Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 175

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 175: Episode 33: Re-reading (4)

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Sparks enveloped my entire body, and for the first time in a while, I felt the signs of Plausibility Backlash. A Historical-grade constellation, not even a fabled-grade one, was putting this much strain on me just by lending me power.

I had thought the historical records of Cheok Junkyung, who had supposedly fought an army alone, were exaggerated. But if anything, they had understated him.

In truth, Cheok Junkyung had done far more after becoming a constellation and was far stronger than anything recorded in Earth's history. In other worlds, there were constellations who trembled at the mere mention of "Swordmaster Cheok."

Still, I had to endure it.

If I couldn't withstand Cheok Junkyung's status, I couldn't break the [Hundred-Day Seal].

[Your status is currently sealed.]

[Your main skills are currently sealed.]

[Remaining seal duration: 100 days]

The [Hundred-Day Seal], performed using the Three Heavenly Seals of the nebula Hongik, was a supreme sealing formation capable of sealing an opponent's abilities.

[Endure for 100 days while eating garlic and mugwort.]

Of course, the seal wasn't entirely bad.

If I could endure for a hundred days while eating garlic and mugwort, I could receive Hwanin's blessing and awaken my body's potential. But I didn't have that kind of time.

Han Suyeong sighed as she watched garlic and mugwort rain down from the sky.

"Hey, are you done yet?"

"...The power is too strong. It's hard to control. Just wait."

I took deep breaths as I controlled my Mana. Cheok Junkyung had answered my call and lent me his power, but he hadn't given me any constellation's declaration.

It was as if he had simply handed me a portion of his strength and told me to use it if I was confident.

As a result, I had been unable to move for the past thirty minutes, completely occupied with controlling the rampaging fable. Watching Suyeong grumble beside me, I suddenly grew annoyed.

"This is all because of you. If you hadn't used me as a shield, none of this would've happened."

"I didn't do it on purpose either."

"You expect me to believe that? Everything you do is always..."

I must have been holding quite a bit in, because the complaints spilled out on their own. A few minutes passed like that. Suyeong's expression gradually hardened before she finally shouted.

"I already apologized! Fine, I used you as a shield a little. What are you going to do about it?"

I wondered what kind of shamelessness this was when an unexpected being cut in.

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon clears his throat and cuts in.]

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon says that Han Suyeong has never used you as a shield.]

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon says that your death was his responsibility.]

"Hey, shut up and stay quiet! If you say anything unnecessary..."

"...What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's talking nonsense, so ignore him."

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon claims that the incarnation Han Suyeong failed to protect your heart while trying to protect your Black Flame Dragon.]

My Black Flame Dragon?

"Well, that is..."

Suyeong hesitated under my gaze, then sighed and began explaining.

"So, Jeon Woochi's attack was flying toward my... that area?"

"...Yeah!"

I was so dumbfounded that I forgot this was an important situation and stood there with my mouth open.

Suyeong looked at me, then at the ground, before biting her lip and continuing.

"You're already pitiful enough, so I thought you'd be even more pitiful if you lost that... function too. I tried to protect it, but the direction got twisted a little..."

"So it hit my heart?"

"Well, that's what happened."

It was an absurd story. Perhaps she understood my reaction, because Suyeong hurriedly added, "Don't get any weird ideas. I wasn't thinking anything strange. This Black Flame Dragon bastard kept screaming that I had to protect your thing..."

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is thrilled as he watches his flustered incarnation.]

I let out a small sigh.

"...Thanks for protecting me from becoming a eunuch. Next time, just protect my heart properly."

Suyeong nodded. An awkward silence passed between us. Then, after seriously considering something, she spoke again.

"But, Dokja, there's something I'm curious about..."

"What is it?"

"Why does he call your thing a 'Black Flame Dragon'?"

* * *

'That kid... He was so small when he was young.'

Lee Sukyeong gazed across the desolate Abyss Plains of Dark Castle, lost in memories for the first time in a while. How long had it taken to come this far? There hadn't been a single easy Scenario, and every plan had either gone half wrong or fallen apart completely. Because of insufficient information, she had narrowly escaped death several times.

'Meeting Nirvana was especially dangerous.'

A Reincarnator. Sukyeong had never imagined such a being could exist in the world.

Then again, the fact that a novel had become reality was abnormal from the start.

She turned at the sound of someone approaching and found Jo Yeongran, Jeon Woochi's incarnation, standing there.

"My King."

"Stop calling me that. One person who talks like they're in a comic is enough, and I already have a son."

"...Ms. Sukyeong."

Yeongran looked troubled. Sukyeong thought it was understandable. Yeongran was the only person among the Wanderers who knew everything about her circumstances.

"You didn't have to fight with him. If you'd honestly told him why you wrote that book..."

"Being honest is harder than fighting. Especially between a parent and child."

"That child is old enough to accept the truth. He's not the ten-year-old boy you knew."

"To me, he's still just a child. Even if he becomes thirty or forty."

"Isn't that a parent's arrogance?"

Sukyeong lowered her long lashes.

"At first, I tried to gather my courage. I wanted to tell him the truth."

"..."

"But when I looked into his eyes... I wondered whether interfering in his life now would only be a burden to him."

Reality was different from a novel. A wounded character might be saved, but a wounded human wasn't healed so easily.

"I don't know if telling him the truth is really what he needs. Maybe it's what I needed. Because I didn't want to remain a bad mother."

Just as Dokja had become twisted to protect himself, she too had reached this point by holding on to her own kind of love.

「The incarnation Kim Dokja will die at the hands of the person he loves most.」

Sukyeong remembered the moment Yu Sangah first told her that Fate.

"...One day, he'll understand you too."

To find a way to save her son, Sukyeong had prayed devotedly to the Mother of the Founder for three days and nights.

She had offered three SS-grade items as tribute. When that wasn't enough, she offered twenty years of her lifespan. In return, she had been able to glimpse one line of Fate hidden by Olympus.

「If he does not proceed to the next Scenario, the incarnation Kim Dokja can live.」

Sukyeong smiled.

"More importantly, have all the troops assembled?"

"Yes. Everyone is here."

At the edge of the plains, the Wanderers under her command had gathered. They were people who had come this far believing in her alone.

Sukyeong opened the Main Scenario window.

Category: Main

Difficulty: SS

Clear Conditions: You have earned the right to participate in Dark Castle's final Scenario. Gather four rankers who will ascend to the third floor of Dark Castle with you, then enter the final Scenario.

Time Limit: 30 days

Compensation: 100,000 coins

Failure: Death

* Your current Dark Castle ranking is 2nd.

* Only incarnations ranked within the top ten can challenge the final Scenario with you.

Sukyeong glanced at Yeongran. Including Yeongran and Lee Boksun, she currently had two rankers within the top ten. She still needed two more rankers to complete the Scenario and challenge Dark Castle's final floor.

Yeongran spoke.

"They're coming."

An army was advancing from the other side of the Abyss Plains. They were the ones coming from Paradise. At the front of the army stood a face Sukyeong knew well.

She greeted one of the people approaching from the other side.

"Ms. Yu Sangah. It's been a long time."

"Ah! Thank goodness, thank goodness you're alive! But where is Mr. Dokja...?"

"We'll talk about that later."

Sukyeong looked over the people across from her one by one.

'From the left, Lee Hyeongseong, Shin Yuseong, Jeong Huiwon, Lee Jihye, and Lee Gilyeong.'

She had heard about the steadfast Hyeongseong, the kind Yuseong, and the immature Jihye from Dokja. She had also met Huiwon briefly before the Catastrophe of Floods. But she knew nothing about Gilyeong.

He was probably someone her son had recruited outside the original work.

'...It would've been much easier if you'd only used characters from the original work. That sounds like you, though.'

Dokja had often done unpredictable things since childhood. Maybe that was why Sukyeong had once believed her child would become an artist.

"King of Wanderers."

The person she had been waiting for stood where the voice came from. Someone she had heard about countless times from her son while imprisoned. She had never imagined she would see him in reality like this.

"Yu Junghyeok."

Supreme King Yu Junghyeok, the protagonist of this story, asked her, "Why did you ask to meet here?"

"Because it's about time we decided the ending of this Scenario."

Junghyeok looked over the people at Sukyeong's side before asking, "Are you gathering the 'Four Heavenly Kings' too?"

"Four Heavenly Kings?"

"You need four rankers to proceed to the next Scenario. You know that, don't you?"

"Ah... right. I'm gathering them too. So that's what you call them. How childish..."

Junghyeok's eyebrows twitched at Sukyeong's words.

"You have a twisted personality."

"What a cheeky child."

The moment their gazes collided, fierce waves of energy burst out.

Rooooar.

Simply by exchanging looks, Sukyeong could vaguely sense Junghyeok's strength. A Transcendent, was it? The protagonist of a story should be at least this strong.

Sukyeong took a short breath and spoke.

"I want to join hands with you. Help me gather rankers."

"...Rankers?"

"Your goal is to save this world anyway, isn't it? To clear the next Scenario, we'll need the strongest lineup of incarnations possible. I can help you. My constellation is the Mother of the Founder."

A strange light briefly flickered in Junghyeok's eyes at the words Mother of the Founder. But it was only for a moment.

What he said next was completely unexpected.

"Where is Dokja?"

"...Why are you looking for that child?"

"I heard your side had him."

"So why?"

Sukyeong suddenly had a strange premonition at his utter disregard for her proposal. It was an ominous feeling only a mother could sense.

"Don't tell me you're planning to put him among your 'Four Heavenly Kings'?"

"I don't think I'm obligated to answer."

"You're exactly like he said you were."

Junghyeok's gaze wavered for an instant. After thinking for a moment, Sukyeong asked, "I heard you shared an achievement with my son in Paradise. Why did you do that?"

"Because the stronger he becomes, the higher the chances of saving this world."

"Ah, so you did it 'to use him.'"

Sukyeong deliberately emphasized those words. Her tone was relieved, as though that was exactly what she had expected.

Then Junghyeok answered.

"Dokja is someone this world absolutely needs."

"..."

"He will become my Companion and see the end of the Scenarios."

Sukyeong's expression slowly hardened.

'A Companion?'

Her young son's voice came back to her.

―That bastard's a complete psychopath.

―He only thinks about himself. He'll do anything for his goal.

"That's strange. The Yu Junghyeok I know would never speak like you."

"Is it a trait of your family to speak as if you know other people so well?"

Junghyeok drew his sword. His hard attitude made it clear that he saw no need for further conversation.

"Hand over Dokja. Then I'll let you live."

As she looked into Junghyeok's blazing eyes, Sukyeong remembered her son's voice. The expression he wore when he spoke as if he were full of complaints, yet somehow excited.

―But without him, the story can't move forward. TWSA is that kind of novel.

In that instant, a realization like lightning flashed through Sukyeong's mind.

―I hope this story never ends.

「The incarnation Kim Dokja will die at the hands of the person he loves most.」

At that moment, Sukyeong understood the true meaning of Fate. Perhaps it was an insight she could reach because she too was a reader, familiar with these kinds of metaphors and symbols.

"I see."

Having understood everything, Sukyeong smiled. This hadn't been her original plan. But if the prophecy meant that, then the plan had to change here.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you meet my son."

"Why?"

"Because if a child is spending time with bad friends, it's a mother's duty to control that."

Sukyeong took out the Eight-Jewel Bell, her eyes turning as cold and heavy as lead.

"It's time to send my son back to reality."

Footnotes:

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