WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 490: Episode 93: Omniscient Author's Viewpoint (4)

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Every dokkaebi dreams of becoming a Great Dokkaebi. It is the summit of stories a dokkaebi in the Star Stream can reach.

And those who reach that summit still dream.

Bihyeong looked at the Final Wall, which filled the vast view of the enormous Ark. Despite the countless stories, most of the wall was still blank.

[Is this really necessary?]

At Bihyeong's outburst, the Great Dokkaebis' communication line fell silent.

From the sky of the Final Scenario, Bihyeong looked down at the allies of Kim Dokja Company.

Kim Dokja, who had become the Outer God King.

From the subway that day to the Final Scenario. While Dokja became the Demon King of Salvation, then the Watcher of Light and Darkness, Bihyeong became a high-grade dokkaebi and eventually a Great Dokkaebi.

「Becoming too immersed in a Scenario is the greatest mistake a Streamer can make.」

A dokkaebi's duty was to draw the attention of many Constellations and leave behind stories that would be engraved on the Final Wall.

A dokkaebi must never be swept along by a Scenario. They must not be seduced by the fables that bloom there, and they certainly must not empathize with the suffering of Incarnations.

Yet Bihyeong had made that mistake.

Watching their fables had awakened sensations he had forgotten long ago. The excitement of one fable ending and another arriving. The swelling emotion of watching Constellations rejoice and grieve within the Scenarios he had created.

Bihyeong had learned what a Scenario was from Dokja.

[They aren't doing the Scenario wrong. A Scenario is reversible by nature. It is a current that flows in the direction many stars desire. The other Constellations of the Star Stream, too...]

[You seem to cherish it because it is the fable you raised, but there is a flow to a greater story.]

Bihyeong held back the shout rising in his throat. Every Great Dokkaebi was focused on him. Damn it, he was the youngest Great Dokkaebi among them.

Great Dokkaebi Garang, who had remained silent until then, spoke.

[Young dokkaebis like you might find such an ending refreshing. But I have seen many fables like that. Do you think there has been only one being in the history of the distant universe that resented the Star Stream and tried to destroy it?]

Great Dokkaebi Garang. One of the oldest dokkaebis in the world, and the dokkaebi closest to the Dokkaebi King.

[There have been countless destructions.]

Bihyeong couldn't fully grasp the regret seeping into Garang's voice. Yet because he couldn't grasp it, there was a youthful rashness he could show.

[Not every destruction is the same.]

A few Great Dokkaebis glared at Bihyeong as if warning him. Trying not to shrink back, he met Garang's gaze.

Garang watched him with inscrutable eyes before finally speaking after a long while.

[Perhaps. The ■■ they dream of is somewhat different from other fables.]

As though that statement displeased them, Great Dokkaebi Onsae moved to intervene. Garang raised a hand to stop Onsae and continued.

[That difference is what makes it dangerous. Not every fable necessarily becomes the foundation for the next.]

[What do you mean?]

[Some fables destroy the entire Scenario.]

Kyaaaaaaaaaa!

The screams of the Nameless Ones.

They had once all been participants in different Scenarios. They screamed as they attacked the Constellations. At their center stood Dokja, the Outer God King leading the Outer Gods.

「Enemy of Stories.」

As far as Bihyeong knew, no Calamity had ever been given such a title. He had never even heard that such a title would be bestowed.

Garang continued as he watched Dokja resist.

[At the beginning of every Scenario, the protagonist suffers a deviation from their world. They fight the enemy that appears, endure conflict, sacrifice something, claim victory, then return to their original world and receive their reward.]

Bihyeong knew that theory, too.

It was the old law of Scenarios that every low-grade dokkaebi heard first.

[It may be trite, but that is the core of a Scenario. That cycle must be preserved for the next Scenario to be created and the next worldline to open. Conflicts must be resolved, wounds must heal, and the world must remain safe, as though nothing had happened.]

The foothills of a distant mountain ridge were collapsing and exploding. More Constellations were gathering. Bihyeong knew it, too. This Final Scenario had originally been planned.

「The destruction of the world arrives, and it is overcome.」

That fictional enemy called the Outer God King existed for that purpose alone. The stars that had been hostile to one another joined forces against the Descent of a powerful foe and fought it. Some would live and others would die, but the conflict would be resolved. The world would become peaceful. Those who loved such tales would sing of that history and pass it down.

「And nothing changes. The Star Stream continues.」

That was the true nature of the Scenarios dokkaebis pursued.

Scenarios had to cycle and repeat.

[The overwhelming majority of Constellations are thrilled by the Final Scenario!]

The Constellations had to be continuously supplied with new stories so no one would know what the Star Stream was or why the Scenarios continued.

Yet there were those who rejected that.

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

[The Great Fable Holy Flame That Devoured Myth rejects the predetermined development!]

Those who rejected the Scenario laid out for them.

Those who tried to bring down the very existence of the Star Stream.

[Incarnation Han Suyeong's ■■ is Unending Story!]

「Unending Story.」

The contradictory ■■ that refused to call an end an end shone brightly there.

It was an ending decided by a mere mortal, not a Streamer of the universe.

Beings who rejected the Star Stream's cycle and chose an eternal fight.

Kwooooooom!

Amid the roar, Great Dokkaebi Garang finally declared,

[Let's end this worldline here.]

The Great Dokkaebis who had remained silent until then, as well as those who had only been watching one another, nodded at once.

Before Bihyeong could say anything, Baram, standing beside him, spoke.

[Bihyeong, I'm sorry, but this is how things have turned out. You'll have to let this one go.]

The moment he saw Baram's expression, Bihyeong understood. The Great Dokkaebis gathered here were the universe's finest Streamers. They were rulers who had governed this world, controlled Scenarios, and toyed with the stars.

For the first time, they were afraid of the story they had created.

[I will use all remaining Plausibility to forcibly execute the Main Scenario.]

Forcibly executing a Scenario was the dokkaebis' last resort.

It was a type of Deus Ex Machina that required absurd amounts of Plausibility because it forcibly controlled the flow of the Star Stream. Since it was being used on the Final Scenario, the amount required was unimaginable.

Tzzzzzzzz.

As the Administration Bureau's Plausibility moved, every sky in the Star Stream was covered in dazzling sparks. There was nowhere in any worldline where darkness could take root.

[They must end as evil.]

Great Fables that agreed with the Great Dokkaebis' will were supporting them.

[The Great Fable Temple of the Destroyed Myth follows the will of the Administration Bureau!]

[The Great Fable Advent of the New Dawn agrees with the flow of the story!]

[The Great Fable Immortal Olympus respects the will of the Administration Bureau!]

From a short distance away, Bihyeong watched the Great Dokkaebis write the Final Chapter.

[Nearly all Great Dokkaebis are forcing you to vote.]

He still hadn't agreed to this ending.

[Bihyeong!]

Bihyeong gave no answer, even at Baram's shout.

[The Star Stream resists the Great Dokkaebis' intervention!]

The sparks in the air soon spread to the Great Dokkaebis as well. A terrifying Plausibility Backlash was surging toward them. Even for Great Dokkaebis, intervening in a Scenario demanded such a steep price.

[I, Great Dokkaebi Garang, formally declare that I will intervene in the Scenario!]

Beginning with Garang's declaration, the Great Dokkaebis followed one after another.

[I, Great Dokkaebi Noksu, formally declare that I will intervene in the Scenario...]

[I, Great Dokkaebi Haram...]

More than ten Great Dokkaebis were all steeling their resolve.

To formally intervene in a Scenario meant they would relinquish the detached status of Streamers.

A moment later, messages rang out from the air.

[The Star Stream's Plausibility triggers a great upheaval!]

[The Star Stream has permitted meta-level intervention.]

[From now on, Streamers are no longer spectators of Scenarios.]

[Many Constellations are deeply shocked by the Great Dokkaebis' choice!]

[Some Constellations fiercely condemn the Great Dokkaebis' atrocities...]

Bihyeong watched the Great Dokkaebis. He watched their resolve to bring this world to an end, even as they ignored the messages of protesting Constellations.

Perhaps they had been writing Scenarios for too long.

Someone in the distance was staring at those Great Dokkaebis. Bihyeong met that gaze.

Dokja, who had become the Outer God King and Enemy of Stories.

Bihyeong could no longer understand the words of a being who had become external to the Scenario. Even so, he felt as though Dokja was smiling at that moment.

Perhaps the Great Dokkaebis still didn't understand that bastard. What sort of being Dokja was. What it meant to formally intervene in a Scenario, and what it meant to become a character.

Bihyeong silently accepted that gaze and took a step forward.

[Your ■■ is calling to you.]

At last, it was Bihyeong's turn to decide his own ■■.

* * *

With the Great Dokkaebis' intervention, the balance of the Scenario began to warp.

[The target you seek to protect is the Enemy of Stories.]

[The Administration Bureau's Plausibility restrains your actions!]

Han Suyeong and all the others were being swept up in the Plausibility Backlash.

Blue sparks wrapped around their entire bodies like shackles.

"Suyeong-ssi, this!"

"Those bastards... They're planning to end the Scenario like this."

[The Great Fable Season of Light and Darkness silently rages.]

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

Kim Dokja Company's Great Fables struggled desperately to resist the Administration Bureau.

But they weren't enough.

Their opponent was the most powerful Great Fable in this world.

[Now! Attack his head!]

The Constellations that had forced their way through the Nameless Ones finally began raining fire down on Dokja.

"Kim Dokja!"

Suyeong shouted, but her voice couldn't reach him.

[You cannot protect the target.]

[The target you seek to protect is a being you cannot understand.]

"Don't give me that bullshit."

The words left behind by the Great Dokkaebi rose in her mind like a curse.

A human couldn't understand even a single being, even if they devoted their whole life to it.

「But they were not one person.」

Suyeong looked around. Lee Hyeongseong, Huiwon, Jihye, then Yuseong and Gilyeong again, and finally the Companions aboard the warship were looking at her.

Perhaps there was no one here who wasn't Kim Dokja. Everyone here held at least some share in Dokja's life.

Yet one person was missing.

‘Where did that bastard go?’

Suyeong bit her lip hard. She couldn't wait any longer.

"Aaaaaaaaaah!"

Huiwon moved with a scream that sounded as though her body were being torn apart. The backlash was rupturing her muscles and bursting her blood vessels. Covered in blood, she staggered forward. Holding the Sword of Judgement tightly, she moved toward Dokja step by step.

It wasn't to cut Dokja down.

Kagagagagak!

Huiwon deflected the blades hurtling toward him, then coughed up blood.

Hyeongseong followed her.

Kudududud.

Dokja, now an Outer God, fought the Constellations amid the backlash. His Companions protected him, their bodies being reduced to rags within the sparks.

Suyeong looked at them.

There were so many people here.

Every one of them wanted to protect you.

[The fable Predictive Plagiarism begins its story!]

[The fable Savior of the Star seeks the Demon King of Salvation.]

[The fable King of Insects seeks the Demon King of Salvation.]

[The fable Judge of Destruction seeks the Demon King of Salvation.]

All those fables resonated with Dokja. They cried out for the Dokja they knew.

[The fable Predictive Plagiarism continues its story!]

If they couldn't be together because they didn't understand him, if that was why they couldn't protect him.

[Many Constellations lament the tragedy of Kim Dokja Company.]

[Some Constellations protest the Administration Bureau's trickery...]

Blood pooled at the corner of Suyeong's mouth. Her overheated head spun, and her consciousness flickered.

That was when someone placed a hand on her shoulder.

Curly blond hair passed before her eyes, and something was protecting the group. It felt as though an invisible wall were surrounding them.

[The Wall of Impossible Communication protects Kim Dokja Company!]

Jang Hayoung, who had awakened her wall, supported Suyeong as she walked toward Dokja.

"Is there anyone here who liked the Demon King of Salvation more than I did?"

Sparks leaped up around Hayoung. Sentences scattered in every direction. The allies' fables began drifting around her.

「Dokja-ssi, I won't talk about the things I lost anymore. Because you seem tired of it...」

「Hyung, I'm here. I have something I want to tell you.」

「Don't worry, mister, because I won't go anywhere without you.」

The fables Kim Dokja Company had built were being woven into a single theme.

[A fragment of the Final Wall has revealed itself to the world!]

[The Great Dokkaebis are astonished!]

[The Wall of Impossible Communication inserts its fragment.]

Part of Dokja, the Outer God King who had looked like an incomprehensible monster, was dyed white in an instant.

A white wall that looked as though anything could be written on it.

Hayoung looked at Suyeong, whom she was supporting. Leaning on Hayoung, Suyeong reached out toward Dokja. Then she felt the wall. A cold, blunt wall.

[The nebula Kim Dokja Company's first theme has been revealed!]

The wall was there to tell them someone existed beyond it. To tell them that there were people in this world who needed walls.

To tell them that they could speak without hurting one another.

Suyeong wrote her first sentence on the Wall of Impossible Communication.

「Idiot.」

It was such a stupid thing to say that she couldn't believe she had written it herself. But Suyeong had no strength left to write the next sentence.

That was when the wall trembled.

With a light knock, the next sentence that she hadn't written appeared on the wall.

「■■■…… Han Suyeong.」

Footnotes:

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