WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 712: Episode 26: Star Ladder (8)

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The sky was changing in real time. It was pitch-black, then pure white, then thunder crashed, then rain fell.

Beyond those unpredictable weather anomalies, supreme beings were shaking the universe from the other side of the rippling Void Curtain.

What on earth was happening over there?

Had Junghyeok really appeared and started beating up Constellations?

― Oh, kid. A fabled-grade one just fell over there.

The head of forty-first-round Junghyeok, slung over my shoulder, dangled limply.

I had no idea what was really happening.

If the being beyond the curtain truly was Junghyeok, why hadn't he appeared here through Possession like Shin Yuseong? Just as Yuseong had used her forty-first-round self, he could have used his own forty-first-round self.

― What kind of bullshit is that? It'll be a disaster if that bastard comes here.

‘Why? If Junghyeok comes, he can sweep them all away.’

― Why do you think Junghyeok would help us?

The back of my head tingled.

I'd only been thinking of Yuseong, so I'd briefly forgotten Kim Dokja Company's original purpose.

According to Suyeong's memories, Kim Dokja Company's goal was to get Dokja back.

Maybe my existence was an obstacle to them.

― We'll be lucky if Earth doesn't explode at this rate.

‘No, but surely he wouldn't go that far...’

I'd always thought Dokja's view of Junghyeok was a little warped. Even Junghyeok wouldn't go that far.

Still, I was worried too.

What if, like Suyeong, Junghyeok was trying to get Dokja back by "destroying this world quickly"...?

― Aren't you going to run already?

Right. This wasn't the time to leisurely think about that.

The Incarnations of the great nebulae were still chasing me.

"Break his legs!"

"Tear off his limbs!"

Why were they charging at me while shouting things like that? Did everyone become awful after joining a great nebula?

Either way, I definitely couldn't let them catch me. My breath was already rising into my throat.

― You really need to exercise.

‘It feels strange hearing that from someone born with Constitution, Strength, and Agility of 1.’

― This won't do. Let's borrow him one more time.

[Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3 has been strongly activated!]

Dokja seemed to overlap with me more powerfully, and [Way of the Wind] coiled around my feet as I covered more than a hundred meters in an instant.

It was enough to set a new Olympic record in the real world, but even that wasn't enough now.

[The character Alexandros Michailidis has activated the Exclusive Skill High-Speed Running Lv.6!]

[The character Leila Al Hasan has activated the Exclusive Skill Rampage Lv.8!]

They really were persistent bastards.

‘Patron! Behind us! Behind us!’

A chilling sensation struck the back of my head. Dokja reflexively twisted his head, and a beam of light barely grazed his earlobe.

An arrow? Or a spear?

Either way, if he'd been any slower, there would have been a hole in the back of his head.

‘Left!’

The moment he hurriedly changed direction, an arrow aimed for his blind spot struck his thigh. Luckily, Dokja was the one who felt the pain, not me.

― You said left? It came from the right!

‘It must've come from the right too!’

Dokja pulled out the arrow, spun around, and hurled the broken shaft behind him.

I heard the arrow carrying [Way of the Wind] pierce something, followed by a scream.

Neither Dokja nor I looked back.

― Kid. That.

I spotted the ladder stretched across the sky.

The Star Ladder.

It was the path to the Eighth Scenario that I'd seen as soon as I entered the Washington Dome area.

‘Didn't you say we shouldn't use that?’

― We shouldn't, but surviving comes first right now.

‘How do we use it?’

Instead of answering, Dokja raised my right hand high and shouted.

"I'll summon the Star Ladder!"

That was simple, I thought.

[The Star Ladder does not respond to you.]

Damn it. Of course.

A Scenario with Dokja couldn't possibly go that smoothly.

The absurd part was that every other Incarnation except us was crossing into the next Scenario through a Star Ladder.

"Run! You'll die if you get caught up in this!"

"I'll summon the Star Ladder!"

Amid the chaos of the great nebulae, Incarnations fled to the next Scenario through Star Ladders.

Each ladder had a different shape, size, and degree of damage, but every one of those bastards except us had a ladder descend for them.

‘Why is ours the only ladder not coming down?’

Dokja seemed to be looking into it too. I could faintly hear fragments of his conversation with Bihyeong in my head.

― Constellation, so right now... those with authority...

Authority?

[Constellations with authorization to use the Star Ladder do not respond to you.]

[Authorization to use the Star Ladder is limited to certain Constellations that contributed to the creation of the Recycling Center.]

I didn't know exactly what that meant, but apparently not just anyone could summon a ladder.

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband frowns, asking what that is supposed to mean.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon asks what the Recycling Center is supposed to be.]

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire grumbles that the Star Stream System seems to have become difficult lately.]

At least I wasn't the only idiot here.

Without much hope, I asked Dokja.

‘Patron. Don't you have ladder authorization?’

― Do you think I do?

‘Don't you have a friend we can ask?’

― Do you think I do?

‘Then what do we do now?’

― Wait a little.

‘They're all caught up to us.’

The Incarnations had already formed a circle and were closing in.

Incarnations from Olympus, Guiok, the Tree of Guardianship, and Veda.

"We've got him! Close in slowly!"

Judging by the Status I felt, none of them had fabled-grade Constellations as Patrons.

They were all Incarnations of Historical Constellations.

Every one of them had raised their synchronization rates to the limit.

This Scenario followed the scale's rules. If so many Constellations had pushed their synchronization rates to the limit, the balance of the scale should naturally have collapsed.

‘Shouldn't someone from our side come help at this point?’

Junghyeok, for example. No, Dokja had just said that wouldn't work, so maybe someone else from Kim Dokja Company.

At the very least, Myeongoh.

― Do you think a hundred bugs weigh the same as a lion?

I was reminded once again just how incredible Kim Dokja Company had become.

Bugs. Those guys were still Constellations in their own right.

― The great nebulae aren't idiots either. They're sending them out after calculating the Plausibility. The proof is that there isn't a single fabled-grade Patron among all those Incarnations.

They were adjusting their Plausibility before sending them too?

I let out a quiet sigh and counted them. There were well over thirty.

On the other hand, I was at my limit now.

The body strengthened by the Dragon Heart had become a wreck as soon as I borrowed Junkyung's power, and [Bookmark]'s time limit had run out.

If that Gatekeeper of Thebes or whatever so much as poked me with the tip of a spear, my body would probably crumple right over.

Dokja was all I had left to trust.

― Kid.

‘Yes.’

― Say anything and buy us some time.

‘What?’

[The Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Stage 3 has been deactivated.]

I couldn't believe it.

What was I supposed to do if he just threw me in here and left?

I hurriedly grabbed the Thought of Almost Everything and thought.

What useful item could I use right now?

The Virulent Poison Bomb had already been used up, so that was out. Should I use the Myriad Transformations Stealth Suit to hide?

Or should I try using [Incitement]?

Fortunately, the Incarnations that had been closing in stopped about ten meters away.

Looking closely, they were wary of one another too.

One Incarnation radiating threatening murderous intent across the circle, with me between them, spoke first.

"Olympus. You haven't forgotten our agreement, have you?"

Judging from the Halloween-party outfit, it was an Incarnation from Guiok. The one who answered was the Gatekeeper of Thebes from Olympus.

"Don't worry. We'll give you your share too. The Mythical Constellations just finished their agreement."

At the Gatekeeper of Thebes's answer, the Incarnations of Guiok smacked their lips as they looked at me.

"Then we'll split him evenly."

Eat? Eat what?

You bastards should ask what I think too.

Watching them approach one step at a time, I steadied myself again.

I'd relied too much on my Patron all this time.

It was time for me to do something too.

「I am Kim Dokja.」

I twisted my lips slightly and began.

"Quite a crowd. But do you even know what happened in Ginnungagap before you act like this?"

"Don't listen. He's just trying to buy time. Hurry up..."

"Aren't you curious? About why Valkyrie's Daughter ended up like that?"

"All he did was deal with one Historical Constellation..."

Just as I thought. These bastards didn't know much.

Smiling, I snapped my fingers at the air. There was no need to snap my fingers, but I did it anyway.

"Now then, the first in the Star Stream: a grand public reveal of Ginnungagap's interior."

[A fable that has yet to be named begins its story!]

My fable, which had not yet been given a name, began its story. As if they had been waiting, messages from the Constellations arrived.

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband reads the fable!]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon reads the fable!]

[The Constellation Commander of the Red Cosmos reads the fable!]

[Some Constellations are shocked after reading your fable!]

Ginnungagap was originally a stage where no records of any fable remained.

But thanks to the effect of "Record-Keeper of Things That Will Disappear," I had safely recorded my fable.

[The Constellations of the nebula Asgard are appalled.]

[The nebula Asgard requests that the Administration Bureau restrict access to the records!]

The truth of Ginnungagap spread in every direction.

Asgard's disgrace, committed just to capture me, was spreading across the entire Star Stream in an instant.

Asgard moved to block it too late. The Constellations had already read fragments of the fable as they spread.

"Gatekeeper of Thebes. Is that true?"

One Incarnation of the Tree of Guardianship, who had remained silent until now, asked.

"He dealt with ten Historical Constellations who performed demigod Descent?"

"That's impossible... It can't be."

"Didn't Valkyrie's Daughter go in alone?"

As several Incarnations stepped back, gaps opened in the circular encirclement.

I could vividly feel the unrest of the shaken Constellations.

Not missing the chance, I took another step forward and said,

[The Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv.10 has activated.]

"Now you understand who you're trying to face."

The startled Incarnations stepped back one after another.

The Gatekeeper of Thebes realized things were taking a bad turn and shouted.

"Nonsense! Don't be fooled! Even if that fable is true, he already exhausted all his strength in Ginnungagap. If we join forces and kill him now..."

I burst into loud laughter.

The mad laughter made the Gatekeeper of Thebes fall silent without realizing it.

"Looks like you couldn't understand even after I gave you a chance."

"You, what..."

"I killed ten Historical Constellations in the seventh Scenario. And the fable I've built still doesn't have a name. Don't you understand what that means?"

I saw a few quick-witted Incarnations' eyes dart around.

A fable without a name.

In other words, my fable was not yet complete.

"If you help me here, you'll receive a share of the fable I'll gain."

[Few Constellations are surprised by the proposal of the Demon King of Salvation.]

[The Constellation Reclining Dragon admires your tongue.]

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband shows interest in your statement.]

A confused silence fell among the agitated Constellations.

They had come here to join forces, eliminate the Demon King of Salvation, and obtain a Kim Dokja Fragment.

Yet judging by their expressions, most of them here still didn't even understand exactly what a Kim Dokja Fragment was.

"Choose. You can stupidly attack me, fail to recover even your investment, and get kicked out of the Scenario."

A different choice had just appeared before them.

"Or join hands with me and be guaranteed a share of a Legendary-grade fable or higher."

Footnotes:

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