WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 708: Episode 26: Star Ladder (4)

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One day after Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint had ended.

There was a time when Jieun Yu was collecting questions from the comments for a survey.

One question, in particular, kept coming up.

「How strong is Kim Dokja, exactly?」

It made me curious too.

How strong was Dokja?

When I tried to write an answer, I realized I didn't know how strong he was either.

That was because the measure of strength in Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint was fables.

Dokja had accumulated fables with each part, growing stronger with every fable he gathered.

In Part One, he collected five fables and became the Demon King of Salvation.

In Part Two, he defeated Surya, the Exalted God of Light, a fabled-grade Constellation, and obtained his first Great Fable.

In Part Three, he obtained his second Great Fable through the 1,863rd round and Gigantomachia.

In Part Four, he fought the Great war of Angels and Demons, became the youngest sibling of Great Sage Equaling Heaven after he regained his complete form, and completed the rest of his Great Fable.

Finally, in Part Five, Dokja reached his ■■ and became this world itself.

What did it mean to become a world?

Could the strength of a being who had become a world even be measured?

I didn't know the answer then, and I still didn't know it now.

Still, I had something to say about Dokja before he became a world.

Take Dokja from Part One of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.

Dokja, who became a fabled-grade Constellation and gained the modifier Demon King of Salvation.

If someone asked me, this was how I would describe his strength.

「“Well, he could probably wipe out around ten Historical Constellations, couldn't he?”」

Unfortunately, the Constellation before us didn't get to hear my answer.

[I've never heard of anything like this...]

The Incarnation body of One Who Washes Cleanly, who had muttered in disbelief, slowly split into upper and lower halves.

[The Constellation One Who Washes Cleanly has suffered a terrible blow to their true body!]

[The Constellation One Who Washes Cleanly has left the Scenario!]

Freed from its demigod Descent, the Incarnation body became white bones before crumbling away. Exit messages from the other two Constellations who had met the same fate rang out one after another.

[The Constellation Survivor of Tragedy has left the Scenario!]

[The Constellation Wise Youth has left the Scenario!]

It was a massacre that happened in an instant.

The Constellations were speechless.

A Constellation couldn't use its full strength through demigod Descent.

Even so, a Constellation was still a Constellation. They were beings acknowledged as stars after gathering five fables.

They weren't Historical Constellations who could be defeated so helplessly.

[Valkyrie's Daughter. What happened?]

[How, how could that bastard...]

[Everyone, don't panic. That was still far below his original Status.]

[Far below? Just how powerful a star was he...]

Valkyrie's Daughter answered, her expression cold.

[The Constellation Demon King of Salvation's final classification grade was Mythical.]

A Mythical Constellation.

At those words, all seven Constellations gaped at one another.

[M-Mythical? Aren't you mistaken about something?]

[Why didn't you tell us that from the start!]

Dokja spoke as if he enjoyed their agitation.

“You seem to know a thing or two. Those poor Historical Constellations looked like they came here knowing nothing.”

The Constellations looked ready to scream.

Still, Dokja wasn't in a position to relax either. Since he had borrowed my body, I knew better than anyone.

Crack.

Even without suffering a Plausibility Backlash, my body was already screaming in pain all over.

An Incarnation body ruined by just one use of [Electrification].

This was the Status of a fabled-grade Constellation.

‘Patron-nim.’

- I know.

This body could only use [Electrification] one more time.

Meanwhile, seven Historical Constellations remained.

Despite that, Dokja didn't lose his composure.

“If you die here, no records will remain. Are you all ready to disappear cleanly?”

It would've been nice if they got scared and ran away, but things couldn't be that easy.

Valkyrie's Daughter stepped forward and said.

[Stars of great Asgard, there is no need to fear. Mythical is only a story from another worldline. Right now, he is no more than a fragment of a discarded god.]

A discarded god. They had used that expression before too.

[His true body has already been ruthlessly torn apart by great Mythical Constellations. He cannot use the power he had at his peak. Just like the monkey star of the Emperor nebula.]

I was a little taken aback.

What was that bastard talking about?

Dokja's true body had been torn apart?

And Mythical Constellations had done that?

How could that be possible?

I couldn't understand it.

By the end of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Dokja possessed a Status great enough to be called the absolute being of this world, surpassing even Mythical Constellations.

Dokja had been defeated?

Were the other Mythical Constellations really that strong?

I thought of the Mythical Constellations representing each nebula.

For example, Odin, the One-Eyed Father of the Asgard nebula, or the Seat of Lightning of Olympus, Constellations from the Final Scenario.

Dokja from the main story had chosen to avoid facing them head-on, so their strength had clearly been proven.

But that was all before Dokja became the Oldest Dream.

Could Odin or Zeus really be strong enough to face Dokja, who had seen the end of the Scenarios?

[Arrogant fragment of a god. You are no longer this world's sole observer.]

One thing was certain. Valkyrie's Daughter knew who the Demon King of Salvation was.

[You don't still believe you can observe and judge this world as you please, do you?]

She also knew at least something about this world's secret.

‘Patron-nim, what does that mean? What do they mean when they say your true body was torn apart?’

I wondered if he would avoid answering, but Dokja replied readily.

- It means exactly what it says. You already know. There isn't only one Kim Dokja in this world.

‘Then what about the Oldest Dream?’

If what they said was true, there was a high chance that the Oldest Dream didn't exist in this world.

Once I considered that, some things suddenly made sense.

「“The reset button can only be pressed once more. In the next round, everything in this universe will be destroyed forever.”」

In the memory I saw through Anna Croft, Yu Junghyeok of the fortieth round said that the forty-first round would be his last.

If Junghyeok had learned that something had happened to his Patron, and that was why there was a problem with his [Regression], then I could understand why he said that.

But if the Oldest Dream had truly disappeared, there was another, more serious problem.

‘Who is observing this world right now?’

Every universe existed through the observation of Dokja, who became the Oldest Dream.

If the Oldest Dream was absent, then who was watching over this world in his place?

- Youngest. I know you have a lot of questions right now, but...

Before Dokja could answer me, the Constellations, having regained their courage, surrounded us again.

Dokja gave a bitter smile and spoke.

“Still want to fight? I might not be able to use the power I had at my peak, but tearing apart the likes of you would be easy.”

[Perhaps. If your Incarnation body were intact.]

Valkyrie's Daughter had shifted to polite speech. She smiled faintly as her bright eyes gleamed.

Stigma, 「Keen Eyes」.

It wasn't capable of learning detailed information about an opponent like [Character Profile] or [Sage's Eye]. Instead, it analyzed an opponent's current condition through close observation of their breathing, movements, tone of voice, and expressions.

[Even if you possess such power, your Incarnation body has already reached its limit. Did you think I wouldn't know?]

Apparently, Asgard didn't have only foolish Constellations.

Having perfectly analyzed our condition, Valkyrie's Daughter commanded the other Constellations.

[Lend me your strength. I will face this person myself.]

Valkyrie's Daughter stood at the front, representing the remaining Constellations.

Soon, the Constellations' star patterns linked, and the Statuses of seven Constellations concentrated into one star.

The red and blue aura around Valkyrie's Daughter soon burned fiercely in pure white light.

「Here lies the yawning abyss.」

The spear in her hand blazed fiercely, and a line of fable stirred.

「The worlds of ice and fire were divided by the primordial hole.」

The moment I read that fable, I groaned.

It was only a short line, not yet a full passage, but there was no mistaking it.

‘Isn't that a Genesis verse?’

I never expected Asgard to go this far.

Giving a Genesis verse to a mere Historical Constellation meant they were taking this matter that seriously.

- We've run into some real lunatics.

Even Dokja looked troubled this time.

To a nebula, Historical Constellations were expendable. If Asgard could capture Dokja by giving them a Genesis verse, it was a perfectly reasonable cost.

[Go on, use that technique once more.]

[Electrification] could only be used once more now.

My body had reached its limit, and Valkyrie's Daughter was risking her life.

Even if we defeated her with [Electrification], the remaining six stars would attack us together.

That would be the end.

- Don't worry, youngest.

Even with the situation on the verge of exploding, Dokja remained calm.

He took a light breath, then shouted in an even louder voice.

“You really don't understand a word I'm saying. You aren't enough. Why don't you call some stronger Constellations instead?”

[We alone are enough to deal with the likes of you...]

“Fine, Mythical Constellations are usually lazy, but what are all the fabled-grade Constellations doing? Don't you have Constellations on the level of Olympus's Twelve Gods? Is this all the clout Asgard has?”

Of course, Asgard had Constellations on the level of Olympus's Twelve Gods.

“Protector of the Great Horns! Flame of Muspelheim! God of Harp and Horn! Where are you all hiding?”

As modifiers of fabled-grade Constellations poured from Dokja's mouth, the Constellations led by Valkyrie's Daughter flinched in surprise.

Dokja continued as if he enjoyed their reaction.

“Heimdall! Surtr! Tyr! Baldr! Where are you all hiding? I'm right here! Come and catch me!”

The Constellations, finally realizing what was happening, shouted anxiously.

[You dare...!]

I was anxious too.

They might be crazy, but why was he acting crazy as well?

What if an enraged Heimdall or Surtr really showed up...?

Then a strange thought crossed my mind.

Why weren't any of them coming?

Asgard had paid enormous Plausibility to summon Ginnungagap as the stage for this. They had even granted a Genesis verse, so why hadn't they brought the crucial Constellations?

If a major Constellation like Odin, the One-Eyed Father and a Mythical Constellation, or Thor, Thunder of Thursday, had come from the beginning, we would've been reduced to ashes on the spot.

The fact they couldn't do that meant...

“Coward Odin! If you want to catch me, come here yourself!”

When Dokja finally spoke Odin's name, the Constellations of Asgard went pale.

[You bastard...!]

Ordinarily, lightning should have struck from the sky by now.

The world was silent as a grave.

Dokja looked up at the sky for a moment, then said with a mocking laugh.

“You're scared. The scales are tipping.”

At the same time, the sky split apart and a bolt of lightning struck down.

Rumble!

It was Asgard's lightning.

The high-ranking Constellations of Asgard, who had remained silent all along, had finally reacted to Kim Dokja's provocation.

At that very moment, though, a tearing sound came from beyond the sky where the lightning had struck.

A terrible roar echoed out, as if a star were being erased, and the sky fell silent again.

The Historical Constellations stared wide-eyed at the sight.

[W-What in the world...?]

What had happened was obvious.

One of Asgard's Constellations beyond Ginnungagap had raised its Status, and at nearly the same moment, someone dealt that star a fatal blow.

But who could do such a thing?

Who could bring down a Constellation of Asgard, which no star in this universe could touch?

“Because if the scales tip, someone you can't handle might come looking for you.”

Dokja looked up at the sky with a distant gaze.

I followed his gaze.

The black sky of Ginnungagap rippled like a black coat, and I realized something too.

I didn't know who the Oldest Dream observing this world was.

But I knew one person who was searching for Dokja more than anyone else.

He was someone who wasn't afraid to stand against nebulae.

The one who had brought down the most stars in all universes and seen the end of the Scenarios alongside Dokja.

The protagonist of TWSA.

「Beyond that curtain was the Yu Junghyeok I knew.」

Footnotes:

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