WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 748: Episode 30: Twelve Zodiacs (10)

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I grabbed my staggering Allies by the shoulders and shook them.

"Get a grip, everyone! Don't let it consume you!"

The light was slowly returning to their eyes, but it was too slow. Even if they overcame "Tiger Plague," the Changgwi would get them.

There was only one option, then.

Accelerating sharply with [Way of the Wind], I kicked off the air and charged at Rice Cake-Eating Tiger.

As powerful as "Tiger Plague" was, its holder couldn't take any action while it was active.

[The ability of the fable Successor of the Eternal Name has activated!]

In other words, I could land a proper blow on him now.

[The Fable Fragment Right Arm of the Swordmaster Betrayed by a Companion has snapped its eyes open!]

The Fable Fragment used by the Demon King of Salvation.

The very fragment that had slaughtered dozens of Historical Constellations in demigod Descent shone from my right hand.

[Way of the Wind], wrapped around Unbreakable Faith, whipped up another gale.

A sword strike exploded, leaving behind a pure-white streak of light.

Rice Cake-Eating Tiger caught my attack with his front paw.

[Useless.]

I bit down hard on my lip.

Kim Dokja's Fable Fragment wasn't this weak.

How should I read it?

How could I "re-read" it and fight like him?

Just because I had written the story and put down its sentences didn't mean I understood that world completely.

Some understanding was born through the reader.

I needed Kim Dokja's help.

"You always try to play the protagonist."

Killer King flew in from behind on [Way of the Wind] and fired their crossbow in rapid succession.

At last, my Allies had overcome "Tiger Plague" and joined me.

"Aaaaaah! Take this! Turtle Crusher!"

Gyeong Sein leaped like a flying squirrel, then grabbed Uncle Dansu and threw him through the air with all their strength. Uncle Dansu curled tightly into a ball like a turtle and spun toward the tiger like a top. The heavy blow slammed into the tiger's abdomen, opening a brief gap for [Way of the Wind] to slip through.

[The Fable Fragment Way of the Wind resonates!]

[The fable Way of the Wind begins its story!]

The moment the path opened, the fables that had hesitated began their stories.

[The fable Fox, Crane, and Wolf - Sometimes Panda begins its story.]

The fable we had repaired.

Its contents had changed, and the fable spreading across the Star Stream once more was finally gaining strength.

The plates and gourd bottles used by the fox and crane rained down from the sky like bombs.

Rice Cake-Eating Tiger cried out in alarm.

[How dare you...!]

A flock of swallows then swooped down from the sky and dropped gourd seeds all at once.

[The fable Panda Who Witnessed a Swallow Bringing a Gourd Seed begins its story.]

Rice Cake-Eating Tiger stepped on a gourd seed and swayed. Ye Hyunwoo and Cha Yerim didn't miss the chance, striking the backs of his knees. His huge body slowly lost its balance and toppled backward.

"Now!"

But these fables couldn't undergo Stage Transformation through our power alone.

"Anyone who brings me a Changgwi's head gets free soup!"

Since when had this been happening?

The crane innkeeper was swinging a frying pan and smashing Changgwi over the head.

The Goose That Lays Golden Eggs plopped golden eggs onto the Changgwi's heads, while the swallows dropped gourd seeds and pecked at the Changgwi all at once.

They weren't the only ones.

"Aaaaaah!"

The beast people of Area 13, who had entrusted their fables to us, rose up like a wildfire.

Beast people with neither weapons nor suitable fables.

Even so, they didn't retreat and fought back.

Those without weapons threw soup-filled plates and gourd bottles they had taken from the inn.

[The Constellation Bear Who Lets You Live If You Pretend to Be Dead is flustered by the beast people's response.]

Only the bears had their heads buried in the ground, unable to do anything.

Thud.

Something fell onto Rice Cake-Eating Tiger's head.

"Kahahahat! Look at that bastard!"

The beast people burst into laughter at Rice Cake-Eating Tiger, who had hot soup dumped over his head.

"That tiger bastard looks ridiculous!"

As if they had never feared the Twelve Zodiacs, the beast people of Area 13 shouted bravely.

"Changgwi, go back to your graves!"

What had moved them?

"The Three Little Pigs," "Swallow That Brought a Gourd Seed," "Goose That Lays Golden Eggs"...

Maybe all those fables had piled up like snow and finally bloomed into a small bit of courage.

[The fables of Area 13 resonate with you!]

[Your budding fable has evolved!]

One thing was certain. The fables of the beast people, once broken, had awakened once more.

[The fable Tiger Plague cowers.]

The humble stories they had built together were driving away a massive fear.

Stories could be forgotten, but they never disappeared.

They weren't Great Fables or Mythical fables, but there were fables that had supported their everyday lives.

At last, Area 13's history was being "re-read."

"He's down!"

"Cut off his head!"

The beast people of Area 13 began rushing toward Rice Cake-Eating Tiger's head.

"Wait! Stop!"

But that was a mistake.

[The fable The Sleeping Tiger's Whisker begins its story!]

A few beast people touched the tiger's whiskers.

Rice Cake-Eating Tiger rose with a mighty roar and exhaled hot breath.

The nearby beast people melted in the scorching gust that swept over them with a horrible stench.

[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger is enraged!]

A fierce aftershock began raging around Rice Cake-Eating Tiger.

Looking closely, something like a shining jewel was embedded in his back. I immediately recognized what it was. That was why Rice Cake-Eating Tiger, a Historical Constellation, had been unnaturally strong.

「It was because he had killed another 'reader.'」

Oooooooh!

Some beast people, frightened by the tiger's momentum, ran away in terror.

We didn't retreat.

There was nowhere to retreat to anyway.

[The Scale of Plausibility has moved!]

Power great enough to tip the Scale of Plausibility. And there was no one here who could help us.

[The Constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon frowns at a mere Historical Constellation acting so arrogantly.]

[The Constellation Reclining Dragon waits for your strategy.]

[The Constellation One Who Brought Ten Lambs attempts to intervene in the Scenario!]

[That Constellation's intervention in the Scenario has been restricted due to the Recycling Center's contract.]

The evaluators officially couldn't intervene in our Scenario. That was a condition of their viewing.

Nor would the other Twelve Zodiacs help us.

[The Constellation Rabbit Without a Liver tells them to hurry up and crush you!]

[The Constellation Plague-Calling Rat cheers.]

[A few Constellations of the nebula Twelve Zodiacs watch your end.]

[Some Constellations of the nebula Twelve Zodiacs say it is time to restore order to Area 13.]

I looked up at the sky.

There truly were no Constellations in this world who would help us.

As if I were drawing in the night sky, I slowly took several deep breaths. When the deep night air filled my lungs, I felt my mind gradually wake up.

"Kim Dokja!"

Killer King and my Allies stood around me, covering me.

Their bodies were already covered in large and small wounds. All of them had been inflicted by Rice Cake-Eating Tiger and the Changgwi.

"This is too much. Those Changgwi bastards keep coming without end."

As the tiger's fables grew stronger, the Changgwi ran even wilder. The battle grew worse as even the beast people who had just died began to rise as Changgwi. Their pained screams filled the night.

[The fable One Who Calls Changgwi continues its story.]

I knew. If we kept fighting like this, we would lose.

"It's all right."

It would be the same even if we killed every Changgwi.

We couldn't fight Rice Cake-Eating Tiger now that he had begun using the power of his true body. No matter how many fables we had accumulated, it was impossible.

But there was someone who could do it.

"It's midnight now."

When I raised my head, the stars in the night sky began shining brightly.

There was a reason the day began at midnight.

It was the time when every sleeping star woke up.

Watching the bright stars turn their attention toward the ground, I realized it once again.

There were many reasons we read stories. To reach the truth, to empathize with someone, to experience an unknown world, or...

To survive.

We read.

We experience this world through its characters, live their lives, and feel their emotions.

But we know.

No matter how deeply we immerse ourselves, even if we see the world through Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, we can never become the protagonist of that world.

We still don't know how someone who fights harder than anyone to survive feels.

"Ah."

Cha Yerim let out a soft groan and turned their head. The other Allies looked in the same direction at the same time.

Within the darkness of the night stood a man who had endured this world's nights longer than anyone.

A shabby cloak fluttered in place of the black coat that had symbolized him, but it couldn't hide the distinctive aura he gave off.

"Move."

A cold voice flowed from between the shadows.

"I'll deal with him from here."

Because they knew who he was, no one could resist those words. At the same time, because they knew who he was, my Allies had no choice but to look at me.

"Is that really okay? He's still a boy! And you said he lost all his memories!"

"It's all right. Because..."

I grinned as I watched the man walk through the night.

"Exactly ten days have passed as of today."

Yu Junghyeok's face brightened under the starlight. The youthful expression of a boy was no longer on his face.

At last, the side-effect period of Junghyeok's Fable Engraving had ended, and he had returned to an adult body.

Even so, my Allies still looked uneasy.

"But even if it's Junghyeok..."

"It'll be all right. Let's trust him."

If this had been an ordinary forty-first round, I would've thought the same as my Allies.

But this "forty-first round" wasn't an ordinary "forty-first round."

The Junghyeok here was a Transcendent who had driven Great Nebulae into ruin in the fortieth round.

He was the insane monster who had hammered three Fable Engravings into his body at the very start of the forty-first round and torn apart a marquis-rank demon with a single stroke.

As if to prove it, Junghyeok met Rice Cake-Eating Tiger's gaze head-on and walked forward without hesitation.

A stride filled with absolute dominance, showing neither fear nor terror.

More than ten Changgwi, rushing at him without knowing better, attacked from behind. They scattered like starlight before they could even approach him.

"Tiger of the Twelve Zodiacs."

Junghyeok's eyes looked indifferently upward. His gaze was as though he were looking at a low mountain. Despite the tiger's towering height, his voice held no emotion.

"Killing you..."

The Four-Tiger Evil-Cutting Sword I had given him emitted a distant light from his hand.

"This is the third time."

Footnotes:

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