WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: ChaoticRain
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 178: Episode 33: Re-reading (7)
──────
I forced myself to nod.
“Don't kill her. We need her alive.”
“That woman has no intention of cooperating.”
I looked at mother, drenched in blood. I couldn't tell whether it was her blood or someone else's. Still, it was obvious that she had reached her limit. She was somehow keeping the fight going with barely enough Plausibility, but her Constitution must have already hit rock bottom.
It was only natural.
She was alone, while we had Yu Junghyeok.
Things might have been different in peace land, but Junghyeok had become a Transcendent now. He was strong on an entirely different level. Even a fabled-grade Patron couldn't defeat him just by manifesting a shadow. It wouldn't be easy to subdue a Transcendent unless at least part of their true body descended.
Mother didn't seem to have enough Plausibility left for that.
[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire swallows hard.]
[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband watches your choice.]
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon likes your cruelty.]
Leaving my allies behind, I approached mother.
“Stop now.”
[The Fourth Wall shakes faintly.]
“Why are you trying so hard to stop me?”
Mother's face was obscured by the Patron's shadow.
Only her eyes and mouth were barely visible. Someone who was within reach, yet could never be reached. It had been that way while she was in prison, and it was the same now.
At some point, that had become the distance between us.
Why was this person going so far?
Why, even after being covered in blood from head to toe?
My companions were watching me. Their eyes seemed to be pleading for me to make the right choice. I let out a sigh and spoke.
“Once. I'll listen to you just once, so tell me.”
Even I was surprised that those words had come from my mouth.
“Let's talk properly.”
I squeezed out the words, unable to tell whether I meant them or not. Mother's eyes wavered.
“We can't stay like this forever, can we? Don't keep it to yourself. Tell me too. Why are you trying to stop me? Why did you come all this way? Anything. It can be anything!”
The moment I saw her eyes, as though tears would spill if I touched her, I realized that every story until now had led here.
Because I was her child, I knew. Perhaps the reason mother was trying to stop me was the same as why she had written that essay. I would be hurt, broken, perhaps ruined.
But I would survive.
“Tell me.”
I thought it had been a long time coming. What she was about to say was probably something I had already expected. With all the hints from countless constellations, it would be stranger if I hadn't expected it at all.
Even so, I had to hear it directly from mother's mouth. Even if it changed my life completely, even if it shook the wall again, I had to hear it.
Because it was my story, and there were stories whose later parts couldn't be understood if you skipped a page.
At last, mother's lips parted.
But in this goddamn Scenario, the story between mother and son wasn't ours alone.
[The nebula Veda is watching your Fate.]
[The nebula Olympus is watching your Fate.]
[The nebula Papyrus is watching your Fate.]
We weren't allowed a melodrama just for us.
As the nebulae's messages appeared, fierce sparks rained down from the air. Mother clutched her head with both hands and began screaming. I shouted and rushed toward her.
Just as my outstretched hand was about to reach her, the shadow of Mother of the Founder seized me.
[Constellation Kim Dokja. You... cannot pass through here.]
The Eight-Jewel Bell cracked with a sharp sound, and black murky energy surged forth. A ferocious explosion rang out as if the sky were being torn apart, and the entire heavens began to whirl.
A portal was opening at the center of the vortex.
The Great Hole.
The excessively twisted Plausibility had finally summoned an entity capable of destroying everything.
“Don't look! Close your eyes!”
The moment I saw the tentacles writhing beyond the hole, I shouted. A constellation like me or a Transcendent like Yu Junghyeok might be able to endure it, but ordinary Incarnations would have their minds collapse just from seeing that thing.
“...An Outer God.”
Junghyeok's expression hardened too.
The moment we saw the tentacles rolling beyond the Great Hole, we were certain.
That was an Outer God. A being summoned through the sacrifice of Mother of the Founder's shadow, an entity on her level. Lightning struck through the torn sky, and distorted space-time screamed in agony.
It was similar to peace land, but the rank of the thing being summoned was different. What was being summoned now was the true body of an Outer God. At this scale, at least a third of its true body would descend.
The true body of an Outer God.
It was a catastrophe that couldn't even be compared to a constellation's shadow.
“Yu Junghyeok! If we don't stop it now...!”
“It's already too late. It's beyond what you and I can handle.”
Just looking up at the sky made my entire body tremble. That was how I felt, despite having the status of a constellation.
[The Fourth Wall has become strongly active!]
The trembling gradually subsided thanks to the Fourth Wall, but my fear remained unchanged.
The entity beyond that Great Hole was someone Junghyeok and I couldn't defeat even if we joined forces. In the depths of my helplessness, I realized that this battle was no longer for Incarnations to fight.
“Gaaaaaah!”
Even Incarnations with Historical-grade Patrons bled from their seven orifices and died the moment they saw part of that being. Junghyeok and I retreated, protecting our crouching companions.
Even Junghyeok's eyes were darkening.
I spoke as if in defiance.
“Don't worry. A thing like that descended, so there's no way the constellations will stay still.”
As at the Constellation Banquet, constellations and Outer Gods weren't on good terms. An Outer God that upset the Scenario's balance had descended with part of its true body. There was no way the other constellations wouldn't intervene.
Great Sage Equaling Heaven, Uriel, and though he wasn't entirely dependable, that Black Flame Dragon too...
Yet even as a substantial portion of its true body crossed over, the constellations showed no reaction.
Junghyeok said through clenched teeth, “...This may be the end of this life.”
An Outer God had descended here, yet no one was coming to help us?
[Some constellations are appalled at the descent of the Outer God!]
[A considerable number of constellations express dissatisfaction with the tyranny of certain nebulae!]
...What?
[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband expresses hostility toward the nebula Papyrus.]
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon bares his fangs at the nebula Veda.]
[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is enraged by the atrocities of the nebula Olympus!]
Only then did I realize.
I see. This goddamn situation...
[All constellations of the Korean Peninsula are curious which nebula you will choose.]
It was all happening because of me.
Then messages appeared one after another.
[Multiple nebulae want you to inherit their fables.]
[If you inherit the fable, your existence will be forcibly affiliated with that nebula.]
[The nebula Olympus wants you to inherit Lightning Carnival.]
[The nebula Veda wants you to inherit Guide of Lightning.]
[The nebula Papyrus wants you to inherit Master of the Storm Wolf.]
...
[The nebulae offer you a final choice.]
[All constellations of the Korean Peninsula are watching your choice.]
A hollow laugh escaped me. This was why I could never like constellations.
"Lightning Carnival."
"Guide of Lightning."
"Master of the Storm Wolf."
All of them were fables belonging to constellations with histories of killing their own relatives. At the same time, they were among the strongest fables in their respective nebulae. If I inherited one of them, I could probably borrow the nebulae's Plausibility and drive back the Outer God.
And mother would die here.
Junghyeok looked at me as if asking what I would do.
“Yu Junghyeok. Do you remember when we made a nebula together? Kim Dokja Company.”
It wasn't just to save mother.
Everything would be over if I affiliated with a nebula. At my current status, there was no way to overcome an unfair contract with them. If that happened, I would never reach the story's ending.
“You still want to use that ridiculous name.”
Frowning, Junghyeok strode to my side and drew his sword.
“I'll decide the nebula's name.”
A small laugh escaped me at the thought that it might have been Junghyeok's own kind of joke.
I could feel a Transcendent's aura beside me. A being far beyond anything I could measure was manifesting before my eyes, yet I felt strangely reassured.
Perhaps it was because, for the first time since the Scenario began, it felt as if we were standing on the same horizon.
I declared to the stars in the night sky.
“I won't bow to the Fate decreed by bastards like you.”
I pointed my sword at those silent gazes.
“My story is mine to decide.”
Then something like laughter echoed from somewhere. A cosmic whisper, as though mocking a declaration from an insignificant insect.
“Unhappy constellation.”
“You will kill your father with your own hands.”
“You will bring your mother to ruin.”
“You will watch the fall of all that is precious to you.”
I looked at the Outer God that was descending. Once that descent was complete, the second floor of Dark Castle would be erased completely. This wasn't like peace land. There was no prickly master here who would come running because his disciple was in danger.
Instead, there was a constellation within me who loathed the word Fate as much as I did.
[Even after hundreds of years, you haven't changed a bit, you fucking bastards.]
Cheok Junkyung, who had possessed me, began releasing his presence. I didn't know whether Cheok Junkyung, the strongest of the Historical-grade, could stand against an Outer God.
But for now, I had no choice but to trust him.
Cheok Junkyung shouted at Mother of the Founder, who had been half-consumed by the Outer God.
[Mother of the Founder! Why did you make a deal with the Outer Gods?]
His voice held deep, sonorous rage.
[Since when did Hongik become so cheap?]
To my surprise, Mother of the Founder answered.
[I did not make a deal with the Outer Gods.]
[Then what is this situation?]
[There was no other way. To protect the Korean Peninsula Scenario, this was the only choice. That Incarnation... must remain here. He must not return to the Korean Peninsula. Otherwise, the other nebulae...]
[You made a deal with the other nebulae?]
Cheok Junkyung shouted in fury.
[You're still clinging to that tiny patch of land, and now you're betraying even your descendants?]
[You don't understand...]
[What kind of disgrace is this? Where have all the Creator Gods gone? Why haven't they shown themselves even after things have reached this point?]
[The Creator Gods...]
But Mother of the Founder couldn't continue.
The next moment, I felt Cheok Junkyung looking up at the sky from within me.
[Could it be...?]
Instead of answering, the night sky sent the following message.
[Certain nebulae declare that they will consider any constellation who helps Goryeo's Top Swordsman their enemy from now on.]
As if by magic, the Indirect Messages in the night sky fell silent. I could occasionally hear Indirect Messages from Uriel and Great Sage Equaling Heaven, but it seemed they couldn't intervene either because of their interests or special circumstances.
Through my eyes, Cheok Junkyung watched the night sky in silence.
I could feel every explosive emotion mixed into that silence. Cheok Junkyung's fury and sorrow. Bitter grief and resentment.
And resolve.
[You may take pride.]
Cheok Junkyung spoke to me.
[Those who claim to stand at the highest place in this goddamn world fear you alone.]
“...I'm about to die. What use is pride?”
[You will not die.]
They were only words, but to a constellation, those words were existence itself. As though planting a buoy that could resist the surging waves of Fate, I felt every fable Cheok Junkyung had accumulated take root in my existence.
[I will not let you die.]
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried