Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 143

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 143: Episode 28 — The Strongest Sacrificial Lamb (1)

Thirty minutes later, the Tier-6 monster swarm had been completely dealt with. My companions and I had performed well, especially Pildu's large-scale combat abilities, which had been incredibly effective. It was a moment that made taking in the Ten Evils worthwhile.

"Now we can catch our breath. The next wave isn't for another four hours, right?"

Jihye said as she sheathed her sword at her waist. Looking around, the nearby battles were also entering a lull. I couldn't speak for other areas, but at least we had protected the Gangseo region.

Of course, not everyone had made it through unscathed.

"Father! Please, wake up! Father!"

"Someone help us, please!"

The incarnations who didn't yet have the know-how to hunt Tier-6 monsters couldn't put up any proper resistance. They were people who had suffered serious external injuries from being struck by the Heavy Hounds' front paws, or whose internal organs had ruptured, costing them their lives. Most of them were newly deployed incarnations.

[Current number of incarnations: 90,531]

Only the first wave had passed, yet one-tenth of Seoul Dome had died. At a slight distance, Junghyeok was watching the incarnations. Seeing him like that made me a bit uneasy.

The dokkaebi had said it. If the strongest incarnation was sacrificed, all the incarnations of Seoul Dome could survive.

"Hey, Junghyeok."

Junghyeok turned to look at me. I didn't know exactly what meaning that scene held for him.

As I kept saying, just because I had read TWSA didn't mean I could truly know everything about a person. In the end, what I could understand was text, and that was something transmitted to me after being processed once.

And some things became unreadable precisely because they could be read.

"Let's talk for a minute."

We went up to the rooftop of a nearby high-rise building. On the way, I tried using Character Profile on Junghyeok for the first time in a while.

[The exclusive skill Character Profile has been activated.]

[There is too much information about this figure. The Character Profile will be modified to a Character Profile Summary.]

<Character Profile Summary>

Name: Yu Junghyeok

Patron constellation: ???

Exclusive attributes: Regressor <3rd round> (Mythic), Pro-gamer (Rare), Supreme King (Heroic)

Exclusive skills: [Sage's Eye Lv.9], [Close Combat Lv.10], [Advanced Weapons Proficiency Lv.10], [Advanced Mental Barrier Lv.3], [Hundred-Step Godly Fists Lv.9], [Phoenix Walk Lv.8], [Sky Splitter Lv.8]...

Stigma: [Regression Lv.3], [Transmission Lv.5]

His patron constellation still didn't show.

I already knew the reason.

In the original TWSA, Junghyeok's patron constellation was never revealed until the end. I had thought it might appear in the epilogue, but unfortunately, I hadn't been able to read the epilogue of TWSA.

A constellation with stronger resistance to Plausibility than any constellation I knew, while simultaneously possessing the power to turn back the wheel of time and deceive even other constellations. A constellation that never once provided Junghyeok with any stigma other than Regression until TWSA ended.

What kind of being it was, and what it sought to gain through Junghyeok, even I couldn't know for certain.

"...You said there's a way to kill Nirvana?"

This bastard, always so impatient. We had finally been given time to rest, yet that was what he was thinking about first. Even if he suffered from regressor's depression, Junghyeok was still Junghyeok.

"Before that, let's catch our breath for a moment. The view is nice, too."

I said as I sat on the rooftop railing. Junghyeok ground his teeth as he asked.

"What are you scheming?"

"Just take a look at the world. Isn't it beautiful?"

Seoul lay in ruins before us, destroyed by monsters. I quickly added.

"It was a beautiful place originally, wasn't it?"

"These are all things that will disappear someday."

I had thought I understood the 3rd round Junghyeok a bit better after going through the battle with Yuseong. I wanted to believe he might be someone who didn't give up or despair easily, someone who knew how to love this world a little more.

"But they're things you need to protect."

"Kim Dokja, you don't understand."

But perhaps that had been a misunderstanding.

Because Junghyeok held onto things through countless regressions, conversely, there were also things he could abandon at any time.

In the end, Junghyeok's goal was to prevent the destruction of this world.

Paradoxically, for that very purpose, he could abandon this world at any time.

His essence was that of a regressor, and that fact hadn't changed.

"No, I understand."

"What?"

"Being able to regress at any time means death has no meaning."

Below the rooftop, I could see Seolhwa tending to the injured. Seolhwa was feeding medicine to an unnamed character. But regardless of her efforts, they would most likely die. Even if they survived today, they would die tomorrow, and even if they miraculously survived tomorrow, they would die the day after.

In the 4th and 5th regression too.

Even past the 100th regression, in Junghyeok's world, they would always be people who had already died.

"But when death has no meaning, the value of life disappears as well."

"What would you know..."

"Junghyeok, snap out of it. Don't fool yourself into thinking things will get better if you just repeat it a few more times."

Perhaps surprised by my firm words, Junghyeok closed his mouth for a moment.

"Sure, maybe in the 4th round you could do better than now. But maybe not. You haven't forgotten the Cinema Dungeon already, have you? If I hadn't appeared then, you would have—"

"As the rounds pass, things definitely improve. This round had many unexpected events, but the next round will surely be better."

"Why? Because you'll know more about the future?"

The vague belief that having more information would let him do better in the next round. The impulse to easily abandon a round whenever something went slightly wrong.

That was an early symptom of regressor's depression.

What happened in TWSA came to mind.

I think it was around the 48th round. An incarnation with the constellation Discoverer of the Unconscious as their patron had counseled Junghyeok about his regressor's depression.

Back then, that person had probably said something similar to what I was saying now.

"Right. Maybe you're right. After repeating 10 or 20 rounds, things might gradually improve. You'll encounter more scenarios, see more futures. But the real problem is... when you finally save this world that way."

"...What do you mean?"

"When that time comes, do you think you'll truly be able to think you saved this world?"

"..."

"Do you think you'll still be able to think that after regressing 100 times, 200 times?"

"I won't regress that many times."

I looked at Junghyeok silently.

"...Don't tell me?"

Junghyeok's eyes slowly widened. I continued.

"Do you still have nightmares?"

"..."

"Even if you save the world, you won't be saved. The moment you save the world, all the worlds you abandoned will come crashing down on you. Even if you save one world, all the other worlds you abandoned will drag you to hell."

For a brief moment, Junghyeok's eyes shook immensely. He probably knew it vaguely himself.

"So live this round properly. Yuseong wandered for countless ages and broke down. You're worse than that. As the rounds pile up, as life repeats, you'll break down beyond repair. Ask yourself. How different are you now from who you were in the beginning?"

"That's..."

Junghyeok's face hardened. I could see his eyes shaking intensely.

Well, Junghyeok couldn't have been like that from the start.

"Don't fool yourself into thinking the next round will be better if you abandon this one. This round you're trying to abandon might be the only round where you can see the end of the world as a human being."

"..."

Junghyeok pressed his lips tightly together. His face showed he wanted to say something but couldn't get the words out, looking conflicted.

That's right, Junghyeok, think hard about it. If you regress, what happens to me?

[The character Yu Junghyeok's mental strength has recovered slightly.]

As if he had made some decision, a faint light crossed Junghyeok's face.

Whether you were a regressor or not…

Living in this damned world was hard either way. You had to constantly muster your strength again, fighting with everything you had just to survive. A cool breeze blew from somewhere, and we looked down at the ruined Seoul together as the breeze hit us.

"This scenario is very event-driven. The flow will return to the direction we knew. We can use future information as much as we want. There are still plenty of hidden pieces only you know about, right? If we can somehow liberate Seoul Dome..."

Suddenly, the rooftop door opened with a creak and my companions came tumbling out. The first to fall flat on the ground was Pildu, with Jihye and the kids piled on top of him.

"Whoa! Don't push!"

"Ah, we were curious what you two were talking about, that's all. Why does only the old man get to listen?"

"You shouldn't casually intrude on a man's conversation."

"Man, my ass..."

I could roughly guess what had happened.

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire's eyes sparkle.]

"What were you two talking ab—"

I cut Jihye off before she could spout nonsense again.

"Don't make stupid jokes today. I'm not in the mood."

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire looks dejected.]

Whether she was dejected or not, what mattered to me right now wasn't the constellation but Junghyeok. I wished Uriel would go to Huiwon now since she didn't need to give me coins anymore.

Junghyeok opened his mouth.

"We were briefly planning a strategy for the scenario."

"Strategy? What strategy?"

At those words, Junghyeok looked at me.

"This scenario ends when the strongest incarnation dies. I was thinking a bit about that."

I felt chills for a moment. This bastard, why was he saying that while looking at me?

Jihye asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

"We were actually just talking about that among ourselves. So what did you decide? Who's the strongest incarnation?"

"It's me, of course."

Watching Junghyeok answer confidently, I realized my worry had been a misjudgment. Well, with that prideful bastard...

Wait a minute.

The scenario ends when the strongest incarnation dies, and he thought that was himself, which means...

"Were you planning to die?"

"If I die, we can stop this scenario."

I was slightly moved by his noble conviction. Damn it, his regressor's depression suddenly seemed a bit cool.

But I really couldn't just let him die either.

"Isn't that too hasty? There's no guarantee you're the strongest, is there? For instance, there's also me..."

At my words, my companions all looked at me at once. Jihye tapped my shoulder and bellowed a laugh.

"Come on, you're not serious about that, are you?"

"...Dokja hyung."

Gilyeong looked at me as if comforting me, and Yuseong had a confused face as if she still wasn't sure. Even Pildu and Jiwon said this.

"Well, there's no need to even ask about that."

"The Supreme King is still stronger, isn't he?"

"Wait, is that old man acting like this because he defeated the Salvation Sect leader earlier?"

It was right on the mark.

"But there's no way the old man actually beat them with real strength, right? I didn't see it, but he obviously used some weird trick. Am I wrong?"

In a sense, it was so accurate that I had nothing to say. I added an excuse with a somewhat miserable feeling.

"...I was just giving an example, and what I mean is the Salvation Sect leader might be stronger than Junghyeok. We actually struggled quite a bit earlier, too."

Jihye's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Really, Master?"

"It's true. That guy and I don't match up well."

At Junghyeok's statement, my companions fell into a whirlpool of confusion.

"Then is the Salvation Sect leader actually the strongest?"

"My god, there's a human stronger than Master?"

"But what's the ranking criteria exactly? Combat power? Or does the side that wins in an actual fight count as stronger..."

I answered Jiwon's question.

"For now, I think there must be some number that measures overall combat power. We can't all fight each other anyway. There might be changes after fights determine winners and losers."

"Now that you mention it, I think the dokkaebi said something like that earlier? That the strongest incarnation would know it best themselves..."

We looked at Junghyeok again.

"Junghyeok, is there anything different from usual? Like did the dokkaebi say something to you?"

Junghyeok slowly clenched and unclenched his fist as he spoke.

"Well, I didn't hear anything."

I looked at my companions and explained.

"Nothing seems confirmed for now."

"Then what do we do now?"

"Let's think of this as fortunate. No one here wants Junghyeok to die, right? For now, let's assume Nirvana is the strongest and think it's reasonable to take them down."

"But if it turns out the Supreme King is the strongest..."

"We'll think about that when the time comes."

Jiwon nodded.

"The Salvation Sect is in Gangbuk. But the security is tight so it's not easy to approach, and there's a huge difference in forces. Even if all of us go..."

"We won't go. We need to make them come to us."

"How? Will they respond? No matter how I think about it, they won't do something that puts them at a disadvantage..."

"That would be the common-sense way to think."

But Nirvana wasn't a common-sense type of person.

Footnotes:

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