WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 314: Episode 59: Kim Dokja Company (3)

──────

As fragments of the ceiling rained down, Jeong Huiwon silently stared through the dust. Through the hazy air, she could see Han Suyeong lying on the ground.

"Judge of Evil" versus "Black Flame Demon Emperor."

"Demonic Judge of Fire" versus "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon."

Every Constellation on the Korean Peninsula had been anticipating this battle, but neither of the two involved looked happy about it.

Huiwon stepped through the dust and pointed the Sword of Judgement at the fallen Suyeong.

"Why don't you stop acting?"

Suyeong's body crumbled into dust. A sharp whistle split the air. Huiwon instinctively twisted around and thrust her sword behind her. Metal clashed as Suyeong, her unbandaged right hand cloaked in pitch-black darkness, caught the Sword of Judgement.

"You didn't fall for it?"

"I've seen it enough over the last three years to be sick of it."

Pure white light burst from the Sword of Judgement.

"A cowardly trick worthy of the First Apostle."

Kwaaaang!

Their Statuses collided, throwing them apart at the same time. Red ghostly flames flickered in Huiwon's eyes as she activated [Demon Slaying].

[Demon Slaying] enhances its user's attack power, but it also heightens unstable emotions. It deepens sorrow and intensifies anger.

"You were the one who attacked the Allies in Chungmuro too."

Back when Capture the Flag was in full swing, there had been a battle in Chungmuro. It had been Suyeong's first meeting with the Allies.

"Jihye and Gilyeong almost died then."

"I risked my life too. You weren't even there, were you?"

"That's why I'm angry. Because I wasn't there. If I had been, you wouldn't be here now."

Lights flashed in the air, projecting holographic footage of what had happened during Capture the Flag. It was probably a service the dokkaebis had prepared for the Constellations who hadn't been in the channel at the time. Jihye and Gilyeong, terribly wounded by the Apostles' attack, appeared on the screen.

Suyeong spoke as though she were sick of it.

"So you're going to kill me over that now?"

"I can't trust you."

Suyeong bit her lip. She understood that Huiwon's anger was justified. She had certainly been the First Apostle, and once, she had been the Allies' enemy.

One day, two years ago, a rumor spread that Suyeong was the First Apostle. She didn't know why it had spread. What was certain was that Suyeong hadn't particularly denied it. Maybe it was guilt, or maybe it was the cowardly thought that this was enough. Even Suyeong didn't know which it was.

All she could know was how the Allies treated her.

"Well, it's in the past. If you feel that bad, just buy me a new set of armor."

"Really? Noona, you were the one who talked with her head cut off back then? Can't you show me now?"

Jihye and Gilyeong, who had been hurt the worst during Capture the Flag, looked completely unconcerned. Sangah, who had already known Suyeong was the First Apostle, quietly closed her eyes. Junghyeok, as always, didn't care.

Huiwon was different.

"You need to atone properly."

"Then why are you the one-"

"If you just brush it off like that, do you think the wounds they received will disappear?"

"..."

There were things people held back for everyone's happiness because they didn't want to disrupt the harmony. That was especially true for those who had no choice but to mind what others thought.

"Han Suyeong, you're an adult now. Act your age. Stop being childish."

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire nods.]

Suyeong's eyes turned fierce.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is enraged.]

"Cut the crap. Do you think you're some apostle of justice? It's fine to pose, but pick your time and place. If you do this now, Kim Dokja's the one you'll make things harder for."

"It has nothing to do with Dokja-ssi-"

"You said it yourself, didn't you? That you'd become Kim Dokja's sword."

For the first time, Huiwon fell silent.

Suyeong sneered.

"If you're a sword, shouldn't you move as your owner tells you to?"

"Sorry, but..."

The dust lying on the floor threw off sparks. The air burned along the path of Huiwon's sword.

"This sword does whatever it wants."

Huiwon's [hellfire inferno] ignited.

"It decides for itself who to cut."

The Sword of Judgement pointed at Suyeong.

"The games are over, Han Suyeong. Come at me with everything you've got."

[The Incarnation Jeong Huiwon has requested activation of Hour of Judgement!]

* * *

Watching [Black Flame] and [hellfire inferno] rage across the screen, I sighed.

"...So that's why they were fighting."

I'd thought the time had come.

Suyeong's identity had been hidden for a long time, but there was no guarantee it could remain hidden forever.

Maybe it was fortunate that the secret had come out before we entered the 47th Scenario. This Scenario was meaningless unless everyone faced one another honestly. A poorly hidden secret would only be exposed by the dokkaebis and become material for the Scenario.

Junghyeok asked, "Are you going to leave them like that?"

I could intervene if I used [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

Huiwon's startled voice echoed from the screen.

[Some Constellations of the absolute good alignment have opposed the request!]

[With one opposing vote, activation of Hour of Judgement has been canceled!]

When I looked beside me, Junghyeok was glaring at me.

"Of course I'm not leaving them like that."

I had no intention of interfering with their fight. Still, I wanted to stop it from spreading into a battle between Constellations.

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation does not want Constellations to intervene in the battle of Incarnations.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon disapproves of your intervention.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon reluctantly agrees.]

[The Constellation Scribe of heaven agrees with your thoughts.]

There was no reply from Uriel. It seemed she still wasn't permitted to access the channel.

"At this rate, one of them will die."

"No, they won't."

"You don't know what happened over the past three years. Those two have an awful relationship."

"It looks that way."

Junghyeok frowned at how calm I was acting.

"Do you want your companion to die?"

"No."

"Then did you see the future with the power of prophecy?"

"I don't have any power of prophecy. Do you still believe in that stuff?"

I silently watched Suyeong and Huiwon fight on the screen.

Junghyeok said coldly, "This is a situation where even actively using future information and calculating everything wouldn't be enough. There is no room for faith in humans."

It had been a long time since he'd spoken so much.

I probably looked hopelessly unprepared. Thinking about it, I had once had a similar conversation with the Suyeong of the 1,863rd round.

Suyeong possessed the fable "Predictive Plagiarism." Through working with the Yu Junghyeok of the 1,863rd round, she had gathered and calculated all kinds of information to read the future.

I'd said this to her.

「“No matter how I think about it, what you're saying makes no sense.”」

"Predictive Plagiarism" was an excellent fable, and Junghyeok's knowledge was highly useful. Even so, saving all the Allies, including Kim Namwoon, in the 95th Scenario was close to impossible.

Changing the story would have created countless variables, and unexpected things would have happened.

No matter how remarkable Suyeong and Junghyeok were, they weren't the author of TWSA. They could never control everything. Failure had been inevitable.

「“How did you make it this far? Be honest. There's another secret, isn't there?”」

Han Suyeong looked at me as if I were pitiful, amusing, or strange, then answered.

「“I believed.”」

「“What?”」

「“I believed in the characters I created. That's all.”」

What had I said to that answer, so fitting for a Plagiarist Author? I couldn't remember clearly.

I spoke to Junghyeok.

"Yu Junghyeok, I don't believe in humans."

A sword and a fist collided, and flames melted flames. Huiwon and Suyeong bled, shouted, and charged at each other.

Watching them, I thought I vaguely understood the secret that had allowed Suyeong to reach the 95th Scenario.

"I believe in the ‘stories’ those people have built."

Another roar erupted from the screen. After the repeated clashes, the two panted for breath. They rolled through pits of dust, struck each other's stomachs, and cut each other's hair. Their expressions began to change as they fought that suffocating, bloody battle.

"I guess you really hate me."

"It's not only because of that."

Even without using [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], it felt as if I could hear their hearts.

The histories of two people who had fought together until now were facing each other.

The Allies had survived safely over the past three years. They were three years in which survival would have been impossible without cooperation.

Even when they fought Sasquatches in the 28th Scenario.

Even when they faced Algonquin's Serpent in the 35th Scenario.

For survival, the two of them must have protected each other's backs. They must have saved each other's lives countless times, taking each other's weary hands and pulling each other up.

Huiwon and Suyeong both knew.

"Just."

Huiwon was strong. Even among all the Incarnations in the world, few could surpass her now. But her opponent was Suyeong. With even her specialty, [Hour of Judgement], sealed, the outcome was all but decided.

"Apologize to the kids properly..."

Huiwon's staggering body toppled forward. The view inside the room, shimmering in the intense heat, slowly cooled.

Suyeong looked down at Huiwon's fallen body for a moment, then bent down and carried her on her back. It seemed as though she muttered something under her breath, but I couldn't hear her voice.

That was probably Suyeong's last shred of pride.

A star emitting white light rolled at her feet. Suyeong stared blankly at it, then kicked it away.

[The Scenario's time limit has expired.]

[The Incarnations Han Suyeong and Jeong Huiwon have proven trust.]

Suyeong raised her head and looked at me through the screen.

"Is spying on us fun?"

I turned my eyes toward the other screens.

"Lee Gilyeong, why don't you surrender already?"

"No! You surrender, Shin Yuseong!"

Gilyeong and Yuseong, who had entered the same room, were crying while grabbing each other's hair.

When I turned my head again, I saw a room with a slightly unusual scene.

It was the room Seolhwa, Jihye, and Hyeongseong had entered together.

"This room is really no fun. Right, unni?"

"Yeah. We should've at least played a truth game or something."

"Mr. Hyeongseong, stop snoring and wake up. They say time's already up."

A star no one had touched shone alone atop a display stand. It was so peaceful that I wondered if this really was a Scenario.

[I'm sorry, Constellations. I assigned the rooms incorrectly...]

It seemed that room was the one that had been assigned incorrectly.

[The Incarnations Shin Yuseong and Lee Gilyeong have proven friendship.]

[The Incarnations Lee Hyeongseong, Lee Seolhwa, and Lee Jihye have proven loyalty.]

[All nebula members have fulfilled the Scenario's Clear Conditions.]

[Main Scenario #46, Nexus of the Constellations, has been completed.]

[No nebula member has harmed another.]

[Rewards appropriate for the completion method will be prepared.]

No one here had built the same fable. Everyone had lived different histories and was understood in different contexts.

With dazzling beams of light, the Allies were summoned around us. Shin Yuseong, Lee Gilyeong, Lee Hyeongseong, Lee Seolhwa, Lee Jihye, Han Suyeong, Jeong Huiwon...

The people who had come this far with me.

The Allies' expressions hardened when they saw us covered in wounds.

"Dokja-ssi."

"Unnies, are you okay? What happened...?"

The Allies supported one another. Huiwon smiled faintly, while Suyeong tapped the floor with the tip of her foot.

I snickered as I watched her.

Rumble.

When I raised my head, the sky was opening.

Someone gasped.

"Ah..."

The sky of the Star Stream stretched above us.

A wondrous view of the universe. Some of the Allies trembled before that overwhelming sight. Endless deep darkness. That vastness, which seemed impossible to fill with anything, waited for us.

Yuseong grabbed my right sleeve, and Gilyeong stood close to my left. Then Jihye, Suyeong, Hyeongseong, and Huiwon joined us. Finally, Seolhwa and Junghyeok formed a circle around us.

"This is kind of like that squid formation from before, isn't it?"

Fear tinged Jihye's voice.

I smiled.

"Yeah."

Then, in the next moment, a small star shone in the night sky.

「Between salvation and demon king.」

Several planets began to shine after receiving that light.

「Between demon and judgement.」

「Between steel and master.」

「Between abyss and Black Flame Dragon.」

White lines connected the empty spaces of the universe. Stars that seemed as though they would never meet faced each other.

At that moment, I understood the context of modifiers. I was certain the Allies felt the same thing I did.

Yuseong said, "...It's beautiful."

There was a story between the stars.

[The nebula Kim Dokja Company has cleared the 46th Scenario!]

There were still many empty places in the nebula's constellation. One of those empty places belonged to Sangah.

I spoke to the Allies.

"Let's go."

Our bodies rose into the air, and soon we became a single light.

Countless stars of the Star Stream passed by us, and in the distance, the vast sight of an interstellar city came into view. It had taken a very long time, but we had finally made it here.

Olympus.

Veda.

Papyrus.

The resentment that had piled up inside me was boiling over.

I hadn't forgotten. Not a single thing.

Shuuuuuu!

A shadow rippled where the dazzling light faded. Astonishingly, someone was waiting for us at the entrance to the interstellar city.

A huge shadow swaying within the light spoke to me.

[Father.]

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried