WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 238: Episode 44: Trickster (4)

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At Junghyeok's decisive words, I reflexively looked up.

"Will that be all right?"

"The Scenario we're facing now is the Demon King Selection, not the Martial Arts Tournament."

I'd been thinking the same thing all along, but hearing Junghyeok say it gave me a strange sense of relief.

"You've really become a decent person. At least you won't die for a while."

Junghyeok ignored me and continued.

"The most we can gain from the Martial Arts Tournament is the Black Heaven Demon Blade. But obtaining the Black Heaven Demon Blade doesn't mean we'll win the Demon King Selection."

He was right. Winning the Martial Arts Tournament didn't mean we could win the Demon King Selection.

"That's why you have to go to The Gourmet Association. Our nebula needs Companions. If you go there, you might be able to find allies."

I understood what he meant.

He was telling me to recruit some useful Constellations from The Gourmet Association.

Still, there was one word that bothered me.

"...Our nebula?"

"Didn't we say we'd make one last time?"

"Kim Dokja Company?"

"If it's really going to be named something like that, I'll kill you."

Junghyeok deeply frowned and turned his head away.

A laugh slipped out before I knew it.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire wipes away tears of joy with a handkerchief.]

When he'd first grabbed me by the collar, I never could have imagined this.

Yu Junghyeok and I had really become Companions. Anyway, now that he'd gone this far, it would be ridiculous for me to hesitate.

I got to my feet and said, "I'll be back."

* * *

That night, I greeted The Gourmet Association's guide, who arrived through a portal.

The guide drove a small carriage pulled by black horses and wore an outfit that looked like it belonged in a Western.

He seemed to be one of the servants bound to Oro Castle's owner. After stepping down from the carriage, the guide politely bowed to me.

[Are you the Constellation Demon King of Salvation?]

"That's right."

[Please board the carriage. The journey will be quite long, so you may rest if you wish.]

The guide didn't seem particularly surprised or react much after seeing me. Was a guide from The Gourmet Association simply not impressed by someone like the Demon King of Salvation?

As the guide headed for the driver's seat, he turned and asked, [There will be fellow passengers along the way. Is that all right?]

"Uh, that's fine."

Fellow passengers... Who could they be? I wanted to ask, but the guide immediately set the carriage in motion, and I lost my chance.

Whatever it was made of, the carriage was fairly spacious and comfortable inside. It didn't shake at all, and I couldn't even feel the inertia of movement.

Good. I could read TWSA while we traveled.

For several hours, I did nothing but read TWSA. Or perhaps it had been days. Since I had no way of knowing how fast the carriage was moving, it was difficult to judge the time.

「...Thus, Yu Junghyeok of the fifteenth round thought as he died. 'I was unlucky.'」

「...As he ended the nineteenth round, Yu Junghyeok thought. 'Next time.'」

「...As Yu Junghyeok ended his life in the twenty-fifth round, he muttered, "Next time, I'll really go."」

...I took back what I said about him becoming a decent person.

This bastard was still a sunfish even in the First Revision. Did that mean he died anyway, whether I helped him or not? As I briskly skipped past Junghyeok's deaths, I didn't forget to search for the information I needed.

There wasn't much about The Gourmet Association.

Yu Junghyeok in the very late rounds had visited The Gourmet Association before, but he'd gone there to slaughter them, not to make peace. Most of that section was filled with cries of "Aaargh!"

「Flying Fox said, "All Constellations are the worst. But the lunatics in The Gourmet Association are the worst of them all."」

There was hardly anything favorable to be found, either. The more I read, the less certain I was that going to The Gourmet Association was the right choice.

Still, I kept reading TWSA.

「Yu Junghyeok thought. 'It would've been nice if that bastard had come with me.'」

If there was a difference in how enjoyable the original and the revision were to read, it was moments like this. Traces of the times when I had intervened in the original work. Whenever I found passages like that, I paid especially close attention. They were some of the few scenes that mentioned the third round, which didn't exist in the revision.

「'But it has to be this way. He said this was the right path, too.'」

...The right path? What was that supposed to mean?

[It is mealtime. It isn't much, but I have prepared something modest.]

"Thank you."

Whenever the carriage stopped along the way, the guide brought me food.

It seemed to be a kind of in-flight meal. It looked like high-quality jamón and smelled wonderfully fragrant. Of course, it wasn't actual ham.

「"Last Gladiator of Planet Selegedon."」

As expected of food provided by The Gourmet Association, even the meal contained a fable. Judging by the concentration of fable I could feel, it seemed to be quite a powerful one...

I pierced a slice of the smooth ham with the fork the guide had given me. Part of the fable's contents flowed into my head.

「"S-save me. Please save me..."」

A city horribly shattered by the rampage of Constellations. Incarnations crushed under pressure until they burst. A gladiator who had lost all dignity as he fought back and died...

The bodies of crushed Incarnations poured whole into the mouths of Constellations laughing like evil spirits. The final sight of a world that had already vanished. The screams and despair of the Incarnations gathered together and lingered at the tip of my nose.

I stared at the ham for a moment, then quietly set down my fork.

[...Does the food not suit your taste?]

"I'm not very hungry right now."

I gave a calm smile as I said it.

[I apologize. It seems I failed to consider your tastes. I will bring new food...]

"No, I'll eat what I brought."

Looking apologetic, the guide took the plate away and retreated to the driver's seat. Only after he had completely disappeared from view did I finally let my expression slip.

I felt as though I might vomit.

A line from TWSA that I'd just read suddenly crossed my mind.

「"It's a nightmare for Incarnations."」

It made me realize anew where I was going and what manner of beings I was dealing with. Like an idiot, I'd been acting as though I were going on some picnic.

I rolled several Fable Fragments around in my pocket.

Compared to the fables those bastards ate, the fables abandoned at the Horizon of Stories were nearly colorless and tasteless. They were the scraps of ordinary fables, where mediocre Incarnations had lived ordinary lives and died ordinary deaths.

There was a reason The Gourmet Association had thrown them away.

Through Lamarck's Giraffe, I absorbed those Fable Fragments through my hand and quietly closed my eyes.

For some reason, I felt as though I would have nightmares.

* * *

I used the break to sort out a few things I hadn't had time to organize. The first thing I checked was my coins.

[Coins held: 1,252,353C]

Thanks to steadily saving, I had amassed an unbelievable amount of money. 1.25 million coins. It was enough to buy the Arch-Demon's Eyeball. Of course, Anna Croft had gotten there first, and I had better Skills, so I had little need for it.

The question was how to use these coins before arriving at The Gourmet Association...

Raising my overall stats wouldn't be bad, but once overall stats passed an average of one hundred, their efficiency dropped sharply. From that point on, investing in Skills or fables was far more cost-effective than investing in overall stats.

Of course, there were times when overwhelming overall stats still proved useful...

For now, I needed to persuade The Fourth Wall to let me check my Attributes Window sometime soon.

[It appears your fellow passengers will be boarding. Is that all right?]

I'd been so deep in thought that I hadn't even noticed the carriage had stopped.

"Yes, that's fine."

The carriage's left door opened at my answer. Feeling slightly tense, I examined the people about to board through the gap in the door. Since they were fellow passengers, there was a good chance they would be Constellations.

"Ah! We've been waiting forever. Why are you so late?"

[I apologize. The road was rougher than expected...]

The voice I heard sounded strangely familiar. It was a high, thin girl's voice with a Russian accent. There were three people visible through the gap.

[There is already someone aboard. I hope you have a pleasant journey.]

Fortunately or unfortunately, I couldn't sense the status of a Constellation. That meant they were all Incarnations. A woman with a gentle smile approached and boarded the carriage first.

"Please excuse me."

The woman's khaki-brown hair fluttered in the wind as she politely greeted me. The moment she raised her head, I spoke without thinking.

"Selena Kim?"

Selena Kim. She had attended the Constellation Banquet as America's Representative once. Perhaps because my face had changed, she tilted her head for a moment before exclaiming.

"Ah, you're...?"

"Do you remember who I am?"

"Of course! Kim Dokja! It's been a long time. Were you invited too?"

"It just happened that way."

I shook Selena Kim's hand as she beamed, then looked over the rest of the group. The next person to enter was a small girl with her hair in twin tails.

"You're... Huh?"

I'd seen her before, too.

The Russian kid I'd met at the Constellation Banquet. Her name was... What was it again? I remembered she had some nickname like the Red Kid.

I passed by the girl, whose mouth was hanging open at the sight of me, and looked at the last person.

Then a chill ran down my spine.

"It's our first time meeting in person."

There was an unfathomable depth behind that calm, relaxed voice.

I knew this person well.

Along with Supreme King Yu Junghyeok, she was considered one of the strongest Incarnations in TWSA.

I'd even met her once before.

"I believe I saw you in a dream once. It was so long ago that I'm not sure whether you remember. I think you told me then that we would meet again..."

Of course I remembered. During the Green Zone Scenario, I'd consumed the Specter Spirit Stone and seen her.

"I remember."

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kim Dokja. No... Demon King of Salvation."

A crimson magic eye glimmered between her flowing blond hair as she smiled faintly. It was a beautiful smile, but I couldn't take it at face value. I knew better than anyone the dangerous ideology hidden behind it.

"I'm Anna Croft."

The Prophet of Asgard.

Anna Croft, leader of Zarathustra, was there.

Footnotes:

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