said much.
“I see. The Scenario has changed. Was this meant to accommodate latecomers?”
His eyes began to gleam ominously once he heard that someone calling himself the Writer had appeared.
“The Writer? That bastard was traveling with the Misreading Association?”
I wondered if Yu Junghyeok had worn that expression when Anna Croft stabbed him in the back during the second round.
Killer King soon calmed down.
“You might not know this, but [lie detection] can be deceived by altering the speaker's beliefs, convictions, or the value of the information they give.”
I already knew that, but nodded anyway.
“If he said he wrote Revelation... it must mean he wrote an illegal text copy of Revelation. In other words, he isn't the real Writer.”
I was impressed.
As expected of Killer King.
“Still, if he's the author of a text copy... could it be that bastard?”
“Do you know who he is?”
“He's probably one of the Misreading Association's executives. I've fought him before. What happened to him? Did you make sure he was dead?”
“He's probably dead. He was badly wounded.”
Killer King nodded with a displeased expression.
“I understand the situation well enough. You survived somehow.”
“When did you two arrive here?”
“Half a day ago, in outside time. Two days ago by this stage's time.”
Time seemed to pass at a different rate on this stage than outside.
Half a day outside meant they had entered around when the Emergency Defense began.
“With your abilities, this isn't a movie that should've taken two days.”
“We also encountered the Misreading Association.”
“The Misreading Association?”
Only then did I realize my mistake.
Why had I assumed the Misreading Association would only be among the latecomers?
They had read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint through text copies as well. The perceptive ones must have infiltrated the Theater Dungeon in advance.
“There were five in total. We encountered them as soon as we entered the stage. Two were servants of the Rat, and three were servants of the Snake. I killed them all, but the problem was that the Snake's servants bit me as they died.”
Killer King showed me his arm.
There were marks like snake fangs on his pale arm, and a purple Mark had been carved around them.
“A curse.”
“That's right.”
“What kind of curse?”
“The Curse of Directional Confusion.”
I remembered a setting I had written down once.
A person afflicted by this curse couldn't tell east, west, south, or north apart. Unconsciously, they would keep taking the wrong path.
“Fortunately, it has a time limit. It seems it will be lifted as long as we escape this stage.”
“I see. So that's why it took you two days... Wait a second.”
Something was strange.
Only Killer King had been cursed.
“Isn't your sister here? She could lead the way.”
Killer King's sister flinched at my words.
Killer King stared at her for a moment, then said, “Yerin has always had a terrible sense of direction.”
His sister kicked him hard in the side.
Killer King faintly frowned, then quickly smiled slyly.
“Anyway, I have a request for you.”
“A request?”
“Guide us to the Central Research Building. Then I'll spare your life.”
Killer King's sister kicked him again.
* * *
Meeting Killer King and his sister in this stage was fortunate.
Killer King's mind was a little strange, but he was a reliable ally when he was on your side.
“I think we should leave immediately.”
“Now?”
“Yes. We need to consider the curse's effects, so I think we should move as soon as possible.”
I drew a simple map on the ground as I spoke.
“I know where the research building is.”
“Jeong Huiwon hasn't woken up yet.”
It was certainly dangerous to move while carrying Huiwon. Still, we didn't have much time.
“She'll wake up soon. I'll carry her.”
“You don't have some other scheme, do you? Being fooled by you once was enough.”
Come to think of it, the last place I had met these siblings was inside the Dark Fold.
“You gave us a Random item Box that had lost its effect back then.”
Killing intent faintly flickered.
I answered honestly.
“I did.”
“Did you use the box?”
I shook my head.
I expected him to use [lie detection], but no message came.
After thinking for a moment, Killer King asked, “Why did you put a note inside?”
At the time, I had written several useful pieces of information inside the box I gave them.
Killer King had probably secured quite a few of the Hidden Pieces mentioned in that note by now.
“Do you really not know?”
Killer King glared at me briefly, then sharply turned away, looking as though his pride had been hurt.
“No, I think I know.”
I knew he would say that.
Killer King was the type to find answers himself whenever he was curious about something.
That was why he had read Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint 99.8 times. Most people would've simply read a setting guide someone else compiled.
“That aside, leaving now would be difficult.”
The roars of ground dragon species echoed intermittently.
Killer King continued.
“I don't know what you did, but the monsters are going wild because of you.”
I remembered the Misreading Association Constellations who had interfered with me.
Plague-Bringing Rat had left after suffering a Plausibility Backlash, but one more remained.
Snake That Cuts Off Its Tail.
That bastard was probably behind this situation.
Since I couldn't remember any particular setting about it, it was likely an unnamed Historical Constellation.
Even that nameless Constellation was a major obstacle now.
“You two are here. I saw you handle a Tier-7 ground dragon species easily earlier.”
“We caught it easily because it was an ambush. If we fight head-on, it would take us a while too. And...”
[All ground dragon species on the stage are affected by Black Moon.]
Killer King stared at the moon in the sky as he continued.
“Since that moon rose, the ground dragon species have been getting stronger. If we encounter a Tier-7 species again now, it won't be easy even if we ambush it.”
“...”
“Fortunately, that Black Moon has a fixed duration.”
[The Black Moon effect will last for a total of 8 hours.]
Killer King's meaning was clear.
Even by common sense, waiting was the right choice. It would be safer to move after Huiwon woke up and Black Moon's effect ended.
「That way, no one else would be lost.」
I had already lost Jaewoo because of my bad judgment. If I made another mistake, other readers might die, including Killer King or his sister.
“Even so, we have to go.”
I knew it wasn't a realistic decision. But this was a world where it was impossible to think realistically.
We were inside a novel.
「In a novel, you have to think like a novel.」
I couldn't ruin something important because of guilt.
Jaewoo was dead.
But he would be alive as a Little Kim Dokja.
Maybe the other readers were the same.
They weren't dead.
And if they weren't dead, there had to be some way to bring them back.
I had to believe that for now.
This was that kind of story, and I had to think about what came next in this absurd world.
「Stop the destined destruction and pioneer a new fable.」
How could I reach the right conclusion for this story?
“Yu Junghyeok could die.”
Killer King paused.
“Is that true?”
I nodded.
Killer King didn't use [lie detection]. Instead, he looked at his younger sister.
“Yerin.”
His sister simply shrugged, as if telling him to do whatever he wanted.
Killer King's deliberation didn't last long.
“We're going to the research building.”
* * *
We pushed through the broadleaf forest and headed straight for the Central Research Building.
We occasionally encountered Tier-8 ground dragon species Raptors, and more rarely, Tier-7 ground dragon species tyrannos.
It took some time, but we advanced steadily.
We weren't going the wrong way. If I was right, the research facility was definitely this way.
Killer King followed me without complaint. Sometimes, he broke branches ahead of time for his sister or warned her to watch her step.
Honestly, I found it a little incomprehensible.
Killer King was taking this risk with me after hearing only that Junghyeok might die.
How could he do that?
“I have something I'm curious about.”
I asked Killer King as he broke off a jutting branch.
“Why is your group called the Seven Apostles Association?”
At least in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, apostle wasn't used in a particularly positive sense.
It referred to Dropouts who hadn't read TWSA to the end, or more precisely, their executives.
Killer King glared at me as if wondering why I was asking something like that.
A soft rustling sound came from above, and leaves began to shake one after another.
The rain that had stopped for a while was falling again.
Maybe it was because of the sound of the rain.
“We...”
I didn't understand his passing murmur at first.
“We haven't read that story to the end yet.”
Understanding came a step later.
I had never considered it. I thought it was simply the name of a reader community that had borrowed the word apostle.
But it wasn't.
「The Seven Apostles Association was a group of people who believed that Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint hadn't ended yet.」
Because the story hadn't ended, they were involuntary Dropouts.
“That's why we're apostles.”
Because they were involuntary Dropouts, they called themselves apostles.
“But that story...”
It was over.
Something stopped me just as I was about to say that.
Countless thoughts came to mind.
Why the readers and I had come to this world. The side story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint that was serializing itself on my phone.
Goosebumps rose on my arm.
Maybe the reason this world had to exist was...
“Why ask that out of nowhere? Do you want to become an apostle too?”
Killer King was looking at me.
“Even if you wanted to, we couldn't accept you.”
“Uh... why?”
Killer King furrowed his thick eyebrows.
“Because you act as though you're the only one who knows the ending.”
A small laugh escaped me.
But Killer King's expression was serious.
“You knew Hidden Pieces that even I didn't know.”
“That's...”
“You keep smiling with a strange expression.”
“My eyes are just narrow.”
Ignoring me, Killer King concluded while looking at my injured shoulder.
“You're even used to pain. Do you have something like [The Fourth Wall]?”
I didn't know what I should say.
For a very brief moment, I felt tempted.
Maybe it would be okay to tell him that I was the Writer.
But another thought soon followed.
「What's the point of saying something like that now?」
How could I call myself the Writer now, when I couldn't take responsibility for anything about this story?
Maybe my expression looked strange. Killer King gave a faint smile.
“Don't take it seriously. I just don't like that you act like Dokja.”
The Central Research Building stood in the distance.
We had finally reached the vicinity of our destination.
“Though I did briefly wish it were true.”
Killer King's expression looked lonely as he said that.
For a moment, I thought of the other readers in the theater lobby. Maybe they too were accepting the truth of this world by now.
「Kim Dokja isn't in this world.」
They had read Dokja's story and wondered about Dokja's story, yet they had been summoned to a world without him.
Then who did this story exist for?
“We should get ready.”
When I stopped walking, Killer King and his sister stopped as well.
We all knew that the real danger began now.
Killer King said, “You know this already, but normally, the ending condition should have been fulfilled when we hunted that Tier-7 ground dragon species.”
He was right.
In the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, the moment the tyranno was hunted, an ending message appeared and the path to the research building opened.
The fact that it hadn't meant...
“The ending of this movie isn't that.”
Rumble.
Something was waiting for us on the path to the Central Research Building.
[The Cinema Master is anticipating the ending you will create.]
A low roar rumbled as if scraping across the earth. The ground around us began to shake violently.
Killer King and his sister's expressions stiffened.
Looking at the faint fear spreading across their faces, I felt an indescribable thrill.
Was I feeling this because I was the Writer?
“There's something stronger than a Tier-7 species.”
Or was it because I too was a reader encountering this story for the first time?
[The Tier-6 ground dragon species Lord of the Cretaceous roars!]
Maybe the answer was somewhere in this theater.
Footnotes:
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