Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 729

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 729: Episode 28: Home (7)

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I instinctively turned around.

"Tie up Killer King. Quickly!"

Wolves weren't only outside the house. There was a wolf inside this house too.

"Kim Dokja. I won't lose to something like 「Stage Transformation」."

Killer King, wearing a black wolf mask, spoke confidently.

Of course, I knew he wouldn't attack us. I trusted him too.

"I know."

I just trusted the ‘story’ more.

"This is to protect you. Please trust me."

Killer King looked at me for a moment before nodding.

"I'll trust you, Kim Dokja."

Even at a time like this, he was committed to his persona.

Gyeong Se-in darted around like a flying squirrel and tied Killer King tightly to a chair, while Cha Yerin smeared snail slime over him. Ye Hyunwoo, moving at an easy pace, wedged a bamboo stalk between Killer King's legs as if tightening a torture device.

I hadn't told them to go that far.

Ye Hyunwoo asked the frowning Killer King, "Does it hurt?"

"A little."

"Okay."

Just as Killer King was about to scream, sparks began flying through the air.

Tststststst...

Old fables were remembered by the stars.

The stars revisited their memories, reminisced over them, and sometimes added Plausibility to reenact them. They enjoyed fables in their own ways.

[Constellations from the Twelve Zodiacs that remember this fable are delighted.]

[The fable The Three Little Pigs accelerates its story.]

The Fable Fragment 「Brick House」 grew even sturdier.

That wasn't all. The wolves desperately blowing at the house outside the window were changing.

[You all...]

The flustered Wolf Constellation issued its constellation's declaration.

[Stop! Stop! Stop right now!]

Ignoring the constellation's declaration, the wolf Incarnations began leaping onto the Brick House's roof one by one.

The wolves blowing at the house, as well as those ramming it with their bodies, all began jumping onto the roof as though bewitched.

Even Killer King, tightly bound, trembled with bloodshot eyes.

This was the power of a fable.

"Arrrgh!"

The wolf Incarnations that entered through the chimney fell into the boiling water and screamed. Under ordinary circumstances, boiling water wouldn't have been enough to drive them away. After reaching the eighth Scenario, Incarnations would have developed some resistance to pain.

Yet within the influence of this 「Stage Transformation」, such resistance was useless.

Their core attribute was currently ‘wolf’, and the water in the furnace would inflict pain on ‘wolves’ comparable to Uriel's [hellfire inferno].

Even if someone asked why that happened, I had no answer.

This was simply that kind of story.

A story where the little pigs who built a brick house defeated the wolves.

The wolf Incarnations that entered the chimney convulsed and screamed the instant they touched the water in the furnace. Some had their feet melt in the steam as they crawled back out through the chimney, while others sprang up like popcorn.

[The Constellation First Pig to Die cheers!]

[The Constellation Chicken That Crows First lets out an intrigued cry.]

[The Constellation God's Scapegoat says it's been a long time since hearing a pig story.]

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon yawns.]

There were Constellations who enjoyed watching their pain with lecherous gazes.

[The Constellation Pig That Built a Brick House nods.]

And we were the leads of the 「stage」.

The pitiful fable "The Three Little Pigs".

The original story included the first pig, who built a house from straw, and the second pig, who built one from wood, being sacrificed. This stage had omitted that part.

Even so, no Constellation raised an objection.

[Constellations from the Twelve Zodiacs giggle, saying it's been a long time since they last saw this fable.]

Everyone already knew the story.

Obvious sacrifices and obvious deaths gave the stars no thrill.

They weren't curious about the little pigs' trial.

‘So what happens next?’

They only wanted to know how satisfyingly the revenge would unfold, and how miserably the star that had stood in the predator's place would fall.

[Some Constellations anticipate your ‘fable reenactment’.]

[You have received sponsorship of 8,000 Recycle Coins.]

[Some Constellations want you to torture the wolf even more brutally.]

[Few Constellations suggest replacing the furnace water with hydrochloric acid.]

We were now agents of that revenge. Those who reenacted old stories for the stars and reinterpreted fables for the stars.

Incarnations who received coins and lived on.

[You have received sponsorship of 5,000 Recycle Coins.]

This was the world Kim Dokja had lived in all along.

Gyeong Se-in grabbed my sleeve.

"If."

A faint tremor passed through my sleeve.

"If all of us had chosen the wolf faction... what would've happened?"

There was no need to ask.

"We all would've died."

[You have received sponsorship of 3,000 Recycle Coins.]

The story had been successfully reenacted, and the wolf Incarnations threatening us had been driven away.

Had we made the right choice? Had we safely cleared the ‘Event Scenario’?

[The Recycling Center Director watches your choice.]

Then why was the director still waiting for my ‘choice’?

「Was there still something left to ‘choose’ in this story?」

When I slowly turned my head, I saw the other beastfolk who hadn't managed to evacuate and remained in the inn.

Though the wolves who had tormented them were being brutally defeated, they didn't look happy. Some looked distraught, while others were sad.

「This was a place where animals unable to belong to the Twelve Zodiacs lived together.」

And those watching this story with lecherous gazes from the sky were all from the ‘Twelve Zodiacs’.

"Dokja-ssi, Killer King is..."

Killer King's breathing was growing rougher, his eyes red. The ropes binding him had drawn taut enough to snap.

The fable was consuming Killer King.

[Few Constellations wonder why there is a ‘wolf’ inside the Brick House.]

[Few Constellations order you to kill the ‘wolf’ inside the Brick House.]

"Tie him up tighter! We only need to hold on a little longer!"

"Should I tighten the bamboo?"

"Do whatever you want!"

Killer King's scream rang out. Still, screaming was better than dying.

[Some Constellations are puzzled by your judgment.]

[Few Constellations say you could receive a greater reward by eliminating every wolf.]

A greater reward. It sounded nice.

No one among my Allies wanted to sacrifice Killer King.

He had chosen the wolf faction himself and protected the Allies for an entire month.

Were we supposed to kill him just to complete one 「Stage Transformation」?

"Hey, Wolf!"

I called out to the Wolf Constellation beyond the wall, Wolf Who Likes Red Riding Hood.

"Don't go too far. You know what'll happen if this 「Stage Transformation」 continues."

Wolf Who Likes Red Riding Hood had yet to climb onto the roof.

This 「Stage Transformation」 was probably incomplete, and as a Constellation, the wolf could overcome some of its influence through sheer will.

Even so, if time passed like this, the story's ending was obvious.

[Constellations from the Twelve Zodiacs want you to finish off the ‘wolf’.]

Could Killer King endure until then?

After taking a quiet breath, I organized my thoughts and continued.

"I know. You must feel wronged too. You aren't even part of this fable. So let's stop."

『The Three Little Pigs』 was an old fable.

The wolf who had tried to eat the pigs was gone now, as was the youngest pig who bravely fought against that wolf.

All that remained were the stars in the sky, calmly shining as they chewed, bit, and savored old fables.

[Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs look at Wolf Who Likes Red Riding Hood.]

Beyond the pale window, I could see the wolf's Incarnation body trembling.

Certainly, the ‘wolf’ had been the villain in 『The Three Little Pigs』. But was the wolf still a villain in this story called the Star Stream?

What was that predator so afraid of that it trembled like that?

[The Constellation First Pig to Die tilts its head at you.]

[Some Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs are puzzled by your choice.]

[Few Constellations ask if you are defending the wolf.]

[Some Constellations ask if you don't pity the Incarnations killed by wolves.]

That was true. The wolves of District 13 had clearly occupied the villain's position. Yet the animals here didn't seem particularly afraid of wolves.

If anything, they were worried about the wolf's actions.

The crane innkeeper especially looked as though they might collapse at any moment.

"P-please stop it. That wolf mustn't die. A greater tragedy will occur."

What in the world were these animals afraid of?

[The Constellation Wolf Who Likes Red Riding Hood roars.]

Blood vessels burst around the wolf's eyes as it lost its reason and slammed its body into the Brick House. A heavy impact resounded.

Rumblee...

The wolf's breath created a powerful gale that shook the Brick House. Its enormous body crashed against it once more.

Again and again, then again and again.

Yet it wasn't the Brick House that broke, but the wolf's body.

The crane innkeeper and other beastfolk screamed.

"No! I-I'll offer you meat instead. Please, please!"

"Isn't that the wolf who tormented you?"

At my words, the crane innkeeper's eyes went wide.

"Yes, it may look that way. But you don't understand how this Area works. Nothing will change even if that wolf dies. This story..."

At that moment, I felt like I understood something.

What they feared wasn't the wolf.

It was the beings far, far ‘above’ that ‘wolf’.

[Some Constellations belonging to the nebula Twelve Zodiacs are delighted.]

The Wolf Constellation was dying. Its Incarnation body was a wreck, and most of the fables it possessed had been shattered.

There was now almost nothing left of 『The Three Little Pigs』 in that wolf's memories.

Its modifier wasn't even related to ‘little pigs’ in any way.

Even so, it had become part of the stage simply because it was also a wolf.

I spoke to it, but it couldn't hear me.

The bloodied Wolf Constellation was looking up at the sky.

It was speaking to the stars laughing at it.

[Fine. If this is the story you bastards want, then watch. As much as you like.]

Watching the wolf crash into an unbreakable wall, I was suddenly swept up by a strange feeling.

[Some Constellations belonging to the nebula Twelve Zodiacs delight in the wolf's downfall.]

Perhaps I knew the story of a man like it too.

That man had been born against his will, then swept into Scenarios against his will.

He threw away his life again and again to break the Scenarios, but in the end, he could never cross the final ‘wall’.

In the end, that ‘wall’ was,

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name stirs.]

a wall that only opened when it was opened from the other side.

I heard someone shouting at me. Voices trying to stop me. Indirect Messages from the Constellations. Screams and howls.

All those voices mixed together like discordant noise

scattered like magic the moment I opened the Brick House's door.

The scene outside was astonishingly quiet. I couldn't hear the Constellations' Indirect Messages or the Incarnations' screams.

Raindrops fell from the gloomy sky.

The Wolf Constellation, wearing a bloodstained wolf mask, looked down at me.

I said to it, "Come in."

[What?]

A sharp killing intent rose from the Wolf Constellation's front paws. It could tear me apart at any moment.

"The game is over. You know there's no way for you to win once 「Stage Transformation」 has occurred."

It was a gamble with a slim chance of success and far too much risk.

Even so, the reason I was doing this anyway was,

"It seems you don't know, but the end of this ‘fable’ hasn't been decided."

Perhaps because a fable like my Patron's flowed through me as well.

"The Three Little Pigs is a folktale. It has many different endings depending on how it was passed down. The three pigs joining forces to defeat the wolf remains the same, but what happens afterward differs."

If my memory was correct, this story had an ‘open ending’.

Just like a certain story I knew.

"In some versions, the wolf enters boiling water and becomes soup. In others, it dies after popping like popcorn. And in another version..."

I knew the possibility was slim.

The chance that the ending I wanted would arrive was as low as the chance that Kim Dokja Company would finally get Kim Dokja back and all live together in a big house.

Even so, if this gamble succeeded,

"the wolf reconciles with the three little pigs and lives with them in the Brick House."

In this forty-first round, a story that had been impossible in every worldline might finally become possible.

[I...]

The wolf opened its mouth.

Unfortunately, the wolf had no right to speak in this story.

[The Constellation First Pig to Die opposes your ‘recycling method’.]

[The Constellation Rabbit Without a Liver opposes your ‘recycling method’.]

[The Constellation Philosopher's Horse questions your ‘recycling method’.]

[Some Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs strongly oppose your ending!]

Along with the ominous Indirect Messages, the wolf's eyes began turning red again.

[The Plausibility of 「Stage Transformation」 has strengthened!]