WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 168: Episode 32: Kim Dokja's Love (5)

──────

Han Suyeong, who was beside me, pursed her lips.

"When did you get so close to that psychopath...?"

"We aren't particularly close."

"You look like you trust him a lot for someone saying that."

"You're mistaken. I'd trust a dokkaebi before I trusted that bastard."

If I trusted Yu Junghyeok, it wasn't his character I trusted. It was his experience. He had the experience accumulated through three regressions, as well as the various pieces of information he'd heard from Shin Yuseong of the 41st round. Besides, Paradise was originally his responsibility. He had handled it well on his own in the second round, so he'd probably do even better this time.

Still...

"...I'm a little worried."

I couldn't be completely at ease because I couldn't trust his character.

I'd made all sorts of preparations so his companions could conquer Paradise on their own, but it couldn't be perfect. I was a reader, not an author, and Junghyeok was like a sunfish who could regress at any moment. He'd gotten better after I got him under control last time, but...

Suyeong gave me an expression that said she knew it.

"If you're that worried, why don't you take a look? You have a skill that lets you see things in real time."

"...You knew about that too?"

"You'd be an idiot not to know by now."

Then again, Suyeong must have seen me possess Junghyeok last time. I thought for a moment before speaking.

"Then I'll be back. Take care of things for a bit."

"...Come back quickly. If guys I can't handle show up while I'm alone, we're done for."

"If anything happens, just wake me up."

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

[Exclusive Skill, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3 has activated!]

Soon, Third-Person Perspective activated. On the black landscape of my mind, voices and scenes from people thinking about me began to appear. I passed over several voices and chose the one that showed the widest view.

* * *

The tremor began in the heart of Paradise.

The powerful shockwave that shook the entire ground overturned all the street stalls at once, and Incarnations walking down the main road fell to the ground in shock.

"Aaah, what is that?!"

"Is it the monsters?"

Everyone threw out a guess, but no one understood exactly what was happening. Maybe it was because they had enjoyed peace for too long. Their minds, which had always assumed the worst, had now been conditioned to imagine only the safest future.

"The guards will handle it. Don't worry, everyone."

"Just hold on a little longer!"

At the center of the explosions, Junghyeok looked over the Incarnations of Paradise. Some faces were familiar, while others were not.

In the first round, Junghyeok had been betrayed while trying to save them. In the second round, he had destroyed this place with his own hands.

And now, the third round...

As Junghyeok emerged through the smoke, people grabbed him and asked,

"What is it? What on earth is happening?"

People who had been selling fruit or harvesting crops looked at him with terrified faces. Junghyeok looked back at them.

Even something that wasn't a Scenario was clearly a story.

Junghyeok knew that. He knew it well, which was why he had agreed with Reinheit's intentions when he first saw Paradise and protected this place alongside him.

"P-please save us!"

Of course, all of that had been futile. Paradise was no different from a Scenario. Just as a Scenario was sustained by exploiting Incarnations, Paradise was merely a place supported by Incarnations used as fertilizer. After experiencing the destruction of the same place over and over, Junghyeok had realized one thing.

Great stories always devoured small stories.

That alone was the law of stories and the providence of the Star Stream.

"Paradise will soon be destroyed."

"Pardon?"

"Find something you can protect on your own. Then protect it."

Grrroooaaar!

Rampaging monsters began squeezing through the passage Junghyeok and his companions had emerged from. The Incarnations screamed as fierce claws and talons tore through the earth.

The guards who arrived late stepped forward to protect the Incarnations, but they were no match for the exponentially increasing number of monsters.

"W-why are they...?"

"Lord of the Castle! Where is the Lord of the Castle?!"

A single kick from one of the massive monsters sent multiple guards flying. The captain of the guard seemed to fight fairly well, but barely managed to escape with their life.

Junghyeok severed the limbs of the approaching monsters and looked around. Jeong Huiwon and Lee Hyeongseong were evacuating people.

"...It's remarkable that they survived this long."

They were taking care of strangers before themselves, even when they might die. It was obviously Dokja's influence. Reaching this point with hearts like those was nothing short of a miracle.

"People like them are why they were able to make it this far."

Junghyeok frowned at Yu Sangah, who had approached him at some point.

"You wasted my time for nothing."

"The last time I contacted Olympus, I heard Dokja was here."

"Either the information was wrong, or someone played a trick."

Or Dokja had manipulated the information somehow.

Neither possibility pleased Junghyeok. Paradise was not supposed to be conquered like this. In truth, Paradise was currently in the state least suited for its conquest.

Rumble!

A tree trunk that had burst through the ground shot into the sky.

That was the fable of Demon Marquis Reinheit.

「"Perpetual Motion," the Paradise sustained by devouring souls.」

Monsters climbed up the trunk and were released aboveground. The killers, who had starved underground for so long, found prey and scattered in every direction with roars. There were Dark Trackers, fifth-grade demonic species, Rubel Tigers, fourth-grade demonic beast species, and even third-grade demonic species whose names were unknown.

"Aaaargh!"

Amid the horrific carnage, the Incarnations called for the Lord of the Castle, as if only he could save them from this tragedy.

"Lord of the Castle!"

Then the vines moved.

The vines, stretching out like tentacles, swayed before scattering in all directions at once. Their sharp tips pierced the monsters to protect the people of Paradise.

Splurt! Splurt!

The Incarnations cheered. As far as they knew, there was only one being in Paradise with such power.

[Please, everyone, remain calm.]

Hearing Reinheit's voice, the Incarnations steadied themselves. Paradise would not fall. Everyone seemed to believe that, until the captain of the guard spotted something through the acrid smoke.

"Lord of the Castle...?"

A familiar face had sprouted like a bud at the end of a vine.

"Aaah!"

The captain of the guard collapsed to the ground in terror.

"M-monster! It's a monster!"

The captain of the guard, who had pledged loyalty for so long, lost all composure the moment they saw Reinheit fused with a gigantic plant.

[Ah, is that you, Heindel?]

"G-get away! Stay away from me!"

The captain of the guard staggered backward in a panic. Their trousers were soaked at the front under the pressure of the energy waves Reinheit emitted. Reinheit looked at the guard with bitter eyes before adding,

[This works out well. I was just in need of nutrients to recover.]

The flying vines began swallowing the guards and the residents of Paradise. Vines that pierced them like needles sucked away the stories of ordinary citizens. The shriveled residents either died as mummies or transformed into demonic species.

"Stop it right now!"

The flames of [hellfire inferno] burned through several vines. Yet the vines had no end. Huiwon shouted,

"This is the place you're supposed to protect! What are you doing?!"

[That was true until you appeared.]

Reinheit smiled. With only his upper body exposed at the highest point of the trunk, he looked down at the landscape of Paradise.

[Paradise has already ended.]

Incarnations trembled in fear before the gigantic Perpetual Motion. The residents who had revered the Lord of the Castle only moments ago no longer showed a trace of that awe.

[This is why beings who live small stories cannot help themselves. They have spent their entire lives relying on a single small tree... There is no way they could understand how that tree, how the forest, is maintained.]

One by one, the Incarnations were realizing the true nature of the world they had lived in.

No, perhaps it was a truth they had always known but continually turned away from.

[That is why there is no choice but to begin everything anew.]

Reinheit's vines shot into the sky and began covering all of Paradise like a giant umbrella. It was as if they meant to absorb Paradise whole. Huiwon was utterly overwhelmed by the sheer scale of it.

Could they defeat that?

Could a human fight something like that and win?

That was when one side of the vines exploded violently.

A vine that had been covering the sky burst apart with a thunderous roar. It looked as though a massive hole had been punched through Paradise's roof.

[Incredible. You...]

Reinheit's voice held genuine admiration.

Beneath the opening stood a man with a proud, commanding presence. There was no need to say who it was: Yu Junghyeok.

[...You have surpassed humanity.]

It sounded like an ordinary remark, but to a being like Reinheit, it carried an entirely different meaning.

[You reached such a realm in only the ninth scenario? Kim Dokja was impressive as well... but you are the true monster.]

Powerful waves of Mana flowed from Junghyeok's entire body.

With his eyes closed, Junghyeok was surpassing his limits by drawing on all his abilities.

「Strength Level 2 from the Flame King's Gloves.」

「Strength Level 1 from the Extreme Spirit's Inner Garment.」

「Strength Level 4 from the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds.」

「An additional Strength Level 3 through skill buffs.」

When his Strength Level exceeded 100, a lofty presence radiated from Junghyeok's whole body. He recalled the words of his master, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

「The first stage of Transcendence is surpassing the limits of the body.」

Most Incarnations believed there was a limit to how strong one could become through effort alone. That was why they tried to gain better Patrons and struggled to earn the favor of more powerful Constellations.

Yet the universe was vast, and there were those who did not agree with that path.

Even without a good Patron, or even without a Patron at all, there were those who dreamed of becoming complete beings through effort alone, without the aid of any absolute being.

「The second stage is training every skill to its limit. The skills that exist in this world are ultimately Stigmas left behind by someone and made universal. Train every skill to its limit. Like climbing a ladder, contemplate and explore the limits of the system again and again.」

While Constellations grew stronger by devouring fables and expanding their influence, these people constantly refined their own existence until they became a single fable.

「The final stage is kicking away the ladder you climbed. Forget everything you have built until now. Forget skills, forget levels, forget stories. The path presented by the system is ultimately the path countless beings have chosen as the common way. What matters is finding your own story.」

Train, train, and train again.

Those who surpassed the limits of skills through extreme training became fables themselves.

They were the pinnacle of mortals, capable of rivaling Constellations throughout the Scenarios. It was a realm that those with talent and effort far surpassing their species could reach through a lifetime of training.

In reverence of that noble effort, the Star Stream granted them the title of a Seat even though they were not Constellations.

「That is the minimum requirement for becoming a Transcendent.」

Junghyeok had become a Transcendent in the previous round. Since it was a realm he had already reached once, climbing there again was not difficult. All he needed were the physical conditions and time.

A noble golden aura gathered around Junghyeok's Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds. He was clearly using skills, yet no skill activation messages appeared in his mind.

Because this was not power gained through the system.

It was power that Junghyeok the regressor had built alone.

"Reinheit, I took you in during the previous round."

Junghyeok drew both swords toward Perpetual Motion, which had grown beyond the scale of a tree and become a vast forest.

"This time, I will kill you."

Footnotes:

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