WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 624: Episode 14: Master of the Throne (1)
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The moment I heard that name, my heart sank.
「Yu Junghyeok knows Kim Dokja.」
But how did he know that name? The Junghyeok of the 41st round had never seen or met Dokja.
He had met Dokja in the 0th round, but Junghyeok hadn't known that he was Kim Dokja. When he moved on to the next round, he had lost every memory related to him.
Then how on earth...?
「"There have been a lot of strange bastards since the start of this round."」
Now that I thought about it, Junghyeok must have heard that name everywhere since the beginning of this round.
「"They were clearly all nobodies until the last round, but they suddenly came to me and spouted strange things as if they'd been possessed by something."」
There must have been Readers who approached him claiming to be Kim Dokja. It was obvious what had happened to them.
「"They said I needed Companions to clear the 46th Scenario, that they were prophets. One even said they'd take me to the end of this world."」
At first, he might have thought they were lunatics. By now, though, his thoughts would naturally have changed.
He now knew about the Apostles.
Perhaps, while suffering from regressor's depression, he had overheard my fight with Suyeong.
Even if he hadn't, it was the perfect time for him to overhear what the Apostles were saying.
「"Is there really a Kim Dokja in this world?"」
「"I don't know. But I heard he was on the rooftop of the Theater Dungeon?"」
The rooftop of the Theater Dungeon. The only people there had been me, Junghyeok, Suyeong, and Huiwon.
"Are you Kim Dokja?"
Watching Junghyeok come to a dangerous misunderstanding, I hurriedly shook my head.
"Absolutely not."
His expression grew even more serious.
"Then who the hell is Kim Dokja? What does he do that everyone keeps saying that name?"
"That..."
Who was Kim Dokja?
No truly fitting sentence came to mind.
"Kim Dokja... is simply the name of someone who loves stories very much."
"Stories?"
"Someone who has read one story for a very long time."
"What does that mean? Are you talking about a Constellation?"
"I mean..."
As I spoke one sentence, then two, sentences rose one after another in my mind like fireworks.
「"What kind of person is Uncle? Uncle is..."」
A girl's voice rippled through my head. Her dearly missed short hair swayed like waves.
「"The strongest Constellation in the universe!"」
Beside her, a boy's brown hair fluttered playfully.
「"What? Don't ask me difficult questions. But now that you mention it, I suddenly want some squid. Master! Where's Master!"」
The faint scent of the sea made my thoughts grow increasingly muddled.
「"There was an expression like that in a book I read recently. 'Someone like a childhood friend you've never met.'"」
It felt as though the gentle scent of a Library drifted in from somewhere.
「"The world I want to protect."」
There was also the bloody smell of iron.
「"Are you asking about Dokja-ssi? Well... um, have I ever told you about the time I lost my helmet?"」
「"Hyeongseong-ssi, please stop there."」
A familiar joke flickered through my mind. Then came the sweet sound of typing, soft as chocolate snapping apart.
「"The bastard who promised to read three thousand chapters."」
That wasn't a sentence I'd written. Then what was this sentence?
These sentences...
「"You fool."」
These memories... where on earth had they come from?
The world spun as though a blood vessel somewhere in my head had become blocked. My irregularly beating heart hurt.
I staggered, clutching my head.
「Who is Kim Dokja?」
Sentences erupted like a volcano alongside a throbbing headache.
「Why is he still reading this story?」
When I jolted back to my senses, blue sparks were swirling around me.
I stupidly raised my head and saw Junghyeok. He was shouting something.
「Don't lis ten」
But I couldn't hear his voice.
Instead, I heard words from beyond a distant time.
「Be hap py」
My mind was covered in pure white spaces between lines, like volcanic ash drifting through the air, and I lost consciousness.
* * *
A faint rumble of thunder came from the distant sky.
Han Suyeong realized that the sparks surrounding her had grown fainter.
'The Plausibility Backlash has weakened.'
Looking at the faint traces of Plausibility Backlash rippling from her fingertips, Suyeong recalled what had happened on the rooftop of the Theater Dungeon a few days ago.
She had gone there to end this round, and there she met Yu Junghyeok of the 41st round.
Junghyeok was strong.
Not just strong. He was astonishingly strong.
It was hard to understand how he had become this strong at this point in the 41st round.
She fought with everything she had and barely managed to subdue him, even resorting to tricks.
Everything had gone according to plan until then.
It was still fine when Huiwon appeared, followed by an Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint writer from an unknown worldline.
Things like that often happened while writing.
A forgotten piece of foreshadowing would suddenly appear, or a character would act differently from what the writer intended.
Writing had always meant cutting and shaping a rampaging subconscious, so she was used to dealing with unpredictable situations.
After all, she was a professional writer who had already brought countless stories to their conclusion.
Yet the story that found her afterward was foreshadowing even she couldn't bear.
「Another Kim Dokja she had forgotten was there.」
A sudden headache swept over her, and Suyeong staggered as she braced herself against a building wall.
Dusk was falling beyond the sinister alleyway. Seoul spread out between the alleys, as if someone had cut a cross-section through its horizon.
Bodies lay scattered everywhere. People who had starved to death, or died while fleeing fights. A familiar bloody smell.
It was a story she never wanted to experience again.
Even so, she had returned to this story once more.
She had no choice.
Because this was the story her one and only reader was reading.
"I'm tired."
She knew that scenery wasn't all there was to this world. The spaces between lines were always wider than the sentences themselves. There would surely be precious stories in the spaces this alley couldn't contain.
But she didn't have the strength to read those spaces now.
To her now, the Scenario was no more than a glimpse of hell at the mouth of an alley.
"What about you, Kim Dokja?"
There was no Dokja there to answer, even if she asked.
Suyeong blankly looked up at the sky, slowly steadied her breathing, and rose to her feet.
"Fuu..."
Terrible muscle pain spread throughout her body.
Her Incarnation body was badly damaged.
It couldn't be helped.
It was a miracle that she'd remained sane after wasting that much Plausibility on the rooftop.
Thanks to the temporarily weakened Plausibility Backlash, she could finally move again.
'Is someone causing trouble somewhere?'
The sky flashed in the distance, so perhaps someone was doing something incredible enough to draw <Star Stream>'s attention.
"Lee Gilyeong."
She called his name aloud, but there was no response.
Suyeong twitched her lips once, braced herself against the outer wall of a nearby building, and began walking slowly.
She couldn't stay here.
She had to move.
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight is watching you.]
Suyeong paused for a moment before walking again.
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight advises that it would be best for you to rest for now.]
"Shut up."
Sparks flickered lightly in the air at her blunt response. The star was angry with her.
"Don't waste Plausibility on something like that, Yu Sangah. Where did Gilyeong go, and why are you here?"
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight says that Gilyeong is eating right now.]
Someone was on the verge of dying here, while someone else could still stomach food.
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight asks if you are all right.]
What?
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight says that you look pale.]
Suyeong gave a quiet groan.
Yu Sangah probably hadn't seen what happened on the rooftop. The broadcast channel had been closed then.
Suyeong was about to say something, but closed her mouth again.
What expression would Yu Sangah make if she learned that the 49% Kim Dokja they had turned away from was here now?
"What about the worldline you went to? Are you already done? Did you recover Kim Dokja's fragments?"
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight says that it has been roughly wrapped up.]
"Then this is really the only place left. What about Yuseong?"
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight says that Yuseong is also preparing to deploy soon.]
"Are there any others? It's not that Lee Hyeongseong and Jeong Huiwon have both crossed over too, is it?"
[The Constellation Lotus Blossoming Under the Moonlight...]
Suyeong abruptly turned her head.
The instant she reflexively bent at the waist, a dagger flew into the spot where she'd been standing.
Its blade was filled with pitch-black demonic energy.
Suyeong frowned.
"Who the hell are you? Show yourself."
Black figures emerged from both sides of the alley at once.
They weren't human.
Dogs resembling shepherds, three or four times their normal size, bared their fangs at her.
Beast species?
No. They were different from ordinary beast species.
[The Tier-7 demonic species Watchdog of Hell bares its teeth.]
Demonic species.
Suyeong lightly bit her lip.
"Demons? It's not time for hell sorcerers to appear yet."
Then one of the dogs in the center of the pack opened its mouth.
[It's been a long time, Han Suyeong.]
The moment she heard that voice, goosebumps rose across Suyeong's skin.
It was a constellation's declaration full of static, but it was definitely a manner of speaking she'd heard somewhere before.
"You know my name?"
[Hehe, is there any being in this universe that doesn't know you?]
Without hesitation, Suyeong drew Unbreakable Faith.
'I'm not sure who they are, but...'
A blade of white light burned brilliantly. She planted her foot against the alley wall and launched herself forward like an arrow, severing the demon dog's neck.
'I'll end this quickly.'
Even if they were demonic species, there was no Tier-7 monster in this Scenario that could face Suyeong now.
That was how it should have been.
Tssst.
With a faint spark, the severed neck of the demon dog reattached itself.
Suyeong didn't miss the unprecedented fable that had reattached its neck.
"An Outer God?"
The dogs looked up at the sky and howled in unison.
The sky overhead turned pitch-black, and the nearby lights went out one by one as darkness closed in.
Grrr.
Something in the darkness bit her calf. Then her arm, then her waist.
Suyeong calmly blew apart the heads of the demonic species one after another as she thought.
'Who the hell are they?'
An Outer God who controlled demonic species and knew her name.
Could such a being exist in this 41st round?
'I have to use a Great Fable.'
Using more fables here would bring the backlash down on her again, but she had no other option.
To confront an Outer God, she had no choice but to pay a comparable price.
[Are you thinking of using a Great Fable?]
An unpleasant laugh sounded, as though the unknown being had read her mind.
Without answering, Suyeong called forth her fable.
[The Great Fable Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint begins its story.]
At that moment, her vision suddenly flashed, and the fable was interrupted.
Cough.
She spat out a clump of blood. Fables flowing backward escaped with her breath.
That sinister voice echoed again.
[Unfortunately, you won't be able to use that ability here.]
Unbreakable Faith, swung on instinct, bounced off something.
It was impossible.
The fable's activation had been stopped?
Why?
Laughter came again from the pitch-black darkness.
Then Suyeong felt something strange. She knew the owner of this laugh.
[Have you forgotten?]
"You..."
[That I also have a share in the splendid fable of Kim Dokja Company?]
Demonic energy flowed out ominously.
Within it, a fable she knew well was writhing.
『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.
...How?
The dogs surrounding her howled, as if welcoming her back to this hell once more.
[You are no longer the writer of this story.]
A hand made of fables appeared from the darkness that had rushed in all at once.
Before she had time to flee, the hand gripped her throat.
As Unbreakable Faith's light dimmed, Suyeong rose into the air, and her shadow stretched long across the alley wall.
A voice sounded as though pinning down that struggling shadow, placing a period at the end of a story.
[Please just die here, Han Suyeong.]
Footnotes:
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