WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 692: Episode 24: Expert (2)

──────

I remembered her name.

"Seona-ssi."

Gu Seona.

A reader who had joined Kim Gyeongsik and me in the Theater Dungeon.

Number of Completed Reads: 8.

Nickname: Iron Club Woman.

The last I'd heard of her was at the Star Gem Dungeon in the National Palace Museum. Thankfully, she seemed to be safe.

"I asked you. What... did you just do?"

The problem was that she had witnessed a very awkward scene.

My thoughts raced.

How much had Seona seen?

I forced myself to take a deep breath and thought it over. From someone else's perspective, it would have looked like I had simply crushed a doll resembling Kim Dokja.

It was suspicious, but was it really serious enough for her to interrogate me like this?

"How could you use that skill..."

A skill?

Only then did I look down at my fingertips. The surfaces of my nails rippled subtly where they touched the vapor from the humidifier in the hospital room.

The traits of the [Smoke Human] skill had manifested on their own.

"This is..."

It certainly was a situation that could be misunderstood.

If Gu Seona had seen me use the dead Kim Gyeongsik's skill immediately after absorbing his doll.

Then a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Could I really call that a misunderstanding?

Either way, I had to explain.

I needed to tell her what was happening to me and what this situation was.

[The Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has activated!]

[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] had activated on its own.

Then I began to hear someone's inner thoughts.

「Kim Gyeongsik definitely died back then.」

I didn't need to ask whose thoughts they were.

「I saw him die with my own eyes. I definitely saw it.」

"Seona-ssi?"

When I took a step closer, Seona backed away with a frightened expression.

Memories flooded through her mind.

A place surrounded by damp stone walls. Inside the ruined National Palace Museum dungeon, she was surrounded by the Five Poison Association.

「"Kill her. This is our chance to harm an Apostle."」

I didn't know whose voice it was among the Five Poison Association. What was certain was that she had been surrounded in that dungeon and was on the verge of death.

「"Recover the fragment! Don't let it get away!"」

She hadn't been the only Apostle there.

「"Miss Seona, take the front!"」

The two of them fought splendidly. They were both readers who had completed the novel, so it was only natural.

But there were too many enemies, and they even encountered the dungeon's guardian along the way.

Just as there were Scenarios that even Yu Junghyeok, who had regressed countless times, couldn't handle, there was misfortune that even readers who had completed the novel couldn't avoid.

It was a stray arrow she normally wouldn't have given a second thought.

Seona, with her high Agility, easily avoided the arrow. The problem was Gyeongsik, who had been behind her.

With the sound of something being pierced, Gyeongsik fell to his knees. It happened at the exact moment his specialty, [Smoke Human], was activating again.

「"Old man!"」

Gyeongsik coughed up a mouthful of blood and smiled bitterly.

「"Damn. It's over for me."」

「"What are you talking about? You can still live. With the Ellain Forest Essence..."」

「"It's poisoned. I won't last more than ten minutes at best."」

Perhaps he read her expression, because Gyeongsik gave her a pale smile.

「"It's all right."」

Seona didn't know what kind of person Gyeongsik was. She didn't know his real name, where he lived, or how many family members he had.

She knew nothing.

The only thing she knew was that Gyeongsik had read and loved the same story as her.

「"You promised. You said we'd see the end of this world together."」

「"I did. So you should run. Then I'll survive too."」

Seona couldn't bring herself to ask what he meant.

She was afraid of the approaching enemies. She didn't want to die.

Seona ran away alone. She kept running without daring to look back.

Gyeongsik's final words lingered in her mind like the lingering scent of a cigarette that had gone out.

「"Didn't all of us in this world come from one person?"」

I took a step toward Seona. She gagged and screamed.

"D-don't come closer! Don't come closer!"

Seona's bloodshot eyes were filled with fear.

"I-I didn't kill him!"

Seona hadn't been shocked because she thought I had absorbed Gyeongsik.

Right now, she was facing the guilt she had been turning away from.

"I didn't kill him! It wasn't because of me... It wasn't because of me!"

Seona turned and began running away.

Just as I was about to call out to her again.

─Don't chase her.

Dokja stopped me in a calm voice.

─That's not something you can solve for her.

Even though I knew he was right, I couldn't take my eyes off Seona's retreating back.

Someday, I would have a chance to explain what had happened today. Until then, all I could do was pray that she would recover safely.

─Let's prepare for the next Scenario. Don't you have to catch up to Junghyeok?

I'd briefly forgotten amid all the urgency.

Originally, I had planned to participate in the Final Chapter of the Seventh Scenario with Junghyeok.

Then I received a fable penalty along the way, and Junghyeok abandoned me and left.

─You know that bastard isn't in normal physical condition right now, don't you?

'It looked like regressor's depression.'

I didn't know why, but Junghyeok of the forty-first round seemed to have a severe case of regressor's depression.

That was probably why he had tried to use me as a kind of suppressant.

─If we get there too late, that bastard might kill Anna. If that happens, things will get complicated.

'Anna.'

─As soon as Jeong Huiwon wakes up, we'll leave. Got it?

Jeong Huiwon. Anna. Lee Hyeongseong...

Come to think of it, Kim Dokja, the Demon King of Salvation, didn't call them by name in a familiar tone.

Was it because he didn't see this world as his world?

Or was he deliberately trying to keep his distance?

'Patron-nim.'

I was Kim Dokja, but I didn't know Dokja's heart.

I didn't know why he was helping me or what he expected from me.

So I had to ask.

─Yeah.

'Tell me now.'

Why Dokja couldn't return to his allies.

In other words, why all of this had begun.

'Who are the bastards who killed you?'

* * *

To give the conclusion first, I couldn't get a proper answer from Dokja.

─It's certain that those great nebula bastards are involved.

'Is there even a major incident in this world that doesn't involve the great nebulae?'

That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

'Even if they're great nebulae, can they kill you? Even Mythical-grade Constellations shouldn't be able to.'

No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't understand.

How many beings in this universe could possibly kill Dokja, who possessed the Status of the Oldest Dream? How many could even touch a hair on his head?

─Some complicated things happened in between. It'd take a long time to explain, and my memories aren't complete.

'You said you might remember after I absorbed that fragment.'

─I thought I would, but my memories aren't coming back properly. Still, if I try to explain it...

Kim Dokja stopped there and didn't answer for a long time.

I wondered why.

[The usage of Midday Tryst has been excessive today.]

[Excessive Plausibility has accumulated in the constellation artifact.]

Tstststst!

My smartphone rattled.

Even for [Midday Tryst], it wasn't normal to exchange this many messages with my Patron from the very beginning.

Fortunately, the Plausibility problem was quickly resolved.

[Please pay additional Coins.]

As expected, there was nothing Coins couldn't solve.

I waited for a while. I thought Dokja would soon begin speaking again.

"Patron-nim?"

Yet no matter how long I waited, Dokja didn't continue.

"Hello?"

Was he staying silent because he didn't want to spend the Coins?

"..."

Did I have to pay again?

[Your Patron is looking at you.]

I tried doing nothing and staying still.

[Your Patron is looking at you.]

I pretended not to notice.

[Your Patron is looking at you!]

[Your Patron is looking at you!]

[Your Patron is looking at you!]

I decided this guy was truly hopeless and was about to put in Coins.

Kiiiiing!

A portal swirled in the center of Gwanghwamun in the distance.

I wondered why there was a portal at this time, but people who clearly weren't Korean came rushing out of it.

"We're here to purchase Grade-4 earth dragon species parts! Is the seller here?"

The one who shouted was a brown-haired woman standing at the front.

I'd never seen her face before, but the instant I heard her calm voice, I knew who she was.

Selena Kim.

She was undoubtedly Selena Kim, Anna Croft's right-hand woman.

As expected, the group that had applied to buy the Grade-4 earth dragon species parts was Anna's group, Zarathustra.

There probably weren't many groups at this early stage that could readily pay more than 300,000 Coins.

"Mr. Inho Cheon! Are you here?"

If Selena was here, did that mean Anna Croft had come too?

People began murmuring, so I decided to make my presence known first.

"That's me!"

As I waved and approached, Selena spotted me and bowed politely.

"Mr. Inho Cheon?"

"Yes, that's right."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm..."

"Selena Kim, right?"

"You know me?"

Seeing her widen her eyes made my heart race anew.

To think I was seeing Selena Kim in person.

It felt strange.

I'd survived long enough to get here.

"I know you. The King's Guardian."

"Ah."

"It's nice to meet you."

Selena blushed as though embarrassed and bowed in thanks.

"Thank you. You're very kind. I'm a little surprised."

"No, I wouldn't say I'm that kind..."

"The Supreme King is a very frightening person, so honestly, I was nervous."

It seemed Selena had already met Junghyeok. Did that mean she had made time in the middle of the Scenario?

As if my guess was right, Selena quickly got to the point.

"Where is the Grade-4 earth dragon you registered for sale..."

"You caught a Grade-4 earth dragon?"

That was when the woman standing behind her stepped forward.

An unfamiliar voice and an unfamiliar face. Her hair held a faint pink tint, and she was about a handspan shorter than Selena.

She wore a neat suit despite her funky makeup.

"Who are you?"

"I asked if you caught it."

Was there someone this rude among Anna's allies?

I answered in an unnecessarily sour voice.

"Yeah, I did."

The woman didn't look flustered at all by my answer.

"Really?"

Her eyes shone brightly, as though she found it interesting.

"So you did."

She held a pocket watch in her hand.

An alarm rang in my head.

I instinctively activated [Incitement] and gripped Unbreakable Faith in my right hand.

"You're quick to catch on."

But she was faster.

The pocket watch swung from side to side.

I knew I had to look away from it, but my eyes wouldn't listen.

Because it was that kind of item.

'Pocket Watch of Eternal Sleep.'

Only then did I realize who the Incarnation before me was.

There was only one Incarnation in all of TWSA who possessed that pocket watch.

Finger Snapper.

Christina Page.

An American Incarnation who had cleared the first Scenario by achieving the same Incitement Murder achievement as me.

[Your total Mana is lower than the caster's.]

[The effect of Pocket Watch of Eternal Sleep has sealed your skills for 2 seconds.]

It was only two seconds, but they felt like eternity.

"From now on, you..."

With Christina's smile, a chilling sensation spread down my spine.

"Will fall into a deep sleep."

With the sound of someone snapping their fingers, my consciousness abruptly shut off.

* * *

Looking at the man with his head bowed deeply before her, Christina thought,

'Anna told me about him, so I was worried, but he's less than I expected.'

He seemed fairly quick-witted, but it had been impossible from the start for him to avoid the hypnosis she had sprung on him.

"Christina. What on earth are you doing?"

"What?"

"This wasn't part of the plan! How could you be this rude... Our purpose was to purchase Grade-4 earth dragon species parts..."

Christina rolled her eyes as if she was sick of listening to Selena's nagging.

"You really don't know anything, kid."

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you think Anna sent me with you?"

"..."

"If we were only going to buy Grade-4 earth dragon species parts, she could've sent innocent little you alone. Why would she send me along too?"

When Selena hesitated, Christina shook her head as if this was hopeless.

"Damn, if you've got a brain, try using it. No matter how scarce the goods are, what kind of bastard sells Grade-4 earth dragon species parts for 500,000 Coins?"

Christina tapped Inho Cheon's frozen forehead with her fingertips.

"After a few years in the FBI, you get a feel for it just by looking at someone. A lean build, a shifty face. Especially those narrow eyes."

"If judging people solely by their appearance is the FBI's investigative method, I will no longer trust the FBI."

"No, of course I'm not saying that's how the FBI works. A Korean colleague once told me that in Korea, a face like this is called a con artist's face..."

"Christina."

Feeling like she was about to get another lecture, Christina quickly added,

"Anyway, the 150,000 Coins we paid in advance are more than enough for the payment. Let's take the goods and leave. Since he had the nerve to do this, let's take a suitable bonus too..."

"Christina!"

"What now?"

Christina turned with an irritated expression and saw Selena's stiff face.

Only then did Christina realize something was wrong.

Something was gripping one of her fingers.

"Oh, come on. I tried to save Coins, and now this happens."

Only one of her fingers had been caught.

Yet she couldn't move, as though her entire body had frozen.

'How...'

She wanted to say that was impossible.

Her hypnosis had definitely succeeded. At the very least, he should have been unable to move and unconscious for an entire day.

"150,000 Coins is more than enough... How does someone like you, whose Scenario started barely two months ago, know the market price for Grade-4 earth dragon species parts? Are you a butcher from Majang-dong?"

But he was moving.

He was even speaking.

That wasn't the only problem.

What was this feeling?

Even after her finger was released, she couldn't move.

Her shoulders trembled like aspen leaves, and breathing felt difficult, as though her lungs were shrinking.

It was the feeling she'd once experienced when facing her Patron.

No, it was even more frightening and unfathomable than that.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation is glaring at you.]

She couldn't turn her head.

She felt that if she did, something terrible would be facing her.

A pale, cold hand gently grasped her shoulder.

"I was only planning to take exactly 500,000 Coins, but this won't do for you people."

With a light spark, cold breath like a demon's whisper touched her ear.

"Go tell Anna I want to meet her."

Footnotes:

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