WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 701: Episode 25: Demon King (4)

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Christina bit down on her lip before continuing.

"We had to make a decision soon. Too many people had died just getting to the fifth Scenario."

They had somehow made it to the fifth Scenario.

However, the Apostles who knew how this story ended knew that if they continued through the Scenarios like this, everything would go wrong.

In this worldline without Kim Dokja, there was no way to resolve the Scenarios completely.

No matter how brilliantly they cleared the earlier Scenarios, they would eventually be stopped before the Final Wall.

That was why they decided to take a risk in the fifth Scenario.

To summon the Demon King of Salvation with a Calamity Summoning Ticket.

It was a choice they couldn't defend even if people called them insane.

"What were you going to do if it failed?"

"That..."

"Even if it succeeded, there would've been a problem."

If the Demon King of Salvation had been summoned as a Calamity, something truly absurd could have happened.

Even so, I couldn't bring myself to blame them for seeking Kim Dokja in their most desperate moment.

Maybe it was because I'd had a similar experience myself.

「"I'll form a Behind-the-Scenes Contract."」

Anyone who knew Dokja's name would have no choice but to seek him out, as if searching for a god.

Anyone who had entered this world through Possession would probably feel the same.

I looked down at Anna Croft, who was sleeping soundly with her head on Christina's lap, and asked,

"You used [hypnosis], so Anna doesn't know the details."

"Yes..."

Anna was the most cautious character in TWSA.

There was no way she would agree to summon an unheard-of being called the Demon King of Salvation as a Calamity.

In the end, the Apostles led by Christina hypnotized Anna and secretly summoned the Demon King of Salvation.

The price was that Washington Dome had become the Demon Realm.

"At first, we thought we'd somehow be able to stop it ourselves. We gathered every Apostle in North America and headed to Washington Dome. That was already several weeks ago."

They probably couldn't honestly tell anyone that Washington had been destroyed because of their choice.

To make up for their mistake, the Apostles tried to take down the Demon King of Salvation.

"You failed."

"...Yes."

"So that's why you brought me here?"

"I'm ashamed."

The moment Christina confirmed my Patron, she must have thought the Demon King of Salvation they were searching for was already in this worldline. Perhaps that was why their summoning had failed.

"Is the Demon King of Salvation really in this world? Is the Kim we know here?"

Was the Kim Dokja they knew in this world?

After thinking for a moment, I answered.

"There's someone much closer to the real thing than that Demon King of Salvation. More importantly, what exactly is that Demon King of Salvation over there?"

"I don't know. One thing is certain. It wasn't the Demon King of Salvation we knew. And..."

"And?"

"That demon kept getting stronger every time the Apostles went after it."

It grew stronger every time the Apostles came for it?

A hypothesis came to mind, but it was still too soon to be certain.

Still, there was one person who could confirm all these theories for me.

'Mr. Kim.'

He said he was going to exchange coins. Just how far had he gone?

At that moment, Midday Tryst reconnected with a crackle.

'Where have you been all this time?'

- Youngest, we're in trouble.

'There's trouble over here too.'

I was about to explain the unbelievable things that had happened while he was gone.

Then,

- I think my modifier got taken away.

It seemed there was real trouble on his side too.

* * *

Everything in the Star Stream was a "story," in other words, a fable.

Since the concept of a fable was so abstract, a form of currency was created to make it practical.

They were the coins we knew.

- Constellations earn coins just by breathing.

'Constellations don't need to breathe, do they?'

- It means they consume coins simply by existing.

'I knew that, but I didn't know maintaining a modifier cost coins too.'

Dokja had never mentioned it, so I'd never considered it either.

Who would've thought simply using a modifier cost coins? Was that why Constellations were always so sensitive about earning coins?

'But did you say your Constellation modifier was taken away?'

- Not my Constellation modifier.

'Then what?'

- I have a Demon King modifier too.

According to Dokja, Constellations who had suddenly entered from another worldline, like him, had to pay additional costs to use the Star Stream System.

Dokja was both a Constellation and a Demon King, so he had to pay twice the maintenance cost for his modifiers.

- I managed to maintain my Constellation modifier, but I couldn't pay the maintenance cost for my Demon King modifier.

Could that be why this man had been so obsessed with coins...?

- I was going to exchange some of the Fable Fragments and beast parts I got this time, then buy back my modifier, but the Administration Bureau had already sold off my Demon King modifier.

I was beginning to understand how everything had unfolded.

I briefly explained the incidents in America to Dokja. When he heard about the American Apostles and the Calamity Summoning Ticket, he let out a sigh.

- Ah, so that's what those spam messages from the Administration Bureau were about. They kept going on about a Calamity or something.

It seemed he hadn't even read the Administration Bureau's messages.

'Then the Demon King of Salvation in Washington right now...'

- It's probably the new Demon King of Salvation the Administration Bureau found.

'The bastard who bought your Demon King modifier.'

In other words, the Demon King of Salvation currently in Washington was a fake with only the name Demon King of Salvation.

'Is that bastard a Demon King too?'

- They won't be Demon King-class. Those bastards have too much pride to steal someone else's modifier. It's probably a demon trying to rise to become a Demon King by taking this opportunity.

Whatever that bastard was, our only option now was to head for Washington.

Christina woke Anna, and I explained what we needed. Anna looked deeply flustered, but she soon accepted the situation calmly.

"I'm angry, but it can't be helped. I'll hold you thoroughly accountable for this later, Christina."

"I'm sorry, Anna."

"Make an [Existence Oath]. Swear that you'll never use [hypnosis] on me again."

"I swear."

Anna didn't press Christina any further. She probably knew that punishing her now wouldn't resolve the situation.

Anna had the artisans bring out the completed Tier-4 earth dragon species equipment.

"We've imposed on you, Inho Cheon. Let's leave at once."

Once we finished preparing, we immediately opened a portal to Washington Dome.

With things having come this far, I felt conflicted too.

Were my Allies still safe?

What had happened to Yu Junghyeok, who said he had encountered a marquis-class demonic species?

How strong was the Demon King of Salvation in Washington Dome?

As I sorted through those tangled thoughts and stepped into the portal,

[Someone has defeated the ruler of Washington Dome.]

A message rang out.

* * *

That "demon" had no name.

[You are a Tier-7 demonic species, Dark Warden.]

Like most other demonic species, the demon existed only as a component of the Scenarios designed by the dokkaebis. They killed Incarnations who entered the Ground Rats' Treasure Trove and offered their souls to Demon Kings.

The demon had no complaints about it. Just as Ground Rats never questioned breathing, inhaling black Aether, or gathering Treasure, they had never questioned their own work.

Everything began when the demon killed some humans who had infiltrated their Treasure Trove.

「"It's a Dark Warden!"」

「"I-it's real. Just like in the novel."」

The demon dealt with the Incarnations as usual, attacking with tentacles.

Yet surprisingly, the pair skillfully countered the attacks.

「"It works! Kim's method works! Keep pushing!"」

「"If we attack its left ankle, the upper-right tentacle moves!"」

Not only did the humans know the demon's attack patterns, they also used weapons with the Divinity attribute, their weakness.

Every time one of the demon's tentacles was cut, they screamed.

「"This is it! Finish it!"」

Looking back, an ordinary Dark Warden would certainly have been unable to withstand the pair's assault.

But the pair was unlucky.

The demon had lived as a Dark Warden slightly longer than other Dark Wardens, so they could display a little more cunning in battle than the others.

When the demon pretended to weaken and staggered, the humans charged in confidently. They didn't miss the humans' opening and spewed out pitch-black darkness.

「"What? That pattern wasn't there!"」

「"The novel never described the patterns in detail to begin with! Damn it, run!"」

One of the pair got away, but the other's foot was caught in the tentacles, leaving them unable to escape.

「"S-save me! Please save me!"」

It was the same ordinary plea the demon had heard countless times.

The demon had no interest in human tears. They casually drove a tentacle into the human's heart. The human coughed up blood and died.

「Boring.」

The moment that thought occurred to them, the demon was startled.

「What does boring mean?」

It was an emotion they had never experienced before.

Suddenly, the demon lowered their head and looked at the end of a tentacle. A small figurine that emitted a faint light was clutched there.

It was an item the demon had never seen in all their life as a demon.

As if possessed, they curled a tentacle around the figurine. Countless emotions they had never felt before rushed in.

An overwhelming sense of preciousness, tenderness, and longing.

What followed was an intense hunger.

Unable to overcome that desire, the demon eventually swallowed the figurine.

「What is 'I'?」

That was how the demon first became aware of their own existence.

「I am a Dark Warden.」

No.

That wasn't an accurate expression.

「I am an extra.」

Though they didn't properly understand what an "extra" was, the demon sensed the nuance contained in that word.

They wanted to know what this feeling was.

[You have evolved into a Tier-5 demonic species, Dark Tracker.]

The demon entered the Scenarios and began to hunt. They learned how to fight from the humans who came to hunt them. They no longer fought like a Dark Warden.

They used the weapons humans dropped and wore their equipment.

「"Oh my god! It's a Tier-5 species!"」

「"There isn't enough information on Dark Trackers-"」

「"Run! Everyone, run!"」

One, two, three... the demon killed humans again and again.

Very occasionally, they could gain something from particularly strong humans.

[You have acquired a Kim Dokja Fragment.]

The demon didn't understand the meaning of that message, but they understood at least one thing.

The more Fragments they acquired, the stronger they became.

They began hunting humans at a faster and faster pace. They learned human habits and studied their tendencies.

They laid traps for humans searching for hidden items and sometimes disguised themselves as a weak beast species.

How many Fragments had they devoured that way?

By the time the demon came to their senses, they had become a demonic noble.

[You have evolved into a demonic noble.]

Then that "being" came to find them.

[Oh, I've never seen a demon like you before.]

The group people called the Administration Bureau.

[Don't you want a name?]

The Administration Bureau dokkaebi asked, and the demon nodded.

[If you give me all the coins you possess, I will give you a name.]

The demon gladly paid all the coins they had collected by killing Incarnations.

[From this moment onward, you are the Demon King of Salvation.]

That was how the demon became the Demon King of Salvation.

Once they heard it, the name felt like it suited them remarkably well. The fables boiling within them spoke.

「Gather the Fragments.」

「Become the one and only Kim Dokja.」

Excitement surged from deep within their soul.

The demon would become this world's Demon King. They would escape being an extra and become a being that craved a true ■■.

But as if mocking all their efforts,

"You're a brat who only recently rose to the rank of marquis."

The true protagonist of this story came to find them.

Footnotes:

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