Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 738

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 738: Episode 29: Recorders of Fear (5)

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Great Old One.

The moment I heard the name, several names came to mind.

"Who was it?"

If it was a Great Old One, it was likely either a top-ranking Outer God or one of the kings of the Outer Gods.

Secretive Plotter, known as the Great Plot, or the characters from the 999th round who had seen the end of the world.

But at the end of the 1,864th round, Secretive Plotter and the deities of the 999th round met the Oldest Dream and disappeared after the ■■.

There was no reason for them to return just to save Lycaon.

Then were there other Great Old Ones besides them?

【Protector, I cannot speak carelessly about that.】

I expected as much.

Though I could roughly guess why, I still asked.

"Why?"

【If I speak that name, the Great Old One will become aware of you as well.】

In this world, a name was a coordinate.

That was also why carelessly calling someone's True Name was taboo.

"What if I still want to hear it?"

【I'm sorry.】

"Not even a hint?"

【Yes, I'm sorry.】

I shook my head to show it was fine.

Honestly, the stories I had heard from Lycaon so far were already high-level information. The story about the 1,864th round, in particular, was the sort of thing that could easily have been filtered partway through.

Yet it hadn't been filtered. That suggested two things.

First, this worldline's Scenario progression speed was that fast.

Second, there was another being besides me who was curious about this story.

[The Recycling Center Director is listening to your conversation with interest.]

"One thing is certain. A Great Old One brought you back to life. So what mission did they entrust to you?"

I thought that might be a secret too, but Lycaon unexpectedly answered without hesitation.

【Collecting the records of twisted worldlines.】

Twisted worldlines and records.

The moment I heard those two words, something came to mind.

Lycaon met my eyes and slowly nodded.

【People call beings like me Recorders of Fear. I am only at the bottom of their ranks, however.】

Recorders of Fear.

I knew I would meet them someday, but I never imagined Lycaon would be one of them.

There were so many things I wanted to ask.

What exactly did the Recorders of Fear do?

What did they know about this worldline?

Did the twisted worldlines they spoke of refer to this round?

Why were they still active even after the ■■ of all things had ended...?

【Protector.】

As if he understood every one of my questions, Lycaon looked at me for a moment and blinked.

【I'm sorry, but I should sleep for a while.】

"What?"

【It seems I've said too much.】

Since when had the sparks around Lycaon grown so dense?

The Otherworld Covenant Lycaon had made with me was to exist in Area 13 for 30 days.

In other words, Lycaon had no justifiable reason to answer my questions.

He had rattled off stories of other worldlines despite that, and his Plausibility was in danger.

Just before closing his eyes, Lycaon added,

【Be careful, Protector. This worldline is one of the Unknown Origins.】

Gentle concern seeped into his voice.

【Many Old Ones are watching your choices. Depending on your choices...】

Psshhh.

Somewhere, I heard the sound of air escaping. At the same time, Lycaon's body rapidly shrank. Before long, Lycaon had become the size of a puppy, sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. He seemed to have entered a temporary state to preserve Plausibility.

[The Recycling Center Director looks disappointed.]

I was disappointed too, but it would be a problem if Lycaon were unsummoned here.

Lycaon's existence was essential if this Scenario was to proceed according to my plan.

Still, learning that Lycaon was a Recorder of Fear meant it hadn't been a complete loss.

I pushed aside my disappointment and began practicing the [Way of the Wind] Lycaon had taught me again.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name is starving.]

[You have 9 days left to live.]

There was still time.

* * *

The next day, and the day after that.

My companions and I continued practicing the [Way of the Wind].

Yet no matter how much I practiced, I couldn't raise any wind from my hands.

「It seems the [Way of the Wind] has already been recorded in the Protector.」

What had Lycaon meant by that?

If the [Way of the Wind] had been recorded in me, why couldn't I use this power?

"You're working hard."

It was Little Junghyeok's voice. He had been unconscious ever since "The Three Little Pigs," but it seemed he had finally awakened from his long sleep.

"You're awake?"

Little Junghyeok nodded and slowly approached me.

Looking closely, it was difficult to call him little anymore. His height had shot up while he slept, and he had become a proper boy.

I never thought I would watch Junghyeok's growth in real time.

"I had a strange dream."

As he said that, Junghyeok wiped his mouth. Seeing dirt crumble down, I belatedly remembered something.

「"You bastard, what did you feed me?"」

This bastard, had he decided to believe that was a dream?

It was absurd, but I also thought it was for the best. If Junghyeok grew into an adult with memories of eating dirt, my life would be in danger.

"That's not how you use the [Way of the Wind]."

"Yeah. I've heard that plenty already."

Junghyeok stood beside me, flexed his little fingers, and tried something.

"Do it like this."

A crisp wind sprang from the boy's fingertips.

It was unmistakably the [Way of the Wind].

A [Way of the Wind] different from Lycaon's wind and the Demon King of Salvation's wind.

As I looked beyond the strangely lonely, bleak path of wind, I gave a bitter smile.

A protagonist really was a protagonist.

By the forty-first round, could he easily imitate a Fable Fragment like this?

"Unfortunately, I don't have any talent."

"I saw you communicate with the Fable Fragment of the Brick House. This technique is the same. Read the wind as you understood the Brick House."

Easy for him to say, but Brick House and wind were different.

As if he had read my thoughts, Junghyeok added,

"Each person has a different image of wind. It is important to give form to the wind you believe in."

The wind I believed in.

I tried to picture an image of wind in my mind. I had once lived with the title of Writer, yet no image of wind came to me.

"I'll grant you special enlightenment. In your left hand, a gale..."

"In your right hand, a storm. That isn't enlightenment."

"You already knew it."

"Want me to tell you more?"

I recited every [Way of the Wind] chant I knew.

Junghyeok's expression changed by the moment. At first, he seemed surprised. Then he grew interested, and in the end, his eyes became somber.

"I see. You know too much."

"Isn't knowing more a good thing?"

"You don't need to know that much."

"Yeesh, someone who learns everything easily might not need to know much, but..."

"I don't learn everything easily."

"You can use [transmission]."

[transmission]. With that special Stigma, Junghyeok had inherited abilities from previous rounds over and over as he endured the world of TWSA.

Junghyeok seemed slightly surprised that I knew this, then shook his head.

"[transmission] only changes the starting point a little."

As expected of someone born with a regressor's silver spoon.

"You don't realize what an enormous benefit it is to start from a different point."

"At first, perhaps. But as rounds accumulate, it becomes harder to catch up with the Constellations."

"That can't be true."

I couldn't understand what he meant.

As rounds accumulated, so did the total amount of experience. You learned more ways to become stronger and naturally discovered shortcuts to attain a certain realm.

Yet it became harder to catch up with the Constellations as rounds accumulated?

"Do you know about Transcendents?"

"They are the ladder mortals can choose to stand on equal footing with the stars."

Junghyeok nodded.

"The first stage of transcendence is surpassing the limits of the body."

I knew that too.

Reaching 100 in overall stats and overcoming the body's limits.

"The second stage is training all skills to their limits."

"Correct. As expected, you know a lot."

"Knowing is all I can do."

If everyone could become a Transcendent just because they knew, the world would be overflowing with Transcendents.

Junghyeok spoke again.

"And the final stage is..."

"Forget everything you have built up and find your own path."

Forgetting skills and forgetting levels.

Forgetting the countless universal paths presented by the system and finding your own story.

That was the methodology of transcendence defined by the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint.

But it seemed the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's Disciple had a comment to add.

"The final stage of transcendence is special. The process of transcendence, of finding your own story, requires new enlightenment every time."

"Isn't that easy for you? You already gained enlightenment before."

"It seems you don't know what enlightenment is."

Thinking about it, there was a reason enlightenment was called enlightenment. It was insight into something you hadn't known before.

"You cannot achieve transcendence twice with a single enlightenment."

It was a concern other Transcendents never needed to have. They didn't regress.

But Yu Junghyeok was different.

Because Junghyeok's attained realm reset at the beginning of each round, he had to gain new enlightenment and reach transcendence every time.

"At first, it isn't difficult. Once, twice, three times. You can gain new enlightenment that many times. But when it starts accumulating ten times, twenty times, the problem becomes complicated."

Come to think of it, Junghyeok in TWSA didn't always transcend at the same time. Sometimes he did so a little earlier, or a little later.

Could this have been why?

"Once enlightenment accumulates over 1,800 times, transcendence would become almost impossible."

"What nonsense is that? There is no reason for enlightenment to accumulate that much."

"Of course not."

My respects, Secretive Plotter.

"So when transcendence became difficult, what did you do?"

"At first, I tried somehow to find new enlightenment. But as time passed, I realized it was impossible."

"That counts as enlightenment too. You could have gained one transcendence from that."

I said it as a joke, but Junghyeok didn't laugh.

Instead, he answered,

"From then on, I forgot the enlightenment I already knew."

"You can forget it?"

"Sometimes it is forgotten when I strike my head with [hundred-step godly fists]."

I couldn't tell whether that was a joke or not. Junghyeok really seemed like he might do that.

"Anyway, once the enlightenment disappears, you can fill that place with new enlightenment."

So-called enlightenment overwriting.

It was something never explained in detail even in TWSA.

"Some enlightenment can only be fully understood after you forget it."

It was a moving story.

If only it didn't involve hitting his head.

"Are you telling me to forget the [Way of the Wind] I know?"

Junghyeok nodded, took the stance for [hundred-step godly fists], and aimed at my head.

I hurriedly waved my hands and backed away.

"No, wait! I don't want to forget anything right now."

"You don't seem very desperate. Do you have no reason to learn the [Way of the Wind]?"

The reason I wanted to learn the [Way of the Wind].

A face came to mind reflexively.

A star who had sacrificed for me.

I had to become stronger.

Strong enough to save him, just as strong, or even stronger.

It was something only possible if I became Kim Dokja more than anyone else.

Junghyeok slowly lowered his fist and continued,

"You don't need to force yourself to learn something you cannot do. There must be something you are good at."

I never expected to hear something like that from Junghyeok, so I stood there blankly for a while.

"Thank you for the advice."

Stars shed intermittent light over the lonely night sky.

Junghyeok glared at that sky for a while. Yet perhaps the starlight he sought wasn't there, because he soon lowered his gaze to the ground and asked,

"So, what do you plan to do from here?"

"I need to gain the beastfolk's support."

"You think you will gain the beastfolk's support by staying here and learning something like the [Way of the Wind]?"

Junghyeok looked at me like I was pathetic. It seemed it was my turn to give this regressor new enlightenment.

"How long do you think the beastfolk here have been staying in this place?"

"That..."

The time density of the Recycling Center was far higher than the outside world. There might be beastfolk who had spent decades here, perhaps even over a century.

"Judging from the atmosphere of the city, the city had accumulated a long history. There were probably several revolutions too."

Area 13 was where beastfolk who couldn't enter the Twelve Zodiacs gathered.

Would there really have been no revolution even once in a place like this? Whether crane, wolf, turtle, or squirrel, someone must have resisted the Twelve Zodiacs at least once.

Perhaps twice, or three times.

There would have been beastfolk who fought back as Junghyeok challenged transcendence.

But...

"They were probably all defeated by the Twelve Zodiacs."

The revolutions had failed. Naturally.

They weren't Junghyeok.

"Then, one day."

I continued as if opening a fairy tale.

"Some people suddenly appeared, shattered the existing fable, and brought down one of the Twelve Zodiacs."

The beastfolk would have been surprised. More precisely, they would have been surprised, but would have gone no further than that.

As the crane innkeeper had said, they had been in Area 13 for too long.

"The beastfolk must have thought this was only temporary too. They probably thought those people lounging around Area 13 would soon be slaughtered by the other Twelve Zodiacs, as had always happened before."

The beastfolk would think that another of the Twelve Zodiacs would come soon.

That the owners of the fables would return to drive out those who believed themselves to be protagonists.

"But what if, no matter how much time passes, none of the Twelve Zodiacs come to hurt them? What if not even the shadow of the Twelve Zodiacs appears?"

"You, don't tell me..."

Junghyeok's eyes slowly widened.

I grinned and asked,

"What do you think the beastfolk are thinking right now?"

That was when I heard someone's presence in the darkness.

Long animal shadows stretched between the streetlamps.

There were more than one or two.

Tense, Junghyeok took the stance for [hundred-step godly fists] and stood beside me.

But I wasn't particularly tense.

A voice came from between the long shadows.

"You people."

The owners of the shadows were the crane innkeeper and the other animals staying at the inn.