WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 651: Episode 19: Person from Long Ago (3)
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When I was young, I was once assigned homework to draw a picture on the theme of “family.”
I remember it being a rather difficult assignment.
That was because I couldn't draw people's faces well back then. Whenever I tried to recall someone's face, all that came to mind was a strangely blurred, mosaic-like face.
So instead of my parents, I drew myself standing beneath a deep, dark night sky.
「"Why did you only draw yourself, Hak-hyeon?"」
When my teacher asked that, I answered that I had drawn my parents.
Perhaps that was the first manifestation of my literary talent.
A deep, warm night sky dotted with twinkling stars.
A cozy darkness that seemed ready to embrace me generously, no matter what I did.
People without distinct forms or faces, yet who clearly existed there and held me close.
Looking back, I first began writing novels because of my parents.
「"What's a novel?"」
When I asked that, my mother answered like this.
「"Hmm. It's a story for world peace."」
「"World peace?"」
「"If everyone reads novels and talks about nothing but novels, there won't be any wars or disputes."」
「"Why?"」
「"Because novels are fiction."」
For the world to be peaceful, everyone had to read novels.
At first, I didn't understand what that meant.
「"Lee Hak-hyeon. Don't play with that kid. Come over here."」
But then I went to school and met friends.
「"Why do you keep talking to that kid?"」
「"Isn't Lee Hak-hyeon kind of creepy too?"」
I was bullied because I hadn't joined in ostracizing a friend.
「"Hak-hyeon, bring your parents tomorrow."」
I was criticized by my teacher for not clearing up misunderstandings, despite having done nothing wrong. That was when I understood my mother's words for the first time.
「"I heard Hak-hyeon's parents are strange people."」
「"Tsk, like child, like parents."」
People really did love stories.
They created incidents where there were none, exaggerated them, and even distorted them to make the stories bigger.
They enjoyed watching someone right in front of them get hurt and fall apart.
Then they quickly forgot all about it.
That was probably when I began writing novels.
Instead of hating people, I would write novels. I would write truly entertaining novels, ones that would make everyone in the world talk endlessly about them.
So I wrote and wrote.
By the time I was twenty-three, I had received a small literary award for new writers.
When I went to see my parents with the news of my debut, what expression had they worn? The memory was hazy, like a faded mosaic, but I clearly remembered the emotion in their faces.
「"I see. So that's what happened."」
Why?
My parents looked somewhat sad after reading my novel.
I was confused because I had naturally expected them to be happy. Had I written something wrong? What part of my novel had made them sad?
My parents quietly embraced me. I couldn't understand their feelings, so I left home right away.
Thinking about it now, it was a funny story.
My parents were probably worried about whether I could make a living as a literary fiction writer.
In the end, I met Ji Eunyu and became a web novel author, so perhaps their worries had been justified.
「"Writer. I told you that you can't start a story like this."」
Eunyu was a persistent, patient editor.
「"How can you spend this long explaining the protagonist's past?"」
Correcting awkward sentences was a given, and she didn't hold back when the plot was strange or a character said something that didn't suit them.
Hundreds of manuscripts were rejected, and I received thousands more rounds of feedback.
I wrote, and she edited.
One work, then two, began piling up.
「"Writer! We did it! We succeeded!"」
Then one day, a story found us.
「"Do you know? This is the first time! It's the first time our management company has landed a promotion like this!"」
The first successful work Eunyu and I had made together.
Even Eunyu, who had always been calm and cool-headed, couldn't hide her excitement before readership figures she had never seen before.
On the day the work entered paid serialization, we sat side by side in the darkened management office and read the readers' comments together.
Not every comment encouraged us, but we were incredibly excited that day.
We were probably as thrilled as Kim Dokja had been when he became a Constellation for the first time.
「"Editor, by the way..."」
Why was I recalling that day now?
As Eunyu had advised, it would be a problem if this kind of story went on too long.
「"People keep asking if Kim Dokja is my original character. What does original character mean?"」
* * *
"Hwaaaah!"
When I sprang up with a strange scream, my surroundings were covered in pitch-black darkness.
I'd had a strange dream.
It seemed to have been about my parents and Eunyu.
As I lightly stretched my shoulders and looked around, I felt a heavy weight on my right thigh.
When I shone my smartphone's light there, Shin Yuseong was asleep while leaning against it.
Several memories came back to me one after another.
I had entered the solo dungeon, the Field of Nagak, to gather ancient coins, and I met Yuseong there.
I helped Yuseong fight the Ancient Nagak.
I remembered using [Sentence Enhancement] to tame the Ancient Nagak, and using [Incitement] to convince myself that I was “Shin Yuseong,” but...
My memories after that weren't clear.
Was this a side effect of [Incitement]?
"Yuseong-yang. Are you all right?"
When I lightly shook Yuseong's shoulder, she quickly opened her eyes.
"Ah, you're awake...!"
As I looked at Yuseong's faint smile, the back of my neck suddenly felt cold.
What was that?
Fortunately, the feeling quickly disappeared.
"Yes. Are you hurt anywhere?"
"No, thanks to you!"
It seemed we had cleared the Field of Nagak without much trouble.
A long list of messages had appeared in the meantime.
[You are the first to hunt at least 500 Nagak!]
[You have cleared a solo dungeon.]
[You have acquired 2 ancient coins as a basic reward.]
[You have additionally acquired 8 ancient coins as a bonus for massacring Nagak.]
[You have acquired the Exclusive Skill Nagak Breathing as a special reward.]
The Exclusive Skill [Nagak Breathing].
A skill that allowed me to hold my breath for up to thirty minutes with a single breath.
It had a cooldown, but it would be useful when passing through contaminated zones or fighting underwater.
[You have successfully hunted the hidden boss of a solo dungeon.]
[You have acquired an additional reward.]
There was even an additional reward.
[You have acquired the Horn of Provocation.]
The Horn of Provocation. An item that greatly lowered an enemy's mental energy when used and gathered scattered enemies in the surrounding area into one place.
Honestly, I didn't know if I'd ever have a use for this.
I wasn't a tank, and gathering perfectly healthy beasts in one place would only get me needlessly killed. I should give it to Gyeong Se-in later.
Now then, should I check the Bounty Scenario too?
[The Sub Scenario Precious Hair has been completed!]
[You have acquired 2,000 coins as a reward.]
[If you additionally offer Ancient Nagak Meat, the Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband will grant you a special reward.]
Come to think of it, this Scenario was supposed to end only after I gave Ancient Nagak Meat to Great Sage Equaling Heaven.
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband is looking forward to Ancient Nagak Meat.]
[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon looks contemptuously at Prisoner of the Golden Headband.]
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband says that while you're at it, it would be nice if you cooked it too.]
I hesitated for a moment, then muttered into the air.
"It'll probably take a few days to prepare it. Is that all right?"
[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband says that he can wait that long.]
That bought me a little time.
Still, the Ancient Nagak disappeared when we left the dungeon. How was I supposed to offer Ancient Nagak Meat?
While I was lost in thought, Yuseong brushed off her bottom and stood up.
"Thank you, Mister. I survived too, thanks to you."
Yuseong looked down at the ancient coins she had acquired and let out a soft sigh. Guessing what that sigh meant, I asked her.
"Are you going back to the group you were originally with?"
"Ah, yes... That's what I agreed to with the adults..."
Yuseong had entered the solo dungeon to prove her value to the adults in her group.
Now that the proof was over, Yuseong would be able to become an official member of the group.
"I'm not asking what the adults want. I'm asking what you want. Do you really want to return to that group?"
Smart Yuseong would understand what I meant.
But some children were so smart that they gave answers they didn't truly mean.
"The adults in the group said they don't discriminate based on age. They said that if someone has ability, they treat them according to that ability..."
I understood what she wanted to say, but I didn't need to hear any more.
"Yuseong-yang."
"Yes?"
"If it's all right with you, would you travel with me?"
Yuseong stared up at me with wide eyes.
I gave her enough time to think.
A moment later, Yuseong asked in a small voice.
"Can I do that?"
"Yes, of course."
"But I don't think I'll be much help."
"What do you mean you won't be helpful? I would've died just now without you, Yuseong-yang."
Yuseong bit her lip tightly, lowered her head, and muttered.
"You don't even know what kind of person I am."
It wasn't difficult to imagine what had driven this child so far.
「"Like a demon."」
「"Kids these days are more vicious. That kid survived the first Scenario by killing people too."」
「"If we can't trust her, she should at least be useful. Throw her into the dungeon. If she survives, we'll take her with us."」
「"You have to keep vicious ones under control from when they're young."」
Even without [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint], I could read the words echoing in the child's mind.
"No, I know."
"Yes?"
"I know what kind of person you are, Yuseong-yang."
"How...?"
If she asked how I knew, I had no words to explain it.
「"Mister."」
「I won't give up. Just as you've saved me over and over.」
「"My name is Shin Yuseong. I am Shin Yuseong of Kim Dokja Company."」
I could say that I had read and written countless sentences about her.
But that wouldn't be a fair answer for the Yuseong standing before me now.
The one before my eyes wasn't Yuseong of the third round, but Yuseong of the forty-first round.
「"What were we to the Captain, anyway?"」
「"I loathe you for living through this world alone."」
「"There's only one thing I can tell you now. The Captain can't save anyone."」
The person who followed Yu Junghyeok more closely than anyone.
The person who couldn't endure the betrayal she felt because of that.
The person who wandered worldlines for thousands of years, nurturing her hatred.
The person who appeared as the Calamity of the third round.
「"Baat!"」
The person who became Kim Dokja's daughter.
The person who reincarnated as a dokkaebi and told the Star Stream the story of Kim Dokja Company.
「All of them were stories that had yet to happen.」
That was why I knew Yuseong well, yet knew little about the Yuseong before me.
"Even if I don't know what kind of person you are, I've chosen to trust you."
That was the only promise I could make.
Yuseong blankly stared up at me, then looked away and spoke.
"I think I can trust you too, Mister."
[The character Shin Yuseong displays strong trust in you.]
Yuseong fidgeted with her small hands and asked.
"Then... do you have a group too, Mister?"
"Would you like to join my group?"
"I-is that okay? But to join a group, I need the King's permission..."
"I'm the King."
Yuseong let out a small gasp at my words.
Then she took a couple of steps away from me and began trembling.
I understood very well what the King of her previous group had been to her.
Those damned bastards.
"You don't need to be nervous. As you can see, I'm just an ordinary man. I only happened to pick up a flag."
My words would have been more persuasive if Inho Cheon had looked a little kinder.
I made the gentlest curve possible with my half-closed eyes.
"I-I'm scared when you smile like that."
"I'm sorry."
"Can I really join?"
"Of course."
When I accepted her, Yuseong thought about something briefly before speaking in a determined voice.
"Then I want to join."
[The Incarnation Shin Yuseong has become a member of your group.]
I couldn't turn Yuseong away.
Yu Junghyeok of the forty-first round might beat me to death later, but I believed this was the right choice for now.
"The other group members haven't joined us yet, so it looks like it'll be just the two of us for a while."
Yuseong nodded energetically as if she liked that better.
"Yes!"
We had cleared the solo dungeon, so all that remained was to use the ancient coins we had gathered to enter the Field of the Big Dipper.
As I searched the lobby for somewhere to insert the ancient coins, I thought briefly about Yuseong.
This was the forty-first round, which wasn't recorded in TWSA.
Yuseong, the Catastrophe of Floods who destroyed Chronos in this round, wouldn't appear.
Then what would the Calamity of the Fifth Scenario appear as?
When I inserted ten ancient coins into the lobby entrance, a faint light soon filled the lobby.
"We're entering a Hidden Dungeon. It could be dangerous. Is that all right?"
The entrance to the National Palace Museum had collapsed anyway, so clearing the dungeon was the only way to escape from here.
If even one person cleared this dungeon, everyone left behind would automatically be summoned outside the museum.
"It's okay. I'm prepared for that much."
Seeing the child speak so resolutely made my chest ache.
Without waiting any longer, I used the ancient coins.
[You can enter a hidden field using 10 ancient coins.]
[Would you like to enter the hidden field, Field of the Big Dipper?]
"Enter."
I couldn't find any signs of the other Kings at either the National Palace Museum or the Field of Nagak.
That meant the other Kings had already gathered ten ancient coins and entered the Field of the Big Dipper.
The person who had destroyed the museum was probably inside this dungeon as well.
When I blinked, my vision rippled.
I imagined the scenery that would soon unfold.
「The pure-white lobby turned into a broad, open waiting room. At the far end of the waiting room were seven doors.」
Soon afterward, just as the description in the main story of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint said, a broad waiting room appeared.
But there was one difference from the main story.
I narrowed my half-closed eyes further.
The Field of the Big Dipper was a Scenario where you gathered all the Star Gems scattered across seven doors and summoned the Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword.
Therefore, there should have been seven doors in the waiting room, matching the number of Star Gems.
「But there was only one door visible in the waiting room now.」
The Scenario had changed.
Footnotes:
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