Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 162

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 162: Episode 31: Graveyard of the Scenarios (4)

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Jeong Huiwon and I passed through Paradise's central market district and headed for a low hill.

Usually, a castle lord lived in a grand palace within the inner fortress. That had been the case in peace land too. However, Paradise's lord was somewhat different. As we drew closer to the hill, the constellations of Eden reacted fiercely.

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire widens her eyes.]

[The constellation Guardian of Youth and Travelers displays displeasure.]

Guardian of Youth and Travelers. I could see the new archangel's modifier as well. Judging by the faint pressure of presence I felt through the indirect messages, they seemed to be at least Uriel's equal.

They were probably on the level of one of Eden's three great archangels.

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband expects you to make a spectacle of yourself.]

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is curious about your Stigma.]

On top of that, there was the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and the Black Flame Dragon. The three regulars of the channel had gathered for the first time in a while. I had received help from the Great Sage Equal to Heaven when I founded my nebula, so I was glad to see him.

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband picks his nose with the Ruyi Jingu Bang.]

Judging from the indirect messages alone, it was hard to believe this guy was the same Great Sage Equal to Heaven who had radiated such overwhelming presence. Was he actually having someone else write his messages for him? Maybe that clone I had seen back then.

In any case, if only Secretive Plotter arrived, the original group of four would all be here...

[The constellation Secretive Plotter watches the situation with interested eyes.]

The moment I thought it, the last one appeared too.

Secretive Plotter.

If there had been one regret from the last banquet, it was that I hadn't been able to see his face. He was clearly among the highest fabled-grade beings, yet no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't remember seeing his modifier in TWSA.

A sudden question came to mind. Could a constellation this powerful truly have gone entirely unmentioned in the original work?

[Multiple constellations are paying attention to your actions.]

"We're here."

At Huiwon's words, I stopped at the path leading up the hill. A whitewashed brick house stood at the top.

A white house on a hill. I couldn't help questioning the resident's taste.

"I'll wait here. Call me right away if anything happens."

I nodded, but I already knew that Huiwon wouldn't be able to rush over even if I called for her.

At least in this Paradise, no one could defeat the lord of Paradise.

As I followed the path upward, a shadow standing beside the brick house soon came into view. A tall man with features beautiful enough to seem sculpted stood there.

"Ah, you've arrived."

Without the Fourth Wall, even I would have had no choice but to hold my breath before such beauty. Yu Junghyeok was handsome too, but this guy's appearance could only be described as inhuman.

It was, in a sense, a demonic beauty.

"My apologies, but please wait a moment. This one is rather shy around strangers."

The man was watering flowers blooming on the hill. The flowers bloomed toward the empty air. Their petals spread greedily as if they wanted to swallow the sky, yet their pistils emerged demurely, as though they knew they were nothing more than small flowers.

I knew the flower's name.

"Perpetual Motion."

Originally, it was the general term for a hypothetical machine that worked forever without receiving energy from outside. Here, however, it was simply the name of a flower.

"You know this plant?"

"It's a flower that blooms anew every day."

"Your knowledge is impressive."

Of course, I only knew because I had read TWSA.

The flower of Paradise, Perpetual Motion. This flower budded at dawn and bore fruit around nightfall. The fruit fell before dawn, and the plant used its own fruit as fertilizer to bloom again.

Perpetual Motion was a plant that repeated this cycle forever.

The man spoke as though he found the flower utterly lovely.

"No matter how often I look at it, I never tire of it. This flower's vitality is truly remarkable."

"But it was named incorrectly. If it were truly Perpetual Motion, that flower should grow well without water."

"Can't we consider such a small flaw charming when it produces flowers this beautiful?"

The man smiled faintly at me.

"Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is..."

"Reinheit von Djerba, the lord of Paradise."

Naturally, I knew him well.

He was one of the more famous Ten Evils in TWSA.

Reinheit gave me a brilliantly white smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kim Dokja."

As expected, he already knew who I was.

[Exclusive Skill, Character Profile, has activated!]

[There is too much related information about this individual. Character Profile is converting to Summary Profile.]

[Only categories selected at the user's discretion will be displayed for convenience.]

Name: Reinheit von Djerba

Exclusive Attributes: Demon Marquis (Hero), Chaser of Impossible Dreams (Hero)

Exclusive Skills: [Demon's Eye Lv.10], [Supreme Weapons Proficiency Lv.10], [Advanced Mental Barrier Lv.10]...

Stigma: [Owner of Paradise Lv.10]

Overall Stats: [Constitution Lv.99], [Strength Lv.99], [Agility Lv.99], [Mana Lv.99]

* This individual's Dark Castle ranking is 2nd.

His stats were truly incredible.

His overall stats had broken through the Scenario's restrictions, and nearly all his skills had reached maximum proficiency. Reinheit was likely the very limit imposed by this Scenario.

Perhaps noticing how I looked at him, Reinheit waved a hand.

"It would be troublesome if you burned with too much hostility. Perpetual Motion might be damaged."

"Why did you call me here?"

"I was curious about someone surrounded by so many rumors. Ever since you entered this Scenario, all kinds of beings have been making a great fuss."

Reinheit was different from the Ten Evils I had met so far. Pildu Gong and Lee Seolhwa were Ten Evils still growing, while Reinheit was a Ten Evil already close to completion.

"I can't help but feel threatened when someone like you enters this Scenario."

"That's overly humble for a Demon Marquis ranked second."

"You knew even that? Your research was thorough."

As I watched him turn away, an urge suddenly rose within me.

...Should I ambush him now?

I hesitated. The fight wouldn't be easy. I couldn't say for certain who would win. Yet that wasn't the true reason for my hesitation.

This hesitation was probably because I had seen his Paradise with my own eyes.

"In my world, Dark Castle was the thirty-fourth Scenario."

Reinheit gazed at the view of Paradise spreading beneath the hill.

"I remember the moment I first arrived here eight hundred years ago. There was nothing on this plain at the time. The only thing we were given was ranking. Even though no Scenario had been issued, incarnations were obsessed with harming and killing one another."

I imagined those who had received the Scenario for the first time. Every being in Dark Castle became increasingly demonized over time. The incarnations who had first come to Dark Castle couldn't have been demons from the beginning.

"Only to climb higher. Only to become stronger. In this place with no time limit or penalty for failure, they threw everything away for a higher ranking. Endless war. It was the only Scenario incarnations could carry out in a place where stories had disappeared."

The disappearance of Scenarios didn't necessarily make anyone happy. Whether constellation or incarnation, every being eventually needed a story.

Reinheit, however, didn't agree with that premise. Having grown sick of becoming a toy in someone else's Scenario, he refused to become a slave to the Scenarios.

"That is why I created this Paradise."

"..."

"The dokkaebis call this plain the Graveyard of the Scenarios, but I do not. Though I became a demon covered in blood through the long years, I believe that true life can bloom here, where the Scenarios have vanished."

His words were filled with heartfelt emotion. If I hadn't read the original work, I might have simply admired his conviction.

"The Purest Evil."

That was what Junghyeok in the original work had called Reinheit.

"Constellation Kim Dokja. You intend to proceed to the next Scenario, don't you?"

"That's right."

"Give up. Such a thing doesn't exist."

Just as I had expected, he said those words.

"In eight hundred years of living, you aren't the first person like you I've met."

"..."

"Countless strong people set out in search of hidden Scenarios, but no one has cleared Dark Castle. They only sank into despair and frustration in the emptiness of the Scenarios."

He continued speaking.

"I don't want you to become like them."

"What do you want?"

"Protect Paradise with me. I need your help."

I stared at Reinheit for a while, then looked down at the Perpetual Motion blooming beside him. I reached my hand toward its petals.

Before the startled Reinheit could stop me, the trembling flower shriveled in an instant, turned into fruit, and fell. The fallen fruit quickly rotted, then rolled down the hill.

It rolled to the feet of a nearby patrol, but they paid it no attention. The guards were too busy cutting away the rotten parts of Paradise.

"Ugh, ugh... Let me go! I said I'm sorry!"

"You don't have to do this just because I stole one thing!"

Paradise's criminals were being taken through the underground passage beneath the road. I knew where they were being taken.

[Some constellations let out unpleasant laughter.]

Just as Perpetual Motion couldn't exist, Paradise couldn't be sustained for free.

They would likely become Paradise's fertilizer, just as rotten fruit became fertilizer for the plant. A small tremor rose from deep underground. Somewhere, I thought I could hear the cry of a horrifying beast species.

"Reinheit. Paradise doesn't exist, just as Perpetual Motion cannot exist."

Reinheit didn't respond. His eyes seemed to be testing how much I knew. Soon, however, he would regret that composure.

"Hand over the next Scenario to me."

For the first time, a trace of panic crossed Reinheit's eyes.

"I know you found the Scenario seven hundred years ago. To be precise, you and several other powerful people found it."

"How do you...?"

"You even attempted that Scenario once. Isn't that right?"

"..."

"But you failed and survived alone. Then you created this Paradise."

I didn't miss the rough trembling of the hand that had been tending the petals.

He said he had made this place to help people find a way to live.

That wasn't true.

This place was only a refuge from an impossible Scenario.

"Every Scenario in the Star Stream exists for stimulation. Yet Paradise has nothing like that. Everything is too peaceful."

"..."

"Don't believe your deal with the dokkaebis will remain valid forever. The Star Stream will never allow a place like this to exist for long."

After a moment of silence, Reinheit slowly opened his mouth.

"...Constellation Kim Dokja. What else do you know?"

His tone had changed. Faint but firm hostility seeped from his entire body. That conversation had changed his attitude toward me. From a potentially useful ally to an enemy more dangerous than anyone else.

"Everything. Maybe even things you don't know."

I looked at the dark clouds rolling in from afar. Clouds wouldn't gather by chance in a situation like this, so those rain clouds had to be the dokkaebis' staging.

Just because they claimed not to interfere didn't mean they were truly watching everything without doing anything.

Because even a Scenario without Scenarios became a Scenario in this world.

I let out a quiet sigh and prepared the final punctuation mark of the tragedy.

"Reinheit. You will die, and Paradise will perish."

Footnotes:

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