WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 742: Episode 30: Twelve Zodiacs (4)
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Slice.
A thin cut ran across my mask.
A few strands of hair fluttered down from Ye Hyunwoo's fist wind. Looking at them, I said,
"If it's reasonable for someone with nothing left to lose to become Kim Dokja, then you have no chance of becoming Kim Dokja either, Hyunwoo-ssi."
"I know."
To get straight to the point, Hyunwoo's attack hadn't been aimed at me.
The fist wind that grazed past me collided with something in the empty air ahead. Something clattered to the ground. Hidden weapons resembling the claws of a large animal lay scattered across the alley.
When [Way of the Wind] activated at Hyunwoo's fingertips, the assassin hiding in the alley was revealed.
"Khk-"
The assassin had the face of a bear. A bear beastfolk.
It was an animal I had never seen here before.
Perhaps sensing danger, it immediately growled and leaped out of the alley. But Hyunwoo was faster.
Riding [Way of the Wind], Hyunwoo flew forward and was already standing behind the bear beastfolk.
Crack.
Both of the bear's knees bent in the opposite direction with a sickening sound. As it howled in pain, Hyunwoo seized the back of its neck and demanded,
"Who the hell are you?"
It was a voice completely unlike his usual one.
Grrrr.
Blood foam trickled from the Fear-stricken bear beastfolk's mouth.
"Who sent you? Talk. If you don't answer by the time I count to three, you're dead."
That sinister tone was one he had never shown me before. It reminded me what kind of person he was.
He was the Seventh Apostle of the Apostles' Council and Chungmuro's true Representative.
"One."
On the way here, Hyunwoo must have been caught up in countless schemes and plots I knew nothing about.
The bear beastfolk gasped as though having a seizure.
"You... will... never succeed."
The beastfolk went limp on the ground. It seemed it didn't have enough fables or Mana to begin with.
It was strange that it had attempted an ambush in that state.
Hyunwoo frowned.
"Should I wake it up and torture it the Kim Dokja way?"
That was when a system message sounded in my ears.
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[68% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
Something was wrong.
Since I began Story Repair in earnest, my support rate had never dropped even once.
Yet it was dropping now?
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[67% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
Hyunwoo must have felt something was off too, because he turned toward me.
"I have a bad feeling about this. We should probably get the Companions..."
A group of shadows approached through the late-night alley.
Lanterns appeared one by one in the darkness. They didn't look like people who had come to ask us to repair their fables. The beastfolk faces swaying like ghosts above the lanterns were unfamiliar.
It wasn't just their faces. They were at least twice the size of the beastfolk from nearby Areas.
[A whole pack of southern wolves was exterminated. So the rumors were true.]
The constellation's declaration sent a chill down my spine.
A brown bear, at least a meter taller than the other beastfolk and wearing a skull mask that covered half its face, stood there.
[The Constellation Bear Who Spares Those Who Pretend to Be Dead's eyes gleam.]
There was no doubt, judging from its bearing and the atmosphere it gave off.
That bastard was a Historical Constellation.
[The fables comprising the relevant Incarnation body are severely worn down.]
More precisely, it was the Incarnation body of a Historical Constellation whose Status had greatly fallen after losing most of its fables.
An animal-type Constellation that had failed to enter the Twelve Zodiacs and remained in Area 13.
It seemed similar to the "Wolf Who Loves Little Red Riding Hood" I had fought before.
The brown bear's enormous claws glinted coldly in the darkness.
[Kill them all. Starting today, the south of Area 13 belongs to the bears.]
The bear beastfolk repeated its words in unison, then began looting as they crushed every house around them beneath their huge forepaws.
"W-what is this? Kyaaaah!"
Claws came flying without warning. Beastfolk torn apart along with their houses screamed.
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[66% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
Now I understood why my support rate kept falling. Those bears were indiscriminately slaughtering the Area 13 beastfolk who supported us.
There were well over three hundred of them.
Hyunwoo spoke.
"That bastard is like that Wolf from before, right?"
"Yes. We need to be careful. This time, there aren't any fables we can make use of."
When we fought the Wolf, we could use Stage Transformation because the Scenario of "The Three Little Pigs" had been active.
This time was different.
Still, Hyunwoo's eyes were calm.
"Would Kim Dokja be more like himself if he led the fight here, or if he hid behind everyone and encouraged his Companions?"
After thinking for a moment, I answered,
"Both sound like Kim Dokja."
Kim Dokja would have fought at the front while encouraging his Companions from behind and awakening them.
Hyunwoo nodded, apparently understanding something from my answer.
"Then I'll do what I want here."
Pitch-black Mana flowed from Hyunwoo's entire body. It was the first time I had seen him truly stir up his fables, and it caught me off guard.
[The fable Martial Arts Panda growls.]
Originally, Hyunwoo was a support-type Incarnation who primarily used [Mana Charge] and [Mana Sharing].
His skill position had been designed to work with Pildu Gong, who used [Mana Turret] from the start.
Yet here, Hyunwoo had gained the power to change his own position.
"Kuuaaah!"
Whenever Hyunwoo's fists and kicks moved, something broke.
Crack.
It was the same strike that had grazed my mask earlier.
The bears that spotted Hyunwoo cried out.
"A bear?"
"Stop! We're the same kind!"
"I'm not a bear."
With a bamboo leaf clenched between his teeth, Hyunwoo said without a trace of amusement,
"I'm a panda."
Most of the Area 13 beastfolk were Incarnations with damaged fables.
Still, before entering the Recycling Center, they had each made a name for themselves in their own way. Yet those beastfolk couldn't withstand Hyunwoo's fists and palms, falling one after another.
Now, even with his support-related skills sealed, Hyunwoo possessed combat power comparable to top-tier Incarnations.
"Good lord, could he be that bastard?"
"That Panda is here!"
"Kill that damned fable thief!"
A fable thief?
As the enraged bears rushed Hyunwoo all at once, his hands and feet became busier.
Just then, the Companions who had noticed the commotion ran out of the Brick House.
"What are those bears?"
"No, those bastards... Hyunwoo-ssi!"
Mr. Dansu and Gyeong Sein had come out as well. Cha Yerim must have been asleep too, because she rubbed her eyes as she poked her head out the window.
Then the crane owner ran out with a shout. After quickly looking around, the crane owner seemed to grasp what was happening.
"Brown Bear! What do you think you're doing? Why would you do something like-"
The brown bear ignored the crane's words and continued trampling the houses in the south.
Gyeong Sein frowned.
"What the hell are those bears?"
"They're the bears who rule northern Area 13. They never crossed over when the Wolves were around..."
The crane owner answered, their beak trembling.
"I don't know either. Why are they suddenly doing this... I heard even the northern beastfolk had been looking favorably upon you lately."
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[65% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
In the end, the crane owner made a decision.
"All southern beastfolk, take up your weapons! Protect your homes from those northern bastards!"
"The injured, hide inside the Brick House!"
The situation was bad. At this rate, it would end with the north and south slaughtering each other.
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[64% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
We had to stop the fight.
If we couldn't, we at least had to protect the beastfolk in the south.
"If you can't fight, pretend to be dead! That will give you a chance of surviving!"
The brown bear leading the other bears had the modifier "Bear Who Spares Those Who Pretend to Be Dead."
Judging from the fables it possessed, pretending to be dead might work if they were lucky.
But that was only a temporary measure.
[Your support rate has decreased.]
[63% of the beastfolk belonging to Area 13 currently support you.]
Somehow, I had to stop this fight.
Think. Every incident in the Star Stream had a reason. There had to be a reason the bears had crossed into the south now of all times.
Then a shout from one side caught my attention.
"Kill the Panda!"
"Why is he in every fable?"
"What's so fun about chewing bamboo all day?"
"I can roll around too!"
No way.
"Got you! Kuaaaah!"
One bear took a punch to the nose from Hyunwoo and collapsed.
Hyunwoo had already brought down more than ten bear beastfolk, but the bears were still desperately clinging only to him.
The reason was obvious.
「These bears want to become pandas.」
I shouted, filling my voice with Mana.
"Everyone, stop!"
One by one, the bears surrounding Hyunwoo turned to look at me.
"I'll help your fables become famous again."
The bear beastfolk's eyes wavered at my words. It was working.
"You don't have to fight like this. If you're jealous of pandas, you can also-"
[Shu-ut u-up!]
The bears hesitated at the brown bear's constellation's declaration. After looking at one another, they bared their teeth at us again.
[Kill him! Don't spare even those who pretend to be dead!]
I couldn't understand it. Even after I had said all that, they were still charging at us?
I activated 「Persistent Martial Arts Master」 and cut down two bears rushing at me.
As the claws of the bears that had slashed at me broke apart without strength, I realized how severe the state of their fables was.
The bear beastfolk that looked so terrifying were each in immediate need of more fables.
The effects of their impoverished lives in Area 13 had accumulated until the balance of their Incarnation bodies was completely destroyed.
Even so, they charged forward without caring about their lives.
[A fable that has lost its name is breaking apart.]
Fables so old that I didn't even know if Stage Transformation was possible.
Stories whose names had disappeared, stories even the Star Stream had forgotten.
My conversation with Lycaon a few days ago crossed my mind.
【I understand what you want to do, Protector. But not everyone will be saved by you.】
At the time, I hadn't understood what that meant.
【Can you force dreams upon those who have lost their own fables forever as well, Protector?】
There were beings in this world who had lost their own fables forever.
"Kill the Panda! If we kill him, we'll get fables!"
"It's mine. That's mine!"
"Target that bastard! He has more fables than the Panda!"
"There's a Wolf over there too!"
In a world where their own stories had disappeared, there was only one thing they could do.
"Target the Brick House! Most of the newly formed fables belong to the beastfolk there!"
Steal other people's dreams.
Footnotes:
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