WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 797: Episode 38: Fortuitous Encounter (3)
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Unfortunately, the recipe for Murim Dumplings was not among the knowledge I possessed.
Yu Junghyeok of the 81st round, a cooking expert, or Junghyeok of the 999th round, who had experience cooking Murim Dumplings, might have known the recipe...
"I like Murim Dumplings too."
"Have you eaten them before?"
Curiosity appeared in Jaehwan's eyes for the first time.
Surprised that this man was even capable of curiosity, I nodded vigorously.
"No."
Jaehwan looked at me like I was insane and asked,
"How can you like food you've never eaten?"
"You don't have to eat something to like it."
"What?"
I had never eaten Murim Dumplings, but I had drawn countless scenes of people eating them.
While sketching scenes of people eating Murim Dumplings in murim, in Journey to the West, and scenes of Dokja or Junghyeok eating Murim Dumplings, I had eaten hundreds of Murim Dumplings in my head as well.
With my eyes closed, I went on at length about the taste of the Murim Dumplings that appeared in TWSA and ORV.
After talking myself hoarse, I felt as full as if I had polished off an entire platter of dumplings.
When I opened my eyes, Jaehwan was staring at me as if he couldn't believe it.
"You talk like someone who's actually eaten them."
"Isn't the most complete Murim Dumpling the Murim Dumpling you haven't eaten yet?"
More importantly, the person before me had eaten Murim Dumplings through those very descriptions.
I poked Junghyeok's head and said,
"Though this guy knows more about their taste. For the record, Murim Dumplings are his favourite food too."
Jaehwan glared at Junghyeok as though he couldn't believe that either.
"So what?"
"I'll let you eat them again. Those Murim Dumplings."
The Murim Dumplings in Jaehwan's world had been destroyed, but this world had not yet been destroyed.
And fortunately, the recipe for those Murim Dumplings was still being passed down in the First Martial World.
However, Jaehwan's attitude was strange.
"I don't trust anything someone like you says."
"Why not? I really can let you eat Murim Dumplings. Doesn't your mouth water just thinking about them? If you get thin noodles in chicken broth to eat with them..."
"You'll ask for something else in return."
"No, I won't ask for anything else. I'll just take you to where the Murim Dumplings are."
"You mean you want me to protect you until we get there."
This was why I hated people with protagonist backgrounds.
They were far too perceptive.
"Can't you?"
"Even if I can eat Murim Dumplings again."
Jaehwan paused before continuing.
"The Murim Dumplings I ate that day no longer exist."
If my Patron had been here, he would have sneered, "What remarkable dumpling philosophy." But I was a little short on Demon King of Salvation right then.
"You must have really liked Murim Dumplings."
Jaehwan looked at me even more like I was insane.
Tzzzt.
The Fourth Wall spoke inside my head.
「Th is is n ot ab out dum plings.」
I imagined the Demon King of Salvation watching me with disappointed eyes from beyond the wall.
'I know that too.'
Jaehwan turned away and stared into the void. Just as Junghyeok stared at the sky of the Star Stream whenever he had the chance, Jaehwan stared into the emptiness whenever he had the chance.
As if there were someone he missed there.
I remembered a little about Jaehwan's story.
Just as the other readers and I had been summoned to the Star Stream, he was a protagonist summoned to 『Phantasmagoric Tree』.
Just as we had made our way through Scenarios, he climbed a tower shaped like a tree and eventually reached its summit.
However, I didn't know what he felt at the top of that tower, or what kind of being he had become because of it.
Fortuitous Encounter-hyung's novel had ended somewhat abstractly, without describing that part in detail.
After hesitating for a moment, I asked,
"May I ask what the dumplings you ate tasted like?"
Without answering, Jaehwan looked back at me, then raised his gaze to the sky again.
A sky where no stars watched over us.
How long did he stare into the vast void of space? His sword let out a resonant cry, somehow sorrowful and yet grief-stricken.
Jaehwan never answered.
* * *
As we travelled with Jaehwan, I bombarded him with countless questions.
At first, he didn't answer any of them. But sometimes, when he felt like it, he responded.
"Can you tell how much time has passed?"
"One day."
"Wow, it feels like three days have passed. But how did you measure the time?"
"I perform 3,600 thrusts every second."
"Could you slow those thrusts down a little?"
Jaehwan glared at me expressionlessly, then began thrusting again.
"Where did you live?"
I continued asking questions. Where he had lived, whether his world had Scenarios, whether a system existed there, how long he had lived.
I already knew the answers to some of those questions, while I didn't know the answers to others.
I kept questioning him partly to win him over, but also for my own sake.
[Your Incarnation body is becoming unstable.]
If I didn't speak to someone, I felt like I would lose consciousness at any moment.
My Incarnation body was nearly at its limit.
In the end, Jaehwan lost patience and spoke when the number of questions I had asked surpassed Junghyeok's regression rounds.
"How long are you planning to keep chirping?"
"Until you answer me."
"It's none of your business."
"I still want to hear it."
"I have no story to tell someone who's about to die."
"Since I'm about to die, wouldn't it be nice to hear one interesting story before the end?"
Jaehwan's lips twitched in displeasure.
"It's not a particularly interesting story."
I knew that. Fortuitous Encounter-hyung's novel hadn't been popular.
Still, it didn't matter.
"I read a story about someone who regressed 1,863 times. Could your story be more boring than that?"
"Regression?"
I immediately regretted it.
This man hated the word regression with a passion.
The reason was obvious.
In Jaehwan's world, all his companions except him had regressed.
"There were people in my world who regressed too."
"Is that so?"
I pretended not to know. Jaehwan added in a fierce voice,
"Though none of them did it 1,863 times."
"That isn't an ordinary number."
"Anyone who regressed that many times must be a thoroughly lousy guy."
"That's not true."
The answer slipped out before I could stop it.
Jaehwan narrowed his eyes at me.
"Every regressor is a coward."
"Not all of them are."
"Regressors abandon the present and run away. They return to the past to steal other people's achievements, items, and history."
"Some people fought to the end to protect the present, then had no choice but to regress."
I didn't know why I had become Junghyeok's spokesperson, but Jaehwan seemed quite angry at my defence.
"No such person exists. All regressors are people so obsessed with the past that they cannot properly face the present."
"At least one of them is different."
"One?"
"And from what I can see, you aren't much different from a regressor either."
"What do you mean?"
Terrifying bloodlust flowed from Jaehwan's entire body.
"You miss the taste of Murim Dumplings, don't you?"
For the first time, Jaehwan looked as if he had been struck.
The bloodlust that had poured from him scattered as if by magic.
"I..."
"No one moves forward without looking back. Sometimes, becoming a regressor isn't such a bad thing."
Jaehwan didn't answer for a long time before slowly drawing his sword.
His dark blade stabbed into the air.
Thrust, thrust, then thrust again.
After who knew how many thrusts, Jaehwan spoke.
"As I said, my story won't be interesting."
"A story about doing nothing but thrusting for a million years would be fine."
"Only a million years?"
"Then how long was it?"
"..."
"It doesn't sound like a length of time anyone sane could endure."
"You seem to think I'm sane."
"That's genuinely frightening when you put it that way."
Jaehwan gave a small laugh.
It was the first smile I had seen from him. He looked a little more human.
"Why are you curious about my story?"
"I thought I might steal the secret to your strength."
"You think you can copy it just by hearing about it?"
I knew I couldn't.
Even if he had repeated thrusts for a million years, I couldn't imitate that time.
But I had Bookmark.
If I heard his story and could understand him even a little, I might truly be able to steal his strength.
Just as Dokja had stolen the strength of other characters.
"Who knows? Hearing your story might bring me enlightenment."
Of course, I had never once received a message saying that my understanding had increased during all our conversations.
Perhaps he was someone my inadequate mind could never understand.
Still, I thought it was worth trying.
"Why do you want to become stronger?"
"Well, I have to bring down every star in that sky."
"And after that?"
"I'll see the end of this world."
Jaehwan put away his sword as he looked at me.
"A predictable reason."
"Do I need a special reason to become stronger?"
"Some strength does."
An ominous light shone in Jaehwan's eyes. Within his pupils, I saw the shape of a rotating Möbius strip.
"Anyone can become strong if they have the will. But strength corrupts the will itself. Once you become as strong as you desire, you might no longer want to see the end of this world."
Listening to him, I thought of the Constellations in the sky.
Historical-grade. Fabled-grade. Mythical-grade. Beings who had accumulated ages upon ages and become stars in the sky.
They must have had a time like mine as well.
Perhaps Jaehwan standing before me had too.
"I've never thought that far."
"You should start thinking about it. The enemies you intend to fight have all likely considered the same question."
"Well, people do think differently when they enter a bathroom and when they leave one."
Jaehwan frowned as if my comparison was deeply unpleasant.
"I'm not even sure you can enter that bathroom as you are now."
"That's..."
"It's not too late. Abandon that guy and leave."
Jaehwan's eyes turned towards the sleeping Junghyeok.
As expected, Jaehwan knew about my condition.
"You aren't in any state to last another week."
"I know."
"If you keep holding onto him, you'll die."
My Incarnation body looked ready to break apart at any moment.
As I held together the fables collapsing in real time, I answered,
"I appreciate the advice, but I can't leave."
"Why?"
If I ran away alone to somehow obtain the Main Scenario, I might be able to find a way.
But then Junghyeok would be left alone in this void. And that man didn't seem likely to save Junghyeok if he were left alone.
"He's my companion."
"I know he's the regressor."
"..."
"Once he regresses, he won't even remember you."
"Maybe. But maybe not."
I thought about Yu Junghyeok.
From the 0th round to the 1,864th. I thought about his will, repeated through those distant rounds.
"Who knows? Maybe after regressing around 1,863 times, he'll remember me again."
"That won't happen."
"After a long regression, he might become stronger than you and come to end this entire damn world."
For a moment, I imagined the Secretive Plotter, somewhere beyond that distant universe, building an epilogue unrelated to this story.
Then I looked at the unconscious Junghyeok again.
"And this guy won't regress. Even if he regresses now, he has no world to return to. This world is his final world."
Junghyeok, lying on the floating rock, curled up as though he were cold.
As I covered him with my coat, Jaehwan muttered quietly,
"The regressor who won't regress."
After those words, he didn't speak to me again.
He stared into the void as before, but somehow, his expression differed from before.
Perhaps he was remembering the Murim Dumplings he had shared with an old companion long ago.
I held my breath, so I wouldn't disturb his regression.
* * *
Yu Junghyeok woke on the morning of the sixth day.
The scent of finely ground herbal medicine brushed against his nose the moment he woke.
'Lesser Restoration Pill?'
Depending on market prices that day, a Lesser Restoration Pill was an elixir worth more than 100,000 coins each.
Someone had given him that medicine.
Of course, it was obvious who that someone was.
'Kim Dokja.'
Kim Dokja was asleep, curled up on a nearby floating rock.
Junghyeok watched him for a moment before suddenly coming to his senses and grabbing his spear.
A few steps away, a naked man watched them from atop a shattered meteorite.
'Was his name Jaehwan?'
Wary of Jaehwan, Junghyeok carried the collapsed Dokja onto his back.
Dokja's Incarnation body was exhausted and worn out.
Judging by his condition, he was in danger unless he received Story Repair immediately.
Junghyeok thought of the nearest places where fable Story Repairers could be found, then began walking.
Jaehwan's voice came from behind him.
"Where are you going?"
"Somewhere I can save this guy."
"If you leave here, the two of you will die."
Junghyeok understood what that meant.
Even now, he could sense the presence of stars from an immense distance away. The reason they didn't approach was surely the being called Jaehwan before him.
Even those formidable nebulae feared this man.
However, they couldn't remain here forever.
"We won't die."
Junghyeok was in peak condition now. Having survived the brink of death, his Incarnation body had become sturdier, and his skills had grown more proficient.
Fighting head-on would be one thing, but he could certainly escape while carrying Dokja.
Then Jaehwan said something strange.
"I mean I'll kill you."
"What?"
Was he dangerous after all?
Junghyeok instinctively drew up his fighting spirit, but Jaehwan continued.
"If you want to leave, leave that guy behind. Then I'll let you go."
"What are you talking about?"
Jaehwan glanced at Dokja with his usual expressionless eyes, then replied in his equally blunt voice.
"I've become a little interested in the Murim Dumplings that guy talks about."
Footnotes:
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