WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 313: Episode 59: Kim Dokja Company (2)
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The fable, "Eternal Hellscape."
It was the fable the Yu Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round had passed on to me.
[Many Constellations are shocked by your fable.]
[The nebula Asgard is taking notice of your fable.]
[The nebula Veda is taking notice of your fable.]
A fable drawing the attention of entire nebulae.
It wasn't strange. This was a Mythical fable with enough destructive power to replace part of a Great Fable.
Ripples spread through Junghyeok's pupils.
"How...?"
"Eternal Hellscape" was a fable that could temporarily borrow the history Junghyeok had accumulated through 1,863 regressions.
I felt power that wasn't mine in the spear clutched in my hand.
This fable couldn't borrow the skills or Stigmas Junghyeok had acquired through the system. But Junghyeok's true strength hadn't been built by the system. It had been ingrained in him through the training of a Transcendent.
「To hold that spear in his hand, Yu Junghyeok trained a single technique for decades.」
Junghyeok of the 41st round.
Instead of seeking out the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, he searched for the legacy of the vanished Zero Martial World.
A martial art from a world that had perished long ago.
Soul-Slaying Divine Spear.
An ultimate demonic martial art that could rival [Sky Splitter Sword Art], the martial world's strongest martial art.
With this single spear, Junghyeok had wiped out Returnees.
Junghyeok of the third round would probably recognize this power, too. It was one of the martial arts he had considered learning.
"That's right. It's the power you wanted to learn."
My expression hardened as I spoke. The hand holding the spear trembled. An excessive concentration of Status.
Only the 41st round. Yet Junghyeok had already reached this realm in the 41st round.
Rumble!
It was power Junghyeok had accumulated as a human by devoting his life to it, beyond skills and Stigmas. This was the Status of a Transcendent.
The dizziness was so overwhelming that I felt like I might collapse at any moment, but I endured. Then I endured again. The mental strain was worse than the physical burden. But if this burden was only mental...
[Your Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall is activating!]
I could endure somehow.
"Come at me."
The Junghyeok within the fable took his stance.
I could have fought more effectively if I had constellation artifacts such as [Defender's Halberd] or [White Thunder Divine Spear], but this ‘shadow spear’ was enough for now.
The virtual personality of the 41st-round Junghyeok, which I had summoned, said it was enough.
「Pathetic. You look ready to regress.」
Junghyeok had grown weaker. I was probably the one who had made him weak.
"I'll kill you if you don't come at me properly."
At those words, a torrent of transcendence surged from Junghyeok's entire body. He had realized I was serious.
Neither of us could tell who moved first as we charged at each other. Status collided with Status in midair, creating a deafening roar. Through the thickly rising dust, the spear shadows of [Soul-Slaying Divine Spear] split into dozens, then hundreds of paths.
It wasn't the power of a skill or a Stigma.
It was history shaped through effort over 41 regressions.
The exploding radiance of [Soul-Slaying Divine Spear] left wounds all over Junghyeok's body.
"Is this all you've got? Is this really all you've managed in three years?"
My Mana was running dry. I was gasping for breath, and dizziness swept over me. Still, I kept talking. To provoke him, I spat out increasingly harsh words.
Junghyeok's thoughts drifted through the air.
「What if I had claimed the Absolute Throne back then?」
Drowning in regret, Junghyeok retreated again and again.
「If only I had tried harder.」
He stepped back, then stepped back again. At the end of that endless retreat, Junghyeok reached a dead-end wall, as he always did. A wall with nowhere left to retreat.
I thrust my spear at him. The rushing spearhead spoke to Junghyeok.
「You already tried.」
Junghyeok's pupils widened, and he barely evaded the spearhead. Seeing the spear buried in the wall, his body shook.
The spearhead continued speaking.
「It just wasn't enough.」
Junghyeok's trembling gradually subsided. His wavering eyes settled, and a cold image coiled within his retinas.
[The fable Eternal Hellscape is affecting the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]
Junghyeok raised his sword again. As the spearhead of [Soul-Slaying Divine Spear] cut through the air, the Sword Aura of [Sky Splitter Sword Art] overlapped its trajectory. Blue flames scattered, and Junghyeok looked not at me, but at the spear.
As the clashes increased, even the surrounding space-time changed. A transcendent time was unfolding.
「You sent Shin Yuseong to me.」
「That's right.」
Junghyeok continued swinging his sword. His sword strikes were less refined than before. Their trajectories were immature, and their techniques clumsy. [Sky Splitter Sword Art], which had clearly been on the verge of completion, was falling apart again.
Junghyeok asked.
「Can I become this strong after reaching the 41st round?」
「More accurately, after 41 rounds, this is all you'd achieved.」
To transcend Transcendence, one needed the courage to abandon the framework one possessed. Like an architect tearing down a castle over a single window frame, only obsessive fixation and the desire for perfection could open the path to a new Transcendence.
And Junghyeok chose that path.
Crack, crack, crack!
Every time it collided with [Soul-Slaying Divine Spear], the form of [Sky Splitter Sword Art] collapsed. Its trajectory changed, and its intent changed.
In the end, a Transcendent's power followed the conclusion of the fable they pursued. Junghyeok's history had grown stronger whenever it faced immense obstacles. That history was preparing to leap forward once more.
「Grow stronger, Yu Junghyeok.」
Junghyeok and Junghyeok were talking to each other.
[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation is watching the Incarnation Yu Junghyeok.]
And perhaps this was my role.
Having reached a certain point in his life, Junghyeok was looking within himself. Watching him, I thought about myself.
I couldn't become the protagonist, and I couldn't save anyone.
But at least I knew stories, and I could pass them on.
Every spear strike contained the sentences I had read.
That terrible third round.
The regretful 41st round.
The hellish 1,863rd round.
I had read them all without missing a single sentence.
Aaaah!
Within that clash, Junghyeok was living other lives. Just as I had lived lives through TWSA, Junghyeok was living the lives he had never lived through the scraping sounds of clashing weapons.
That was how Junghyeok of the third round was growing through the 41st round.
[The character Yu Junghyeok gazes at the fable Eternal Hellscape.]
A human couldn't be saved by another person. Only they could save themselves. The most I, as another person, could do was serve as a bridge.
"You're nothing but a failure too."
Junghyeok said, "I don't listen to advice from failures."
At last, he was the Junghyeok I knew.
The trajectory of the evolved [Sky Splitter Sword Art] followed the flow of [Soul-Slaying Divine Spear]. The sword strikes that persistently pursued it unraveled the spear's shadow and severed its flow.
Junghyeok didn't give up when he was frustrated. He didn't stop when he despaired, and even when everything collapsed, he picked up the first block again.
「I am Yu Junghyeok.」
"No."
Then, at last, he surpassed himself.
"I am Yu Junghyeok."
Exploding Sword Aura scattered through the room, destroying everything in its path.
[The fable Eternal Hellscape has finished its story.]
The burning hellscape vanished, and the scent of blood faded. Through the hazy dust, the sharp blade of the Black Heaven Demon Blade rested against my Adam's apple. At almost the same time, the Unbreakable Faith I had thrust out rested against his heart.
[The Constellation Naval Warfare God is sincerely impressed.]
[The Constellation The One who Overcame the Trials a Little Too Late pays respect.]
[The Constellation The Last Hero of Hwangsanbeol is impressed by the duel between true martial artists.]
As if time had stopped, the only thing filling the area was our ragged breathing. In the silence broken by those intermittent breaths, Junghyeok glared at me.
Junghyeok of the third round, who had surpassed the 41st round, spoke.
"I won."
I laughed.
"What are you talking about? I won."
The star rolling across the floor shone brightly.
[The Scenario's time limit has expired.]
Like a small blessing, the star burst in the air and scattered silver light. We blankly looked up at it.
[This room has not acquired a star.]
[No one has harmed a Companion.]
The forty-sixth Scenario, "Proof of Stars." It could be properly cleared when every participant refrained from harming one another.
[You have proven trust.]
Yet no one who had passed through 46 Scenarios would think to clear one in that way.
Above this lay the world of Constellations.
No Incarnation would throw away the opportunity to strengthen their power one last time.
When one star is born, another star sets. No one shares their light.
[You have acquired a new fable!]
[You have fulfilled the Scenario's Clear Conditions.]
When I came to my senses, we were sprawled on the floor as though we had agreed to it beforehand. Neither Junghyeok nor I could keep going any longer.
For a brief moment, the fuse of my consciousness had blown, then reset. When I blinked my eyes open, I heard Junghyeok muttering.
"What a shame."
"Tell me about it. It was our chance to acquire the fable of the Supreme King."
Every muscle in my body hurt as though it had been torn apart. I chewed several Greater Restoration Pills I had secretly kept hidden, but my ruined Incarnation body recovered more slowly than I had expected. "Eternal Hellscape" was a fable that placed that much strain on me.
"You look fine?"
"..."
Even while catching his breath, Junghyeok seemed to be constantly thinking about something.
That realization he had just gained had probably taken Junghyeok to a new realm.
That was talent, I guessed. I was jealous. Well, he was the protagonist.
The silent protagonist opened his mouth.
"You said you went to another worldline."
I had been wondering why he hadn't asked.
"What round was it?"
"The 1,863rd round."
Perhaps that number was too distant for him. Junghyeok fell silent for a moment.
"Did the me from that worldline give you the fable you used just now?"
"Yeah."
Junghyeok didn't ask for any more details. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he asked this.
"Did I fail there too...?"
I quietly looked up at the empty air before answering.
"He succeeded."
I felt Junghyeok stiffen.
[The Fourth Wall trembles faintly.]
Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round had gone beyond the original story's rounds, setting out to find his own story. Remembering the last image of him, I continued.
"He'll be able to reach the end of the Scenarios. Maybe even an ending I don't know about."
"It seems you didn't confirm it properly either."
"If I had confirmed it, I wouldn't have been able to return."
"It wouldn't have been so bad to see the end there."
"That isn't my world."
I looked at the empty air.
"My world is here."
Junghyeok remained silent for a long time.
I touched my unresponsive lips and struggled to lift them into a smile.
"Yuseong, my Incarnation, is here. My coworker, Yu Sangah-ssi, is here. Han Suyeong, whose Blackening isn't complete yet, is here. My mother is here, too..."
"Don't celebrate so soon. It isn't over yet."
That was when a dokkaebi's voice rang out from the air.
[Oh dear, one room has already finished. Hehe, as expected of the Scenario's promising candidates, what a thrilling battle!]
It wasn't Yeonggi. There were quite a few dokkaebis in charge of this Scenario, so the person in charge had probably changed.
I struggled to push myself upright. Junghyeok was right. This Scenario wasn't over yet.
Junghyeok said, "The other rooms started later than ours."
Sure enough, the following message was floating before us.
[You are currently waiting for the nebula members to clear their Scenarios.]
Then Yeonggi's voice rang out.
[For those of you who have fulfilled the Clear Conditions, we'll give you a special look at the other rooms!]
Several screens floated before us with the message. Countless Indirect Messages then stabbed into my ears.
[The Demon King Ruler of Hell's East watches the clash between two Constellations.]
[The Demon King Lion of the Black Mane shows deep interest in the battle.]
[The Constellation Protector of Youth and Travel is taking notice of the battlefield.]
[The Constellation Friend of Justice and Harmony wears a worried expression.]
[The Constellation Twisted Head of Calamity wishes for a dear friend's victory.]
Terrifying modifiers that were rarely gathered in one place. I fixed my gaze on one of the floating screens.
So that was why these big shots had gathered here... Damn it, had it really come to this?
Black and red Mana waves collided on the screen. Mana filled the entire room in a magnificent display. Hellfire that seemed capable of melting anything crashed against black flames with terrifying destructive power. Just watching made it feel as though the heat would roast my body.
The two most terrifying Constellations I knew. Their Incarnations were clashing.
"Abyssal Black Flame Dragon." And "Demonic Judge of Fire."
The dokkaebi laughed.
[Well then, it seems the incorrectly assigned room will end rather blandly.]
Everything in the room burned within the explosion of black-red Mana waves. Pale shadows swayed in the hazy view.
The sharp sound of flesh tearing.
Someone's figure was slowly collapsing through the smoke.
Footnotes:
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