WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 180: Episode 33: Re-reading (9)

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I gripped Unbreakable Faith tightly. The power of mighty fables filled every swollen muscle fiber. My heart burned hot, as if dragon's blood flowed through it.

[Move while the power accumulates. We need to create an opening.]

Junghyeok stepped forward first.

"I'll buy as much time as I can."

The aboveground had been reduced to ruins by the tentacles' increasingly frantic movements. We ran, trying to draw its massive body as far from our Allies as possible.

Junghyeok even let out an uncharacteristic battle cry as he unleashed Mana ahead of us. I used that opening to circle behind The One Who Devours Dreams, looking for a position where I could strike its main body without too much interference from the tentacles. Its body was over a kilometer in diameter, so even finding a weak point was difficult.

All the while, Cheok Junkyung's power continued to build. The First and Second Forms had been powerful enough, but now an immense force beyond anything before was gathering in my right arm.

It was enough to make me doubt this was really the power of a Historical-grade Constellation.

[...Damn it. This body is still the limit. Even with support from Plausibility, this is all I can manage.]

As the power accumulation neared its end, Cheok Junkyung grumbled.

[Don't get cocky. I don't even know if this much power will be enough to cut through all those tentacles and wound its main body.]

"That's true. It is an Outer God, after all. Do you have a plan?"

I asked with a little hope. He had boasted so confidently that I thought Cheok Junkyung would have some kind of solution. After thinking for a moment, he answered.

[We'll unleash the Three Sword Forms first, then hope the bastard gets tired and leaves on its own.]

"...Didn't you say you'd protect me?"

[I will protect you. I swore it on my name.]

"The Korean Peninsula's strongest warrior is relying on heavenly luck?"

Mana exploded from Unbreakable Faith, making me flinch. Was he angry?

Cheok Junkyung's presence remained calm.

[I know the Demon of the Horizon.]

Demon of the Horizon. At that name, I glanced toward Junghyeok, who was locked in a bloody battle. He didn't seem to have any room to listen to this conversation. Cheok Junkyung continued.

[I'll ask the Demon of the Horizon to send you to another world. The ninth Scenario has no Area departure restriction or time limit, so if you flee somewhere else, you'll be able to survive for a while. Of course, what happens after that is up to you.]

"What kind of demon has that sort of power?"

[That being is closer to a god than a demon. You don't need to know the details. You'd be better off praying you never meet the Demon of the Horizon.]

I never imagined Cheok Junkyung knew the Demon of the Horizon...

I pretended not to know, but I knew that name too.

The Demon of the Horizon was the one who sent Shin Yuseong of the 41st round here and the distributor who supplied the Dokkaebis with Catastrophes.

I wondered how Cheok Junkyung could know that demon. Perhaps it was the being who had helped Cheok Junkyung when he was exiled from the Scenarios.

"Can you help the others escape that way too?"

[That much Plausibility won't be allowed. Besides, those dokkaebi bastards would never permit it.]

"But everyone left here will die."

If I fled this world, everyone here would be swallowed by The One Who Devours Dreams and become story machines with their fables drained away. Cheok Junkyung clicked his tongue.

[That's none of my concern. Stop worrying about the others and take care of your own life. Life is lonely anyway.]

As expected of Cheok Junkyung. He had spent his life being betrayed at every turn, so his philosophy was deeply pessimistic.

Rumble!

[There's an opening! Run!]

I launched myself through the air at full speed with Electrification. I passed two or three tentacles along the way, but five or six still blocked my path in a dense cluster. Going any closer would be dangerous.

This was where I would settle it.

"Goryeo's Top Swordsman. I have an idea."

[An idea? What idea? Stop talking nonsense and focus!]

"Honestly, you know it's impossible to kill it with the Three Sword Forms alone."

A passing tentacle made the ground directly below me collapse. Even with Cheok Junkyung's protection, getting hit by that head-on would mean instant death. Yet before a tentacle could kill me, Cheok Junkyung's presence seemed ready to do it first.

I shouted back against Cheok Junkyung's power crushing down on my status.

"I'm not trying to provoke you. Let's think realistically!"

At my words, Cheok Junkyung's presence eased for a moment.

[...So? You have some method?]

"I do. If you help me, we might be able to kill the Outer God."

Cheok Junkyung laughed as if I were absurd.

[Kill an Outer God? Do you even know what you're saying? It's an Outer God. Even those fools from Olympus and Veda avoid beings like it.]

"If it were another Outer God, I wouldn't say this. But if it's The One Who Devours Dreams... it might be possible."

[...Let's hear it. What is this brilliant method of yours?]

"Somehow wound its true body, then throw me inside."

Cheok Junkyung fell silent, seemingly flustered. Another gigantic tentacle was flying toward me.

[You'll die if you do that. You'll be swallowed whole by it. Didn't you hear what that thick-browed bastard said earlier? If it eats you-]

"I'll survive."

Even to me, it sounded like a bold certainty.

To be certain of survival after being swallowed by that Outer God, no mortal or Constellation could possibly think such a thing. Cheok Junkyung's presence quivered as if he were deeply stirred, then he spoke.

[Do you have some kind of plan?]

"I can't say it's one hundred percent certain."

Of course, I could meet the Demon of the Horizon through Cheok Junkyung and receive that being's help. But if I survived alone, nothing would remain for me. It would only deny everything I had built until now.

So this was my only choice.

[Hah...]

Cheok Junkyung's short sound, almost a groan, soon became a booming laugh. It was loud enough to fill the vast plain.

[Live long enough, and you see it all. To think the day would come when I trusted someone like you and stood against that Outer God.]

Rumble!

At last, The One Who Devours Dreams began summoning its upper body.

Its first eye appeared in the dark sky.

When the gaze of The One Who Devours Dreams, now able to see its surroundings, fell upon the aboveground, a more terrifying sensation than any gaze I had ever received filled me.

If I fought that thing, I would definitely die. No matter what I did, I couldn't win against it. Cheok Junkyung spoke.

[Stupid Constellation.]

"Yes."

[I like you, bastard. So don't die.]

I nodded and ran. I crossed the mountain of tentacles and soared high into the sky. As I surged through the air under Electrification, a painfully blue streak remained in the night sky.

[Come, Outer God!]

Cheok Junkyung gripped the sword through my hand. The final move of the Three Sword Forms, containing all of Cheok Junkyung's fables, was manifesting.

[I, Cheok Junkyung, will cut you down!]

The Aether Blade grew longer. The ten-meter blade became twenty meters. The twenty-meter blade became thirty. That power, which had surpassed the limits of my Mana, descended here from beyond the story.

Third Form: Three Swords Cleave the Sea.

The moment I drew the line, I understood. This was...

「On the vast sea, a man stood before an advancing tidal wave.」

In my mind, I saw Cheok Junkyung standing before the sea. Cheok Junkyung, who watched the sea all day, from dawn breaking until dusk fell.

All the time he spent contemplating that sea, understanding its entirety, until the distant horizon finally appeared as a single "object."

A line was drawn, distorting the balance of space and time. The waves split apart, and I saw an illusion of the blue waters of a vast sea being cleaved in two.

「This was a sword created to face the sea.」

[The constellation Naval Warfare God marvels at the power of Goryeo's Top Swordsman!]

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is purely astonished by the power of the human Constellation!]

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband takes great interest in Goryeo's Top Swordsman!]

The sword shot forward, exploding the air, and at some point even swallowed the sound. In pain as though my entire mind were being ground in a blender, I swung the sword.

First sword, second sword, third sword.

After swinging the sword three times, the fuse of my consciousness snapped completely.

It was only for a moment.

[...up!]

Then Cheok Junkyung called to me.

[Pull yourself together! Stupid Constellation!]

When I barely opened my eyes, gasping for breath, I saw several tentacles swaying in the air. They no longer looked as I remembered.

Seven of the twelve tentacles had fallen to the ground in tatters.

Historical-grade Constellation Cheok Junkyung.

With his strength alone, he had cut down half of an Outer God's tentacles.

Even so, Cheok Junkyung ground his teeth in frustration.

[...I lacked the power to make a deep wound. Even a sword that cuts the sea couldn't cut that bastard.]

"No, it's enough. You succeeded."

Cheok Junkyung had succeeded. Beyond the severed tentacles, I could see a huge horizontal wound. Cheok Junkyung's Three Sword Forms had cut through the sea of tentacles and wounded its main body. Compared to its size, it was a small wound, but it was wide enough for one person to enter.

A pained cry burst from The One Who Devours Dreams.

Grrraaaaaah!

I had to get there. Right now. Before its wound healed, I had to force my way inside it.

Only then could I finish this Scenario.

[The constellations of the nebula Veda sneer at your adversity.]

Only then could I strike a blow against those damned nebulae. But then...

[The constellations of the nebula Papyrus raise a toast as they watch your Scenario.]

My legs wouldn't move. No matter how hard I tried, they wouldn't budge.

No, I couldn't even feel whether I was putting strength into them. What...?

[The constellation Queen of the Darkest Spring looks at you with regretful eyes.]

Only when I looked down did I realize what state I was in.

Below my knees, my legs were gone.

They had vanished cleanly, as if crushed by pressure. Blood poured endlessly from the severed ends. I must have been caught beneath a tentacle while using the Three Sword Forms.

Damn it.

To end up like this when I was so close. On top of that, Electrification had run out. In the distance, I saw the Outer God's wound slowly repairing itself. With my legs gone below the knees, it was far too far to jump.

"Kim Dokja."

When I turned my head, Junghyeok stood there, covered in blood. He staggered over, quietly grabbed me by the collar, and lifted me. Looking at the Outer God's wound, Junghyeok asked,

"If I throw you in there, that'll be enough, right?"

"...Can you do it?"

Junghyeok didn't answer. He only showed me everything through his actions.

Junghyeok climbed through the air as if it were stairs. He stepped on the tentacles flying toward us, sometimes using Air Walking to step on his own Mana field. I could hear faint creaking from Junghyeok's body too. His body had already reached its limit. But Junghyeok showed no sign of giving up.

He climbed, then climbed again. Before long, the wind at a dizzying height brushed against my cheek. Junghyeok stopped atop a Mana field in the air. When I looked ahead, I saw the Outer God's wound.

Even though there was no time, Junghyeok hesitated.

He held my collar tightly and wavered.

"...I'm not going to have to hold another funeral, am I?"

It was such an uncharacteristic question from Junghyeok that I let out a short laugh.

"I'll come back to life anyway, so what are you worried about?"

"That's not what I mean."

Junghyeok's expression was serious. The high-altitude wind cut sharply between us. I looked at him for a moment, then asked,

"Do you remember the second Scenario?"

The subway at Oksu Station. Junghyeok, who appeared while smashing everything in his way. A cold-blooded regressor who wouldn't hesitate to use any means necessary for the result.

The eyes of that always composed Junghyeok were shaking.

Who could have known then that he and I would become companions?

I hadn't wanted to admit it, but I had to now. What had seemed impossible had become reality. I was truly making my way through the Scenarios with him.

So now, I could say it.

Just as I had on the Han River bridge when I first met him.

With a broad grin, in the way that suited us best.

"Get your hands off me and get lost, you damn son of a bitch."

Footnotes:

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