WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 459: Episode 87: The Heart of Steel (1)

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We returned to Seoul at once.

The first thing we checked was the safety of the industrial complex.

"We haven't detected any further unusual signs."

Aileen, who was in charge of the central control room, spoke.

Videos of the Pacific Ocean were playing on the panels in the control room.

A massive island had risen from the Pacific near the American continent.

It was clearly one of the Calamities I knew.

In the original story, the owner of that island was a powerful Outer God. The question was whether it was the same being this time.

"Where's my mother?"

"She's on the east coast."

"The east coast?"

[The Forgotten Islands have begun to rise!]

Along with the system message, waves surged in from across the distant Pacific. Such massive tectonic changes must have sent enormous tsunamis crashing into shores around the world.

America had suffered the worst damage.

Kwagagagagak!

Amid the desperate screams of Incarnations, the streets of New York were being swept away.

The tsunami wasn't the only threat. Nameless Ones, low-grade beings of the Outer Gods, were surging in beneath it. The Nameless Ones were wildly flooding across the American mainland, devouring everything in their path.

There wasn't even time to call for help.

Before thirty minutes had passed since the disaster began, half the American mainland had vanished. An hour later, thick black smoke covered the whole of America. It was a Calamity on an entirely different level from Dark Castle or the Catastrophe of Floods that had appeared in Seoul.

"Could my mother be...?"

Aileen nodded and added, "I'm not sure if I should call it fortunate, but..."

The panel switched to show the eastern coast of the Korean Peninsula.

As expected, the tsunami had reached this far. The waves were lower than those that had engulfed the American mainland, and there were no Nameless Ones in sight, but the tsunami was still an overwhelming natural disaster.

"Wind God of the Heavenly Emperor!"

With my mother's cry, a fierce wind burst from the folding fan in her hand. Fengbaek, who had been so stubborn during the Great war of Angels and Demons, seemed to be genuinely helpful this time.

Jo Yeongran, who could be called my mother's right hand, was also fighting fiercely.

[The Great Fable Shindansu begins its story!]

Hongik seemed to have noticed the situation as well. The fable of Shindansu, its roots planted in the sea, was drawing in seawater using the Korean Peninsula's Plausibility. Han Suyeong muttered as though her life had been shortened by ten years.

"Come to think of it, isn't that woman in America?"

There was only one person Suyeong could mean by "that woman."

"Didn't she foresee this with future vision?"

"I was about to tell you about that..."

Before Aileen could finish, a door on one side of the control room opened and someone entered.

Junghyeok immediately reached for the Black Heaven Demon Blade when he recognized them.

"I'm not here to fight, so put that sword away, Supreme King."

The Arch-Demon's Eyeball glowed brightly.

Prophet Anna Croft and the Zarathustra she led stood there.

* * *

"We issued an emergency warning five hours ago. Most people escaped to different parts of the world, but many couldn't get out."

"Why didn't you ask us for help?"

"We didn't even have the means to do that. We couldn't be certain of the future vision information in the first place. This is the first time such a large amount of future information has suddenly changed..."

Anna looked confused.

A large-scale upheaval in future information.

It was probably proof that, when it came to the Final Scenario, Anna's future vision no longer held much of an advantage.

Suyeong asked sharply, "What about Asgard? You successfully finished the Great war of Angels and Demons, so they should've started supporting you again."

Anna bit her lip and muttered with her head lowered, "They told me to abandon America."

The Final Scenario would begin soon. Asgard likely had no room to cling to a single continent on one planet. Earth couldn't be the only planet where destruction was taking place.

A deep rumble came from the panel, followed by a tremendous explosion.

【Gagagagagagagak】

【Wewewewe】

The Outer Gods occupying the American coastline were howling.

I recalled the 95th Scenario I had experienced in the 1,863rd round.

The invasion of the Outer Gods had begun earlier in that worldline than it had in ours.

And we would soon end up much the same way. That was the story the damned Administration Bureau wanted.

"Does Korea have any countermeasures?"

"We're thinking about it."

"I heard you made contact with the king of the Outer Gods."

She was probably talking about Secretive Plotter.

"More precisely, we've captured him."

Anna's eyes trembled. It seemed she hadn't known that much.

"Then could you use the king to stop this Calamity...?"

"He's already expended a great deal of Plausibility, so it would be difficult. Besides, he has nothing to do with this Calamity."

"You... know something about this Calamity, don't you?"

I didn't answer immediately. I simply looked at Anna.

If she wanted to know something, she had to reveal what she knew first. That was the basis of an information exchange.

As if she understood what I meant, Anna let out a light sigh and began to speak.

"I don't have much information to offer."

"Tell us what you can."

"Firstly, the Great Apocalypse Scenario has currently activated only in part of the Pacific Ocean and the American continent."

That was information I already knew.

[The Great Apocalypse is currently underway in this area.]

A transparent dome had formed over the entire American continent and the Pacific Ocean. The Nameless Ones still didn't seem able to leave the dome. That was probably the extent of Plausibility currently permitted to them.

"Secondly, ordinary weapons can't hunt the Nameless Ones. Existing weapon systems don't work on them, and even constellation artifacts from lower Scenarios are rarely effective."

On the screen, several Incarnations were desperately fighting the Nameless Ones. Among them was the owner of a fairly well-known constellation artifact, but his axe couldn't properly cut through a Nameless One's flesh.

"Why...!"

When sharp teeth tore an Incarnation's body to pieces and its flesh covered the panel, Jihye grimaced and turned away. I didn't look away, studying the scene closely.

[The Exclusive Skill Reading Comprehension has activated!]

A carapace surrounded the body of a Nameless One. Faint letters floated across its surface.

Junghyeok said, "A Stigma."

"Not an ordinary Stigma. If it can remain active like that, it's already at the Fable Manifestation stage."

Fable Manifestation. It had become a stage where that much Plausibility would be permitted.

Junghyeok nodded as if he agreed.

"The king of those Nameless Ones is probably a being with an extremely powerful defensive ability."

A king's dependents naturally followed the king's fable, just as the child versions of Junghyeok who served Secretive Plotter had.

The Outer God that had raised an island from the Pacific was likely one of the five kings written about in the books left behind by the Recorders of Fear.

「The Calamity of the Western World, "Owner of the Sunken Island."」

I spoke as though to reassure the allies.

"Don't worry too much. Constellations of a higher Status will have weapons capable of killing them."

"But no Constellations have joined the battle."

There really were no Constellations anywhere on the screen.

Not even the common Historical-grade Constellations.

"We'll have to gather them now."

I glanced at Biyoo to activate a constellation's declaration. The channel was strangely quiet. Everyone must have seen that scene.

Yet there were no messages?

Maybe they were afraid of the king that still hadn't emerged from the depths of the sea.

"Jang Hayoung."

Hayoung met my gaze and nodded.

If it was difficult to communicate with Constellations through the channel, borrowing Hayoung's power was our best option. A moment later, she said, "No one's replying."

"No one?"

That couldn't be true. There were countless Constellations in the Star Stream.

"Black Flame Dragon was the only one who replied, but he said he was a little busy and couldn't answer right now..."

"Did you contact Olympus, too? What about the underworld?"

"I did those first. But there's no reply."

Something was strange.

I could understand Olympus, but the underworld should have responded.

Especially Uriel and Great Sage Equaling Heaven...

Suyeong, who had been clicking her tongue beside me, said, "Of course they haven't. This is the true nature of Constellations."

Every modifier of the Constellations who had supported us flashed through my mind. There were so many of them, yet not one would help us?

Suyeong continued, "Plenty of Constellations watched our fables. Some cheered for us, others envied us. There were all sorts of reactions, and we earned lots of coins. But that was it."

"..."

"Did you think the world was moved by our story? Did you really think you'd changed the Star Stream?"

"I wasn't naive enough to think that much, but..."

"Constellations only subscribe to channels that suit their tastes. Now that they've lost interest, they've moved to other channels. That's all."

I didn't know whether Suyeong's words were true.

[The next Great Apocalypse Scenario region is Northeast Asia.]

[14 days, 12 hours, and 7 minutes remain until the Great Apocalypse Scenario begins.]

What was certain was that, because they had turned away from us, Earth could be destroyed altogether.

Jeong Huiwon asked, "What do we do now?"

"Well, it isn't a situation we hadn't considered at all."

Suyeong narrowed her eyes at my words.

"You have a plan?"

"If they won't come meet us, we'll go meet them first."

"Where are we going first? The easy underworld, as expected?"

"You're probably the only one who'd call the underworld easy."

Leaving the snickering Suyeong behind, I looked at Huiwon.

Asking the underworld for help was urgent, but something else was even more urgent right now.

We had fourteen days left. We needed to get the greatest results with the least amount of travel.

"We need to retrieve our lost Companion first."

I looked at the steel sword hanging from Huiwon's waist.

[The soul of the character Lee Hyeongseong is asleep.]

It seemed the aftereffects of the fifth stage of Steel Transformation were more severe than I had thought.

"We're going to meet the Master of Steel."

"The Master of Steel? Will a guy like that help us?"

I nodded.

"The Master of Steel is a powerful Constellation. He isn't Mythical, but right now, we need him more than a Mythical Constellation."

"Why?"

"We don't have time to explain. Let's move first."

We needed an emergency contact and a minimum defensive force, so Hayoung, Pildu Gong, and Lee Seolhwa stayed at the industrial complex. I felt sorry for leaving them behind again, but their expressions made me feel that holding such feelings was the greater discourtesy. Come to think of it, Seolhwa had said something similar.

"Go on. Leave this place to us."

Their duties weren't any easier just because they remained in Seoul.

Stories existed because there were things left untold.

* * *

We immediately boarded the X-grade Ferrari and entered the Dimensional Path. As the brilliant stars of the Star Stream rushed past, the allies' faces grew tense.

"You don't need to be so nervous. Think of it as going on a trip... or an extension of that worker revolution thing."

"It's working hours right now."

"I'm saying that because it isn't such a scary place."

"Where are we going?"

"Well, as I said, to the Master of Steel's base..."

"Who exactly is that guy?"

Suyeong finally asked, unable to bear it any longer.

"You can roughly guess the other Constellations from their modifiers. Prisoner of the Golden Headband is Sun Wukong, and God of Wine and Ecstasy is Dionysus. But that guy is impossible to predict. There wasn't any information about him in the part I read, either."

"If you're curious, use [Predictive Plagiarism] to guess."

"You want me to use my ability on something so trivial?"

I shrugged.

Judging by the allies' expressions, everyone besides Suyeong was curious about the Master of Steel as well.

Huiwon asked, "Is he someone from a myth we know?"

"Not someone from mythology, but he is an incredibly famous Constellation. There is a story based on his fable, too. Though... I don't think the kids will know him."

Shin Yuseong and Lee Gilyeong looked dejected at my words.

A deafening roar came from behind us just as I was about to continue.

"Those bastards?"

Suyeong, who was at the wheel, shouted in shock.

The shadows of warships appeared in the rearview mirror. It wasn't just one or two. At least dozens of space warships were scattering Aether particles as they pursued us.

Yuseong asked, "Don't those belong to the nebulae? Why are they attacking us?"

I couldn't be certain, but they looked like Fable Weapons from major nebulae such as Veda or Papyrus.

Jihye frowned.

"Should I summon the Turtle Ship?"

"No. We don't have time to fight. Step on it, Suyeong!"

There wasn't much distance left to our destination anyway.

The X-grade Ferrari accelerated in an instant, racing through the Dimensional Path at a thrilling speed. Not long after, a message appeared.

[You have arrived at coordinates OZ-1900!]

Screeech!

The car came to a halt in midair.

We had arrived at a station. A small wooden house stood there.

I shouted, "Get out, quickly! Then get inside that house!"

Almost the moment the allies all entered the house, the X-grade Ferrari exploded.

Damn it, I had barely ridden it that many times yet.

After making sure everyone was inside, I shut the front door. A terrible typhoon soon whipped up around the house, and the floating house began moving at high speed.

I shouted, "Lock every window!"

"Like locking the windows will stop that?"

Suyeong complained even as she diligently latched every window.

The nebulae pursuing us were loading their cannons in the distance. The sight of dozens of warships charging photon cannons at once was spectacular in itself. That attack could probably erase the entire Korean Peninsula.

Jihye shouted urgently, "Mister! Even now..."

"Don't worry. It's safe here."

The entire house underwent a geometric transformation. Its interior rapidly expanded, and pipes began to grow throughout the house with metallic clanging.

"What? Wasn't it a wooden house?"

[Hull docking has begun!]

The house floating in midair locked into place somewhere with a mechanical sound. At the same time, artillery fire launched from the void rained down on us. It was enough firepower to erase an entire continent.

At that moment, with the roar of engines, a steel barrier of unimaginable size began growing across the planet. The incoming barrage struck the barrier and vanished.

The allies looked at me in stunned disbelief at the barrier's enormous scale.

Through the window, I could see the outer edge of the planet where we had landed.

A silver city. A massive planet that resembled a heart in contraction.

[Welcome to the Heart of Steel, Oz.]

The Heart of Steel, Oz.

This was the planet where the hardest metal in the Star Stream grew.

Footnotes:

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