WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 700: Episode 25: Demon King (3)

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I calmly studied Anna Croft's face. Just looking at her complexion told me a great deal.

Her eyes had lost some of their focus. Shadows stretched deep beneath them.

She probably hadn't slept properly even once since the Washington incident began.

That was why she was making such a reckless decision now.

"What if I really am a vassal of the Demon King of Salvation?"

Anna flinched at my question but couldn't answer.

"Are you going to detonate the nuclear weapon right now? Can you wipe out all of Las Vegas just to eliminate one vassal?"

"I'm the one asking questions."

"Will you believe me if I tell you who I am? You know [lie detection] doesn't work properly on me."

"That's only your claim."

"Do you want to test it?"

Instead of replying, Anna bit down hard on her lip.

"Anna. You can't detonate that nuclear weapon. You're someone who wants to protect Zarathustra."

It was doubtful whether the tactical nuke would even work properly, but Anna had probably never intended to use it in the first place.

If she did, the Zarathustra she protected would disappear along with it.

"What do you know about me, Inho Cheon..."

"I know plenty. How strong your sense of duty is, why you want to erase every star from this world, and what kind of Night you dream of every day."

「"Please. Come with me to my Complete Night."」

I remembered the words Kim Dokja had once heard.

In the end, Anna would reach her Night. It would be brighter than she had imagined, and it wouldn't be this worldline either.

"How could you possibly know that..."

"Don't I know quite a lot about you by now?"

As the advantage in the conversation shifted, Anna's complexion grew grave.

"Anna Croft. My relationship with the Demon King of Salvation isn't important. What's important is that you're desperate right now. And I'm the only one you have left to turn to. If you leave things as they are, the American continent will be destroyed. Do you want this round to end in failure too?"

Anna looked as though she had been bombarded without pause. Normally, attacks like this wouldn't have shaken her composure.

But she was exhausted now.

"What do you want, Inho Cheon?"

"Now we're getting somewhere."

There were many things I wanted to know.

Most of all, I wanted to ask whether Junghyeok and the companions were alive.

But that wasn't the right question to ask here.

Anna had assured me they were alive, and there was something I needed to resolve before asking that.

I organized my thoughts.

Dokja wasn't here right now.

Still, if it were Dokja, he would surely begin the conversation like this.

"Let's get straight to the point. Come out already. I know you're listening to everything."

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"No matter how difficult the Scenario has become, it doesn't make sense for you to be this incompetent."

I remembered every description Han Suyeong had given of Anna Croft.

Anna had suffered whenever she encountered Dokja, but that was only because her opponent had been Dokja.

She was the strongest Incarnation in America, someone even the regressor Yu Junghyeok had been wary of. She had fulfilled her prophecies, deceived even the nebulae, and dreamed of a Complete Night.

There was no way a character like her would struggle this much in the seventh Scenario.

"If you won't come out, I'll make you."

Unless, of course, there was a very dangerous interferer.

[Exclusive Skill, Incitement Lv.10 has activated!]

"Anna Croft. You are currently under [hypnosis Incitement]."

Anna's pupils trembled at those words.

"From now on, you will awaken from [hypnosis Incitement]..."

"W-wait! Hold on!"

Clap.

Anna slumped in her chair.

The air rippled, and a woman emerged from a transparent cloak. It was the Hermit's Cloak. I knew that face well.

"How did you know?"

Ever since I possessed a body in this world, I had developed one bad habit.

Whenever a new person appeared, I used [Reader Comment List] first.

[Checking this reader's profile information.]

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ID : FantasyQueen90

Platform : BestNovel

Total Comments : 80

Reader Level : 5

Number of Completed Reads : 1

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* You can use coins to check this reader's comments.

* Number of comments currently available for free: 3.

+

I had already used [Reader Comment List] on Christina when I boarded the car for Las Vegas, so I knew she was an American Apostle.

I slowly examined the list window floating before me.

BestNovel was an unfamiliar name, so it was probably an American platform. One completed read.

"It would be stranger if I didn't know. You turned Anna Croft into that. No Anna I know has such poor judgment."

"..."

"You brought me all the way here because you had a purpose. What is it?"

Christina Page had brought me here even after seeing the Demon King of Salvation's Indirect Message in Korea.

That would have been impossible if she believed the Demon King in the Washington Dome was truly the Demon King of Salvation.

It was no different from bringing an enemy's vassal into her own home base.

Yet she had done it.

The answer was obvious.

"What relationship do you have with the Demon King of Salvation...?"

She knew that the Demon King of Salvation in the Washington Dome was a fake.

"Please answer me. Is the Constellation you serve really the Demon King of Salvation?"

Not 'Demon King,' but 'Constellation.'

I met her eyes again.

The moment I saw the deep tremor in them, I understood what she was hoping for.

I slowly stood and walked toward the window, then threw open the curtains Anna had closed.

Dim darkness had fallen. Stars glittered in the distant night sky.

I silently looked up at one shining star.

"What if it is?"

How much time passed after that?

When I slowly turned my head, Christina was on her knees.

"Please."

A crumpled expression, as if she'd let go of everything she'd been holding in.

"Please save Washington... save our Zarathustra."

* * *

I set up several safeguards, including [Soundproofing], in case other Constellations were listening.

[Some Constellations complain that they suddenly can't see you.]

Fortunately, Anna was thorough about security as well, so it seemed the Constellations couldn't hear our conversation at all.

"First, release the [Daily Corpse] you cast, then we'll talk."

Christina wiped away her tears and released [Daily Corpse].

[Your soul has returned to its original body.]

The physical sensations I'd regained after so long.

Right. This was what it felt like to be alive.

After taking a deep breath, I sat Christina on the sofa and asked, "What exactly happened in America?"

Having calmed down a little, Christina laid the unconscious Anna across her lap and slowly began her story.

Once I heard it, I reached a conclusion while keeping my emotions in check.

"To put it simply, the demon that appeared in the Washington Dome isn't the Demon King of Salvation?"

"Yes."

"What about the symbolic form of the Demon King of Salvation you said you saw?"

"I did see the symbolic form of a high-ranking demonic species. But he isn't a real Demon King. I knew the moment I saw him."

I had suspected that might be the case.

Even if she had encountered a Demon King through the [Nightmare] skill, Christina was far too composed to have truly faced one.

Yu Junghyeok or Kim Dokja might be different, but an ordinary Incarnation would naturally go mad.

"Then why does Anna believe that demon king is the Demon King of Salvation?"

"Because I told her so."

"Why did you tell such a lie?"

"That is..."

"And according to Anna's story, the vassals in the Washington Dome also mentioned the Demon King of Salvation."

Christina chewed on her lip. Her eyes darted around as if she were watching my reaction, then she seemed to conclude that there was no choice but to be honest.

"I need to explain a few things first."

"Keep it as brief as possible."

"We never intended for things to turn out this way. We never wanted to ruin the Scenario this badly."

Christina protested.

Listening to her, it didn't seem Christina had worsened the situation out of malice.

The other American Apostles seemed to be the same.

「"At times like this, we need to catch the bugs. Everyone, find the bugs."」

「"Protect the children first. We can kill the beast species if we fight together!"」

「"Don't fight each other! We just have to clear the Scenario together!"」

America's early situation wasn't very different from Korea's.

The problem began right after the first Scenario ended.

「"What... what should we do next?"」

The American readers had almost no advantages from the start.

There was no guarantee that America's Scenarios would be the same as Korea's, and even if they were, it was difficult to use geographical advantages.

On top of that, the Apostles couldn't communicate smoothly because of translation issues.

In that situation, the Apostles had only one way to survive.

「"We need to find Anna Croft."」

They eventually found Anna Croft and rallied around her.

They thought they were saved now that they had met Anna, a major character. They thought they might be able to survive.

That was before they learned the truth about this world.

「"Oh my God, it seems there is no Kim here."」

This world wasn't Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. It was the forty-first round of TWSA, a world where Kim Dokja could never exist.

The Apostles were overcome with despair. Some began to believe in the apocalypse, while others gave up on the Scenario or took their own lives, believing they were doomed to die anyway.

Even then, Christina and a few Apostles stood firm and fought alongside Anna.

They cleared the second, third, and fourth Scenarios with remarkable results.

Then, as a reward, they received an item.

「Catastrophe Selection Ticket」.

They had gained the opportunity to choose the Calamity that would come for them in the fifth Scenario.

Normally, choosing Chronos would have been the right choice.

Chronos's Calamity was one they knew well.

But then, someone came up with an idea.

What if they could summon someone they knew as a Calamity?

"Wait, don't tell me."

Just as Catastrophe of Floods Shin Yuseong had done, some Calamities can come from beyond a worldline.

If that was the case...

Christina lowered her head, looking ashamed.

"Yes. We asked for the Demon King of Salvation to be summoned as the Calamity."

Footnotes:

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