WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 364: Episode 68: Words That Can’t Be Heard (3)

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It had been two weeks since I arrived at the village.

Once my fables had settled into place, I immediately began preparing for the next Scenario.

「The Island of Reincarnators consists of three major islands. The Small Island, where the Plausibility of first-generation fables operates. Then the Middle Island, where the Plausibility of second-generation fables operates. Finally, the Main Island, where the Plausibility of third-generation fables operates...」

Unlike the Small Island, I would have to clash with Constellations in earnest from the Middle Island onward.

Those who had survived this realistic first-generation Plausibility were waiting for me there.

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth urges you to hurry up.]

One of them was still throwing a tantrum, but I figured I had reined it in enough for now.

Yoo Hoseong had said that fables sometimes tried to dominate their users, but they also showed them the path ahead.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm waits for your choice.]

These guys would continue living alongside me. Together, we would create stories and turn them into other fables.

"Huiwon-ssi, I'm glad you made it back safely."

"Can't you change up your greetings? I almost died for real this time."

They said the others had arrived about a week after I began Fable Control training. They said they had gotten lost near the edge of the island, which delayed their arrival.

I looked around and asked, "Where are the others?"

"They're all training."

After walking for a while, I saw the children, Hyeongseong, and Hayoung sitting cross-legged in their own spots. Judging by their expressions, their training seemed difficult.

That was only natural. Fable Control training took at least two months. Even Junghyeok in the original story had wasted three weeks despite his incredible talent...

I quietly examined my companions' fables.

[The fable Kim Dokja Company's Code of Conduct writhes in pain.]

[The fable One Who Listens to the Voice of Monsters groans.]

[The fable One Who Longs for a Companion's Loyalty suffers.]

Just as I had acquired fables, my companions had fables they had built up as well. Going through the same Scenario didn't mean they would necessarily gain the same fables. Everyone's sensibilities were different, so the stories they accumulated were different too.

"Time passes more slowly here than on the other islands, so you can train at your own pace. Don't rush yourselves. You need to complete your control training to fight properly in the Great war of Angels and Demons."

"Okay."

[The fable Demon King's Zealot sings.]

「Oh, back then Dokja-hyung said, I am the god of this world. Follow me, and you will learn the truth of this world.」

"And when Gilyeong wakes up, make sure you tell him that building distorted fables could cause serious trouble."

Huiwon giggled, so I spoke in a more serious tone.

"I'm not joking."

"Okay. But you need to properly recognize your position, Dokja-ssi. You need to understand what you are to those kids."

"..."

"Do you think the kids could've made it this far without you?"

I quietly watched Yuseong and Gilyeong pinching the backs of each other's hands even as they trained. They had believed in me, shared incomplete stories with me, and come this far together.

[A new fable that has never existed before is budding within you.]

"The same goes for me."

The last person I looked at was Hayoung.

Beads of sweat had gathered on her forehead as she struggled with her own fable.

「I don't want to hear it. I really don't want to hear it.」

「You have to hear it. You still have to hear it.」

The overflowing voice of her fable reached my ears as well.

I could guess what kind of fable Hayoung was seeing.

A new Attribute would probably blossom within her on this island. Through that Attribute, she would lay the groundwork to become the King of the Transcendents.

"Dokja-ssi."

"Yes?"

"You know you're especially inattentive toward Hayoung-ssi, right?"

"I didn't mean to be. It just happened somehow..."

"Did you tell Hayoung-ssi the story you told us?"

The story I had told my companions.

I knew exactly what Huiwon meant.

「This world is built on the foundation of a novel, and I am the only reader who read that novel.」

I had only told that story to a few companions. Most people, including Kyrios and the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, still didn't know the truth. Hayoung was the same.

I bent down and looked closely at Hayoung's face.

「Pronounced double eyelids and curly blond hair. Pale, soft skin that stayed fresh even without [Humidity Preservation]. Slightly plump cheeks and dimples that appeared charmingly when she smiled. A face so androgynous that it was difficult to determine her gender.」

The descriptions from TWSA and the comments I had left in the past were now returning to me. Her appearance was exactly as I had imagined it, and it filled me with indescribable guilt.

"I'm not sure how honest I should be."

"What?"

I couldn't tell Hayoung the truth.

How could I tell her that I was the one who had created her?

That she was a being born because of the comments I had written.

"I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe the novel I read didn't become reality. Maybe that novel simply recorded this world..."

"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

Maybe that was just what I wanted to believe.

「Just as the young Kim Dokja had once thought long ago.」

I gave Huiwon, who was looking at me in confusion, a weak smile.

"I like you, Huiwon-ssi."

"Uh, I like you too."

"And the other companions as well. For now, that's all I want to think about. I'm sorry for being selfish."

Huiwon thought about something for a moment, then nodded.

"Okay. Do what you want, Dokja-ssi. I understand."

"Thank you. Oh, and when the others wake up, give them this."

"This is...?"

"Information about the next Scenario."

The notebook I handed Huiwon contained information about the next Scenario, the Middle Island.

"Wait, Dokja-ssi, you're going again...!"

Quick-witted Huiwon already seemed to understand why I was giving it to her.

* * *

"I thought you'd come today."

Before leaving the Small Island, I went to see Hoseong. He had taught me Fable Control, so I wanted to thank him. That was a lie. I had another purpose.

"Why did you take in my companions?"

Hoseong frowned at my blunt question.

"Just an old man's whim."

It was strange to see a child who looked around ten call himself an old man, but it wasn't an implausible sight. Yoo Hoseong, One-Punch Invincible, had lived far longer than most demon kings or Archangels.

The Zero Martial World, known only through legends.

Hoseong had been the strongest master in that martial world.

"If you're done asking questions, get lost. I don't even want to look at you."

It was the same order to leave as before.

"Don't you intend to come with us?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

"I know that once the Small Island Scenario ends, you can advance to the next Scenario as well. This Great war of Angels and Demons is that kind of Scenario."

Hoseong's eyebrows twitched sharply.

There had also been a round in the original story where the Great war of Angels and Demons occurred here on the Island of Reincarnators.

「A meeting of the new and old. A fusion Scenario with the First Generation!」

They were probably advertising the Scenario outside with slogans like that even now.

It was the Administration Bureau's intention. A scheme to use the first-generation fables, spoken of only in stories, as material to promote the Scenario.

Yet the Administration Bureau's money-making schemes sometimes became opportunities for the forgotten deceased, pushed aside by time.

"Maybe this is your chance to leave the island."

The Island of Reincarnators. The living museum of the Star Stream.

The Reincarnators here lived eternal lives within the island, but they were cursed so they could never leave it.

That was because of the contract between them and the Island's Owner.

"How long are you going to remain preserved here like constellation artifacts from a bygone age?"

Hoseong slowly closed his eyes. He looked as if he was holding back his anger.

"What do you expect me to do if I leave? The deceased are only strong within the island. The First Generation has faded. Nobody wants those kinds of stories anymore."

He was right. Most Reincarnators couldn't perform properly after leaving the island imbued with first-generation Plausibility.

The deceased of the First Generation would be unable to adapt to the outside world, where martial energy and magic ran rampant and the system ruled everything.

But not everyone was like that.

"The Transcendents who trained under you are active outside as well. There are surely beings who miss the fables you created."

"I'm sure there are. But they can't become the mainstream."

"Do they have to become the mainstream?"

"What?"

"I'm asking whether a fable is only good if it becomes the mainstream. Since when did you care about something like that?"

Flames burned in Hoseong's eyes as he opened them.

"Are you telling me to become the Constellations' toy again after all this time?"

If I took one more step here, my head would burst like those other demon kings. So I couldn't take one more step.

I would take half a step.

"You have listened to the stories of fables for a long time."

I only needed to shake this man by exactly half a step. Then he would be able to take the other half himself.

"Don't you think it's time for you to tell a story yourself?"

Ripples spread through Hoseong's widened pupils.

I only smiled at him in silence, then turned away.

[The fable Stone and Me giggles.]

I had cast the stone where it needed to go, so what came after was no longer my responsibility.

There was someone else who would move that terrifying Transcendent.

* * *

"Are you really leaving without saying goodbye?"

"Everyone is concentrating, and I don't want to disturb them. We'll see each other again soon. There are things I need to do first."

I didn't say goodbye to the others separately, only to Huiwon. She looked disappointed, but soon seemed to accept my choice.

"Make sure you survive."

"Let's meet again."

We lightly bumped fists.

Just before I left, the villagers came to see me off.

"Want to take some bread? It was just baked this morning."

"You seem to like stones, so I brought some of the ones I've collected."

A few villagers I had grown close to gave me food.

Among the villagers growing distant, I saw Hoseong.

He also wanted something to change. That was why he had decided to teach my companions and me. He must have hoped that the techniques he taught would change the island, change the Great war of Angels and Demons, and eventually change the Star Stream.

[The fable Ten-Thousand-Year Reincarnator sings a farewell.]

[The fable World's Oldest Farmer sees you off.]

Some left while others remained. Fables remembered the moment when the things farthest apart in the world came together and parted again. That was how this world existed.

As I turned away, I heard Hoseong's Telepathy.

"The Island's Owner may take an interest in you. You'd better be careful."

I only gave a light smile.

The same message had been floating before my eyes for some time.

[The Island's Owner is watching you.]

Cheok Junkyung was waiting for me beside the village brazier.

"I'll come with you."

"Sounds good."

We would be separated while being transferred to the Middle Island anyway, but it felt reassuring to at least enter together.

"About the next Scenario."

The Scenario on the Middle Island was a preliminary Scenario for the Great war of Angels and Demons that would take place on the Main Island.

Junkyung nodded, apparently misunderstanding what I meant.

"Come to think of it, you are a Demon King. Fine. If I must fight you, I promise to do my best."

"No, that's not what I meant..."

"When This Seat has a true duel, This Seat is not bound by personal ties. You need not worry too much."

No, please be bound by personal ties.

All I could do was hope that I wouldn't be Junkyung's target in the next Scenario.

[You have completed the Tutorial Scenario!]

[Transfer to the Middle Island has begun!]

[The Main Scenario has been updated!]

With the update message, the scenery around me slowly began to change.

[You have arrived at Middle Island 3.]

Fortunately, Cheok Junkyung was nowhere in sight.

The instant the transfer was complete, the stench of blood pierced my nose.

A field strewn with the corpses of Constellations and Incarnations. It was a sight that should have been intimidating, but I felt relieved instead. In this Scenario, starting late was advantageous. There was a lower chance of running into the powerful Constellations who had advanced ahead of me.

[Second-generation Plausibility is operating in this area.]

[Some of your Skills have been unlocked.]

[Some of your overall stats have been restored.]

Crack.

My shoulders subtly broadened and I felt myself grow taller. I had felt so stifled until now, but it finally felt like I could breathe again.

[A new Hidden Scenario has arrived!]

I immediately opened the Scenario window.

+

Category: Main

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: Steal the modifier necklace of the designated enemy (if a participant has no modifier, the modifier will be replaced with their True name).

Time Limit: ―

Reward: Randomly acquire one of the target's fables and a ticket to advance to the Main Island.

Failure: ???

+

This Scenario was the final gate before advancing to the Main Island.

The contents were simple. Steal the modifier mark of the being designated as the target.

At some point, a small silver necklace had appeared around my neck.

[Demon King of Salvation]

It was a necklace inscribed with my modifier.

[There are currently 262 survivors on Middle Island 3.]

Two hundred sixty-two.

It was far more than I had expected. Still, it wasn't enough to ruin my plans. The powerful Constellations would have already advanced to the Main Island anyway.

What mattered was who my target would be, but since all the strong ones had already left, it was obvious...

[Your main target has been determined.]

[The modifier of your main target is...]

Then, in the next moment, I spotted a group of Constellations running toward me from the distance.

They were fleeing in panic, as if something was chasing them.

With the sound of the ground exploding, the group split into bloody chunks like a wave being cleaved apart. Through the rising cloud of dust, I saw the one pursuing the fleeing Constellations.

Goddammit. Why was that bastard still here?

Footnotes:

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