WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 342: Episode 64: The Road That Isn’t a Road (2)

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All kinds of thoughts flashed through my mind.

[The Fourth Wall is shaking violently.]

There were two doors before me, and it felt as though someone was whispering to me.

You may enter if you wish. But once you choose one, you must give up the other.

"Demon King of Salvation-nim."

"Yes."

"If you delay any longer, neither of them can be saved."

Aileen's voice didn't feel real.

"Please wait a moment."

Through my blurred vision, I saw the ward corridor stretching between the two hospital rooms.

Mass Production Maker's words passed through my mind.

―There is nothing there. It is simply a dead end.

The end of the corridor was dark, and I couldn't see anything. Still, everyone knew there was nothing at the end of it.

A corridor built to lead nowhere from the start.

「Kim Dokja thought. That can't be true.」

Calm down. There had to be a way.

After coming this far, I was supposed to choose one of them?

Save one, kill the other? I couldn't do that.

[The Fourth Wall looks at you.]

「B ut you ha ve cho sen be fore.」

For an instant, the scene from the first Scenario passed through my mind.

The shaking subway. The people lying dead on the floor.

People I might have been able to save.

「Th at means you can cho ose again.」

This was different from then.

「Wh at is dif ferent?」

Instead of answering The Fourth Wall, I asked Aileen, "How much time is left?"

"About twenty minutes. Lee Sukyeong-ssi's condition is more critical. Once that time passes, neither of them can be saved."

Twenty minutes. It was short, but enough time to try a few things.

It was too early to give up.

"If we had more Star Relic Nectar, could we save them both?"

"It's not entirely impossible."

I immediately took out the Old House Toad.

Croak.

The toad spoke.

―Give me an old house, and I'll give you a new one.

I pointed to the half-full bottle of Nectar.

"Can you turn this into something new too?"

The Old House Toad shook its head.

―That is neither old nor new.

"I drank half of it, so it's old now. I'll give you another item, so replace this with a full new bottle..."

―That is sophistry... It is not something I can grant.

Just as I thought. An item on the level of Star Relic Nectar couldn't be exploited with a trick like this. I'd thought it might be possible.

―I am tired, so do not call me.

Perhaps it had exhausted itself from spitting out the brand-new Colossus earlier. After saying that, the Old House Toad fell fast asleep. I put it away and decided to try the second method.

If I couldn't duplicate it, I had no choice but to obtain more.

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation...]

Tzzzt!

[Use of Indirect Message has been canceled.]

[The Indirect Message function is currently disabled due to inspection and repair work on a specific Scenario.]

What?

[The Scenario under inspection is the 60th Scenario.]

It was an unbelievable coincidence. I hadn't expected the battle in the 60th Scenario to affect this place as well.

Still, I needed the help of other Constellations to obtain more Star Relic Nectar.

"Jang Hayoung!"

At my shout, Aileen's gaze shifted somewhere.

Of all places, Hayoung had been admitted to Sangah's hospital room.

The moment I stepped over the threshold of the room with its emergency light on, a chill ran down the back of my neck.

"You can't just come in here!"

Someone shouted at me. Fable Fragments scattered from the direction where Sangah lay, drifting through the air.

I forced myself to look away and pushed past the physicians as I searched for Hayoung.

Hayoung was asleep in the right corner of the room.

"Jang Hayoung! Wake up! Hurry!"

"Wait! She's critically ill too!"

The physicians rushed over and stopped me.

Looking closer, I saw that Hayoung was covered in bandages from head to toe and receiving a large number of Fable Packs. She, too, had been badly injured in the aftermath of the Returnee War.

But I desperately needed the Skill she possessed.

[The Unidentified Wall looks at you.]

[The Fourth Wall faces The Unidentified Wall.]

Sparks flew before my eyes, and I felt the gaze of the inorganic wall. There was no hint of cooperation in that cold indifference.

So that's how you want to play this?

I opened [Bookmark]. The Unidentified Wall was still a Skill, after all. My understanding of Hayoung was still low, so I would need some luck, but...

I began searching for Hayoung's name in [Bookmark]'s list.

Perhaps it felt uneasy about my actions, because the Unidentified Wall warned me.

[The Unidentified Wall says, "You're not my master. Don't do anything pointless."]

"I need your help."

I spoke honestly. Every second counted.

"If you don't help me, I'll have no choice but to wake your master."

The wall didn't respond for a moment. It was silent, as though thinking it over.

A little later, a message came from the other side of the wall.

[The Unidentified Wall says, "I'll help you."]

At the same time, a cramped space enclosed by narrow partitions formed around me.

It reminded me of the office from my days as an intern at Mino Soft.

A large screen appeared in front of me, with a familiar input device beneath it.

Hayoung must have listened to countless Constellations' stories within these narrow walls. She must have listened, and listened, and listened again to stories like doodles that could only be written on this small wall...

[The Unidentified Wall says, "You should've treated her better before."]

I had nothing to say.

I looked down at the sleeping Hayoung for a moment, then turned away.

For now, I had to deal with the most urgent problem first.

[The Unidentified Wall has temporarily granted you usage rights.]

[Please enter the recipient of your message.]

The first Constellation that came to mind was Dionysus.

[You cannot send a message to that Constellation.]

[All communication with the nebula Olympus is currently paralyzed.]

I ran into an obstacle from the start.

I quickly changed the recipient, and a reply came back at once.

―You need more Soma? I am sorry, but I gave you all the Soma I had.

It was Surya.

Things didn't seem promising on his end either.

―Is it difficult to request more from the nebula?

―I was stripped of the production rights to Soma when I withdrew from Veda.

―Is Dionysus with you by any chance?

Perhaps he understood what I meant, because Surya's response came a little later.

―Olympus has also been suffering from a fable famine recently, so the supply of Nectar has been cut off. They say there isn't enough left to give you any.

―I understand. Thank you.

―I regret that I could not help.

―Not at all.

Surya had already helped me greatly during Gigantomachia, so it was unreasonable to ask anything more from him.

I recalled the various types of Star Relic Nectar that appeared in TWSA. But there was nothing I could obtain immediately that could replace Nectar or Soma.

I bit my lip and thought desperately.

If treatment was impossible, then I had to find another way.

[A message has been sent to the Constellation Queen of the Darkest Spring.]

Persephone and Hades didn't belong to Olympus, so I could communicate with them through the Unidentified Wall. I hadn't wanted to use this method, but this wasn't the time to be picky.

However, Persephone's reply wasn't very hopeful either.

―Son, as you know, when an existence has been broken apart through the flow of consciousness...

All souls in this world go to the underworld.

But that only applies when the soul is intact.

―Is that so.

To be honest, I'd expected it to some extent.

The flow of consciousness was a phenomenon where the stories that formed a soul broke apart. Soul forms suffering from that illness didn't go to the underworld.

More accurately, they went nowhere.

They simply ended there. Like someone reaching the end of a wrong path and sitting down, they disappeared forever from that spot.

Persephone said,

―Son.

―I haven't formally inherited the Succession yet. Don't call me that for now.

I answered quickly and cut off the communication. Then I opened the TWSA file on my smartphone.

There was still a way. There had to be one.

[The Unidentified Wall says, "You have harmed too much Plausibility."]

...Shut up.

[The Unidentified Wall says, "The Plausibility you've harmed is bound to return. That is the law of this world."]

"I said shut up."

I quickly read through TWSA.

Looking through it, I found that the Yu Junghyeok of TWSA had faced situations similar to mine several times.

For example, in the 161st and 275th rounds.

In the 161st round, Junghyeok was put in a position where he could save only one of two Companions. When told he could save only one of Lee Seolhwa and Jihye, Junghyeok answered as follows.

「"I'll save them both."」

The 275th round was the same. When faced with a situation where he could save only one of Hyeongseong and Shin Yuseong, Junghyeok declared,

「"I'll save them both."」

It was a very Junghyeok-like answer.

And so, Junghyeok of the 161st and 275th rounds failed.

He couldn't save Lee Seolhwa, Jihye, Hyeongseong, or Shin Yuseong. In the end, he couldn't even save himself. Even so, Junghyeok made the same choice every time, again and again.

My right hand trembled around the phone. I gripped the trembling hand tightly.

「B u t Kim Dok ja is n ot Yu Jung hyeok.」

Junghyeok could make those choices because he was a regressor.

A regressor unlike me. A being who could repeat his life over and over.

But this life was all I had.

That was why this life allowed me no mistakes. If I made a mistake, someone died. So I hadn't made mistakes. I twisted the flow and accepted warped Plausibility to come this far. I thought I had done well.

Briareus had said,

―True Fate cannot be avoided, and if you evade it, Plausibility is bound to warp. Then someone else must bear the burden of resolving that warped Plausibility in your place.

I knew. I'd heard it too.

But what I resented was...

Why.

「...ja-ssi.」

Why did they have to be the ones to resolve it?

「Dokja-ssi.」

One drop, then another. A voice touching me like water droplets boring through hard granite.

I turned around.

「Dokja-ssi, I'm all right.」

Fragments of shattered fables surged from between the curtains of the hospital room where Sangah lay, speaking to me.

「Save Sukyeong-ssi.」

I couldn't bring myself to speak, my mouth half-open.

Yet Sangah replied as though she had heard me.

「There is a way for me to survive. I already found a way using the Hermes System.」

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Lie Detection Lv. 7!]

[You have confirmed that the statement is a lie.]

"Yu Sang..."

「Dokja-ssi.」

She hadn't said it just to call my name. Her tone was so firm that I could hardly believe it was Sangah speaking.

I remembered when Sangah and I had formed a team.

She had been like that then, too. Especially when she insisted on something she believed was right, Sangah never yielded. In a calm yet strong voice, she continued speaking as though soothing a child who was too flustered to know what to do.

「Dokja-ssi, the game made by the development team... Think of this as entering the game you always tested.」

Why did those words sound so familiar?

「I still have some time left. But if you don't save Sukyeong-ssi now, it will become irreversible.」

Why did the place where I sat feel like a subway seat from long ago, and why did this trembling hand feel as though it didn't belong to me?

「This is like a game quest. A quest with a predetermined route that you must follow to clear it properly.」

"Yu Sangah-ssi."

「And now is the time to complete the proper prerequisite quest.」

I understood what Sangah meant. I probably understood it better than anyone else in this world.

But I couldn't understand Sangah's heart as she said those words. Maybe I never would, even if I lived my whole life.

Someone like me shouldn't dare claim that I understood it.

[The Fourth Wall increases in thickness.]

Like Sangah when she sprang up from her subway seat, I stood up and said, "Aileen."

Aileen understood my intention and nodded. The physicians gathered around Sangah rushed into the hospital room on the other side. I slowly turned toward that room.

The moment I crossed the threshold, I couldn't help looking back.

「Don't worry. I'll wait here.」

Sangah's silhouette beyond the curtain was already badly fragmented.

Maybe the person beyond that curtain was no longer the Yu Sangah I knew. Maybe she had been torn apart and scattered, becoming something unrecognizable. Maybe I was only hearing the hallucinated voice of Sangah as she faded away. Even so...

"Yu Sangah-ssi. You may not remember, but in the first Scenario, I selected which people would live."

I continued speaking to the Yu Sangah I remembered.

"I only let the people I thought should be saved live. I thought that was what I had to do then. I believed that was how I could see the end of this world."

「Dokja-ssi.」

"But if I have to do that again to see the ending of the story, then I would rather choose not to see the ending."

Having to kill someone in order to save someone else.

"If choices like that exist when it comes to lives, then it is a wrong story from the start."

Mass Production Maker might say this about my answer: that it was a road that wasn't a road.

[The Fourth Wall looks at you.]

But this wasn't a choice.

There had only been one path for me from the beginning.

[The Demon King Demon King of Salvation looks at The Fourth Wall.]

I wasn't Yu Junghyeok. Even so, when it came to this matter, my answer was the same as his.

"I will break that story. So Yu Sangah-ssi won't die. Neither will my mother."

Before me stood a dead-end wall covered in pitch-black darkness. A wall so thick and solid that it seemed impossible to break by any means.

Slowly, I reached out my hand toward that wall.

Footnotes:

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