WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 691: Episode 24: Expert (1)

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After the earth dragon species hunt ended, the survivors of Gwanghwamun began to reorganize.

Quite a few people had been injured or killed during the Scenario. If this had been an early Scenario, some people would naturally have been panicking, but everyone was calmer than expected, as if they had already grown used to such tragedies.

"All right, all injured people over here!"

"We still have supplies of Ellain Forest Essence, so bring the seriously wounded here!"

"We're starting to dismantle the Grade-5 monster dragon species, so anyone who still has energy left, come help!"

Under Gangster King Cheolsu's command, everyone found their roles and scattered in an orderly fashion.

It didn't seem as though they were simply moved by Cheolsu's leadership. Many of the people who had stayed weren't part of the Geumho Station group.

The Incarnations here were ruled by the shadow of someone who wasn't present.

[The Fable Fragment Mad Soldier Yu Junghyeok nods.]

This was the scene Junghyeok had created over the past forty-five days.

The regressor who valued efficiency.

The one who believed survival was better than death, and that swinging a sword once was preferable to spending time wallowing in grief.

I suddenly grew curious.

What sort of conclusion was Junghyeok of the forty-first round dreaming of?

Come to think of it, I had never asked him.

What scene did he want to see at the end of this world?

"Hyung! Are you all right?"

Cheolsu, who had approached me just then, spoke to me.

"I'm fine. What about you?"

"This much is nothing."

Contrary to his answer, Cheolsu's injuries weren't light.

A long gash ran from his neck to his chest, and bandages were tightly wrapped around his thigh and arm.

Even so, Cheolsu's eyes were sincerely bright and spirited.

─Impressive. He got [Recovery Acceleration] and [Burning Fighting Spirit] in only the seventh Scenario.

It seemed Dokja had checked Cheolsu's condition with [Character Profile].

─He'll be useful as a tank when Lee Hyeongseong isn't around. I'll have to redraw the forty-first round's power balance chart.

'When did you even make something like that?'

"Can we really divide the Grade-5 monster dragon species parts among the group?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you very much, hyung!"

I readily gave the Grade-5 monster dragon species parts to the Geumho Station group.

I could have kept them if I wanted, but it didn't feel right to do so.

─You know parts from a Grade-5 beast species found this early fetch a pretty good price, right?

'I know. But these are the people who stayed to protect me. Besides, we still have Grade-4 earth dragon parts.'

─The Grade-4 parts are worth much more, of course.

'We might need their help again someday, so we should think ahead. Cheolsu and the mother and daughter have high growth potential. If we outfit them with equipment made from Grade-5 monster dragon species parts, they'll become quite strong.'

─I never thought there'd be a round where you took the Bang Cheolsu route... Still, it isn't a bad choice right now.

Fortunately, Dokja seemed to agree with me.

'Should we put the Grade-4 earth dragon parts up at the auction house?'

─Leave that to me.

A message appeared in the air alongside his words.

[Your Patron has requested a private meeting with the dokkaebi Bihyeong.]

[The dokkaebi Bihyeong has accepted.]

It seemed Dokja had begun negotiating with the dokkaebi to deal with the earth dragon species parts.

If nothing else, I trusted my Patron when it came to business.

Dokja was the person who had gotten Bihyeong himself to sign a ten-to-zero contract. He had also sold fire dragon race parts back when he was active, so he probably knew the auction house system far better than I did.

Dokja returned sooner than I expected.

─I'm done. Some people in America happened to want Grade-4 earth dragon species parts. I negotiated with Bihyeong, and we're selling them through an exclusive deal.

America.

A few faces came to mind.

─That's right. The people you're thinking of. More importantly, since it has an evolution record, it'll sell for more than expected. We should easily get over 300,000 Coins.

Three hundred thousand Coins.

It was an amount that would be a great help in the Scenarios to come.

I suddenly felt glad that I had chosen Dokja as my Patron.

'What about storage? Should I dismantle it myself and put it up at the auction house?'

─No. They'll come today to appraise and dismantle it themselves. Just have the others cover it up for now.

They were coming here themselves just to take this?

─It's an expensive item. Did you check the Scenario rewards?

'Ah, yes.'

Huiwon and I, the main Contributors of this Scenario, received unique rewards.

The reward was a low-grade Dragon Heart.

─This worked out well. You've only got that qi Attribute with no foundation.

'My [Circulating Body] is a decent Attribute too...'

─Decent? Even if you achieved a great awakening with that Attribute, you'd only reach the leader of the Beggar's Sect's level.

'Cheon Gae is a Historical Constellation, though.'

─Then why didn't you make a Behind-the-Scenes Contract with Cheon Gae?

'Should I use the Dragon Heart now?'

─You could use it right away, but I wouldn't recommend it. Even a low-grade Dragon Heart is harder to obtain than a Greater Restoration Pill. You should absorb it with an expert's help.

An expert...

A Dragon Heart was, as its name suggested, the heart of a dragon. It could be considered a kind of spiritual beast's inner core.

And when it came to absorbing spiritual beast inner cores, people well versed in the martial arts world would know best.

'Should I ask Cheon Gae for help?'

─He's busy these days. He's probably too preoccupied repaying his debts after suffering enormous losses in fables and Coins because of you.

No wonder I hadn't seen him in the channel lately.

'Then I'll go to the martial arts world...'

─The martial arts world is a Scenario area in the twenties. It would be a waste to wait that long, so we need to handle it here.

'Here? Is there an elixir expert in Korea?'

─There isn't one in Korea, but there's someone we'll meet soon...

Dokja's words stopped, as if some confusion had arisen. It felt like he was talking to someone other than me.

Was it Bihyeong? I didn't know.

I instructed Cheolsu to store the Grade-4 earth dragon species parts, then moved to the ward and checked Huiwon's injuries. Fortunately, they were injuries that could be healed with Ellain Forest Essence.

[The character Jeong Huiwon is relying on you.]

[The target's madness is currently subdued.]

In the end, Huiwon became the Berserk Butcher.

Even Sergeant Jeong Munho's death couldn't change that development.

However, Huiwon of this round differed strangely from the Berserk Butcher I knew.

Originally, the Berserk Butcher was someone obsessed with her lost family.

Yet this Huiwon...

"Ugh..."

Was she having a nightmare?

I wiped the beads of sweat from Huiwon's forehead. As I considered whether I should give her another Ellain Forest Essence, a message appeared before me.

[One exclusive transaction through the auction house has been concluded.]

[You have received 150,000 Coins as an advance payment.]

Coins suddenly poured in.

Then I heard a message.

─Hey, who the hell did you make a contract with?

A dokkaebi communication. It was Bihyeong's voice, which I hadn't heard in a while.

─How could you make a contract with such a goddamn Constellation bas... -nim... Constellation-nim. Hehe. That's not it. As you instructed, the transaction... Ah, no. Please, anything but reporting that to headquarters...

The dokkaebi communication cut off.

What kind of threat was he under?

─Did you get the payment?

'Yes.'

I wanted to ask what exactly Dokja had been doing, but held back. There was something more important to deal with now.

─Then the Scenario rewards are settled. Now let's deal with that.

'Now?'

─Yeah.

I glanced around.

The hospital room was private, and there was no one here except the unconscious Huiwon and me.

'All right.'

With a quiet sigh, I took the Kim Dokja Fragment from my pocket.

It was the doll I had obtained after defeating the earth dragon species.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name gazes at the Kim Dokja Fragment.]

I didn't need anyone to tell me. Like the fragments I had absorbed before, this doll could be absorbed in the same way.

─Hurry up. It's not your first time. You've already gathered six fragments.

'Me?'

I tried to remember when I had gathered so many fragments.

[Erasures collected so far: 6]

Scenes flashed through my mind.

When I saved Max the Ground Rat at Chungmuro Station.

When I changed the fates of Cheolsu and the people of Geumho Station.

When I met Shin Yuseong of the forty-first round.

When I fought the leader of the Beggar's Sect at Seoul Station.

When I made Mister Dansu the King of No Killing...

Erasures.

I had definitely heard messages saying an erasure had been recorded at those times.

Could all those erasures have been...

─Remember now?

'Were all of those your fragments?'

─More precisely, our fragments.

Only then did things begin to fall into place in my mind.

─Not all fragments are absorbed by beast species. Some fragments dwell between fables. They're asleep inside the stories you want to read.

Stories I wanted to read.

My grip tightened around the doll without me realizing it.

─Didn't anything change whenever you collected a fragment? Your stats rising, for example?

'My Incitement skill did become stronger.'

My [Incitement] skill had gained proficiency at a truly abnormal speed.

It had already passed Level 10.

There had been other changes whenever I collected an erasure, too, such as when I gained [Sentence Enhancement] and when the [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] skill suddenly activated.

─Of course. The more fragments you gather, the closer you ultimately become to a complete Kim Dokja.

A complete Dokja.

Did that mean the Dokja I remembered might return if I gathered every fragment like this?

─Absorb it first. If we keep dragging this out, those bastards will come again.

Those bastards.

Come to think of it, Dokja had said there were people who had killed him.

It was hard to understand.

The Oldest Dream was practically the Star Stream itself.

Who could kill Dokja in a state like that?

'Is there some connection between those black hands and your current condition?'

─Probably. I don't remember clearly either.

As he spoke, I felt Dokja's gaze resting on the doll.

─Absorbing that might bring something back.

I bit my lip and looked down at the Dokja doll.

Normally, I wouldn't have hesitated this much. I had already absorbed a fragment earlier.

The problem was the fragment's form.

A doll that clearly resembled Little Kim Dokja.

After hesitating, I slowly reached for the doll. A fable flowed out of it.

「"Nice to meet you. I'm Kim Gyeongsik. Do you remember the message I sent before?"」

A voice I knew well.

「"Ah, I'm an old man here, so I speak like an old man."」

I quickly pulled my hand away from the doll and said,

"Wait, this is..."

There was no doubt. Though it was damaged in places, this Dokja doll was someone I knew.

Gyeongsik, the Smoke Human.

The old man with the pipe whom I had met in the Theater Dungeon. A reader with an unusual way of speaking, who had completed the novel six times.

I knew he had disappeared from the National Palace Museum, but I never imagined he had ended up like this.

What would happen to him if I recovered the fragment now?

─Youngest.

A faint spark flickered in the air. It was a sign that a rift was about to open again.

─If we wait any longer, those bastards will come again. If they take it this time, we really can't undo it.

'But...'

What would happen to Gyeongsik if I absorbed him now?

─Don't you want to save him?

'Is there a way?'

─Maybe. It won't be possible right away... but first, we have to collect his soul. That's the only way to bring him back.

My feelings were complicated, but I had no choice but to trust Dokja for now. If I delayed any longer, those guys with black hands would take his soul again.

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name opens its mouth.]

Just as when I had absorbed fragments before, the fable moved.

However, it was different from last time, when it greedily devoured a Fable Fragment. It gently wrapped around the doll, like swallowing a fragile cookie.

At the last moment, the doll slowly opened its eyes and looked at me.

「"At last."」

With that voice, the fragment seeped into me.

[You have acquired a new erasure!]

[The Fable Fragment Kim Gyeongsik has been recorded.]

[The fable Successor of the Eternal Name has successfully devoured it.]

[The Status of the fable Successor of the Eternal Name has increased slightly.]

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

[20 days have been added to the time limit.]

Twenty days. I gained a lifespan incomparable to what I had received after absorbing the small fragments.

That wasn't even all.

[The Exclusive Skill of the Fable Fragment Kim Gyeongsik is being transferred to you.]

Unlike when I had simply absorbed a fragment, this time there was a clear reward.

[You have acquired the Exclusive Skill Smoke Human.]

Gyeongsik's skill, [Smoke Human].

An evasion skill that let its user turn into gas and escape danger whenever they had a pipe item.

That was when someone's voice came from behind me.

"What... did you just do?"

Since when had they been there?

Someone stood beyond the wide-open hospital room door.

Footnotes:

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