WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 360: Episode 67: The scenario's deceaseds (4)

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I swallowed the curse rising to my lips.

Of all times, [The Fourth Wall] had to thin now.

The unfamiliar pain I'd forgotten in the heat of battle came rushing back. The scrapes on my shins and forearms stung. The discomfort of my sweat-soaked shirt became sharper, and the heat baking the forest made me dizzy.

If only I'd worked out more regularly.

Whoosh!

A spiked club flew in to crush my skull.

I barely avoided the goblin's attack, practically rolling across the ground.

Kieeeek!

The joints I'd moved too hastily creaked.

The goblins followed the direction I'd dodged and hammered their clubs down as if they were playing Whack-a-Mole.

The smell of blood on the spiked clubs made the hairs on the back of my hands stand on end. I'd smelled it many times before, but it felt strange now.

[The Fourth Wall is growing very thin.]

[The Fourth Wall is shaking dangerously.]

I scrambled to my feet and gripped my sword again.

The two goblins who had lost their companion surrounded me, their red eyes gleaming.

They were waiting to pounce on any opening I gave them. The moment I read that desire, fear of death came over me anew. Beyond [The Fourth Wall], now as thin as ice, the emotions I'd kept turning away from were starting to reveal themselves one by one.

Was this what the story I'd been reading was like?

I steadied my shaking breath.

I had to fight. I could fight.

The other Allies had all faced this fear too.

I alone had cowardly avoided pain through the wall.

「Kim Dokja gripped “Unbreakable Faith” with trembling hands.」

Think. A way to kill these goblins with my current body.

I couldn't use Skills, but I could use Stigmas.

My proficiency had been reset, but I could definitely still use Stigmas.

The problem was how those Stigmas would apply.

Watching the goblins approach, I activated [Song of the Sword].

[This Stigma does not belong to you.]

[The effect of this Stigma is fixed at its minimum value.]

「Day 2, early morning. Clear. I went out early to inspect my weapon.」

“Unbreakable Faith” gave off a faint glow before returning to normal.

It would've been nice if it had fired a flaming arrow, damn it.

Still, the sword felt a little lighter, which was some comfort.

Kieeek?

The goblins scoffed at my resistance and immediately swung their spiked clubs. The moment a club struck my sword, my wrist felt as if it would snap. They looked shabby, but they were stronger than humans. Monsters perfectly suited to surviving on this Island.

The second club came flying at my waist. It was too late to block it with my sword.

Thud!

I swung my leg and kicked the club away. Spikes pierced the sole of my foot. I bit my lip against the horrific pain.

The goblins caught the scent of blood and howled in rage.

If I couldn't solve this with a Stigma, I had to use the second method.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm responds to your will.]

Skills were sealed on this Island, and every Stigma's proficiency was reset.

That didn't mean I had no power I could use.

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth responds to your will.]

There was something that existed even in the First Generation, which had neither Circles nor Aura.

It was the power of fables.

[You cannot exercise control over these fables with your current power.]

[Your fables refuse your command.]

The problem was that my power had been greatly reduced, so my fables no longer listened to me.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm looks at you with pity.]

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth covets your weakened body.]

Instead, blood surged up my throat as my circulation ran wild.

The goblins flinched at the power of the fables emanating from me, but soon regained their nerve and rushed in.

My Stigmas were blocked, and my fables wouldn't listen.

I gritted my teeth as I watched the goblins approach.

In the end, there was only one final method. I wanted to avoid using it until there was absolutely no other choice.

The instant I made up my mind and stirred my Mana...

Thwip!

A dagger shot through the brush and pierced a goblin's head. The goblin collapsed face-first onto the ground. Then a figure rushed in and, with a brilliant flourish of her blade, cut off the other goblin's head.

Seeing the girl's ponytail flutter beneath her cap, I let out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay, ahjussi?"

Lee Jihye, her hair and face caked with mud, looked at me.

* * *

Actually, I hadn't used [Song of the Sword] just to fight the goblins.

As the system message said, [Song of the Sword] wasn't my Stigma. Whenever I used a Stigma that wasn't mine, its original owner would inevitably become aware of my presence.

"Whew, I'm glad it was really you, ahjussi."

Jihye spoke as she washed her face in the stream. From the look of her, she'd suffered quite a bit too.

"What kind of place is this? Skills and Stigmas are all useless. If I hadn't trained with Grandpa Kyrios, I would've died ages ago."

"You're not hurt anywhere?"

"No. I hid well. But why do you look like that, ahjussi?"

"It just happened."

I gave a vague answer and applied the Golden Wound Medicine Lee Seolhwa had given me beforehand.

I'd gotten hurt this badly just fighting goblins. I couldn't even imagine how dangerous the journey ahead would be.

Jihye watched me, then snatched the Golden Wound Medicine away as if I were frustrating her.

"Give it to me. You missed the back of your shoulder."

With capable hands, Jihye smeared Golden Wound Medicine over my wounds.

"Be gentle. If you press too hard, I might die."

"Don't exaggerate. Were you always this scrawny, ahjussi?"

"I just lost a little muscle mass."

"Your shoulders look about the same as mine."

My pride took a hit, and I tried to take the Golden Wound Medicine back. No, I tried and failed. Jihye was stronger than me.

Jihye warned me.

"Move and your shoulder will break."

It had been a while since I'd felt this powerless.

"There, all done."

Seolhwa's Golden Wound Medicine worked quite well despite the first-generation Plausibility. It wasn't dramatic, but the wounds covered in medicine were healing quickly.

Then again, even the First Generation had magic and martial arts.

After tending to our wounds, Jihye and I continued through the forest.

Fortunately, no more monsters appeared, but night was already approaching.

Jihye gauged the smoke rising from the center of the Island and said, "I think we'll have to camp here tonight."

I nodded. We could force ourselves to travel through the night, but since we couldn't even use [Night Vision], we might run into something far worse than goblins.

[Night has arrived on the Island.]

[At night, some system functions are restored.]

[You can now use the Dokkaebi Compendium function.]

I immediately opened the Dokkaebi Compendium and bought what we needed to camp. Two portable single-person shelters and safety devices to guard the area. I also stocked up on recovery items just in case.

Jihye blinked as she took the items from me.

"What? You were going on about the First Generation, but we can still buy this stuff?"

"It's still a Scenario for earning coins."

Whether it was the First Generation, Second Generation, or Third Generation, the essence of a Scenario was making money. Naturally, the use of the Dokkaebi Compendium was allowed.

Clatter, clatter.

Jihye set up the tents, then looked at me as if I were pathetic.

"Didn't you say you were in the military, ahjussi? You don't know how to set up a tent?"

"That was ages ago. Why are you so good at it?"

"I was a Girl Scout in elementary school."

Come to think of it, Jihye had that setting too.

Watching me struggle because of the Strength reduction penalty, Jihye quickly set up my tent too.

The forest was cold at night. We gathered fallen branches and built a fire. As we warmed ourselves by the blazing campfire, Jihye and I both sank into our own thoughts.

I wasn't using [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], but I could tell that the curled-up Jihye was holding something back. I waited patiently.

Jihye tossed a dry branch into the crackling flames, then finally gathered her courage.

"Ahjussi, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"That novel, how long has it existed?"

I had a feeling she'd ask that.

I decided to answer honestly.

"More than ten years."

My memory was a little hazy, but I hadn't forgotten the time when I first clicked on TWSA.

"What am I like in that novel?"

It was natural for her to be curious. If I were in Jihye's place, I would wonder the same thing.

I slowly recalled the descriptions of Jihye.

Naval Commander Lee Jihye.

A girl who drew her sword first to protect her Allies. She had a strong sense of pride, but she cared more deeply than anyone. She acted tough on the outside, but her inner wounds festered more deeply than anyone's.

Trying not to touch Jihye's wounds, I chose my words as carefully as possible and told her.

Jihye listened to my story with her mouth open, as if she'd received a dubious fortune reading.

"It's creepy how accurate it is... Was I really described in that much detail?"

"The novel was pretty long."

"Even so. How do you remember it all so clearly, ahjussi?"

"Because I read it carefully."

"Still, you remember way too much... It's creepy."

After I went through all the trouble of answering her.

"I was in middle school then, and reading that novel was my only hobby."

"You were in middle school? Pfft, then you were younger than me when you first read it? That's ridiculous."

"Everyone was fifteen once."

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon nods.]

Jihye giggled as if she'd heard something funny.

"That's true. I was fifteen once too."

Jihye looked down at her scabbard with nostalgic eyes.

A small keychain hung from its end.

Having read TWSA, I naturally knew what that keychain was.

"Are you okay?"

"You know about this keychain too?"

"A little."

"So I don't get any privacy, huh?"

That keychain Jihye always carried had been a gift from her friend, who died in the first Scenario.

Old passages from TWSA passed through my mind.

「"Jihye. Kill me. It's okay."」

Jihye was still the Scarred Sword Demon. Even if her Attribute name changed one day, that fact would never change, because Jihye was someone who never forgot the price of her sins.

"Hey, what happens to me at the end of that novel?"

At Jihye's words, a story I'd consciously forgotten for a long time crossed my mind.

The ending of TWSA that I knew.

Jingle.

That was when I heard a bell ring near my ear. It was a signal from the safety devices we'd set up beforehand. The ringing soon began at a terrifying pace, as though it would tear apart my eardrums.

Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.

Jingle. Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.

"Ahjussi."

Something was rapidly approaching us.

Judging by the intervals between the bells, it wasn't a goblin or an orc. It was a far more powerful monster.

I gauged the direction of the rising smoke and said, "You'll survive until the end and become happy. You did in the novel too."

It was a lie. But novels were lies from the beginning, and I'd lived all this time to make my lies real.

"Run toward the village. I'll buy time."

"No! You run away, ahjussi. You're weaker than me here, aren't you?"

"You can't fight that monster either. Even if we joined forces, it would be too much."

At Jihye's current level, goblins were all she could fight.

I continued in a calm voice.

"Hurry to the village and ask for help. That's the only way both of us can survive. You can move faster than me."

"But..."

"Go already! I'll find a way to escape!"

"Really?"

"Of course. Did you forget who I am?"

Only then did Jihye seem reassured, and she nodded.

"Hold on for a little while! I'll bring the other Allies right away!"

Less than ten seconds after Jihye disappeared, a huge green beast emerged from the brush.

A monster more than three meters tall, giving off a vicious aura.

Damn it. Not an orc, but a troll?

Saying I had a way to escape was a lie. Even if Jihye brought the others, they couldn't fight a troll. They'd be lucky not to get wiped out.

Grrrrr...

The troll spotted me and smiled, exposing its horrible teeth.

It must've already smashed the heads of countless Constellations, because fragments of Constellations clung to its iron club.

I smiled bitterly and gripped my sword.

One hit from that club would probably kill me instantly. That is, if there was no one at all to help me.

Grrrrr!

This Island was nearly impossible to clear by normal means from the start. And as always, impossible Scenarios had a Hidden Piece.

According to the original story, it should appear around now...

As the troll raised its club high into the air, I heard the sound of flesh being pierced from somewhere.

Stab!

A familiar blade burst through the troll's belly.

It was Jihye.

"I knew you'd do this, you liar."

「The Naval Commander never abandons her Companions, even if it means she dies.」

This plan had only been possible because I'd trusted that part of Jihye from the beginning.

The enraged troll let out a roar as it pulled the sword from its body. The wound healed in an instant.

Jihye dropped the sword and stood beside me, smiling.

"Let's die together, ahjussi."

I smiled too as I watched the troll charge toward us.

Jihye wouldn't die. The history of her unyielding survival would save her in the end.

The troll's club came down at almost the same time as a presence stirred in the forest.

It was here.

A silver longsword split the darkness.

I saw it clearly.

A pure blade that used neither Sword Aura nor Aether Blade cut through that terrifying troll's neck as if it were a toy.

「The First Generation's Forgotten Ones most adore the themes of ‘love,’ ‘friendship,’ and ‘romance.’」

The First Generation. One of the oldest fables in the Star Stream.

The owner of that fable spoke.

"Giving your life for a Companion? This is the first time I've seen such a thing in 381 years."

Looking closer, the person who'd appeared wasn't alone.

"Didn't I tell you? They're that kind of friends."

"So it was true. There are still worthwhile stories left outside."

Hearty laughter rang out.

Something was strange. This hadn't happened in the original story.

Then I saw the face of the being who walked out of the darkness.

"It's been a while, descendant. Has it been three years in outside-world time?"

Amazingly, he was someone I already knew.

Footnotes:

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