WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 718: Episode 27: Recycling Center (1)

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「I wanted to show the world that even an ordinary fable could become a great story.」

* * *

A ringing buzz filled my ears. I felt dizzy, as if someone were gripping my skull and shaking it.

「"Youngest."」

Words flowed through my head.

Then scenes surfaced in my mind.

The demon marquis of the Capitol. The Demon King of Salvation who had Possessed him. Historical Constellations rushing in. Ares, one of Olympus's Twelve Seats, who had come to kill the Demon King of Salvation.

「"You have to do it."」

I could clearly feel the sentence I had unconsciously used amid my hazy surroundings at my fingertips.

「"I am Yu Junghyeok."」

[The Constellations of the Great Nebulae are aghast at your achievement!]

Twisted Plausibility.

The Demon King of Salvation charging toward Ares.

[Some small and medium-sized nebulae groan at your existence.]

[Constellations from some minor nebulae have begun to support your existence.]

[Constellations of the Korean Peninsula are worried about your future.]

Three Fate messages.

Ares had resurrected.

[The Constellation Goryeo's Top Swordsman is proud of you.]

[The Constellation Naval Warfare God admires your achievement.]

Great Nebulae. Falling meteors.

[The Constellation Demonic Judge of Fire is concerned for your well-being.]

[The Constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband nods at your courage.]

Jieunyu-ssi.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon curses the cowardly Great Nebulae...]

[The Constellation Tiger That Eats Rice Cakes...]

And then.

[Your new fable has been born.]

[The new fable is shared with your Patron.]

I murmured blankly.

"Dokja."

I looked around.

"Dokja."

No one answered.

"Demon King of Salvation!"

Even when I screamed until my throat tore, my voice came out weak and broken. Something cold touched my cheek.

It was snowing.

A pure white snowfield. Footprints left by someone who had walked ahead.

I followed them. At first, I walked, but before long, I began to run. I ran while forcing down my ragged breaths. I fell several times and rolled through the snow. My feet sank deep into the cold, stinging snow.

「"I will offer myself to the Star Stream."」

A strange sound, neither a scream nor a cry, flowed from inside me.

That couldn't be true. He couldn't be dead.

That Kim Dokja, that Demon King of Salvation, couldn't vanish like this.

How long had I run like that?

At last, I reached the end of the footprints.

A white coat swayed.

The person I had desperately searched for stood there.

I staggered toward him. The moment I slowly reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, Dokja turned toward me.

「Yes.」

I stared blankly at his face. He definitely had the face of the Dokja I knew. His calm eyes and neatly smiling lips were undoubtedly Dokja's.

But he was...

「Not the Demon King of Salvation I knew.」

Only then did I slowly come to my senses.

I realized where I was.

I had entered the Snowfield.

"You..."

And the Dokja before me was the Dokja of the Snowfield I had first met.

A Dokja who felt somehow sorrowful, somehow incomprehensible, and at the same time impossibly distant.

I asked him, "Where is the Demon King of Salvation?"

As usual, Dokja pulled a teacup from his coat, leisurely poured himself some tea, and took a sip.

Steam rose from the cup, and Dokja slowly looked up at the sky, following the dispersing vapor.

A shower of falling meteors decorated the empty sky over the snowfield. Perhaps they were the Historical Constellations of the Great Nebulae sacrificed in this battle.

「That was a really entertaining story.」

An entertaining story.

「It's been a long time since I've seen the Great Nebulae get humiliated that badly.」

There was nothing strange about his enjoyment. He was Dokja, who loved stories more than anyone in this universe.

Normally, I might have talked with him for hours about Constellations.

"Dokja. I asked where the Demon King of Salvation is."

But I didn't feel like doing that now.

"You saw it too. You were all watching."

Cold flames churned inside me. An emotion I hadn't had before.

The snow piled around me was melting.

Dokja silently looked down at the snow around my feet before asking,

「Do you remember what I told you before?」

What had he said?

「I told you to tell the story you wanted to tell.」

That was right.

「Is that really the story you wanted to tell?」

"What do you..."

「Why did you make a contract with the Demon King of Salvation?」

Dokja was looking at the sky, so I couldn't see his expression. Still, I could tell from his voice alone.

He was angry.

「I thought you would make a wise choice.」

Why was he angry?

「You mustn't become a Kim Dokja like them.」

Dokja's words sounded very strange to me.

Until now, I had thought he would support me no matter what story I chose to tell.

Had he also had a story he wanted to see through me?

I didn't know. Honestly, I didn't have time to think about that right now.

"Dokja. I'll say it again. I want to save the Demon King of Salvation. Tell me how to save him."

「I can't help you.」

"Why?"

「Because he and I pursue different ■■.」

"What are you talking about? You and he are both Kim Dokja. You..."

A strange question suddenly occurred to me.

Once, the Demon King of Salvation had told me something. The Kim Dokjas of this worldline had been divided into several large groups centered around their modifiers.

"The Demon King of Salvation said he was the first Kim Dokja."

Then which Dokja was standing before me?

"What number are you?"

The Demon King of Salvation had called me the youngest. Then the Dokja in front of me had to be an older sibling.

The second, perhaps the third?

"Dokja?"

Yet strangely, as I looked at him, he didn't seem to be either.

Which Dokja was he?

Was he...

「You.」

Really the Dokja I knew?

「You mustn't become Dokja's youngest.」

"That's for me to decide. If I'm truly Dokja's reincarnation..."

Even as I spoke, I was surprised at myself.

I hadn't expected those words to come out of my own mouth.

Was this the Demon King of Salvation's influence?

Had I truly begun to think of myself as Dokja?

「Hakhyeon.」

Dokja let out a soft sigh and reached a hand toward me. At that moment, I instinctively became wary. I thought I shouldn't let his hand touch me.

As I staggered back, thunder roared in the distance once more.

But Dokja's hand was fast, and I couldn't avoid it.

Tstststst.

Sparks flew through the air. My hand moved on its own and grabbed Dokja's wrist.

Then an unfamiliar voice came from my mouth.

"I'm disappointed. Are you trying to break the rules?"

Dokja's expression hardened.

「Don't interfere. Cheon...」

Thunder struck once more, and the scenery of the snowfield was torn apart.

* * *

When I came to, I was lying face-down on unfamiliar dirt, dry-heaving.

It felt as though someone had taken my body apart joint by joint, then put it back together.

It was only natural.

I had maintained [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] for a long time, summoned Goryeo's Top Swordsman with [Bookmark], and even used the Three Sword Forms. If the Scale of Plausibility hadn't prevented the backlash, it wouldn't have been strange for my body to have already been torn apart. Surviving at all was a miracle.

After catching my breath several times, I forced out the words.

"Is anyone there?"

No one answered.

[Transmission through the Star Ladder has been completed.]

[A new Main Scenario will begin shortly.]

Even while I was unconscious from [Daily Corpse], I had checked the battlefield through [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

Anna Croft and Christina had definitely carried Yu Junghyeok and me before using the Star Ladder.

"Isn't anyone here?"

I suddenly felt alone.

[Main Scenario #7, Demon Realm Invasion, has ended.]

[Sub Scenario, Beast Hunt, has ended.]

Come to think of it, I had been alone ever since this world opened.

Yet the reason I had suddenly become aware of being alone was...

"Patron."

Because I remembered the brief time when I hadn't been alone.

[You have received a total of 600,000 coins as a reward.]

It felt as if he would start talking in my ear as usual.

The youngest had earned so many coins. He would be pleased that I could finally buy a demon king modifier.

[You have received a Historical-grade Fable Selection Ticket.]

We had done it together.

[Your achievement is announced to the Star Stream.]

[The modifier Demon King of Salvation is announced to the Star Stream.]

We had finally landed a blow on those damned Great Nebulae.

[In recognition of your remarkable achievement, the Administration Bureau has adjusted the Sub Scenario rewards upward.]

[You have received an SS-grade Skill Selection Ticket.]

It felt as though he would look over the new rewards with me, discussing what to choose.

This fable was better, that skill was better.

"Patron."

No voice came.

Instead, faint sparks flickered in the air. An unprecedented sensation flowed faintly into me.

Relief washed over me.

「The Behind-the-Scenes Contract hadn't been severed.」

It was proof that he was still alive somewhere in this world.

"Why?"

I wanted to ask.

"Why did you do that?"

Even though I knew it was pointless to ask the Demon King of Salvation something like that, I wanted to ask.

In exchange for saving me, he had offered himself to the Star Stream.

Just as Shin Yuseong of the forty-first round had done.

He had fought against stories his entire life, only to become part of that story in the end to save me.

"Why..."

Was I worth that?

"You, you're the real Kim Dokja."

If only one Kim Dokja was to remain in this world, shouldn't it be you?

Zzzzt.

The sound came again. It wasn't a Plausibility spark. It came from inside my coat.

A smartphone was vibrating.

A smartphone.

I reflexively pulled it out. It wasn't mine.

It was Dokja's.

The phone Dokja always held in his hand.

The screen came on. A single file sat alone on the otherwise empty home screen.

I stared blankly at the file before unconsciously pressing it.

「There are three ways to survive in a ruined world.」

There was a star who loved this story more than anyone.

A sentence he must have read countless times.

「I've forgotten some of them now. But one thing is certain.」

A sentence that had saved him from death over and over.

I read that sentence too.

「The fact is, you who are reading this will survive.」

It was what he had left for me.

Again and again, I read that sentence.

Then I stood up and began to walk.

Footnotes:

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