WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 647: Episode 18: A reader's fight (1)
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「"You're useless."」
A sentence echoed in my head.
「"What good is keeping you around? You're just another mouth to feed."」
「"Send her into a one-person dungeon. If she comes back alive, we'll let her join the party."」
Were these sentences from TWSA, or voices coming from within Shin Yuseong?
I didn't know. What I did know was that Yuseong, shouting in the distance, was steadily losing confidence.
I shouted again at the top of my lungs.
"Don't listen to what other people say!"
No matter what I did now, I couldn't change the history already written for that child.
A sentence that had already been read wouldn't disappear just because it was erased.
What I could do was make the next sentence the child would live through clearer and more vivid.
[An Attribute effect has activated!]
And if it was something like that, I was more confident than anyone.
"You can do whatever you want! You don't have to kill the monsters! If you think you can become friends with them, then believe that you can!"
This world wouldn't be as easy as the sentences I had written.
There were monsters that couldn't become friends with people, and monsters that couldn't be tamed.
There were even monsters like the Final Dragon of the Apocalypse, whose purpose was to destroy this world.
But.
"It's okay if you fail!"
What stood before Yuseong right now was a Nagak.
Just because the truth of a cruel world existed far away, there was no need to crush the small hope in front of her.
Nagaks could be tamed.
Yuseong could do it.
"I'll buy you time, so take it slow and try as many times as you need!"
[The proficiency of Incitement has increased!]
[The Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv.9 has activated!]
[Incitement] at Level 9.
After obtaining my first fable, my [Incitement] had risen by two whole levels.
[Powerful Incitement temporarily enhances this character's talent.]
Encouraged by me, Yuseong tried [taming] again. After some time had passed, a Thread of light flowed from her fingertips and connected to a Nagak.
[The character Shin Yuseong has successfully tamed a Nagak!]
Yuseong's eyes widened as if she couldn't believe what she had done.
"Good job! Keep going!"
Perhaps she had gained a little confidence, because Yuseong's expression looked much better.
I avoided the Nagaks' ensemble attacks, and whenever I couldn't possibly dodge, I bought time by wearing a Nagak shell.
Thudthudthud!
The attacks had been troublesome at first, but once I memorized their patterns, they were manageable.
Just as Dokja had said, every Scenario had a way to overcome it.
[The character Shin Yuseong has successfully tamed a Nagak!]
[The character Shin Yuseong has successfully tamed a Nagak!]
Even then, Yuseong steadily tamed Nagaks.
All I had to do was keep buying time.
There was one problem, though.
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak is displaying strange movements.]
"Hide!"
At my signal, the startled Yuseong hurriedly hid inside a Nagak shell. The Ancient Nagak's ensemble attack swept through the area around the shell where Yuseong was hiding.
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak is enraged!]
For the first time, the creature that had remained in its puddle moved its massive body. Nagaks that brushed against its legs tumbled across the terrarium floor.
Crunch!
That Nagak shell, which had been so hard, was pierced helplessly by its pointed feet.
Even without its ensemble, its physical abilities were threatening.
[The Constellation Sinister Schemer looks intrigued.]
I loosened my wrist and activated [White Pure Star Energy].
[Blade of Faith has activated!]
With a whine, a bright blue blade rose from Broken Faith.
The Blade of Faith created with my meager Mana couldn't break its shell.
But what about its legs?
I ran at it and immediately swung the Blade of Faith.
[The fable Persistent Murim Master hesitantly begins its story.]
The Historical-grade fable I had received from Cheon Gae, the Last Ark, exerted its power.
The fable quickly spread through my whole body, and the energy of [Dog-Beating Staff Technique] settled into the blade.
Slash.
I hadn't cut through it in one strike, but I had dealt its leg a critical blow.
One more time.
When I swung my sword again at the half-severed leg, its tendon finally gave way beneath the blade.
Kwooo!
The resounding howl jolted me to my senses. My immersion in the fable broke, and exhaustion washed over me.
My heart pounded wildly, and I was short of breath.
Covered in sea monster blood, I retreated in a daze.
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak is preparing Single-shot Ensemble!]
The creature drew in a breath in an instant and prepared to release a sound wave.
I draped a nearby Nagak shell over myself and lay prone.
But why?
I couldn't hear its ensemble.
A moment later, I heard something being crushed. Then a claw pierced through the top of the shell. I could see its bright eyes through the broken gap.
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak has begun Single-shot Ensemble!]
Damn it.
"Mister!"
At the same time as Yuseong's cry came from afar, the Nagak's horn blared.
「I would die.」
If I died now,
「Yuseong would die too.」
I couldn't let that happen.
[The Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv.9 has activated!]
There was no shell for me to hide in. There was nowhere to run.
Then there was only one way.
"I am a Nagak."
I saw its body twitch at my [Incitement].
The balance of its ensemble had collapsed. Still, part of the discordant sound it created flowed through the gaps in the shell and exploded against my eardrums.
With a ringing sensation, the world spun around me.
Blood ran from my ears, but this was an injury I could endure.
[The effect of Incitement allows your mental energy to overcome the ringing.]
My hearing was muffled and my vision swam. Still, I kept moving without pause.
I had to reassure Yuseong.
"I'm fine! Keep going!"
After checking on me, Yuseong activated her Skill again, her eyes full of worry.
[The character Shin Yuseong has successfully tamed a Nagak!]
Under the influence of [Incitement], the Ancient Nagak seemed confused about whether I was human or a Nagak.
It soon swung its claw at me as though it didn't care either way. Perhaps because it had used its ensemble consecutively, its movements were somewhat sluggish.
I didn't miss the opening and swung my sword again.
Slash.
Another leg fell away.
I bit down hard on my lip, held my breath, and swung my sword again and again.
Slash.
When its third leg fell away, its balance began to waver precariously.
Now it wouldn't suddenly charge toward Yuseong or cause any other unexpected trouble.
Instead, all of its anger was mine to bear.
Whooooom.
The air around us was sucked into the Ancient Nagak's mouth.
In just a little while, its ensemble would begin again.
[Broken Faith has disappeared.]
[Thought of Almost Everything refuses Mimicry.]
As if things weren't bad enough, Mimicry's time limit had ended.
I could regenerate the blade by using [Incitement] again, but my Mana had run low, and it was difficult to maintain the Blade of Faith.
I looked back at Yuseong, who was repeatedly using [taming] in the distance.
「In the end, she would become the Catastrophe of Floods.」
Even if I saved Yuseong here, she would cross into another worldline and become the Catastrophe of Floods.
I knew that.
That was the Fate of this forty-first round.
「Would a universe born as a tragedy from the beginning have been better off not existing?」
Dokja's words echoed through my mind like a refrain.
I changed Thought into a Mana Recovery Bracelet and put it on my wrist.
[The effect of Mana Recovery Bracelet increases Mana regeneration.]
Dokja had said he would watch over my story. He told me to tell the story I wanted.
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak is preparing Area Ensemble!]
No matter what I did, this world might be destroyed.
The characters might walk toward tragedy.
But even if that was how it ended, as long as I had even a handful of blank space left, I would struggle.
I would write a sentence that saved people.
Feeling the air around me grow thin, I clenched my fist as if gripping a pen.
[The Exclusive Skill □□ is activating!]
[This Skill cannot be activated due to the Plausibility restrictions of <Star Stream>.]
During the process of obtaining my first fable, the Skill [□□] was sealed.
[This Skill cannot be activated at your current Status.]
For someone who had overcome countless crises with [□□], it was bitter.
Being unable to use that Skill sounded as though I wasn't qualified to be the Writer of this story.
That didn't mean all the blank space allowed to me had vanished.
[Part of □□'s function has been converted into a subskill.]
It was only a few spaces of blankness, but there were still empty pages left in this world for me to write on.
[The subskill Sentence Enhancement has activated!]
「Inho Cheon is □□······□□.」
The moment I saw the blanks within the single quotation marks, I understood what this Skill was.
[You can enter your action.]
[The action you enter will be enhanced.]
[Your current enhancement stage is Stage 1.]
[You can increase the enhancement stage by investing additional Plausibility.]
[Current Plausibility: 515]
Simply put, it felt like a simplified version of [□□].
I tried writing a sentence.
「Inho Cheon used Incitement.」
[Action enhancement has succeeded.]
Vitality surged through my body, and I felt as though I could do anything.
More precisely,
[The Exclusive Skill Incitement has been enhanced!]
Right now, it felt like I could incite anything.
[Incitement has temporarily entered an awakened state.]
[You can incite yourself to imitate a person of your choosing.]
[When inciting yourself to become another person, you have a certain chance of imitating that person's Skill or Stigma.]
[However, if you incite yourself to become a person with a higher Status than yourself, you have a high chance of failure and will receive a penalty.]
[Your Incitement reproduction rate increases according to your understanding of that person.]
Until now, [Incitement] had been a kind of self-suggestion Skill.
For example, even if I incited myself by saying I was Kyrios, that wouldn't make me Kyrios.
Even with refined [Incitement], all I could do was imitate that person's actions, speech patterns, or personality.
But according to this explanation, this [Incitement] was different.
「I could truly become someone else.」
Without waiting any longer, I activated [Incitement].
Someone who could resolve this crisis without difficulty.
Someone who could escape this dungeon without killing the Nagaks.
I looked at Yuseong, who was repeatedly using [taming] in the distance.
"I am Shin Yuseong, the Catastrophe of Floods―"
Crackle.
I knew instinctively.
This [Incitement] was impossible.
In other words, Shin Yuseong, the Catastrophe of Floods, was an existence with a far higher Status than I had now.
I had thought that obtaining two fables might make it possible, but was it still too much?
[The Tier-6 sea monster Ancient Nagak has begun Area Ensemble!]
I couldn't take a risk here.
Yuseong might die if I did.
This time, I had to incite myself to become someone with a lower Status than mine and overcome the crisis.
The Ancient Nagak, having drawn in all its breath, began its ensemble.
I hid behind a nearby Nagak shell and thought.
Shin Yuseong, the Catastrophe of Floods, had failed.
But what about Yuseong from another time?
For example, Yuseong from a time when her Status was lower than mine.
The pages of TWSA began flipping furiously through my mind.
「"Mister! Don't go! Please! Don't go!"」
Yuseong, chasing after Dokja when he had become an Outer God.
「"Someone I like appeared looking like that once, too."」
Yuseong, who had participated in "Journey to the West," the Great Fable of the nebula Emperor.
「"Uh, um. So... thank you... for giving me this award..."」
Yuseong, giving an acceptance speech to Dokja after participating in the Duet of Good and Evil.
「"...Mister?"」
Yuseong, the first to recognize Dokja after he became a giant squid.
I kept tracing Yuseong's history back.
「"Mister!"」
Yuseong's voice calling for Dokja again and again.
Was it because of the Ancient Nagak's ensemble?
Even though I knew the child wasn't calling for me, emotion welled up strangely in my chest.
The sentences I had once written were traveling back through time to return to me.
「"Mister, but can this... only be used on monsters?"」
And at last.
「Yuseong, whose eye color had slowly returned, was looking at me.」
A Nagak shell was crushed beneath the Ancient Nagak's foreleg, and the sound of its ensemble rushed toward me.
At the same time, I felt the sentence I had found settle into me.
"I am―"
「As if it were nothing, she wiped the blood from her nose and spoke.」
"Shin Yuseong, who tamed Queen Mirvad."
「"Let's go, mister."」
[The effect of Incitement has activated!]
Footnotes:
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