WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 433: Episode 82: Outer Gods (2)

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A deep bitterness, like red ginseng brewed into a decoction, filled my mouth.

As I smacked my lips without thinking, I heard a voice from somewhere nearby.

"Huh? Looks like he's coming around. Try giving him some of this too."

Someone forcibly pried open my eyelids and dropped in something like eye drops. A cool sensation spread through my eyes, and I suddenly became wide awake.

[The recovery of your Incarnation body has accelerated through the consumption of a new elixir.]

When my vision returned, I was lying across a horse's belly.

Prrr!

Master Sanzang's white horse, the Chimera Dragon, glared at me as it let out a rough breath.

"Oh, he's awake!"

Gilyeong and Yuseong's worried faces brightened.

Jihye, who had been holding my eyelids open, was grinning too.

"What are we supposed to do if you're too frail to even ride the bus?"

"Ahem. What kind of disciple is too weak to attend to his master?"

Gilyeong cleared his throat with one hand planted on his hip.

I smiled bitterly and sat up as Yuseong supported me.

"Are you okay? You suddenly collapsed..."

"I'm fine, thanks to you. But these elixirs..."

I looked at the remnants of the elixirs scattered around me.

Some were unfamiliar, but others I recognized.

The eye drops in the red bottle were Three-Flower Nine-Seeds Paste, a treasure from Journey to the West that could only be obtained during the fierce battle against the Yellow Wind Demon King.

I asked, somewhat flustered, "Did you use this on me?"

For a moment, I saw Sangah in Yuseong's sweet smile.

Three-Flower Nine-Seeds Paste was an elixir that restored vitality throughout the body and enhanced one's eyesight just by being applied to the eyes.

[Some judges are satisfied with the adaptation of the original!]

[An additional 10 bonus points have been awarded!]

In the original, Sun Wukong was the one who used this Three-Flower Nine-Seeds Paste.

Still... they gave me something they could have used themselves. Guilt washed over me.

My right wrist suddenly tingled, and when I looked over, I found something horrifying happening there.

"You're just as weak as that bastard. Why is your Incarnation body in such a state?"

Junghyeok was checking my pulse while gripping my wrist hard enough to crush it. Aside from Seolhwa, he was the most skilled in medicine.

Frowning deeply, Junghyeok examined me.

"None of the energy pathways in your internal organs are intact. How did you even participate in the Scenario?"

"Is that so?"

"It's rare for a Constellation to end up like this. Are you being chased by someone?"

I looked at Junghyeok in surprise.

There was no way he'd asked because he was worried about me. He'd been keeping one hand clenched around the hilt of the Black Heaven Demon Blade, so his purpose was obvious.

"Nothing like that. This Great Fable was urgent, so I didn't have time to take care of my Incarnation body."

"If you become even a little burden to your Allies, I'll execute you on the spot."

Junghyeok tossed my wrist aside and rose to his feet.

"What a waste of precious elixirs."

He strode away, sat on a nearby rock, and began polishing the Black Heaven Demon Blade again. Since it had broken once, its durability seemed to have deteriorated quickly.

Jihye, watching him, said, "My master... no, Senior Brother is cool, isn't he? He talks like that, but he's the one who suggested giving you the elixirs."

That Junghyeok? No matter how I thought about it, I couldn't understand. Even if I had been Kim Dokja rather than the Watcher of Light and Darkness...

"He's not as cold-blooded as you think."

Dumpling [999]'s voice rang in my ears.

「"Do you still think you can understand someone through a few lines of writing?"」

It was something [999] had said, too.

He was right. Even knowing that, I forgot it again and again.

A person's life was always larger than their story.

「Yu Junghyeok was always behind his companions.」

There were countless sentences in TWSA, but they didn't explain all the time Junghyeok had lived through.

Third round, fourth round, fifth round... Junghyeok had always watched his companions from a place that far away. He protected them there and faced their enemies.

「"Yu Junghyeok, did you protect everything you wanted to protect?"」

He had never managed to protect everything that needed protecting.

And yet, he still guarded the same place.

I probably wouldn't understand the nature of his resolve even if I died and came back to life.

Yuseong approached Junghyeok as he sharpened his sword.

"Junghyeok-ahjussi."

Junghyeok raised his head with his usual indifferent gaze, and the child's small hand touched his cheek. Looking closer, I saw transparent cream ointment spread over his cheek.

"What are you doing?"

"It'll get worse, so stay still. Ah, don't turn your head!"

"I don't need to put this sort of thing on..."

Junghyeok's expression became complicated, like a beast being tickled.

The one thing that stopped him from leaping up was a name.

"Seolhwa unni specifically asked me to. She said you don't care about things like this, so someone has to look after you."

Junghyeok's shoulders twitched sharply at Seolhwa's name. After hesitating for a long while, he awkwardly sat back down on the rock and declared in a commanding voice, "Finish within ten seconds."

Yuseong nodded cheerfully and began eagerly rubbing in the ointment.

Junghyeok's lips twitched incessantly, but he didn't stop her.

Everywhere Yuseong's hand passed, Junghyeok's wounds healed rapidly.

Seolhwa's ointment really was remarkable. In the original, Mass Production Maker had even imported it and sold it as a cosmetic. What was it called again? Pure White Seolhwa Cream, maybe.

Blaze, blaze.

It had been a while since I had heard that sound effect nearby. When I looked over, Gilyeong was standing there with eyes that were literally blazing. His gaze darted back and forth between Junghyeok and Yuseong as though he had developed a squint.

Aha.

As though he had reached a decision, Gilyeong marched toward Junghyeok and Yuseong.

"Hey, Shin Yuseong!"

Both Junghyeok and Yuseong looked up at Gilyeong's shout.

Jihye, standing beside me, nodded with a pleased expression.

"That's right, Gilyeong. You've finally awakened."

[The judge Heir of Shakyamuni likes the young Sanzangs.]

[Some audience members like the adorable young Sanzangs.]

[An additional 20 bonus points have been awarded.]

Gilyeong hesitated for a long time, only moving his lips beneath the flood of stares. He had acted first, but his face showed that he had no idea what to say.

His face turning red, Gilyeong finally shouted, "I'll put ointment on Dokja hyung!"

As though he had finally realized what he wanted to say, he continued in a triumphant voice.

"You've taken that black-clad bastard's side now!"

Jihye rushed over and smacked the back of Gilyeong's head. He fell face-first into the ground.

"Why are you bringing Kim Dokja into this, idiot!"

Jihye pulled Gilyeong by the ear and began scolding him.

Yuseong shook her head at Gilyeong before returning to applying the ointment. Junghyeok rubbed his ointment-covered cheek several times, as if it felt awkward.

「Kim Dokja watched all of it with a quiet smile.」

[The Fourth Wall is gradually growing thicker.]

「As though he were watching a distant scene.」

The smartphone I pulled from my pocket was forming sentences on its own.

As I looked at the sentences appearing on it, then at my Allies, I thought:

Yeah. Maybe I...

「Perhaps, at that moment, Kim Dokja made a decision about something for the first time.」

* * *

My Outer God Transformation accelerated further. It went from 71% to 75%, then surpassed 80% in an instant.

Yet as it passed 85%, the rate of increase suddenly began to slow.

It was all thanks to the elixirs my Allies had given me.

"Here, eat this too. And this one."

As my infection rate slowed, the Allies' Scenario clear rate rose in inverse proportion.

As expected, the Junghyeok and Jihye combination from the 94th Scenario was incredible.

"Senior Brother, over there!"

"Below."

True to their bond as master and disciple in the Sky-Splitting Sect, they worked perfectly together.

Most enemies were smashed apart before they could even approach or devise a scheme. Sometimes, the two crushed them with strength that overcame even the original's matchups.

[Current Journey to the West progress: 43%]

[The fable room's ranking has risen!]

[The current ranking of this fable room is 21st.]

[Many audience members are chanting for Supreme King Zhu Bajie.]

[The judge Golden Body Arhat is pleased with their appearance as a beautiful young swordswoman.]

Yuseong, who had suddenly become as idle as I was, muttered, "I wish Huiwon unni and Hyeongseong-ahjussi could've come too."

It seemed Huiwon and Hyeongseong hadn't been able to come.

Hyeongseong probably still hadn't woken up. He had entered the final stage of [Steel Transformation], so it made sense that he would sleep for quite a while. His life wouldn't be in danger, though.

The real problem would begin after he woke up.

Anyway, at this rate, the Scenario might end in less than ten days.

One day passed, then two, then three.

[Current Journey to the West progress: 64%]

[The current ranking of this fable room is 15th.]

[A considerable number of competitors are wary of this fable room.]

All I did during that time was ride the bus, sleep lazily, chat with my Allies, and stuff myself with a ridiculous amount of elixirs.

[Your Incarnation body has recovered noticeably!]

[Vitality is gradually returning to your Incarnation body.]

It felt like my cheeks had filled out a little.

Jihye, Yuseong, and Gilyeong watched me enjoy this life of abundance with satisfied expressions.

Like farmers delighted to see a pig grow nice and plump.

"Eat this too! Eat this too!"

"Please have some more."

Why were they so happy to watch me eat?

Jihye complained with a smile beside me. "Junghyeok would've been better, but you'll do. It's nice to watch someone eat well. If only that man had eaten as well as you do."

Time passed again.

"Urgh! Just you wait, Zhu Bajie!"

I met Myeongoh several times as he appeared in different roles.

I also met an unidentified helper who had grown a beard like a celestial immortal.

[Ahem, I am the spirit of this mountain. I knew long ago that you had set out on a noble journey toward Tianzhu. So I waited here to offer you a little help...]

The children shouted at the figure with bright blond hair and a thickly pasted-on beard.

"Hayoung unni!"

"Hayoung hyung!"

Footnotes:

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