WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Editor: ChaoticRain
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 210: Episode 39: The Unidentified Wall (5)
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Squelch!
With the sound of a blade piercing his heart, the last man collapsed.
“Urgh... You, you bastard...”
He tried to force out a curse, but a woman’s back kick smashed his mouth. That was the man’s end.
Han Suyeong looked around the office, now a sea of blood.
“Finally got them all. These bastards adapt disgustingly fast.”
This was the headquarters of Survival of the Fittest, an Incarnation club from Gyeonggi Province.
The moment the Scenarios began and they chose somewhat useful Patrons, they had become a criminal group. They had even rejected the government’s authority, so if they weren’t killed now, they would become a cancer on the Korean Peninsula later.
At least, that was what they were supposed to become according to the original story.
“Damn Dokja.”
She cursed him, but it didn’t make her feel any better.
So Suyeong added one more thing.
“Yu Junghyeok, you fucking bastard.”
Thinking about the two who had dumped Earth on her and gone their separate ways made Suyeong feel like a food-waste processor cleaning up everyone’s leftovers.
“Damn it. Kim Dokja is one thing, but what the hell is wrong with Yu Junghyeok?”
Something must have gone wrong with him. The moment Junghyeok left Seoul Dome, he started doing things he hadn’t done in the original third round. He holed himself up indoors, talked to himself nonstop, then suddenly abandoned the Korean Peninsula’s Scenario and left for a “personal Scenario”...
Thanks to that, all the remaining scraps had become Suyeong’s responsibility.
She let out a small sigh and shook her head. Still, she was one of the Last Renouncers who had read TWSA. With neither Dokja nor Junghyeok around, she was naturally the only one left who could take responsibility for the Korean Peninsula.
Suyeong was sighing deeply as she quietly tried to leave the massacre site.
“...That startled me. What brings you here?”
A woman was leaning against the office entrance, waiting for her. She wore a suit-style combat uniform that clung to her entire body, with her hair flowing freely behind her. Perhaps conscious of her exposed figure, she had draped a roomy coat over her shoulders.
It was a beautiful face, even looking at it again. Well, that was probably why the media made such a fuss over her.
“I thought you were busy playing celebrity these days. Guess not?”
At Suyeong’s sarcastic tone, Yu Sangah pushed herself away from the wall and looked down at her.
Their eyes met, though Sangah was slightly taller.
After a brief standoff, Sangah sighed first.
“...How long are you going to act like this?”
“What?”
“Just because there are no laws or order anymore doesn’t mean you can kill everyone.”
Suyeong couldn’t even be bothered to explain, so she simply waved her hand dismissively.
Sangah didn’t know. She didn’t know what kind of people Survival of the Fittest were, or what they would become. That was why she could talk about such childish justice.
“They were going to do bad things.”
“But you didn’t even give them a chance.”
“That’s just how it was decided. You don’t know anything.”
Suyeong said that and walked past Sangah.
She couldn’t share the future with others anyway. Information lost its value once too many people knew it, and it changed the future. Even Dokja would have done the same. So...
“Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.”
Suyeong’s steps stopped abruptly.
“That’s the book the prophets called the ‘Book of Revelation,’ right?”
“...Looks like you’ve heard something interesting.”
“You read it too, didn’t you?”
Suyeong bit her lip before answering.
“You don’t need to know.”
“Even the Constellations don’t seem to know anything about that book.”
She thought it wouldn’t be strange if the story had begun spreading by now. There had been a few Renouncers outside Seoul Dome, and rumors had spread through them. Sangah also knew Suyeong was the First Apostle.
“Did Dokja read it too? Is that why he knew about the future?”
“How would I know?”
It was an uncomfortable subject. Suyeong casually pulled a dagger from her coat. Information about TWSA might be filtered for now, but there was no telling how long that would last. So she had to reduce the number of mouths that could speak about it as much as possible...
“Why did he do that?”
Suyeong turned at the sad note in Sangah’s voice.
“Why did Dokja make that choice, even though he knew the future?”
The moment she saw Sangah’s expression, Suyeong thought she understood why Sangah had come looking for her. She quietly studied Sangah’s face. She had apparently been an ordinary office worker until the Scenarios began.
She had been Dokja’s coworker.
Why? Suyeong suddenly felt furious.
“Everywhere I go, people sing Kim Dokja’s name. Bastards who don’t know anything about him.”
Suyeong drew in a short breath, and a frightening voice came from her mouth. Without even knowing why she was so angry, she said, “He’s selfish. From beginning to end, he’s a bastard who only thinks about himself.”
“...”
“He toys with people, lies to them, then disappears while pretending to be righteous until the very end. Why should I care about a bastard like that? Whether he’s dead or alive isn’t any of my business.”
A scene flashed through her mind. Dokja’s eyes as he looked at her during Dark Castle’s tenth Scenario. That damned expression that had ultimately made her draw her blade first.
“No, there’s no way he’s dead. He definitely survived somewhere, happily piling up fables and laughing to himself.”
“Do you really think that?”
“You don’t know Kim Dokja.”
There was deep self-mockery in her cold voice.
Nobody knew Dokja. Suyeong included.
Yet Sangah answered differently.
“No, I do.”
“What?”
“People don’t change that suddenly.”
Sangah’s voice was calm.
“After the Scenarios began, Dokja seemed like a different person for a while. Someone who stayed calm even when lives were on the line, someone who could kill unfamiliar beast species without hesitation. He was different from the Dokja I knew.”
“Then you didn’t know Dokja very well.”
“Still, Dokja is Dokja.”
Suyeong fell silent.
“He’s someone who likes reading novels more than building up his specs. Someone who isn’t good at giving presentations himself, but listens more closely than anyone else when others present...”
Someone who knew a different Dokja from the one Suyeong knew was speaking.
“So he must be lonely.”
Suyeong could almost picture Dokja’s expression somewhere. Alone in a place with no one around, looking up at the sky in a world where he didn’t know a soul.
“Suyeong. We have to go save Dokja.”
For some reason, the determined look in Sangah’s eyes made Suyeong feel defeated.
You’re a lucky bastard, Kim Dokja. You have someone this worried about you.
Just as Suyeong was about to speak, a message rang out in the air.
[A new Main Scenario has begun!]
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The Great Hole was opening in the air. Beast species howled somewhere in the distance. Startled, Sangah stood back-to-back with Suyeong. Through the massive hole, enormous beast species were diving down. A dokkaebi’s voice could be heard as well.
[I don’t usually use Wave Patterns because they’re too predictable, but everyone has seemed far too relaxed lately, so I’ve specially added one!]
Sangah frowned at the sudden Scenario and asked, “...Was this originally a Scenario too?”
“I don’t know. It’s not like I remember everything.”
This was why she hated being alone. She knew the future, but the information she had was only vague and incomplete. Dokja, who knew countless rounds, or Junghyeok, who had personally overcome those rounds, might have been able to adapt. Suyeong couldn’t.
Giant monster dragons flew through the dark clouds and landed aboveground one after another. Every time their blackened tails swept across the ground, entire high-rise buildings collapsed.
The giant Tier 3 dragon species, Gracagon.
It was the name of the beast species that had descended as a calamity in the twelfth Scenario.
How did they kill that thing again?
Suyeong desperately reviewed the original story, but no matter how hard she thought, she couldn’t remember its weakness. There was no choice. All that remained was a direct battle.
At least Sangah was beside her. They weren’t Companions who worked particularly well together, but she was far better than having no one.
[Stigma, Black Flame Lv.6, has activated!]
Mana surged into her dagger, and she unleashed the skill directly into the beast species’ back.
[The Tier 3 dragon species Gracagon has defended against the attack with Fire Resistance.]
[The Tier 3 dragon species Gracagon has defended against the attack with Darkness Resistance.]
“Damn lizard, you’re useless!”
It had both Fire Resistance and Darkness Resistance. No matter what Suyeong did with her skills, it showed no sign of dying. As though the attack had only tickled them, the monster dragons rampaged even more violently.
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is dejected.]
Sangah’s situation didn’t look much better either. Suyeong thought to herself. If only she could inherit the fable held by the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon now...
Damn it, how was she supposed to inherit a fable like that?
Suyeong’s expression darkened as she looked at the approaching horde of monster dragons.
If that damn Dokja had been here, he could at least have told her what to do. Then...
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon says he could tell you the weakness if you wish.]
“...You know their weakness?”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon nods.]
“Don’t lie. You barely know anything about Scenarios.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon throws a tantrum.]
Listening to the Black Flame Dragon’s childish, buzzing messages, Suyeong sighed inwardly.
Dokja must have laughed when I chose the Black Flame Dragon, right?
The Abyssal Black Flame Dragon was a powerful Constellation. Yet compared to other Constellations, he was terribly lacking in information. Why? Because he had been too powerful from birth to need to clear Scenarios in the first place. It sounded impressive, but it was frustrating beyond belief from an Incarnation’s perspective.
This time, though, something was different.
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon says the weakness of Gracagon is the silver scale at the crown of its head.]
“Really? Everything you told me last time was wrong too.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon claims it is true, swearing on his Black Flame Dragon.]
“You swore on that last time too.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon claims he heard this from a reliable informant.]
“A reliable informant?”
She had no other option, so she decided to follow the Black Flame Dragon’s advice.
Suyeong nimbly stepped onto a monster dragon’s tail and ran. After crossing its long, streamlined body, she really did see a small silver scale near the crown of its head.
“Haah!”
With a crunch, the dagger plunged into the scale, and Gracagon let out a terrible scream before collapsing where it stood. The massive body stopped breathing in an instant. Suyeong muttered in stunned disbelief.
“...It was true? You’re pretty useful after all.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon proudly puffs out his chest.]
Sangah came flying over.
“You knew its weakness?”
“No, not me... Anyway, their weakness is the silver scale on top of their heads. Just target that.”
Thanks to the information from the Black Flame Dragon, the two women steadily subdued the Gracagons.
[The constellation Bald Army General is impressed by your performance.]
Receiving the flood of Constellation messages, Suyeong faintly frowned. Normally, she would have been pleased, but something felt strange today. It was the same feeling she got whenever Kim Dokja teased her.
Then something flashed through her mind.
“Hey, Black Flame Dragon.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon looks at his Incarnation with a start.]
“...Be honest. Who did you hear that from?”
* * *
[The Third Night has arrived.]
Hearing that message, I recalled what had happened earlier.
Maybe I should have told them after all.
Just as Kim Namwoon in the underworld had been, perhaps the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon wasn’t as bad as I thought he was. He was Suyeong’s Patron, after all.
Maybe it would have been all right to tell them.
To tell the others that I was safe here, and that they shouldn’t worry.
“Revolutionary!”
But I had to endure it. Only if I endured now could I meet them again with a smile.
I quietly melted into the air of the Night.
“Arghhh!”
Screams echoed everywhere. The Executioners had appeared.
It was brutal from the start. This would probably be a far more horrific Night than the previous two. I had killed three Executioners, so they would come at us with everything they had tonight.
Still, I wasn’t afraid. Starting tonight, we would launch a proper counterattack too.
“Jang Hayoung.”
Jang Hayoung stepped forward at my words. They looked extremely nervous, but they weren’t as intimidated as before.
“Can I really do this?”
“No one can do it better than you.”
“...Do you really think so? I’ve only been learning the skill for two hours.”
“Two hours is enough.”
I spoke with certainty. It wasn’t simply something I said to comfort Hayoung.
「“Who is the most perfect Incarnation?”」
In the original story, the Star Stream’s ill-tempered debaters had once discussed that question.
「“If we’re talking about the strongest in a one-on-one fight, it would be Yu Junghyeok. No human is as good at fighting as him.”」
「“For information warfare, no one can defeat Anna Croft.”」
「“What about Lee Hyeongseong? He’s the best as a tank.”」
「“For large-scale battles, it’s Rannvir Khan.”」
Hayoung’s name wasn’t among them.
They fell behind Yu Junghyeok in one-on-one fights.
Their information was inferior to Anna Croft’s.
Their defense was weaker than Lee Hyeongseong’s.
Their large-scale combat ability lagged behind Rannvir Khan’s.
But.
「“The most perfect Incarnation must be someone who can do everything well.”」
「“Then the answer is obvious.”」
Someone with greater defense than Yu Junghyeok.
Someone better at one-on-one combat than Anna Croft.
Someone stronger in large-scale battles than Lee Hyeongseong.
Someone more capable in information warfare than Rannvir Khan.
[The character Jang Hayoung has activated Fighter Transformation Lv.9!]
「“The most perfect Incarnation is Jang Hayoung.”」
A brilliant cross-shaped blaze erupted, and Hayoung’s body dyed the night sky red. They weren’t exceptional in one area, but they possessed more traits and skills than anyone else in all of TWSA.
They had the talent to reach a high level in any skill faster than anyone else if they learned that skill.
The owner of the Unidentified Wall, Jang Hayoung, King of Transcendents.
Part Two of TWSA began with them.
Footnotes:
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