WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 767: Episode 33: The Ball (6)

──────

Yu Junghyeok had already stepped out of the smoke. His gaze was still fixed on my companions.

Chae Seongwoo, Chae Yerin, Lee Dansu, and Gyeong Sein.

I couldn't tell which one he was looking at.

However, Junghyeok had clearly said,

"The promise was kept."

What could that possibly mean?

Did one of them use to be one of the Ten Evils, or a villain of similar standing, in Junghyeok's previous round?

If so,

could it really be called a coincidence that the readers and I had possessed "villain" characters?

"Kim Dokja."

Junghyeok's expression had stiffened strangely when he emerged from the smoke.

Someone was entering through the school gate.

「A slender body. A pitch-black cloak. A black hat pulled low. A black mask reminiscent of steampunk.」

The boy slowly raised his head and looked at us.

I felt strangely unsettled.

"This year's graduates are pathetic."

The boy, who had clearly been standing by the gate moments ago, was suddenly behind me.

He moved so quickly that even Junghyeok couldn't react.

Junghyeok's eyes widened as he instinctively tried to activate [hundred-step godly fists].

"Ah, you're here!"

Teacher Yang fluttered her wings and flew up to the rooftop. She looked between us and the boy before introducing him.

"Everyone, say hello. This is Old School from Class Z. He's here to help with the graduation exam."

Old School?

That little brat was a graduate of this school?

"This child's name is..."

"Keep your head on straight."

The boy snapped coldly, then swept his murderous gaze over us.

"Once you enter that forest, situations like that are common. If I catch you letting your guard down again..."

The boy glared at me with a chilly gaze and warned me in a tone like Junghyeok's.

"I'll kill you myself."

* * *

Honestly, I had been optimistic when I first entered this world.

It wasn't just any world setting. It was the setting of a novel I had serialized.

The difficulty of this world was terrible, but I thought it would be manageable. After all, I wasn't the only one who had entered this world.

There were readers here, and there were other characters as well.

For example,

"What? Get lost."

Right. Kim Namwoon could be like that.

He was never very bright, so it wasn't strange that he didn't recognize me.

"Kim Namwoon, stop picking on the underachieving class kids."

But then there was Lee Jihye, too.

"Namwoon. We aren't bullies. We're student council."

And Lee Hyeongseong.

"What's with that outfit? Where's your tie?"

Even Jeong Huiwon, the head of the disciplinary committee, didn't recognize me at all. That was a little shocking.

At first, I thought they couldn't recognize me because my face had changed. However, that didn't seem to be the case.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Oh, never mind. I must have been mistaken."

Shin Yuseong seemed as though she recognized me a little, but her face soon reddened and she ran away.

I wondered if she was afflicted with a status condition, so I tried using [Character Profile].

[You cannot use Character Profile on this character.]

I had never seen that message appear for a "character" before. It was impossible for it to appear even for someone whose [Character Profile] I had already viewed.

That wasn't the end of the strange messages.

[Someone is viewing this character's information.]

Someone besides me could use [Character Profile]?

No, more importantly, could [Character Profile] be used this way?

「The information of a character currently being viewed by someone else cannot be read.」

In the main story, two people with [Character Profile] had never faced each other.

That was because Dokja was one of a kind.

However, things were a little different this time. The reason was obvious.

"It's Gu Seona!"

A voice came from one end of the corridor. The murmuring students parted like waves, and I realized who this world had chosen as its protagonist.

「Student Council President Gu Seona.」

Beautiful and talented, with excellent grades and skill in both academics and combat. The protagonist of Class A, blessed with every so-called "protagonist trait," was walking toward us.

The moment our eyes met, I understood what Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Sein had meant.

「She looks like Kim Dokja.」

Only then did I understand its meaning.

Her face really did resemble mine in a subtle way.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name growls.]

If Dokja had a daughter, or a younger sister, would she have looked like that?

The students stirred whenever she approached.

I tensed up. If this really was an academy story, this was exactly when something should happen.

「An honors Class A student picking a fight with the underachieving Class Z.」

However, as though avoiding that academy-story cliché, Gu Seona stopped directly in front of me, stared at me silently, then walked past.

She only left behind one strange remark.

"You won't get your way."

I reached for her arm as she passed.

I knew why she was hostile toward me, but I wanted to tell her that there was a misunderstanding. This wasn't the time for us to fight each other. This wasn't a Scenario we could waste that way.

However,

"I can't allow that."

My hand was caught in Hyeongseong's large grip.

An inexplicable sense of hurt surged up within me. However, I didn't know what I was supposed to say. I wasn't even sure whether the emotion I felt was justified.

Then someone grabbed Hyeongseong by the collar.

"You bastard, don't tell me you can't even recognize Kim Dokja?"

It was Killer King.

"That guy is Kim Dokja. The very Kim Dokja you used to protect. And you, Lee Hyeongseong, dare...!"

"W-What are you doing?"

A flustered Hyeongseong was helplessly shaken by Killer King.

"Kang Ilhun-ssi."

Only after hearing me did Killer King release Hyeongseong's collar.

Hyeongseong looked at us with a confused expression before quickly following Gu Seona.

Killer King muttered as he watched Hyeongseong's retreating back.

"Don't you feel wronged?"

"About what?"

"They are your companions."

Companions.

For some reason, hearing that word made my mind go blank.

"Is there no way?"

"..."

"I heard it from Yerin. It seems this is a world you created."

I couldn't answer.

That was because I didn't have the "Delusionist" attribute.

"I understand that when <Star Stream> borrows a world setting, it has a system that notifies the original author through a copyright citation."

I had the same question as Killer King.

If this world really was The Infinite Prison Warden I knew, I should have received a notification before the Scenario began.

Asuka Ren, the copyright holder of peace land, had received a similar email from tls123.

However, I hadn't received any message.

Why?

Did they not need my permission at all?

"And who is that guy?"

At Killer King's words, I looked up and saw the boy's shadow glaring at us from a dark corner of the landing.

"I don't know either."

It was definitely that Old School boy of unknown identity I had seen before.

After that, he appeared near me at random times and always left behind the same words.

"Keep your head on straight, or I'll kill you."

One thing was certain.

He didn't seem like someone who would actually kill me.

* * *

At Teacher Yang's request, we continued cleaning.

"Class Z might not be able to participate in the graduation exam at this rate."

"How can you take the exam when you're still cleaning..."

We gathered more and more points. Two hundred points, three hundred points, four hundred points.

It would have been nice to receive other assignments with higher point rewards, but unfortunately, there were no assignments left.

"Teacher Yang had a reason for making us clean."

The other point assignments had all been completed by the honors classes.

"This is actually a good situation. You know that."

Chae Yerin would know.

「Cleaning was an assignment Ma Hyeonseong performed every day until graduation.」

In the original story, Ma Hyeonseong completed a cleaning assignment every time. This was because Ma Hyeonseong had the [Cleaning Compulsion] trait, but there was another purpose as well.

[You are currently performing Campus Cleaning.]

[While performing Campus Cleaning, you can enter the school's restricted areas.]

The annex's closed sports equipment storeroom.

The area behind the teachers' office, used to store old teaching materials.

The secret archives in the school library.

The advantage of the cleaning assignment was that it let us enter those hidden places in the school as students.

The protagonist Ma Hyeonseong had acquired hidden items whenever Ma Hyeonseong performed this assignment. The same was true for us.

"Ooooooh! Dokja-ssi! Look at this!"

The first place where we found an item was the closed sports equipment storeroom.

An SSS-grade item, "Ancient Insect Sleeves."

It was superior to the Hermit's Cloak, which held the fable "Camouflage."

"I'll give this to Uncle Dansu."

It was a suitable concealment item for Uncle Dansu, who could control insects and borrow the power of Monarch-Level Insects but had low Constitution.

We found another item behind the teachers' office.

An SSS-grade item, "Tin Armor."

The Tin Armor had been placed over a CPR training dummy.

Honestly, I hadn't expected it to be here. Hyeongseong, a character from the main story, had not even obtained this item.

「An evolution material for "Steel Woodcutter's Armor."」

With more materials later, this item could be upgraded into Steel Woodcutter's Armor, one of Master of Steel's constellation artifacts.

"Sein-ssi, you should use this."

"I-Is that really okay?"

"It is."

"Aaaah!"

Finally, in the secret archives, we found fingerless gloves set with small gemstones.

The Blood Jade Hand of the Blood Ghost, a reclusive master of the First Martial World.

There were two people among us skilled in fist and palm techniques.

However, Junghyeok showed no interest, so the item naturally went to Chae Yerin, who fought using [Hand-to-Hand Combat].

"Thank you."

Yerin gave a faint smile, apparently pleased with her new gloves.

"Dokja-ssi, you haven't gotten anything..."

"I'm fine."

The constellation artifacts I had acquired so far were enough.

If there was anything I lacked now, it was my Mana stat.

Fortunately, I replenished my insufficient Mana after school by smoking the Mana Cigarettes Junghyeok had hidden on the rooftop.

As I watched my companions grow stronger, I thought of Ma Hyeonseong, the protagonist of The Infinite Prison Warden.

Perhaps Ma Hyeonseong in the story had felt something similar.

「The Infinite Prison Warden is the story of Ma Hyeonseong gathering companions to subjugate the Demon Forest.」

In the story, Ma Hyeonseong discovers the strengths of the Class Z students and strengthens their fighting force by finding items and equipment together with them. As a result, Class Z sheds its reputation as an underachieving class and proudly joins the honors classes in taking the graduation exam.

「The graduation exam is about hunting the target demon in the Demon Forest.」

However, the story became rather grim from that point onward.

「During the graduation exam, Ma Hyeonseong loses his companions.」

Ma Hyeonseong lost all his companions in that battle, but after awakening, he succeeded in subjugating the Great Demon.

Then, at the end of the forest, Ma Hyeonseong witnessed the truth of this world.

[You have reached the world's ending.]

The world he had risked his life fighting for was actually an intricately designed virtual reality.

[Would you like to Replay the world?]

It turned out Ma Hyeonseong's world had been destroyed long ago, and he was humanity's last survivor.

Using his awakened ability, [Save], he kept repeating the same memories.

Even knowing that the ending of the save file was predetermined, he forgot that fact and repeated the doomed world endlessly.

"Thanks to you, the school is spotless. Good job, my friends."

Together with Teacher Yang, we looked over the clean school grounds.

Ma Hyeonseong, who had pressed the Replay button, must have cleaned these grounds over and over as well. Even knowing they would become dirty again, he would have kept picking up trash.

For the people he remembered. For the people who would toss cigarettes onto these grounds and leave their footprints behind.

「"Cleaning has to be done every day."」

Although he knew the truth of the world, Ma Hyeonseong did not destroy the save file.

Instead, to remember this destruction, he repeated this world again and again through infinite time.

Out of all the world settings, was it really a coincidence that the Recycling Center had chosen The Infinite Prison Warden?

Teacher Yang smiled in satisfaction and spoke to us.

"Now that you've filled all 500 points, only the final stage remains."

"There's something else left?"

"Well, we need approval for the exam. Dokja, would you follow me for a moment? Only the principal can approve the graduation exam."

I nodded and followed Teacher Yang.

"We're going to the principal's office, right?"

"Yes."

We walked together through the corridors we had cleaned. As we passed the school grounds we had cleaned together, we walked a little slower.

The school field, covered in lush green grass, looked almost like a field in heaven.

"Teacher."

Teacher Yang glanced back at my question.

"How did you become a teacher?"

"Well, it's a secret."

"Do teachers get paid a lot?"

Teacher Yang laughed lightly at my words.

"I'm unpaid."

"What? Then why are you doing this?"

"Dokja."

"Yes?"

Teacher Yang, walking ahead of me, stopped.

I stopped beside her.

"Once we go to the principal's office, the graduation exam will really begin. Then we can't stop it. What I'm saying is..."

Teacher Yang paused before continuing.

"You don't have to graduate."

"Then I'll have to remain a student."

"If you remain a student, your teacher can protect you."

Teacher Yang's gaze slowly shifted.

I turned my head to follow it.

"It's okay to make mistakes here. Even if you litter or break the rules, you only need to receive a punishment like campus cleaning."

Together, we looked out the window.

Beyond the school grounds we had cleaned stretched a dense forest.

Ma Hyeonseong had said,

「The forest conceals the truth.」

Just as Ma Hyeonseong had, I would probably go beyond that forest.

And perhaps I would discover a truth I didn't want.

"I have to graduate. That's why I came to this school."

"You don't have to."

"If I don't graduate."

I looked at Teacher Yang.

Actually, I knew.

Why we had been able to spend our time leisurely cleaning.

Why the graduation exam, which should have begun immediately, had been delayed.

Why, in this cruel world setting, nothing had happened to us yet.

"It'll be hard on you, Teacher."

A star who loved Dokja more than anyone else in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Teacher Yang's eyes widened as she looked at me.

I left her there and began walking alone.

A few steps away stood the door to the teachers' office.

Standing before it, I slowly turned back to her.

"Thank you, Uriel."

Footnotes:

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