WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 78: Episode 16 - The Fifth Scenario (2)
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You know who I am? How?
Looking more closely, the woman looked fairly old. Not quite in her forties, but the faint wrinkles here and there made her seem at least in her mid-to-late thirties.
I let out a light breath and deliberately widened my eyes as I spoke.
“You seem to be mistaken. My name is Yu Junghyeok. Kim Dokja is the name of the guy I hate most.”
“...Yu Junghyeok?”
“Yeah. So pass this along to your renouncer. Tell them not to mess around carelessly. If they don't know what that means, just tell them first and come back.”
When I glanced to the side, Han Suyeong was staring at me like I was ridiculous. I gave her a look. If it was Han Suyeong, she would know what to do next.
Then the woman opened her mouth.
“I already know you're Kim Dokja. Stop with the unnecessary lies.”
[The character Han Suyeong has verified this statement as true.]
Han Suyeong nodded toward me. This woman had come here knowing exactly who I was.
“The king said to tell you that this meteorite would be left in your care.”
It was one surprise after another. Knowing me wasn't enough, and now they were just going to hand this meteorite over to us...?
“Who are you people?”
“We are the people who serve the King of Wanderers.”
“Is the masked person over there your king?”
The woman nodded. I looked at their king standing some distance away. The more carefully I looked, the more a strange sense of familiarity came over me. But there was something odd.
“A king... You don't seem to have a flag.”
“The king doesn't concern herself with such petty things.”
...Petty things? The woman continued.
“The king told me to pass this on to you. ‘We'll take responsibility for the catastrophe in the north. But the other four catastrophes, I'll leave to you.’”
Before I could ask anything, the woman turned as though she had finished saying everything she needed to say. Han Suyeong shouted after her.
“Hey! What the hell was that supposed to mean? Shouldn't you explain it properly before you go?”
The woman paid no attention to the shouting and kept walking away with her back to us.
Han Suyeong looked at me and asked,
“What the hell was that...? Do you know that woman too?”
“As if.”
I immediately activated [Character Profile].
[This character is not registered in Character Profile.]
[If you update Character Profile, you can view this character's information. Would you like to update it?]
Looks like the update cycle had come around again. I nodded.
[The update has been completed.]
[Some characters will be added to the Character Profile dictionary.]
Then a window rose before me.
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<Character Profile>
Name: Jo Yeongran
Age: 37
Patron constellation: Joseon's Greatest Sorcerer
Exclusive attributes: Escaped Model Prisoner (Common), Arbiter of Justice (Rare)
Exclusive skills: [Prison Break Lv.3], [Patience Lv.6], [Hour of Execution Lv.3], [Shooting Lv.4]...
Stigma: [Disguise Arts Lv.2]
Overall stats: [Constitution Lv.30], [Strength Lv.34], [Agility Lv.36], [Mana Lv.28]
Overall evaluation: A comprehensive evaluation is currently in progress.
* Currently using the Starter Pack.
* Growth package is currently being used.
+
Well, would you look at that, Joseon's Greatest Sorcerer?
[The constellation Joseon's Greatest Sorcerer is looking at you with wary eyes.]
To think there was already an Incarnation with Jeon Woochi as a Patron constellation. And though it ranked below a Judge, she even had an Executor-type class, a very good attribute in its own right.
If a subordinate was this strong, then just how strong was this so-called king?
I immediately activated my skill toward that side.
[This character's information cannot be viewed with Character Profile.]
[This character is not registered in Character Profile.]
The moment my eyes met the masked king's gaze, a sharp pain flashed through my head.
I almost reflexively turned my eyes away. My heart pounded fast. [The Fourth Wall] wasn't shaking, but I knew instinctively. If I had kept looking at that woman, the disturbance would've been even greater than when I met Song Minwoo. I had [Self-Justification], but I still couldn't be sure how reliable it was, so I didn't want to take risks carelessly.
Han Suyeong asked worriedly,
“Hey, what's wrong?”
“...It's nothing.”
If [The Fourth Wall] reacted, that meant this was someone who had had an important effect on the real me.
In other words, I knew that person.
I see... So you survived after all.
But I didn't know you'd be in Seoul.
Why she'd been able to build such a huge force. Why they were wearing prison uniforms. If their king was that person, then all of it made sense.
Before long, the Wanderers began to move.
They formed ranks and walked straight back the way they had come. A march without a trace of hesitation. In the fine details of their discipline, I could feel a loyalty unlike anything I'd seen from any group until now.
At the head of the formation, their leader guided them.
A person with no crown like the Tyrant King, and no dragon robes like the King of Beauty.
I looked at the ruins they had swept through. The broken coin farms, and the survivors they had saved. Blankets and daily necessities, clearly distributed by their own hands, had been left beside the survivors. The survivors watched the departing Wanderers with reverent eyes.
I had forgotten.
A person didn't become a king only by having a flag, or by sitting on a throne.
Even in this world without kings, there was still a king.
* * *
A little later, I was examining the yellow meteorite they had left behind.
This meteorite, also called Moon Stone, was in fact the satellite of a star that had wandered another dimension.
As expected, it was exactly as I had seen in the book.
The thrilling pulse of Mana every time I touched it, the faint light leaking out from its cloudy interior, even the white streaks standing out all across its surface. This yellow meteorite held one of the powers that could stand against a catastrophe.
I don't know how long I stayed like that before a system message sounded.
[Moon Stone wants to provide you with a higher level of evolutionary power.]
I rejected the meteorite's offer. Then the meteorite withdrew its power again.
Moon Stone basically possessed the power of night, so the inhuman species would have received this power as well. The cannibals empowered by the night had probably been able to evolve into a higher inhuman species, werewolves.
[Moon Stone feels an unknown familiarity toward you.]
But the true use of this meteorite wasn't simply evolving inhuman species. Even a few hundred werewolves wouldn't be enough to stop the catastrophe that was coming.
Of course, a few thousand might help, but then another catastrophe would arrive because of the swarming inhuman species and the demon king's subordinates.
“This almost feels like volunteer work... Hey, did you figure anything out?”
While I examined the meteorite, Han Suyeong had been taking care of the survivors collapsed nearby. It was so unlike her that it surprised me a little, but as expected, it was just a trick to rake in coins.
[Some constellations of the absolute good alignment are moved by Han Suyeong's good deed.]
Since she'd already picked a fight with a demon king, the sponsorship money was probably inflated more than usual.
The two-facedness of human nature really was profound.
With <patron selection> approaching, Han Suyeong was probably starting to test the waters too. Someone on the level of the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon might turn up among the constellations of the absolute good alignment. Looking around, I said,
“Your avatar's pretty useful.”
Dozens of avatars were quickly cleaning up the area. The corpses of the inhuman species burned fiercely, and the grotesque cages and human butcher shops were torn down as well. I wondered if she really wanted to earn coins so badly she would let blood pour from her nose like that...
Han Suyeong wiped away the blood with a hiss and asked,
“So when are you going to tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“What happened earlier.”
I realized her question wasn't about the meteorite.
“You're still hung up on that?”
“How could I not be?”
There were two renouncers she'd never known about. And on top of that, there seemed to be some kind of connection between those two renouncers.
From the standpoint of Han Suyeong, The Last Renouncer, there was no way she wouldn't care.
“It's someone I know. Probably.”
“...Didn't you say you didn't know them?”
“Not the woman who talked to us. I mean the leader of that group.”
“The King of Wanderers?”
I nodded.
“She isn't a renouncer. To be exact, she's probably never even read the original.”
“What? Then how does she know what happens in it?”
“I told her myself.”
Han Suyeong looked like she had just been hit in the back of the head with a hammer.
“You told someone else that boring story? Why?”
“I needed something to talk about when I met her.”
I paused for a moment before continuing.
“Because that was the only thing I had to talk about.”
Maybe it was because the mood darkened slightly, but Han Suyeong, who had been about to press me, stopped for a moment. She probably had a lot she wanted to ask. Who the King of Wanderers was, and what sort of relationship that person had with me.
After staying quiet for a while, Han Suyeong spoke again as if it were nothing.
“I don't know what your relationship is, but is it really okay to leave her alone? If there are more people besides us who know the future...”
I understood the concern. But it would be fine.
The King of Wanderers was a person with clear principles, and at the very least, she wouldn't recklessly use future information to make a mess of things.
I tapped Moon Stone lightly and opened my mouth.
“More importantly, this is what matters. I'm going to wake this up now.”
“What? This?”
Han Suyeong looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“You're saying you're going to wake up a catastrophe right now?”
“Why are you so shocked? You've done the same thing before.”
Back in <Night of the Prophets>, Han Suyeong had stirred up the prophets and awakened the fire dragon species, Lesser Dragon Ignir.
“Hey! That was a small-time catastrophe, but this...!”
“This isn't a catastrophe.”
“...Then what is it?”
“Looks like you've gotten lazy with your plagiarism. Don't you remember? Once the Scenario starts, do you really not know what comes out here?”
Han Suyeong glared at me for a moment, then turned on her smartphone and began reading through her novel file.
“This, no way...”
“You finally found it? Looks like you copied it well enough.”
“Shut up. But the Main Scenario hasn't even opened yet. Is it really okay to do something like this? What if we get hit by a Plausibility bombardment again?”
“We won't get hit over something like this.”
“It's not like the mid-grade dokkaebi likes you these days either...”
“That's why we're dealing with it while that bastard isn't here.”
Right about now, he was probably busy getting reprimanded by the Administration Bureau.
“I'm going to inject Mana into this from now on. By my calculation, about ten hours should be enough for hatching. I'll do four hours, and you'll do six.”
“Why do I have to do six hours?”
“Because your Mana level's probably higher than mine.”
At that moment, the number of roaming avatars dropped sharply.
Quick on the uptake, aren't you.
“Be honest. What's your Mana level?”
“Do I really have to say it?”
“It affects clearing the Scenario.”
[The terms of the Temporary Pact have taken effect.]
Han Suyeong's face twisted up.
“...Level 55.”
Honestly, I was shocked. Seeing her handle dozens of avatars, I'd figured she was over level 40, but level 55... That was a number almost brushing up against the Scenario's restriction limit.
Judging by how relatively low her Constitution and Strength were, she must have poured all the coins she'd gotten so far into Mana.
“We need to change that. I'll do two hours. You do eight.”
“Hey! That's unfair! And I'm already completely out of Mana right now.”
I asked Bihyeong to open the Dokkaebi Compendium, then bought a few mid-grade Mana Recovery Potions.
“Then drink these while you do it.”
“What is this?”
“A coin item.”
“...Your Patron constellation must be really generous. Is it okay to just hand me stuff like this?”
“The generous one is me.”
Han Suyeong shot me a sidelong glare.
“You didn't put anything weird in it, right?”
“Then I'll start first.”
I placed my hand on Moon Stone and immediately began injecting Mana.
Thinking of the one that would awaken from inside this meteorite ten hours later.
* * *
How long had I been asleep? I opened my eyes to the sound of someone waking me.
“Hey, wake up already! This thing's starting to move!”
Han Suyeong, her hand on the meteorite, was shouting with an uneasy expression. Thin cracks began to spread over the meteorite.
Craaack.
It was similar to what had happened when the red meteorite of the fire dragon species shattered. It probably wouldn't react as aggressively as it had then... but even so, if we said the wrong thing here, both of us could die.
Woooooom!
A beam of light shot straight out from Moon Stone and lit up the darkness of the night. A powerful being, oppressive from the mere act of looking at it, was waking from within its crouched slumber.
Footnotes:
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