WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 473: Episode 90: A Lone Person (2)

──────

"Good job, Sun Wukong!"

Han Suyeong shouted excitedly.

Gurgle.

Blood foam rose over the sea. Before long, Uriel of the 999th round emerged above the surface. She must have ripped apart every sea monster around her before coming up, because her entire body was soaked crimson.

Yet what covered her face was not a sense of betrayal so much as awe.

【I can't believe it. Great Sage Equaling Heaven. Even you are taking their side?】

Soon, that awe turned into fleeting longing.

Sensing the change, Great Sage Equaling Heaven asked.

[Who are you to act like you know me?]

【I only remembered a lost comrade from long ago. I have no intention of fighting you. Move aside. Secretive Plotter is all I want.】

There truly was no intent to fight in her voice.

But Great Sage Equaling Heaven shook his head.

[I don't like that gloomy bastard either.]

Terrifying energy erupted from Great Sage Equaling Heaven's body as he smiled indifferently.

[But if he dies, our youngest might have a hard time.]

[The Constellation Oldest Liberator has revealed his Status!]

An existence that had freed the Status bound by the Golden Headband, had partially progressed through Outer God Transformation, and had even obtained the power of an Outer God.

The monsters of fable who had taken part in 『Journey to the West Remake』 crossed through portals and descended upon the Pacific Ocean.

【Monkey KingMonkey KingMonkey KingMonkey King】

Outer Gods who worshipped different kings began grappling with one another. The blood-soaked sea churned with violent waves, and Uriel of the 999th round gasped.

At last, the evenly balanced scales began to tip.

"That's it. Push forward!"

At Suyeong's cry, Kim Dokja Company's Great Fables began their stories all at once.

[The Great Fable Spring of the Demon Realm begins its story!]

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth begins its story!]

[The Great Fable Season of Light and Darkness begins its story!]

[The Great Fable Liberator of the Forgotten begins its story!]

Dokja and Junghyeok, their primary storytellers, were absent, but the others still held substantial shares in the Great Fables.

As though they had been waiting for this moment, several people prepared the final blow.

[One sun in the sky is enough.]

Surya appeared alongside his train. And then.

[I'm getting used to cutting down Outer Gods.]

[Let's join forces, Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.]

"I'm coming too!"

The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, Kyrios, and Jang Hayoung joined the battle.

Uriel of the 999th round had been driven onto the defensive. Confusion slowly filled her face.

【How are all of you together? This worldline is...】

The rushing Great Fables had caught her off guard. Their size was one problem, but their content was another. How could fables like these even exist?

How could they possibly...

The three Transcendents aboard the train pierced the sun's blazing barrier. The sky-shattering [Sky Splitter Sword Art], [Electrification], and the terrifying destructive power of [Sky-Splitting Collapse Fist] merged into a single strike.

Just as it was about to strike Uriel's opening, a chilling sensation crawled up Suyeong's neck.

"Wait!"

[The fable Predictive Plagiarism urgently revises its story!]

A powerful sensation only she could feel in this world seized her. The next moment, a sound like all the time and space in the area was being wrung out echoed through the air.

Kwarrrrr.

Suyeong couldn't tell what was happening before her eyes.

【What? Where did the ‘me’ from this round go? Don't tell me he croaked?】

A sinister voice, as if part of the abyss itself had been shaped into it.

The Transcendents who had approached from behind to deliver the final blow fell alongside the shattered train. Pitch-black [Black Flame] burned along their collars.

A man stood between the dark clouds in the sky. Suyeong knew who he was. She knew him far too well, enough to send chills down her spine.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon warns you of danger!]

The man slowly opened his mouth.

【Tch, with Status this wild, I naturally thought it was Jihye. I mistook you because it's been so long.】

The sun of the "Living Flame" gave off a dazzling radiance. Yet the man's darkness only grew denser, like a shadow that deepened as the light brightened.

Uriel of the 999th round spoke.

【Great Abyssal Lord. Who summoned trash like you to this worldline?】

A chill ran down Suyeong's neck. What Dokja had told her came back to her.

The ruler of the northern universe, the Great Abyssal Lord.

【Haha. You finally call me that. You look like you're having a rough time. Want some help?】

The sun's corona leaped as though in convulsions.

【I don't need it. Help from a lowlife like you...】

【Why are you like this? We're companions from the same round.】

The man sneered.

He was Kim Namwoon, the Delusional Demon who had seen the conclusion of the 999th round.

The moment Namwoon's gaze shifted, goosebumps covered Suyeong's body.

【I want to see the Black Flame Dragon's face too, after all this time.】

Namwoon had already come within arm's reach. He stared at her with a vicious gaze.

* * *

When Yu Junghyeok slowly opened his eyes, he realized he was floating through darkness.

The last thing he remembered was working on a sure-kill technique with Dokja.

Something had gone wrong along the way, and he had lost consciousness.

[Your soul form is currently unstable!]

[The fable Eternal Hellscape is suffering from reading difficulties.]

「When was Yu Junghyeok's birthday again?」

Memories drifted past in fragments. A voice reached him through his hazy consciousness.

No, it was something closer to printed words than a voice.

Junghyeok quickly recognized whose tone it was.

「...The round where it was first mentioned...」

That casual, irritating tone. There was only one person in the world who spoke like that, Dokja.

「Wow, this part was really fun.」

The sentences from the pages Dokja had been reading passed before his eyes. On those pages was Junghyeok himself, fighting against Constellations.

「First round, forty-first round, six hundred sixty-sixth round...」

Dokja's finger, which had been following the words, stopped.

Information about a round appeared beneath the finger that lingered there for a long time.

「999th round.」

Junghyeok now knew what had happened in that round, too. The sentences Dokja had read, the fable "Eternal Hellscape," told him about the time he couldn't remember.

It was as though Dokja, reading about that round, was muttering to himself.

「“I am Yu Junghyeok...”」

Junghyeok knew nothing of the life Dokja had endured with that one clumsy cry.

The Junghyeok Dokja had read. Between the lines of those pages, Dokja's own history lingered like soot. Bullied at school, scolded by a boss who withheld his wages at a part-time job, and made to march in the military until the soles of his feet blistered, Dokja endured by calling himself Junghyeok.

Junghyeok couldn't understand Dokja.

He couldn't understand what it meant for the time he had endured to save someone in a completely different world. He couldn't understand what it meant to see someone's fight and find courage alongside them.

Even the image of himself reflected in the printed words looked unfamiliar to him.

「“I can still fight.”」

Had he truly said that?

「“A hundred times, a thousand times, I will be reborn to kill you bastards.”」

Was the human Yu Junghyeok really someone capable of saying that?

Among countless printed words were the voices of Allies who trusted him.

「Captain.」

「I trust only you.」

「In the next round, make sure you save the world.」

The worldline had disappeared, and all that remained for him were sentences. The more the sentences that tormented him multiplied, the more paltry life's value became.

What in him had they trusted enough to fight alongside him?

‘Who am I?’

Watching words that existed beyond his understanding, Junghyeok was overcome by emptiness.

One thousand eight hundred sixty-four lives.

Junghyeok knew what worlds he had passed through to reach this place.

But he couldn't understand them.

「Are these memories truly all that he is?」

Junghyeok wondered. If he truly was a "character," as Dokja said, where was all the time he couldn't remember?

Where was the version of him on the pages Dokja hadn't read?

Or had it never existed from the beginning?

[Your Patron is looking into you.]

From where to where in his life could it be said that he had "existed"?

Tzzzt...

That was when he felt a chill. Junghyeok reflexively turned toward the void. Someone other than himself was there.

【Are you reflecting on yourself? You don't have time to sit around so leisurely.】

Junghyeok immediately realized who it was.

‘You shouldn't be able to move.’

Junghyeok glared at Secretive Plotter. Out of habit, he reached for Black Heaven Demon Blade, but there was no hilt to grasp.

This was his inner world. Items didn't exist here.

Secretive Plotter shook his head as though Junghyeok were pathetic.

【At this rate, your companions will be annihilated.】

‘Annihilated?’

A chill ran down his spine.

His Allies were about to engage in a fierce battle with the King of the Outer Gods. Sure enough, ominous energy flowed around him.

He had to wake up right away. He had to leave this place and...

【Even if you go in your current state, it will be useless. If you can't use the power of the 1,863rd round, you will be no help at all.】

‘What do you expect me to do, then?’

Secretive Plotter remained calm despite Junghyeok's harsh tone.

【There is another way for you to use the power of the 1,863rd round.】

In that moment, Junghyeok realized what he meant.

The reason Junghyeok could briefly regain the power of the 1,863rd round was because Dokja possessed the fable "Eternal Hellscape."

And the one who had given that fable to Dokja was...

Junghyeok gritted his teeth and asked.

‘How can I trust you? Why did you decide to help us?’

【I received a request.】

‘A request?’

【This is the only time I will lend you my strength. I hope you learn something.】

Then, from within the darkness, Secretive Plotter reached out. The boy's cold palm touched Junghyeok's forehead before he could avoid it.

[The Broken Film Theory has activated!]

His mind seemed to turn white from the pain as a vast fable began pouring into it.

It was a memory he already knew about, but a time he had never understood.

Along with scorching heat, every fable of Secretive Plotter began flowing through his blood vessels.

First round, second round, third round, fourth round... 1,863rd round.

Countless Junghyeoks were awakening within him. Every one of them was Junghyeok. Each was a different Junghyeok. Yet at the same time, they were one person.

A single Yu Junghyeok who had fully lived the life of the 1,864th round.

One by one, he remembered who he was and what he had lived for.

Fables drifted through his depths.

Someone asked within a fable.

「“But when is Captain's birthday?”」

Dokja replied.

「Ah, found it. Here it is. August 3rd.」

That's right. He had been born in summer. In a summer as sweltering as hell, when terrible storms raged.

He remembered everything clearly.

A birthday he had never celebrated or been congratulated on.

Anniversaries that had lost their meaning over 1,864 lives.

Junghyeok slowly opened his eyes. The energy of fables filled his entire body. It was a sensation he had never felt throughout his life in the third round.

When he raised his head, he felt scorching sunlight from somewhere. He could sense it clearly even from afar.

The Outer God beyond that distant horizon, calling for him.

Yet Junghyeok wasn't afraid. He slowly rose and checked the condition of his Incarnation body. Every part of it moved almost perfectly. The fables he had built up seeped into every muscle fiber.

「At that moment, Yu Junghyeok felt as though he had been reborn.」

[The Great Fable Pilgrim of the Lonely Apocalypse has recovered its full Status.]

This was the true power he originally possessed.

The Status of a being who had reached the world's final round and seen the "Wall" alone.

[The Broken Film Theory is activating in an abnormal form.]

[The connection between the films is incomplete!]

[If this connection is maintained, the entire film may disappear.]

He could only use this power for a moment.

But it was more than enough time for him.

Junghyeok raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sky was howling.

His facial scars stood out clearly between the intermittent thunderbolts pouring down.

[The fable Eternal Hellscape begins its story!]

[The Attribute Fear of the Stars has activated!]

Terrified stars fled from his gaze.

Junghyeok watched them for a moment before his figure moved toward the distant sun.

Footnotes:

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