WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 435: Episode 82: Outer Gods (4)

──────

Listening to the voice from the panel in midair, Jeong Huiwon bit down hard on her lip.

She wanted to be there too. She wanted to fight alongside her allies.

"Hyeongseong-ssi."

But she couldn't go because of the man lying unconscious in the bed before her.

Lee Hyeongseong's entire body was covered in steel, and his heart had stopped beating.

He still hadn't recovered from the shock of the Great war of Angels and Demons.

In the mirror beside her, Huiwon saw that half her hair had turned white. It was another aftereffect of the Great war of Angels and Demons.

"Just rest here. There aren't any roles left to give you anyway."

Huiwon knew Suyeong and the others were only looking out for her.

She had been wounded too deeply in the Great war of Angels and Demons. Her body and mind were both in ruins. She had failed to save Kim Dokja again, and the man who had tried to protect her had fallen into a coma. Kim Dokja Company's sharpest sword had been blunted.

The Sword of Judgement, resting in one corner of the bed, trembled.

It only shook when evil was nearby. It was the sword Kim Dokja had given her.

Its blade pointed directly at the panel screen. Perhaps the sword knew, too. This wasn't where she belonged.

Huiwon cautiously reached out and wrapped her hand around its hilt as if soothing it.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire looks upon her Incarnation with pitying eyes.]

Eden and the Demon Realm had collapsed because of the Great war of Angels and Demons.

Many Archangels and Demon Kings had died, and none of the justice Huiwon had believed in existed there. Even so, she still had to wield her sword.

That was when she sensed a faint movement from the bed.

"Hyeongseong-ssi!"

When had he woken up? Hyeongseong was staring at the panel screen.

His lips moved as though he were saying something.

"What?"

She moved closer, but she couldn't hear his voice.

Hyeongseong's lips moved slowly. Huiwon understood the words they formed.

Can't

lose

again...

Her clenched fist trembled. She was furious. Why was this man still, even after his body had ended up like this...

The moment Huiwon grabbed Hyeongseong's hand, unable to contain her feelings any longer, his body suddenly began to change.

A dazzling silver light poured from him. In an instant, Hyeongseong shrank and became a sword.

"What the...!"

Startled, Huiwon accidentally let go of him.

Hyeongseong, now a sword on the bed, was crying. As if this was the only thing he could do. Huiwon sank to the floor in a daze, lowered her head, and muttered, "What are you...?"

The hospital room door suddenly flew open.

When she turned, Han Suyeong was standing there, though she should have been playing Scenario Master.

"Jeong Huiwon."

The instant she heard that voice, Huiwon's heart began to race.

The steel sword on the bed trembled in response.

Huiwon knew exactly what the sword felt.

Everyone had their own way of enduring the world.

Huiwon slowly reached out, gripped the steel sword's hilt tightly, and spoke.

"Are there any roles left?"

* * *

A Scenario window appeared in midair along with the Great Dokkaebi's voice.

[A linked Main Scenario has activated!]

+

Category: Main

Difficulty: Immeasurable

Clear Conditions: Break through the horde of monsters of fable and obtain the scriptures on the far side of the Tongtian River.

Time Limit: 2 hours

Rewards: A Great Fable related to Journey to the West, 5,000,000 Coins, ???

Failure: -

* A Hidden Piece is concealed within this Scenario.

+

At the same time, the Tongtian River's water level began rising sharply. Waters that surged in like a tsunami filled the area around us in an instant.

Then came the cries of monsters of fable, enough to cover the sky.

【Die die die die die die die】

【Aaaaaaaahhhhh!】

There were more of them than all the monsters of fable that had followed us so far.

[The Outer God's current share in this fable is 15.872%.]

The remaining Outer God's share I needed to keep my promise to the Hunchback King was 14.128%.

In other words, I had to secure the entire remaining share during this event.

【Uuuuuuuuh...】

When I looked behind us, the monsters of fable who had formed "Pilgrimage Road" with us were crying out toward the sky.

[Then, I look forward to a wonderful Scenario finale.]

The Great Dokkaebi disappeared, and numerous other Journey to the West protagonists appeared in beams of light.

"Let's go!"

"We'll get the scriptures!"

The crowds participating in the merged fable room advanced through the Tongtian River's currents.

"I'm the real Sun Wukong!"

Some rode Cloud Somersaults, while others used spells to fly over the Tongtian River. They seemed to intend to cross by air.

But if the Journey to the West I knew was right, that was completely the wrong choice.

[Flight-related Skills and Stigmas are restricted in this Scenario.]

Intense sparks burst in midair, and those flying fell into the river with screams.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Other Journey to the West team members who had fallen into the water pointed at the Great Dokkaebi in midair.

The Great Dokkaebi only shrugged.

Watching them, I said, "If they could fly across, this journey would've had no meaning from the beginning."

Junghyeok muttered beside me as if chewing on the words. "So all of this becomes a fable."

"That's right."

Journey to the West was, in the end, a story about taking a difficult road the hard way.

Even when people traveled the same route, the story changed depending on the path they chose. Travelers made a fourteen-year journey through every kind of hardship and trial across a distance they could have crossed on a Cloud Somersault in a day. Because such a fable existed, the scriptures waiting at the end of this journey also held meaning.

(And at last, the final gateway of this entire story awaited the allies.)

After hearing the narration, Gilyeong grumbled quietly.

"I'm not very good at swimming."

The Tongtian River was vast.

We couldn't all ride Master Sanzang's Dragon Horse, so it looked like everyone would have to swim across.

A few teams had already jumped into the water and were paddling hard. Some rowed shabby boats they had found somewhere, while others rode logs and used wind spells.

Watching them, Jihye tapped Gilyeong's shoulder and stepped forward.

"Don't worry. We don't have to do that."

With her confident words, a message sounded in midair.

[One audience member has revealed their identity.]

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God nods.]

Come to think of it, I'd forgotten.

"Come forth, Turtle Ship!"

[The Great Fable Next City begins its story!]

Jihye raised her Twin Dragon Swords high toward the sky.

The waters before us split apart, and the hull of a massive warship rose above the surface in a magnificent glow.

A few Incarnations swept up in the shockwave cried out.

"What the hell is that?!"

A warship with a dragon's head atop a turtle's shell, the Turtle Dragon.

The constellation artifact Jihye and the children had obtained after clearing Next City appeared before us.

Still, I wondered if we could really ride that. Because in Journey to the West...

[The constellation artifact Turtle Dragon responds to the Journey to the West Remake!]

(When the allies fell into danger and were at a loss, a giant white softshell turtle monster appeared and carried them.)

[Some judges are pleased by this meticulous reflection of the original story.]

[You have earned 20 bonus points!]

So Journey to the West had a part like that. How fitting.

We immediately jumped aboard the warship.

"Set sail!"

At Jihye's shout, the warship cut through the currents and sped forward.

The teams paddling ahead stared at us with blank expressions.

I felt sorry for them, but we didn't have time to worry about them too.

"Um... Unni, let's avoid the monsters of fable as much as possible."

"Don't worry."

I didn't know where she'd learned it, but Jihye skillfully avoided the charging hordes of monsters of fable with uncanny driving.

Even the monsters of fable attacking us with hostile intent hesitated when they saw the others riding on our ship.

【Who are you?】

Some of the monsters of fable who had joined "Pilgrimage Road" clung to the warship, while the rest followed behind it through the river.

Perhaps the monsters were obstructing their path, because Sun Wukongs from other fable rooms were swinging their Ruyi Staffs.

"That bastard?"

Jihye clenched her fist in fury, but we couldn't save them all.

Monsters of fable were already dying throughout the Tongtian River.

【Gyaaaaaaah!】

The teams from other fable rooms advanced, indiscriminately beating down the monsters of fable blocking their way. Blood sprayed everywhere, and flesh burst apart.

[A considerable number of audience members cheer at the spectacle of slaughter!]

The monsters of fable continued to die.

Monsters who had gained no meaning because they had failed to build fables.

They were sacrifices meant to complete this Journey to the West.

Journey to the West. A long journey toward human transcendence.

To grant enlightenment to the audience watching this fable, the monsters of fable had to be drowned in the Tongtian River.

"Kill them! Kill every last one!"

The protagonists of Journey to the West, walking the road to enlightenment, crossed the Tongtian River by using dead monsters of fable as footholds. Countless monsters became stepping stones, and sometimes protagonists from other fable rooms who had died became stepping stones as well.

But no one remembered the names of those footholds.

【Our story】

【Wanted to continue, but】

But as long as they survived. As long as they could become protagonists of this Great Fable.

"Myeongoh-ahjussi, hold on tight! I said it's safe here."

"Safe, my ass! Do you think I've only been tricked once or twice?"

[The Stigma One-Legged Speedster Lv.??? is preparing to activate.]

Even if a leg was cut off or an arm fell away... that existence would be remembered by this world.

[All characters in fable room 7133 have been annihilated.]

[All characters in fable room 487 have been annihilated.]

More fable rooms dropped out as time passed.

And in proportion to that number, the number of falling monsters of fable surged as well.

【Aaaaaaaahhhhh!】

【Save me save me save me save me!】

[The Outer God's current share in this fable is 15.773%.]

The Outer God's share I had struggled to build up was slowly falling.

Even though so many monsters of fable remained.

[The Outer God's current share in this fable is 14.973%.]

The Outer Gods' share rapidly declined.

[The Outer God's current share in this fable is 14.473%.]

Perhaps it was only natural.

After all, they were villains meant to be defeated in this world, not protagonists.

【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!】

Junghyeok noticed where I was looking.

"You know it too. We can't save everyone."

It hurt more because those words came from Junghyeok.

"Like you said, it's because this is a fable."

Junghyeok's eyes stared at the monsters of fable dying beneath the surface.

Because this was a fable, we couldn't save everyone.

I understood exactly what that meant.

"Not everyone in this world can become a protagonist."

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried