WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 346: Episode 65: Good and Evil (1)

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Mandala's Protector was a mysterious Constellation.

Unlike other Constellations, Mandala's Protector rarely appeared in channels, and even when the Constellation did enter one, it seldom sent messages.

At regular intervals, the Constellation chose an Incarnation and granted the chosen Incarnation the Reincarnator Attribute.

Nirvana was one of the Reincarnators born that way.

「(You don't know how terrible reincarnation is. No more Reincarnators must be created.)」

"That's not for you to decide."

Nirvana and I looked at Sangah at the same time. Still unable to grasp the situation, she blinked blankly. She was probably trying hard to piece together the context of our conversation.

「(Doesn't that woman already have a Patron?)」

"Not anymore. I asked Dionysus to sever their connection when we participated in Gigantomachia."

「(Olympus agreed to that willingly? How did you bear such an enormous amount of Plausibility?)」

I only shrugged. There wasn't time to explain the circumstances behind all this, including my deal with Dionysus.

"Read about it through the Wall later. You're reading every incident I cause anyway, aren't you? More importantly, hurry up and answer my question. Where is your Patron now?"

「(My bond with that Patron was severed when I was absorbed by the Wall. I don't know where that Patron is now. However...)」

Nirvana continued, glaring at me.

「(It seems you've already guessed.)」

That wasn't wrong. The question I'd asked Nirvana was only meant to turn my guess into certainty.

"Yu Sangah-ssi, don't worry too much. Those guys aren't as bad as they look..."

I couldn't finish my sentence.

I felt the entire zone shrink as my body was expelled from the Library. Sangah reached for me in alarm, but my body was already scattering amid sparks.

「In so lent Kim Dok ja.」

That was the last thing I heard.

* * *

「"Dokja-ssi still hasn't woken up?"」

「"No."」

「"It's already been three days..."」

My consciousness slowly returned as distant voices wavered around me. At the same time, an indescribably unpleasant sensation washed over me. How should I put it? It felt like I was being tortured with electricity.

「"Why are those sparks still going? This isn't an electric eel, so what the hell is this..."」

「"What happened to Sangah unni? Even her entire Incarnation body suddenly disappeared."」

As I listened to the hazy voices, I gradually began to understand my situation.

Damn it. Had I really been unconscious for three days?

My mind had returned, but I couldn't move my body at all.

Tzzzzzt.

[Your actions to prevent a Companion's death have been detected by the Plausibility Compatibility Assessment.]

[You are currently suffering from the aftereffects of a Plausibility storm.]

[All your actions are restricted for five days.]

[Remaining restriction period: 2 days 3 hours 31 minutes]

I'd tried so hard to avoid it, yet I had still been caught in a Plausibility storm. At least it was a miracle that the damage had been limited to this much.

[A message has arrived for you through dokkaebi communication.]

It was a message from Bihyeong.

- You crazy bastard.

- Do you want to get eaten by Indescribable Distance again?

- If I hadn't stopped it beforehand, a Calamity would've surged toward Earth. Just because you've kept getting lucky, do you think Plausibility is some kind of dog shit?

Bihyeong's messages went on for a while after that. He lectured me about how I needed to steadily build up Plausibility if I wanted to safely reach the Final Chapter of the Scenario, and how I shouldn't make the Star Stream hate me. The usual nagging.

Since when had this guy become such a nag?

- I'm letting this slide just this once, but be careful next time. The Star Stream's will is paying very close attention to you because of this incident.

I hadn't expected forcibly tearing off part of [The Fourth Wall] and sending Sangah inside to cause such a backlash.

From the Constellations' perspective, it must have been absurd. It probably felt like an actor onstage had smashed through the set and vanished.

[The Fourth Wall is currently restoring itself.]

[Multiple Constellations doubt the Plausibility of the act you committed.]

[Multiple Constellations regret being unable to glimpse your identity.]

[Some Constellations have noticed that you possess a Final Wall Fragment.]

[The Fourth Wall] seemed to have reacted quickly, minimizing the damage.

I was stuck here for several days, but I'd saved my mother and Sangah. That was a small price to pay.

Of course, Sangah's situation was only a temporary measure, so I couldn't leave her like this.

To bring Sangah back to life, I had to meet that Constellation, the King of Reincarnators who ruled them all, and the First Reincarnator.

It was a little early, but not excessively so.

From "Spring of the Demon Realm" to "Holy Flame That Devoured Myth."

As I completed the Beginning and Succession, I had finished half of "A Single Fable." The overall progression of the Scenarios would have accelerated because of Kim Dokja Company and me, and things that should have appeared much later in TWSA would begin appearing one after another.

There had originally been several candidates for the Great Fable I would obtain during the turning point.

For example, Asgard's "Ragnarok," or several Great Fables possessed by the nebula Emperor.

Unlike the Beginning and Succession, the turning point needed to be large enough to contain the climax of "A Single Fable." It had to be a Scenario on an entirely different scale, built upon all the fables that had come before.

Unless it was a stage on that level, I could never reach the conclusion I wanted.

Perhaps that Island, where the First Reincarnator was likely staying, could become a suitable stage and a foothold for my third Great Fable.

Tzzzzzt.

Still, I had no idea when I'd be able to get up at this rate. I had to spend another two days like this. I couldn't imagine how I was supposed to kill the time.

I could suppress the aftereffects if I sacrificed part of a Great Fable, but it was a waste to sacrifice fables I'd barely managed to gather for something like this.

If only I could read TWSA.

「Kim Dok ja.」

'The Fourth Wall?'

「Are you go ing to keep do ing that?」

It sounded like a sulking child.

Thinking this was my chance, I quickly replied.

'I won't do it again.'

「Li ar.」

Deep-rooted distrust was embedded in every syllable.

This was the first time it had expressed its feelings so openly, and I felt genuinely sorry, if only a little.

'Believe me. I mean it.'

「Hmph.」

'How is Yu Sangah-ssi? She's okay, right?'

No matter how intelligent and adaptable Sangah was, all the beings in that Library were far removed from humans.

One was an Outer God, one was a creation of a Constellation, and the other had once been a Reincarnator.

On top of that, [The Fourth Wall], the Library's owner, was completely unpredictable.

'Don't be too harsh on Yu Sangah-ssi. She's a good person.'

「That de pends on Yu Sang ah.」

For now, all I could do was trust Sangah.

She had made it this far without a cheat like TWSA. She would surely do well in the Library too.

'I have a favor to ask you.'

「No.」

'At least listen to me.'

「No.」

'We used to be pretty close. Think about when we first arrived in the Demon Realm. We talked a lot then.'

「On ly then.」

'We can talk a lot from now on, too.'

「Dok ja, you sh ow lit tle in terest ev en when I ta lk.」

The words had a strange weight to them, and I was momentarily speechless.

Come to think of it, [The Fourth Wall] had always spoken to me. Sometimes it had narrated in the style of TWSA, and sometimes it had used [The Fourth Wall]'s unique sarcasm.

Either way, it was true that I had never properly responded.

「Dok ja li kes the speech less dok kae bi bet ter.」

'Are you talking about Biyoo?'

[The Fourth Wall] didn't answer.

'You...'

Did it feel lonely too? Did it feel joy, sorrow, or pain?

I'd never thought of it that way before, and I suddenly felt strange.

'I'll talk to you more often from now on. I'm sorry.'

「Hmph.」

'Don't be mad. I promise.'

「Re ally?」

'Really.'

[The Fourth Wall] seemed to think for a moment before speaking.

「But Dok ja a lone is n't e nough.」

'What?'

「Ga ther my fri ends.」

I wondered what that meant. Friends? How was I supposed to make friends for a Wall? As I thought that, something suddenly crossed my mind.

Could it be?

A clear answer came to me.

「Dok ja must ga ther the Fi nal Wall.」

* * *

'I need to gather more fables.'

Yu Junghyeok stared blankly at the sky as he compulsively repeated the thought, crunching a Lemon Candy between his teeth. He didn't like candy, but he had no alternative for now. It would've been nice to have Murim Dumplings, but this wasn't the time to indulge such preferences.

'No, perhaps the fables are gathering quickly enough. What matters is tempering the fables themselves.'

Perhaps it was time to go to that Island.

The Island Kyrios and his master had visited.

Junghyeok clenched and unclenched his fists as he planned what came next.

[Your Patron is dissatisfied with your recent actions.]

He looked up and felt his Patron's faint gaze.

Recently, his Patron had often expressed such emotions. It had almost never happened over the past three rounds of regression.

Junghyeok frowned.

"What are you dissatisfied with?"

[Your Patron wants you to act more proactively.]

Those words touched something deep in his mind.

His life had certainly changed a lot compared to the previous round. Needless to say, those changes had begun after he met Kim Dokja.

'I don't even know who that bastard is.'

He had even founded a nebula with someone whose identity he didn't know.

'He said he wasn't a prophet.'

He immersed himself in thought as if tackling all the homework he had put off at once.

'Yet he knows information about the future.'

The more he thought about it, the more oddities he noticed.

Why hadn't someone like that existed in the previous round? At first, he had accepted it without much thought, but now it made no sense.

That calm and meticulous bastard hadn't even cleared the first Scenario in the previous round?

Once his suspicion began to grow, it overflowed like water breaching a dam.

[An unknown force restrains your imagination.]

He frowned as slight dizziness came over him.

'Again...'

For some reason, whenever he thought about Dokja, his head hurt. Especially when he focused on Dokja's identity.

"Junghyeok, what are you doing?"

He turned to see Han Suyeong with a Lemon Candy in her mouth.

Junghyeok asked, "Dokja still hasn't woken up?"

"Not yet."

"Lazy bastard."

"A Plausibility Backlash hit him. What else could he do? The strange thing was that it hadn't hit him until now."

The two stood idly, looking up at the sky above the industrial complex. A cold wind blew past, brushing their collars.

It was a rare peace, even if it wasn't truly peaceful.

One person had collapsed, and another's life or death was unknown... Still, moments like this were rare in this industrial complex.

Junghyeok glanced at Suyeong, who was staring into the distance with her eyes half-lidded.

For once, he suddenly wanted to ask her something.

Would Suyeong know what Junghyeok wanted to know?

Like Dokja, she had appeared as a variable in this round.

Sometimes, when she exchanged words with Dokja that Junghyeok couldn't understand, it seemed as if she knew what Dokja was...

A chilling sensation swept across the back of his neck.

"Junghyeok."

Almost at the same time Suyeong spoke, Junghyeok drew the Black Heaven Demon Blade strapped to his back. Suyeong beside him was also unwrapping the bandages around her hand.

Something was flying toward them at high speed from the distant sky.

It was the presence of an unwelcome guest. Leaving dark streaks in the sky, the being slowly descended to the ground.

Rough Mana flowed through Junghyeok's tense right hand.

"Asmodeus. What are you doing here?"

The Demon King Asmodeus smiled.

[I came to see the Demon King of Salvation. Where is he?]

"Why are you looking for him?"

[I have something urgent to tell him. As one of the Seekers of the End.]

"Seekers of the End? Tell me, then get lost."

[Ah, what a pain...]

Though they had briefly been allies once, Yu Junghyeok fundamentally did not trust Asmodeus.

On top of that, he had unfinished debts and grudges with that Demon King from the previous round.

Rumbleee.

As the hostile tension reached its peak, Junghyeok's Status and Asmodeus's Status collided, forming a swirling vortex.

[Hm? I didn't expect you to have become this strong...]

A strange light passed through Asmodeus's eyes as Junghyeok refused to yield even a step. Clear malice lurked beneath his playful expression.

[The regressor Yu Junghyeok.]

Asmodeus smiled like a demon and stepped right up to Junghyeok.

The Demon King's red-painted lips opened as if violating a taboo.

[Have you perhaps heard of Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World?]

Footnotes:

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