WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 544: Epilogue 4: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (9)

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"I just wrote it so there'd be a record. Kim Dokja might wake up someday, you know. And when he does, he'll have forgotten everything."

The Allies read Han Suyeong's novel.

Shin Yuseong, her eyes red, scolded them for scrolling too quickly. Lee Gilyeong sniffled as he clicked the mouse. Yu Sangah, Jeong Huiwon, and Jang Hayoung copied the file and read it on their phones.

As Sangah read the scene she appeared in, she smiled faintly.

"I really said something like this, didn't I?"

As if she missed it, Sangah brushed her fingers over the sentence on the screen, as though doing so might truly let her touch Dokja.

Lee Jihye, who had been drinking straight from the bottle, staggered over.

"What? Is it really that interesting?"

"Jihye-noona!"

Still drunk, Jihye shoved Gilyeong out of the chair and took over the laptop. After patting her cheeks a few times, she focused on the screen with a bleary expression.

How long had it been?

"Waaah! This novel is so sad!"

"You've only read the first chapter!"

Honk!

Jihye blew her nose and threw the tissue at Gilyeong. No matter how much he snapped at her, Jihye was impossible to stop. Her excitement reached its peak when she hurriedly scrolled down to the Chungmuro scene where she appeared.

"At the entrance where faint light filtered in, a girl holding a long saber stood. Watching Lee Jihye's hair flutter in the occasional breeze... Kyaaa, I'm seriously cool as hell!"

"Seriously! Scroll back up!"

Jihye kept rambling despite Gilyeong's complaints.

"So what happens next? What happens to Kim Dokja...?"

Jihye babbled until she finally gave in to her drunkenness and planted her face on the table. Shin Yuseong took the laptop from her and scrolled down instead.

"Do I show up later, too?"

"Everyone shows up. Their parts might be different, though."

"I-I really tried hard."

"I know. Your story will be in there a lot, too."

They knew how this story ended. They knew what would happen to Dokja, what the Allies would go through, and how the dreams they had dreamed would shatter.

Even so, Yuseong kept reading.

She advanced one sentence at a time toward the destined ending. The story they hadn't been able to change was there. As if it pained her for each sentence to disappear, Yuseong read every word with all her strength.

"How much would Dokja-ajusshi have liked this if he'd read it?"

"Should we go read it to Dokja-hyung?"

Suyeong thought of Kim Dokja, who was likely asleep in Lee Seolhwa's hospital. She had written this novel for that guy. Yet the thought that he would read it had never occurred to her.

「Perhaps this is the completion of this story.」

A whole ending for those who had lost something. Perhaps that was this novel's true purpose. Maybe they were the true readers of this story.

"Do you think Uncle from another worldline likes books, too?"

This story alone couldn't save them. Still, at least while they read and thought about it, they could endure life. Just as Dokja had endured while reading TWSA.

"Who knows? Probably."

"Even there, Uncle will definitely still be Uncle."

"Maybe he turned into a bug."

"Keep talking if you want to die, Lee Gilyeong."

"If Dokja-hyung was born as a bug, I'd raise him. I'd read him books every day, too."

A few of the adults snorted at Gilyeong's nonsense.

Sangah said, "No matter where he was born or what he lived as, Dokja-ssi would still be Dokja-ssi."

Han Suyeong nodded as well. Somewhere in another worldline, Dokja would now be living a new life. There, too, he would read someone else's story, feel happy or sad, and live on, moved by it.

The people here would live on remembering Dokja's story.

She hoped the Dokja in that world wasn't unhappy.

She hoped he could be as happy as the Allies here remembered him.

Yuseong, who had repeatedly gone back to reread from the beginning, sighed.

"I can't read it because it feels too precious. I'm afraid it'll end too fast."

"It won't end that quickly."

"Will you keep writing the next part, too?"

"Yeah."

"I wish we could send this novel to other worldlines. It's too precious for only us to read."

Other worldlines?

Suyeong blanked out for a moment at those unexpected words. She had never even considered it. It wasn't possible in the first place.

As she thought for a moment and was about to say something, a breaking-news report came on.

"Breaking news. A terrorist has broken into the Scenario Museum in Gwanghwamun..."

"A terrorist? In this day and age?"

Hayoung shook her head. The system's influence had nearly disappeared from the world anyway, so even having a constellation artifact wouldn't let someone accomplish much.

That was when Huiwon's phone rang.

"Yes, the security company that protects your safety! This is Jeong Huiwon, representative of Ironcaps... What? Where? Who did you say came?"

Huiwon looked up at the screen, her face flustered. The news ticker continued.

"The terrorist has been identified as a Transcendent once known as the Supreme King..."

Supreme King?

A moment later, the terrorist's profile appeared onscreen.

"Terrorist, Supreme King Yu Junghyeok (33, unemployed)"

* * *

"Stop him!"

The riot police deployed to the scene blocked off the museum and stood in the approaching man's way. Yet he lightly evaded their batons. As his black coat fluttered and his palm moved, the charging officers scattered like waves.

"Aaaah!"

"It's the system's power! Contact a security company, now! The government-affiliated Constellations too..."

Yu Junghyeok's [phoenix walk] surged forward in yellow flames. The officers recoiled in terror at the blistering heat left by every step, and before long, Junghyeok stood right before the Scenario Museum.

It was a place that stored constellation artifacts from the age of ruin.

Precious items, unavailable to civilians, had been gathered there.

One of the riot police chasing after Junghyeok shouted, "He's only a Transcendent from the previous era! Near the museum is an Absolute Formation created jointly by the Northern Dipper Constellations..."

[The Seven Stars Five Elements Formation has activated!]

Junghyeok examined the formation blocking his way. It was a martial arts formation in which the gates of life and death were exquisitely balanced according to the principles of the Seven Stars and Five Elements. Golden brilliance shone from his eyes as his Black Heaven Demon Blade struck exactly seven points.

"Insane, what is that...?!"

The young riot police, who knew little of the age of ruin, stood open-mouthed. They had heard the stories too.

"Twenty years ago, there was a human who looked down on the stars in the sky."

But they had only heard it as a story. They believed no human who rivaled Constellations could have existed. Yet living proof stood before them.

Junghyeok stepped through the collapsed formation. No one could stop him.

That was when someone emerged through the cloud of dust.

"Supreme King, what are you thinking? You have no need to steal a mere constellation artifact."

It was Han Donghoon, a government-affiliated Incarnation. He was famous for displaying messages before his target instead of speaking directly.

Junghyeok silently looked at the message before him, then jerked his chin toward the museum's spire. A small boat hung from its peak like an emblem.

"I need that boat."

"It's a model. It can't fly."

"We'll find that out when I use it."

"We know you've been moving around without filing regular reports with the World Government. Even knowing that, the World Government has overlooked it. That is because we respect what you achieved during the age of ruin."

"..."

"But that ends today. If you continue like this, we will have no choice but to use force as well."

Intense fighting spirit burst from Donghoon's entire body.

He, too, was a survivor of the Scenario generation.

By the time the Scenarios ended, he had become a powerhouse known as the King of the Hidden Shadows.

"You're going to stop me?"

Junghyeok took a step. At the same time, every person nearby dropped to their knees. Donghoon's expression hardened as he gave a hand signal.

"All units, prepare for comb..."

Before the message could finish, the shadows hiding atop the museum roof dropped like dead cicadas.

Thud. Thump...

The fallen agents twisted their bodies like insects. Pressure Point marks covered their bodies. More than thirty Incarnations had deployed together. Yet those thirty elite fighters had been taken down before they could even realize what had happened.

"Move."

Donghoon's shoulders trembled faintly.

In the twenty years since the 1,864th round's Scenario had ended, the strongest Incarnation he knew was the Prophet Anna Croft. She was the only surviving Incarnation comparable to a Constellation. But even if she came, could she stop that monster?

"Han Donghoon, respond. Han Donghoon?"

If he didn't run, he would die. Donghoon knew that, yet he couldn't even move his feet. Tremendous killing intent had seized his entire body. Who could possibly stop that Transcendent? The martial arts Transcendents who would be on another planet by now? Or the Constellations touring the world?

No, even they wouldn't be enough.

The monster before him had reached the highest Status even among Transcendents. After the Star Stream collapsed, the Constellations could no longer wield the power they once had. So...

"Captain Han Donghoon! Get away!"

Junghyeok's sword moved, Donghoon squeezed his eyes shut, and a deafening roar erupted almost at the same time. A terrifying wave of Mana shoved Donghoon's body back. It had been a long time since he had seen a clash strong enough to cause a Plausibility Backlash.

Sssssss...

When he barely endured the backlash by gripping a groove in the shattered floor, he saw an unbelievable sight.

"Ah, it's been so long since I used some strength. I'm dying here."

Someone was blocking the Supreme King's sword.

[The Constellation Designer of the False Ending is unleashing her power!]

[The Administration Bureau's Fable Fragments support the Designer of the False Ending.]

She was one of the few supreme powerhouses in this world capable of stopping the monster Yu Junghyeok.

Purple Mana rose from her entire body, staining the surroundings with an ominous hue.

"Yu Junghyeok, what kind of bullshit are you pulling?"

Han Suyeong, the Black Flame Demon Emperor.

"It's none of your concern."

"Why isn't it my concern? Our former regressor has gone and become a terrorist."

"..."

"Since an old comrade has fallen, it's a superhero's duty to take responsibility for his rehabilita..."

Kwwaaaang!

"Goddamn it, what is this bullshit?!"

"Move. I have no intention of arguing with you."

"No, talk. That's always been your problem. You were doing just fine for two years, so why are you suddenly doing..."

She pulled a dagger from her clothes and gritted her teeth as she blocked Junghyeok's assault. The bombardment of Sword Aura gradually forced her backward.

Suyeong looked toward the Scenario Museum, where Junghyeok's gaze was fixed.

No matter how she looked at it, it made no sense. There was no reason for Junghyeok to raid this place. He wasn't someone who could grow stronger by acquiring one or two constellation artifacts. And there shouldn't be any constellation artifact here that Junghyeok would covet...

Then Suyeong noticed something.

"You. Don't tell me."

Her hair slowly began to float. An unsettling wave of energy spread faintly around her. Cold fury colored Suyeong's voice.

"Is it because of that?"

Junghyeok's eyes burned. The image of the Final Ark sculpted atop the spire was reflected in them.

Footnotes:

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