WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 445: Episode 84: 1864 (1)

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"Dokja ahjussi?"

Watching the Yu Junghyeoks fighting fiercely in the distance, I hesitated.

[Your current Incarnation body's condition is unstable!]

There was no way I could be of any help if I rushed in with my body in its current state.

Looking more closely, [999] and Secretive Plotter were the ones fighting. I didn't know why, but it seemed [999] had decided to take our side.

I clenched my fist.

「Kim Dokja thought. There was only one way.」

[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

Just as I had during the battle against Nirvana, and against Poseidon...

- Youngest, what are you hesitating about?

It was Great Sage Equaling Heaven. He seemed to have sensed my feelings even while continuing his fierce battle in the sky.

I murmured so quietly that he could barely hear me.

"I'm a little afraid of reading now."

Maybe it had started after I fought Junghyeok on the Island of Reincarnators.

Or perhaps it had begun more recently, right after hearing what [999] said.

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

Until now, I had been the "reader" of all these stories.

But how long would it be all right for me to remain that kind of reader?

- I see. You possess the power to read others.

He had guessed at my ability. He had been in my channel as the Prisoner of the Golden Headband for a long time, so it wasn't strange that he had noticed.

- There was someone I once wanted to understand as well.

I felt Great Sage Equaling Heaven's gaze settle on Yu Sangah. More precisely, not Sangah herself, but Sangah's Incarnation body.

He was looking at the body's former owner.

- Even now, I don't know why Sanzang cast me out twice.

In the original Journey to the West, Sun Wukong was dismissed twice.

- But I never properly asked Sanzang about it. Because of my worthless pride. I only thought and thought to myself. Why had that bastard done it? Why had he made that choice? Why did he have to be so stubborn? What exactly had I done wrong, and where had the problem begun? Even after the journey ended, that question continued circling within me.

It was the first time I had heard such a story.

Great Sage Equaling Heaven also had questions of his own that remained unanswered.

- And when I finally found the courage, the opportunity had already disappeared.

Great Sage Equaling Heaven's voice had become faintly dejected.

Since I didn't know much about what happened after Journey to the West, I couldn't guess the depth of his sorrow.

What was certain was that Sangah had reincarnated as Sanzang's Incarnation body and that the real Sanzang was not in this world.

- I've been repeating the Journey to the West Remake to find the answer to that question. I hoped someone else would tell me what I didn't know, what I hadn't been able to read.

Only then did I think I understood why Great Sage Equaling Heaven had joined this Scenario event.

A question suddenly came to me. Had he found his answer?

- I did not find an answer. Still... I found a little comfort.

Great Sage Equaling Heaven's gaze was directed toward Shin Yuseong.

[The Great Fable Journey to the West continues its story.]

Great Sage Equaling Heaven spoke while blocking the Emperor's relentless attacks.

- There may be things we can never understand, things we may never reach, and efforts at understanding that may come to nothing. Yet even knowing that understanding is impossible, we must read fables. That is the duty and meaning of those who become stars in this sky and exist as Constellations.

Great Sage Equaling Heaven couldn't understand Sanzang. And perhaps he never would. Even so, Great Sage Equaling Heaven hadn't given up.

- So you should read as well.

"But I can't do it alone..."

- Why do you think you are alone?

I raised my head without realizing it at his words.

- Not in the same way you do, perhaps, but everyone reads each other. So do not stop reading.

It wasn't particularly specific advice. Still, I felt something in those words. It felt like tiny feathers were piling up, one after another. Maybe this was the comfort Great Sage Equaling Heaven had received while watching our story.

"Yu Sangah-ssi."

Sangah turned toward me as if she had been waiting.

"Will you be all right?"

"Yes. But if possible, gently..."

Sangah nodded and recited the Tightening Headband Spell at me.

My body slumped heavily, as if its fuse had burned out. In that instant, my escaping consciousness headed exactly where it needed to go.

[Stage 3 of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has activated!]

[Your understanding of the current individual is extremely high!]

[First-Person Protagonist's Viewpoint has activated!]

As my vision slowly found its place, tremendous strength began overflowing through my entire body. It was Junghyeok's power.

A moment later, the enemy's figure appeared before me. A being surrounded by an aura of overwhelming Status, looking down upon us.

Secretive Plotter.

Great Sage Equaling Heaven was right. That being could never be defeated alone.

「Let's go.」

The Status of a Transcendent surged through my body.

I added every bit of Status I possessed to Junghyeok.

[The Status of a Transcendent has encountered the Status of a Demon King!]

The strength I had gained so far interlocked with Junghyeok's strength and surged upward. Vitality coursed through my blood as if I had been reborn.

Junghyeok slowly opened his eyes, golden light shining from them.

"You're late."

Instead of getting angry with me or reproaching me, Junghyeok only said that.

Even though he must have known that I had played Sun Wukong.

「I'm sorry.」

"Save the useless words for later. Defeating him is the priority now."

Kwoooooong!

Secretive Plotter casually swung the Splitting the Sky Sword, cleaving the Tongtian River, and we barely dodged the attack.

The Constellations and Incarnations that happened to be nearby were swept away all at once and turned into screams. It was unbelievable destructive power.

【It is a futile effort. Even if you regain your memories, you cannot defeat me. In the end, you originated from me.】

「What is that bastard talking about?」

Junghyeok ran across the river and spoke as if he were annoyed.

"According to his claim, I am not the Yu Junghyeok of the third round."

「What? Then?」

I asked without thinking, but at the same time, scattered hypotheses were finding an answer in my mind. It was perhaps a question that had been piling up for a very long time.

「'The Yu Junghyeok of the third round couldn't possibly know this information.'」

Even in the Green Zone Scenario.

「'No matter how I think about it, his growth rate is too fast.'」

And in the Theater Dungeon as well.

The doubts I had unconsciously felt every time I checked Junghyeok's information with [Character Profile] were breeding one after another.

The conversation I had shared with [999] also flashed through my mind.

「"The Yu Junghyeok of this worldline said he was in the 'third round.' So this is the third round."」

「"How naive, to believe that information so readily."」

When I came to my senses, I was already activating [Character Profile].

[There is too much related information about the current individual. Character Profile is being converted into Summary Profile.]

[Only categories arbitrarily selected for the user's convenience will be displayed.]

+

Character: Yu Junghyeok

Exclusive Attribute: the regressor <3rd round> (Mythical), Master of Play (Legendary)...

+

Third round. This bastard was definitely in the third round.

Then what did their words mean...?

「Kim Dok ja, do you real ly not know?」

The pages of my memories were turning.

They were memories I had tried not to recall.

「"Does the 'world' you showed me truly exist?"」

「[The current individual is not a character.]」

"Get a hold of yourself, Kim Dokja!"

Junghyeok's shout jolted me awake. This wasn't the time to think about anything else.

Secretive Plotter floated in the air, his Status steadily growing stronger.

【It seems you still have not properly recalled your memories.】

"I won't lose so easily this time."

As if resisting Secretive Plotter's Status, Junghyeok drew out his own strength. [phoenix walk] and [Sky Splitter Sword Art] unfolded to their peak, and Sky-Splitting Sword Lightning covered the Black Heaven Demon Blade.

Junghyeok had fought this way before and lost.

This time, though, that wasn't all.

[Bookmark No. 5 has been activated!]

[The Exclusive Skill Electrification Lv.23(+13) has been activated!]

[You have activated the Exclusive Skill Way of the Wind Lv.18(+8)!]

[You have activated Demon King Transformation!]

Junghyeok's [phoenix walk] was imbued with the ability of [Way of the Wind], [Sky-Splitting Sword Lightning] was imbued with the lightning of [Electrification], and the power of a Demon King was added to the power of a Transcendent.

Twice, three times, four times...

Junghyeok's Status rapidly multiplied, spreading threateningly through the area around the Tongtian River.

Tzztztztz!

Sparks flew, and we charged toward Secretive Plotter.

[Electrification] and [Sky-Splitting Sword Lightning] dwelled within the Black Heaven Demon Blade.

As the secret arts of Kyrios and the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint shone at once, an enormous storm of sword aura swept in.

Kwoooooong!

It was power enough to split mountains and melt seas.

Yet Secretive Plotter remained calm even before that power.

The two swords clashed with a sharp crack. Because I shared Junghyeok's senses completely, I felt pain as if my palms were being torn apart.

We used both hands, while he used one.

Even so...

【How unfortunate, Yu Junghyeok.】

We couldn't cut Secretive Plotter.

Tzzt, tzztzt.

The sparks around him showed that Secretive Plotter still wasn't fighting at full strength.

How could the gap in our power be this vast?

[The fable Eternal Hellscape continues its story.]

The surroundings were being covered by his stage.

A hell of 1,863 regressions. Outer Gods groaning in pits of fire, and the corpses of stars.

【To think you've lost even your own memories as the price of escaping the closed universe and dreaming of a new story. Is that truly the world you wanted?】

His voice echoed through the hellscape like that of an evil spirit.

I was confused. I thought I understood what he meant, yet I couldn't accept it.

A Yu Junghyeok who had escaped the closed universe and dreamed of a new story. As far as I knew, there was only one such man.

If it was true.

If the Junghyeok I knew was that Junghyeok.

[The Fourth Wall has grown even thicker.]

"Kim Dokja, you need to come up with a clever move."

Junghyeok shouted sharply.

"Use the fable you used last time."

I knew which time he meant.

「"Eternal Hellscape"」.

The fable we had used while fighting Poseidon before.

At the time, we had borrowed the memories of Junghyeok from the 362nd round and killed Theseus.

I groaned as I looked at the dark fable flowing beneath Secretive Plotter.

「Honestly, I don't know if we can win even if we use it.」

The furthest round I had managed to read with all my strength was only the 362nd. I would do better now than I had then, but I didn't think I could defeat the bastard before me.

「And...」

That wasn't the only reason I hesitated.

If I succeeded in borrowing the power of a Junghyeok beyond the 362nd round, Junghyeok would read those memories along with me.

Just as Constellations read the fables of Incarnations, I had read Junghyeok's TWSA.

If I used 「"Eternal Hellscape"」 here, Junghyeok would experience my reading, stained with misunderstanding, alongside me.

The TWSA I had read to survive. The history I remembered as I pleased. In that history, Junghyeok had been one-sidedly distorted or exaggerated, portrayed as either problematic or idolized.

「...Damn it.」

Even so, I had no choice but to commit that violence.

[The fable Eternal Hellscape begins its story!]

I turned the pages in deep helplessness. It was the same before destruction and after destruction. All I could ever do was turn the pages of a book. Countless rounds of Junghyeok passed before my eyes.

Third round, fourth round, fifth round... 41st round... 182nd round...

Memories flowed by.

Countless Yu Junghyeoks were looking at us.

362nd round... 598th round... 724th round...

[Your Reading Comprehension is advancing toward a new possibility!]

[Pages you could not read are opening!]

862nd round... 999th round...

Blood rose in my throat. My head hurt as if it were about to split open.

999th round. The round I had liked.

Junghyeok's lines slowly grew sparser. I had reached my limit.

[You have reached the maximum round you can read.]

[The highest round of Yu Junghyeok you can read is the 999th round.]

A message appeared like a score given to a book report. I couldn't raise my head.

Was reading something so shameful and sinful?

That was when Junghyeok spoke.

"No matter how you read it, I'm the one who judges it. So keep reading."

He spoke while wounded all over, parrying Secretive Plotter's incoming attacks.

"It's up to me what I hear and what I remember. I'm the one who decides who I am."

He was telling me a story I didn't know, in a voice I knew well.

"You aren't reading alone."

The moment I heard those words, something awakened within me. It wasn't a memory from TWSA.

It was a conversation I had had with my mother a long time ago.

「"Why read a story again when you already know all of it?"」

There were stories that remained the same even when read again. Since the reader didn't change, neither did the story.

My mother had answered my question like this.

「"Then shall we read it together?"」

Read it together.

[Your Reading Comprehension has improved dramatically!]

Pages I could never have turned alone were turning in my mind as it fell into chaos.

1,146th round... 1,398th round... 1,561st round... 1,733rd round...

The people I had met in this world were turning those pages with me.

There were things I still couldn't understand, and things that only then made sense. There were sentences I felt I might never understand.

【――――!】

I heard Secretive Plotter shouting.

My consciousness kept fading. Fighting off sleep, I turned page after page like mad, spilling blood and enduring brutal sparks.

I still didn't know Junghyeok well.

「"You'll only be able to return to that world if I die, right?"」

「"If you stay here, you can't save that world."」

But if the misunderstanding I had built up over more than ten years could, like a miracle, reach even the faintest understanding.

「"I became curious about that world's ■■."」

Then I could read again.

[The highest round of Yu Junghyeok you can read is the 1,863rd round.]

The Status Secretive Plotter had sent flying struck the Black Heaven Demon Blade and scattered.

I blinked blankly.

[Character Profile] was changing as if the layered letters had been peeled away. The number written as 3 was stripped away, and a new number was engraved in its place.

A page I had never read before unfolded over a dazzling white sheet.

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Character: Yu Junghyeok

Exclusive Attribute: the regressor <1,864th round> (Mythical)...

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It was a completely new story.

Footnotes:

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