WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 464: Episode 88: Myth-grade Constellations (2)

──────

Black lines split the sky in every direction, like shattered glass.

Lee Hyeongseong looked up at the cracked sky and asked, "Sergeant Kim Dokja, are you really okay?"

At those words, I looked up at the sky, too.

The world was collapsing. The reason was obvious. Someone was attacking <Oz> from outside.

And they were incredibly powerful beings.

When I turned around, the others were watching me as well.

Yu Junghyeok, Han Suyeong, Yu Sangah, Jeong Huiwon...

Even without saying a word, our choice had already been made.

"It's fine. Do you think I became a sergeant for nothing? Don't worry about it."

* * *

The sky was breaking apart. How could anyone say that was fine?

Hyeongseong couldn't understand it. Was the military always like this?

「Kim Dokja simply smiled.」

It was a smile that appeared like a well-ordered crest.

Sergeant Kim Dokja simply said, "The company commander will probably say it's fine, too."

Sure enough, a little later, the company commander gathered the soldiers on the parade ground and made a company-wide announcement. Though small in stature, she radiated charisma. She looked over the soldiers with her usual expression before speaking.

"The company commander is deeply disappointed in you all."

The unexpected opening put the soldiers on edge.

"You didn't read web novels during your free time."

Hyeongseong flinched inwardly.

It was true. Just yesterday, instead of reading web novels during his free time, he had practiced Korean Armed Forces calisthenics with Junghyeok.

"So, the company commander will now be leaving this unit."

Hyeongseong was dumbfounded by the sudden declaration of desertion.

Leaving? Murmurs rose all around him.

"And Lee Hyeongseong."

When he came to his senses, the company commander had placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Private Lee Hyeongseong!"

It was his first time seeing the company commander this close.

Her neat uniform displayed her rank and name.

Captain Han Suyeong. That was her rank and name.

「"How long are you going to stand there like an idiot? Move it already. Do you want to see Kim Dokja die?"」

Why was that? A strange memory flashed through him with a prickling sensation.

What was that just now...?

"Still standing around like an idiot."

"P-private Lee Hyeongseong!"

The company commander stared at him with an unreadable look, then patted his cheek twice.

"Read a lot. You're an idiot, so you need to read plenty of books. That's how you'll live longer."

Leaving those inexplicable words behind, Captain Suyeong departed from the unit.

* * *

Two days passed after Captain Suyeong left.

The cracks in the sky were still growing. It was like watching an omen of a world heading toward destruction.

"Hyeongseong. Have you memorized all the calisthenics?"

When he turned around, Private First Class Yu Junghyeok, his immediate senior, was standing there.

"Private Lee Hyeongseong! I've memorized them perfectly!"

"Did you fill the water container in the barracks?"

"I filled it with exactly two liters!"

Before Junghyeok's fierce gaze, Hyeongseong shrank back for no reason.

He hadn't made any mistakes, yet he still felt that way.

"What about the Barracks Life Code of Conduct?"

"P-private Lee Hyeongseong! Not yet...!"

The moment he said it, he realized his mistake. He thought he'd be scolded again. Hyeongseong swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut.

Then Junghyeok's voice reached him.

"You'll memorize it soon. It's short."

"Excuse me? Ah, did I hear that wrong? No, sir!"

What was going on? He had made mistakes twice in a row, yet Junghyeok didn't reprimand him. Even the eyes looking at him were no longer fierce.

"I'm being transferred tomorrow."

"Did I hear that wrong?"

"Hyeongseong, you can't make a manual for everything. There won't always be an immediate senior there to help you."

Why was that?

Why did the back of Private First Class Junghyeok, who had turned away from him, feel so familiar?

"There are times when you have to choose even without a manual."

Those were the last words Private First Class Junghyeok left behind.

* * *

The people in the company began disappearing one by one. Captain Suyeong, Private First Class Junghyeok, and First Lieutenant Yu Sangah disappeared in that order. By the time he came to his senses, the highest-ranking commander in the company was Staff Sergeant Jeong Huiwon, a noncommissioned officer (it made no sense, but Hyeongseong decided it could happen in an emergency).

After morning and evening roll call, Hyeongseong's daily routine was maintaining the unit's facilities with Staff Sergeant Huiwon or going to the barracks reading room with Sergeant Dokja.

"They have martial arts novels in the military these days, too. Wow, this book is really old."

Dokja liked books. Not just liked them, he was the kind of person who spent all day reading.

Hyeongseong often sat beside him and watched him eagerly turn the pages.

"Want to read too?"

"Uh, I..."

Before he could finish answering, another roar rang out from the sky.

Dokja's expression stiffened slightly.

When that roar had first sounded four days ago, Captain Suyeong disappeared. When it sounded a second time two days ago, Private First Class Junghyeok disappeared.

Hyeongseong grew anxious.

"Sergeant Dokja."

"Yeah."

"Are you going to leave too, Sergeant Dokja?"

People left him. He kept losing something.

Dokja smiled softly at Hyeongseong.

"Probably. I'm a sergeant, after all. I should get discharged soon. I have no intention of becoming a career soldier."

"Is that so...?"

"You want to get out soon too, right?"

Just as Hyeongseong was about to say, "I do," he suddenly noticed the barbed-wire fence outside the window. It looked incredibly sturdy and dangerous.

Why was he now afraid of going beyond that fence?

"I..."

He would surely get hurt if he carelessly climbed over it. But as long as he stayed inside, that barbed-wire fence became a shield that protected him. Once he thought that, Hyeongseong felt at ease.

The collapsing sky.

Beyond the barbed-wire fence lay a world he didn't know. It was a world where the Barracks Life Code of Conduct and Korean Armed Forces calisthenics meant nothing.

When he raised his head, Dokja was looking at him. Dokja moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, then grinned playfully again.

"If you want to get out, read books. Books."

"Will reading a lot of books shorten my service?"

Dokja pursed his lips.

"If you read books and write book reports, you might at least earn some leave."

Book reports?

"The division is holding a book-report contest this time. Read one and enter. You get reward leave if you win."

A poster for a barracks contest was hanging on the bulletin board Dokja pointed to. Hyeongseong hadn't known such a thing existed.

I see. Book reports. Writing one could earn him reward leave.

"When you're done, make sure you show me too."

Sergeant Kim Dokja disappeared the next morning, right after roll call ended.

* * *

"We're the only two left. What routine is there to follow?"

Staff Sergeant Huiwon grumbled.

Hyeongseong smiled awkwardly as he pulled weeds near the unit.

"You never know. The company commander might come back..."

With her chin propped on her hand as she sat on a bench, Huiwon watched Hyeongseong as though he were some strange animal.

"Do you like it here?"

It wasn't the way Staff Sergeant Huiwon usually spoke. Yet the tone filled Hyeongseong with a strange longing. Perhaps that longing was why he could be honest right away.

"I neither like it nor dislike it."

A place he neither liked nor disliked.

That was Hyeongseong's exact impression of the military.

"But I don't have to think about anything here."

That was right. That was why he had chosen the military.

While he was here, he could forget the world. Employment, studies, other people's stares, worldly troubles, family matters, and worries he could never solve no matter what he did.

"But lately, I think I've actually started to like it a little."

What did he like about it? He couldn't put it into words.

「"I like you."」

Why did his chest hurt so much?

Staff Sergeant Huiwon, who was facing him, said, "Then stay here, Hyeongseong. Wait here until we return."

He couldn't say that he had heard wrong. He couldn't possibly have heard wrong.

"We'll protect your world."

Just as he tried to say something, blinding light poured down from the air, and Staff Sergeant Huiwon disappeared before his eyes.

Rumble...

The cracks in the sky had already swallowed half the world.

And so, Hyeongseong was left alone.

* * *

What was he doing?

Was this really the military?

The military he knew...

Guarding the empty unit, Hyeongseong repeated his daily routine. He woke at the appointed time, ran, and did Korean Armed Forces calisthenics. After completing mental training alone, he began his duties.

But there was nothing left to do. He had pulled every weed in the unit just yesterday.

"Book reports!"

Only then did Hyeongseong remember what Dokja had said.

He had told him to write a book report. To read a book and write a book report.

Hyeongseong went up to the barracks reading room. A pile of books had been left there, proof that Dokja had once been there. Amid a strange echo of emotion, Hyeongseong picked up the book at the very top of the pile.

『The Wizard of Oz. ver. 999』

It was a book whose title he had heard before.

But he had never properly read it.

Hyeongseong opened it and read the first sentence.

「The Tin Soldier was afraid of having a heart.」

The Tin Soldier. Was he the protagonist of The Wizard of Oz?

Hyeongseong kept turning the pages.

「The Tin Soldier's first companion was a very frightening man. The Tin Soldier called that man "Captain."」

The moment he read that line, his head began to ache.

Captain?

「The Tin Soldier became companions with a beautiful angel. That angel often turned into a demon when she got angry.」

For some reason, his chest ached when he saw that sentence.

「The Tin Soldier became companions with a warrior in thick armor. The warrior often tested the Tin Soldier's strength with his sword.」

Why did it feel like he could see those figures before his eyes at any moment?

「The Tin Soldier took in a frightening dragon that breathed fire as a companion. The dragon sometimes seemed like a nuisance.」

I had never met beings like these before.

「And a Demon King from another world took away what was precious to them.」

Every time he turned a page, scenes of utter chaos appeared vividly before his eyes. They were scenes he couldn't understand. Yet Hyeongseong's whole body trembled.

He didn't know. He didn't know what this story was about. He had no idea what the writer wanted to say.

Then why did he feel like crying? He didn't know that either.

「At the end of the story, the Tin Soldier realized that his heart hurt.」

「And that pain became his heart.」

The moment he remembered those words, Hyeongseong remembered.

He, too, had comrades like them.

「"After all this tragedy ends, when our story is no longer a Scenario, I would really like to hear your story, Hyeongseong."」

The first comrade was kind and warm. Everyone followed him.

「"Until then, the most important thing is that no one gets hurt."」

The second comrade was gentle. Everyone believed she was right.

「"No, it's more important that everyone survives, even if one person dies. Of course, that one person has to be Kim Dokja. That guy will come back to life somehow anyway."」

The third comrade was clever. Everyone thought the plans she devised would succeed.

「"No one is dying. Leave this to me and go."」

The fourth comrade was strong. Everyone could entrust their backs to him.

「"You know, Hyeongseong. If I ever forget you..."」

And the fifth comrade...

「"Kill me."」

His memories were returning. Very slowly, his heart was beating. Each beat came slowly but clearly, as though it desperately insisted that it hurt, that such pain existed there.

How could he forget them?

Hyeongseong's body trembled as he clenched his fist. This wasn't the time to stay here.

He looked at the sky outside the window. The cracks now covered the whole sky. It was obvious where his companions had gone.

They had gone to protect the world where he existed.

They were facing a Calamity that couldn't even be compared to North Korea.

「Lee Hyeongseong thought, 'Could I have that kind of power too?'」

[The Constellation Master of Steel looks at you.]

His Patron was watching him.

Tssst, tssst.

But something was different from usual. It was certainly his Patron, yet his gaze subtly differed from the one Hyeongseong had felt until now.

[The Constellation Master of Steel asks if you are in pain.]

Hyeongseong nodded.

「I want to protect this feeling, this heart.」

He was afraid. Afraid he would forget this moment again. Afraid his heart would stop again. Afraid everything would freeze within cold silver light.

Then his Patron spoke.

【You can protect it.】

It was a voice like steel forged over tens of thousands of years.

【But as the price for failing to protect it, you may live in pain for eternity.】

"That's fine. It's better than not even having a chance to protect it."

He was already used to losing things. What mattered was not losing them again.

【Your name is Steel Sword Emperor.】

In the distance, the barbed-wire fence collapsed.

The world of manuals he had protected was fading away.

Hyeongseong walked toward his story.

* * *

"Dokja-ssi."

We were protecting the crumbling <Oz>.

As the Master of Steel and the fable of 『The Wizard of Oz』 weakened, <Oz>'s air-defense system was collapsing.

Hundreds of warships surrounded Oz. The others and I rationed our Constitution as we protected the breached planet.

But we were reaching our limit.

The enemy focused on long-range attacks from their warships. The only effective way to counter them was Jihye's Turtle Dragon and Yuseong's Chimera Dragon.

The problem was that neither Jihye's ship nor Yuseong's Chimera Dragon had fully recovered from the damage they took in the Great war of Angels and Demons.

We had come here to solve that very problem.

"The air defenses will be disabled soon!"

We prepared for the final battle.

Huiwon asked, "Still no word from the other Constellations?"

"It seems something has happened."

Perhaps it was connected to those attacking us now.

Han Suyeong grumbled, "Do you really not regret this? Is this okay?"

I nodded.

"Hyeongseong was always the one taking the blades at the front. It's our turn to repay him."

The others agreed.

Junghyeok was already standing atop the planet's tallest skyscraper, while Huiwon steeled her resolve as she gave off a Status greater than anyone else's.

「I believe in Hyeongseong.」

I didn't know how much time we could buy. All I could do was hope it would be enough for Hyeongseong.

"They're coming!"

Kwaaah!

Hundreds of warships fired at once in the distance. Mana shells powerful enough to turn the entire planet into a wasteland.

We all unfolded our fables. We had to endure this strike somehow. Even if we had to squeeze out every last bit of Mana, we had to...

Then, at that very moment, boundless silver light covered the world.

A vast barrier of fable metal spread across the sky. The warships' bombardment exploded beyond the translucent wall.

"Being left alone in a place like that did not make me happy at all."

It wasn't the fable of 『The Wizard of Oz』.

It was a new kind of fable, one different from its very origin.

「In that world, he was called Steel Sword Emperor.」

A chill ran down my spine.

Steam covered the entire planet. Metal had grown like the branches of a giant tree, covering the planet's surface.

The hardest material in the Star Stream. The only fable metal capable of withstanding the armaments of those terrifying Mythical Constellations.

[Many Constellations are astonished by the scale of the fable!]

A Stigma powerful enough to cover the entire planet in that metal. This was the air-defense system <Oz> boasted of, [Final Steel].

"Captain Lee Hyeongseong of the Special Monster Response Command."

He was taller than Junghyeok.

The man with the sturdiest build I knew.

"Today, I have received orders for discharge."

The stars in the sky hesitated, then fell back.

[Constellations of the nebula Papyrus are astonished that the Master of Steel survived!]

It was time to counterattack.

Footnotes:

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