WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 131: Episode 25 — Those Who Confront a God (4)

Above Veronica's high ramparts, a vast landscape stretched out below the highlands, now cast in pitch-black shadow. Beings that once were human but had now become catastrophes, nearly rivaling the ramparts in size, were tearing across the plains toward the fortress, having lost their reason to the activation of the Absolute Throne.

"They're coming! Everyone, prepare yourselves!"

"Aaaaagh!"

The scouts at the vanguard were torn apart, leaving bloody footprints across the plains. Pildu gritted his teeth and activated every turret in the fortress as he yelled.

"Those bastards. This is my land!"

The number of catastrophes pounding across the plains was roughly fifty. If he wasn't mistaken, that was probably more than half of all the catastrophes on Peace Land gathered in one place.

"Ahjussi, conserve your mana."

Jihye drew her sword and shouted.

"Everyone, fall back inside Dogae Bridge!"

The small people who had been maintaining the moat scrambled back into the fortress. Watching the tide of catastrophes surge forward, Jihye's fingertips trembled. The catastrophe army was arranged with smaller individuals at the front and larger ones at the rear. The further back they were, the more obvious it was that they had massacred more small people to raise their stats.

"Damn it... They're trying to clear the scenario the easy way."

Just then, Hyeonseong returned with the scouts and climbed up the ramparts.

"Ahjussi! Have you heard anything from Sangah unni or Huiwon unni?"

Hyeonseong shook his head.

"They're probably participating in the scenario currently running on Earth. According to Dokja-ssi, a scenario should be in progress there too."

"Damn. So we have to hold them off with just us. How much of the moat is complete?"

"About half. The waterway should open soon, too."

"Let's do what we can for now."

When she turned around, Boksun was also coming out, loosening up. Jihye's eyes lit up.

"Granny, can you borrow your patron's power again?"

"Hohoho, is it right to keep relying on your ancestors' merits?"

"This is a situation where we need to borrow even the merits of our ancestors' ancestors. What room is there for leisure?"

It was then that dark shadows gathered in the sky above. Tiny swarms of bugs filled the sky black. Jihye gasped.

"Uwah?"

Looking closer, there were flying species mixed in here and there as well. Gilyeong and Yuseong's monster army had completed their defensive preparations. Gilyeong, mounted on a Monarch-Level Insect resembling a hornet, blew a hand trumpet.

Buuuuuu!

The catastrophes that had reached right up to the ramparts finally began to tear down the fortress. Hyeonseong spoke in a tense voice.

"...They're here."

The siege battle began in earnest.

"Open fire!"

On one side, Pildu's artillery roared, and on the other side, the small people's battle cries rang out.

"Fight!"

"Protect Veronica!"

Explosions echoed throughout the fortress walls, and the ramparts crumbled bit by bit under the catastrophes' kicks. Now, the humans truly looked worthy of being called catastrophes.

If I had chosen to become a catastrophe, would I have ended up like that?

Jihye bit her lip, remembering Dokja's words. The answer was unknowable. Right now, all they could do was mobilize everything they had to defend the fortress.

"They're targeting the main gate! At this rate... Aaaagh!"

The scouts caught by the lead catastrophe screamed. Just as the small person's bones were about to be crushed, a shuriken flew out of nowhere and stabbed the catastrophe's hand. The enraged catastrophe jerked its head up, and someone was leaping from the watchtower.

[The incarnation Michio Shoji has activated the skill Flying Squirrel Walk Lv.6!]

During the two weeks Dokja was away, the other companions hadn't been idle either. Especially Michio Shoji, who had honed his skills over and over again.

Spreading small auxiliary wings from under his arms, he began to dive straight toward the catastrophe. However, the catastrophe's response was slightly faster. A massive hammer flew at Shoji as if to swat away an incoming insect.

Ratatatatat!

Pildu's bullets struck the catastrophe's shoulder. But the barrage wasn't enough to change the trajectory of an attack that was already in motion. Just as Michio Shoji bit his lip hard and tried to change course… 

"Load!"

Water rose through the moat. Jihye's Ghost Fleet appeared above it. Because the water level was low and the moat wasn't large enough, only four ships were summoned, but even that was a significant force right now.

"Fire!"

The Ghost Fleet's shells hit the catastrophe's shin. The catastrophe groaned and staggered, collapsing heavily. In that moment, Michio Shoji moved.

"Uaaaagh!"

His mana-infused sword stabbed into the careless catastrophe's eye. Terrible screams followed along with continued bombardment. Michio Shoji frantically dug into the catastrophe's eye. Stabbing, slashing, tearing. He poured all his mana into attacking just one spot, as if that was all he could do.

A moment later, the view lowered with a roar. The catastrophe had fallen. Michio Shoji emerged from gouging out its eye, gasping as he got to his feet. Cheers from the small people rang out around him.

[Someone has defeated the catastrophe that has yet to be named!]

[Main contributors: Lee Jihye, Gong Pildu, Michio Shoji]

They did it. They defeated a catastrophe with just the small people's power.

[A constellation who has not revealed their modifier shows interest in the incarnation Michio Shoji.]

Shoji looked around. The catastrophes were strong, but his companions were holding up fairly well. The fortress ramparts were being destroyed, and casualties were occurring, but they weren't being pushed back. Pildu's Armed Zone was there, and Hyeonseong's Great Mountain Crush kept landing effective hits on the catastrophes. The clustered bugs disrupted the catastrophes' vision, and packs of monsters persistently bit at the catastrophes' ankles.

‘Maybe we can actually defend this place.’

That's what the companions thought.

Until pitch-black storm clouds rolled in from the plains’ horizon.

"...What the hell is that now?"

Jihye couldn’t believe her eyes.

[The King of Catastrophes has received a scenario buff effect.]

[The plausibility restrictions on the constellation Sovereign of Eight Heads have been partially lifted.]

"Crazy, how are we supposed to block that..."

Something nearly the size of the fortress itself was approaching them. Eight heads and tails grown blood-red.

‘Ahjussi! Hurry up and get here!’

Jihye screamed inwardly as she drew her sword.

After leaving Kyrios's territory, we passed through the rocky terrain and headed straight for the plains.

"The Sovereign of Eight Heads has already departed. I can't feel his summons anywhere near here."

"Are you alright, Ren-ssi?"

"I chose small people, so I can resist the throne's authority. But those who chose catastrophe... Especially incarnations with weak patrons seem to have all been drawn to the plains."

Since someone over there used the Absolute Throne, it was safe to assume that most of the catastrophes deployed on the planet had gathered there. In other words, this battle would determine the success or failure of the scenario.

[A few constellations are expecting great things from you!]

Bodies of small people were strewn all along the road. Asuka Ren spoke with a bitter expression.

"...I suppose we can't blame them."

Those who chose catastrophe to survive. Not everyone had sided with the small people like Asuka Ren or us. As time passed and more participants were deployed, the number of catastrophes would only increase.

"It's a scenario, after all."

Whether you were on the side of the small people or the catastrophes, ultimately, the battles here existed to be entertainment. Perhaps people immersed themselves more deeply in their roles to forget that fact.

Selling their lives to earn money, then using that money to buy other stories. Perhaps humans had always lived that way.

Kugugugugugu!

A powerful force was surging from the rocky terrain we had left behind. Even though we were quite far away, the momentum could be felt all the way here.

"Looks like Kyrios caught on. Let's hurry."

After asking him to teach us martial arts and then running away, we'd be in for a rough time if we got caught. We began running across the plains toward Veronica Castle. Even while running, Asuka Ren kept looking back at the rocky terrain. Suyeong looked at Ren and asked.

"Do you regret it?"

"Huh? No."

"Right, it must feel strange, huh? Seeing a character you created yourself in the flesh."

"..."

"And he was handsome too."

Though she didn't say it outright, Kyrios was good-looking.

When describing a handsome ‘pretty boy’ type in TWSA, they often used the phrase ‘matching Junghyeok's level,’ and Kyrios was exactly that kind of person. Except he was quite a bit shorter, and he was a bit stubborn...

What would it feel like to see a person you created breathing, talking, and walking around? If the author of Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse were alive somewhere, wouldn't they feel the same when seeing Junghyeok?

"I'll scout ahead for a bit."

Suyeong picked up speed and moved forward, while Asuka Ren, who had been running with her head down, murmured.

"I couldn't say anything to Kyrios."

"..."

"I couldn't tell him I was sorry for creating a world like this, sorry for making him go through tragedy."

Even if she had created this world, what meaning would there be in revealing that? What use would it be to tell them that someone else’s fingertips controlled their lives, that all their tragedies were predetermined?

"This story already exists completely, separate from me."

Ren wore the face of a powerless god as she said this. A god stripped of their throne, unable to exert any influence over their creations.

"They're not characters you created anymore. You can't take responsibility for characters who've come to live outside the story. That's someone else's role."

"...Kim-san, are you a writer too by any chance?"

"No. I'm a reader."

"I'm envious."

"Pardon?"

Ren paused before continuing.

"I'm envious of the writer who has a reader like you."

In the distance, Suyeong was waving her hand. From her mouth movements, it looked like she was shouting that there was something over there. We quickened our pace.

"Kim-san. Come to think of it, there's something I'm curious about."

"Please, go ahead."

"How did you win Kyrios's favor?"

"His favor?"

"It seemed like Kyrios liked you, Kim-san."

"...Excuse me?"

"When Kyrios has goodwill toward someone, he nags them like that."

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire shows curiosity.]

Come to think of it, for being criticized as talentless, Kyrios had treated me fairly well. Though he kept cursing at me, calling me big guy, big guy...

"Kim Dokja."

Suyeong stopped me with a stiff expression. When I turned my head to follow her gaze, I saw the earth with pitch-black smoke rising from it. It was the direction where Veronica Castle was located. Without a word to each other, we all began running that way.

Before long, the ramparts of Veronica Castle came into view. Sprawled monster corpses. Burst and trampled bodies of small people. The corpses of catastrophes, with their skulls crushed, were also visible.

It was probably Hyeonseong's handiwork. The deeper we went into the inner castle, the more small people corpses we saw, and the fewer catastrophe corpses there were.

Surely we weren't too late. And moments later, we witnessed a horrific scene behind the destroyed annex.

Ratatatatat!

Pildu's gunfire. Fortunately, the companions were safe. Hyeonseong seemed badly injured, and Jihye and the kids were exhausted, but they didn't appear to be in mortal danger. But the situation was precarious all the same. And what they were fighting against was...

"Crazy."

Even the tough Suyeong backed away a couple of steps toward me, looking disgusted.

"Aah! Izumi..."

Beside me, Asuka Ren grabbed her temples as if in pain, then groaned and fell to her knees.

Gooooooo.

Twenty catastrophes were clustered around one existence.

Above the body of a man whose eyes had turned completely black, the shadow of a massive monster rippled across the entire sky.

[You have encountered a renowned catastrophe!]

[The King of Catastrophes reveals his identity.]

[Renowned catastrophes discovered (2/2)

 – The King of Catastrophes, Izumi Hiroki (Sovereign of Eight Heads).

 – The Catastrophe that Dreams of Usurping, Yamamoto Hajime (A Millennia-old Hundred-legged Monster).]

[The shadow of the constellation Sovereign of Eight Heads is manifesting in the scenario!]

Heads and tails reminiscent of blood-red valleys. The eight-headed King of Catastrophes coiled its streamlined body.

One head looked around, then lowered its neck toward the small people nearby. Just as the terrified small people's faces turned white with fear, the serpent's mouth smiled at them.

Kwajijijijik!

Where the muzzle had playfully bitten, only the lower halves of the small people remained.

"S-save me! Please save me!"

Their crushed flesh was sucked whole into the red serpent's mouth. But no one could stop it. Even the companions stood frozen like mannequins, just watching the scene.

Only belatedly did we realize.

The companions were still safe, not because they had fought hard.

The gunfire continued, but what filled Pildu's face wasn't killing intent but resignation.

Hyeonseong and Jihye, and all the other companions as well. The reason they were still alive was that they were a meal for a Fabled-grade constellation. Every time the serpent's head opened to choose prey, four or five small people vanished into chunks of meat.

[The small constellation of a small planet writhes in agony.]

[The small constellation of a small planet screams.]

Suyeong muttered.

"Crazy... What the hell is that."

Father of Shuten-doji[1], one of the three great demons of Japan, and the monster of flood control mythology. That monster was Yamata no Orochi, the Sovereign of Eight Heads. If I faced that thing, I'd be torn to death just by grazing its fangs.

"We… we can't fight. We absolutely can't win."

At Asuka Ren's murmur, even Suyeong, who had been stunned, grabbed me.

"Kim Dokja. You're not thinking of fighting that thing, are you? Let's run. Okay?"

I didn't answer. The massive head swept through another group of small people. It was an easier hunt than picking out fish trapped in a fishbowl.

"It's not too late yet. We can still save the kids right now. Hurry up and take them..."

Kwadeudeuk!

"Hey! They're all about to die right now!"

I shook off Suyeong and spoke.

"Wait a little longer."

If we stepped in now, we'd never be able to subjugate that thing.

‘...A little more, just a little more.’

Finally, the serpent's muzzle turned toward Jihye.

Damn it. I reflexively stood up from my spot and ran that way. But the serpent's head was a bit faster.

However, in that moment.

Something pitch-black rushed past me.

Kwaaaaang!

With an explosion, one of the serpent's heads screamed in pain and crashed into the ground. As the dust cloud cleared, the figure of a man standing on the serpent's head came into view.

Those characteristically cold and fierce eyes.

"...Kim Dokja."

Right, I thought he was running late. I grinned and spoke.

"You're late, Yu Junghyeok."

Even though he had become a small person just like me, a powerful aura emanated from Junghyeok. He was gripping a sword with a purple-tinged luster.

So he got that sword after all.

Without a word, we glanced at each other, then simultaneously turned toward the catastrophe.

[The constellation Sovereign of Eight Heads reveals killing intent toward you.]

Yamata no Orochi, whose mealtime had been interrupted, began to expand its body enormously.

"Move aside, Kim Dokja. I'll take this one down."

"No, that's a problem this time."

I stepped in front of Junghyeok and declared.

[The exclusive skill Bookmark has been activated.]

Feeling the powerful white energy surging from my heart, I slowly blinked.

"This time, I have to be the one to take it down."

In this scenario, I would break the no-killing principle that I had maintained until now.

Footnotes:

[1] Shuten-doji is one of the most famous oni (demons) in Japanese folklore, known as one of the "Three Great Evil Yokai of Japan."

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