WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 629: Episode 15: A Kingless World (2)
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We exchanged tense glances.
The hinges creaked ominously. The door had opened, but no one came out to greet us.
There could be a frightened family beyond it, or a neighbor holding a knife and waiting to hurt us.
Or perhaps...
"Wh-who are you?"
A nervous child's voice. We immediately opened the door.
Beyond the wide-open front door stood a grimy boy. He was short and chubby, with plump cheeks.
A large mole on the bridge of his nose stood out. Even being generous, he looked no older than thirteen or fourteen.
"Ah, ah."
The boy took a startled step back when he saw us. Huiwon lightly raised both hands toward him.
"Hey, it's okay. We don't mean to hurt you."
Then she whispered to me.
"I think he went to the same school as my brother."
"How do you know?"
"The mole... No, I remember seeing him on my brother's social media."
She must have recognized him by the mole on his nose.
Perhaps he heard that, because his eyes widened. They quickly filled with tears, and after glancing behind him, he asked us.
"Y-you know me? Who are you?"
"Where are the adults? Are you here alone?"
"The adults are all..."
The freckled boy came toward us, sniffling with every step. Huiwon must have felt sorry for him, because she bent down to look at him.
Was I completely unmoved by the sight because I was Lee Hakhyun, or because I was Inho Cheon?
「How had this child survived the first Scenario?」
When he was about five steps away, I spoke.
"Kid."
The boy looked up at me.
I narrowed my eyes kindly.
"Could you not do that?"
Before I could finish, the boy lunged into Huiwon's arms. I reflexively pulled Huiwon back and stepped forward.
Thunk.
The kitchen knife plunged in, but my Reinforced Armor Suit fortunately stopped it.
The boy stared at the kitchen knife rolling across the floor, then collapsed onto his backside in horror.
"Ah, ahhh! I-I didn't do it on purpose! Someone told me to! That's why I did it!"
So it was a trap after all.
Huiwon asked, "Inho-ssi, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. What about you, Huiwon-ssi?"
"Why did you stop me?"
I looked at her right hand, which was already touching her sword hilt.
"Because we should at least hear him out."
If I hadn't stopped her, the boy would've been cut down on the spot.
Only then did the boy realize that. Still sitting on the floor, he dragged himself backward.
I bent down with the smile of a good-natured con artist.
"So, who told you to do this?"
There was no need to ask, really.
No matter how I looked at it, he didn't seem like someone had actually ordered him to do it.
More precisely...
"Shoot! Hurry!"
This kid looked like the one giving orders.
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out at the boy's command.
Threatening warning shots. Bits of concrete crumbled from the ceiling.
Three boys and girls stood beside the freckled boy, who had quickly backed away. Two of them held guns.
They were military-issue K2 rifles.
The freckled boy puffed up with pride.
"See? They're real guns. Move, and we'll shoot. Put down everything you've got and turn around."
I smiled at his rapid-fire threats, and he warned me with an irritated expression.
"I'm counting to five."
The count was five.
And I had four questions.
"One."
Where had these children come from?
"Two."
Putting me aside, why hadn't even Huiwon sensed the children nearby?
[The Soundproofing Formation is active in this area.]
Soundproofing Formation. I see.
That answered the second question.
"Three."
How had these children set up a trap like this?
"Four."
And how many people had they killed so far?
"Five. Just kill them."
I activated [Incitement] and transformed the Thought into Heracles' Shield.
[The special skill Area Defense has activated!]
The barrels of the K2 rifles, set to automatic fire, erupted at once.
Tutututut!
Area Defense had even withstood Pildu's [Mini Turret]. How could it fail to block ordinary bullets?
The barrage bounced off the barrier and began riddling random parts of the house with holes. Startled, the children screamed and stopped firing.
I rushed forward like an arrow and took their guns away. Their overall abilities were clearly low, so subduing them wasn't difficult.
As the situation turned against him, the freckled boy shouted.
"Hey, now! Get him!"
The back of my neck suddenly turned cold.
Whoosh!
Something cut through the air at incredible speed. It wasn't as fast as a bullet, but the hidden weapon carried an ominous aura.
I reflexively turned my head and dodged it.
Ping.
The weapon grazed my cheek, embedded itself in the wall, and vibrated violently.
It was a chopstick imbued with Mana.
When I turned my head, I saw a fifth boy holding a cutlery container.
Oddly enough, the boy wore a skull mask.
A skull mask?
The boy must not have expected me to dodge. He stood frozen, looking this way with shaken eyes.
The freckled boy said irritably, "You couldn't even hit him properly?"
"Sorry."
"Throw another one!"
"...It has a cooldown."
That seemed to press a button. The freckled boy cursed furiously, then strode over and struck the skull-masked boy in the stomach and face.
Still not satisfied, the freckled boy turned back to me.
"You're pretty good, mister. But you picked the wrong people this time. Do you know who we are?"
At that one sentence, the expressions of the other children, who had been cowering and trembling, changed one by one.
As though those words were an Area Defense protecting them.
"That's right!"
"Even the soldiers can't touch us! All the older brothers and sisters are dead now!"
Where had these children come from?
It was time for my first question to be answered.
The freckled boy wore a sinister smile as he shook the knots hidden at his waist.
They were the exact same knots as the sniper Huiwon had subdued at a high-rise building a few hours ago.
The difference was that the sniper had three knots, while the freckled boy had five.
Sensing Huiwon approach, I spoke.
"These children are from the Beggar's Sect."
I didn't know if she heard me. Huiwon passed by me and kept walking.
The freckled boy arrogantly shouted, "That's right. We're the Beggar's Sect. Do you know who I am? I'm even at the rank of a Hall Leader. You're all dead now..."
"Move."
Huiwon shoved the freckled boy aside as if he were in her way, then walked toward the skull-masked boy.
"Jeong Eunho."
The moment I heard her voice, my blood ran cold.
Was that really the Huiwon I knew?
Could Huiwon make an expression that murderous?
"Take off your mask. You're Eunho, aren't you?"
The other children reacted first.
The pale boys and girls anxiously looked at each other and muttered.
"W-who is she?"
"Does she know Eunho?"
The skull-masked boy stood stiffly as he stared at Huiwon.
He tilted his head slightly as if he couldn't believe it, and the hand gripping the cutlery container trembled.
His eyes, visible through the mask, shook with intense turmoil.
Then his hand slowly moved and removed the mask.
There was...
"...Noona."
A boy who looked very much like Jeong Huiwon.
* * *
rlaehrwk37 : Oh, damn
rlaehrwk99 : Seriously?
* * *
A miraculous reunion between two siblings who had survived this hellish apocalypse.
[The Constellation Naval Warfare God nods at the tearful reunion between the siblings.]
[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire watches the situation with a complicated expression.]
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon says that boy with the mole could use a beating, though.]
Normally, this would have been when the expected tearjerker unfolded. The siblings would shed tears and snot, embrace each other, let go of their old love and resentment, and realize the true meaning of familial love.
That should have happened, but Huiwon's family was a little unusual.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Despite Huiwon's demanding question, Eunho only kept his head lowered in silence.
I closely examined the skull mask clenched in Eunho's hand.
「The Butcher who wandered the Scenario like a ghost, seeking the enemy who had killed a Companion, always wore a skull mask.」
Did that mean Huiwon's younger brother was the Berserk Butcher?
In theory, it made sense.
The Berserk Butcher was one of the few Incarnations with the Crouching One attribute Kim Dokja had mentioned.
Huiwon also had Crouching One, so it wouldn't be strange if her brother shared the same attribute.
Then should I check for myself?
[The Character Profile skill is currently updating.]
[You cannot use the skill at this time.]
No, why now of all times?
"Who told you to do this? Tell me right now."
Huiwon's cold gaze turned to the freckled boy.
The freckled boy was writhing on the floor, with his hands, feet, and mouth all bound.
Perhaps he had been moved by the siblings' reunion. Tears and snot covered his plump face.
"Noona."
Eunho gave the freckled boy an indifferent glance.
"Why are you here? Did you come to see if I was dead?"
"What?"
"Just go back. This isn't where you belong, Noona."
When Eunho slowly lifted his head, a faint rebelliousness and emptiness coexisted on his face.
"This isn't like when you beat Dad with his wooden sword and ran away. Do you still think you're the boss of our family?"
"Hey, what are you..."
Startled by her brother's bombshell, Huiwon quickly turned to me.
"No, Inho-ssi. This isn't... It's not like that."
I smiled and shook my head to show her it was fine.
Seeing the situation, I could roughly guess what had happened.
Of course, children shouldn't hit their parents.
But if someone like Huiwon had done something like that, I thought she must have had a reason.
Huiwon let out a small sigh.
"So, where is Dad now?"
"Dad is..."
Eunho hesitated for a moment, then sighed.
"He's with the Beggar's Sect."
"The Beggar's Sect?"
"It's the name of the organization I'm in."
"That's strange. That man isn't someone who'd willingly join just any organization. What happened to the military? What about the people in this apartment complex? Dad was a soldier. He must've had subordinates too."
At the mention of the military, a dark look crossed Eunho's eyes.
"They were all captured by the Beggar's Sect."
"Dad isn't the kind of man who'd let himself be captured so easily."
"If he were the Dad he used to be, he wouldn't have."
The Dad he used to be. There was something strange in the implication of those words.
Then Eunho said something even stranger.
"Dad is as good as dead already. He's not our dad anymore."
Not their dad?
"After the world ended, Dad suddenly changed into a completely different person."
"What do you mean? Did that bastard hit you again?"
"No. It's not that."
The way Eunho sighed lightly made him unmistakably Huiwon's brother.
"Dad suddenly went crazy."
"Crazy?"
At that moment, I thought I understood what had happened to Huiwon's family.
Eunho slowly turned toward the window. In his eyes was reflected the sight of the ruined apartment complex.
The traces of the Scenario that had reduced this world to rubble.
But perhaps the Scenario wasn't what had destroyed Huiwon's family.
"He kept saying strange things about how a novel had become reality and how something like this couldn't happen. At the time, I only thought Dad had lost his mind for a while."
The Scenario was cruel, but at least it was kind.
Like a guest who pressed the doorbell before visiting, it introduced itself, told us what would happen next, and taught us what we had to do.
But there were unkind guests too.
Those who came into this world without ringing the doorbell or knocking.
"But when the Scenario began and I saw Dad again, he abandoned me and ran away alone. I cried and chased after him somehow, but I can't forget what Dad said then."
My face was reflected in the cracked balcony window.
I slowly shifted my gaze and saw the boy's face reflected at the edge of the glass.
The boy wearing a skull mask.
"He asked me who I was."
A boy who had lost his family, all their history, in an instant, was speaking.
"He said that from now on, he had to find Kim Dokja."
It seemed a Reader had possessed Huiwon's father.
Footnotes:
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