WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 134: Episode 26 — Scenario Destroyer (2)

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tls123. That was the username of the Writer of TWSA.

Asuka Ren's eyes widened as she repeated it back.

"tls123...?"

I pressed her urgently.

"Do you remember?"

"I don't really remem... huh?"

"What is it?"

After blinking a few times, Ren's pupils went vacant. Faint sparks crackled up from her body.

"■■■... ■■"

Huh? Startled, I asked,

"What did you just say?"

"...Pardon?"

"I mean, what you just said..."

"What are you talking about?"

Ren's face showed that she had no idea what I meant. A sudden foreboding swept over me, and I immediately activated Character Profile.

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Character Profile!]

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<Character Information>

Name: Asuka Ren

Age: 31

Patron constellation: Master of the Niten Ichi-Ryu

Exclusive Attributes: Creator of Peace Land (Legendary), Comic Artist (Rare)

Exclusive Skills: [Swordsmanship Lv.7], [Pen Nib as a Sword Lv.4], [Plausible Footwork Lv.5], [Imagination Stimulation Lv.4]...

Stigma: [niten ichi-ryu Lv.3]

Overall stats: [Constitution Lv.55 (Currently Lv.17)], [Strength Lv.55 (Currently Lv.17)], [Agility Lv.49 (Currently Lv.11)], [Mana Lv.54 (Currently Lv.16)]

Overall evaluation: The overall evaluation is currently being revised.

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Just as I had seen in TWSA, this woman was without a doubt the Creator of Peace Land.

But... "being revised"?

The next moment, I witnessed one entire entry in the Attributes Window disappear before my eyes. As though a clump of sand had scattered, the letters crumbled away one by one.

+

Exclusive Attribute: Comic Artist (Rare)

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A chill slowly crawled up my spine. Why had "Creator of Peace Land" suddenly vanished? Not even a great constellation could perform a miracle like this.

Tilting her head, Ren asked,

"I'm sorry, but what were we talking about?"

"...We were talking about your work, Ms. Ren."

"My work?"

Ren wore the face of someone who remembered absolutely nothing. She looked unable to recall peace land or the settings she had created.

"At that moment, she realized that world had completely left her hands."

A throbbing pain spread through my head. Had a sentence like that ever existed in TWSA?

I didn't know. But one thing, at least, was clear. The melody of a viola ringing through the lonely night. The scattered singing of the small people drifting over from afar. This sorrowful yet abundant atmosphere, born from heightened emotion, made it certain.

This very moment was the completion of the world called peace land.

There was nothing left to add to this story anymore. At last, a single story had become completely independent of one Writer. Once I thought that, I felt like I finally understood why Ren's attribute name had vanished.

The moment a world is completed, the Writer must step down from the position of creator.

I suddenly grew curious.

Then where does a story go once it has ended?

[You have learned of the planet peace land.]

[All beings belonging to peace land faintly feel your gaze.]

[A small constellation of a small planet rejoices in your existence.]

[The beings of peace land begin to write a legend about you.]

Funnily enough, it was hardly a question worth asking.

...I see. The destination of a story that leaves its Writer had been decided from the very beginning. After that, I asked her a few more questions and even used [lie detection]. But she truly remembered nothing.

"I'm sorry. I really don't know. It does feel like some manga I've read before, though..."

She said the story she had drawn felt like something she had read. Somehow, that made me feel depressed. Ren closed her eyes for a moment as if pondering something, then continued.

"But I think I enjoyed reading it too. I'm sure of it... I must have."

Unfortunately, the lead on tls123 I had barely managed to obtain ended there. What sort of being the Writer of TWSA was, and what they wanted, still remained completely obscure. But at least one thing, I felt like I vaguely understood.

Most likely, the Writer of TWSA had been just as dissatisfied with the original ending as I was. That was why they had given me the novel's file before this world came to an end.

In that case, I would have to live up to that expectation.

I stepped away from Ren, who was savoring the scenery, and pulled out a small ampoule I had tucked into my coat.

[ancient serpent's celestial blood]

It was an item I had obtained together with the constellation's appendage. When I gave the signal, Lee Hyeongseong, who had been standing a little ways off, nodded and approached. Hyeongseong hadn't been drinking. I felt sorry, but I had a job to entrust to him today.

"Then I'm counting on you."

"Leave it to me."

What I entrusted to Hyeongseong was my protection. That was because I was planning to collapse for a while. When I mixed the ancient serpent's celestial blood into the cup of liquor, the alcohol, which had been rippling gold, turned the color of dark red wine.

[You have drunk liquor made with ancient serpent's celestial blood.]

[The blessing of the greedy serpent tests your mental energy.]

This was a Hidden Piece that even Yu Junghyeok of the third round didn't know about. A ritual that could only be performed using Orochi's snake wine mixed with celestial blood. If I hadn't had this, I wouldn't have given up a fine attribute like The King of No Killing.

[The serpent has confirmed your qualification for dragon slaying.]

[The new attribute Eight Lives is preparing to blossom.]

Good. Preparations for the blossom were finished, so after I slept and woke up, a new attribute would be waiting for me. That took care of one thing. The other one was the problem...

I tipped the rest of the liquor into my mouth all at once, and my head started spinning as drunkenness surged over me. But I couldn't fall asleep yet. I sank to the ground and wrote a message on the floor.

'God of Wine and Ecstasy.'

Oddly enough, despite the festive mood, Dionysus gave no response. Persephone was the same. This was troublesome. I had completed the task, yet there was no being to take me to the underworld.

Should I have brought Yu Sangah after all? If I had a direct terminal to Olympus, I could send a signal right away...

'Father of the Rich Night.'

The moment I wrote Hades's modifier, everything around me went black.

A creepy sensation swept over my whole body. My vision spun with nausea, and when I opened my eyes again, I realized I had already come to the underworld. After all, only the underworld held air this ominous and unpleasant.

Looking around, I was relieved to see that I hadn't fallen into Tartarus again.

Someone was standing in front of me.

[You must not come to the underworld right now.]

It was neither Hades nor Persephone. The moment I saw the reaper-like garb, I knew at once.

"Judge."

It wasn't the same judge who had guided me last time.

"I came to report that I have completed the Queen's task."

[I know. As I said, you cannot enter the palace.]

"...Why?"

[I cannot tell you that.]

With an annoyed look, the judge flicked a hand at me.

[Go back. I summoned you by borrowing "Father's" authority, but you cannot enter.]

"I have a promise with the Queen. I have to go in."

[Not now. Go back.]

What kind of nerve did this bastard have? No matter how strong a judge was, compared to Persephone they were a drop in the bucket. Yet if this one was being so stubborn...

"...Are both of them away by any chance?"

The judge hesitated, then nodded.

[They are.]

"What on earth could it be...?"

With Hades and Persephone absent at the same time, there was a good chance something major had happened somewhere. At the very least, unless it was an emergency council on the level of the Twelve Gods of Olympus... But at this point in time, was there anything that could trigger such a summons?

"Did they leave any message for me? Something in case I came looking for them..."

[Even if they had, why should I pass it on to a brat like you?]

I already knew each judge had a different temperament, but I hadn't expected to draw one this prickly. Still, judging from the tone, it seemed there really was something. Persephone was far too meticulous to have left without arranging anything... There was no helping it.

"If you help me, I'll let you have a sip of this."

What I pulled out from inside my coat was a spare bottle of snake wine brewed from Yamata no Orochi. The moment I opened the lid, a sweet, heavy scent and the aroma of fermented liquor spread through the air.

[Th-that is...?]

To a being that had lived for ages, liquor was as good as a drug. The only means of forgetting the tragedies of endless years. And this wasn't just any liquor, but snake wine brewed from a constellation's appendage. There was no need to say more.

[H-hm. Ahem. Hm...]

"If you don't want it, I'll just go."

[W-wait! Fine. I'll give you what the Queen left behind.]

As expected, it worked. This judge was completely different from the strict judge I had seen before.

[Huaaah... this is good...]

After taking a sip and reeling, the judge smiled in satisfaction and pulled out a yellow orb from inside the robe.

[Here. Your payment.]

A luminous yellow orb. I realized it was Shin Yuseong's soul, the very thing I had come so desperately searching for. When I accepted the orb and rubbed it several times, it gave off a faint light and floated into the air. I placed my hand on it and sent my thoughts inside.

'I'm sorry. I was too late, wasn't I?'

As though it had lost much of its ability to speak, the orb released only a faint cry.

- Ah... Ah.

A woman who had lost speech and memory. Even though she had devoted her entire life to the Scenarios, the only story left to her was a terrible history of pain. Normally, people would tell her this.

You've suffered enough, so now forget everything and rest.

But Yuseong must not rest.

She still had something left to do in this world.

- Mis... ter...?

After a long time spent choosing words, the soul trembled.

- Really, truly...

'Yeah.'

- Why...?

'There's still something left for you to do in this world.'

I hadn't come here because I pitied her.

I truly just needed Yuseong's help. Something only she could do, she whose soul had reached a high Status by accumulating a long story.

Yuseong answered with a slight trace of fear.

- What... do I have to do?

Keeping my hand on her soul, I showed her part of my thoughts. Yuseong stayed silent for a long time, then laughed weakly.

- Haha... You're a cruel person, mister... In some ways, even crueler than the captain...

'I'm sorry.'

- But... okay. I'll do it. No... more than that, I want to. It's what I've wished for. This time, I want to see the "ending" of this world too.

'You might lose even more of your memories. Can you endure that?'

Yuseong nodded.

- I'm not afraid. Because I believe... you'll tell me the story.

With those final words, Yuseong's soul vanished into the orb.

She probably wouldn't be able to come out for a while. The next time we met would be after she had a body. The judge, who had been watching us from the side, spoke.

[You already know this, but taking a soul out of the underworld does not revive its body. Besides, that soul has been dead for far too long. It is impossible for it to settle into a new body.]

The judge gave an unpleasant snicker.

[If fate permits, there may be a way for it to be reborn, but that soul has committed too many sins to be born human again. If it wishes to be born human, it would have to discard every story it possesses. And if that happens, that soul would no longer be the being you once knew.]

"I know."

Just as Persephone had said, the soul was story itself. So even now, Yuseong's soul was becoming something that was not Yuseong in real time.

But Yuseong wasn't the only one.

I immediately called for my exclusive manager.

'Bihyeong.'

The little bastard said nothing. I looked down at the orb and waited until Bihyeong responded. A reincarnation body, something only beings of high Status could choose. The one who had been ruled by stories until now would now be reborn as a being that ruled stories.

At last, I felt Bihyeong's presence in the channel. I opened my mouth.

'I need your help.'

- Help with what?

I didn't answer.

Bihyeong shared my silence, and I felt his gaze moving back and forth between me and Yuseong's soul.

He soon caught my meaning.

- D-don't tell me you... you're trying to make me do that?

I nodded.

- Hey, think this through. It's not as easy as you think. For her, it might be better to just disappear here...

'Do you want your channel to collapse?'

- Damn it. Hey, seriously, no. I have never done that before!

'Then start now.'

- Damn it...

After hesitating for a long while, Bihyeong finally sent down a single golden egg from the air.

An egg descending from the greatest "star of stories."

I placed Yuseong's soul inside that egg. The egg trembled and radiated a vivid light, then rose back into the sky. Bihyeong, who had been silent for a long time, muttered as though dumbfounded.

- To think I'd end up receiving my “child” this way...

My enemies were not only inside the Scenarios.

Shin Yuseong from the future of the 41st round.

In this round, she would become a Streamer for me alone.

Footnotes:

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