WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 812: Episode 40: The Reign of Fear (4)
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The entrance to the Fear Realm I was aiming for was at the side of the Great Hole where the Outer God Shark Head, a name I had given it, had appeared.
【Nisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeumnisong-eogeutgeum】
The Outer God’s head began vibrating unpleasantly when it spotted me. I hadn’t realized it while hiding behind Teacher Jaehwan, but seeing a being like this up close honestly made me feel like I was going insane.
Still, I didn’t think I would die.
Had I grown bolder from following Teacher Jaehwan around?
Or was it because,
[Fable Heir to an Eternal Name responds to your actions.]
[Fable Heir to an Eternal Name begins its story as if displeased.]
This was the kind of thing Dokja would do?
Fierce blood surged through every vein in my body, and courage unlike anything I had felt before rose within me.
[Fable Demon King of Salvation nods.]
Of course, that didn’t mean I intended to die like Dokja.
“I’m not dying, you bastard!”
[Fable Demon King of Salvation tilts its head.]
Fangs poured from the Shark Head’s mouth. The falling fangs became Fang Soldiers in midair and charged at me.
I swung the Blade of Faith at them. Just as Dokja had once done, I drew a stroke through the air, following the sword strike he had wielded and the method he had taught me.
Crunch!
The Fang Soldiers shattered.
Honestly, killing the Shark Head Outer God would be difficult, but even I could handle its lackeys.
I might not look like much, but I was one of the Kim Dokjas, too. Though the complete Status of the Demon King of Salvation had not yet manifested, I could still wield power comparable to that of a Historical-grade Constellation.
The Outer God seemed to realize this and twisted its enormous jaws.
Crrrack.
Its mouth opened, gradually sealing the rift leading into the Fear Realm. By the time I realized what was happening, its dense fangs had completely blocked the rift in the Hole.
There was only one way.
I had to break through.
Should I use [Bookmark]? However, there was a limit to the characters I could summon.
Who could pierce that thing’s jaws and take me beyond the Fear Realm?
A few characters came to mind, but I wasn’t certain. No, there was one person I was certain of.
Incidentally, that person was currently,
“Did you say your name was Kim Dokja?”
Standing right behind me.
I felt a sharp gaze sweep over the White Pure Star Energy coating the Blade of Faith.
“Are you Kyrios’s disciple?”
“I am a self-proclaimed disciple. Like that kid.”
I grinned and looked down.
Little Yu Junghyeok was somehow using Air Walking to leap up here with his immature body.
The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint was looking at the same sight.
“Will you now grant me the right to speak of the martial world as well?”
I didn’t know what the martial world was. However, not knowing the martial world didn’t mean I didn’t know the people who lived there.
“Run! Quickly!”
“This way! Everyone...!”
I saw Cheon Gae of the Dragon Head Ark, bleeding as they evacuated people, and the Divine Physician caring for patients behind them.
The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint, who had been looking at the same scene as me, spoke.
“Tell me.”
“As I said, I don’t know exactly what the martial world is.”
“Are you avoiding the question?”
“Someone lost their sect here, while someone else saved an Exile who was dying here. All those things happened in forests bearing the same name. But are those forests truly the same place?”
“...”
“In truth, everyone lives in a different forest. Yet the people here all call their own forest the ‘martial world.’”
The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint looked down without answering.
There were trees there. They weren’t as numerous as before, but they were clearly trees trying to become a forest.
“That is why I don’t know the martial world. Perhaps I never will. Even so, the reason I want to protect it is...”
I added as I deflected the blades of the incoming Fang Soldiers.
“Because there are foolish people who want to protect this place even though, like me, they don’t know what the ‘martial world’ is.”
The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint didn’t answer for a while.
She seemed to be looking at the Outer God, or perhaps the people. She seemed to be looking at the forest, or perhaps the trees.
Perhaps she was looking at nothing at all.
Or perhaps she was looking only at me.
“They are people unrelated to you.”
“That is why it’s more of a problem. They’re about to die because of me.”
“Is that your chivalry?”
I hesitated.
I had never considered whether this was chivalry or not.
However, that Shark Head Outer God had followed my fables all the way here. Therefore, I at least had an obligation to take it somewhere else.
“If even this pathetic chivalry counts as chivalry, will you help me?”
The Sky-Splitting Sword Saint didn’t answer my question.
Instead, she answered with her actions.
With the giant’s single step, I felt the martial world stir.
“Little star. Your chivalry is nothing but an illusion.”
Sky-Splitting sword aura rippled from the tip of her sword.
The Sky Splitter Sword Art was practical swordsmanship.
Like gathering consonants and vowels to form words, then gathering words to form sentences, it was swordsmanship made from sword trajectories rigorously tested one stroke at a time.
A design created solely to shatter the sky hung with those stars.
“Then prove it yourself.”
The owner of that design raised her sword to help me.
That meant there was, at least, a sight she wished to see beyond the uncharted path I would take.
“At the place where your Fear awaits.”
Just as I had chosen, she had chosen as well.
To give this martial world we had agreed upon at least one more chance.
「That sword was born to tear apart the sky hung with stars.」
The moment majestic Sky-Splitting Mana dyed the sky like a sunset, a thunderbolt rose from her sword.
The scattering Sword Lightning tore apart the surrounding air, then shattered the Outer God’s teeth and opened a small hole through its cheek.
As if the wound hurt, the Outer God twisted its body violently.
【T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■! T■ n■!】
As a head-splitting constellation's declaration flooded the sky, I released my Status with all my strength and gave the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint one last farewell.
“Thank you.”
The Way of the Wind, used at full force, unfolded before me.
Beyond the shattered gums of the Outer God, the rift to the Fear Realm was open.
Yu Junghyeok’s shout came from far away.
As my vision gradually distorted, I said,
―Don’t follow me. Your body will recover after just one day, won’t it?
―You bastard!
Even if Junghyeok followed me now, he would only get in the way. Junghyeok himself probably knew that better than anyone.
So this was not only for me. It was also for Junghyeok.
―We’ll meet again soon.
With a raging storm of air, I felt the rift swallow me.
[The connection to Midday Tryst has been temporarily severed.]
Soon, pitch-black darkness swallowed me.
[You have entered the Fear Realm.]
I had finally entered.
The Fear Realm.
* * *
The first thing that struck me upon entering the Fear Realm was a terrifying chill that seemed capable of freezing even my thoughts.
[Nameless Fear is invading you.]
My breathing gradually became constricted. My hands and feet trembled, and my head spun.
I realized the Scenario had already begun. If I simply stayed like this, I would surely die.
However, there was nothing I could do.
Left and right, front and back, above and below.
No matter where I looked, there was only pitch-black darkness. Endless darkness.
And “me,” whose presence was gradually growing fainter.
I began to retch.
Suddenly, I could hear nothing. I couldn’t even feel my breathing.
The only thing there was infinity.
And.
And.
【The universe】.
TWSA described this fear as follows.
「It was the cosmic horror humanity confronted for the first time.」
As I had mentioned before, TWSA did not contain detailed information about the Fear Realm either.
However, “detail” was a somewhat relative concept here.
Put simply, the concept of “detail” in TWSA presupposed that it was written so an ordinary human named Kim Dokja could butcher Ground Rats like Yu Junghyeok.
What that meant was,
「Before that great Fear, this is what a “player” who has just entered the Fear Realm must do.」
TWSA did contain basic guidance on the Fear Realm.
「Calmly breathe in and blink your eyes at regular intervals.」
I hurriedly inhaled.
Once, twice, three times.
As I inhaled, I blinked at regular intervals.
Once, twice, three times.
Even when I couldn’t feel myself breathing, even when I couldn’t feel myself blinking, I trusted the text.
I trusted only the text and followed its instructions.
How many times had I repeated this?
At last, I felt my existence faintly regenerate within the darkness.
I existed.
I was here.
I was thinking of TWSA here.
「Relax your gaze as though looking at a distant object, and blink as though taking a photograph.」
I thought of a small planet blooming in the darkness.
The planet where I was born.
A pale blue dot.
That dot was there.
There were people there who thought of me.
As I thought of that, the fear gradually faded. As the fear disappeared, my vision became clearer.
As my vision became clearer, the universe I sensed began to narrow.
My world existed only as far as I could see.
If I didn’t exist, then neither did the world.
No, perhaps the world had not yet been made in the places I couldn’t see.
At least, that was what I believed.
[Catastrophe-grade Fear: The Universe Is an Infinitely Expanding Prison has been unlocked.]
[You have interpreted the Catastrophe-grade Fear without difficulty.]
I gasped as I exhaled.
I could hear again. I could feel my breathing.
[Interpretation successful!]
[Interpretation proposal: Perhaps the world is a fiction created anew each time you blink.]
[The Fear Realm accepts your interpretation.]
+
[An interpretation reward has been granted.]
The interpreted Fear soon became a fable.
[Fable Fragment Fictionalization has been acquired.]
Holding that crude interpretation in my hands, I looked around while cold sweat ran down my body.
A faint path had appeared beneath my feet, where there had been nothing but pitch-black darkness until now.
[The Main Scenario has resumed.]
Countless people seemed to have already passed through that path, for large and small footprints densely covered it.
[You have become a Fear Realm Entrance Explorer.]
I had barely passed one hurdle.
With this, I had gained the right to explore the Fear Realm.
[Additional Scenario details have been revealed.]
+
<Fear Realm Exploration Guidelines>
- To complete the Main Scenario, you must successfully complete the Fear Realm Exploration.
- The Fear Realm is divided into the Entrance Area, Middle Area, and Final Area.
- You are currently located in the Fear Realm’s Entrance Area.
- Your current Exploration Rate: 10%
- Every Fear has an interpretation. Find a plausible interpretation and raise your Fear Exploration Rate.
+
I had only interpreted one Fear, yet my Exploration Rate had risen by a full 10%.
To someone who didn’t know better, exploration might seem fairly easy.
In truth, it wasn’t.
I had been able to overcome the first Fear because I already knew what that Fear was.
According to the Record, ninety-seven of the hundred martial artists who first crossed into the Fear Realm had died without overcoming the very first Catastrophe-grade Fear.
You might ask whether it was fine now that there was a strategy.
That was something only someone unfamiliar with the Fear Realm would say.
For example, one of the Fear Realm’s shittiest traits was this.
+
- Warning. One of the Exploration Guidelines above is a lie.
+
Even the contents of the Scenario could not be trusted here.
Footnotes:
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