WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 146: Episode 28 — The Strongest Sacrificial Lamb (4)

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[My, this match is going to be decided faster than I expected?]

Watching the bloody battle between Yu Junghyeok and Nirvana, the dokkaebis in the air cackled.

[I thought at least a third of them would die, if not half......]

[This story is getting boring.]

No fewer than three mid-level dokkaebis hovered in the air, tapping their clubs as they looked down on the stadium. At the sight of the dokkaebis, the Incarnations outside the stadium froze stiff. By now, the Incarnations had learned that whenever dokkaebis gathered, terrible things happened.

[Then there was no point in going to all the trouble of giving them a nice little "hint," was there?]

[Can't be helped. Let's reveal it a little sooner.]

At the same time as the dokkaebis spoke, the rankings of the Incarnations began flooding across the billboard in the sky.

+

Currently, the eighth strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Moonlit Priestess Yu Sangah.

Currently, the seventh strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Armament Lord Pildu Gong.

Currently, the sixth strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Judge of Evil Jeong Huiwon.

+

As soon as those three rankings were revealed, the crowd's reaction practically exploded.

"Who's Yu Sangah? Moonlit Priestess?"

"So Elder Pildu Gong was seventh!"

Jeong Huiwon was looking up at the billboard in the sky as well.

"Oh my, so I was sixth?"

"I'm only tenth...... Tsk. Unni, want to finish this bastard off first and then have a round with me?"

Lee Jihye asked as she stomped hard on Neutral King Jeon Ildo, who was bound on the ground. Jeong Huiwon planted her foot on him too and said,

"Ahem, sorry, but that would be a problem. My Patron likes you."

"Me? Why?"

Jeong Huiwon didn't answer. She pointed her sword at Jeon Ildo instead.

"Hey there, Mr. Jeon Ildo, who couldn't even make the top ten?"

Jeon Ildo's body trembled at the razor-sharp blade.

"How did you break free from [thought infection]?"

"Don't ask me questions. If you don't release your Stigma right now, I'll kill you."

"Even if you kill me, my Stigma won't be released."

That was Jeon Ildo's last line before he fainted. It somehow felt like things were about to get tiresome, so Jeong Huiwon smacked the back of his head one more time before looking for Kim Dokja.

"Dokja-ssi?"

But Kim Dokja was nowhere to be seen.

+

Currently, the fifth strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Pure-Hearted Steel Lee Hyeongseong.

+

Lee Hyeongseong and Pildu Gong, who were in the middle of a fierce battle with monsters on the outer edge of the dome, heard the message too. Pildu Gong frowned and asked,

"What the hell is 'Pure-Hearted Steel' supposed to be?"

"I-I don't really know either."

Acting as if he didn't know, Lee Hyeongseong used [Great Mountain Crush] on the Tier-5 monster species charging at him. Now that [Steel Transformation] had become possible for him, even minor-catastrophe-class monsters were no longer a match for him.

Thud thud thud thud!

But there were more monsters than expected, and the front line was gradually being pushed back. Lee Hyeongseong gritted his teeth and held the line as he protected the fortress.

'Dokja-ssi. Is everything going according to plan?'

He held out hope that Kim Dokja might answer him again, but there was no response.

+

Currently, the fourth strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Black Flame Empress Han Suyeong.

+

At that same moment, Han Suyeong was also looking up at the billboard in the sky with a sly grin.

"......So I really am fourth?"

Han Suyeong looked down at Kim Dokja, who was sprawled on the ground and bleeding. She had stabbed him just as he'd asked, making sure he wouldn't die in one blow, but with how much blood he had lost, it was obvious he would die soon enough.

Han Suyeong crouched down and pinched Kim Dokja's cheek, stretching it.

"Kim Dokja. Are you really going to die just like this? Just to make me third?"

Han Suyeong stared silently down at Kim Dokja's face with an uneasy look.

"Looking at you like this, you're not half bad."

Of course, Kim Dokja didn't answer. She had stabbed him because he'd told her to, but now that she'd actually done it, she couldn't help worrying that he might really die.

He doesn't even have an avatar...... No way. Right?

"Why am I even worrying about this idiot......"

Han Suyeong's complaints trailed off. Kim Dokja's sleeping lips were twisting in pain. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but the truth was, she felt like she already knew without asking.

Kim Dokja must be having a hard time too.

Before the apocalypse began, he had been an ordinary person, just like her.

And now a person like that was throwing himself onto the stage that would decide whether the world stood or fell, moving the protagonists themselves. He had never once shown it, and because of that, Han Suyeong had briefly forgotten that he too was just an ordinary human being.

She reached out and pulled the corners of Kim Dokja's mouth upward with her finger. It made a bizarre face, eyes scrunched tight while the mouth smiled.

Han Suyeong giggled.

"Seriously weird."

Just then, a tremendous shockwave exploded from inside the dome. At last, the battle between Yu Junghyeok and Nirvana was racing toward its conclusion.

[Haha, and now only the final three remain. You're all curious who they are, right? Just wait! Their rankings will be revealed soon!]

[The constellation Secretive Plotter hides his pounding heart.]

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband grips the fur on his hands.]

[The constellation Bald Army General wipes his head in curiosity.]

Listening to the flood of Constellation messages pouring in, Yu Junghyeok brought his sword down again and again.

Craaack!

The sword strike that pierced through [Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara] gave off a skin-crawling sound, and deep inside his muscles came something like the noise of machinery breaking down. Yu Junghyeok could feel his body collapsing little by little.

The side effect of [Gigantification]. It was the price of containing a power he couldn't bear. Long ago, when he received this power from the ancient colossus, the colossus had warned him.

"Until all your stats reach three digits, never use that skill."

But the colossus must have already known when it passed the skill on. That Yu Junghyeok would never heed that warning. The road he had to walk was a path of carnage, an impossible road, a road where even using every means available gave no guarantee he could make it through. The truly despairing thing was that he still couldn't even begin to gauge its end.

Yu Junghyeok squeezed every last scrap of Mana out of his body and unleashed a barrage of sword strikes. The Mana that exploded down the blade toward the aboveground formed waves and swept over Nirvana.

"The heart of [Sky Splitter Sword Art] lies in explosion. Do not hide yourself. Expand, bloom, overflow. Do not permit the sky to remain above you."

Those were the words of the master who had taught him [Sky Splitter Sword Art], the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint. In the middle and later Scenarios of the second round, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint had fought the Returnee Alliance alone, only to die under the combined assault of the Blood Demon and the Heavenly Demon. Back then, Yu Junghyeok had seen a thick sky that even Sky Splitter could not shatter. There truly were skies like that in this world.

"Yu Junghyeeeok!"

But, at least, Nirvana wasn't that sky.

Nirvana the Reincarnator was strong. They would grow even stronger in the future. But they still weren't as strong as the Heavenly Demon or the Blood Demon, nor as strong as the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint or the Paradoxical White Purity.

Which meant they could be killed.

Yu Junghyeok released his Mana once more, crushing Nirvana's entire body. Nirvana's [Thousand-Armed Avalokiteshvara], which had endured the colossus's sword, was shredded into rags. Flesh burning in the Mana tore apart piece by piece. The hastily inherited skill was reaching its limit.

"Kuaaaah!"

Nirvana's body caved into the ground, and a massive shockwave burst out from within.

Yu Junghyeok was certain of victory. He had landed enough damage. It seemed Nirvana still had one final trick hidden away, but after taking a hit like that, there was nothing they could do to turn this fight around.

'They must have had no choice but to inherit close-combat skills because of Kim Dokja.'

Yu Junghyeok drew up his remaining Mana and prepared the final blow. The moment Nirvana emerged from the pit, he would finish it. But then a warning rang inside his head.

[Exclusive Skill, Advanced Mental Barrier Lv.3, has reached its limit.]

[Exclusive Skill, Thought Vaccine Lv.1, is being eroded.]

......That was impossible. [Thought Vaccine] was a counter-skill against Nirvana's [thought infection] and [eternal prison]. So why?

'No way.'

The worst possibility flashed through his mind. Come to think of it, the current Nirvana was still weaker than the Nirvana from the previous life.

What if Nirvana hadn't inherited close-combat skills at all?

What if, despite the variable called Kim Dokja, they had only ever had one goal from the very beginning?

'Damn it, [108 Kleshas]?'

[Exclusive Skill, Advanced Mental Barrier Lv.3, has collapsed.]

[108 afflictions have begun gnawing at your mind.]

The moment he realized it, his vision went black. His five senses began running wild. When his thoughts had started spiraling out of control in a way unlike him, he should have realized something was wrong. Nirvana rose from the pit smiling.

"Yu Junghyeok! I alone can understand you!"

It was obvious that Nirvana had endured everything for this one moment. Behind Nirvana, 108 enormous prayer beads were shining.

"Now stop and become one with me."

With a blinding flare of rising light, Yu Junghyeok felt fragments of affliction burrowing into his mind. If he took this skill head-on and broke under it, he would no longer be able to guarantee his next regression.

'Not here of all places.'

He had to regress now. Yu Junghyeok used the last control he had over his body to bring the blade of [Sky Shaking Supreme Sword] to his own throat.

"Don't fool yourself into thinking the next round will be better just because you throw this one away."

But why, at this moment, were that bastard's words coming back to him?

"The round you're trying to throw away might be the 'only round' where you can see the end of the world as a 'human being.'"

In the depths of his despair, Yu Junghyeok thought of a certain name for the first time.

And then his vision slowly darkened.

"You bastard, took you long enough to think of me."

Was it a hallucination? A familiar voice reached him.

"Rest for a bit."

Even as he recoiled from the fact that the voice put him at ease, Yu Junghyeok closed his eyes peacefully.

* * *

When I slowly opened my eyes, I felt overflowing power.

The height of my vision had shifted slightly, and the sensation of combat muscles wrapped neatly around my whole body filled me with a strange exhilaration. Adrenaline was being secreted at just the right level. A confidence that I could do absolutely anything was swelling inside me.

[First-Person Protagonist Viewpoint has activated!]

Holy shit. So this was the "real" First-Person Protagonist Viewpoint.

This was the exact sensation Yu Junghyeok always felt.

With this, how could anyone not be strong?

"......How did you get through [108 Kleshas]?"

In the distance, I could see Nirvana looking flustered.

I glanced outside the stadium. The fact that I had possessed Yu Junghyeok meant Han Suyeong had done her part properly. If everything had gone according to plan, I had about five minutes left until my own breathing stopped completely.

Nirvana narrowed their eyes fiercely and cast the skill at me again.

[The character Nirvana Moebius has activated the skill 108 Kleshas Lv.2!]

[108 Kleshas]. Originally, it was a skill that tortured one's own mind in order to elevate one's state of enlightenment. But when this skill was used on someone else, it induced horrific mental derangement. Especially if it was used on someone like Yu Junghyeok, the regressor, its effect was even more terrifying than [thought infection] or [eternal prison].

Of course, that was only if I were "Yu Junghyeok."

[The Fourth Wall completely neutralizes the effect of 108 Kleshas!]

Sorry, but right now I'm not an ordinary "Yu Junghyeok."

"That feeling...... Who are you?"

As expected of a Reincarnator, they caught on fast.

I sprinted forward and drove my fist into their snout.

"Kuaaak!"

Nirvana flew like a paper doll.

A regressor's body really was amazing. To have this kind of speed and destructive force without even using [Electrification]. Nirvana's body had already run out of strength, and they couldn't even resist as they were flung through the air. I gave them no opening, chasing them down and landing another hit.

Puuuunch!

The sensation was incredibly satisfying. But Nirvana still looked like they could endure more. Which made sense. Pain and death were both familiar to them. I smashed their face again and said,

"You've experienced 'death' dozens of times, and that's exactly why you know nothing about 'death.' Isn't that ridiculous?"

Death only becomes death because it happens once.

"The one who can least live in the 'present' goes around preaching the 'present' more than anyone else. It doesn't get more contradictory than that."

Because there is no after, the human "present" becomes precious. That was why Nirvana knew neither "death" nor the "present."

"How do you know that about me...... Kuhk!"

"I know it well. Why you're trying to become one with Yu Junghyeok. Why you're spreading the Salvation Sect. What you're ultimately trying to reach through all of this."

Because I knew that, I had to stop them here.

Nirvana staggered back. Even so, being a Reincarnator, they seemed to recover their composure quickly. Nirvana ground their teeth and shouted,

"Foolish mortal! I don't know who you are, but this is pointless. Even if you kill me, Yu Junghyeok dies. No one can stop the Scenario from heading toward ruin. The world's tragedy will repeat itself. I will reincarnate, and Yu Junghyeok will regress! And in the end, we will become one!"

Yeah, that was how a Reincarnator would think. But...

"Do you really believe that?"

At that moment, a message rose onto the billboard.

+

Currently, the third strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Supreme King Yu Junghyeok.

+

What timing. Nirvana's expression twisted strangely.

"Third? Yu Junghyeok?"

I nodded and smiled.

"Yu Junghyeok will never go to the 'next round.'"

"What?"

"No matter what happens, Yu Junghyeok lives. The one who dies is you, or me."

"Don't be absurd! I am Nirvana Moebius, the strongest Incarnation. To a mere mortal......!"

+

Currently, the second strongest Incarnation in Seoul Dome is Salvation Sect Leader Nirvana.

+

Damn it. I hadn't expected them to announce second place already.

When I looked up, the dokkaebis were snickering. They must have decided the match was already over. Nirvana's pupils were shaking.

"Impossible...... There's no way......?"

"Nirvana, you said you wanted to live in the 'present,' didn't you?"

"No way...... You are......?"

As if they had come face-to-face with an utterly insoluble koan, Nirvana's body trembled.

I looked at Nirvana and quietly spoke.

"I'll teach you what 'death' is."

Footnotes:

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