WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 176: Episode 33: Re-reading (5)

──────

At that moment, Bihyeong was at the Seoul branch of the Administration Bureau.

The Seoul Dome's "Liberation Scenario" was fast approaching. Every dokkaebi in the Dome was busy preparing to wrap up the Scenario. As Bihyeong walked through the Administration Bureau's corridors, he saw newly recruited low-grade dokkaebis moving in a line behind their instructor.

Newborn dokkaebis. They completed basic training at the branch's education center, received channels of their own, and became Streamers.

"Don't hesitate to intervene when the constellations lose interest. You can't directly interfere in predetermined Main Scenarios, so use Sub Scenarios to intensify conflicts between characters or make the situation more dangerous."

"You mustn't create situations that irritate the constellations. Make bad people bad and good people good. Clearly divide the characters into two groups. That way, the constellations can easily choose who to direct their anger at."

"Always guide the incarnations to remain at the center of events. However, keep an eye on the incarnation who will become the lead and make events revolve around them. You mustn't make it feel overly contrived."

The instructor's guidelines rang out as the low-grade dokkaebis busily took notes. Bihyeong had once been one of them. He had studied how to run Scenarios like that and received lessons on how to smile and speak.

Neither too unfamiliar nor too clichéd.

So he could become a Streamer who would never interfere with a Scenario's progress.

"Does it remind you of the old days?"

When he turned, senior dokkaebi Baram, the head of the Seoul branch, stood beside him. Baram stroked his beard as he looked toward the low-grade dokkaebis.

"It's a contradictory sight. They never stop calling the constellations 'cider-pass' and the like, yet this is what dokkaebis learn in their standard training."

"That's a somewhat inappropriate thing for a senior dokkaebi to say."

You were the one who made those guidelines. Bihyeong swallowed those words. Baram gave a bitter smile.

"It can't be helped. Those kinds of Scenarios still sell well."

"There must be exceptions."

"There are. But those exceptions only work because ordinary Scenarios like these endure while being criticized."

A few low-grade dokkaebis had gathered before a screen, watching the Scenario unfolding in the Seoul Dome. The screen showed the story of the incarnations belonging to the Dome's largest channel.

"There's no choice but to kill her."

"Yu Junghyeok-ssi! No!"

On one side of the battlefield, Yu Junghyeok and Lee Sukyeong were confronting each other on the second floor of the Dark Castle.

"Damn it, this kind of ■■■ doesn't happen in ■■, does it?"

"It does. You just don't know about it."

On the other side, Dokja and Han Suyeong, trapped in a Gimun Formation, were having an incomprehensible conversation. Bihyeong groaned inwardly.

'I warned them so many times not to openly mention information that gets filtered, damn it.'

Baram said, "Your channel has been quite popular lately. Everywhere you go in the Seoul branch, people only talk about your channel. Especially that incarnation..."

"I get criticized a lot too."

"That's still not bad. At any rate, you're making people curious, aren't you? Did you know the low-grade dokkaebis rank you as the dokkaebi they admire most?"

"I'd rather know why you called me here."

It might have seemed rude, but Bihyeong had no other choice. He needed to return to his channel immediately. When Baram didn't answer, Bihyeong pressed him again.

"The ninth Scenario is entering its final phase. I'm sorry, but I should be getting back to my channel soon..."

"That's exactly why I called you."

Only after seeing Baram's serious expression did Bihyeong realize something was going wrong.

Rummmble!

An explosion rang out from the screen, and the real bloodbath began.

A large number of incarnations with powerful Patrons had joined the battle, recklessly raising their synchronization rates. Signs of a Plausibility Backlash began appearing everywhere. If signs of that intensity continued, the Outer Gods would gain justification to intervene. Then Dokja's safety could no longer be guaranteed.

Just as Bihyeong tried to leave in haste, Baram said in a cold voice, "The constellations don't want you to intervene."

Bihyeong's channel currently held the greatest influence in the Seoul Dome. The meaning of holding him at the Seoul branch was painfully clear.

"Since when has the Seoul branch cared what the constellations think?"

"We've always cared. You can tell just by looking at the low-grade dokkaebi training guidelines."

"That's only on the surface. When it comes to major Scenario policies...!"

"Many nebulae are dissatisfied with this Scenario."

Many nebulae. Bihyeong immediately knew who Baram meant.

Olympus, Veda, and Papyrus...

Nebulae with great influence in the Star Stream were interfering with this Scenario's progress.

Why? In truth, Bihyeong knew why.

"It's because of that incarnation."

Dokja, unaware of anything, was still bickering with Han Suyeong inside the Gimun Formation.

"He's only one incarnation. He can't affect the entire Scenario."

"Only one incarnation. Do you truly think that?"

"..."

"No, he isn't even an incarnation anymore."

Before the tenth Scenario had even ended, an incarnation without a Patron had become a Constellation. Considering the Scenario's difficulty, it should have been impossible.

"That one will become a monster. You haven't forgotten the Goryeo's Top Swordsman incident, have you? We can't have another being who exists outside the standards appear."

Goryeo's Top Swordsman, Cheok Junkyung.

The incident in which Korea's strongest Historical constellation appeared. Bihyeong also knew what had happened then. Cheok Junkyung had earned countless complaints because of his innate talent, which didn't fit the Scenario's balance. They had excluded him from the Scenario at the cost of enormous Plausibility, only for him to return alive from an entirely different dimension and become a Constellation himself.

"Goryeo's Top Swordsman was a special case. Constellation Kim Dokja became a Constellation faster than him, but his potential isn't that high. If we're talking about potential, the incarnation Yu Junghyeok, who has already become a Transcendent, is even more..."

"I know. He isn't ordinary either. In truth, Yu Junghyeok is more similar to Goryeo's Top Swordsman. But that's precisely why Dokja is more dangerous."

Frustrated, Bihyeong shouted, "I understand the constellations' dissatisfaction to a certain extent. They must be irritated because Dokja won't join their factions."

"..."

"But haven't they already acted? When has anyone ever invoked [Fate] before the tenth Scenario has even ended?"

"You're defending that incarnation."

"I'm not defending him. I'm talking about the Scenario's unfair treatment."

"You're hardly in a position to say that."

Bihyeong flinched but tried to remain calm. Baram smiled and waved his hand.

"Enough. I didn't call you here to hold your faults against you."

It sounded like a threat that, if he wanted to find fault, he could find plenty. Bihyeong hesitated before asking, "Then why...?"

"You're smart, so you should know. Have you never thought this was strange from the beginning? Why did the constellations implement such an excessive measure as [Fate] so early?"

"..."

"If they were simply curious about the future, they could trade with the prophets and use [future vision] to glimpse the Scenario's progress. Then they could predict how the target would act and gradually change the future while keeping an eye on Plausibility. Yet they didn't do that this time. Why do you think that is?"

It was something Bihyeong had never considered. [Fate], the power that forced the future into being, was also an enormous burden on the nebulae. There were many powerful incarnations besides Dokja. So why had only Dokja been forced into [Fate]?

"Could it be...?"

If the nebulae had invoked [Fate], perhaps it meant they had been placed in a situation where they had no choice but to invoke it. In other words...

Baram nodded.

"It means no one in the Star Stream could see Constellation Kim Dokja's future."

"...How could that be possible?"

"I don't know either. What is certain is that more constellations than you'd think fear Dokja will reach ■■. Hmm, that's still being filtered. In other words, they fear he will reach the end of all this."

With those words, Baram fixed his gaze on the screen.

"There's something you need to do. If this matter ends, I'll recommend you for a senior dokkaebi promotion review."

A senior dokkaebi promotion review was at stake. Bihyeong could already guess what Baram was going to make him do. As he watched the screen with troubled eyes, he unconsciously stroked the egg in his robes.

* * *

"Hey, try a little harder."

"Got it."

Perhaps because of the earlier Black Flame Dragon incident, things had become a little awkward between Suyeong and me. She was probably picking pointless fights because she was aware of that awkwardness too.

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon smiles with satisfaction.]

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire grumbles at Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.]

It took much longer than I'd expected to absorb Cheok Junkyung's power. Strokes resembling ancient writing rose and faded again and again across my right forearm. I'd already spent four hours sweating as I controlled the power of the fable I'd received. By now, my mother had probably met Yu Junghyeok.

Suyeong, who had been plucking mugwort from the ground and eating it bit by bit, said, "Still, your mother doesn't seem like such a bad person to me."

"...Just keep eating your mugwort."

"Well, it isn't my place to interfere in someone else's family affairs... Still, she's trying to look after her child, isn't she?"

"There are different ways of looking after someone."

"Lots of parents in the world don't care about their children at all."

Suyeong's voice was indifferent, which made it sound even darker. I was about to snap at her, then sighed instead.

"My mother mentioned you, too. I think she believes I'm dating you."

"Your mother has good taste in women."

"But she said Yu Sangah would be better than you."

"...So when are you going to kill that old lady?"

We looked at each other and snickered. It struck me again how firmly defined Suyeong's character was. These days, she seemed more like a character than anyone else.

Suyeong stopped laughing.

"Talking like this makes us sound just like characters too."

It was as if she had read my thoughts, and for some reason, a chill ran through my chest.

Suyeong didn't know it, but she really would become a "character" one day. Just as Lee Seongguk and Jeong Minseop had. I liked people who were characters and people who weren't, so I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Still, whenever I thought about that time, I felt something I couldn't understand.

Why did I want this person not to become a "character"?

"Huh? Something changed."

At Suyeong's words, I looked down at my right hand. Junkyung's fable was giving off a faint light over the back of my hand. The fable had finally begun to stabilize.

I nodded.

"Get ready. We're escaping."

Carefully controlling the power so it wouldn't become unstable, I drew Unbreakable Faith.

The moment I borrowed Junkyung's fable, the path of his life flowed through my mind like a panorama.

「With the first sword, he cuts down a thousand men.」

「With the second sword, he cleaves Mount Tai.」

「With the third sword, he splits the sea.」

It was Junkyung's Three Sword Forms. The technique had earned that name because, while he lived, he had never swung his sword three or more times at the same opponent.

[A Status you cannot bear inhabits your right arm.]

Cracks began spreading across the Hundred-Day Seal placed by the Eight-Jewel Bell. An incomplete seal created with only one Eight-Jewel Bell couldn't suppress Junkyung's power. The true Hundred-Day Seal would only take effect after all three Heavenly Seals had been gathered.

[The explosive flow of the fable is distorting the zone of the Gimun Formation.]

[The explosive flow of the fable has broken the restraints of the Hundred-Day Seal.]

I poured the surging White Pure Star Energy into the air.

First Form: One Sword Cleaves a Thousand.

As its trajectory cut through the air, space itself collapsed along the line it drew. Neither the Gimun Formation nor the seal, not even an illusion, meant anything before that overwhelming destructive force which could cut through them all.

Swordsmanship built over an entire lifetime by a great genius who might appear once in tens of thousands of years. The most ideal slash, created solely for destruction. I hadn't even witnessed the true value of its complete power, yet a sense of liberation unlike the one I'd felt when I reached 100 Strength long ago filled me.

This was the power held by the stars.

As the formation collapsed in a single blow, the scenery of reality began to emerge. It was completely insane swordsmanship. I wanted it as much as I'd wanted Kyrios's [Electrification].

If only I could make it mine.

Never had I regretted so much that Bookmark only applied to characters.

[The Bookmark skill is being updated due to the rise in your Status.]

[A new function has been activated.]

...Huh?

[Your understanding of the character Goryeo's Top Swordsman has increased by the slightest amount.]

Footnotes:

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