WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: ChaoticRain

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 214: Episode 40: Hatching (3)

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The flow of space and time was becoming strange. Jang Hayoung's lips moved very slowly, and their voice came through in heavily broken fragments that didn't sound normal.

It was as if the entire world were moving in slow motion.

「Kim Dokja realized it. This was Dokkaebi Time.」

To manage and judge countless channels at once, a dokkaebi's perception was far faster than that of other lifeforms.

I looked up into the air.

A pale sphere of light floated above the soft-furred baby dokkaebi. I had seen that sphere before. It was Shin Yuseong's soul.

'It's been a long time, Yuseong.'

Translucent light rippled inside the sphere, and something resembling a human silhouette appeared for an instant. Someone who had crossed distant dimensions out of a desire to save the world and faith in Yu Junghyeok. Yuseong of the 41st round stood before me.

[You have accomplished an incredible achievement!]

[You have become the first human to bear a Dokkaebi's Egg.]

[You have acquired a new fable!]

[You have acquired the fable, Father of the Dokkaebi.]

As if she had read my expression, Yuseong said,

―Don't apologize. It was my choice.

'I'm still sorry.'

―You were amazing, mister. Even the captain of the 41st round wasn't as impressive as you.

'It's nothing yet. There are still many things I have to do.'

―You need my help, right?

When I nodded, Yuseong smiled faintly.

―Can I do well?

'You can. I'll help you.'

Only those who had reached the very bottom of the Scenarios knew their weight.

That was why I trusted Yuseong of the 41st round. Of course, that didn't mean Yuseong had any reason to trust me.

―The captain of the 41st round failed.

Yuseong's voice trembled faintly.

―You'll go through even more terrible things from now on.

'I probably will.'

―Things you couldn't even imagine until now are waiting for you.

'We can move forward slowly. Even a difficult book starts to make sense if you read it over and over, right? It's the same with this.'

―Mister, you really...

Yuseong seemed to be considering the meaning of my words, or perhaps measuring the years I had lived through. Reading a book repeatedly didn't guarantee that you would understand it. Some books were so difficult that they couldn't be understood even after hundreds or thousands of readings.

Even so, I said it, because I was someone who could only speak this way.

'You and I can do it together.'

―...Once I'm fully born, I won't remember you right away.

'I know.'

―Don't tease me too much if I act stupid.

'I'll try.'

Her soft chuckle was lovely. In a silence like gentle music, Yuseong continued.

―I hardly have any good memories of the Scenarios.

It was a casual statement, but that made it all the more sincere.

I remembered the stories of TWSA. The stories of the Yuseong I knew. Fables that couldn't be fully explained even with a hundred or a thousand more sentences.

―Still, if I have to tell another story...

I didn't know how long she had agonized over saying those words.

No matter how much I had read TWSA, even if I could read her inner thoughts through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], I couldn't know the time Yuseong of the 41st round had lived through, or the pain she had endured because of it.

―This time, I'll tell a story for you, mister.

That was why all I could offer in return for her answer was my humble reverence.

'Thank you.'

As shining strings of text rose, the flow of perceptual time gradually returned to normal.

[The first channel in the 73rd Demon Realm has opened.]

[Channel Name: #BI-90594]

The fragmented sounds came back together, and Jang Hayoung's voice reached me.

"What are you going to name the baby?"

...So that was what they wanted to ask.

I had already thought a great deal about the name. The baby dokkaebi was looking up at me.

Looking into those eyes, I spoke quietly.

[Channel Administrator: Biyoo]

Had she heard her own name?

The baby dokkaebi reached out to me. I placed my finger in her tiny, fur-covered hand. She wriggled around it for a moment, then smiled softly at me.

* * *

Shin Yuseong was crying.

It had happened often since she escaped Seoul Dome. When an exhausting day ended and she drifted off to sleep, or when she blankly opened her Attributes Window and stared at the Patron slot, Yuseong would find herself in tears. Gilyeong was always the one to scold her for it.

"Hey. Why are you crying again? Dokja likes mature people."

Yuseong glared at him with reddened eyes.

"Get lost!"

"He'll be back soon. You saw it too, right? He left me a message. 'Survive, Lee Gilyeong.'"

"Mister never said that."

"He said it to me! I definitely heard it!"

Jihye, who had been listening from behind them, snickered. Gilyeong narrowed his eyes.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. You're cute."

Yuseong, Gilyeong, and Jihye had defeated the beasts that appeared as calamities in the twelfth Scenario and were heading to the meeting place.

They had promised to reunite with the others in Seongnam City. Since they had agreed to meet nearby, the other Allies would soon gather as well.

While Jihye and Gilyeong bickered, Yuseong opened her Attributes Window.

[Your connection with your Patron has been severed.]

Ever since escaping Seoul Dome, that message had always appeared in Yuseong's Attributes Window. Perhaps he didn't like her gloomy expression, because Gilyeong spoke again.

"Hey, look at this coin."

"What is it?"

"If I toss this coin and it lands heads, Dokja is alive."

Yuseong pursed her lips at the hundred-won coin Gilyeong took out.

"You did that before."

"Still, let's do it again."

"...What's the point? Even if it lands heads, mister won't come back."

Coin tossing.

It was a game Yuseong and Gilyeong played whenever they grew anxious.

"How many times has Dokja died so far?"

"...Forty-one times."

"How many times did he survive?"

"Fifty-nine times."

If the coin landed heads, Dokja would return alive. If it landed tails, Dokja would die. Jihye, who had been listening, asked in disbelief.

"Do you two really want that mister to be alive?"

Gilyeong flicked the coin into the air.

The eyes of all three followed it almost at once. Even Jihye, who had been scolding them, was now staring at the coin intently.

Clink.

The coin fell to the ground and spun.

The three of them held their breath and stared at it.

Heads, tails, heads, tails. And then...

"It's heads! See? What did I tell you?"

As Gilyeong spoke confidently, the coin stopped on the heads side, bearing the portrait of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. Even Jihye, who hadn't thought much about it, felt a little better at the result. Still, she knew that result hadn't come from probability.

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God is consuming Plausibility.]

Jihye gave a bitter smile. She had wondered why her Patron had been so quiet lately. It seemed it had been wasting Plausibility on something like this. Yet she couldn't say anything about it.

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God is looking at the children with sorrowful eyes.]

Perhaps Constellations wanted to have hope as well.

Thinking that, Jihye suddenly wanted to join their game. Picking up the fallen coin, she spoke.

"We know mister is alive now, so let's bet on something else."

"Huh? Like what?"

Gilyeong's voice was cool, as though he didn't appreciate her joining in. Jihye continued regardless.

"Does mister like you more, or Yuseong more?"

"Obviously me!"

"What are you talking about? Did you forget Secret Preference Day? My affection rating was higher."

"Hey! That was..."

That was when a sharp voice came from behind them.

"She's a fifteen-year-old middle school girl!"

The one who spoke was neither Yuseong nor Jihye, and certainly not Gilyeong.

Two women were approaching from afar. They were Suyeong and Sangah, returning after defeating the beast species in Gwacheon. Jihye looked toward the speaker.

"She's a fifteen-year-old middle school girl! That bastard said something like that to my Black Flame Dragon and took my skill away!"

Just as Jihye and the children were about to walk over, another woman appeared from the direction of Suwon. A slender woman with a long sword strapped to her back.

"What are you talking about?"

It was Jeong Huiwon, the Judge of Evil, who had been assigned to deal with Suwon.

"Huiwon!"

Jihye ran toward Huiwon with a bright expression. But Huiwon didn't look well. Much of her armor had been damaged, and cuts covered her thighs and forearms. Considering Huiwon's combat ability, those were injuries she shouldn't have suffered. The beast species this time hadn't been that strong.

"Are you okay? Did a different beast show up on your side?"

"No, there was a problem with my Stigma."

"Your Stigma?"

Huiwon had been about to explain something, but she lightly shook her head. Instead, she turned back to Suyeong and asked insistently.

"More importantly, Ms. Han Suyeong, keep talking. What did that mean?"

Apparently pleased by Huiwon's interest, Suyeong immediately began explaining what had happened. After listening quietly, Jihye summed up the situation.

"I don't really understand what you're talking about... Who's a middle school girl?"

"I'm saying, Dokja."

"...mister?"

"No, that's not what I mean."

Everyone's eyes turned to Suyeong. Suyeong rambled with a strangely excited expression, then declared in a voice that sounded like a sigh.

"Kim Dokja is alive."

"What kind of conclusion is that? Why would..."

Anyone could tell there was something irrational about Suyeong's reasoning this time. Then Huiwon cut in.

"I don't know what a middle school girl has to do with Mr. Dokja... but it might not be such an absurd idea."

Jihye asked in bewilderment.

"Huiwon, did you understand what she said? Did you learn some new skill?"

"No, but I think Mr. Dokja is alive too."

At Huiwon's words, the Allies all drew a breath at once.

Dokja was really alive?

Huiwon steadied her breathing, as though her wounds hurt, and continued.

"Um, I suddenly can't use my Stigma."

"What?"

What did that mean now? What did Huiwon being unable to use her Stigma have to do with whether Dokja was alive? Huiwon immediately answered that question.

"My Patron suddenly disappeared."

"Your Patron?"

Huiwon nodded and looked at her Attributes Window.

[Your connection with your Patron has been severed.]

It was a message she had never seen before. Because of it, she could no longer borrow her Patron's power for the time being. But that wasn't all.

―I found you, Kim Dokja.

* * *

At that time, a man arrived in the 73rd Demon Realm.

[You have arrived in the area of the 16th personal Scenario!]

[This Scenario has a time limit!]

[You must return to the Main Scenario area within the designated time!]

The moment he stepped through the portal, a desolate dump of fable fragments greeted him. Yu Junghyeok frowned slightly as he looked over the scene, then asked,

"...Are you sure this is the right place?"

The small angel doll hanging from his shoulder wriggled its head.

"Do you really have to answer through a toy like this?"

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire says it has no choice because there is no channel here yet.]

Footnotes:

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