WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 756: Episode 32: King of the Beasts (3)

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Cloud Path scenery flowed past the window.

Kim Dokja must have seen this same view once. What had he thought as he traveled this road?

I didn't know.

Back then, Dokja had been riding with Dionysus's symbolic form.

Maybe he had been too busy wondering whether the wine in Dionysus's cup was real to think about anything else.

Neither of them asked why I had Dokja's face.

Just as Dokja hadn't pressed Dionysus on whether the wine in his cup was actually his urine.

All I could hear were the squeaks of the mice running along Cloud Path and the soft sound of the wind. When I quietly looked away from the window, I met Chae Yerin's eyes.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"I'm fine."

"But that's Kim Dokja's face."

She must have recognized it immediately because it resembled Dokja on the original novel's cover.

"Yes. It is Dokja's face."

It felt like a stupid conversation, but there was nothing else I could say. I really did have Dokja's face.

"He's more handsome than I expected."

"Pardon?"

"Oppa's assumption was right."

"Kil... What did Seongwu-ssi say?"

"Kim Dokja isn't 'ugly.' He's 'not well-formed.'"

I remembered the nickname Dokja had gained later.

"The Least Well-Formed King."

Come to think of it, Kim Dokja's first modifier hadn't been "Demon King of Salvation." It had been "The Least Well-Formed King (Temporary)."

Ji Eunyoo, who had been listening nearby, asked, "What does that mean?"

"Ugly just means ugly, but 'not well-formed' means he stopped forming halfway through."

"Ah."

It was quite a delicate difference.

Of course, as the person who had written that expression, whether it had really held any particular intention...

As if she had read my thoughts, Eunyoo answered.

"But I don't think that had any special inten..."

"What are you talking about, Editor? Everything was perfectly intentional. Above all, Kim Dokja's external recognition was blocked by [The Fourth Wall]! Other people couldn't properly see Kim Dokja's face!"

After hearing my explanation, Chae Yerin nodded in admiration.

"But even with [The Fourth Wall], I can see Author's face clearly."

"That's because my [The Fourth Wall]..."

I stopped there.

Right now, I was the representative of the Demon King of Salvation.

It wouldn't have been strange at all for [The Fourth Wall] to be active.

"Open, Fourth Wall."

[The Fourth Wall] gave no response to my command.

Eunyoo asked suspiciously, "Does it open if you do that?"

"I was just trying it. You can see my face clearly right now, correct?"

"Yes. What about you, Yerin?"

"I can see it clearly."

Did that mean [The Fourth Wall] wasn't functioning properly?

[The Attributes Window cannot be activated due to a current system error.]

Yet I still couldn't see my Attributes Window.

Eunyoo, who had been studying my face, continued.

"Yerin said Author looks like Kim Dokja right now, correct?"

"Yes."

"That is a little strange. Author doesn't look like that to me."

I asked, wondering what she meant.

"Then what do I look like?"

"You just look like Author's original face."

"My face?"

"I'm not completely sure, but I think so. Didn't you always look somewhat like this? Your hairstyle is very different, though..."

A question suddenly came to me.

「What did I originally look like?」

Had it been too long since I possessed this body? Even as I looked at my reflection in the window and touched that face, I couldn't remember what my old face looked like.

It felt as though this had always been my face.

The fact that I felt no discomfort at all frightened me for a moment.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name looks at you.]

I couldn't tell the two of them.

The fable I possessed devoured Kim Dokja Fragments. And the more fragments it devoured, the more I came to resemble Kim Dokja.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name greedily opens its eyes.]

Even now, my fable was coveting the two people before me.

「If you lay a hand on them, I will never tell your story again.」

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name frowns and retreats.]

Fortunately, the fable quickly quieted down.

However, someone had witnessed the brief struggle between me and the fable.

[I never thought there would be someone in this universe who resembled us.]

It was Mihu King. He delivered his constellation's declaration through Telepathy so the other two couldn't hear.

[When one being becomes many, problems arise. Keep your wits about you, if you don't want A Single Fable to devour you.]

A Single Fable.

I hadn't expected to hear that story here, so I looked sharply at him. However, Mihu King seemed to have no intention of saying more. Hiding his bored expression, he yawned repeatedly.

[I'm sleepy. Wake me when we arrive.]

Mihu King soon fell asleep in Eunyoo's arms, breathing softly.

The moment he fell asleep, a small display appeared above the carriage window.

[Welcome aboard the Orient Express Carriage.]

I had thought it was merely a golden carriage, but its interior facilities were cutting-edge. I should have realized it when I saw the Fable Fragment Fingerprint Recognition attached to it.

The carriage racing along Cloud Path suddenly lurched.

[Soon, this carriage will switch to manual operation.]

What? All of a sudden?

As soon as the message ended, a controller appeared in the air. It was exactly the kind of controller people used to play games.

[Participants in the Twelve Zodiac Ball must use the controller to drive the carriage themselves.]

[The destination will be displayed on the panel.]

[On the way to the destination, you may attack other carriages or be attacked by them.]

[The passengers of the carriage that reaches the destination first will receive a special prize.]

At the same time, a massive panel appeared before us. A dot marking our carriage's position was displayed on it.

There were other moving dots nearby that appeared to be carriages.

Killer King or Uncle Dansu might be riding in one of them.

[Manual driving will begin in 30 seconds.]

Thirty seconds. There wasn't much time.

I hurriedly turned to Eunyoo.

"Editor."

"Yes. You want us to knock you out, right?"

How had she known? Eunyoo was already taking a large hammer from her pocket.

Chae Yerin also struck her Iron Fist-clad hands together.

Bang! Bang!

"If it's knocking someone out, I'm good at that too."

I looked at them for a moment before answering.

"I'll knock myself out."

Fortunately, this wasn't Area 13.

"I will be unconscious for the next 30 seconds."

Because skills could be freely used from now on.

[This Area permits the use of skills.]

[Exclusive Skill, Incitement Level 10 has activated!]

[Your understanding of the Fable Fragment Incitement is extremely high.]

[Fable Fragment Incitement greatly affects the proficiency of the skill Incitement.]

As my consciousness began to dim, I activated [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint].

[Exclusive Skill, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Level 2 has activated!]

Let's see.

Should I check on Yu Junghyeok first?

When I thought of the young Junghyeok from the 41st round, the inside of another carriage appeared before me.

「"That bastard must be riding a carriage too."」

The activation condition for the skill had been fulfilled. It seemed he had thought of me at just the right time.

And the one riding with Junghyeok was...

「"By that bastard, do you mean Kim Dokja?"」

Damn it. Why did it have to be Killer King?

The young Junghyeok and Killer King were seated across from each other in the carriage, glaring.

「"Why do you call Kim Dokja 'that bastard'?"」

「"I call him that because I want to."」

「"Only close friends use such a term. You and Kim Dokja aren't close. If anything, I'm closer to him."」

「"You don't look particularly close either."」

The two growled at each other as if they were about to fight, then saw the controller appear in midair and spoke at the same time.

「"I'll do it."」

I immediately changed the view.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried, but after thinking about it, I decided they would be fine as a team.

Junghyeok's Attribute was Pro Gamer, and Killer King also had a talent for games.

The problem was the other team.

「"Aaaaah! Dokja-ssi, what do we do? What do we do?"」

The melodramatic Gyeong Sein was already shouting my name.

Then Uncle Dansu's dignified face appeared before me.

As expected, Gyeong Sein and Uncle Dansu were on the same team.

I used [Group Chat] to speak to them.

―Do either of you play games?

Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Sein looked up into the air at the same time.

「"Woooow! Is Dokja-ssi talking right now? Is this [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint]?"」

―Yes. We don't have time, so tell me quickly.

「"Ahem, I've had no talent for games since I was young..."」

「"I like games, but I'm not good at controls... My friends never let me join them either..."」

Damn it. I had thought that might be the case.

Several other carriages were approaching the one they were riding in. No matter how I looked at it, they didn't seem to have good intentions.

―Be careful!

The windows of the carriages running alongside them opened, and a shower of sharp shuriken flew in.

「"Aaaah!"」

Scrrrape.

The shuriken scraped against the carriage. At a glance, they were attacks imbued with powerful Mana.

[The carriage's durability has decreased!]

I couldn't leave them like this.

[10 seconds of unconsciousness remain.]

I made a quick decision.

「I will be unconscious for one more minute.」

[Exclusive Skill, Incitement Level 10 has activated!]

[The unconscious duration has been extended!]

[The usage time of Exclusive Skill, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Level 2 has been extended!]

―Grab the controller! Quickly!

Gyeong Sein gripped the controller and tried to accelerate. The distance between the carriages didn't widen. Instead, the other carriages naturally surrounded us as though to toy with us.

When shuriken from both sides scraped the carriage wheels, the carriage shook as if it would flip over at any moment.

Gyeong Sein and Uncle Dansu screamed.

Then pale smoke began to rise from the front of the carriage.

[Warning! The carriage's durability is below 20%!]

As the carriage slowed down, the other carriages passed us mockingly. Fortunately, they didn't seem to intend to finish us off.

Still, those carriages were strangely fast...

[The Constellation Rabbit Without a Liver grins.]

[The fable Running Rabbit begins its story.]

[That carriage receives an acceleration bonus from the fable.]

Damn it. Was that carriage carrying an Incarnation from Rabbit's side?

The other nearby carriages also passed theirs.

[Warning. The Incarnations of the carriage that arrives at the destination last will not be permitted to enter the Twelve Zodiac Ball.]

Gyeong Sein and Uncle Dansu's expressions hardened at the message.

[All passengers of any carriage that fails to reach the destination will die.]

That was the rule of this game.

A game in which any Incarnation that failed to reach the destination was bound to die.

That was the Orient Express Carriage.

At this rate, Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Sein's carriage would likely come in last.

I spoke urgently.

―Uncle. Use your fable.

「"My fable..."」

―Have you forgotten what animal mask you were wearing?

Uncle Dansu's eyes widened.

He had finally realized.

An animal that ran slowly but steadily.

And an animal that, at least, wouldn't lose to a rabbit.

―You might lose to other Twelve Zodiacs, but you will never lose to a rabbit.

「"But will the Stage Transformation activate properly?"」

―Of course. Because...

The conditions for this story's Stage Transformation had just been fulfilled.

[Fable Fragment Tortoise Incubating Another's Eggs begins its story.]

[Fable Fragment Tortoise Incubating Another's Eggs encounters the fable Running Rabbit.]

[The fable Tortoise and Hare begins its story.]

Along with the unfolding scenery of the Stage Transformation, the carriage's durability gauge gradually began to rise.

[The fable Tortoise and Hare repairs the Orient Express Carriage.]

The carriage's speed was also gradually increasing.

The carriage advanced steadily at an honest, regular pace.

Before long, the carriages that had passed them came into view.

「"I-It worked! We're really catching up!"」

Good. If they could just drive well now, that carriage would reach the destination without issue.

「"Hm."」

The sudden voice belonged to neither Uncle Dansu nor Gyeong Sein.

Had I focused too much on the situation outside? I hadn't noticed there was another passenger in the carriage.

When I looked closely, I recognized him.

「"You."」

Flying Fox, Wang Weirong.

「"You've already become able to use the Oldest Dream's power."」

He spoke as if he could see me floating in midair.

「"But you shouldn't abuse that power."」

How had Flying Fox noticed I was here?

Without a word, he pointed behind me.

「"Dokja-ssi."」

Someone's voice came from far away behind me.

It was a voice that felt as though it placed a heavy weight on my heart.

Right. [Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint] was that kind of skill.

It was...

「"Dokja hyung."」

A curse.

「"Uncle."」

They were calling me.

Flying Fox smiled as if to say he had told me so.

「"You still can't become a 'Recorder.' With so many voices holding you back, how can you write what comes next in this world?"」

Even after hearing that, I had no choice but to turn around.

Right now, I was the Demon King of Salvation.

I was the Constellation who loved stories more than anyone in this world.

「"Kim Dokja."」

The moment I turned around, the scenery of the story changed once more.

Footnotes:

The distinction between “ugly” and “not well-formed” is a Korean spacing pun. Written one way, the phrase means ugly. When split, it means someone did not properly come into being.

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