Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 63

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 63: Episode 13 - War of Kings (4)

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Lee Seongguk muttered, startled by the system message.

“A new Scenario again......”

It definitely wasn't good timing. Before we had even completed the Clear Conditions of the existing Scenario, another one had appeared.

I opened the newly arrived Scenario first.

Category: Main

Difficulty: A

Clear conditions: Claim the Absolute Throne located at Gwanghwamun Intersection.

Time limit: 8 hours

Rewards: 10,000 coins

Penalty for failure: ―

* Only those who have completed the hidden scenario ‘King’s Path’ may attempt this scenario.

* The King who claims the Absolute Throne gains the power to issue absolute commands to all other kings.

* Special clear conditions also exist for this scenario.

The situation was bad. Our group still hadn't even occupied the target station in Capture the Flag. It was like our burden had doubled. We had to defeat the Tyrant King, occupy Changsin Station, and also complete the Scenario connected to that throne.

The mid-grade dokkaebi spoke.

[Hehe, those are some flustered faces. Please don't worry too much. This Scenario will proceed slowly.]

Even in a situation where anyone would have been shaken, Gwanghwamun was quiet.

Naturally. If they were kings who had survived this long, they would know how important it was to listen to the dokkaebi's words.

[As you've probably already guessed, the purpose of the fourth Main Scenario is to choose the one and only king who will sit on that throne. Of course, not every king can sit there. Only the one who proves their ‘qualification’ may take that seat.]

The mid-grade dokkaebi continued with an unpleasant smile.

[Then, I will now reveal the ‘first qualification.’]

1. “The Master of the Throne shall be braver than anyone else.”

―The Absolute Throne never desires a ‘weak king.’ To challenge the throne, you must be a king who possesses at least the [Black Flag].

(Additional qualifications will be revealed shortly.)

A black flag. As expected, even the first condition wouldn't be easy.

[Hehe, now that you've been given motivation, I hope you make an entertaining story!]

When the mid-grade dokkaebi disappeared, Yu Sangah looked worried.

“A black flag means...... don't we need to occupy more than twenty stations to get one?”

“That's right.”

Our group's flag right now was a brown flag. It was the flag you could obtain after occupying more than ten stations.

“What do we do? We still need to occupy ten more stations to make a black flag, and there probably aren't any empty stations nearby......”

“The condition exists because there aren't any empty stations.”

“Pardon?”

As far as I knew, there wasn't a single king who had achieved a black flag yet.

“Did you forget? Occupying stations isn't the only way to change a flag's color.”

Occupying stations raised a flag's merit score. But there was a much faster way to gain merit than that.

“Ah......!”

By taking another group's Representative's flag directly. And right now, Gwanghwamun was packed with kings carrying flags. I calmed my companions and said,

“Don't panic. This isn't something we failed to anticipate. We just have to follow the plan.”

Follow the plan. I said it like that, but it wouldn't be easy.

A subtle air of war hung over all of Gwanghwamun. A knife-edge tension, like right before a storm broke. It was as if I could hear the sounds of weapons being drawn and lines being formed drifting between the bleak forest of buildings.

In a little while, people would start to move.

People who had once competed for promotion would take up real blades and kill each other, and people who had wanted larger apartments would steal one another's flags to occupy more stations.

Killing each other, seizing better items, surviving.

Looking at the cold city buildings faced with perlite board, Lee Seongguk muttered,

“Somehow, this is frightening. Is this really Korea......?”

“It used to be Korea. It still is Korea, too.”

“Representative, aren't you scared?”

“I'm scared too.”

It wasn't a lie. There were definitely times when I was scared too. To be honest, it happened often. Even though I had read TWSA, I too had once been, strictly speaking, an ordinary office worker. I didn't show it, but several times a day I wondered, Can I survive this?

Of course, the thought never lasted long. There was no point in thinking about it. It was the same in any world. For Kim Dokja who used to work at Mino Soft, and for Kim Dokja who came to live in the world of TWSA.

Death would come whether you wanted it or not.

What mattered was......

“But at least right now, I feel like I'm truly living.”

[Exclusive Skill, The Fourth Wall, is activating.]

When I turned around, I saw Lee Seongguk looking at me with reverence in his eyes.

“When I see you at times like this, Representative, you really......”

“Attack!”

Before Lee Seongguk could finish, someone's shout rang out. About three hundred meters away, there was a king who had started advancing north. It was a king with a brown flag like mine. I couldn't see their face from this distance, but they were probably the king of some small district.

Almost at the same time, armed groups that had been hiding all over Gwanghwamun began to appear. Every one of them was equipped with distinctive weapons.

The one that stood out most was a man in gaudy dragon robes riding in a bizarre palanquin.

I knew who it was without asking.

Our target, the Tyrant King, ruler of Dobong District and Seongbuk District.

If the one who ruled the biggest force among the Seven Kings of Seoul had started moving, then the First Apostle and the kings of the Later Three Kingdoms would move soon too.

“Most of them will probably move for the Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword.”

In fact, the kings were advancing toward the National Palace Museum to the north, where the Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword was. I couldn't see them, but that plagiarist writer was probably already moving that way too.

Some forces were even ignoring the risk entirely and running straight toward the museum.

I understood why.

Since not all the qualifications for kingship had been revealed yet, they probably thought it would be better to grab a good item first.

And with an item on the level of the Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword, you really could make up the gap in flag merit all at once.

Lee Seongguk asked anxiously,

“Don't we have to go too? The Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword is a pretty good item.”

“If we go now, we'll just get crushed in the middle.”

We didn't have many people. On top of that, there were also people over there whose Patron constellations were fairly famous among the Historical grade.

“Let's go west.”

I led my companions and moved immediately. Since all the kings were heading for the palace museum in the north, the western boulevard was comparatively deserted. True to Gwanghwamun's long history, there were museums all along the way. The Newspaper Museum, the Museum of Korean Financial History, the Police Museum...... Yu Sangah asked,

“Would there be any point in going into places like those?”

“We should avoid places with a lot of modern and contemporary exhibits.”

The older a relic was, the better. Of course, simply being old wasn't enough. A hoe used by an Iron Age farmer could become an item too, but the grade of an item like that would only be F. What mattered was whether it was related to a famous Historical figure or a fable, or whether it had a plausible story tangled around it.

“Let's go there.”

We stopped at the Seoul Museum of History, which bordered Gyeonghuigung. Light flickered in Yu Sangah's eyes.

“What should we look for here?”

“We need to find something called Ganpyeongui. It's a Joseon-era relic that looks like a disc, but I'm not sure which floor it's on.”

“Okay, I'll look for it!”

“We need to find it fast, so let's split up. Gilyeong, you go with noona Sangah. And Mr. Lee Seongguk...”

The moment I said that, I heard a sharp slicing sound from behind us. Instinctively shielding my companions, I dropped down. An arrow had pierced the building's outer wall. I could see the faint trace of Mana running through the shaft. A chill ran down my spine.

A Strong Magic Arrow.

Someone who had properly learned archery skills. Who the hell was it? There was someone who had read our route?

“Everyone, get inside! Hurry!”

Several more arrows flew in.

[You have activated Blade of Faith.]

I swung the blade wide and knocked away the incoming arrows. Fortunately, there wasn't much Mana in them, so blocking them wasn't difficult.

The problem was the number of them.

One arrow flying from a blind angle grazed the outside of my thigh. I retreated quickly and hid behind cover.

“Hahaha! Where does this fledgling king think they're running off to?”

A booming voice like a tiger rang out. From about four or five hundred meters away, a group armed with bows and swords was approaching us.

I couldn't see a flag. That meant they had sent out a detachment.

It seemed there were kings with better heads than I'd expected.

Were they planning to take the item for themselves and also steal the flags of kings from minor territories?

[Exclusive Skill, Character Profile, has activated.]

I used the skill on the burly man charging at us from the front.

Name: Chu Wangin

Age: 33

Patron constellation: The Last Hero of Hwangsanbeol

Exclusive attribute: Minor Actor (Common)

Exclusive skills: [Weapons Proficiency Lv.4], [acting Lv.1], [Search for the Weak Lv.1]

Stigma: [Baekje Swordsmanship Lv.4], [Fight to the Death Lv.2], [Detachment Command Lv.3]

Overall stats: [Constitution Lv.19], [Strength Lv.19], [Agility Lv.21], [Mana Lv.15]

Overall evaluation: This is a fine example of how even an unimpressive human can grow if they meet an outstanding Patron constellation. His synchronization with his Patron constellation is high, so the power of his Stigma is considerable. Caution is advised.

Damn it, speak of the tiger and it appears. Of all places, I had to run into the Last Hero of Hwangsanbeol here. People with actor-type attributes tended to attract constellations like that. And the Gwanghwamun area was a place where historical dramas were filmed often.

“If you know the honor of kings, then hand over your flag without resistance. If you do, I shall not take the lives of your group members.”

One look at that clumsy historical-drama diction and I understood why his attribute was Minor Actor. To think General Gyebaek, the famous commander of Hwangsanbeol, had attached himself to a guy like that. Whether you were a constellation or a human, luck with partners mattered all the same.

This was troublesome.

The levels of General Gyebaek's Stigmas, [Baekje Swordsmanship] and [Detachment Command], were fairly high. On top of that, considering the number of people in the group, it looked difficult to deal with all of them without raising my overall stats.

[Coin balance: 68,150C]

Should I just use coins here? But if I wildly raised my overall stats here, the difficulty of the final phase of the fourth Scenario would rise sharply. Then the whole plan would go off the rails.

Damn it, should I just shut my eyes and spend around twenty thousand coins......

“You wear the name of the Three Kingdoms and yet bully the king of a mere weak nation. Have you no shame?”

At the sudden voice, I turned to the side and saw, of all people, a familiar figure approaching. Chu Wangin, Gyebaek's Incarnation, made a vicious expression.

“What brings the damned queen of Gyeongsang here?”

“As expected of a general from a fallen dynasty. Even your way of speaking is vulgar.”

A woman stood there replying with an aloof expression.

King of Beauty Min Jiwon. No, where had this woman come from now? ......Surely she hadn't followed me? No way. That couldn't be it.

Min Jiwon's gaze slid past me for an instant.

[The character Min Jiwon holds slight favor toward you.]

......Seriously?

“Hahaha! And now the bloodline of cowardly Silla claims to be one of the kings of the Three Kingdoms? And nothing more than a mere woman at that!”

A booming voice burst from Chu Wangin's entire body. So he really was a minor actor. He didn't even have a Lion's Roar skill, but his voice was absurdly loud. Still, it was fascinating. Queen Jinseong and General Gyebaek were people born in completely different eras, yet after becoming constellations, they could meet like this. I asked Min Jiwon,

“Why are you helping me?”

“Silla doesn't turn its back on weaker nations.”

“Wasn't Silla the one that destroyed Gaya?”

“......Do you have Korean History Level 1 too?”

“That much is common knowledge once you graduate high school.”

Min Jiwon's face darkened a little.

“I skipped high school a lot, so I don't know.”

That made sense. According to the setting, Min Jiwon had been an actor since her teens. Since she had lived as an actress from early on, she had probably faced the brutal world outside the textbooks earlier than most people.

“Anyway, you're right. Money can't save people. I came to repay the debt of the rudeness I showed earlier. That's all, so don't worry about it.”

Because I knew the life story of Min Jiwon, who had spent her whole life as an actress, I could feel the sincerity in those words. Even so, it was unexpected. I hadn't thought the Incarnation of that prideful Queen Jinseong would lower her pride and step in this readily.

Maybe he had heard our conversation, because Gyebaek's Incarnation laughed heartily.

“Can one who calls oneself a king be swayed by such personal matters? This is why Silla......”

The one who stepped forward on Min Jiwon's behalf was the leader of the Hwarang.

“Insolence! How dare a mere general speak to the king of a nation like that!”

The eyes of Gyebaek's Incarnation flashed strangely as he glanced over the Hwarang.

“Hwarang......? This is interesting. Don't tell me there was someone here who had contracted with that brat constellation too?”

At those words, the Hwarang leader's face reddened. Come to think of it, that Hwarang leader's Patron constellation was Gwanchang.

“Do you want your head cut off just like your Patron constellation?”

People who knew, knew. Gwanchang was killed by Gyebaek after being beheaded at the Battle of Hwangsanbeol.

“Shut up!”

I was grateful they had come to help, but the matchup between the constellations was the worst possible.

That was even more true because their synchronization was high. Among Historical constellations, there were superior-subordinate relationships based on the history of their lives. A general couldn't defy the king of their own nation, and bitter enemies were assigned matchups according to historical record. That was why Gwanchang could never beat Gyebaek, even if Gwanchang rose from the dead.

Min Jiwon seemed to know that too, because her expression wasn't good. I spoke first.

“Just withdraw your troops. You can't win.”

The Baekje army also had slightly more soldiers. Gyebaek was fundamentally a commander, and the more troops he led, the greater the power he could display. He was a general who couldn't be compared to Gwanchang in the first place. It was then that I heard Yu Sangah's voice.

“Dokja-ssi! I found it!”

From behind us, Yu Sangah came running while holding a relic that looked like a small disc.

She found it already?

[Ganpyeongui]

The relic, which resembled a wall clock, was giving off light in Yu Sangah's hands.

I looked at the Ganpyeongui once, then at Min Jiwon, then at Gwanchang's Incarnation, stricken by fear. In that instant, a lot of thoughts ran through my head. This... maybe we could win without spending any coins.

“Attack!”

[The character Chu Wangin has activated Stigma Detachment Command Lv.3.]

The Hwarang were falling one after another, overwhelmed by the force of the Baekje army.

Min Jiwon turned to me with a desperate look, and I said,

“I think we can win this.”

“Pardon?”

“Let's recreate the Battle of Hwangsanbeol here.”

Again, people who knew, knew. Hwangsanbeol was originally a battle Silla won.

Footnotes:

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