WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 543: Epilogue 4: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (8)

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As though they had planned it, the Allies left to find their own places.

Someone founded a security company, while someone else joined the government.

Han Suyeong belonged nowhere. Instead, she became a teacher.

"Reading Modern Philosophy Through Web Novels"

That was the title of the course Suyeong taught at the center.

After the Final Scenario ended, reality and fantasy separated once more.

"So, if we apply Roland Barthes's 'mourning' to this novel..."

Most of the students looked as though she were talking about dipping a croissant in seasoned soybean paste, though a few were interested.

One student raised their hand and asked, "Professor, your perspective is very interesting, but I disagree."

Suyeong nodded for them to continue. The student went on with a proud expression.

"Did the author really intend that? Is applying such grand theories to a novel full of spelling mistakes and awkward sentences really the right way to read it? Honestly, I don't think the author thought that far. Just look at all the excessive sound effects and mimetic words here..."

Suyeong looked at the novel she had brought as an example. It certainly had plenty of awkward sentences. The student smiled with satisfaction, as if they had landed a decisive blow.

For a moment, Suyeong considered explaining everything to the student. In the end, she didn't. Instead, she said, "That's right. Only the author knows the truth."

"Isn't that a little irresponsible...?"

"What if someone were evaluating you?"

"Excuse me?"

"They'd first notice your unwashed face from rushing to class, or your toenails sticking out past your slippers. Then they'd think, 'Ah, just look at that guy. He must be lazy. A lazy person can't be smart. There's no reason to listen to an idiot like that.'"

"What does that have to do with..."

"Or they might think, 'Ah, that student must have stayed up all night studying today's lecture material in advance. Instead of fussing over their appearance, they're a diligent person who thoroughly prepares for a quality class.' They could think that instead."

Watching the student's wavering eyes, Suyeong continued.

"Like you said, the author who wrote this might not have thought much about it. But in the end, you're the one who decides what to find in this novel. If you declare it garbage, it'll end as garbage. If you find even the slightest bit of meaning in it, that alone can make this work a little better. The choice is yours, but I'd still like you to choose the option that makes good use of your time. Otherwise, enduring my class will be pretty difficult."

The student closed their mouth and looked at Suyeong. She couldn't tell whether they understood her. Still, she thought it couldn't be helped if they didn't.

The student quietly shifted their gaze, then suddenly said something unrelated.

"By the way, Professor, aren't you writing anything new anymore?"

"Hm?"

"You said it before. A writer is a writer because they write. If they don't write, they aren't a writer."

The words carried the rough meaning of, Someone like you, who isn't even a writer, has no right to say that.

Suyeong didn't answer for a while. Her eyes grew cloudy, as though she were measuring the distant void. Then she murmured indifferently, "That's right. I'm not a writer anymore."

"Excuse me?"

"There's no longer a reader who'll read my writing."

Before Suyeong could continue, the bell signaling the end of class rang. Smiling faintly, she shrugged.

"All right, the novel you need to read for the next lecture is..."

Suyeong remained at the podium as she saw the students out of the classroom.

A document file was visible on the desktop of her open laptop. It was a novel she had started writing recently as an experiment. Suyeong opened the file and quietly looked at the sentence she had written.

「It was then that a presence was felt behind them.」

"That was an interesting lecture. I wish that person could have attended it, too."

Startled, Suyeong turned off the screen and looked back. A familiar face stood there. Long fingers carefully examined the lecture materials scattered across the podium.

"Ah, this lecture looks fun too. Reading Modern Fantasy Through Bourdieu, Anatomy of Romance Fantasy with Butler..."

"Did you come here to look down on web novel writers?"

Yu Sangah tilted her head slightly and smiled. It was the same smile she had worn two years ago. She studied Suyeong closely before asking, "Why are you suddenly wearing glasses? Did your eyesight get worse already?"

"Mind your own business."

"Ah, I get it. You looked too young, so the students didn't take you seriously?"

Suyeong frowned and pulled off her black glasses. Sangah teasingly added, "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."

* * *

One sipped an iced Americano and the other a peach smoothie as the two walked down the street. They kept an awkward distance between them and focused only on walking. Suyeong asked casually, "How's the government work? Is it fun?"

"Is it the kind of work you do for fun?"

"Who's coming today?"

"Hyeongseong will probably have a hard time making it because he's in America, but Huiwon will likely come. And Seolhwa, as you know..."

"What about the kids?"

"They'll all come. They haven't missed it once."

Before long, they reached Gwanghwamun. They entered an alley and walked for a while before finding the restaurant they had been looking for.

《Mark & Selena》.

Suyeong threw open the door.

"Welco... Whoa, look who it is!"

Selena Kim greeted them in fluent Korean. Mark, who was spinning pizza dough in the kitchen, whistled. Selena led them inside and said, "Just wait a little. The food will be ready soon."

"What about the people who got here first?"

Selena pointed toward one corner of the bar counter, as if telling them to see for themselves. Three familiar heads were huddled together. Holding back an odd ticklish feeling, Suyeong quietly approached them from behind. Once she was directly behind them, she swiftly swung her palm and smacked all three heads in succession.

"Argh! Which bastard was that!"

"Our little brats have really grown up."

"Suyeong-unnie! Sangah-unnie!"

It had been a full year since they last met, so they shared a brief catch-up. The food truly didn't take long to arrive.

"What did you order? What's this dish called?"

"Demon Stir-Fried Gopchang from the Lodge of Ruin."

Mark grinned as he served the dish. Suyeong made a suspicious face, then stabbed the dish, which looked like squid sundae, with her fork.

"What? It's good."

It was a dish as impressive as its name. The other Allies relaxed and began eating too. How long had it been since they could eat a meal this peacefully? They had crossed the worldline two years ago, yet Suyeong still felt as if all of it were a lie.

―Woooah, woooah, woooooah...!

A panel mounted above the bar counter was broadcasting a concert live. It was a popular idol group these days. One was a monkey, one a dragon, and one an Archangel. Great Sage Equaling Heaven gripped the microphone and unleashed a Lion's Roar brimming with vibrato. Uriel appeared at the back of the stage amid dazzling lights.

Yu Sangah chewed her gopchang and said, "They're doing incredibly well."

"I joined their fan club yesterday too. Uriel's presence is seriously..."

At Lee Jihye's comment, Lee Gilyeong objected.

"After seeing Dionysus perform, I can't watch those guys anymore. Especially that one..."

"Abyssal Black Flame Dragon? Why? He's cute."

Gilyeong shot Shin Yuseong a glare and chewed on his fork.

"That thing, cute? Please."

The Constellations' new song was playing on the panel. Abyssal Black Flame Dragon, wearing an eyepatch, began breakdancing and rapid-fire rapping.

―This is a very old fable! A myth sung by the Scenario! The evolution of a human fading in time!

"What the hell is that even supposed to mean?"

As Black Flame Dragon's rapid-fire rap poured out, two people came through the restaurant door. They looked strangely excited, as though they had already had a few drinks elsewhere. It was Jang Hayoung and Jeong Huiwon.

"What! Everyone's already here?"

Hayoung rushed over and put Suyeong in a headlock.

"How've you been?"

Huiwon lightly high-fived Sangah, then looked at the panel and said, "God, that rap is so damn loud."

"It's nice seeing everyone again after so long."

"Is this everyone today?"

"Looks like it."

Huiwon talked about the house she had recently moved into. It was a little inconvenient because it wasn't close to a subway station, but there was a park nearby, so it was nice for exercising.

She no longer lived in Gwanghwamun. She no longer lived anywhere near Line Three. Suyeong asked, "So, are you two living together?"

Everyone's attention suddenly focused on them. Huiwon gave a bitter smile and swirled her drink.

"No. Separately."

"Why?"

"If we're together, we'll remember."

"Remembering what?"

Jihye's eyes sparkled as she pressed Huiwon. There was no amusement in Huiwon's expression, though. She stirred her drink in silence. Jihye closed her open mouth.

The intro to the next song began playing on the panel.

―Nameless Salvation (Feat. Bald Army General) - JUS

Listening to the song playing from the panel, Suyeong added a little late, "Right. I guess it would."

Then the Allies' conversation stopped. Silence clung to their ankles like a swamp.

That was why they didn't meet often.

―This is a story no one remembers. Yet it was surely a story that existed.

Had two years been enough time for that period to become a story?

Suyeong asked, "Still no word from Biyoo?"

"I asked Anna, but she said no communications have come in either."

Just before the Allies returned, Biyoo left for a training journey to the Dark Stratum. Because of that, they hadn't heard from Biyoo in the last two years.

"What about Pildu Gong?"

"He's probably drinking alone in Chungmuro again. I think being separated from his family back then hit him hard."

"We told him to just stay in the 1,865th round. Yet he still insisted on coming back with us..."

"How's Myeongoh? Since he lives in the industrial complex, Suyeong, you'd know best."

"That old man is always doing well."

"What's that guy in black doing these days? I heard he tried being a Pro Gamer, then quit."

No one answered.

Hayoung suddenly raised a martini glass.

"Ah, whatever. Let's drink first!"

"I think you've already had plenty."

"Don't stop me! I'm going all the way tonight!"

"Me too. Give me a drink."

"Yuseong, you're still underage."

"If you count my age before Regression, I'm an adult."

As Yuseong pouted and begged, Jihye filled her glass with soju and downed it in one shot without even touching the food.

"Suyeong-unnie, write my report for me."

"If you ask me for that crap again, I'll kill you."

Two years. Broken down by days, roughly 730 days.

Their current conversation was possible because they had desperately lived through those 730 days. Going to school, working, moving house. The Allies worked hard to move one step farther away from that day. Yet there was also someone who moved toward that day in order to get farther away from it.

「Kim Dokja survived through the story called TWSA. Then what story was it that kept us alive?」

Huiwon saw Suyeong writing something in her notebook and said, "What are you writing down so seriously?"

"Just a habit."

"Are you still writing these days?"

The fingers writing the note stopped. Sangah answered in Suyeong's place.

"I think she is. I saw her writing earlier."

"Really? What are you writing? A novel?"

Jihye asked while noisily chewing the fresh side dishes she had piled onto her plate.

"I'm just writing to get back in practice."

"Really? Are you planning to release something new?"

As Suyeong considered how to answer, she heard rustling beside her.

"Could it be here?"

Gilyeong had said he was going to the restroom, but he was now happily holding Suyeong's laptop. Having secretly played computer games on Suyeong's laptop before, he naturally entered the password and logged in. Yuseong glared at him, telling him not to fool around.

"Lee Gilyeong."

"Why?"

His cheeks were flushed red, as though he had secretly drunk several glasses. Yuseong anxiously watched Suyeong's reaction. Yet Suyeong, who would normally have exploded and smacked Gilyeong on the back of the head, was silently sipping the martini before her. As though she didn't mind if he looked.

Taking that as permission, Gilyeong opened the file. A little later, Suyeong set down her martini glass and asked, "Kid."

"..."

"Are you sure you can read it?"

Gilyeong's complexion slowly turned pale. Even so, he didn't take his eyes off the screen. He read the story as if he might be sucked into it. His face twisted in pain, but his eyes kept moving. A few minutes later, he looked up with eyes that seemed ready to spill tears.

"How many parts are there?"

"Not that many yet. It's just under two volumes."

"Can I... read more?"

"Sure."

Seeing that something was wrong with Gilyeong, the Allies stood up.

"Why? What's it about?"

"I'm curious too, if it's Suyeong's new work..."

"I'll pass. I'll read it later if it comes out as a book."

Everyone except Jihye, who said that as she poured herself another drink, gathered behind Gilyeong.

Han Suyeong watched them.

One by one, the Allies' gazes were drawn into the screen.

It probably wasn't simply because the story was interesting. It was the kind of story that drew them in, because that story was...

"Han Suyeong, you..."

Hearing Huiwon's trembling voice, Suyeong remembered a line she had written.

「“Regression can't change anything. It took me a very long time to realize that.”」

That was right. There was nothing Regression could change. Just as there had been nothing they could change that day.

"Why would you write a story like this...?"

Still, that didn't mean the regression had left nothing behind.

「Kim Dokja survived through the story called TWSA. Then what story was it that kept us alive?」

In truth, Suyeong knew the answer to that question.

"It's a story I wanted to show him."

A story remained with them.

A story about the one person they loved.

Footnotes:

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