Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 500

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 500: Episode 95: When the Heavens Part (4)

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After passing through Olympus, we didn't speak for a while. We only ran, walked, then ran again. Hollow screams echoed from the places where the stars had vanished.

Would those screams remain as fables, too? Would someone hear them again someday? How many more fables would have to repeat before this world ended?

"Kim Dokja."

"I know."

Han Suyeong's voice, as she supported me, barely brought me back to my senses.

At last, the cabin door I had been looking for came into view in the distance. It was a small, shabby door, unlike the entrances to the other cabins.

The corridor behind us was growing noisy. It was the sound of Constellations from other factions clashing. Without hesitation, I opened the door.

[You have entered the Prop Storage Room.]

"What is this? This shabby..."

Suyeong's muttering trailed off the moment the room spread out before us.

It was a room coated in white paint, so vast that its size couldn't be estimated at a glance. If this was called a Prop Storage Room, it had to be the biggest one in the world.

「A cabin where "everything from the Scenarios" had been gathered.」

Bihyeong's fable could be heard.

「Every prop ever used in the Scenarios was displayed there, from consumable items to major Scenario rewards and constellation artifacts from nebulae that had lost their power.」

There was even the Hammer Seahorse's Mucus and Stone Hog's Sharp Thorn that I had used when hunting the ichthyosaur. I really thought I would die back then... Seeing them now made me strangely sentimental.

"Not bad. There are still things we can use."

Junghyeok had already strode among the props and begun changing his equipment. He coated the surface of the Black Heaven Demon Blade with fable metal spray, changed into a new coat, threw away his worn combat boots, and picked up a constellation artifact. The gleam in his eyes showed that he was satisfied.

"Not just useful. There are even things I've never seen before. Grab what you can and let's get out of here."

Suyeong had already dived into a pile of items and was busy picking out equipment for herself. Even Anna Croft, who had always received abundant support from her nebula, was bent over searching through the items.

Like ordinary Incarnations who had discovered a Hidden Piece in a Scenario, we searched for items, changed our equipment, and smiled faintly at each other.

「Everyone knew. If they didn't do this, they wouldn't be able to endure this moment.」

Another explosion sounded outside the room.

This one was very close.

"Where's the next room?"

Maybe it was because of exhaustion, but Suyeong had temporarily stopped the story of [Predictive Plagiarism].

The corners of Suyeong's eyes trembled slightly when our gazes met.

「"Do you think it's always fun to tell stories just because I'm a writer?"」

Now, I understood the meaning of that laugh.

Even if the world was ending, even if the Scenario was heading toward tragedy, she was still a writer. That was why it would hurt her even more. Every pain left undescribed must have existed in her head.

「That was why only he, the "reader," could make this choice.」

"No. We'll fight here."

「It was a choice only he could make, filled with the greed and stubbornness to somehow see the ending he wanted.」

Suyeong snapped.

"Aren't we going to destroy the fable core?"

"To reach the fable core, we'd have to pass through more worldviews belonging to great nebulae."

"We can avoid them. If we leave through that door..."

As she spoke, Suyeong walked toward a lone door in one corner.

"That leads to Emperor."

"Then that one..."

"That one is connected to Veda."

"Shit."

Startled, Suyeong backed away from the doorknob and pressed the cabin's lock.

Another explosion rang out. With a heavy tremor, someone began pounding on the cabin door. Something burst, and the cabin walls shook violently.

"They're right in front of us now," Anna said.

Suyeong, whose expression was already twisted, pressed a hand to her forehead again.

[The fable Predictive Plagiarism has resumed its story!]

Suyeong finally activated her fable again. Judging by her expression, developments she didn't want to foresee were filling her head. Anna, who possessed [future vision], and Junghyeok, who had learned to read patterns across countless rounds, began preparing themselves as well.

"We have to fight here. This is the only room where we have a chance of winning."

Every cabin on the Final Ark contained a worldview belonging to a great nebula.

「Yet there was one place on the Ark where no such worldview had been created.」

This Prop Storage Room.

A place where items for use in Scenarios had been stockpiled.

[This cabin is unaffected by any worldview.]

That was why I had chosen this room as our battlefield.

"They're here."

The moment Junghyeok drew the Black Heaven Demon Blade, the doors on all four sides of the storage room exploded at once. Constellations began pouring through them.

[The Constellation Master of December 25th has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation One Responsible for the Cycle of the Universe has joined the battlefield with their attendants!]

Veda.

[The Constellation Master of Abydos has manifested in fury!]

[The Constellation Ruler of Earthquakes and Volcanoes has awakened from a long slumber!]

[The Constellation Ruler of Inhalation and Exhalation has awakened their fable!]

Papyrus.

[The Constellation One-Eyed Father has readied his spear.]

[The Constellation One Who Lost an Arm to the Wolf of Destruction has spotted you!]

Asgard.

[The Constellation Great Mother Goddess Who Molded Humans from Clay has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation Great Firmament Heavenly Venerable has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation Yellow Heaven Supreme Emperor has taken their throne!]

[The Constellation Master of the Three-Pointed Spear has drawn all their treasures!]

And Emperor, too.

The moment every door to the storage room opened, fables throughout the entire space collided and expanded. Great Fables from different worldviews were raising their voices.

Suyeong laughed.

"Everyone who hates us showed up."

[Over there!]

At someone's shout, we all leaped backward. With a roar, black ash scattered across the floor where we had been standing only moments ago.

[The Great Fables have discovered a new cabin!]

[Some fables have begun implanting their worldviews into the cabin!]

We didn't have much time.

As explosions erupted, each of us drew our weapons. I had also gathered all kinds of Scenario props beforehand.

We stood back-to-back, facing the four cardinal directions, and unleashed our Status at the approaching Constellations. Suyeong released [Black Flame] and hurled herself forward.

"Drop dead, all of you!"

The black sphere Suyeong threw flew through the air and landed among the Constellations. I wondered what it was, then tremendous scorching heat boiled out of it the next moment.

[Kuaaahhhh!]

I recognized the source of the heat at once. Nightmare Scorching Heat, a reward item from the 95th Scenario of the 241st round. That bomb, which contained flames drawn from Eden's hell, was a vicious Fable Weapon that ignited the area within its range and burned it for ten years.

[Flames from a ruined nebula are nothing...]

Whoooosh!

Nuwa's clay carved a path through the center of the blazing inferno. The Constellations of Emperor stepped onto that path and charged toward us. Some had once fought against us in Journey to the West.

Suyeong gritted her teeth.

"They're here too, so why aren't you here yet, Black Flame Dragon?"

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon shouts for you to wait just a little longer!]

The number of Constellations pouring through the doors swelled into the hundreds. Three hundred, four hundred, five hundred... Every Constellation scattered throughout their worldviews was entering this vast room.

As their numbers grew, 「Stage Transformation」 began occurring around them. The gray ground turned into a desolate desert, and a massive pyramid rose from it. Osiris, the Master of Abydos, spoke.

[So it was you who woke me from my slumber.]

Clouds gathered in the sky next, unveiling a heavenly realm.

Nuwa, the Great Mother Goddess Who Molded Humans from Clay, spoke.

[It's not too late, child. I can make a place for you.]

[Who says you can?]

For a moment, it sounded as if an elephant was trumpeting. Then Mitra, the Master of December 25th, spoke from atop the head of a huge turtle.

[The only punishment for the one who rejected my Feast of Resurrection is death.]

Odin sat at the tip of a World Tree branch, looking down at me with eyes that saw through every aspect of the world.

[Foolish star, do you truly believe you can face all of us?]

Laughter burst out. Every star whose Great Fable was guaranteed aboard this safe Ark was mocking us.

[With a fable that hasn't even become a Myth...]

Pshhh!

The Thunder-Eating Bird's mouth, which had been drawling mockingly at us, was pierced. Junghyeok had already gotten behind them and cut their neck.

"You talk too much."

[Kill them!]

The fight began. Vastly outnumbered, we fought by making active use of the props around us. Fable Weapons we could use were scattered everywhere.

The weapon storage from the Scenarios in the eighties, especially, was Junghyeok's battlefield.

[The fable Companions in Life and Death begins its story!]

[The fable Eternal Hellscape begins its story!]

The talent Junghyeok had displayed during the Demon King Selection shone brightly.

Junghyeok, the All-Rounder. Having mastered every weapon over 1,863 rounds, he massacred Constellations with a greatbow.

[Kill that bastard first!]

Historical Constellations died beneath Junghyeok's rapid fire, forming a barrier made of the remnants of stars. We took cover behind it and fought.

[Dodge to the right!]

At Anna's warning, an onslaught from a Mythical Constellation swept over our feet. Every strike was powerful enough to inflict fatal injuries. Lee Seolhwa was nearly out of Life-and-Death Pills, so we couldn't afford any more serious wounds.

Lower-ranking Constellations of Asgard rushed at Anna.

[How dare you betray our nebula?]

The Constellation's head exploded before they could finish speaking. Something like a long tongue shot out from behind Anna and burst their head.

[A Constellation who enjoys changing sexes sneers.]

The Patron who had helped Anna betray her nebula was helping us.

"Kim Dokja! We can't hold out much longer! Junghyeok is at his limit too!"

The gazes of Mythical Constellations were focused on Junghyeok. The weapon storage was burning, and Junghyeok, drenched in blood, was fighting the Constellations with a massive hammer.

「Kim Dokja began searching through the storage room for something.」

"Found it."

I pulled out a test tube placed at the very end of the constellation artifact category. It bore the following name.

Shindansu's Seed.

Without hesitation, I released the seed onto the ground. The seed that fell to the floor soon sprouted. It grew in an instant into a tree as tall as I was, then stopped growing.

[The Great Fable Shindansu has put down its roots!]

[The Great Fable Shindansu recognizes your existence.]

[The Great Fable Shindansu requires a fable for the Opening of the Heavens!]

The storage room was burning.

Junghyeok was still holding out well. The Constellations who met his venomous gaze recoiled and shouted.

[You idiots! Use your heads! Use items to fight them too!]

The first thing they found was an item we knew well.

The Absolute Throne.

The key item of the fourth Scenario, an item that granted the protection of an Outer God simply to whoever obtained it. Historical Constellations spotted the throne and rushed toward it with greedy eyes.

I stopped Suyeong as she tried to run in that direction.

"Leave them."

The Historical Constellations swarmed toward it.

[The throne is mine!]

The instant someone sat on the Absolute Throne, I gripped a leaf from Shindansu. No matter how I thought about it, this was the only fable worth feeding it.

Some Constellations sensed something was wrong and shouted toward the Absolute Throne.

[Wait, stop!]

The Status flowing from the Absolute Throne flooded toward us, and something stirred deep within my chest.

[The fable King of a Kingless World begins its story!]

[The Great Fable Shindansu senses the beginning of a new Myth!]

「That story began by destroying the throne.」

Kugugugugu!

Having devoured the fable fragments, Shindansu gained explosive Plausibility and began to grow.

[A new worldview has taken root in this area!]

「Shindansu」.

The Great Fable of Hongik, a great nebula.

I spoke to the Constellations.

"You're right. We don't have a Myth. But we've always fought against that Myth."

The fable began its story.

「No Myth can escape that story.」

The next moment, Shindansu, which had stretched to the ceiling of the storage room, let out a tremendous roar. The ceiling of the Ark began to collapse.

[The Opening of the Heavens has begun!]

The sky began to open with a fearsome whirlpool.

[The old stars of an ancient nebula have awakened from their distant slumber!]

Within the dazzling radiance, the shadow of flowering branches appeared through the torn sky.

Stars began to form like fruit at the ends of those branches.

[It's been a long time since I've seen that throne.]

Seven stars hung from the ends of the branches. The Northern Dipper Star Lords who had helped me destroy the Absolute Throne were there.

Countless Constellations began falling from the sky like meteors.

[The Constellation Bald Army General has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation King Heungmu has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation Lady of the Sleeping Brocade has manifested on the Ark!]

[The Constellation Wind God of the Heavenly Emperor has manifested on the Ark!]