Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint - Chapter 799

WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 799: Episode 38: Fortuitous Encounter (5)

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The second Kim Dokja can't be reached?

"Surely not."

A perfectly healthy Constellation had suddenly become unreachable. Just as Demon King of Salvation and I had been pursued by nebulae, perhaps something similar had happened to the second Dokja.

「(I don't think they've fallen into the grasp of a giant nebula yet. The coordinates I found are outside their territory.)」

Even so, this was no time to relax. It meant they were in a situation so dire that they couldn't even use an Indirect Message.

Demon King of Salvation waved dismissively, as if telling me not to worry.

「(I'll give you the coordinates, so just check them for now. Your condition comes first.)」

He was right. I needed to be well myself if I wanted to find the second Dokja.

「(And from what I can see, this situation isn't that bad.)」

"Isn't that exactly the kind of thing you should never say?"

My Incarnation body was on the verge of death, giant nebulae were pursuing us, and I would vanish if I didn't acquire a new Scenario immediately.

And he was saying the situation wasn't that bad?

「(You've got someone protecting you.)」

"Who? That naked man?"

「(Yeah.)」

"You must not have seen what happened recently."

I recalled Jaehwan's expressionless face. His eyes gleamed as if he would unleash a hundred consecutive thrusts if I displeased him in the slightest.

However, Demon King of Salvation seemed to have a different opinion.

「(He doesn't seem that bad to me.)」

"What?"

「(He wiped out everyone pursuing you. Even that manifestation of Indescribable Distance.)」

That was true.

「(And when you got sick after eating a fable, he even patted your back.)」

"That part isn't certain. He didn't pat my back. He hit me hard enough to almost kill me."

「(But you didn't die.)」

That was true, but still.

「(And that's not all. He let you follow him around for a week. He could've just found strong people himself, so why would he bother taking you along?)」

Now that I thought about it, everything he said sounded plausible, so I had nothing to argue with.

「(Most importantly, if he wanted to kill you, he'd have done it already.)」

Demon King of Salvation's continued gaslighting left my thoughts in disarray.

Was he actually a good guy?

If it hadn't been Demon King of Salvation saying this, I might have been nearly convinced.

"No, he's still not someone we can trust so easily. Just look at his personality. He's arrogant and shameless. He's just like..."

「(Yu Junghyeok?)」

"Exactly. Like Yu Junghyeok."

Demon King of Salvation smiled.

「(Then isn't that even better?)」

"What?"

「(If someone like Yu Junghyeok has kept you alive, then he clearly has a reason for it. So...)」

Unfortunately, Demon King of Salvation's voice gradually faded. As my consciousness slowly began to awaken, I felt him firmly grip my shoulder.

「(Don't worry, youngest. I'll always be watching over you.)」

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, the area was noisy. Ominous scraping sounds rang out.

I turned my head and saw two naked men swinging swords at each other in the pitch-black darkness.

One was, needless to say, Jaehwan the Monarch Slayer.

The other was...

Had I not fully woken from my dream yet?

I repeatedly rubbed my tired eyes, then closed them again.

Apparently, I still wasn't awake. I should just sleep.

* * *

I woke with a gasp. Come to think of it, this wasn't the time to sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, the surroundings had gone quiet.

Had it really been a dream?

[Your Incarnation body has temporarily regained stability.]

Feeling as though someone were glaring at me, I jolted upright and saw Jaehwan glaring in my direction from afar.

"You're finally awake."

I rubbed my eyes once more. Jaehwan was fully dressed.

"You're wearing clothes?"

"Is that so surprising?"

You were naked until recently.

"I merely forgot to get dressed for a while."

I wanted to ask if anyone could forget something like that, but I stopped myself. I felt like I would get hit with a hundred consecutive thrusts if I did.

The smartphone in my pocket vibrated. When I turned on the screen, a particular round of TWSA had loaded. This was probably the round Demon King of Salvation had mentioned.

I quickly tried to read it, but Jaehwan spoke to me again.

"You broke your promise."

"What promise?"

"Didn't you say strong people would come if I kept you nearby?"

"I did."

"No one came."

"It hasn't even been that many days, has it?"

Honestly, I hadn't expected nobody to come for this long either. The people pursuing us were Constellations from giant nebulae. Shouldn't they have at least shown some sign of themselves?

Fortunately, there was still time left before our promised deadline.

"The promised week has already passed."

"What?"

Had I been asleep for that long?

"Today is the eleventh day. Did you not know at all?"

Cold sweat formed down my back.

Had that much time really passed?

Then why was this man still here? And besides...

[Your Incarnation body has temporarily regained stability.]

Why had my Incarnation body suddenly improved?

At first, I thought it was because I had absorbed a Fable Fragment through Lamarck's Giraffe, but that didn't seem to be the only reason.

It felt as though someone had reassembled the joints of my broken soul.

"You looked like you were about to die, so I lent a hand. That should let you hold on for another week or so."

This time, I truly thought I had misheard him.

Had the Monarch Slayer just said that?

"Did you save me?"

Jaehwan didn't answer.

Slightly moved and impressed, I asked, "You can use Story Repair too?"

"Story Repair?"

Come to think of it, he wouldn't use that term because his world was different.

"I merely applied a technique called [Deceased Slash]."

"[Deceased Slash]?"

"A technique I learned from an old man named Cheongheo of the God of Despair. It restores souls corrupted by time..."

Was he recalling an old memory?

Jaehwan's gaze deepened for an instant before returning to normal.

"Forget it. You wouldn't understand even if I explained."

"Precisely because I don't understand, I want to hear more."

"It's a boring story."

"I still want to hear it."

Jaehwan stared at me and said, "You're a strange one."

"I hear that often."

"That guy over there was just as strange as you."

That guy?

Following Jaehwan's gaze, I turned my head and saw Yu Junghyeok curled up atop a small floating rock.

But something about Junghyeok's condition was strange.

"Why did this strange guy get smaller?"

Junghyeok had turned into a child again. Perhaps he had fought an intense battle, because his coat was torn in several places and was repairing itself.

What on earth had happened?

"He challenged me."

I had no idea how many times I was going to doubt my ears today.

Junghyeok had challenged him? That man? Why?

Part of me thought Junghyeok was capable of doing something like that, but another part couldn't understand why he had made such a choice.

Junghyeok had a fiery temperament. However, his flames burned with endless coldness and calm. He wasn't someone who carelessly picked a fight he had no chance of winning.

Yet he had challenged Jaehwan, even accepting the side effect of becoming a child again.

"We made a bet."

"A bet?"

"I said that if he gave me even a small wound, I would save you."

Looking closely, I saw a faint wound on Jaehwan's cheek.

A shiver ran through me.

Junghyeok had succeeded. He had won a bet against that absolute being, who could even contend with Mythical Constellations.

No, wait. Did that mean what I saw in my dream had really happened?

I pressed a hand to my temple as I recalled Jaehwan and Junghyeok swinging swords naked.

What had Junghyeok been thinking?

He really could have died.

Why had he made a hopeless bet against someone who could tear us apart and kill us whenever he wanted?

"I hate regressors."

Jaehwan, seated on the floating rock and polishing his sword, spoke.

"I hate those who don't make an effort. I hate that rotten spirit of giving up on life without even fighting to the end."

It had been a long time since words had felt sharp enough to cut me. His anger was quiet and refined.

Jaehwan honed that anger within himself as he looked at me, then at Junghyeok again.

"He's an unusual one. He charged at me with the sincere intent to kill me. Even knowing he wasn't a match for me, he squeezed out every ounce of his strength and kept charging at me."

I recalled Junghyeok rushing at him like a beast with Fable Engraving activated.

He had told me this was his final round. He had said he could never regress again.

Even so, he had risked his life to face Jaehwan.

"Perhaps he has a reason he must save you."

The moment I saw Jaehwan's face, I knew it. He wasn't trying to talk about Junghyeok or me.

I recalled his history. The lines Fortuitous Encounter-hyung had written. It felt as though old events were coming alive in my mind through Jaehwan's voice.

"I had a companion too."

This was before Jaehwan was called the Monarch Slayer, when he climbed the dreadful Tower of Nightmares.

On the tower's final floor, he lost his longtime companion.

"He had received a wound that couldn't be healed."

Before the final floor of the tower, Jaehwan's only companion leaned against a window and looked at the sky.

The next floor, which only Jaehwan could walk.

Imagining the floor after that, and the one after that, his companion slowly reached into his pocket.

"In my world, there's an item called the Regression Stone."

The Regression Stone.

"It was an item that supposedly sent its user back to the past."

I knew that item existed too.

Jaehwan's companions had also used the item and abandoned their world.

"My companion, facing death, took that stone from his pocket. Even though he knew how much I hated it."

"And then?"

"He said he was sorry he couldn't go to the next floor with me."

"What did you say?"

"I told him to get lost immediately."

I gave a bitter smile.

"Did you have to say it so harshly? You said he was a precious companion."

"The stone he took out wasn't a Regression Stone."

His companion had made a choice. To ease Jaehwan's guilt, he had chosen to touch Jaehwan's deepest wound.

He had risked his own life to open the path for the Monarch Slayer.

"You believed your friend's lie for him."

Jaehwan didn't answer. He looked into the empty air again.

Before, I had no idea what he was looking at, but now I felt I could somewhat understand what scenery he saw within that void.

"Sometimes, I think about it. What if, instead of climbing the tower, I had somehow saved him?"

All people constantly regress to the past. They regret the choices they failed to make. Junghyeok and the Monarch Slayer were no different.

I looked down at the peacefully sleeping child Junghyeok.

It was ironic. Junghyeok of the 41st round had incurred the hatred of the Catastrophe of Floods for treating his companions like consumables.

And yet, that same Junghyeok had earned the Monarch Slayer's favor because he protected a companion.

Jaehwan continued.

"I owe a debt to someone named Yu Junghyeok."

"This guy?"

"No. Another Yu Junghyeok from a different worldline."

I blinked foolishly before suddenly coming to my senses.

"Could it be..."

Scenes rose in my mind.

Washington Dome. The trembling Void Curtain.

At the time, Demon King of Salvation had said Yu Junghyeok was beyond that Void Curtain.

The Yu Junghyeok of Kim Dokja Company, the one we remembered.

"Where is that Yu Junghyeok?"

"I don't know either. He went on a rampage like a madman, fought the stars, then vanished."

"Ah..."

"He brought me all the way here, then disappeared alone."

Huh?

"My abilities don't manifest properly here because this world is different. If it weren't for that bastard, I wouldn't be stuck in a place like this."

"Have you been wandering around because you got lost?"

Jaehwan said nothing for a moment.

"I never said that."

No one with no sense of direction thinks they have no sense of direction.

"I understand. Anyone would be confused in a place they're visiting for the first time."

Perhaps this was an opportunity Junghyeok had given me.

"Is there anywhere you'd like to go? You probably want to meet strong people, right? It may take some time, but if that's what you want, leave it to me. I'll guide you."

"You've completely lost my trust."

"But I know the Star Stream better than anyone."

It was true. In this world, the only person who knew more about the Star Stream than I did was Dokja.

And right now, I was Dokja.

"Where would you like to see? Olympus? Asgard? Ah, would you like to experience Journey to the West?"

I was babbling whatever came to mind, but I couldn't actually take Jaehwan there. No matter how strong he was, he wouldn't be able to protect us in the Nexus of the Constellations, where Mythical Constellations roamed freely.

If I had my way, I would follow behind him with Junghyeok and destroy the entire Star Stream, but Plausibility wouldn't work that way.

Still, I thought this meeting might become a fortuitous encounter for Junghyeok.

Junghyeok of the 41st round was a Junghyeok who would never regress again.

What would happen if the Monarch Slayer, who hated regression, taught Junghyeok?

If such a thing were possible, perhaps I would see the strongest Junghyeok in this world in this round.

That was when Jaehwan's expression changed as he listened to me. He slowly moved a hand to the hilt of his sword and began to spew terrifying Status.

I groaned and instinctively stepped back.

Damn it. Should I have just shut up and stayed still?

Then thunder rumbled from far away. Amid a roar that seemed to split the entire universe in half, Jaehwan smiled coldly.

Only then did I feel that something had gone wrong.

"It seems the guests you mentioned have finally arrived."

I quickly turned my head. An army of dazzling stars was approaching through the distant void.