WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 458: Episode 86: The Square Circle (5)

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Yu Junghyeok had been ready to swing the Black Heaven Demon Blade the moment Secretive Plotter tried anything. Unexpectedly, Secretive Plotter answered readily. He hadn't even used a constellation's declaration.

"That's right. I'm trapped here."

It was the first time Junghyeok had heard Secretive Plotter's unadorned voice.

Yu Mia beamed at him.

"Let's ask my brother to let you out. My brother's really strong."

At her innocent words, Secretive Plotter slowly shook his head.

"I can't leave this place."

"What? Why?"

Secretive Plotter didn't answer.

"Did my brother do something to you? Did he say something nasty to threaten you?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

Secretive Plotter didn't answer this time, either. Instead, he quietly looked at Mia. He stared for a long time at someone who no longer existed for him. Then, for the first time, he smiled faintly.

"Because I chose to."

Junghyeok couldn't say anything as he watched that smile. Mia kept asking what he meant, while Secretive Plotter simply gazed at her.

Secretive Plotter slowly raised a hand and placed it over Mia's, with only a thin barrier between them. Hands of a similar size. Palms overlapping across time and space, yet never able to touch.

Secretive Plotter and Yoo Mia place their palms together across a barrier

"Huh? Uh..."

Mia blinked, then her body swayed.

"Why am I so sleepy...?"

As Mia slowly collapsed to the ground, Junghyeok rushed over and caught her in his arms.

"You bastard, what did you...!"

【I only let her have a pleasant dream.】

Junghyeok looked down at the sleeping Mia. There were no signs that anything was wrong with her Incarnation body. She was simply sleeping soundly, mumbling incomprehensible things like "beach volleyball" and "squid party" in her sleep.

Junghyeok glared at Secretive Plotter with a complicated expression.

Even in his weakened state, Secretive Plotter could have used Mia to escape this situation without much difficulty. Yet he hadn't.

He only stared endlessly at Mia's sleeping face.

"What happened to Mia in your world?"

【She survived.】

The reply came at once.

【And then she died.】

That reply came just as quickly.

"What does that..."

The moment he spoke, Junghyeok understood what it meant. He closed his mouth again. A thin spark seemed to sob. Within the context of Broken Film Theory, the memories of the two beings trembled, and fables stirred.

「In one worldline, Mia survived for a long time. Even after he died.」

What kind of world did someone who had lived 1,864 times inhabit?

「But in another worldline, Mia died.」

The regressor lived through more “presents” than anyone else, but in truth, he was only a ghost of the past. A being who had to live the next round because he couldn't change the past.

The zeroth round, first round, second round, third round, fourth round... the 1,863rd round.

The being before him wasn't Yu Junghyeok from any one round. He was Yu Junghyeok who belonged to every world, and Yu Junghyeok who bore every world as a debt.

That was why he was Yu Junghyeok more than anyone else.

【You pity me.】

"Who would pity trash like you...?"

【Do you think I'm unhappy?】

Was this self-pity? Junghyeok didn't know.

The blade of the Black Heaven Demon Blade in his grasp trembled faintly.

What was he hesitating over? What could he possibly be hesitating over now? Just because he'd heard a little about that bastard's past...?

Secretive Plotter spoke.

【Do you know? In the front car of the subway you rode, there is a boy who dies in every round.】

It was an unexpected question. The scene inside the subway naturally came to Junghyeok's mind. The first Scenario. His first impression of the hell he had to experience every time.

But Junghyeok didn't know of any such boy. Too many people had died that way.

【I tried countless times through Regression to stop his death, but I couldn't.】

"..."

【He was a young boy. Younger than Shin Yuseong and Lee Gilyeong. A child like that was forced to prove his value. From the zeroth round to the 1,863rd round. That child died without ever properly getting to fight. He died, died, and died again.】

Junghyeok couldn't say anything.

Secretive Plotter asked,

【Between someone who regressed 1,863 times and a child who repeated death 1,864 times without even remembering it, who do you think is more unhappy?】

"That's..."

Secretive Plotter was telling him that his pity had no meaning or value.

Even so, Junghyeok couldn't fully accept those words.

There was no point in comparing the weight of misfortune.

But still.

【<Star Stream> tries to turn every being's life into a beginning, development, turn, and conclusion. But life was never meant to be that way. It is something absurd that can end at any moment, whether at the beginning, development, or turn. So there is nothing strange about my life ending here.】

Had that boy on the subway worn the same expression? Junghyeok didn't know.

Secretive Plotter looked at him with quiet eyes.

After staring into those eyes for a long time, Junghyeok looked away and lowered the Black Heaven Demon Blade.

"If you regress again this time, you'll see that child's death again."

In the end, the Black Heaven Demon Blade returned to its sheath.

This might have been the wrong choice. Even so, Junghyeok made his decision.

Perhaps surprised by that choice, Secretive Plotter was silent for a long time.

【You've been influenced too much by Dokja.】

"Shut up. I can kill trash like you whenever I want..."

The sounds of people approaching drew closer. Voices calling for Junghyeok. Dokja, Suyeong, and the Allies of Kim Dokja Company.

【It's hard to admit, but one thing is certain. This worldline differs from every round I have lived through so far. Perhaps in this worldline, you might truly see beyond the Wall.】

"..."

【But don't expect it to be the conclusion you want. And even if it is a conclusion you don't want...】

Secretive Plotter's constellation's declaration faded once more. His eyelids slowly closed. Secretive Plotter was falling back into a deep sleep.

As Dokja emerged through the grass, Secretive Plotter finished speaking.

【Don't think this world is a failed round.】

* * *

"I'm telling you, I played beach volleyball."

That was Mia's answer when asked what had happened.

"I'm telling you, I grilled squid, too, and played beach volleyball with my brother. Does being ugly make you bad at understanding things?"

I wanted to point out that there were three things wrong with that sentence.

First, we weren't at the beach. Second, I wasn't that ugly. And my reading comprehension...

"Well, it looks like nothing happened, anyway."

Suyeong muttered, sounding relieved.

There was no sign that Junghyeok had caused trouble, and Secretive Plotter was still deep asleep.

I put Secretive Plotter back inside the X-grade Ferrari.

A few things bothered me, but this wasn't the time to question him.

"Come on, everyone! Gather around! We're having a campfire!"

The campfire lit up the darkness of the mountain, sending up acrid smoke. It was already close to midnight. Only then did something suddenly occur to me.

"Wait! My Scenario isn't over yet...!"

Damn it. I'd completely forgotten because of Junghyeok.

Biyoo hummed "Baat, baat" above my head.

[The Scenario time limit has expired!]

Was I really going to die like this?

[The Sub Scenario - The Worker's Holiday has ended!]

[The total number of complaints you must resolve is 5.]

[The total number of complaints you resolved is 1.]

[You have resolved all of the employees' complaints.]

[A new fable related to the nebula Kim Dokja Company is budding.]

Huh?

"Do you just go around dropping your wits on the ground...?"

Suyeong muttered while looking at the side of my face.

The Allies looked at me, quietly chuckling.

Then I remembered the answers I'd received whenever I'd spoken to them.

‘I don't really have any complaints.’

That had been true?

"No one here is going to blame you."

Suyeong's voice rang out as if she didn't care. The others silently warmed themselves by the fire. The feelings contained in that silence made something rise in my throat.

Huiwon added,

"Well, if we had to find something we wanted to say, we could, but those wouldn't be complaints..."

Why did I suddenly feel a chill down my back when there was such a hot fire in front of me?

"Anyway, it was nice to get some proper rest for once. Though it looks like someone didn't get much rest."

At Sangah's words, Jihye cut in.

"But is it really over now? Aren't we going to hold candles and cry, or write rolling papers?"

"This isn't even a school trip. Why would we do that? And we don't even have paper..."

I paused to think as Suyeong scolded her.

A rolling paper written by Suyeong... That might actually be pretty funny.

Suyeong abruptly stopped speaking, looked at me, and asked,

"Want me to write one for you?"

"No. We're not kids."

"You had no friends and never went on an MT, right? I bet you've never gotten one before."

If my total mental energy dropped sharply from this trip, it would all be Suyeong's fault.

Some of the more proactive Allies of Kim Dokja Company had already bought large sheets of paper and pens through the Dokkaebi Compendium.

Those dokkaebi bastards even took coins for things like this...

Junghyeok, seated across the fire, seemed angry as well.

"I'm not doing this crap."

Though he seemed angry for a different reason than I was.

Still, seeing everyone gathered together and writing on the paper felt strangely moving. It was like a writing circle for poor, friendless Kim Dokja.

As everyone wrote their names on the paper and passed it around, Gilyeong raised his hand.

"Hyung, I bought this from the Dokkaebi Compendium. Can I launch it?"

Yuseong spotted the toy in Gilyeong's hand and brightened.

"Huh? Isn't that what people used to fly at the Han River?"

"I bought it because it reminded me of that."

"Let me launch one too!"

"No. Buy your own. It costs 2,000 coins."

Gilyeong held a parachute helicopter. I'd seen one a few times before. It was a toy that shot into the sky and lit up when you pulled its string hard, then let go.

What made Gilyeong's toy unusual was that its four blades formed a large square.

Still, 2,000 coins for something like that?

"Okay, here it goes!"

Gilyeong launched the parachute helicopter into the air. It shot up in an instant, spinning fiercely and bathing the area in light. Light scattered across the night sky like fireworks. Even though they were used to more spectacular sights, the Allies watched with awed expressions.

The helicopter's square blades spun rapidly, taking the shape of a circle.

It looked like a portal. A portal leading to the world we had once lived in. We could never return, but we still longed for the world that had certainly existed there.

That was when a system message rang out in the air.

[The Incarnation Lee Gilyeong has used the item Parachute Helicopter (Extra-Large Optical Screen)!]

The spinning helicopter blades grew larger and larger until they began to take the form of a screen. Jihye frowned.

"What? That was a hologram panel? Do we have to watch Scenarios even here?"

"Gilyeong, did you even read the instructions properly?"

"No, I thought it was just a helicopter..."

The moment Gilyeong spoke, a faint tremor ran through the area.

Everyone's expressions hardened.

"What the hell is that now...?"

At Suyeong's words, everyone stared at the screen in the air.

The moment they saw it, they understood the source of the tremor. This tremor wasn't coming from the Korean Peninsula.

The American continent appeared on the optical screen. Right before our eyes, the entire American continent was disappearing.

A massive island rose from Earth's deepest depths.

With the island's appearance, the American continent was being erased from the map.

[The Plausibility of this worldview has reached its critical point!]

[The Forgotten Islands have begun to rise!]

Junghyeok's expression hardened as he quietly muttered,

"Destruction has begun."

Footnotes:

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