WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 762: Episode 33: The Ball (1)

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「“Have you ever wondered why stars go out of their way to shine?”」

―Mass Production Maker

* * *

A hand holding a pen appeared over the empty void. After hesitating for a moment, it wrote invisible, jet-black letters in the blankness of space.

【The hounds are moving.】

The letters were so black, they seemed to absorb all surrounding light.

The hand wrote again.

【Because of what you did, the ‘Recorders’ from every worldline have begun taking notice of this worldline.】

Another hand appeared over the void. It was long and white. It, too, held a pen and wrote.

【It was something we did together.】

【That is...】

【Did you not help as well, Flying Fox? Were you not curious about the story ‘after that,’ too? Is that not why you brought the universe of Kim Dokja Company to meet ‘him’?】

Flying Fox did not reply.

His hand seemed to tremble with excitement, or perhaps with fear.

After a while, the calmed hand began writing again.

【The ‘First and Final Record’ will begin once more. You know what that means.】

The owner of the long white hand was silent for a moment.

Far away in the universe, ignorant stars, unable to read or illuminate the writing, shimmered.

【Doesn't that make you even more curious?】

As if enjoying that ignorance, the owner of the long hand wrote.

【Who will be the ‘Recorder’ to write this universe's final sentence?】

* * *

[The Hounds' presence has disappeared.]

I had been anxiously waiting just in case, so this was a huge relief.

The Hounds were Outer Gods, too. Perhaps they couldn't pursue us into a core Scenario area without permission.

"We survived."

"That really wasn't easy."

As we bantered with the others, we opened the fortress door and stepped inside. A long corridor lay before us.

Paintings in elaborate frames hung along its walls.

"Whoa, they're moving?"

Looking closer, I saw they were all paintings made from Fable Fragments.

A tiger yawning as it ate rice cakes. A pig building a brick house. A rabbit protecting its liver. A rat winning first place in a race. They were all famous animals of the Twelve Zodiacs.

Then Uncle Dansu spotted a strange painting.

"There's a turtle here, too."

"Isn't a turtle not part of the Twelve Zodiacs?"

Junghyeok answered.

"The Twelve Zodiacs originated from the twelve characters used in the calendrical system. The Twelve Zodiacs you know were not the Twelve Zodiacs from the beginning."

"You know things like that, too?"

"Common sense."

Apparently, after regressing around forty-one times, you received that kind of common-sense buff.

Suddenly curious, I asked,

"Have you been here before?"

"It's my first time."

That was disappointing.

I had wondered whether the Yu Junghyeok of the forty-first round might know about this place as well, but apparently the Twelve Zodiac Ball wasn't an event that opened easily.

"It's the first time even the likes of the Twelve Zodiacs have held an event this large."

"Isn't that underestimating the Twelve Zodiacs a little too much?"

Junghyeok frowned lightly at my words and looked toward the far end of the corridor.

"My goal is the endpoint of every Scenario."

The companions walking behind us nodded one after another, or secretly gave me thumbs-ups.

The endpoint of every Scenario.

It was absurd for him to speak of such a goal in only the forty-first round, yet there was still something different about this forty-first round.

It wasn't simply because the readers and I were here.

「The Yu Junghyeok of the forty-first round is special.」

The only history he shared with the Yu Junghyeok of the main story was from the zeroth through second rounds.

From the third through forty-first rounds, their timelines had split completely. The Junghyeok beside me had endured dozens of lives that no one knew.

And in only the forty-first round, he had despaired deeply enough to give up on later rounds.

The meaning of that despair was obvious.

「Until the moment he was about to give up, he had fought more fiercely than any Yu Junghyeok of any worldline.」

If I could only keep him from despairing...

"You're making an unpleasant face."

"This is just what my face normally looks like."

"You don't know Dokja well. He always looks like that."

Listening to Killer King's petty remark, I opened the banquet hall doors.

A huge hall came into view.

The hall was divided into a stage on the first floor and second-floor seating behind thin curtains.

The banquet hall was so noisy that our arrival did not draw much attention. That was a relief.

[Oh, you're finally here.]

A faint crackle sounded in midair, and Bihyeong appeared.

"You've changed appearances."

[I'm cooler now, right?]

Bihyeong seemed to have become a mid-grade dokkaebi. Bihyeong's body had grown considerably since before. At a glance, Bihyeong just looked fatter.

Seeing my expression, Bihyeong patted my shoulder and whispered.

[Hey, don't feel so intimidated. You know the Constellations gathered here are all beings progressing through Scenarios, too, right? They're not that different from you.]

I didn't know why he was suddenly saying that, but I nodded.

"I know."

[You're pretty shameless. All right, Incarnations, over there. Yeonggi will guide you.]

[I'll guide you!]

Yeonggi the dokkaebi.

The same dokkaebi had guided Kim Dokja when he attended the Constellation Banquet.

[Incarnations, please follow me this way...]

[Idiot. That's the dokkaebi waiting room.]

[I'm sorry. This way again...!]

Yeonggi was a rather clumsy dokkaebi, and apparently was no different in this round.

Bihyeong added as if making excuses for Yeonggi.

[They're still a trainee dokkaebi. They may look like that, but they have a kind heart...]

"I know. More importantly, it seems this ball has a separate waiting room for Incarnations."

[That's right. You figured it out already? You'll have a chance to meet the Incarnations again later. Now, you come this way.]

"I'm an Incarnation, too."

The instant I saw Bihyeong's expression, I finally understood why Bihyeong had been going on about the other Constellations.

[For now, you're a Constellation Proxy. Stop complaining and follow me.]

The departing companions looked toward me anxiously, so I gave them a reassuring glance.

I was worried about them, too. I had no idea who might be in the Incarnation waiting room.

Still, I wasn't too concerned. What did it matter who was there? Junghyeok was on that side.

And if my guess was right, our companions who had chosen other “factions” would be in the waiting room as well. Lee Hyeongseong, Lee Jihye, Jeong Huiwon, perhaps even Shin Yuseong. It was a reassuring lineup just to think about.

As I followed Bihyeong, I sorted through the message logs that had arrived.

[The Sub Scenario Orient Express Carriage has ended.]

[You can receive the rewards from the previous Scenario.]

[A new Main Scenario will begin shortly.]

The new Main Scenario was probably the Twelve Zodiac Ball.

I would need to look around a little more to learn exactly what its objective was...

[Sit over there. That's your seat.]

A nameplate bearing my Patron's modifier stood on a seat at a table in the corner.

<Demon King of Salvation (Proxy)>

Anyone could see it was a temporary seat made for a transfer student.

I smirked at the empty seat beside me when I heard Bihyeong mutter after receiving an urgent message.

[Ah, damn it. What now...? Hey, stay right here and wait. The Scenario explanation will start soon. Ah, I'm coming. I'm going...]

When I turned my head, Bihyeong had already disappeared somewhere.

Was this how it felt when the teacher who introduced you on your first day at a new school suddenly vanished?

I sat at the table and looked around at the other Constellations' symbolic forms. Some glanced my way, while others were busy talking among themselves.

The banquet hall itself was not much different from the one at the Constellation Banquet.

The Constellations visible in the first-floor hall were mostly Historical-grade Constellations in symbolic forms. It was difficult to identify most of them by appearance alone.

I began with the ones whose symbolic forms were relatively easy to recognize.

That giant rice cake over there was obviously the Rice Cake-Eating Tiger. The rice cake had been bitten away in several places, perhaps because it had been badly injured in its fight with me. That floating liver was Rabbit Without a Liver, wasn't it? And that severed rattlesnake tail belonged to the Snake Who Cuts Its Tail.

Among them, I saw one familiar face.

The nails scratching at the table on the left were slowly approaching me.

Nail-Eating Rat.

The reader who had come to warn us against the will of the Twelve Zodiacs was there. However, they hesitated as if watching the other Constellations' reactions, then returned to their seat.

An ominous Bird-Beak Mask symbolic form had stopped them.

What was that mask?

[That is Plague-Calling Rat.]

A calm constellation's declaration came from behind me.

[They say doctors wore masks like that while treating patients during the medieval plagues.]

Impressed by that knowledge, I turned around.

A pure white folding fan fluttered there.

The instant I saw the golden dragon engraved on its handle, I realized who it was.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Crouching Dragon."

[The Constellation Reclining Dragon is greatly pleased with your response.]

Reclining Dragon.

He was Zhuge Liang, the famous Crouching Dragon from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

[Hehe. It is an honour that you recognized me.]

"Are you participating in this Scenario as well, Crouching Dragon?"

Crouching Dragon's modifier was Reclining Dragon. Since he possessed a modifier involving a dragon in his own way, I thought he might qualify to participate in this ball.

However, Crouching Dragon shook his head with a smile.

[I am participating in this Scenario as an evaluator. I originally refused, but they kept asking... As you know, I am weak when it comes to three visits to a thatched cottage.]

Three visits to a thatched cottage.

Come to think of it, Zhuge Liang did have that famous story.

It seemed the Recycling Center had gone to considerable lengths to bring Crouching Dragon in as an evaluator.

[For now, I think it was for the best. Thanks to coming here, I became your fan.]

A fan.

It was an embarrassing thing to hear.

[I am not the only one. Among the Constellations invited as judges, there is someone who is a passionate fan of yours... Unfortunately, their Status is too high for them to come down to the first floor.]

"You mean One Who Brought Ten Lambs."

[Hehe, you already knew.]

I looked up at the second-floor seating.

Thinking back to the Constellation Banquet, Constellations of higher Status than those on the first floor would naturally be gathered upstairs.

There had to be Constellations among them who supported me.

Once I thought that far, a little confusion came over me.

The fact that the ninth Scenario was being held here meant we would eventually compete alongside Constellations.

[The Recycling Center Director has selected the Scenario stage.]

[The Administration Bureau is reviewing the difficulty of the relevant Scenario.]

No, they wouldn't gather all these Constellations together and make them fight at only the ninth Scenario.

There wouldn't be enough Plausibility for that.

[Ah, ah.]

That was when a bright light filled the center of the hall.

A young woman with a cute appearance and a voluminous Gothic dress appeared on the stage.

[Hello, everyone! Today's host is me, Euphrosyne!]

The moment I wondered why that Constellation was here, a sense of déjà vu shook my mind.

That Constellation had definitely been present at the banquet hall Kim Dokja attended.

「Euphrosyne, Goddess of Joy and Festivities.」

The Twelve Zodiac Ball, a banquet of Historical-grade Constellations, was suddenly turning into a party for the Gourmet Association.

[Thank you all for attending despite your busy schedules! Though even if you were busy, you all had to come, didn't you? This is where the hottest fables in the Star Stream are appearing these days.]

Light laughter flowed from beyond the curtains at those words.

In contrast, no one in the first-floor hall laughed.

[I would also like to sincerely thank the owner of the Recycling Center, the Recycling Center Director, for lending us this venue!]

As the Recycling Center Director flashed the brilliant stage lights as if in response, Euphrosyne smiled.

[You all know what today's main event is, right?]

Someone in the second-floor seating murmured, "The Twelve Zodiac Ball."

[That's right, the Twelve Zodiac Ball, being held at the request of the Twelve Zodiac Constellations!]

A ball was originally a social gathering where many people came together to dance.

Yet the Constellations on the first floor all looked stiff. They didn't seem eager to dance at all.

[Oh, our Twelve Zodiac Constellations. You must have suffered so much to come all the way to the Recycling Center. Crushed by great nebulae in higher Scenarios, ignored by Incarnations in lower Scenarios. You had nowhere to go, did you?]

Open snickering rose from all around.

I saw a few Constellations of the Twelve Zodiacs tremble slightly.

[Even your trusted Monkey King has silently watched the situation from the sidelines. How difficult your lives as Twelve Zodiac Constellations must have been!]

Despite the mocking words, the first-floor Constellations could not offer a single retort.

Naturally.

The Constellation on that stage was a fabled-grade Constellation none of them could defeat even if they all joined forces.

[So the Gourmet Association thought, why don't we help the Twelve Zodiacs a little?]

Listening to the endless laughter beyond the curtains, I was beginning to understand who this “social gathering” of the Twelve Zodiac Ball was really for.

[Why not give those pitiful, miserable stars another chance to rise? But could something as simple as animals scuffling become an entertaining fable?]

Not one page of TWSA had ever said that the Twelve Zodiac Ball unfolded this way.

Why had this variable appeared in this round of all rounds?

The question did not last long.

[But someone here has answered our question.]

In an instant, the stars' gazes focused on me.

Footnotes:

“Three visits to a thatched cottage” refers to Liu Bei repeatedly visiting Zhuge Liang to recruit him, a famous episode from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

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