WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 796: Episode 38: Fortuitous Encounter (2)
──────
A few steps ahead, Jaehwan's back looked hazy.
He walked, stopped to rest for a while, then walked again.
With the unconscious Yu Junghyeok on my back, I repeated that simple routine.
[Your Incarnation body is unstable.]
[Warning. Enter a new Scenario.]
It wasn't some health-monitoring alert, but hearing the same message at intervals still made me smile bitterly.
As if I didn't know I needed to enter a Main Scenario.
「Was deliberately failing the Scenario a mistake after all?」
An old feeling surged up, but I didn't particularly regret it.
It had been the best choice at the time.
Failing the Scenario and being stripped of my Status as a Constellation. Being exiled beyond the Scenario.
It had been the only way to save all the readers, including the Demon King of Salvation.
[Your Incarnation body is unstable.]
Fables came out with the cough I spat out.
[Your fables are breaking apart.]
My body could collapse at any moment. Yet my Incarnation body was still stubbornly holding its shape.
[The effect of an Exclusive Attribute has activated.]
[Due to the effect of the Exclusive Attribute Record Mender, the collapse of your fables has been delayed.]
The Exclusive Attribute, Record Mender.
This Attribute, which manifested after I gathered a certain number of Kim Dokja Fragments, offered a degree of immunity specifically against Incarnation body collapse.
Of course, this Attribute alone wasn't what was keeping me from collapsing.
[Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall is currently active.]
[The Fourth Wall]. Dokja's main skill, and the skill that had saved him from danger every time. If it hadn't activated in time, I would have long since fainted from the pain.
[Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall is strongly active.]
I imagined the Demon King of Salvation and the Little Kim Dokjas beyond this wall.
The people who still loved this story, despite going through that terrible Scenario with us.
「Kim Dokja thought.」
They were speaking.
「I have to survive.」
Bleurgh.
With that sound, fables surged back up again.
How many more times did I vomit fables like that?
Jaehwan, who had been walking some distance ahead, stopped. It seemed he intended to rest for a while.
I laid Junghyeok down on a floating rock nearby.
Was it the effect of the Lesser Restoration Pill I had given him earlier? Junghyeok's Incarnation body was recovering rapidly.
Even the deep wound beneath his kneecap was slowly mending.
A protagonist really was a protagonist.
At this rate, Junghyeok would finish recovering and return to a Scenario within a few days.
The problem was that I had no idea whether I would still be alive by then.
[Your Incarnation body is unstable.]
Sleepiness came over me now and then, and whenever it did, a terrible chill engulfed me.
I couldn't lose consciousness.
Desperately, I recalled Dokja's fables.
There had once been a Kim Dokja who went through something similar.
「If I didn't quickly obtain an Incarnation body and seal my wounds, my entire fable would collapse and I would die.」
I imagined Dokja walking alone across the horizon of stories. Dokja wandering the world alone, without the gaze of the stars or any Scenarios.
He had devoured Fable Fragments on the horizon of stories, using them to mend his Incarnation body and overcome the crisis.
How had that Kim Dokja absorbed Fable Fragments back then?
「Lamarck's Giraffe.」
Right. The Kim Dokja known as the Demon King of Salvation definitely had that Attribute. Then perhaps I could use it too.
[Fable Heir to an Eternal Name looks at you with displeased eyes.]
[Fable Heir to an Eternal Name begins its story while grumbling.]
A moment later, it felt as if a lightbulb had lit up in my head, and the Attribute activated.
[You can temporarily use the Exclusive Attribute Lamarck's Giraffe.]
Lamarck's Giraffe.
Because Dokja had this Attribute, he could absorb small Fable Fragments and temporarily repair his Incarnation body.
The problem was that I had no remaining Fable Fragments to use for repairs.
That was when I heard the sound of a vacuum cleaner in the distance.
A swarm of Nameless Ones drifting through space. Behind those creatures, swimming through the void like a school of sardines, was a grotesque lifeform with a ravenous appetite.
Its chilling presence was clear even from far away.
An Outer God.
The Outer God, with a human body and a shark's head, tore apart the Nameless Ones as it threw the swarm into disarray like a predator.
I prayed it wouldn't turn this way, but once again, the Star Stream betrayed my expectations.
【O O O O O】
The Outer God's cry numbed my mind. Its fins twitched rapidly as it charged towards me, its horrifying teeth flashing.
Killing intent sent a chill down my spine.
The moment I reflexively grabbed the hilt of Unbreakable Faith, a flash gleamed before my eyes.
Jaehwan had swung his sword.
The shark Outer God, its mouth wide open, vanished with its head blown apart.
It was an unbelievable feat of martial prowess. It might not have been on the level of the One Who Devours Dreams, but it seemed to be a named Outer God.
In any event, now wasn't the time to be stunned. Fable Fragments from the Outer God floated through the void before me.
[Exclusive Attribute Lamarck's Giraffe reacts.]
Most were corrupted or broken beyond use, but there were some that I could consume in my current state.
I discreetly watched Jaehwan's reaction before asking,
"May I eat that?"
Jaehwan gave me an indifferent glance, then immediately turned his head away.
I hurried over to the shark Outer God's Fable Fragments. One of them resembled a shark fin.
[Fable Fragment Swift Swimming rejects your touch.]
[This fable is corrupted.]
[Consuming this fable may result in side effects.]
It reeked of fish, so even with Lamarck's Giraffe, it didn't seem easy to eat like this.
After thinking for a moment, I searched through unconscious Junghyeok's clothes.
Let's see. If I was right, he should have that item.
A little later, my fingers found something like a tiny seasoning bottle.
I checked its information.
+
<Item Information>
Name: All-Purpose Special Seasoning
Grade: A+
Description: An essence made from natural ingredients of the Star Stream. Sprinkle it on anything, and it becomes edible. Its recipe has not been revealed.
+
As expected of Yu Junghyeok.
I hadn't expected much, but he really did have this item.
「All-Purpose Special Seasoning. An item developed by Yu Junghyeok of the second round for emergency consumption. He rarely uses it himself.」
Why carry something like this around without using it? I had no idea.
I sprinkled the special seasoning roughly over the still-flopping fin, took a deep breath, and swallowed it.
The Fable Fragment tasted like shark fin sprinkled with ramen seasoning powder.
[The effect of Exclusive Attribute Lamarck's Giraffe has activated!]
[Fable Fragment Swift Swimming rejects absorption!]
The Fable Fragment in my stomach began to writhe. My stomach churned as if I had severe indigestion.
But I couldn't throw it up now.
[Your Incarnation body is in critical condition.]
If I threw this up, I would die. So I had to swallow it. I had to grit my teeth and force it down somehow.
Thwack.
Someone struck my back. It hurt enough to make me cry out. When I turned around, Jaehwan was standing there.
Why did he suddenly hit me? Was he a psychopath?
Without answering, Jaehwan looked at me for a while, then ambled away and sat down nearby in a cross-legged position.
Only then did I understand why he had struck my back.
[Your digestive ability has improved.]
[Exclusive Attribute Lamarck's Giraffe has strongly activated.]
[Fable Fragment Swift Swimming has been absorbed.]
Had he just helped me?
Not just anyone, but Jaehwan, the Monarch Slayer?
[Your Incarnation body has temporarily regained stability.]
My hunger quickly faded, and I felt my Incarnation body recovering.
At this rate, I could hold out another day or two.
"Um, thank you."
I bowed deeply towards Jaehwan. He closed his eyes as if he hadn't heard me.
Was he once again repeatedly thrusting at the universe in his mind?
What was he trying to pierce so diligently?
I watched Jaehwan for a while, then checked Junghyeok's condition again and muttered,
"You thank him too, you bastard."
Naturally, unconscious Junghyeok didn't respond.
How long had it been since I last saw him sleeping so peacefully? It still felt like yesterday that he had been thrown down beneath the bridge at Oksu Station, yet so much had happened since then.
While going back and forth between Washington Dome and the Recycling Center, Junghyeok had become the Black Beast, then a little Junghyeok in a red cap.
He had narrowly escaped death several times, and now he was like this.
Damn bastard. Why did you follow me this far? Nothing like this happened even in the third round.
If he hadn't come to save me, Junghyeok would have cleared the Recycling Center without trouble and begun growing stronger.
His Transcendence would have risen even further, and he would have moved on to the next Scenario with Earth's readers without trouble.
I ruined everything.
That was why I had to save him, at least.
After giving Junghyeok another portion of the Lesser Restoration Pill I had divided up, I rested for a while.
As I picked up and ate the Lesser Restoration Pill crumbs he had left behind, my eyes met Jaehwan's.
Why was he looking at me? I was uneasy.
I recalled the information I knew about him.
「Jaehwan, the Monarch Slayer.」
Fortunately, I had been involved with 『The World After the Fall』, so I remembered quite a lot about him.
For example, if someone asked who Jaehwan was, I could answer like this.
「The protagonist who destroys the world through thrusting while naked.」
Putting it that way, he really sounded like the type of person I should never get involved with.
After hesitating for a moment, I held out some Lesser Restoration Pill crumbs to Jaehwan.
"Would you like some?"
Wasn't sharing food the best way to get close to someone?
Whether he was naked or had destroyed a world through thrusting, that had happened in his own universe.
And in this Star Stream, he had saved me twice.
Who knew? Perhaps the Monarch Slayer had become a little kinder under the influence of the Star Stream's world setting.
"Eat it yourself."
There was a familiar comfort in his curt reply, and I asked,
"What do you usually eat?"
"I don't particularly eat anything."
"People die if they don't eat anything."
Jaehwan didn't answer. He simply glared at me.
I was already used to looks like that, thanks to someone.
I shook the seasoning bottle and grinned.
"If there's anything you want to eat, I'll make it for you. I have some good seasoning here, too."
I didn't actually intend to cook for him. It wasn't as if I were Yu Junghyeok of the 81st round of TWSA. What could I cook in the outskirts of this Scenario?
At best, I could make 「Shark Fin from an Outer God Killed by a Brutal Thrust」.
Still, I wanted to try speaking to that difficult man somehow. Mine and Junghyeok's lives for the next week depended on that good-natured psychopath.
If he changed his mind and stabbed us to death at any moment, 『Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint』 would end here.
"The food I want to eat."
Hm?
"No one can make it anymore."
His answer startled me a little. I had never imagined the Monarch Slayer might have food he wanted to eat.
"What kind of food is it?"
If necessary, I intended to consult Yu Junghyeok of the 81st round's recipes and try making it. If there were no ingredients, I could always search Junghyeok's coat pockets.
Jaehwan stared into empty space for a while, as if tracing a distant memory, before opening his mouth.
"Dumplings."
I stared at him for a moment, wondering if I had heard wrong.
What did he just say?
"It's a food called Murim Dumplings."
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
