WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 356: Episode 66: Beyond Good and Evil (5)

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The expressions on my companions' faces changed at my words.

Huiwon's eyes went round, while Jihye looked as though she was trying to understand what I meant. Hyeongseong blinked his large eyes.

And Yuseong...

「Kim Dok ja, this is a bad i dea.」

[The Fourth Wall]'s voice echoed in my head.

「It's not too la te, e ven now.」

I didn't know whether that was [The Fourth Wall]'s will or the weakness in my own heart. Since [The Fourth Wall] reflected my emotions to some extent, perhaps both were true.

Either way, I had made up my mind this time.

"I know it must be difficult for you to understand what I'm saying."

I had to tell my companions this story.

"I'll tell you everything slowly, from the beginning."

It had been a long time since I'd spoken for so long.

The story of how the novel I'd been reading became reality one day, and how I met all of you there.

There wasn't enough time to tell them everything, but I didn't lie either.

That I'd known about them before I ever met them.

That I hadn't properly told them I knew the future.

That I'd monopolized information and deceived them.

I poured out all those stories, as if bringing out long-held darkness.

A short distance away from the others, Han Suyeong watched me with a hand pressed to her forehead.

I understood how she felt. The Han Suyeong of the 1,863rd round had felt the same way.

But I couldn't live the way she did.

This story had to be told properly. To truly move forward, there were stories that had to be passed on.

Just as Junghyeok had done once.

「"I am a regressor."」

Maybe Junghyeok had felt the same way I did. That he knew the future, that he'd experienced the same story over and over, that he'd already met his companions in countless rounds.

That he'd sent them away.

I could finally understand how Junghyeok had felt when he quietly confessed all of it without any clever way of saying it.

"And that's how I came to be here."

My story was over.

Yet no one spoke first after my story ended. It probably wasn't because they hadn't understood. It had been a long enough story, one even a child could understand. Still, none of my companions opened their mouths.

With my head lowered, I continued.

"I want to sincerely apologize to all of you. I'm truly sorry that I'm only telling you this now."

I wanted to know what they thought. What they felt.

But I didn't use [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint]. If I used a skill to read what was inside them even in a moment like this, that would be real deception.

This time, I wanted to face it with my own strength, without using a skill. Whatever they thought or felt inside, I wanted to believe that the actions they personally chose and decided upon truly belonged to them.

When I slowly raised my head, I met Jihye's eyes.

Jihye's eyes were red at the rims.

The moment I saw those wavering eyes, I suddenly realized something.

I already knew those eyes.

「"Then everything my master knew about the future..."」

Because they were exactly the same as Jihye's eyes when she first heard Junghyeok's story.

Jihye slowly opened her mouth.

"Then everything ajusshi knew about the future..."

Jihye spoke as if a character from the original novel was reading from a script she'd been given.

I answered her as if I were following that script too.

「"That's right."」

"That's right."

Jihye ground her teeth and spoke to me.

"Then why... are you telling us this now?"

The Scarred Sword Demon was angry.

Since I'd already read the original story, I could predict what she would say next.

「"What were we to you?"」

Jihye lowered her head, her shoulders trembling faintly.

What would happen next came to mind as naturally as flowing water. Jihye would draw her sword, and unable to contain her anger, she might attack me. Things like that had happened many times in the original story.

But Jihye responded in a way I had never imagined.

"Let's say ajusshi knew the future."

"..."

"Let's say it was all planned, and you used us for your goal. Let's say we were characters in that damned novel called TWSA, and everything had already been decided!"

Jihye looked at me as she cried, biting her bloodless lips.

"Then... why did you risk your life for us so many times?"

Looking at the tears falling down her cheeks, I tried again and again to open my mouth.

It was a question I hadn't expected.

It was unexpected, and I had no answer.

"Answer me! If we're really 'characters' in a novel, why have you died for us over and over?!"

There was no answer to that question in the TWSA I'd read.

[The Fourth Wall is shaking violently.]

Jihye wiped at her eyes in frustration, then struck my shoulder as she passed by me.

Huiwon hurried after her and said, "Dokja-ssi, let's talk in a little while."

Yuseong hesitantly reached a hand toward me, looking at a loss, before following Huiwon out. Hyeongseong, who had stared blankly as if a screw had come loose, lowered his head and left the room as well.

Only Suyeong, Seolhwa, and Gilyeong remained.

Gilyeong looked at me with a conflicted expression, while Seolhwa had lowered her head, perhaps in shock.

Suyeong, who had been patting Seolhwa's back, snapped at me.

"Kim Dokja, go out for a while."

* * *

The quiet hospital room.

I silently looked at my sleeping mother's face. Since my companions hadn't returned for a long time, I'd used the break to visit her room.

Ever since the major surgery she'd undergone recently, Mother slept all day. Her gaunt cheeks, the shadows around her eyes. As I looked at her pale face, I remembered visiting her at the detention center long ago.

What had Mother thought as she watched her son talk about nothing but novels every time?

"You look gloomy."

"When did you wake up?"

"When you came in."

Her voice still lacked strength. I pulled the rumpled blanket over her body. Mother smiled faintly.

"The apocalypse is nice. I'm getting taken care of by my son."

"Just get better soon."

"Tell me. Anything is fine."

After thinking for a moment, I opened my mouth.

"When Junghyeok broached the subject of regression with his companions in the 154th round of TWSA..."

"It seems you told your companions about TWSA."

I didn't answer. Mother looked at me, then reached out with her bony hand and took mine. A sudden surge of defiance rose in me, and the words burst out.

"I thought they would berate me."

"..."

"I thought they would demand to know why I deceived them and hid information from them."

"But that wasn't what happened."

"I don't know how to ask for their forgiveness."

I silently nodded.

"Answer me! If we're really 'characters' in a novel, why have you died for us over and over?!"

Jihye's voice lingered in my ears.

Mother spoke.

"Whether that is a matter of forgiveness isn't for you to decide."

"Then..."

"Perhaps the person behind you can tell you."

Wondering what she meant, I turned my head and found Huiwon standing at the hospital room door.

I asked Mother's permission and left the room.

Huiwon scratched her cheek and asked, "Would you like to take a walk?"

We walked through the ward's corridor. It was a simple hallway without a single decoration. It looked like Junghyeok's kind of place... This guy must have renovated the Factory however he pleased over the past three years. At the end of the ward's corridor was the hospital room where Junghyeok had been admitted.

Huiwon gazed out the window for a while before speaking first.

"Thank you for telling us."

I couldn't know how much thought Huiwon had put into saying that. It was even harder because I couldn't see her expression.

Outside the window, I could see my companions. Yuseong bickered with Gilyeong, while Hyeongseong and Seolhwa comforted Jihye.

"Everyone will be okay. Jihye might need a little more time, though."

"Huiwon-ssi..."

Before I could finish, Huiwon turned to look at me. She wore the same gentle smile as always. When I closed my mouth, Huiwon asked, "Are you surprised I'm so fine?"

"No."

"Sure you're not."

Huiwon had known for a long time that I possessed "future information." Among the "characters," she might have been the one who knew the most about me.

Huiwon stretched as she spoke.

"It's nothing, really. Monsters come out, and dokkaebis exist in this world... What's so special about a novel becoming reality?"

"..."

"More importantly, I understand now. When Dokja-ssi said I didn't exist in the 'original future,' you meant I didn't appear in the novel you told us about, right?"

"That's right."

Biyoo floated above Yuseong's head like a cloud, her body bouncing like a sticky rice cake.

Huiwon said, "Then I was able to come this far thanks to Dokja-ssi."

"Um, Huiwon-ssi..."

"Thank you for finding me. I'm not being sarcastic. I mean it."

I knew. I was already familiar with the way Huiwon spoke when she was teasing me.

But that was why I didn't know what to say.

"Don't get depressed by yourself and lose heart again. Please keep taking care of us from now on. And while you're at it, promote me a little faster too. Here, this handshake means let's keep going."

Huiwon pulled my hand toward her and gripped it with tremendous force. At that sudden warmth, something surged up inside me.

I bit down hard on my lip.

「Jeong Huiwon couldn't possibly be completely fine.」

I could feel a pulse in Huiwon's tightly held hand.

She had to be sad too. She had to be in pain and struggling too. Even so.

After holding my hand tightly for a while, Huiwon let go with an embarrassed smile. Then she asked, "Dokja-ssi, there's one thing I'm curious about."

"Yes, ask."

"If this world is a 'novel,' that means there must be a protagonist somewhere, right?"

As expected, Huiwon was sharp.

I'd told my companions about TWSA, but I hadn't revealed who the protagonist of that story was.

Still, Huiwon seemed to have already realized who that "protagonist" was.

Huiwon's gaze briefly swept toward the end of the ward.

"Is that why you fought?"

"We haven't talked about it properly yet, but... I think so."

"Since you've started this, you need to see it through properly. You know that, right?"

I nodded.

"That person won't be easy."

I knew. But it wasn't something I could avoid.

* * *

For the next two days, I stayed in Junghyeok's hospital room all day.

I barely saw the other companions. I was worried, but I decided to give them time. I believed they needed time to think too. It wouldn't be too late to speak again once they were ready.

Junghyeok still hadn't woken up.

"His physical injuries have almost healed, but I think it's a psychological issue."

"A psychological issue?"

"It's as if he's refusing to wake up... Maybe something happened that gave him a terrible shock."

That was all Aileen said.

After she changed the Fable Pack and left, only Junghyeok and I remained in the hospital room.

A speck of floating dust landed on his nose.

As I watched Junghyeok, I absentmindedly opened my mouth.

"You grabbed me by the collar first and threw me off that bridge."

Even though I knew he couldn't hear me, I wanted to say something.

「"Let go of my hand and get lost, you fucking bastard."

"I'll believe you. You're definitely a prophet."」

The day I first encountered him on the bridge. I suddenly let out a small laugh.

"Honestly, you're in no position to criticize me. You're a regressor too. Do you know how many times I almost died because of you?"

Once I started talking, memories poured out like a waterfall. Memories flooding in as if I'd touched Pandora's box. It struck me anew how much time had passed. Before I knew it, this guy and I had been through so much together.

"I thought I understood you better than anyone, but lately, I don't know. Why did you act like that during the Catastrophe of Floods?"

「"That guy is my companion."」

"Why did you call me a 'companion'? You're someone who'd never say something like that normally. Then you stabbed me to death in Dark Castle. Well, I did tell you to kill me then."

「"Kim Dokja!"」

Each time I recalled a memory, countless emotions surfaced and faded away.

Scenarios that had felt so serious back then became stories after they passed.

They remained as fables we'd built together.

"Still, thank you for the Revolutionary Game. I survived because of you then. But you were strange that time too. Why did you use my name to attack some unrelated industrial complex? Though obviously you did it to screw me over..."

As one thought after another drifted through my mind, sleep slowly washed over me.

I hadn't been sleeping properly lately either...

Even through my hazy consciousness, my complaints continued. The time I'd fought alongside him passed by as if I were reading TWSA.

The Calamity of Questions.

The Strongest Sacrificial Lamb.

peace land.

Graveyard of the Scenarios.

The Demon King Selection and Gigantomachia...

It would have been harder to find a battlefield where we hadn't fought together.

As I looked back on those times, I thought.

Maybe it would be okay.

If it was the Junghyeok I knew, maybe I could persuade him somehow.

We had never truly talked things through even once.

What if I took my time and explained it bit by bit?

If it was this guy, of all people...

Far away, I vaguely saw Junghyeok with his back turned.

Forgetting that this was a dream, I approached him.

‘Yu Junghyeok.’

At that moment, a sharp pain ran through me, along with words that flashed through my mind.

It was a scene from TWSA. Junghyeok, who had lived miserably for a long time after Anna Croft betrayed him. The final words he left behind.

「"I will never forgive you."」

Junghyeok, still facing away from me, was speaking to me.

Killing intent poured from the Black Heaven Demon Blade in his hand.

「"Kim Dokja."」

The moment I felt a chill creep down my neck, I jolted awake. Only after panting for a long time, soaked in sweat, did I realize it had been a dream.

Faint moonlight shone through the window. The hospital room was desolate.

I slowly rubbed my eyes.

Then I realized something was wrong.

"Yu Junghyeok?"

The bed was empty. Junghyeok was nowhere in the hospital room. The removed IV line hung alone in the air.

I got up in a panic and looked around, but I couldn't sense Junghyeok anywhere.

A pocket watch with a familiar design had been left on the bed.

There were 26 days remaining until the Great war of Angels and Demons.

That day, Yu Junghyeok left Kim Dokja Company.

Footnotes:

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