WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 620: Episode 13: King (4)
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"Inho-ssi, tell me. Are you the First Apostle?"
I had met two of the Seven Apostles so far.
The Second Apostle, Killer King, who claimed to have completed 100 reads.
The Seventh Apostle, Ye Hyeonu, who had completed 50 reads.
Killer King had grown enormously alongside his younger sister, Literary Girl 64, and had even formed a contract with the Archangel Jophiel. Hyeonu had swiftly conquered Chungmuro Station by using Pildu Gong, the Armament Lord of the Ten Evils.
Those two were already this impressive, so what kind of person was the First Apostle?
Judging by Hyeonu and the other Apostles' expressions, they didn't seem to know who the First Apostle was, either.
Someone who had read TWSA at least 100 times and built the enormous community called the Seven Apostles Association.
Someone who had read this story together with other readers somewhere I didn't know.
A certain face briefly came to mind, but I shook my head.
No way. It couldn't be that person.
Whatever they made of my silence, the Apostles exchanged glances, then began voicing their opinions one by one.
The first to fan the flames was Hyeonu.
"Even if you are the First Apostle, I can't give in this time. The Apostles Association isn't a hierarchy to begin with."
Gu Seona frowned.
"Hey, weren't you just saying we'd decide the Representative by Number of Completed Reads?"
"I never said that."
"Hey, stop. If you grab the flag, I'll attack immediately."
Seona, holding an iron staff, and Gyeongsik, with a smoking pipe clenched between their teeth, moved toward the flag.
It was a distance any of them could cross in an instant.
As the atmosphere grew increasingly hostile, Hyeonu sighed.
"So we're settling this by force in the end."
A fight could break out at any moment.
Still, why was it?
Even in that suffocating standoff, where they were risking their lives against one another, Hyeonu, Seona, and Gyeongsik looked strangely excited.
They weren't the only ones. Se-in and the other readers were flushed with anticipation, too.
It wasn't hard to see why.
[A considerable number of Constellations anticipate the bloody battle at Chungmuro Station!]
[Some Constellations have begun betting coins!]
[Few Constellations declare that they will sponsor 1,000 coins to the Incarnation who takes Chungmuro Station.]
The Constellations had started taking an interest in this station.
Until now, the Constellations hadn't properly understood Chungmuro Station's story. The important battle in the Theater Dungeon hadn't been broadcast because of the Plausibility Backlash, and the readers constantly talked about TWSA, forcing the Constellations to listen to conversations riddled with filters.
Just as few readers would take an interest in a story they couldn't understand, the Constellations were likely the same.
「That had been true until a moment ago.」
The readers were fighting each other, but at the same time, they were working together.
Using the word Revelation as a foundation, the readers had begun making this world's conflict visible in earnest.
[The Constellation Monarch of the Small Fries says that they finally seem to understand what this story is about.]
[The Constellation King Heungmu wonders where the book Revelation came from.]
[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger says they have a hunch.]
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon asks them to say more.]
They were building a foothold for a fable the Constellations could understand, using terms that could avoid the filters as much as possible.
They called themselves Apostles and revealed their existence to the world, stirring the Star Stream's interest.
[Few Constellations announce the outbreak of Apostle War.]
Standing at the center of this stage, created by the readers' own strength, I was almost moved.
「This was a story that even I hadn't read yet.」
A new stage from the original work, created by readers gathering together.
Still, everyone here knew.
This was a play, but everything on the stage would eventually become real.
"Inho-ssi."
At Uncle Dansu's voice, I nodded.
"I know."
At this rate, people would die.
Seona's iron staff appeared, and white smoke rose from Gyeongsik's pipe. Hyeonu's expression hardened as they slowly raised their right hand.
They weren't the only ones. The other Incarnations were quietly reaching for their weapons as well.
[Some Constellations proclaim the danger of the Apostles.]
[Some Constellations watch the bloody battle at Chungmuro Station.]
[Few Constellations hope the Apostles will fight among themselves and destroy one another.]
The stars watching this story wanted them to perish.
Just as readers had once watched this story, the Constellations were now watching theirs.
Even so, I wasn't worried.
I had something to count on.
"Everyone, prepare for battle."
At Seona's declaration, the nearby Incarnations all grabbed their weapons.
A fight could break out at any moment.
Then, accompanied by the sound of an explosion, a thunderous crash rang out from one corner of the station.
「He's here.」
I had thought he'd come around now.
He wasn't the kind of guy who would ignore such an important Scenario.
"Everyone, get back!"
Pildu shot to his feet in surprise, just as a man in a black coat appeared.
Just as I thought.
I smiled faintly at the coat's owner.
But.
"You're choosing a Representative while leaving me out?"
Something about his way of speaking was strange.
"You didn't invite Killer King, the Tyrant Emperor, to an occasion like this?"
His cheap black coat fluttered dramatically in the wind.
Judging by his energetic expression, the injuries he had suffered in the Theater Dungeon seemed to have fully healed.
Thrilled by the appearance of a new face, Se-in whispered, "Inho-ssi, were you waiting for the Second Apostle?"
I shook my head.
Killer King strode through the crowd, then slowed for a moment as he passed near me.
"Thanks to you, I survived. I'll repay the debt."
Killer King lightly placed a hand on my shoulder. At a glance, anyone might mistake him for the real Yu Junghyeok.
Behind him, Literary Girl 64 stood with a hand pressed to her forehead, sighing.
When she noticed me, she asked, "Are you all right?"
"That's what I should be asking."
"My brother will be fine."
Killer King was strong.
But could even Killer King face Hyeonu and Pildu together?
"Stop, Killer King."
Hyeonu warned Killer King as he approached without hesitation.
"What if I don't?"
"I'll fire."
"Go ahead and try."
Killer King smiled.
"You were talking about Number of Completed Reads earlier. Why don't you keep talking?"
At Killer King's provocation, Hyeonu bit down on their lip.
Thinking back, Hyeonu had seemed particularly wary of Killer King from the moment they met.
"You have no right to be involved. You've been playing solo from the start. You've never even saved anyone, yet you've got the nerve to say you'll be the Representative?"
"I saved someone, too. Do you think the dungeon could've been cleared if I hadn't gone up to the Theater Dungeon?"
"You weren't the one who cleared it."
"Because of me, someone made it to the rooftop. You could say I practically cleared it."
"What nonsense-"
"If I'm not qualified, then you, the Seventh Apostle, aren't qualified either. And Chungmuro Station already has an owner, so why are you being greedy?"
Chungmuro Station's original owner.
Needless to say, he meant Kim Dokja.
Hyeonu shook their head.
"Kim Dokja isn't here. I heard he was found on the rooftop, so I've been searching ever since, but I couldn't find him anywhere. Someone among us has to become the Representative now."
"Kim Dokja isn't here..."
Killer King looked at me for a moment before abruptly turning away.
"Then I suppose I'll have to become the Representative."
"Uncle Pildu."
[The character Pildu Gong's Stigma Armed Zone Lv.6 has activated!]
Pildu's Stigma [Armed Zone] couldn't activate without [private property].
That meant Hyeonu had turned the surrounding area into [private property] in advance, preparing for this fight.
Killer King smiled coldly.
"Seventh Apostle, can you handle this?"
An unusual amount of Mana flowed from Killer King's entire body. Just by sensing its quantity, I could tell he had changed.
So he had a fortuitous encounter.
On the fourth floor of the Theater Dungeon, Killer King had fought a Tier 6 ground dragon species in place of Literary Girl 64 and me.
By the time we found the unconscious Killer King again, the ground dragon species attacking him had disappeared somewhere.
I didn't know whether Killer King had defeated it. What I did know was that he had grown even stronger there.
A red aura rose from Killer King's body, blessed by Jophiel.
"I really won't go easy on you. You know this isn't like fighting in the comments section, right?"
Without being intimidated in the slightest, Hyeonu stood beside Pildu.
The Mini Turrets that rose all at once aimed at Killer King.
"That's what I should say."
It was a fight whose outcome couldn't be predicted easily.
The combination of Hyeonu and Pildu produced nearly invincible synergy in these early Scenarios.
And Killer King was the Incarnation of Jophiel, a fabled-grade Archangel.
I called Literary Girl 64.
"Yerin-ssi."
"Yes."
"What do you think?"
Though I hadn't specified what I meant, Literary Girl 64 answered at once.
"My brother is strong."
The same answer as always.
But that wasn't all she had to say.
"Still, my brother is strong only on his own."
I thought the same.
No matter how I looked at it, Killer King hadn't thrown himself into that fight because he truly wanted to become the Representative.
He simply wanted to stop the Apostles' war.
"Could you help me?"
"How?"
"We only need to buy a little time."
I quickly explained the plan to Literary Girl 64.
"I'll give you five seconds. Get lost."
At Hyeonu's warning, Pildu's Mini Turrets began loading.
"Attack before the Mini Turrets finish loading!"
Seona and Gyeongsik ran toward the flag.
Killer King shouted and joined the battle line.
At that moment, Literary Girl 64 dropped prone to the ground as she restrained Killer King from behind.
"Go."
I nodded and immediately ran toward the flag.
I had lost the initiative, but no one here had higher Agility than I did.
Seona's eyes widened when she spotted me.
"What-"
I used Incitement to make Thought mimic Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff.
A swift swing of Thought sent Seona screaming to the ground.
"Se-in!"
At almost the same time, I threw the shield strapped to my back toward Se-in.
"Th-this is?"
"It's Heracles' Shield, the one you wanted."
"Uoooooh!"
It was only a replica, but Se-in's face lit up as she equipped the shield and guarded my back.
[The Special Skill Area Defense has been activated!]
A translucent barrier unfolded around the shield.
The charging Incarnations were blocked by the barrier and cried out.
"Wh-what is this?"
Uncle Dansu didn't remain idle, either.
The cockroaches wandering Chungmuro Station all took flight, disrupting the Incarnations' vision.
"Aaaah! What is this?!"
As the area descended into chaos in an instant, Hyeonu and the other Apostles looked deeply flustered.
―Inho-ssi, I clearly warned you.
Hyeonu's cold eyes were fixed on me.
"Fire. Don't let them get close to the flag."
As if they had made up their mind, Pildu's Mini Turrets bombarded us.
Cracks began spreading through the translucent barrier with every hit.
Se-in went pale and shouted, "Inho-ssi! It's breaking!"
If I had handed over the Singijeon beforehand, I might've died here.
I used Incitement to transform Thought into Heracles' Shield.
[The Special Skill Area Defense has been activated!]
Even after activating two layers of Area Defense, the Mini Turrets' firepower was formidable.
When the first barrier shattered almost immediately, Se-in looked back at me.
"Inho-ssi! Hurry!"
Cracks began spreading through the second barrier, too.
I glanced at the white flag fluttering in the wind.
It was close enough to touch if I just reached out.
If I took that flag and held on for five minutes, Chungmuro Station would become mine.
Maybe Dokja would have done that.
「I shouldn't take this flag.」
For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking that.
「That isn't the right development for this story.」
At that moment, pale cigarette smoke flowed in through the broken barrier.
It instantly took the form of a human, then reached for the flag.
Gyeongsik, the elder with the smoking pipe.
"Sorry, but I'll be taking this."
I hadn't expected Gyeongsik to have the Smoke Human skill.
Just as Gyeongsik's hand nearly reached the flag, part of the barrier broke and someone charged in.
"Urgh!"
Gyeongsik was kicked in the stomach and rolled helplessly across the floor.
Apparently, she hadn't even had time to tie her hair. Long hair streamed behind her as she ran through the bombardment.
"Huiwon-ssi."
"I'm late. Sorry."
Huiwon's face was pale, as though her injuries from the Theater Dungeon hadn't healed yet.
Still, I needed even an injured person's help right now.
"Please."
"Leave this side to me."
Huiwon blocked the breach in the barrier, and Uncle Dansu, who quickly came over to our side, helped her.
Huiwon, Se-in, Uncle Dansu, and I.
The four of us stood guarding the east, west, south, and north sides of the white flag.
Se-in asked in a tense voice, "Inho-ssi, weren't you going to take the flag?"
"No. If we take it, this really becomes a war."
Hyeonu was firing shells, and the Apostles were swinging their weapons, but they weren't serious yet.
We still hadn't obtained the 'white flag.'
Once someone held the flag, though, the five-minute timer would begin.
Seona and Gyeongsik, who had been carefully watching the situation, would come at us with everything they had. Hyeonu and Pildu would unleash even stronger shells.
No matter how strong we were, four people couldn't face all of Chungmuro Station.
"Inho-ssi, I can't hold on-"
Se-in, our main tank, had finally reached her limit.
A shell flew through a gap in the barrier and struck Se-in's shield directly.
With a cracking sound, one of Se-in's knees buckled.
I supported her and bit my lip.
It was about time.
With explosions this loud, there was no way he hadn't heard them, no matter where he was in Chungmuro Station.
Crack!
At last, the Area Defense barrier broke and shells began pouring down.
Se-in screamed and raised her shield.
Then a thick, dark shadow blocked the way in front of us.
Boom!
A man two or three times larger than Se-in stood before her and blocked the shells.
"Are you all right?"
It was a dependable, steadfast voice.
Every reader here knew his name.
He was a member of Kim Dokja Company, the shield Dokja trusted more than anyone.
"Don't worry. You're safe now."
Lee Hyeongseong, the Steel Sword Emperor, smiled as he looked back at us.
He wasn't alone.
"Uncle, I told you not to overdo it."
Lee Jihye, the Naval Commander, stood beside the staggering Uncle Dansu and supported him.
Then, a white-haired young man stood next to Huiwon.
"Hey, lady. You look strong. Want to have a match later?"
Kim Namwoon, the Delusional Demon.
Even Hyeonu stopped firing in surprise at the sudden appearance of the three.
"What-"
Then footsteps sounded from somewhere.
「There was only one person in this world.」
For a moment, I thought I understood how Kim Dokja felt.
Why Dokja had no choice but to repeat that name and overcome every hardship in his life.
「There was an Incarnation who could fight all of Chungmuro Station.」
In the distance, the crowd of Incarnations parted.
He hadn't subdued them by force, yet they scattered or collapsed where they stood like gazelles facing a predator.
Rumbblee.
They couldn't help it.
The Status flowing from the approaching man's body was on an entirely different level.
「"The protagonist you created is too inflexible, Writer."」
Maybe Ji Eunyoo had been right.
A protagonist like that definitely wouldn't be popular.
He was so unpopular that only one person in the world had read the story he appeared in to the end.
[A Constellation that has not yet revealed its modifier watches your story.]
Maybe that person was still reading it even now.
「A man who foolishly faced crises he could have easily avoided.」
「A man who constantly despaired.」
「A man who spent decades struggling until he reached the answer called impossibility.」
The character I had wanted to write so badly might have already existed in this world.
After hundreds, even thousands, of betrayals, moments of despair, and realizations, he stood before my eyes.
The reason Hyeonu, who met every condition of a protagonist, couldn't become one was simple.
「This story already had a protagonist.」
He silently walked through Chungmuro Station, where silence had fallen.
Hyeonu, Seona, Gyeongsik, even Killer King, all stood frozen as they held their breath.
Only Huiwon held her head high and glared at him.
Just in case, I gripped her sleeve tightly and stayed still.
No one dared speak.
Yu Junghyeok walked calmly through the parted path and passed by me.
As though approaching his own throne, Junghyeok quietly stopped before the flag.
With his hands in his pockets, he stared down at it for a long time.
At that moment, everyone in the station realized it.
If anyone had taken that flag, Junghyeok would have cut off their head with his giant spear.
Junghyeok's cold eyes slowly turned toward me as he looked at the unclaimed 'white flag.'
"This is mine."
Those were the protagonist's words.
Footnotes:
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