WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 299: Episode 56: Reader and writer (3)

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I couldn't find an answer to Yu Junghyeok's question.

More accurately, I couldn't even understand what he meant at first.

Then, through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], I heard his inner thoughts again.

「Does the 'world' you lived in really exist?」

Only then did I understand what Junghyeok meant. He had seen the world I lived in.

「He he.」

[The Fourth Wall] let out a mischievous laugh in my head. Just as I was about to speak, Han Suyeong rushed over, pressed the back of my head down, and slammed me into the ground.

"Junghyeok. You made a promise to me, didn't you?"

There was venom in Suyeong's voice.

"You die here, and I get a new world. That was our deal, wasn't it? Why did you do that?"

My lips met the ground, and I tasted dirt.

「Kim Dokja was thinking about what to do next.」

Again, I didn't know what Yu Junghyeok had felt through my memories. But judging by his attitude, it seemed he wouldn't give up on this life, at least.

Grrrrrrr...

A dreadful cry came from above the Sealing Orb.

[Aaaaah...]

[Everyone, run! Get out of this Scenario, now!]

The horrified Constellations were desperately trying to escape the Scenario one by one. Even the nebulae in the sky were massing their Fable Weapons as they withdrew their ranks.

The Apocalypse Dragon was that kind of being.

The principal culprit behind Eden's destruction and the worst Calamity in the Star Stream.

Amid the chaos, Suyeong shouted at Junghyeok.

"Is it because of this bastard?"

Still gripping my hair, Suyeong screamed.

"Did this bastard do something to your mind? Are you pathetically starting to want to live now? Didn't you say you were tired? Didn't you say you didn't want to carry out any more Scenarios?"

Each word Suyeong spoke felt like another nail driven into my chest. Junghyeok showed no expression, but I knew the life he had lived.

Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round was the Junghyeok from the original story I knew.

When my mother was imprisoned, when I was bullied, when I took the college entrance exam, went into the military, and joined a company again, he was always the Junghyeok I had watched throughout it all. Cold, calculating, and never giving up.

As a child, I grew up watching Junghyeok. I was able to keep living because of him.

That was why I didn't want to let him die. If that Junghyeok died here, the TWSA I knew would disappear forever.

Junghyeok slowly opened his mouth.

"I want to die."

His voice was too certain, too clear. Yet another voice, just as clear, reached only me.

「I want to live.」

My hand clenched against the ground. Suyeong shouted.

"Then why the hell did you do that? Why are you still alive instead of dying?"

"..."

"Restore the Seal of the Apocalypse Dragon somehow. Pull out the sword, do whatever you have to, just do something!"

Suyeong knew it was impossible. She was falling apart. The world she had lived in by using 'Predictive Plagiarism' on everything was collapsing for the first time.

Junghyeok didn't answer. Unable to contain her emotions, Suyeong threw me aside and charged at Junghyeok. The blade of Unbreakable Faith moved toward Junghyeok's throat.

But Suyeong couldn't stab him in the end.

"Damn it...!"

The blade touching Junghyeok's Adam's apple stopped. Suyeong knew it too. Even if she killed Junghyeok here, he would only regress.

I got to my feet.

"Give it up, Suyeong."

"Shut up!"

"You and I both failed. We need to find another way now."

"Shut up! What do you know? Do you know how far I had to go to get here..."

At that moment, Junghyeok looked at the blade against his throat and spoke.

"I want to die."

「I want to live.」

"I want this to end here."

「If I had the chance, like the world I saw...」

Tremble...

Junghyeok's body shook. As if two different selves were colliding, his body trembled violently. The pain seemed to be worsening, and Junghyeok grabbed his head before slowly collapsing.

Suyeong stepped back in surprise. Then a powerful shockwave burst from Junghyeok's body. Suyeong flew toward me, and I caught her without thinking as we rolled across the ground.

Fables flowed from Junghyeok's collapsed body.

The memories Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round had lived through floated through the air, brushing past Suyeong and me. In those memories, Junghyeok spoke.

「"Han Suyeong, find a way to kill me."」

The Suyeong in those memories nodded.

「"Fine. Promise me one thing. Promise you'll help me."」

A promise between the two of them that I had never known about. The 1,863rd round, which had looked perfect from the outside, had been built on one person's sacrifice.

In that round, Junghyeok lost everything.

「"If you carry out my plan, you won't be able to save your little sister."」

He lost his sister.

「"You won't be able to save the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint or the Sky-Splitting Divine Dog either. We won't have the room to take care of the First Martial World as well."」

He lost his only master and Senior Sister.

「"Become this world's enemy. Make sure everyone who opposes you can unite."」

Then, of his own will, he became the evil of this world.

Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round was unhappy. More unhappy than in any other round.

I gritted my teeth and shouted, "Junghyeok!"

I didn't know what I should say. Even though I understood Junghyeok's desire to die, I kept forcing him to live. Just because a part of him said so. What was right, then?

Junghyeok asked.

「Does the 'world' you showed me really exist?」

I didn't know whether my words would bring Junghyeok comfort.

I declared with all my strength.

[It exists.]

That was all I could tell him. It was somewhere we couldn't see or hear from here, but it certainly existed.

Junghyeok answered.

「I see.」

For some reason, Junghyeok looked at peace in that moment.

「You can only return to that world if I die, right?」

"No, that's not true. I'll find a way somehow. Even if you don't die, even if it takes a little longer, somehow...!"

I rapidly organized the information in my mind. The best possible future was taking shape. I had asked Yu Sangah and Han Suyeong to take good care of the third-round world, so it would be safe until I returned.

The 1,863rd round had already reached the 95th Scenario. There were many surviving Allies here, so if I could endure for three years, no, five at the latest...

When I raised my head, Junghyeok was looking at me.

「Then it will be too late.」

He spoke as if he knew everything.

「If you stay here, you cannot save that world.」

As I tried to argue, Junghyeok rose to his feet. The vibrations coming from him grew so intense that his figure seemed to split into several images.

[The character Yu Junghyeok has encountered the catalyst for an Attribute blossom!]

[The character Yu Junghyeok has acquired a new Attribute!]

Junghyeok split apart, scattering radiant light as he looked at me.

「I became curious about the ■■ of that world.」

Within the overflowing fables, Junghyeok split into exactly two.

I knew what that skill was.

[Avatar].

A skill only a being with the Writer Attribute could use. Until recently, it had belonged solely to Han Suyeong.

"Yu Junghyeok! Y-you...!"

Suyeong's shoulders shook as her mouth fell open. Her flustered thoughts reached me clearly through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

「What if one person's existence could be divided exactly in half?」

Tens of thousands of Suyeongs spoke.

「If one existence splits into two clones, which one can be called the 'real' one?」

Chills slowly crept up my spine.

The memories held by Suyeong of the 1,863rd round. The sight of her dividing perfectly into two flashed through my mind like a panorama. It had been Suyeong's experience, and now Junghyeok was going through the same thing.

Within the blinding radiance, the two Junghyeoks faced each other.

Junghyeok said, "I want to die."

The other Junghyeok opened his mouth.

"I..."

The other Junghyeok trailed off and looked down at his black coat, now reduced to rags. He took it off and threw it onto the ground.

"I want to live."

A white coat lay beside Kim Namwoon, who had collapsed while bleeding. It was the Infinite Dimensional Void Coat I had lent him. Junghyeok picked it up and put it on. The white coat clung to his body as if it had always been his.

Junghyeok in the white coat faced Junghyeok in the black coat.

"There is only one way."

The two Junghyeoks aimed their Splitting the Sky Swords at each other.

[The Patron of the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok looks upon their Incarnation.]

The flustered Allies shouted.

"What is that bastard doing?"

"Why did he suddenly split into two?"

Beams of light surged through the air as [Sky Splitter Sword Art] collided with [Sky Splitter Sword Art].

"Good god, that bastard."

Only Suyeong was thinking the same thing as me.

「One existence has become two.」

「But that existence has only one Patron.」

That was the answer Junghyeok had found.

I shouted at him, "Stop, Junghyeok! Stop!"

A way to clear this Scenario and send me back to the third round. A way to accept his own death while also continuing to live.

"No matter which one survives, you'll regress again!"

The two Junghyeoks paid no attention to my shout.

「I die.」

「I regress.」

Junghyeok knew everything. He knew it all too well, which was why he chose this method.

「This story ends here.」

「Even so, everything begins again from the start.」

The conclusion of this world, which neither Suyeong nor I had known, was there.

Shnk!

The hem of the black coat, pierced by the Splitting the Sky Sword, trembled.

Exactly half of the memories.

The countless memories Junghyeok had accumulated scattered through the air.

Only one side could activate the Stigma [Regression]. That was how I knew.

The Junghyeok in the black coat was the Junghyeok who had chosen death.

[The Incarnation Yu Junghyeok has died.]

Opposite him stood Junghyeok in the white coat.

Junghyeok had killed himself with his own hand. Yet he too had been pierced by a sword. The Splitting the Sky Sword protruded from his abdomen. He was dying more slowly, but he too was dying.

[The Patron of the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok looks upon their Incarnation.]

[The Stigma Regression Lv.??? has activated.]

[The Incarnation Yu Junghyeok has accepted the will of their Patron.]

But Junghyeok wouldn't die. He would open his eyes in the darkness, then begin everything again on the subway of the 1,864th round, a round that had never existed in the original story.

「This is my repayment for showing me your world.」

Part of the fables flowing from white-coated Junghyeok's fingertips reached me.

[A fable of the character Yu Junghyeok has settled within you.]

The person who had watched over my childhood was disappearing into a world I didn't know.

「In the next round.」

Junghyeok's figure began to scatter. I could no longer hear the thoughts that had reached me through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

Tssss!

[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] no longer worked on him.

[The person in question is not a character.]

Junghyeok faded within the light of the world.

When I staggered toward him, Junghyeok had already vanished from the world. I turned around to find Suyeong collapsed on the ground, her face filled with despair.

[You have satisfied the Clear Conditions for Otherworld Covenant.]

Dazzling light fell through the air like ash, revealing the sight of pale reality. Within it, Junghyeok alone walked toward a world we did not know.

Footnotes:

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