WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 278: Episode 52: ■■ (1)

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After the Demon King Selection ended, the Yu Junghyeok-Kim Dokja Industrial Complex was busy rebuilding.

The industrial citizens, who were on the verge of losing everything to the ravages of war, wore grim expressions. If not for the relief supplies I'd obtained by persuading Bihyeong, the atmosphere would've been far worse.

"The clock tower goes over there! Hey, be careful!"

There was no shortage of workers, thanks to industrial citizens from other industrial complexes arriving one after another after their dukes died. I spent two days helping the industrial citizens rebuild, and the city was gradually regaining its liveliness.

"Thank you for helping, Sangah-ssi."

Without one of Yu Sangah's Stigmas, [Arachne's Web], the initial reconstruction would've taken much longer. Sangah wiped the sweat from her forehead and said,

"You should rest too, Dokja-ssi."

"I'm fine. What about you, Sangah-ssi?"

Sangah studied the bandages wrapped around my chest before answering.

"I'm fine too."

I stopped working and climbed the clock tower with Sangah to look down at the square.

The seriously injured Allies, including Junghyeok, were in Aileen's ward. Huiwon and Jihye, whose injuries were relatively minor, were helping with construction near the industrial complex entrance. From the ward, I could hear Hyeongseong insisting that he was fully healed and should be discharged.

Perhaps because we'd worked so hard for two days, the area around the square was at least starting to feel like a place where people lived. The schedule was tight, but pushing ourselves now would pay off later.

"He's here."

A portal rippled in midair. A little kid came racing toward the square at tremendous speed. I lightly jumped down from the clock tower to greet him.

"Dokja hyung! Waaaaah!"

Gilyeong threw himself into my arms and squirmed. Laughing, I ruffled his hair.

"Have you been well? Looks like you've grown taller."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're almost as tall as Yuseong now."

"I'll grow even more soon!"

Gilyeong wasn't the only one to come through the portal. A large man landed on the square with a thud.

"It's been a while, Pildu Gong."

"...Hmph."

Pildu glared at me for a moment, as if he had no concern for my well-being, then lightly waved at Sangah. When Sangah bowed with a faint smile, Pildu seemed to relax a little.

"I didn't come to see you."

Still, Pildu had changed a lot. Who could call him one of the Ten Evils now?

"Where's Han Suyeong?"

"Suyeong noona said she needs to rest and recover for a while."

Gilyeong, who had been bumping his forehead lightly against my stomach, spoke.

Rest and recover...

Even if she had sacrificed Abyss Crystals, she'd summoned Black Flame Dragon into her body while bearing the cost in Plausibility. The damage couldn't have been minor.

Still, it shouldn't have been serious enough to keep her from coming here...

"Ah, Suyeong noona told me to give you this."

Gilyeong rummaged through his pocket and handed me a note. As expected of Suyeong, it had been folded into a tight, almost obsessive little bundle.

Avoiding Gilyeong's sparkling eyes, I carefully opened it.

"If you make me do something like this again, I'll kill you."

A snort escaped me. So that was why she hadn't come. Even now, when I closed my eyes, I could picture Suyeong wrapped in bandages, running wild like a madwoman.

"There are still a few problems left."

The note also contained a few pieces of information. Things like the situation between the Korean Peninsula and nebulae that could only be heard on Earth. Fortunately, Earth didn't seem to have strayed far from the cycle of the original novel I knew. Most of it was information I already knew, so there was no need to send it to me like this.

Han Suyeong seemed to know that too, because her writing was rambling.

"Anyway, yeah... Whatever... Take care, idiot. See you when you come to Earth."

...What a shame. I was going to make fun of her properly when I saw her this time. I tucked the note into my coat and spoke to Gilyeong and Pildu.

"There'll be a banquet tonight. Go wash up and get ready."

"A banquet?"

"We have guests coming."

We'd overcome one crisis.

But the crisis facing this industrial complex was only just beginning.

[The Constellation God of Wine and Ecstasy has accepted your invitation.]

[The Constellation Queen of the Darkest Spring has accepted your invitation.]

...

Seeing the countless Indirect Messages pouring down from midair, I let out a quiet sigh.

* * *

After the Demon King Selection, Junghyeok didn't wake easily.

"How much longer will it take for him to recover?"

"Ordinarily, these injuries would require two years of rest and treatment, but you've provided rare elixirs... Above all, this Incarnation's vitality is astonishing."

Aileen sounded deeply impressed, as if she'd never seen a patient like this before.

"We'll have to wait at least two more weeks to know whether he'll recover."

"I thought so."

No matter how strong Junghyeok was, this fight must have been incredibly difficult. Aileen, who had been checking Junghyeok's pulse, glanced at me as she left the room.

"...You need to rest too. You know that, right?"

"Don't worry."

Even after Aileen left, I didn't leave Junghyeok's hospital room.

The sleeping guy's complexion was paler than any Yu Junghyeok I'd ever seen. That was only natural. This was the first Junghyeok who hadn't regressed despite suffering injuries severe enough to activate Regression.

I rose from my seat and checked the Fable Packs inserted into him. If a Fable Pack was inserted incorrectly, someone could even die from the side effects of demon subjugation. It was different for someone like me, who had "Lamarck's Giraffe"...

"...Even his packs are full of things just like him."

"I'm Going, Lonely World"

"Being a Sword Master Was the Easiest"

"I've Held a Sword Since I Was Five, I Was a Genius"

Fortunately, Aileen, a Fable Expert, seemed to understand Junghyeok's fable composition well. In fact, the 144th-round Junghyeok had briefly lost his mind after receiving a bad transfusion of Hyeongseong's military fable.

"He's a picky one."

I was so startled by the sudden voice behind me that I nearly jumped out of my skin.

When I turned around, a striking giant was leaning against the wall.

"...How long have you been there?"

"Since before you came in."

Sky-Splitting Sword Saint looked down at me calmly, then glanced at Junghyeok.

"That's excessive treatment. That guy would recover quickly if you just threw him a few Murim dumplings."

"There aren't any Murim dumplings here."

Even so, Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's eyes held a remarkably gentle look.

That was when a frightening man's voice rang out.

"So that's the guy who beat you up?"

Something the size of a frog was clinging upside down to the ceiling opposite Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

It was Kyrios Lordgrime.

"Master."

"Answer me. Is that him?"

Come to think of it, I remembered the nonsense I'd spouted when sending Kyrios to Murim. Had I said Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's Disciple beat me up? Kyrios's handsome eyebrows curved as a pale blue aura began to surround his entire body.

"Was it all a lie?"

I swallowed and gathered my words.

"Well, it wasn't completely a lie. I don't get along with this guy very well. He really has beaten me up before..."

"Did he only beat you up?"

"Of course, I've beaten him up too..."

I had exploited a loophole in the system, but I had beaten Junghyeok into a bloody pulp during the Throne War. It wasn't a lie. Interest flashed across Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's face as he listened.

"Hmm. You beat my Disciple?"

"Then who won?"

The gazes of the two masters collided in midair. Their eyes had only met, yet space twisted and sparks began to fly.

Since the two had returned together, I thought they'd surely become friends. Apparently, that had only been my misunderstanding. Sky-Splitting Sword Saint said in a cold voice,

"What a foolish question. It's obvious from their faces that my Disciple is a cut above yours."

"My Disciple can't be weaker than some pretty boy who's only built muscle. I taught him my secret martial arts..."

"Even so, it's probably martial arts that make him shrink again."

It seemed the hospital room would explode if this continued, so I quickly stepped between them.

"There's something I'd like to ask you both."

Terrifying gazes poured down on me at once. I activated my Status and barely endured the pressure as I asked,

"What happened to the First Martial World?"

I'd wondered about it all along. Since Sky-Splitting Sword Saint and Kyrios had come here, there was a good chance Murim was safe. Still, their opponent had been an Outer God.

Kyrios spoke first.

"Do you think a world like that couldn't be saved when I moved personally?"

Having said that, Kyrios flew out through the window as though something had offended him.

...What's with him?

Sky-Splitting Sword Saint silently watched the window Kyrios had left through before speaking.

"We stopped it, but it's hard to say we stopped everything."

"Did you defeat the Outer God?"

The aura of a Great Fable emanated faintly from Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's body. It was surely a Great Fable related to the First Martial World.

"It was a difficult opponent, but not one I couldn't fight. That unpleasant Paradoxical White Purity came too."

Only Sky-Splitting Sword Saint could describe an Outer God as merely a difficult opponent.

"The problem was the one that came afterward."

* * *

There were ranks among Outer Gods.

In other words, there were named figures among them too. For example, divine beings collectively called Old Ones or Great Old Ones.

"It was neither an Old One nor a Great Old One."

Yet among them were beings so distant that they exceeded even those categories.

"It was the first time I'd seen such a thing, so I can't explain it accurately. One thing is certain. Even when Paradoxical White Purity and I joined forces, we couldn't handle it. It wasn't even a fight. If it hadn't retreated on its own, Murim and we would have disappeared from the universe together."

Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's words sounded strange.

According to the original novel's plot, there was no Plausibility at all for such a being to appear in the First Martial World that day. Yet that terrifying divine being had appeared, then retreated for unknown reasons as suddenly as it had come.

"It vanished as though it had found some other delicious prey."

A being that was neither an Old One nor a Great Old One. On top of that, it was a divine being so powerful that fighters like Sky-Splitting Sword Saint and Kyrios had lost their will to fight...

Waaaaah!

The noise of a modest party came from the industrial complex's central hall. I saw a few recovered Allies, as well as the symbolic forms of Constellations who had received invitations.

[Hmm, Demon King of Salvation. Did you receive the gift I sent?]

Persephone approached with a mischievous smile. As expected, her symbolic form looked like Yu Sangah again. The Allies seeing her symbolic form for the first time wore surprised expressions. Sangah's expression, in particular, was quite a sight.

"...I don't like those clothes anymore."

Persephone, wearing a China Dress, laughed as she waved her fan.

[Is that so? I sent something with quite good performance.]

At the word performance, Hyeongseong beside me began to show interest. Before he could say anything strange again, I quickly replied.

"I was indebted to you during the Selection."

[Hmm, I didn't do anything.]

"I know you persuaded the Master of the Sky Walk."

Olympus was currently divided. If she hadn't persuaded Hermes, there might have been even more Constellations from Olympus for me to fight in the Selection.

[Think of it as an investment in the future.]

With a faint smile, Persephone seemed to be in a good mood as she went to the center of the hall and began to dance. She even pulled Sangah in as her partner. Sangah was flustered at first, but soon faced her with a cool expression, as if she refused to lose. Huiwon whistled at their dazzling dance.

"Sangah-ssi, you look amazing!"

I could also see Dionysus, who had already made his tenth toast in a corner, and Cheok Junkyung sharing a drink with Predator of the Hasty Swamp. It was a small banquet, but it was a more peaceful sight than any banquet I'd attended before.

[A rare rest. Congratulations, Demon King of Salvation.]

When I turned around, an old man in an imposing formal suit stood there.

"You came, Mass Production Maker."

He was also one of the Constellations who had helped during this Selection.

[I watched your fable. As expected, you had every right to speak so confidently at the Gourmet Association.]

"You're flattering me."

I picked up a glass from the table and clinked it against Mass Production Maker's. The scent told me it was rather strong alcohol, so I only touched it to my lips before setting it down again.

We were silent for a moment.

Mass Production Maker was probably choosing his question.

That question was why he and the other Constellations had attended, and why I had held this banquet.

Mass Production Maker took a sip of his drink and casually remarked,

[Since you have obtained the qualification for the end, the filtering must have been removed as well.]

Feeling the atmosphere in the hall subtly change, I nodded.

"That's right."

The hall was still lively, but the gazes of Constellations began to gather on me one by one. Persephone, Cheok Junkyung, Dionysus... They all pretended not to care, but they were listening to this conversation.

When every Constellation's gaze was focused on me, Mass Production Maker asked,

[May I ask what your ■■ was?]

Footnotes:

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