Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 9

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 9: Episode 2 - Protagonist (3)

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I looked straight into the wavering eyes of Lee Hyeongseong and Han Myeongoh as I spoke.

"You can die here at the hands of whatever is beyond that iron door, or you can go outside the train and test your luck. Which will you choose?"

"U-ugh..."

"Dokja-ssi, there isn't any guarantee that whatever is beyond that iron door is an enemy, is there?"

Steel Sword Emperor was weak at decisive moments. There was a reason Lee Hyeongseong couldn't become the leader of the party.

"If they came over from another car, they're probably survivors. Maybe we should try meeting them..."

Instead of answering, I swept my gaze across the blood-soaked passenger car. Lee Hyeongseong followed my gaze and quietly shut his mouth.

"...I was being rash. Let's find a way out."

"L-let's go! Let's get out, quickly!"

In that instant, the two of them realized it too. The survivors in the other cars would have gone through the same thing we had.

And they wouldn't have had the good fortune of having 'insects.'

"This side is broken!"

"Damn it, this one won't turn either!"

As I listened to Lee Hyeongseong and Han Myeongoh shouting, I checked the opening mechanism myself. Earlier, a barrier had covered the mechanism, but now I could touch it.

Excluding the opening mechanism that connected the passageway between cars, a single subway car had a total of eight entry-door controls. And there were still three exits we hadn't checked.

Thud!

The iron door didn't look like it could even hold out for one more minute. Even if he was the protagonist, it was still the beginning, so his Strength level couldn't be high enough yet. Honestly, the fact that he was thinking of breaking down that thick iron door was astonishing.

"Dokja-ssi! Over here-"

We found a manual opening mechanism that was still intact.

"I'm opening it!"

However, even though the mechanism turned smoothly, the door didn't open in one go. It opened about a fifth of the way, then stopped partway as if it had caught on something.

"...This one seems broken too."

"What about the others?"

"This is the only place that has even the slightest chance of letting us out."

Maybe a child could have squeezed through, but the gap was too narrow for adult men and women. Han Myeongoh and Lee Hyeongseong each grabbed one side of the door and strained with all their might, but it didn't budge.

[Coin balance: 4,700C]

One use for coins was raising overall stats. And I had already spent 2,700 coins to make my Constitution level 10. If I raised my Strength level with the coins I had left, I could probably solve this somehow, but in a situation where I had no idea what might happen next, I couldn't spend my early coins carelessly.

In the end, there was only one thing left to rely on.

"Hyeongseong-ssi. Use your skill."

"Pardon? By skill, you mean...?"

I quietly activated [Character Profile].

[Exclusive Skill, Character Profile, has activated.]

Name: Lee Hyeongseong

Age: 28

Patron constellation: Master of Steel

Exclusive attribute: Soldier who turned a Blind Eye to Injustice (Common)

Exclusive Skill: [Bayonet Combat Lv.2], [Camouflage Lv.1], [Patience Lv.1], [Sense of Justice Lv.1]

Stigma: [Great Mountain Push Lv.1]

Overall stats: [Constitution Lv.8], [Strength Lv.8], [Agility Lv.7], [Mana Lv.5]

Overall evaluation: His overall stats are highly respectable. Despite having endured injustice with astonishing restraint, he has been chosen by a constellation. This will become another turning point for him.

Lee Hyeongseong's information floated before my eyes without any restrictions. Thankfully, the Patron constellation he had chosen and his attribute were exactly as I'd read in the book.

"You must've checked when you opened your Attributes Window earlier. Since you're a soldier, Hyeongseong-ssi, you should have at least one skill that could help in a situation like this."

"I do... have one, but I'm not sure how to use it-"

"Think about using that skill in your head."

"...That will do it?"

"It will. I tried it earlier too."

Lee Hyeongseong made an expression that said Surely not, then drew in a breath as though he'd made up his mind.

"Huaaaaaah!"

Lee Hyeongseong's biceps bulged as if they were about to burst while he gripped the door. It seemed [Great Mountain Push] had activated successfully.

Strictly speaking, [Great Mountain Push] wasn't a skill but a Stigma. And a Stigma was power received from a Patron constellation. I had deliberately called it a skill to avoid suspicion.

Rumble...

A sound like a giant spring being wound rang out, and then the door finally began to move.

"What the hell! This guy was a total powerhouse!"

"It worked! It really worked!"

[The character Lee Hyeongseong has begun to trust you.]

[Your understanding of the character Lee Hyeongseong has increased.]

Instead of becoming suspicious, he trusted me more. In moments like this, Lee Hyeongseong was a simple person.

"Let's get down, quickly!"

But it was too soon to relax. I picked up Lee Gilyeong and handed him to Lee Hyeongseong.

"Hyeongseong-ssi. Put the kid on your back."

"Understood."

The iron door was almost completely broken now. But if my guess was right, the immediate problem wasn't that iron door.

[...Good grief. I knew this would happen. Didn't I tell you earlier? Not to go anywhere. Damn it! Scenario preparations still aren't finished yet-]

A furious-looking dokkaebi hovered in the sky above Dongho Bridge.

"Aaaaah! I knew this would happen! I told you we shouldn't come out!"

Han Myeongoh clutched his temples, apparently thinking his head was about to burst. But it was needless worry.

[Haa... well, it can't be helped. You humans really are lucky.]

Because the moment we opened the train door was exactly when the second Scenario began.

[The second scenario has arrived!]

Category: Sub

Difficulty: E

Clear conditions: Cross the broken bridge and enter Oksu Station.

Time limit: 20 minutes

Rewards: 200 coins

Penalty for failure: ???

"Dokja-ssi, something is strange. It says 'broken bridge,' but the bridge still..."

"Don't worry about it. Run! Hurry!"

"A-all right!"

In fact, Yu Sangah was right. The bridge hadn't broken yet.

Which, put another way, meant the bridge definitely would break.

"Dokja-ssi, hurry and come too!"

"I'm coming."

The bridge hadn't broken yet because we had gotten off the train too early. The dokkaebi had said the preparation time was ten minutes. But we had escaped a full three minutes before that.

You could call it underhanded, but this Scenario couldn't be cleared without tricks like that. All the more so when people at a physical disadvantage were involved. Running beside me, Yu Sangah spoke in an admiring voice.

"Huff, huff. As expected, Hyeongseong-ssi really does have good stamina because he's a soldier."

"...Save your breath. We still have a long way to go."

The person running furthest ahead of the group was Lee Hyeongseong, with the child on his back. Considering that, even in a completely unenhanced body with no coins invested, the sum of his Constitution, Strength, and Agility exceeded 23, that was only natural.

Han Myeongoh came next, running in a panic, while Yu Sangah and I brought up the rear. It was close, but it looked like we might make it in time.

"Uwaah, what is that?!"

That was when Han Myeongoh let out a scream. A massive whirlpool had suddenly formed in the middle of the Han River, throwing up spray.

And from the center of that spray, a gigantic monster appeared.

It was a Sea Dragon.

The problem was that this Sea Dragon looked twice the size of the one I'd seen through the window earlier. At that size, it wasn't an ordinary Sea Dragon anymore... it looked Sea Commander-grade.

Even an ordinary Sea Dragon was a tier-7 monster. And considering that even a tier-9 monster like a Ground Rat was hard for an ordinary human to handle, a tier-7 monster meant an ordinary human would be torn apart and killed if its fangs even brushed them.

In other words, the thing coming toward us now was a monster early-stage Incarnations could never possibly kill. Of course, there was no need to kill it. It wasn't made to be killed.

Ruuumble!

The waters of the Han River surged like a tidal wave, and the Sea Dragon was opening its jaws. It looked like it meant to bite through the whole bridge and collapse it.

"The bridge is going to break!"

"Run! If we run, we can make it across!"

There were only about 200 meters left now. If my calculations were right, then at this speed, we'd be able to cross before the bridge collapsed.

[If the game is too easy, it isn't any fun, right?]

Of course, that was only if there were no variables.

[The scenario's difficulty level has been adjusted.]

[Scenario difficulty: E → D]

The instant I realized it, I heard the dokkaebi's laughter from the air.

[It's no fun if you just run away, right? Let's set the mood a little!]

[The grudges of the dead have returned.]

[The surrounding land has been permeated by dark ether.]

[Corrupted humans have awakened!]

I heard a groaning noise, and then something started chasing us from behind. Yu Sangah went pale and muttered,

"Zombies?"

Corpses that looked like zombies were rushing at us in an enormous mob. Among them, I could see people who had been riding in the same car as us.

"Just a little farther! Hurry!"

The distance to the Sea Dragon was now less than a hundred meters. Thankfully, Lee Hyeongseong had already crossed the safety line with Lee Gilyeong on his back. The problem was the three of us who remained, me included. Han Myeongoh screamed.

"These bastards!"

There were too many Corrupted Humans chasing us. If it had only been the people who died inside the subway, we might have been able to run away. The problem was,

Grrrrrr!

that even the drivers who had died on the bridge had appeared as Corrupted Humans.

The path Lee Hyeongseong had broken through was instantly covered by Corrupted Humans with blue light shining in their eyes. I looked back and forth between the Corrupted Humans blocking the way and the approaching Sea Dragon.

"...Everyone, get down."

It was already too late.

Craaash!

The very foundations of the bridge shook violently, and the gigantic Sea Dragon's jaws swept across Dongho Bridge as a whole. Through the dense dust, I briefly caught the gleam of the Sea Dragon's scales, and then Han River water poured down from the air like rain. The stench of blood and river water filled the area.

I staggered to my feet. As my surroundings cleared, the whole scene came into view at once. Severed steel frames and collapsed piles of concrete. The corpses of the Corrupted Humans the Sea Dragon had neatly devoured were scattered around in chunks of flesh.

The bridge had broken.

"...Dok...ja-ssi! ...Are you okay?"

A short distance away, Yu Sangah stood supporting Han Myeongoh.

Maybe he'd hurt one leg in the tremor just now, because Han Myeongoh looked unable to move properly.

On the other side of the broken bridge, Lee Hyeongseong and Lee Gilyeong were shouting something, but beyond the safe zone, their voices were blocked by the barrier and I couldn't hear them.

What do I do?

It wasn't as though I hadn't considered the bridge breaking. But I had never planned for a case where Han Myeongoh and Yu Sangah were together. That was when a voice sounded from the air.

[Someone has obtained a constellation's blessing.]

[Due to a constellation's blessing, Deus Ex Machina has activated in the scenario.]

Along with the voice, a brilliant bridge of light formed between the broken halves of Dongho Bridge. Then a message window appeared.

[Deus Ex Machina – Even-Number Bridge]

Description: A bridge of light created by a constellation's blessing. Only an even number of people can cross this bridge. If an odd number of people tries to cross it, the bridge will immediately disappear.

"Dokja-ssi. This, in my head, I mean, all of a sudden-"

My eyes met Yu Sangah's as she stammered. I had a rough idea of what was happening.

Deus Ex Machina.

A power that let a constellation interfere in a Scenario while accepting enormous losses.

"...It's your Patron."

I didn't know which constellation it was, but someone had chosen Yu Sangah as their Incarnation, and wanted her to live.

The appearance of Deus Ex Machina was a rare phenomenon even in TWSA as a whole.

And Yu Sangah was a person who was originally supposed to die. For a moment, a question occurred to me. Just what sort of constellation had Yu Sangah taken as her Patron constellation?

[This person's information cannot be viewed with Character Profile.]

[This person is not registered in Character Profile.]

I was a little shocked. A person my skill couldn't see? Why? Was it because she had a special Patron constellation? Or did she have a Mental Barrier? But there was no way she'd have something like that this early... no, wait. Could it be this?

"Dokja-ssi, what do we do now?"

Yu Sangah's flustered voice rang out. There wasn't much time to think.

Rumble...

The Han River was swirling. On the opposite side of the river, the Sea Dragon that had devoured the whole bridge was turning its huge body around. I bit my lip and read the description of the bridge one more time.

Only an even number of people can cross this bridge.

Deus Ex Machina was a toy created by those damned constellations who loved tragedy.

There was no way for everyone to live.

Han Myeongoh's body trembled faintly as our eyes met.

In the end, someone had to die.

Footnotes:

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