WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 735: Episode 29: Recorders of Fear (2)
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When I first told the Allies my story, they seemed to think I had gone crazy.
I could understand why.
Saying I was suddenly going to summon the Oldest Dream probably did sound strange. So I told them everything that had happened once more.
About the Demon King of Salvation I had met, and the “brothers” he had told me about.
“So you’re saying there could be other Kim Dokjas besides the Demon King of Salvation.”
As the clever Ye Hyunwoo opened the discussion, Killer King asked, twitching his lips.
“Then how many Kim Dokjas are there?”
“They’re probably divided according to their modifiers.”
Gyeong Sein asked in a puzzled voice, “Why did that happen? Didn’t Kim Dokja return to his companions at the conclusion?”
“Well...”
I didn’t know that part exactly either.
If things had gone as I intended, Dokja should have returned to his companions at the end of the main story. Something had gone wrong along the way, though, and Dokja’s existence had been split according to his modifiers.
The Allies put their heads together over the matter.
“Then how many Kim Dokjas are there? Could there be an Ugliest King too?”
“Just like someone who has only read it once. That’s not a modifier. And it isn’t ‘ugly,’ it’s ‘not born.’”
“Who could the Prisoner of the Golden Headband be in this worldline?”
“That’s worth thinking about, Yerim.”
As I listened to them, I recalled Dokja’s modifiers as well.
As far as I knew, Dokja had four modifiers in total.
Demon King of Salvation.
Watcher of Light and Darkness.
Prisoner of the Golden Headband.
Oldest Dream.
Dokja had gained each modifier through a different Scenario.
He had obtained Demon King of Salvation in the 73rd Demon King Scenario, Watcher of Light and Darkness in the Great war of Angels and Demons, and Prisoner of the Golden Headband in the Journey to the West Scenario.
And the Oldest Dream...
“But if it’s the Oldest Dream, isn’t it still watching us now?”
Uncle Dansu was the one who raised that fundamental question.
“If I understand it correctly, the Oldest Dream is Kim Dokja who watches over every worldline. It seems like he would already be watching us, so why do we need to summon him?”
Uncle Dansu was right.
Ye Hyunwoo asked me, “Have you ever tried talking to the Oldest Dream?”
“I already have.”
When I made a contract with the Demon King of Salvation, I tried summoning the Oldest Dream. The sparks around me only grew stronger, while the Oldest Dream gave no response at all.
“Why didn’t he respond? Could it be that the Oldest Dream doesn’t exist...?”
“If this world really is the forty-first round we know, then the Oldest Dream definitely exists. His Incarnation is here.”
“Right, that’s true.”
The Allies looked down at little Yu Junghyeok, who was sleeping soundly.
The Oldest Dream was Yu Junghyeok’s Patron. There was no way he didn’t exist.
“Come to think of it, Yu Junghyeok never received a reply from his Patron either.”
It had been similar in the main story.
Yu Junghyeok didn’t know who his Patron was, nor had he ever truly communicated with him.
That was because the Oldest Dream in the main story had been Dokja as a child.
The two had been separated by the solid barrier of [The Fourth Wall].
Did that mean the Oldest Dream of this world was also Dokja as a child?
“Have you tried any other modifiers? Watcher of Light and Darkness, for example...”
“I tried, but Demon King of Salvation was the only one that worked.”
Ye Hyunwoo had been thinking about something. After hesitating, he spoke as if confessing.
“I’ve actually made a similar attempt. When I had enough Coins, I bought a [Behind-the-Scenes Contract] and tried to make a contract with the Demon King of Salvation...”
So Ye Hyunwoo had already tried it.
He still didn’t have a Patron, so it had certainly been possible.
“I failed. None of Dokja’s modifiers, including the Demon King of Salvation, reacted. But Inho-ssi succeeded in making a contract with the Demon King of Salvation.”
At those words, everyone’s gaze turned to me at once.
Ye Hyunwoo continued, “This is what I think. Communicating with Dokja in this worldline requires a specific condition. And of all of us, only Inho-ssi has met that condition.”
“I agree.”
I wondered if I should tell them that I was connected to the forty-nine percent Kim Dokja.
Then I noticed something strange in Ye Hyunwoo’s expression.
“I’m ashamed to admit it, but until just before you arrived, Inho-ssi, I had given up on the Scenario.”
Killer King interrupted with a muttered, “I hadn’t,” and Cha Yerim glared at him.
Ye Hyunwoo continued, “I hadn’t given up from the start. This place was filled with Scenarios I’d never read about in Revelation, but I thought we could handle them. I thought my Allies and I had become strong enough. But...”
I couldn’t tell what expression Ye Hyunwoo wore behind his mask.
Still, the depths of his eyes faintly revealed the despair he must have endured.
“It was only one month. Everything fell apart in that one month. I didn’t expect us to be as capable as the characters in Revelation, but I thought we could at least do half as well...”
I remembered when I had first met Ye Hyunwoo.
The proud Seventh Apostle. A reader who had finished Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint fifty times, someone who analyzed and predicted this world better than anyone else.
None of that confidence remained in his eyes now.
“After we entered the Recycling Center and got split apart from Uncle Pildu, things became even worse. That’s when I realized it. I really was nothing. Knowing a little about Revelation wasn’t enough to change this world. Even hoping to survive was a luxury.”
Gyeong Sein, Uncle Dansu, and even Yerim silently lowered their heads and stared at their feet.
“Giving up made me feel better. Maybe I didn’t need to risk myself in the first place. Maybe this was my true nature. Maybe what suits me is just chewing bamboo all day like a panda.”
“Hyunwoo-ssi.”
“Inho-ssi.”
Ye Hyunwoo adjusted his panda mask and looked at me.
“I don’t know whether we can summon the Oldest Dream using your method, Inho-ssi. But even if we can’t find the Oldest Dream...”
Taking a small breath, Ye Hyunwoo said, “From now on, I’m going to call you Kim Dokja. This world needs a Kim Dokja.”
Yerim nodded.
Gyeong Sein and Uncle Dansu joined in as well.
“To be honest, I’ve thought for a while that Inho-ssi resembles Dokja.”
“I feel the same.”
Killer King was the last to respond.
“That guy was Kim Dokja from the start.”
“You finally got your wish.”
At Gyeong Sein’s words, the Allies let out light laughter.
Ye Hyunwoo stepped closer to me and held out his hand.
“So please promise us, Kim Dokja-ssi. Promise that you’ll see this world’s end with us.”
Could I become their Kim Dokja?
Or perhaps it was the other way around.
I reached out my hand to him.
“I’d rather ask you all for something. Please create Dokja’s fable with me.”
I couldn’t be like Dokja alone. I needed them.
The strange Killer King and the cool-headed Yerim.
The clever Ye Hyunwoo, kind Uncle Dansu, and simple-hearted Gyeong Sein.
Only with their help could I see this world’s conclusion.
Just as I was about to take Ye Hyunwoo’s hand.
[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name smacks its lips.]
It felt like an electric current ran down my spine.
I instinctively pulled my hand back.
[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name frowns.]
‘No.’
I desperately suppressed the fable. Even so, my surroundings continued to shake dangerously.
A terrible hunger was closing in.
[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name tells you not to interfere.]
“Heir to an Eternal Name” had realized it.
It knew that the readers before me possessed the Kim Dokja Fragments it liked.
The fable whispered.
「On ly on e ca n be co me Kim Dok ja」
‘No. Never them.’
「Yo u wi ll re gret it」
In the end, the fable stopped its story first.
When I raised my head, the Allies were looking at me with worried expressions.
I spoke to them.
“I’ll definitely see the conclusion with every one of you.”
* * *
Late afternoon.
Smoke began to rise from every chimney in Area 13. The Incarnations were cooking food.
Standing atop the roof of the Brick House, Killer King watched the changes taking place in Area 13.
“We’ll be eating decent food tonight.”
Ye Hyunwoo, standing beside him, muttered, “Yeah.”
The two had come to understand what Area 13 was like over the past month.
The nights of Area 13 had been hell for them. They spent their days trembling in fear as they waited for Wolf Harvesters that could come at any moment.
Yet tonight’s atmosphere was different.
The smoke rising from the chimneys was proof of that.
The residents here normally didn’t cook at night. Lighting fires and using chimneys could provoke the wolves.
Ye Hyunwoo said, “I’m sorry, Second Apostle.”
“For what?”
“If you hadn’t been here for the past month, we couldn’t have held out.”
Killer King had protected the Allies throughout the month they had spent in Area 13.
If Killer King hadn’t become a wolf to protect them, the Allies could never have survived the wolves’ threat.
“And...”
Instead of finishing his sentence, Ye Hyunwoo looked down at the clearing below the roof.
Inho Cheon stood in the center of the clearing, talking face-to-face with Lycaon.
Ye Hyunwoo finally said, “You know Dokja-ssi is hiding something too, don’t you?”
Killer King nodded.
“Dokja has always been that kind of guy.”
“Have you ever used [Eye of Sin] on Dokja-ssi?”
[Eye of Sin].
The exclusive Stigma of the Archangel Jophiel, capable of identifying evildoers.
Killer King nodded.
“I have.”
“What did it say?”
“At first, he was marked as a villain who had killed more than ten humans. Something seemed strange, so when I used the Stigma again...”
Killer King slowly blinked as he recalled that day.
The day he first met Inho Cheon in the Dark Fold.
That day, Killer King activated [Eye of Sin] on Inho Cheon twice.
“I couldn’t see a thing.”
“Nothing?”
“Everything was pure white.”
The Stigma had ended quickly, but Killer King clearly remembered the sight.
A vast, endless white snowfield spreading around Inho Cheon.
“What does that mean? Is he a villain, or...?”
“I don’t know either.”
A breeze occasionally blew in from the clearing below.
Inho Cheon had taken a stance as though trying to get the hang of [Way of the Wind], earnestly waving his hands through the air.
Lycaon was holding his forehead, apparently because something wasn’t going well.
“It seems he really is Kim Dokja.”
“Looks that way.”
The two chuckled. As their light laughter scattered on the wind, Killer King asked, “Will you be all right?”
“About what?”
“I won’t ask twice.”
Ye Hyunwoo gave a bitter smile at Killer King’s question.
“It’s not like there’s anything to be all right or not all right about. I wasn’t someone who could play Kim Dokja’s role in the first place.”
“Not everyone needs to become Kim Dokja. Do what you’re good at. Like I do.”
With those final words, Killer King leaped down from the roof.
Not long after, lively noise rose from the clearing. Surprisingly, a faint breeze moved from Killer King’s fingertips.
Lycaon let out a small exclamation.
Watching Killer King smile meaningfully, Ye Hyunwoo muttered, “You resemble Yu Junghyeok a little.”
Maybe that was why he felt frustrated.
If that guy was Yu Junghyeok, then he should have been Kim Dokja more than anyone.
He should have stood by that guy’s side, taken down his enemies, made up for his mistakes, and cleared Scenarios with confidence.
But he hadn’t fulfilled that role over the past month.
Someone else had taken Dokja’s role.
In truth, Ye Hyunwoo had known all along.
He had felt the same way during the Emergency Defense in Chungmuro, and when he faced the Absolute Throne in Gwanghwamun.
He simply hadn’t admitted it.
But when Ye Hyunwoo saw Inho Cheon turn the Brick House into a Stage Transformation, eventually open its door, and push through the storm, he could no longer deny it.
That person was this world’s Kim Dokja.
Only one question remained amid that calm certainty.
Then what was he in this world?
“I...”
The moment he opened his mouth without realizing it, a star in the sky looked down on him.
That star, shining with an intensely ominous light, asked him.
「Do you want to become the ‘real Kim Dokja’?」
Footnotes:
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