Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 485

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 485: Episode 92: The Final Scenario (4)

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"Everyone ready?"

It was an ordinary morning, just like any other. The air was clear and fresh, and no one in the group looked downcast. If they hadn't been wearing combat gear, they could've passed for people heading out on a picnic.

「That was why Kim Dokja was genuinely happy.」

"We've been ready for ages. If anyone looks like they have something to say, it's you, Dokja-ssi."

When I came to my senses, Huiwon was leaning close to me.

As I thought for a moment, my lips moving soundlessly, Jihye cut in.

"I'm not even going to listen. I know you're about to say something like, 'It's dangerous, so you don't have to come,' or whatever."

"Right. When hasn't it been dangerous?"

"This time it really is. It's seriously dangerous...!"

Jihye cried out sweetly, as if she were imitating me.

No, when had I ever talked like that...? Frowning, I opened my mouth again.

"That's not it. This time, it really..."

"See? I told you. Pay up, unni."

Huiwon held out a hundred coins with a gloomy look on her face.

Suyeong shook her head as she watched.

"You need to learn a thing or two."

"Learn what?"

"Making the group promise you things is fine once or twice, but what do you think people will think if you do it every time? Ah, this guy thinks the promises we made are dirt cheap. He thinks everything we've vowed up to now was a lie!"

"I didn't mean it that way. Everyone, if I've given you the wrong idea, I'm truly sorry..."

After handing Jihye the hundred coins, Huiwon asked, "So what's the plan? It looked like you were working one out with Suyeong for a long time yesterday."

"There isn't one."

Huiwon leaned in again, looking suspicious.

"Really?"

"This is different from before. Even I don't know what the Final Scenario will be this time."

"That's weird. You're hiding something, aren't you?"

"I'm not."

[The character Jeong Huiwon has activated Lie Detection Lv. 5!]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be false.]

"Oh? Now you're outright lying."

...When had she learned [lie detection], damn it?

I hesitated before continuing.

"It's difficult to tell you the details right now. If I say anything, something might go wrong. You only need to act as you always have. Whatever Scenario comes, choose what you believe is right. If we succeed, all of us will be able to survive."

"Does that 'all of us' include you too, Dokja-ssi?"

I looked steadily at Sangah for a moment, then nodded.

"Yes."

"And after the Scenarios are over, we can all live together in a big house?"

"Yes."

"Then you'll all come to my graduation ceremony, right? I haven't even had one yet."

"That's right."

"Dokja-hyung, then can we go to an internet cafe together...!"

"I'll go."

[The character Jeong Huiwon has activated Lie Detection Lv. 5!]

[Your statement has been confirmed to be true.]

Only then did relief pass over everyone's faces.

I looked around at them one by one.

Yu Sangah, Jeong Huiwon, Lee Hyeongseong, Lee Jihye, Lee Gilyeong, Shin Yuseong, Lee Seolhwa, Pildu Gong, Jang Hayoung, Han Suyeong...

"If we're done, let's go."

And Yu Junghyeok.

Every one of them had a different story.

Stories I still hadn't read in full.

"Let's go, mister. We haven't even entered the Scenario yet, so there's no need to get all solemn already."

I agreed with Jihye. The Final Scenario hadn't even begun yet. Taking a slow breath, I looked up to see a portal appear high in the sky.

[A portal leading to Scenario #99 has been created!]

It was a portal Bihyeong had made.

"Let's go."

We stepped into the portal. In an instant, the boundaries around us collapsed, and the scenery was recreated. Behind us stretched the magnificent Star Stream, while dokkaebis waiting for us stood ahead.

"Oh, we've been here before."

Gate of Star Stream.

The last gateway before the final gate, and the headquarters of the Administration Bureau, home to all dokkaebis.

[Kim Dokja Company. Entry eligibility has been confirmed.]

"This time, we're going straight through."

The dokkaebis let us pass without any complicated procedure.

[A vast majority of Constellations are watching your entry into the Final Scenario!]

[Many nebulae are extremely envious of your achievement!]

I could feel Constellations and nebulae watching us from beyond the darkness of space.

[The Constellations of the Final Scenario are tense at the arrival of Kim Dokja Company!]

[You and your nebula have entered the Final Scenario area!]

When I opened my eyes again, a whirling galaxy stretched before me. Countless stars circulated and gave off auroras. They were the Constellations of the Final Scenario, stars that had long ago reached Mythical grade, or beings protected by such existences.

Yet instead of approaching us, the stars only swirled above a distant ancient palace.

"That..."

Beyond the enormous palace where the stars danced, an endless wall stretched out into the distance.

"Is that the Final Wall?"

I stared at it.

The arrogant wall filled my view, as though it marked the end of this worldline.

「Everything in the world existed to be recorded there.」

[The King of Stories is watching you.]

[The King of Stories is summoning you.]

A tingling sensation made every hair on my body stand on end. I could feel it. At the center of that wall was an existence that moved the immense fable known as the Star Stream. The others seemed to feel it too, their faces tense.

Junghyeok alone remained calm.

"I don't see any Constellations."

He was right. Stars circled the sky, but not a single Constellation had manifested directly. It was as though they had known we were coming and had all fled somewhere.

Instead, Great Dokkaebis greeted us.

[The Great Dokkaebi Huhche has manifested in the Scenario!]

[The Great Dokkaebi Harong has manifested in the Scenario!]

[The Great Dokkaebi Haram has manifested in the Scenario!]

[The Great Dokkaebi Horong has manifested in the Scenario!]

[The Great Dokkaebi Noksu has manifested in the Scenario!]

With so many dokkaebis of such high Status appearing at once, even I felt pressured.

[Have you come, Kim Dokja Company?]

It was Great Dokkaebi Huhche, who had interfered in the Great war of Angels and Demons to recruit us before.

He looked at us with a sour expression, then continued.

[You have earned eligibility for the Final Scenario. There is no need for a test, so enter the Ark. We will discuss the details afterward.]

"The Ark?"

Before my question was even finished, a deafening roar rang out from the center of the ancient palace. The heart of the palace opened, and something rose from its foundation.

「It was an enormous ship.」

The moment I saw it, a sense of familiarity flashed through my mind.

「It was a ship I had seen during the Great war of Angels and Demons.」

The ship that had saved us during the Great war of Angels and Demons.

Eden's Ark, which had evacuated us during the battle between the Apocalypse Dragon and Indescribable Distance, had looked similar to that.

The difference was that this Ark looked far larger and sturdier than the one I had seen then.

Its hull gave off both white and black light, as though it had been carved from fragments of a broken wall.

Great Dokkaebi Huhche spoke.

[This worldline was originally selected as the final worldline. But things went wrong along the way, and the distortion of this worldline has worsened beyond recovery. The Final Wall cannot be opened with this world's ending. It means it can no longer bring the grand epic that would satisfy the Oldest Dream to its conclusion.]

"What nonsense is that?"

[You will become seeds.]

Seeds. I had heard that word in TWSA, too.

It was a term that encompassed every candidate for A Single Fable.

Sparks in the far-off sky intermittently spat fierce flames. It was an ominous sound, as though it heralded the end of the distorted worldline. Some stars caught in the blast burned away and scattered, soon falling as meteors.

Watching them, the dokkaebi continued.

[Consider it an honor. It is the will of the King of Stories that you, who ruined this worldline, were selected as a seed. You will board the Ark and move to a new worldline. There, you will be reborn as core fables that will make up its world, just as those who crossed over from a previous world did.]

Only then did I begin to understand what they meant. These bastards were offering us an escape.

"You're giving up on this world so easily? You're saying we should abandon this worldline and leave together? Do you think that makes any sense?"

[No need to look so grim. It is not a bad offer for you, either. Is your goal not an ending where no one is sacrificed?]

For a moment, I had nothing to say.

[You have succeeded, Demon King of Salvation. You and your companions have now become able to leave this worldline and survive.]

Thunderous explosions rang out from the far side of the distant sky. It was the sound of the Plausibility guarded by the Administration Bureau collapsing.

As I listened to it, several things began to make sense.

Why no Constellations could be seen nearby.

And how the Administration Bureau could have exerted such powerful influence from the very beginning of the world.

"How many times have you repeated this?"

[Is that important?]

"What happens to those who can't board the Ark? What happens to all the beings who aren't chosen?"

[You already know without asking.]

Huhche pointed behind us with his chin. The Turtle Dragon Jihye had summoned earlier stood there. Four round Sealing Orbs shone brightly on its deck.

Secretive Plotter and the other Outer Gods.

I looked at the characters from the original story sleeping within the Sealing Orbs.

Those excluded from the Scenarios either died or became Outer Gods.

[A new Main Scenario has arrived!]

Category: Main

Difficulty: ???

Clear Conditions: Board the Ark with the companions of your nebula.

Time Limit: 2 hours

Reward: You may board the Ark and cross over to another worldline. There, your fables will begin anew, and the fables you have built will be recorded on the Final Wall of the Star Stream and passed down forever.

Failure: Remain in the collapsing world and die.

Footnotes:

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