WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 235: Episode 44: Trickster (1)

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Yu Junghyeok's master, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, was remarkably patient.

She had been that way a hundred years ago, and two hundred years ago as well. That was why she had been able to establish a sword lineage. Even as martial artists sold off their martial arts and left the martial world, she had remained here alone and broken through to the realm of Transcendence.

"So, what the hell are you?"

Poke. Poke.

A huge finger repeatedly prodded Yu Junghyeok's cheek as he dangled in midair. It was only a finger, but it belonged to a Transcendent. There was no way it wouldn't hurt.

Yet Junghyeok gave no response.

「"Like master, like disciple. You two are exactly alike."」

It was something the Heavenly Demon, one of the Top Ten Masters of the martial world, had once said.

Perhaps the Heavenly Demon had been a good judge of character.

"You won't even answer me. If you don't speak, I'll spank you."

With those words, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint raised her enormous pipe. Junghyeok's pressure points had been sealed throughout his body, leaving him unable to move. His rear made a pitiful smacking sound.

‘Damn Dokja. I'll definitely kill him.’

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The sound was almost playful, but the power behind it was not. Before long, a trickle of blood formed at the corner of Junghyeok's mouth. By then, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's brows had curved strangely.

"You're quite a character."

She sounded somewhat impressed.

"I'll ask again. Where did you steal the martial arts of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect and learn them?"

"......"

"If you're honest, I'll spare your life."

At that, Junghyeok slowly raised his head. The martial arts of the Sky-Splitting Sword Sect were bound by the principle of not passing one's art to the unworthy. As an outsider, Junghyeok should never have learned them.

Yet the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint had said she would spare his life.

The meaning was clear.

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint intended to take Junghyeok as her disciple.

‘Master.’

Junghyeok understood his master's feelings better than anyone. It was difficult to find a proper disciple in a declining martial world. Then, all of a sudden, a Transcendent who had learned martial arts like hers appeared.

Of course she would be interested.

‘But...’

Junghyeok bit his lip. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to act according to Dokja's intentions here. Dokja knew Namgung Minyeong, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, better than anyone.

If Junghyeok waited for an opportunity and brought up a few things, he could surely win the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's favor.

But he didn't want to.

"Hmm, your gaze burns fiercely."

"......"

"Do you perhaps adore me?"

Even in a situation like this, she was spouting such nonsense. She truly was his master. Junghyeok clenched his teeth.

‘If you meet me here, you will die.’

Junghyeok remembered the sight of his master's back as she left for the last time. A Transcendent wounded and twisted after years of lonely hardship. Someone who never bent her stubborn will, no matter what happened.

"Foolish disciple. They aren't foes you can face."

He remembered his master fighting the Returnee Alliance alone as the Heavenly Demon and Blood Demon, the two strongest martial artists in the world, attacked her together.

"Live, Junghyeok."

Back then, Junghyeok couldn't fight beside her.

Because he was weak. Far too weak.

"......Your eyes are sad."

Junghyeok flinched at the sudden voice. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's clear eyes reflected him. Namgung Minyeong was half human and half giant. That was one of the abilities of the Neanderthal giants.

"You are lonely, arrogant, and deeply wounded."

Clear Mirror Eyes could read another person's emotions. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint was looking into Junghyeok with those eyes.

"Who are you?"

Feeling as though he were being thoroughly torn apart, Junghyeok bit down hard on his lip. He must not tell her. Not a single thing...

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation is looking at you.]

At that message, Junghyeok looked up.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says it will be all right.]

...It would be all right?

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says this round will be different.]

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation tells you to trust your master.]

This round would be different. If anyone else had said that, Junghyeok wouldn't have believed them.

But why was it that he wanted to believe what that bastard said?

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation...]

"Pests... are noisy."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint flicked a finger into the air. With a sizzling sound, every sound around them vanished completely. She had cut off the sound with Mana. A Transcendent at her level could do something like that, if only briefly.

Unless the dokkaebis adjusted the channel frequency, Dokja's voice wouldn't be heard for a while.

From this point on, Junghyeok had to trust his own judgment.

"......My name is Yu Junghyeok."

After steadying his breath, Junghyeok swallowed.

"I was your disciple."

"Hmm... What do you mean by that? I've never seen someone like you. Naturally, I don't remember taking you as a disciple either."

"I learned martial arts from you..."

The moment Junghyeok tried to continue, sparks flew from all over his body.

[The fable Disciple of the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint has activated.]

Junghyeok's lips twisted against his will, changing the ending of his sentence.

"...I was instructed in the martial arts by you."

Junghyeok's expression twisted. He remembered a conversation he had shared with the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint in the previous round.

"You said you were the regressor. Then perhaps you'll meet me again someday."

"I won't be your disciple in the next round."

"What a prickly brat. If only you could speak more nicely... When will honorific speech ever come naturally to you? In your next life?"

This fable had likely remained because of the conversation he had shared with the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint then.

[You must use honorific language toward the Incarnation Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.]

It was ridiculous. The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint who had been with him back then was gone now.

Even so, this fable still remained with him.

"Become my disciple once again then."

Old memories poured down like a waterfall as emotion welled up inside him, knocking against his heart. He couldn't hear any Indirect Messages, but he could feel Dokja watching him.

‘Companion...’

Junghyeok had long forgotten what it felt like to trust someone. He slowly blinked and opened his mouth.

"Are you curious who I am?"

"Of course I am. Very much."

"Then I will lower [Mental Barrier]. Please look inside me. With your Clear Mirror Eyes, it should be possible."

"......Hmm. You even know about Clear Mirror Eyes?"

"Five minutes only. I cannot allow you any longer than that."

Suspicion filled the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's eyes.

"You aren't plotting something strange, are you?"

"Even if I were, you would be able to suppress me anyway, would you not?"

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's brow twitched at his almost provocative tone.

"Fine."

Constellations weren't the only ones who liked stories. Opportunities to peer into the existence of another Transcendent were rare as well.

A Transcendent who used martial arts like hers had suddenly appeared in the martial world. There was no way her curiosity wouldn't be aroused.

"I will look at you."

Soon, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's Clear Mirror Eyes began to shine.

Junghyeok felt as if every hair on his head were being ripped out. Transferring memories through Clear Mirror Eyes was that dangerous, both for Junghyeok and for the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint. Still, Junghyeok went through with it.

Perhaps the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's mind would break.

She might not believe what she saw. She might deny everything and erase Junghyeok. But if this gamble succeeded, he might be able to change the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

More than ten minutes passed before the clear energy of the Clear Mirror Eyes, which had consumed the surroundings, finally vanished.

Rumble...

Though the light of the Clear Mirror Eyes had completely gone out, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint said nothing. She only lowered her head and stared at the ground.

Had she gone mad?

Or perhaps...

When the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint slowly raised her head, an indescribable emotion filled her eyes. It was an expression Junghyeok had never seen in the third round.

Only after a moment did he realize what that expression meant.

"You said you'd never become my disciple again..."

* * *

Junghyeok and the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint talked for a long time.

"You've suffered."

"......Please spare me the clumsy comfort. It does not suit you."

"Good. You're definitely my disciple."

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint of the second round was dead and would never return. The current Sky-Splitting Sword Saint was not Namgung Minyeong of the second round. Even so, the two spoke as though they weren't conscious of that fact.

"......I took my revenge. I killed both the Heavenly Demon and Blood Demon in the thirty-fifth Scenario."

"Yes. I saw. Watching you struggle so much to win, I wasn't entirely satisfied."

"Then why did you not kill them yourself?"

It wasn't a normal conversation between master and disciple by any measure. Yet a gentle smile rested on the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's face.

"You've changed a lot, Junghyeok."

"Nothing has changed."

At that sullen answer, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint snapped her fingers. Part of the Absolute Formation surrounding the hut distorted, and a panel resembling the lens of a huge telescope appeared. The scene outside was displayed on the panel.

"Did you come to find me because of that child?"

Dokja was there, stuffing dumplings into his mouth while talking to a dog. Junghyeok frowned as he glared at the sight.

"Is he a new friend?"

"He is not a friend. That man is merely..."

"How brave of him to already be thinking of standing against the nebulae."

"......"

"Did you think you could accomplish it with him?"

As though she found it admirable that her taciturn disciple had finally made a friend, the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint carefully observed Dokja's face beyond the Absolute Formation. Then part of the formation shook, and a booming voice rang out.

[Sky-Splitting Sword Saint. Hand over your martial arts already.]

Junghyeok sprang to his feet.

"...A dokkaebi?"

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint spoke as if she were tired of it.

"The martial arts buyers have come again."

"They are earlier than expected. How long has this been happening?"

"For quite some time. I'm the only one left around here now."

The martial arts of the martial world had value. After all, every martial art was a kind of fable created through the accumulation of history. The deeper its origins, the greater its value. The dokkaebis understood that well, which was why they coveted the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's martial arts.

Junghyeok drew the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds.

"Dokja and I will handle this."

"They are dokkaebis. They aren't beings you can handle."

"Dokja is capable of handling them."

Instead of answering his master's question, Junghyeok carefully studied the dokkaebi on the panel. It had seemed familiar, and now he recognized it.

‘It's the one from the Seoul Dome.’

Dokja's voice came through the screen.

"I didn't think you'd still be alive. Didn't you go to receive your punishment?"

Just as expected, the smug curl of his lips showed that Dokja's particular brand of needling had already begun. Dokja scratched his chin as he amusedly asked the growling dokkaebi,

"Hmm, I see. You came to buy the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's martial arts?"

Junghyeok shrugged at his master.

Even if he didn't step in, Dokja would probably settle the matter himself.

Junghyeok didn't know what he intended to do, but since Dokja had stepped forward, he would surely use some bizarre trick to land a proper blow on the dokkaebi.

Then, in the next moment, Dokja said something strange with an unreadable smile.

"Fine, I'll sell the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's martial arts."

Footnotes:

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