WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 324: Episode 61: Gigantomachia (2)
──────
[You came to get me? Why?]
“I need you.”
Kim Namwoon looked down at me as if I'd just said something absurd.
Now that I'd actually said it, I felt strange too. Then again, I never thought I'd say something like this.
I remembered Kim Namwoon from the 1,863rd round. The white-haired man who liked Jihye and awkwardly got along with the others. A guy who was immature, didn't know how to consider those around him, and was deeply absorbed in his own ego.
「Kim Namwoon is an evildoer. That fact hasn't changed.」
I'd seen Namwoon's potential there, but that didn't mean my preconceptions about him had been completely overturned.
The reason I decided to recruit Namwoon was because of a conversation I'd had with Suyeong in the 1,863rd round.
“With that soft-hearted attitude, you'll never make it to the 95th Scenario.”
Suyeong, Junghyeok, and I were all different.
Still, if there was one thing we all agreed on, it was that every story had moments when efficiency had to come first.
[The Constellation Secretive Plotter is interested in your choice.]
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon takes an interest in the Incarnation Kim Namwoon.]
I couldn't see any messages from Uriel, so she was probably busy teaching Huiwon. Huiwon would fly into a rage again if she found out I was here. It was a good thing I'd left her in Eden.
Namwoon opened his mouth.
[No. Why should I help you?]
I knew he'd say that.
“Fine, then. Let's go, Yu Junghyeok.”
Junghyeok and I walked toward Cerberus.
[What? Where are you going?]
“Downstairs.”
[Puhaha, you're joking, right? Our Beatrice is staring right at you!]
As if to prove it, Cerberus, who had been half asleep, bared its teeth at us. At almost the same time, Junghyeok activated [Sky Splitter Sword Art].
Kwoooong!
It would've been difficult to deal with the Cerberus on the first underground floor in the past. But things were different now.
“Beatrice!”
“There isn't time to waste here.”
Cerberus collapsed from a single blow and lay there with its tongue hanging out. The prisoners screamed at the thunderous sound, and alarms went off throughout the area. Normally, the Judges would've rushed over by now, but thanks to our unspoken agreement with Hades, we'd be safe for a while.
We passed the fallen Cerberus and descended to the second floor.
[Crazy... You crazy bastards!]
Namwoon's flustered voice rang out behind us. Junghyeok glanced at me.
“Are you really leaving it behind? That Colossus is useful.”
“Just watch.”
We immediately started down the spiral staircase leading to the second underground floor.
An endless abyss stretched beneath the staircase. Legend said Tartarus was so deep that an anvil thrown into it would fall for nine days.
[Wait, take me with you!]
Namwoon hurried after us. The Colossus had already shrunk to just over two meters tall. Pluto was a Colossus whose size could be adjusted for its user's convenience.
I asked teasingly, “Why are you following us if you don't want to?”
[Our routes just happen to overlap.]
The twitching cheek on one side of his face made it impossible for him to hide his feelings.
[So what are we going for? How far are we going? Huh?]
“To meet the giants.”
[What?]
Namwoon stared blankly for a moment, then shouted.
[Kehat... Ahahahaha! Wow, Subway Grasshopper Guy! I could tell back then, but you're really insane. Do you know what kind of beings giants are?]
Of course I did.
[If you meet those ■■, they'll punch a hole through your ■■ and you'll immediately ■■...]
[Prisoner filtering has activated!]
[This content has been filtered to promote proper language use in Tartarus.]
[1 penalty point has been imposed on Prisoner Kim Namwoon.]
[You son of a b■!]
[2 penalty points have been imposed on Prisoner Kim Namwoon.]
Even without borrowing Namwoon's curses, I knew well what giants were.
Giants.
The race that ruled the Golden Age in Olympus's early days.
Kwooooh!
A dizzying roar rose as if it had been waiting for us, and I stopped walking without realizing it. The giants far below had already noticed our presence and were reacting. Just a fraction of the Status contained in that roar gave me chills.
[This is crazy. Crazy.]
Ignoring Namwoon, I called Biyoo. Biyoo wriggled out from inside my clothes.
[Baht?]
“You're controlling the channel properly, right?”
[Baht!]
“All broadcasts from the underworld are off the record, so only let in Constellations that agree to an information nondisclosure oath.”
Biyoo nodded, going baht, and began adjusting the channel. A few Constellations complained, but this was the right thing to do. The less this was exposed to the outside, the better.
Before long, a few Constellations sent messages.
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband grumbles as he agrees to the oath.]
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon smacks his lips in displeasure as he agrees to the oath.]
[The Constellation Secretive Plotter says he already agreed to the oath.]
Namwoon let out an exclamation as he watched the messages pour in.
[Wow, so this is what a channel is.]
Namwoon had died before even beginning patron selection, so the Constellations' Indirect Messages must've seemed fascinating to him.
Namwoon kept chattering loudly the entire way down the stairs.
[Still, how did that old King of the Underworld let you come down here? That old man is really strict.]
“Quiet. Open your mouth one more time, and I'll cut you down.”
[What? Want to fight?]
Junghyeok's gaze as he stared at Namwoon was complicated.
Junghyeok already knew Namwoon. In the previous round, Namwoon had been one of Junghyeok's companions.
“Yu Junghyeok. You know we don't have time to waste strength here.”
Namwoon smacked his lips as Junghyeok sheathed his sword. The way he breathed heavily with excitement made him look just like a child. A child who'd been left alone because no one had paid attention to him for a long time.
When I asked why she had recruited Namwoon, Suyeong of the 1,863rd round had answered like this.
“Some characters commit the bad deeds assigned to them throughout the story. The writer made them that way because the story needed it. But real people aren't made that way. I just realized that.”
I agreed with Suyeong to some extent. Still, Namwoon of this world had gone badly wrong from the very start. He'd incited people on the subway and planned the worst crime.
[My heart's pounding. This is the first time I've felt this way since both my mom and dad abandoned me.]
“What kind of feeling is that?”
[Like a new adventure is waiting for me.]
Namwoon had definitely been created.
Should I blame the author of TWSA? Or should I blame myself for not stopping Namwoon properly back then?
When I opened my smartphone, a new message was waiting for me.
[The fourth revised version is currently being updated.]
I'd expected the update to come soon. So much had happened that it would've been stranger if things had remained quiet.
As I descended, I opened the TWSA file and read the parts I needed. Reading TWSA was the best thing to do whenever I felt uneasy.
「Kim Dokja thought. The third round I was living through no longer resembled any round from the original story.」
I could probably find similarities if I looked hard enough.
There were many scenes in the original TWSA where they visited the underworld. The 47th round, the 211th round, the 397th round... There were countless such scenes.
But in no round had they ever come to the underworld at this point in time.
「I must gather every piece of information I can use.」
「If I can't persuade the giants, I can't win Gigantomachia.」
Traces of Olympus remained throughout TWSA's pages. Olympus's Twelve Seats, who could split the sea with a single gesture, trample Transcendents and Constellations, and ruthlessly shatter even planets.
Once I got out of here, I'd have to face them head-on.
Countless pieces of information flashed through my mind, sorting themselves into things I could use and things I couldn't.
“Kim Dokja.”
“What?”
Junghyeok silently studied me before speaking in a low voice.
“It’s nothing.”
What was with this bastard? I immediately activated [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], and Junghyeok's thoughts became clear to me.
「He doesn't look confident. So he doesn't have any real plan after all.」
I deliberately raised my voice.
“There are two things we need to get from the underworld. One is Giant Armor, and the other is Giants’ Oath.”
“Neither will be easy.”
“Probably not.”
“But the harder it is, the better the reward.”
I snorted at Junghyeok's words.
Before long, the entrance to the underworld's second floor appeared.
As expected, Cerberus was guarding the door on the second floor too. It was larger than the one on the first floor.
The moment Junghyeok drew his sword, Namwoon shouted.
[Wait! Don't hit Beatrice Two!]
“Move. We don't have time.”
Namwoon, who had been petting Cerberus, turned to us.
[There's an orbital elevator the Judges use.]
An orbital elevator. Tartarus definitely had such a device. A hidden means of transport used only by the Judges. But even TWSA didn't explain the elevator's exact location.
I asked with some suspicion, “How do you know that?”
[I've used it to sneak down before.]
“How far?”
[The 77th floor.]
I was startled.
The 77th floor was the gateway leading directly to the lowest floor.
[Follow me.]
Junghyeok and I looked at each other as Namwoon walked ahead confidently.
So this guy could be useful sometimes. Maybe I should've kept him alive after all? No, he was useful this time because he'd died, so maybe it was good that I killed him.
* * *
The orbital elevator was incredibly fast. The second underground floor, third floor, fourth floor... The elevator descended in an instant, and along the way, we saw the horrific sights of Tartarus. Prisoners attacking one another and demons in dreadful sulfur fires shouted at us.
“Fresh meat!”
“Hey! What are you staring at? Lower your eyes!”
There were Transcendents among the cackling prisoners, including those who'd committed crimes in Olympus's jurisdiction zone like me or been captured after opposing the Twelve Seats. Some of them would end up as steak on the Gourmet Association's table.
Screeeech.
The elevator stopped, and we got off on the 77th floor.
The 77th floor had no prisoners. It was a space like a vast cavern whose width couldn't even be measured. At its center stood an enormous door.
[There aren't any Beatrices from the 78th floor onward. Even if there were, they wouldn't be any use.]
Cerberus alone couldn't stop giants. Maybe it would be different if it were a great monster like Campe. Namwoon, who'd been so bold until now, hesitated.
[I've never gone beyond there either. I once stuck my hand in a little, and this happened.]
I looked at the scar left on the Colossus's shoulder. It had almost healed now, but it seemed the damage had been severe enough to tear its arm off.
Even though it wasn't complete, the Colossus Pluto was a terrifying weapon that could exert power comparable to a fabled-grade Constellation without a pilot. Beings capable of inflicting that much damage on such a weapon were beyond this door.
I approached the door. A pattern resembling a human face was drawn on the door, which stood well over thirty meters tall.
Junghyeok said, “We need a Sacrifice to enter.”
Namwoon flinched at his words.
[What? How do you know that?]
We ignored Namwoon and continued.
“I know. I prepared one.”
“If you offer a Sacrifice that's too powerful, it will summon the Primordial Giants.”
“You have to meet them someday anyway.”
“Not now. If we meet them now, we'll die.”
Even Junghyeok's arrogant expression was tense.
There were different kinds of giants in Tartarus.
One was the Titans, the ancient rulers of Olympus who had caused Titanomachia. The other was the Gigantes, the giants who had caused Gigantomachia.
If I had to compare their ranks, it was like the difference between Mythical-grade Constellations and fabled-grade Constellations.
The ones I needed to summon were the Gigantes.
“Don't worry. Unless we offer a high-grade constellation artifact, there’s no way a Titan-class giant will appear...”
At that moment, an earthquake shook the ground.
[The structure of Tartarus is becoming unstable!]
The moment I realized something had gone wrong, the door suddenly swung open, and a massive hand grabbed Junghyeok.
“Yu Junghyeok!”
As I reached for Junghyeok, two more hands shot out from inside the door. I hurriedly used [Electrification] to dodge them, but Namwoon couldn't.
[Waaaah! I'm dying twice!]
Then more than ten hands came down on me at once. My body was tossed wildly inside the enclosed space formed by the hands, and when I regained my senses, I was hanging upside down in midair. Through my swaying vision, I saw the huge arm holding me.
[The Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall has activated strongly!]
Tzzzt, tzzzt.
A Status so overwhelming it was difficult to breathe filled the area amid sparks of light.
A being that could burst me apart whenever it wanted. Something like a huge, blunt finger was flicking my butt over and over.
[You smell delicious.]
A giant eye resembling the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's peered at me.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
