WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 686: Episode 23: Fragment of a God (1)

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* * *

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name begins its story!]

A powerful sense of alienness filled my mind. Someone, some "story," sat where my consciousness should have been. It was giving me orders.

「O nly I」

The moment I heard the first syllable, chills ran down my spine. I knew what sentence it was.

「K now the en ding of th is wo rld」

The introductory line of 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』.

The sentence I had once written had returned to curse me.

「O nly I am th e on ly Kim Dokja」

The universe opened before my eyes, and an image of dozens, hundreds, then thousands of shooting stars scattering all at once came to mind.

「If I can't become Kim Dokja」

「Then I would rather wish for there to be no Kim Dokja in this universe」

I didn't know whose wish it was or where those words had come from.

What was certain was that I had never written them, and Han Suyeong couldn't have written them either.

If this fable held those words, then it must have originated from "Kim Dokja" as well.

"Inho-ssi!"

I saw Uncle Dansu approaching.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name smacks its lips.]

Thought, which had taken the form of a bracelet, changed into Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff. The hand gripping the staff trembled violently.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name commands you to devour.]

I grabbed the wrist holding the staff with my other hand.

"Shut up."

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name glares at you.]

I had certainly declared that I would become Kim Dokja. But that meant bearing Dokja's duties, not obeying the commands of an irrational fable.

"Uncle..."

Maybe I had changed after meeting Dokja, the Demon King of Salvation.

I wouldn't be dragged around by this world that controlled me, by this irrational story. If I couldn't control the story, then the story would control me instead.

"You're my fable. Listen to me."

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name laughs at you.]

Watching the readers rush toward me, I bit down hard on my lip.

This was a fable I couldn't handle in my current state. Dokja's name was too heavy, and I was too weak.

"I..."

Still, I had sworn an oath. I had made a promise to Han Suyeong, who wrote the story.

"I am Kim Dokja."

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name controls your right arm.]

As though it couldn't hear a word I said, Mana began gathering in my right arm.

The fable was controlling my arm. It was probably planning to use my right hand to kill and devour the readers.

"I warned you."

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name frowns.]

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name says that you will vanish if you don't devour another Kim Dokja.]

I didn't want to survive that way.

If that was the case, then I would rather...

"U-Uncle! No! Uncle!"

Perhaps sensing something ominous, Shin Yuseong clung to my waist.

"It's okay."

I used [Incitement] to change Damaged Samyeong's Bamboo Staff into Broken Faith. Blade of Faith activated with a brilliant radiance.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name glares at you!]

Sparks raised by the fable tightened around my entire body as though trying to control me. I resisted with every bit of Mana I had.

Fine. Let's fight.

Let's see whether you win or I do.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name is astonished.]

Holding Broken Faith in a reverse grip, I drove the blade into my own stomach.

.

.

.

Even through the distant pain, I didn't lose consciousness. If I passed out, the fable might take control of my body.

"Did he hurt himself?"

"The fable is running wild throughout his body."

"Hurry, bring a blood pack!"

"A transfusion won't be enough. Use this."

"This is..."

"My fable."

Voices drifted across the surface of my fragile consciousness.

"Inho-ssi! Inho-ssi! No, why did this happen to Inho-ssi?"

"Save him right now. If you can't, I'll kill every last one of you. Got it?"

The intermittent sounds of explosions reached me.

"What happened? All of a sudden..."

"Damn it, an unexpected Scenario has begun!"

"Oh no. The monsters..."

"We can't afford to waste our strength here. The Seventh Scenario's main event is in America."

"Then what are we supposed to do?"

"We'll abandon Gwanghwamun."

"But Inho-ssi..."

.

.

.

[The Midday Tryst connection has been restored.]

"Get up already, kid."

The moment I opened my eyes, a terrible pain surged through my lower abdomen. I exhaled several times as I endured the sensation of my insides twisting.

My mind slowly cleared.

I could feel that the fable which had controlled me until moments ago was gone.

Relief slowly bloomed in my chest.

[Your Patron is watching you.]

Dokja's voice rang through the air, sounding utterly dumbfounded.

"Even Yu Junghyeok doesn't control his fables like that."

"There was no other way."

It was the only way to stop the fable.

It had been a rather drastic method, but it was the strongest action I could take in my current state. Seeing how quiet the fable was, it seemed to have worked.

"What happened to the other readers?"

"They're safe. But did you really have to use that method? You could've just used [Incitement]."

"It might not have worked."

"You thought that far ahead and put a hole in your stomach?"

"I'm becoming a little more like Dokja now."

"Well, would you look at that."

Dokja sounded amused. I gave a bitter smile too.

Looking around slowly, I realized I had been admitted to the infirmary in the temporary shelter. When I pulled out the IV in my arm, my fingertips shook ominously. I felt as though I would shatter into tiny pieces if someone touched me.

The Status of my existence was wavering.

Was this how the 49% Kim Dokja had felt?

A loud crash echoed in the distance. The roar of a building collapsing. People's screams and groans.

I pulled back the temporary shelter's tent flap and looked outside.

People who had been repeatedly training until just before lay scattered throughout Gwanghwamun alongside all kinds of beast species.

I hurriedly took Thought and asked, "What happened?"

"A Scenario began."

At almost the same time, a message log appeared in my mind.

[A Sub Scenario is currently in progress.]

+

Category: Sub

Difficulty: A++

Clear Conditions: Dragonkin bearing deep grudges against humanity have invaded the Korean Peninsula. Repel the invasion and protect your world.

Time Limit: -

Reward: low-grade Dragon Heart, ???

Failure: -

+

It wasn't a Main Scenario.

It was probably one of the Scenarios derived from the Main Scenario.

"What grade are the dragonkin?"

"At least grade 5."

My heart sank.

I remembered nearly dying when I hunted a Grade-5 poison dragon in the Fourth Scenario.

The shock faded quickly. Thinking about it, this was now the Seventh Scenario. During the time I had been unconscious, my allies must have fought Minor Calamity-grade beast species several times already.

In other words, my allies as they were now might be able to handle grade-5 species easily enough.

"There's a grade 4 too."

"Grade 4?"

A grade 4 was a monster I had never faced before. Grade-5 species were one thing, but grade-4 species were on an entirely different level.

Still.

"Where is Junghyeok?"

I thought of Junghyeok from the forty-first round.

A monster with combat strength far beyond that of the third round. If it was him, who had cleared every Disaster Scenario while I was gone, he should have been able to face even a grade-4 species.

But...

"Argh! Stop them!"

"S-Save me! Please save me!"

"Aaaah!"

No matter where I looked across the battlefield, Junghyeok was nowhere to be seen.

"He was forcibly summoned to the Final Chapter of the Seventh Scenario a little while ago."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, the hour I had promised Junghyeok had already passed.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, I couldn't see the readers either. Not Uncle Dansu, Killer King, Yehyeonwoo, or Gyeongsein.

Junghyeok's companions, such as Jihye, Hyeongseong, Namwoon, and Seolhwa, were nowhere in sight either.

They had probably all moved to the Main Scenario area.

"Then the people who remained here..."

"Only chosen Incarnations can participate in the Seventh Scenario's main event. Those people..."

They were the ones who hadn't been chosen.

The problem was that there weren't just one or two of them.

"Argh!"

There were faces I recognized among them too. Bang Cheolsu, for one, and the ruthless mother and daughter.

"Argh! Push them back! At this rate, they'll break through!"

"Dayeong! Stay close to me!"

I also saw Sergeant Kim and Jeong Eunho, who had fought beside me at Seoul Station.

"Over there! They've broken through!"

"I'll handle it!"

Two or three Grolls let out shrieks and fell to Jeong Eunho's chopstick darts. Behind them, Shin Yuseong summoned a squad of Nagaks to cover the people.

"Play! Keep playing!"

Grolls fell helplessly before the Incarnations' fierce struggle. Yet even more Grolls ran over their fallen kin.

At the center of the beast horde was a dragonkin controlling the beast species.

"Don't let them reach the shelter! Stop them!"

A woman standing at the center of the battlefield faced the dragonkin.

She was the first member of Kim Dokja Company I had met after coming to this world through Possession.

[The Incarnation Jeong Huiwon has activated Swordsmanship Lv.10!]

Every time Huiwon swung her sword, five or six Grolls lost their lives.

I watched her fight without even remembering to breathe. I could tell how much bone-grinding effort she had put in over the last forty-five days.

Whenever the Mana embedded in each step and every trajectory caused ripples, the balance of the battlefield seemed to shift.

Kwooorararara!

The flustered Grade-5 monster dragon species counterattacked by swinging its tail, but Huiwon's momentum showed no sign of stopping.

In an instant, she ran up its tail and drove in a sword strike.

Sword aura charged with steadfast Mana.

In less than five seconds, dozens of consecutive strikes pierced the grade-5 species' eyes and the space between them.

Kuaaaaaaah!

As one grade-5 species fell with a shriek, the Incarnations' expressions brightened.

"It fell!"

"We can win! We can win!"

As the Incarnations' morale rose, the Grolls hesitated and let out frightened cries.

Without hesitation, Huiwon rushed toward the next dragonkin.

The one who stopped her advance through the battlefield was a monster dragon as tall as a ten-story building.

[The Grade-4 earth dragon Earth Python roars!]

With one howl, Incarnations throughout the area screamed and collapsed. Even Huiwon staggered as blood ran from her ears.

But Huiwon didn't fall.

[mad.]

A destructive gleam flickered in her pupils. The unique attribute of the Berserk Butcher protected her consciousness.

"Everyone, get up."

At Huiwon's voice, the people rolling on the ground rose as if infected by madness.

None of them could fight any longer.

I couldn't understand it.

Why weren't they running away?

This Sub Scenario had no penalty for failure. That meant they could abandon Gwanghwamun without needing to fight.

Junghyeok must have known that too, which was why he had left without taking any special measures.

"Don't tell me..."

"That's right."

Before I knew it, the people had formed a circular formation around the temporary shelter where I was.

"They're protecting you."

Looking closely, every face among those who remained was familiar.

Geumho Station, Chungmuro, Seoul Station. Faces I had crossed paths with at least once somewhere.

"I-Inho-nim!"

A middle-aged man who spotted me shouted in delight.

"Everyone, look! The captain..."

With a crunch, the man was bitten in the neck by a Groll and collapsed.

"Mr. Kim!"

The woman holding him screamed.

Before I could say anything, a horde of Grolls surged over the two of them. I gripped Broken Faith.

I should use [Incitement].

I should incite myself into believing I was Junghyeok. No, Huiwon. Kim Dokja. Anyone would do.

Anything would do, so...

[You cannot activate this skill.]

It felt like someone had struck a gong inside my head.

[Your current Incarnation body is unstable.]

[Acquire a Kim Dokja Fragment within 5 minutes.]

[If you fail to acquire a new Kim Dokja Fragment, you will die.]

I was dying.

Maybe faster than they were.

[Time remaining until death: 4:49]

The fable's rampage had subsided, but the penalty remained.

I wanted to save them, but no method came to mind.

I can't do it.

People protecting me are dying right before my eyes, and there's nothing I can do.

"Yu Junghyeok accepted you as a companion."

My Patron's voice rang in my ears.

"And yet, he left you behind. Why do you think that was?"

I slowly raised my head.

The reason Junghyeok had left me here.

"Did he think I could resolve this Scenario?"

Dokja didn't answer.

As my emotions slowly settled, I could see the situation clearly.

Junghyeok was gone.

People were dying.

[Time remaining until death: 3:08]

I had three minutes left to live.

To activate my skill, I first had to remove this fable's penalty.

「O nly I」

A penalty that would only disappear if I devoured "Kim Dokja."

Then there was only one way to put this fable to sleep.

"Successor of the Eternal Name."

I had to offer up the only "Kim Dokja" in this world that I could use as the fable's food.

I brought my right arm to my mouth and ordered the fable.

"Devour me."

Footnotes:

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