WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 687: Episode 23: Fragment of a God (2)

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If I really was the reincarnation of 49% of Kim Dokja, and if I possessed a fragment of Kim Dokja, then there was no way this method couldn't work.

「I will feed myself to it and operate the fable.」

If what you wanted to eat was "Kim Dokja," then go ahead and eat as much as you want.

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

Dokja's voice buzzed in my head.

―Hey! Wait a second!

Pretending not to hear him, I bit down on my arm with all my strength. I wasn't certain that my actions would trigger fable consumption. Still, this was...

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name shows interest in your Fable Fragment.]

A kind of showmanship to lure it in.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name bites into your right arm!]

Tstststst!

Something like fangs clamped down on my forearm, and terrible pain shot through me.

The blood spraying into the air soon scattered into tiny strings of text.

Even through the pain, I smiled.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name consumes part of your fable!]

My head spun. If my fable was consumed, some of my memories would probably disappear too.

Which memories would I lose?

When I blinked, the Snowfield flickered before my eyes. It felt as though the Readers' faces sculpted from snow were melting away.

My heart pounded unevenly.

I didn't want to forget.

I didn't want to forget any of it.

Tstststst!

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name retches!]

Huh?

―So this is how it turned out.

I heard Dokja click his tongue in my head, as if he had foreseen this situation.

The Successor of the Eternal Name, which had consumed my fable, was in pain.

[The Fable Fragment Mad Soldier Yu Junghyeok refuses to be absorbed!]

[The Fable Fragment Mad Soldier Yu Junghyeok runs wild!]

Mad Soldier?

No, why did I have this Fable Fragment?

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

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name has absorbed an incorrect Fable Fragment.]

[The relevant Fable Fragment cannot be consumed normally.]

[You have gained an additional 10 minutes due to incomplete consumption!]

[Time remaining until death: 12:59]

Either way, I'd bought some time.

[The Skill Seal penalty has been lifted.]

On top of that, the penalty was gone.

I immediately activated Blade of Faith and easily cut down several charging Grolls.

Someone buried beneath a pile of Grolls cried out.

When I cleared away the mountain of Groll corpses, I saw a human hand sticking out.

"Grab my hand!"

I grabbed it and pulled with all my strength. A woman came free in a flood of tears.

She was the Incarnation who had been crying while holding the man who died earlier.

"Get inside. I'll hold them here."

"But..."

"Go!"

The woman hurriedly nodded and ran deeper into the shelter.

After piling Groll corpses at the entrance, I turned around.

The battle was still raging in the distance.

A group led by Cheolsu and the ruthless mother and daughter was fighting nearby, while at the very front, the Jeong siblings, Huiwon and Jeong Eunho, were facing the dragonkin together.

―One Grade-5 and one Grade-4. Think you can handle them?

"What can someone who spent 45 days lying down do?"

By now, most Incarnations had overall stats as high as mine.

Even if I joined them, it wouldn't change the course of the battle.

Just hearing the dragonkin howl in the distance made my legs tremble.

In my current condition, even breaking through the Grolls to reach the front lines would be difficult.

"Help me."

―You've got some nerve, bastard.

"It's time you started acting like a Patron."

Even if he wasn't Mythical-grade, the Demon King of Salvation was a Constellation with one of the highest Statuses among fabled-grade beings.

"At least give me some coins. I need to raise my stats."

―Where would I get coins?

"Why wouldn't a Constellation have coins?"

―If I had any, do you think I'd have made a collect call?

Come to think of it, his very first call had been a collect call.

I'd thought he was just stingy, but he'd really been broke?

"You had plenty of coins when you were an Incarnation, didn't you?"

―You made me spend every last bit of it. Did you forget?

A scene came back to me belatedly.

When I first contracted with the Demon King of Salvation, I'd borrowed his fable, "King of a Kingless World."

Had he paid the Plausibility cost with coins back then?

"Still, for lending me just one fable..."

―It was my birth fable, you know?

"So you really don't have a single coin?"

―I told you, I don't.

I wanted to use [lie detection] on him.

"Then what can you do?"

―Well...

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

What was the advantage of becoming Dokja's Incarnation?

Come to think of it, Yuseong, who had been Dokja's Incarnation in the original story, had grown rapidly on her own without much support.

―Cheer you on?

Without a word, I sent the head of a charging Groll flying.

―Hey, hey, that's not how you kill a Groll.

"Don't distract me."

―If you look closely at its neck, there's something like an incision line. If you poke there, you can kill it without using much strength. Even Junghyeok didn't figure this out until after his fortieth round...

Without thinking, I poked the neck of the charging Groll.

Had I happened to strike the spot Dokja mentioned?

I barely used any strength, yet the Groll went limp.

"What did you say about an incision line?"

―There, look closely! A little further in!

When I narrowed my eyes and looked carefully, there really was a faint incision line on every Groll's neck. When I controlled my strength and thrust along the exact path, the Groll died instantly.

Two, three, four...

After killing a full sixty in less than a minute, the number of Grolls nearby noticeably decreased.

―What do you think?

It was more helpful than I'd expected.

Was this what it meant to be an authority on TWSA?

As the Grolls in the rear were quickly dealt with, the Geumho Station group, which had been struggling desperately, seemed to breathe a little easier.

"Hyung!"

Cheolsu waved when he spotted me.

Fortunately, the Geumho Station group hadn't suffered much damage yet.

The problem was how to deal with those dragons occupying the center of Gwanghwamun.

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

The renewed roar drained the color from everyone's faces.

"Everyone, cover your ears!"

At Yuseong's sharp shout, the Small Nagaks at the front began to play together.

When roughly ten Nagaks unleashed their combined performance at once, part of the howling pouring toward the Incarnations was canceled out.

Some Nagaks even formed barriers with their shells to block the howls.

But Small Nagaks were only Grade-8 sea monsters. Unable to endure any longer, the Nagaks burst apart along with their shells.

Yuseong, who had been hiding inside one of the shells, staggered and collapsed.

"Miss Yuseong!"

I rushed over and held Yuseong. When I checked her pulse, her Mana circuits were already a wreck.

I handed the unconscious Yuseong to Cheolsu.

"Hyung?"

Cheolsu accepted Yuseong with a foolish expression and looked at me.

In the past, I never would've entrusted Yuseong to him.

[The Geumho Station group unites around the Incarnation Bang Cheolsu.]

But things were different now.

I could tell just by seeing that the people of Geumho Station still followed him.

"Cheolsu. Protect her, no matter what happens."

"Ah, going forward is dangerous! Run away! While Huiwon buys us time..."

"Cheolsu."

He looked at me with trembling eyes, then nodded with difficulty.

"Yes, I understand."

"I'm counting on you."

I immediately began running toward the front lines where Huiwon was.

Six minutes remained.

Sergeant Kim fled in a panic with the exhausted Jeong Eunho on their back.

"Inho! You can't come this way!"

Huiwon was now the only one holding the front line.

She was desperately fighting a Grade-4 earth dragon and a Grade-5 monster dragon species.

An overwhelming fighting spirit poured from her entire body as she activated [Demon Slaying] and [mad] at the same time.

She looked just like Junghyeok.

Still, anyone could see that she couldn't keep it up for long.

Blood flowed continuously from her nose and ears.

Perhaps the dragonkin had noticed Huiwon's condition too, because they weren't attacking aggressively.

As I slaughtered the Grolls blocking my way one by one, I asked,

‘Do you know the dragonkin's weakness too?’

―I do, but they're hard for you to deal with using your current overall stats.

‘Then I just need higher overall stats.’

―Do you have any coins?

There was one thing, at least, that I had more confidence in than any other Incarnation.

[Coins owned: 418,000C]

Even Dokja seemed surprised this time.

―What the hell? Did you fleece a Constellation or something?

‘I did fleece one Demon King.’

The 300,000 coins I'd received from Asmodeus at the theater had made all the difference.

That bastard probably never imagined his money would be put to such good use.

―Then it's time to sell everything and take profits.

‘I haven't heard that line in a while.’

Without hesitation, I opened my wallet.

[You have invested 24,000 coins in Strength.]

[Strength Lv. 40 → Strength Lv. 70]

[Your strength draws the attention of the giant race.]

Strength.

[You have invested 24,000 coins in Constitution.]

[Constitution Lv. 40 → Constitution Lv. 70]

[Your Constitution stirs the curiosity of many heroes.]

Constitution.

[You have invested 24,000 coins in Agility.]

[Agility Lv. 40 → Agility Lv. 70]

[Your agility repeatedly impresses the cat people.]

Agility.

[You have invested 24,000 coins in Mana.]

[Mana Lv. 40 → Mana Lv. 70]

[Your talent begins to draw the interest of the Magic Tower.]

And Mana.

[Your overall stats have nearly reached this Scenario's limit.]

The moment I raised all my stats to their limit, vitality flooded through my entire body.

Even though I was destined to die in six minutes, I wasn't afraid at all.

Was it Dokja's influence?

―Looks like you're ready to start your comeback broadcast.

‘A comeback broadcast?’

Come to think of it, I had barely heard any Star Stream broadcast messages since waking up.

It was only natural.

When I made a Behind-the-Scenes Contract with the Demon King of Salvation, I had terminated my exclusive contract with Bihyeong.

Thanks to Bihyeong's consideration, I hadn't suffered any particular penalty, but I could no longer attract the interest of the Constellations in the Incarnation Search group.

In other words, I was no longer marketable to the Constellations.

―If you spent money, you need to earn it back.

Dodging the Mana wave fired by an earth dragon species, I said,

‘That's difficult now. Besides, my contract with Bihyeong ended...’

―I know. We can just do it again.

Do what again?

My contract with Bihyeong had only been possible because I didn't have a Patron. There was no reason for Bihyeong to agree to renew it under these circumstances.

That was when light sparks flew through the air, and a dokkaebi appeared.

[Now, it's been a while, Constellations! This is a broadcast from the Korean Peninsula!]

Speak of the dokkaebi and he appears.

Bihyeong, now at least twice as large as before, showed off his plump white belly as he chattered at the Constellations.

[Some Constellations say the Korean Peninsula channel is no longer interesting.]

[Few Constellations ask whether the Korean Peninsula channel has any worthwhile Incarnations left.]

It was true.

The Korean Peninsula had already reached the seventh Scenario.

Every reasonably strong Incarnation had probably already made a Behind-the-Scenes Contract.

Yet, in the middle of all that, there was one fool promoting his own Incarnation.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation shouts for everyone to come see his Incarnation!]

It was my Patron.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation wonders why no one is watching this interesting fable.]

A strange sense of déjà vu came over me.

Had Han Suyeong, who wrote TWSA, felt something similar?

‘Excuse me, Dokja-ssi. You don't have to go this far...’

[Few Constellations are annoyed, asking why they should watch someone else's Incarnation.]

[Few Constellations say a good Incarnation was stolen by that fool.]

[Few Constellations show hostility toward the Demon King of Salvation!]

I didn't want to see my Patron get insulted anymore.

‘You should stop...’

But Dokja kept talking.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation says the Incarnation Inho Cheon is his Incarnation, but not his Incarnation.]

...?

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation declares that his Behind-the-Scenes Contract with the Incarnation Inho Cheon is temporary.]

What was that supposed to mean?

I listened closely, trying to understand Dokja's nonsense.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation declares that he will train the Incarnation Inho Cheon harshly for the next two years, then put him back on the Behind-the-Scenes Contract market!]

[Few Constellations glare, asking how anyone could believe such a lie.]

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation swears to the Star Stream.]

I was dumbfounded.

I wanted to demand how he could make such a vow without asking me.

Then...

Rumble!

Lightning crashed down from the sky.

The heavens above the Korean Peninsula were turning red everywhere, as though the Great Hole had opened.

The light released by the Constellations had temporarily changed the sky's color.

[Many Constellations have entered the channel!]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire asks if you have finally awakened.]

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband says he has been bored lately and picks his ear.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon grumbles that the Korean Peninsula channel is still too small.]

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God congratulates you on your return.]

[The Constellation Queen of the Darkest Spring shows interest in the Demon King of Salvation's proposal.]

[The Constellation God of Wine and Ecstasy asks how much you will sell him for in two years.]

[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger sheds tears, saying they have not seen you in a long time.]

I wondered what on earth was happening.

The Incarnations, and even the dragonkin, stopped moving in surprise.

But that wasn't the end.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation has made a Stream Contract with the dokkaebi Bihyeong.]

What had he done to secure a renewed contract so quickly?

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation has modified the renewal conditions.]

The contract conditions.

Only then did I remember the terms of the contract I'd made.

This round's Bihyeong had been no pushover, so I'd agreed on a 70-30 sponsorship revenue split.

Since this was a renewal, those terms could only become more unfavorable...

[The sponsorship revenue distribution condition has been changed to 100-0.]

Footnotes:

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