WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 761: Episode 32: King of the Beasts (8)

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Unemployed Yu Junghyeok?

I stared blankly at the list of characters in Bookmark. A memory slowly surfaced.

「"I'm neither unemployed nor a bum."」

Somehow, I thought I knew what kind of Junghyeok this was.

Then there was no need to hesitate.

[The character King of the Beasts Yu Junghyeok has been registered in Bookmark 1.]

I didn't know which meaning of "baeksu" that baeksu referred to, but...

"I'll activate Bookmark 1, ‘Unemployed Yu Junghyeok.’"

Whatever kind of bum he was, no one in this world could be better at games than that guy.

"What did you just say?"

"Please pretend you didn't hear it."

I shrugged at Chae Yerin's question and focused ahead.

[The activation duration is determined in proportion to the level of the Bookmark skill.]

[Your understanding of this character is extremely low.]

[The activation duration of the Bookmark skill has been partially adjusted according to your Exclusive Attribute.]

[Activation duration: 10 minutes]

...

[Your physical makeup differs from that character's.]

[Warning! That character's Status is abnormally high!]

[The level of the activated skill has been forcibly adjusted.]

[You cannot choose which skill to activate.]

Unfortunately, I couldn't choose which skill would activate. Still, if I was right, the skill activated through [Bookmark] would be that character's main skill.

If the target had been "Supreme King Yu Junghyeok," [Sky Splitter Sword Art] would have activated. But the one I understood was "Unemployed Yu Junghyeok."

As I remembered, Junghyeok hadn't spent his entire period of unemployment practicing only the sword.

So...

[The Exclusive Skill Sky Gazing Lv. 10 has been activated.]

[You can now see the stars in the sky more clearly than anyone else.]

I stared blankly at the messages.

Was this for real?

"Our speed is dropping."

"I know. Don't worry."

I never thought a skill like this would come up.

It couldn't be helped. I had no choice but to use the next best option.

[The Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv. 10 has been activated.]

"I am ‘Unemployed Yu Junghyeok,’ who's good at games."

Chae Yerin looked at me as if she were looking at Killer King. I deliberately avoided her gaze and concentrated on the skill's effect.

Unlike Bookmark, [Incitement] couldn't activate a specific skill with precision.

However, this skill had the advantage of letting me imitate some of that person's Attributes.

[Your understanding of the Exclusive Skill Bookmark affects the activation of Incitement.]

[The Attribute of Bookmark 1, Unemployed Yu Junghyeok, has been activated.]

I had a conscience, too.

I wasn't even hoping for Master of Play. So please...

[The Exclusive Attribute Pro Gamer has been activated.]

Right. This was it!

[All forms of gaming ability have greatly improved due to the effect of your Exclusive Attribute.]

My vision suddenly opened up.

I could immediately see where I needed to drive across the terrain. Corner here. Straight path there. Incredible. Was this how Pro Gamer Junghyeok saw the world?

[Your Exclusive Attribute has discovered this stage's Hidden Piece.]

[You have discovered the stage's acceleration zone.]

When I entered the acceleration zone at exactly the right moment, the carriage began to race at an absurd speed. It was hard to believe it was even the same carriage.

Chae Yerin's mouth fell open as the scenery flew past us.

Before long, the convoy ahead came into view. Our Allies were among the carriages at the rear.

"Kim Dokja!"

Killer King and Junghyeok's carriage.

"Dokja! Over here! Hurry!"

Beside them was Uncle Dansu and Gyeong Sein's carriage, running alongside the others.

I barely managed a sigh of relief. At this rate, we could at least avoid coming in last.

Just a little farther. Just a little more...

[The Constellation One Who Brought Ten Sheep worries about your safety!]

[The Constellation Reclining Dragon warns you to run away quickly!]

That was when strange messages appeared in the air.

[The Constellation Plague-Calling Rat opens its eyes wide!]

[The Constellation Rice Cake-Eating Tiger is greatly surprised!]

[The Constellation Rabbit Without a Liver rubs the place where its liver used to be!]

[Many Constellations doubt the Plausibility of this event.]

[Some Constellations feel fear.]

I had a bad feeling. The Constellations were expressing fear?

Crackle.

Faint sparks flew from the arm controlling the carriage.

Traces of a Plausibility Backlash.

Why? Why had Plausibility suddenly gone wrong? Was it because I had summoned "Unemployed Yu Junghyeok" with [Bookmark]? Or...

[Someone has violated an important Plausibility of <Star Stream>.]

Thump.

My heart seemed to drop.

[<Star Stream> has detected your fable.]

[You have temporarily experienced another worldline.]

[You have not completed the Returnee Scenario.]

[The Plausibility of <Star Stream> is moving.]

[For the next 10 minutes, the edge of the other world will expand.]

Lightning struck from the sky, and the carriages at the rear were destroyed with a deafening crash.

Something was chasing us through the thick cloud of dust.

"Ah."

A faint fear entered Chae Yerin's voice. It wasn't hard to realize what she feared.

Behind the carriage, pitch-black dogs could be seen amid the dark dust cloud. Just meeting their eyes made it feel as if my soul would freeze.

[The Hound Chasing the Abyss has found you.]

Hounds Chasing the Abyss.

Watchdogs that killed Outer Gods who damaged the balance of worldlines and destroyed Plausibility.

This time, those hounds were pursuing me. The reason was obvious.

「Because I had met Kim Dokja Company.」

I bit down hard on my lip before admitting the truth.

"I'm sorry. I think this is probably because of me."

"Why are they after you, Writer..."

"I'll explain later."

I gripped the controller with all my strength and kept accelerating somehow.

But it was useless. This wasn't something I could overcome with an Attribute's power alone. The distance between us and the dogs was closing in an instant.

At this rate, we'd be caught soon.

"Yerin."

Even if I handed the controller to Chae Yerin, I had to stop the dogs.

[Your Exclusive Attribute has been activated.]

I tried to recall how to deal with Hounds Chasing the Abyss.

However, neither TWSA nor ORV had a single page explaining how to fight those hounds.

Of course they didn't.

Even Junghyeok, who had reached the end of the Scenarios, had avoided them.

There weren't as many of them as there had been then. Only five or six at most.

Still, even one of those dogs was too much for me now.

"I suppose I'll have to handle this myself..."

At that moment, one of the dogs that had closed in leaped onto the roof of the carriage. The instant I met the hound's eyes, I realized it.

I couldn't fight this.

This "hound" wasn't a being. It was a phenomenon.

Like the disaster known as Indescribable Distance.

With my current Status, there was nothing I could do to shake off their pursuit.

[So that's why it suddenly got so noisy.]

The charging hound was knocked away in a blaze of sparks.

I reflexively turned around.

[I told you to wake me when we reached the destination, but you just left me behind.]

A golden monkey stood on the torn carriage roof, looking bored.

"Mihu King!"

Mihu King took something like a toothpick from his ear and blew on it.

Whoosh.

His primary constellation artifact appeared.

Ruyi Jingu Bang?

No. That was somehow different.

It had the same form as Great Sage Equaling Heaven's Ruyi Staff, but it was a constellation artifact with a different name. Just as the sword made from Yamata no Orochi's tail, Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi, had been divided into as many different swords as the number in Yamata no Orochi's name, Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang was the same.

[You recognize the Heavenly River Bottom-Stabilizing Divine Iron, do you?]

Heavenly River Bottom-Stabilizing Divine Iron.

That was Ruyi Jingu Bang's original name.

A tool once used to measure the depths of all rivers and seas.

The "weight of the sea" stored in East Sea Dragon King Ao Guang's warehouse.

Mihu King swung that divine artifact around and spoke.

[I don't know why the dogs from the other world are chasing you, but...]

His gaze briefly settled on Ji Eunyoo, who was collapsed inside the carriage.

[Take care of that child.]

Mihu King floated into the air as his golden fur scattered around him. When his figure brushed past me, a chill ran down my spine.

He faced the stars of the Twelve Zodiacs and shouted.

[Foolish beasts.]

As far as I knew, the Twelve Zodiacs officially had no leader. That was because none of them had claimed to be one.

[A hound is still only a dog. It is a beast like you. What are you so afraid of?]

But the instant I saw him, I understood.

[All Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs tremble.]

The reason the Twelve Zodiacs had no official leader was because every member had silently agreed on who the nebula's leader was.

[Measuring rod of the sea.]

He was the king of all beasts.

[I permit you to reveal your true form.]

A troublemaker of the heavenly realm whom none of the Emperor could dare oppose.

The Monkey King of Flower Fruit Mountain.

[The Scale of Plausibility is moving.]

Mihu King, whose Status had risen enough to confront Hounds Chasing the Abyss, roared toward the sky.

In an instant, the Divine Iron expanded. It grew hundreds, thousands, then several kilometres in length. It no longer looked like a staff at all.

Was it because of the Divine Iron's volume expanding in real time? The hounds had already been pushed far into the distance.

[Go. I can't buy you much time.]

Faint sparks swept across Mihu King's entire body.

[Damn it, if only I hadn't given that Great Sage bastard my hair...]

I bowed my head to him before accelerating at once.

Mihu King was a fabled-grade Constellation. No matter how vicious the hounds were, he wouldn't die easily here.

I drove and drove. I had to make precious use of the little time Mihu King had bought us.

How long had we been racing like that?

Smoke rose from the carriage wheels before they came to a stop.

The destination was now close. In the distance, a massive fortress revealed itself.

Chae Yerin and I exchanged a look, then began running with Eunyoo on my back.

Before long, we reached the fortress entrance.

[You have arrived at your destination.]

Success. We weren't late.

Fortunately, the others were waiting for me at the entrance, including Junghyeok, Killer King, Uncle Dansu, and Gyeong Sein.

"You made it."

I nodded and passed them. The distant explosions were getting closer.

We couldn't be certain of our safety until we got inside.

A low-grade dokkaebi serving as a gatekeeper guarded the entrance.

[Prove your right of entry.]

"I am Kim Dokja from Area 13. Let my faction in."

But the dokkaebi only frowned as if it found this troublesome.

[The Incarnation you are carrying may enter.]

I glanced back at Eunyoo on my back. She was still unconscious.

[She belongs to the Monkey Faction. However, you do not belong to any faction. Prove your affiliation.]

"I told you I belonged to Area 13."

[We have not heard that an Incarnation from Area 13 had come up...]

As I slowly raised my Status, the low-grade dokkaebi's expression changed when it sensed the aura of a Constellation from me.

[A-Are you a Constellation? But Area 13 is not an official faction. If you wish to enter...]

The low-grade dokkaebi hesitated briefly before speaking.

[Choose the name of the faction you belong to.]

I looked at my Allies.

Junghyeok stood at the very rear, guarding the group with his back turned as if he didn't care about a name.

"We don't have time. Decide quickly."

Grateful for his consideration, I looked at Killer King, Literary Girl 64, Lee Dansu, and Gyeong Sein.

Then I thought of their real names.

Chae Seongwoo. Chae Yerin. Noh Gyeonghwan. Seong Minwoo.

Perhaps we had all thought of the same name in that moment. The one name that bound together all of us who had written, read, and lived through that long story.

The others nodded, and I opened my mouth.

"Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint."

The fortress gates slowly opened.

[You have reached the upper levels of the Recycling Center.]

Constellations were waiting for us.

Footnotes:

"Baeksu" can mean an unemployed person, while the Hanja form 百獸 means "all beasts." The chapter's joke hinges on this homophone.

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