WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 159: Episode 31: Graveyard of the Scenarios (1)

──────

A blue-white aura hammered at my heart, and the Mana throughout my body surged explosively like a flagship fitted with a new engine.

[Exclusive Skill, Electrification Lv.11(+1), has activated!]

Perhaps because my status had risen, the level of Electrification had become 11.

Normally, Level 10 was the limit for every skill. After that, the only options were to learn a better skill or use Transcendence like the Returnees.

And yet this was 11.

My Electrification had surpassed the system's limits.

Rumble.

It also wasn't as hard to move as before.

The Returnee Kyrios possessed power comparable to that of powerful fabled-grade constellations. In the past, he had been such an overwhelmingly mighty existence that I couldn't even measure the depth of his power. But now, I felt as though I could at least roughly tell how strong he was.

If the Kyrios of before had stood on a height I could never reach, then now I could vaguely guess how far up that height he had climbed.

Tentacio had gone beyond shock. He was afraid.

"A Returnee's martial arts with a constellation's status? What the hell are you?"

I was about to tell him my name, but a petty impulse made me answer differently.

"What do you mean, what? I'm Yu Junghyeok."

Crackle!

Tentacio's body was split in half by Blade of Faith, charged with the Mana of Electrification. The scattering current blew apart his arms and legs, and the next barrage of sword strikes sent his head flying before it rolled across the ground. It was a chain of attacks that gave him no chance to scream. My Level 90 Mana drained all at once, and a faint weariness washed over me. Even so, I now had a clear sense of my own level.

"Kgh... You bastard..."

Ah, that startled me. The severed head was talking.

"Do you... know what it means... for an Incarnation... to become a constellation?"

What kind of bullshit was that all of a sudden?

"You will regret... telling me your name..."

"What?"

[Demon Count Tentacio has used Death Cry.]

[Demon Count Tentacio has broadcast the name Yu Junghyeok throughout the Dark Castle.]

[The rankers of the Dark Castle remember the name Yu Junghyeok.]

Wow, I hadn't seen that coming.

[The rankers of the Dark Castle have developed murderous intent toward the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]

This had turned a little awkward. But I really hadn't meant to do it.

...Well, fine. Junghyeok should suffer a little too.

[You have hunted Demon Count Tentacio!]

[You have received 30,000 coins for being the fifth to defeat a Tier-3 demonic species.]

As Tentacio died, transparent strings began rising from his corpse.

From the Dark Castle Scenario onward, you could kill participants who possessed fables and take those fables for yourself. I reached out and seized the transparent strings in the air.

[You have acquired the Legendary-grade fable Insect Genocide.]

Insect Genocide. This should be enough to feed to the Shin Yuseong of the forty-first round while she was still hatching. But was it really okay to feed her a fable that had belonged to a demon? What if I gave it to her and it messed up the kid's personality?

[You have completed the Bounty Scenario!]

[The constellation Lady of the Sleeping Brocade is deeply grateful to you.]

[You can now receive the protection of the constellations of Shilla.]

The protection of the constellations of Shilla. It didn't look like much, but they were constellations all the same. If I built a connection with them, a day would surely come when I could receive their help, just as I had during the Absolute Throne.

[You have received the Legendary-grade fable Silla-Tang Allied Forces.]

...Silla-Tang Allied Forces?

[The constellation Lady of the Sleeping Brocade smiles with satisfaction.]

Well, she had said she'd give me a Legendary-grade fable, but she had never said it would be a good one. If it came to it, I could always feed it to Yuseong too. The Allies, now recovered, came over from behind one by one.

"You really..."

"Dokja, just how strong have you become?"

I smiled sheepishly. Lee Hyeongseong glanced down at the shoulder Tentacio had injured and asked, "Are there many monsters like that on the second floor of the Dark Castle?"

"There are probably a few, but they aren't common. This guy's ranking is probably..."

Right on cue, a message sounded through the air.

[You have received 50,000 coins as a Main Scenario reward!]

[The Main Scenario details have been updated!]

[You have won the Dark Castle placement match.]

[The demon you hunted is Tentacio, ranked tenth in the Dark Castle.]

[Rankings are being determined in proportion to hunting contribution.]

"...Tenth place. Then that means there are at least nine stronger than him. There are probably a lot more around the same level."

"Ah..."

Hyeongseong's expression was complicated. He looked relieved that a Demon Count was only tenth, yet discouraged at the same time.

"Dokja, you've become strong enough to fight monsters like that."

"If you finish inheriting your fable, Hyeongseong, you'll be able to fight them too. And even I can't promise a win against demons stronger than this one."

In my current state, the strongest I could take on without opening my fables was count-class. Even then, if his fable hadn't been Insect Genocide, it wouldn't have been this easy.

Han Suyeong frowned as if her pride had been wounded.

"Tch. Don't act humble. Are you trying to make fools of us right now?"

"If you'd fought at full strength, you would've had a shot too. You're inheriting the fable of the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, aren't you?"

"I still haven't inherited it because the contents of that fable are too embarrassing. You let me choose it on purpose without stopping me, didn't you? Just so I'd get screwed over?"

What had the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon's fable been again...? I couldn't remember clearly, but considering its original contractor had been Delusional Demon Kim Namwoon, Suyeong's reaction wasn't hard to understand. It had to be the kind of fable that was mortifying just to inherit.

[The Dark Castle rankings are announced in proportion to hunting contribution!]

At last, the rankings had been finalized. The ranking results were delivered to the windows floating before each of us.

[Your Dark Castle ranking is 11th.]

Eleventh. Not a bad result. The rest of the Allies seemed to have checked their own results too, because their faces darkened. They looked like people who had just received their college entrance exam scorecards. Suyeong darted over and stole a look at my ranking window.

"Hey, what rank are you..."

She froze as soon as she saw the number 11. The difference in contribution between Suyeong and me was enormous, so there were probably several hundred places between our rankings.

"If I kill you right now, do I become eleventh?"

"What rank are you?"

"I'm not telling you. Anyway, I'm higher than that old man."

Where Suyeong pointed, Kim Youngpal was still passed out cold.

[The Incarnation Kim Youngpal is ranked 101,123rd in the Dark Castle.]

Kim Youngpal, owner of the glorious rank of 101,123rd, slept on without a care in the world.

Lee Jihye and Lee Gilyeong, who had been unconscious from the start, had each received ranks of 98,761st and 87,541st. Now that I looked at it, that was strange. Why was that old man ranked even lower than people who had been unconscious from the beginning?

"What rank are you, Hyeongseong?"

"636th."

Hyeongseong's voice was gloomy. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should say something comforting, but he beat me to it.

"...I got plenty of scorecards like this back when I was in school, so I'm fine. If anything, it makes me feel even more motivated."

He didn't seem like someone I needed to worry about. Then again, Hyeongseong was the type to work even harder once he had a concrete goal.

Yuseong, standing nearby, flinched when our eyes met.

"U-Um, mister, I mean...!"

The way she hurriedly hid her window behind her back made her look exactly like an elementary school student hiding a report card from her parents. I spoke as if encouraging her.

"It doesn't matter what rank you are right now. Once we get to the second floor of the Dark Castle, there will be plenty of chances to move up. It all depends on how hard you work, Yuseong."

Damn, hearing myself say it made me sound like such an old man. Work hard and everything would turn out fine? As if that were true. But kind Yuseong took my advice to heart.

"If I work hard, can I become as strong as you, mister?"

"Of course. You can become even stronger than me."

I meant it sincerely. In truth, Yuseong was the Incarnation here with more potential than anyone else.

[Your Stigma is on the verge of blossoming.]

[Selecting the fable that will become your Stigma.]

If I could only transmit a Stigma to her, Yuseong would grow explosively. No, even without a Stigma, Yuseong would be essential on the second floor of the Dark Castle. There was a stage there where children could shine. Hyeongseong tilted his head and said,

"But I don't understand why they suddenly gave us rankings. Is it just for competition...? Or do they give out medals if you reach the upper ranks?"

He wasn't wrong. There was definitely an element of encouraging competition.

But the ranking system of the Dark Castle had a far more fundamental reason for existing than that. Just as I was about to open my mouth,

[The Demon King Demonic God of Wrath and Lust finds your existence intriguing.]

[The Demon King Duke of Dragons and Stench has taken an interest in you.]

[The Demon King Noble Young Master of the Red Mane is salivating over your fable.]

It seemed the other Allies had received the messages too. Unlike the messages from constellations, these carried a far stickier and more unsettling sensation. Whether because they had sensed those beings' status from the messages alone or not, Hyeongseong and Yuseong's faces turned grave.

Suyeong in particular, who had once been afflicted with a Demon King's Curse, looked utterly terrified.

Demon kings.

The few demons whose status could be compared to the stars in the sky.

At the end of this Scenario, we would have to fight a Demon King.

* * *

"Graaaah!"

The blade that severed a demonic species' head drew a beautiful arc before returning to Junghyeok's grasp.

'...So it didn't have a fable.'

Junghyeok, who had already made it to the second floor, had begun seriously working on the rankings. As always, his plans for the future were lined up densely in his head like a training schedule.

「To reach the third floor, I first need to save the Four Heavenly Kings.」

「The top rankers need to be turned into allies.」

「One of the ten evils is on the second floor. It would be best not to clash with that one.」

「If I keep gathering fables at this rate, then in perhaps four days...」

That was when a message rang out through the air.

[Someone has broadcast your name with Death Cry.]

[The rankers of the Dark Castle remember your name.]

[The rankers of the Dark Castle are wary of you.]

[The rankers of the Dark Castle will target your fables.]

Junghyeok frowned at the sudden messages.

'My name was broadcast out of nowhere?'

It was strange. Death Cry was a curse of the demonic species. And yet he still hadn't killed a demon that used that ability.

Yu Mia, who was beside him, puffed out her cheeks and asked, "What's wrong, big brother?"

"It's nothing."

Junghyeok hesitated for a moment before adding, "...It looks like that guy is causing trouble again."

"That guy?"

"There's someone like that."

Mia quietly watched her brother. There was definitely a different nuance in his grumbling voice than usual. It was a change as small as a grain of rice, but Mia could tell.

Because Junghyeok was her one and only brother.

"You're talking about that ugly mister, right?"

"..."

"You look happy whenever you talk about that mister, big brother."

Junghyeok looked flustered at his smiling younger sister, then snapped back sharply.

"You're mistaken."

"Am I?"

Mia merely smiled at him. Junghyeok frowned and looked like he was about to say something, then shut his mouth. In the next instant, a murderous aura flowed from his whole body. Mia was just about to ask if he was angry when Junghyeok spoke first.

"Stop eavesdropping and come out. Before I kill you."

At those words, part of space seemed to go rigid, and a slender figure appeared from within the split air. It was a woman wearing a cape.

"I'm sorry. I didn't do it on purpose."

"Who are you?"

"It's me, Mr. Yu Junghyeok."

When the cape came off, an unexpected person revealed herself. It was a face Junghyeok knew too, because it belonged to someone he had rescued not long ago.

"...Yu Sangah?"

The Incarnation Yu Sangah, sponsored by the nebula Olympus, was standing there.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried