WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 759: Episode 32: King of the Beasts (6)

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No, wait!

I wanted to shout that at Kim Dokja Company as they surrounded me menacingly.

But this body couldn't make a proper sound.

"Should we at least get a cage?"

"Would there be one in the Dokkaebi Compendium?"

"Couldn't we ask Biyoo?"

"Should we get a leash too?"

"Is Uncle some kind of dog?"

Dangling from Junghyeok's grip, I listened to my companions' conversation. Even then, Junghyeok was glaring at me with an inscrutable look.

[This skill has encountered a temporary error.]

[You cannot deactivate Stage 3 of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint.]

The skill still wouldn't obey me. Just as the fear welled up that I would really be imprisoned and unable to go anywhere.

"All right, enough joking around."

Sangah stopped everyone as she picked me up with a gentle smile.

"Huh? We weren't really going to imprison him?"

Seolhwa, who had somehow brought over a cart with iron bars, tilted her head as she asked. Where on earth had she found something like that? No matter how I looked at it, it seemed meant for caging laboratory animals.

Sangah shook her head as though she couldn't do anything about them.

Gilyeong asked, "That little hyung isn't actually understanding us, is he?"

"He is."

At Junghyeok's answer, the others exchanged glances as they gathered around me.

"Master, is that really Uncle?"

I wanted to answer, but no sound came out.

Perhaps noticing something from my appearance, Yuseong spoke up.

"I don't think he can talk."

"How about this? He seems able to hear us, so let's have him answer with his eyes. Every time we ask something, he blinks once if we're right and twice if we're wrong. Little Uncle, you understand, right?"

It was a good idea.

"Wow, Jihye-noona. You can actually come up with ideas like that?"

As Gilyeong whimpered in a headlock, Sangah sorted out the situation.

"All right, everyone, calm down and ask your questions. Dokja-ssi might get confused, so one person at a time. Hmm, shall we start with Gilyeong?"

Gilyeong swiftly slipped free from the headlock and came over. He still looked at me suspiciously before hesitantly opening his mouth.

"Dokja-hyung... is that you?"

It was the question that mattered most to them.

Was I Kim Dokja or not?

The depth of the silence spoke for their curiosity.

I blinked.

"Once... twice... Huh? Three times?"

"So is that yes or no?"

"Maybe it means both are true?"

At Seolhwa's words, the noisy companions held their breath and looked back at me.

I blinked in agreement.

"Once! He blinked once!"

"So Seolhwa-noona was right?"

"He's Dokja-ssi, but he isn't Dokja-ssi..."

The companions pondered for a moment, seemingly accepting the meaning of those words in their own ways.

"What does that even mean? Isn't he hyung?"

"No, he is Uncle."

"Well, even this little bit of Uncle is still Uncle."

"Everyone, calm down a little... We can't ask anything like this."

It was a strange feeling. I wasn't used to there being people who showed such varied emotions over one small reaction from me.

"Something is wrong with Dokja-ssi's condition."

That was when Seolhwa, who had been watching me, suddenly approached.

Faint sparks were rising around me.

[Stage 3 of the Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is unstable.]

The fable body's state had become unstable.

It was only natural. Even Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint couldn't cross worldlines. It was something that could never be possible unless someone provided me with powerful Plausibility.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint would probably deactivate soon, and I would return to the forty-first round.

"N-No, Seolhwa-unnie. Please save Uncle!"

"He isn't dying. He'll probably return to his original world."

"Uncle, don't go back. Stay with us a little longer. Please. You were only here for such a short time."

"Yuseong."

Yuseong didn't listen despite Sangah's attempt to stop her.

Turning toward the screen, Yuseong tightly gripped my hand.

"I know there is somewhere Uncle has to return to. I know those people need Uncle. But, but we too..."

Her voice caught, and Yuseong couldn't continue.

But I heard it clearly. I was the Demon King of Salvation now, and she was my Incarnation.

「We need you too, Uncle.」

I wanted to say something, anything.

Could I convey my feelings by blinking fiercely?

No, perhaps it was fortunate that blinking was all I could do.

"Yuseong. Calm down and listen to Dokja-ssi. Seolhwa-ssi, how much time is left?"

"At most, five minutes."

"Yuseong, is there anything you want to ask Dokja-ssi?"

At those words, everyone took a step back.

Each of them looked as though they had a question, but they willingly yielded theirs for Yuseong.

As if understanding their feelings, Yuseong asked me.

"Uncle... why did you come here?"

It was a question I couldn't answer.

Sangah lightly wrapped an arm around the child's shoulders. In place of the trembling Yuseong, Sangah kindly changed the question.

"Did you miss us, by any chance?"

Yuseong, who had lowered her head deeply, looked up at me.

Perhaps that was the question Yuseong had truly wanted to ask.

I looked at the faces of Kim Dokja Company.

「Let's assume that Kim Dokja is here right now.」

Shin Yuseong, Lee Gilyeong, Yu Sangah, Lee Jihye, Lee Seolhwa, Yu Junghyeok... and even Han Suyeong, who wasn't here.

I wanted to look at their faces forever. I wanted to remember them.

As though taking a photograph, I slowly blinked.

"Ah."

Yuseong's eyes brimmed with tears. Gilyeong slowly lowered his head, while Jihye turned her head away and muttered something unintelligible. Seolhwa listened to me with a stethoscope, letting out a quiet sigh. Junghyeok still watched me with an unreadable gaze.

Sangah gave a bitter smile.

"Thank you."

I blinked twice to say that I didn't deserve those words.

Sangah's face slowly drew close.

When her breath nearly touched my ear, Sangah whispered softly enough for only me to hear.

"I know. I know you're not the Kim Dokja we remember, Dokja-ssi."

As expected, Sangah knew.

"Still, we think you're Dokja-ssi. No one can deny that."

She was someone who still called me Kim Dokja, even though I no longer knew how many percent of me remained.

Sangah's face slowly moved away. She opened her mouth in a very clear voice.

"If you're all right with it, Dokja-ssi, you can stay here."

For a moment, I thought I had misheard her.

"We'll provide the Plausibility. As you know, we're pretty strong. We all cleared the Final Scenario, after all."

Deep within my heart, turmoil stirred.

"Stay here. We'll somehow take care of the forty-first round."

What would happen if I really stayed here?

If I could resolve the forty-first round with their help, just as Sangah said.

"That's right, Uncle. We can help you! I can use Possession! Lee Gilyeong won't be much help either, but if he connects as a Constellation..."

"If you want it, Uncle, I'll go fight in your place."

Their fable was speaking to me.

[The fable Kim Dokja Company begins its story.]

As the story began, I could vividly feel the pure white spacing between the lines that supported the text.

The depths of Kim Dokja Company, which they never showed anyone else.

Once again, I realized what they had lost to make it this far.

Many members of Kim Dokja Company were not here.

Even so, they didn't blame me.

They were only saying it was enough if I remained on the space between the lines they had created.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name frowns.]

What was so important about writing "my story"?

Perhaps Han Suyeong was wrong. Perhaps someone like me had no right to write about the forty-first round.

More than anything, the forty-first round was an officially "ended" story. No matter how much I struggled, it was a story whose ending I couldn't change.

Perhaps staying here was a better choice than wasting time on something so futile.

For the people comforted simply by my existence, to spend the rest of my life...

「"Where is that bastard's carriage?"」

When I raised my head, a video was playing across the screen.

「"Find that bastard's carriage."」

The Yu Junghyeok of the forty-first round was speaking.

「"We absolutely need him if we're to see the end of the Recycling Center."」

What would happen to that Junghyeok's ending if I gave up here?

"Uncle?"

Even while I was here, the Yu Junghyeok of the forty-first round was fighting. He was running toward the end of an ephemeral story that would ultimately fail.

[The fable Heir to an Eternal Name grins.]

Watching that Junghyeok, I finally understood Dokja.

[Your synchronization rate with your Patron has greatly increased.]

I understood Dokja, who hadn't remained in the 1,863rd round. I understood his return, when he had ultimately gone back to his own world.

"What? Uncle, please stay here with us. You'll stay, right? Right?"

I met the child's eyes.

But I couldn't see anything. Yuseong's small hand was covering my eyes.

"No. Don't answer."

The hand that created pitch-black darkness was trembling.

Beyond that darkness, I heard Junghyeok's voice.

"Listen carefully, Kim Dokja."

Junghyeok spoke in a voice without the slightest trace of hesitation.

"No matter what kind of story you want, we will also make the ending we want. And you can't stop us."

Through the child's fingers, I saw Junghyeok's back as he turned away.

I had heard that he fought Odin.

Perhaps he was the one who had protected the Demon King of Salvation and me beyond the Void Curtain.

"Dokja-ssi."

Crackle.

Sparks flew, and the world around me shook. The sensation that had warmly embraced me was fading away.

[The signal from Stage 3 of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is weakening.]

At last, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint was about to deactivate.

Yuseong burst into tears again, and Gilyeong turned his back. Jihye stepped forward and tightly gripped my arm.

Sangah spoke.

"Thank you for coming."

As I listened to Sangah's fading voice, I thought about Dokja.

"We're all right. So you too, Dokja-ssi, must survive until the very end."

But Kim Dokja was gone. The only one here was I, the proxy of the Demon King of Salvation, blinking helplessly.

With the voices of the others, the world around me swirled.

Kim Dokja Company's world was growing distant.

Once again, I became certain.

「More than anyone, Dokja must have wanted to return to his companions.」

Then why hadn't he come here?

Why had he left the people he loved most?

Then, amid my fading consciousness, I heard a voice.

【Do you truly wish to know?】

I knew instinctively.

【Even if that truth could destroy you forever?】

I knew the owner of this voice.

Footnotes:

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