WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 814: Episode 40: The Reign of Fear (6)
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By my estimate, there were two possible reasons why that “traffic light” did not change.
First, because the concept of normal time did not exist within the Fear Realm.
Second, because that traffic light was “special.”
I heard the sound of teeth grinding behind me again. Either way, I did not have much time left.
[Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv. 10 has activated!]
For now, I had to try something.
I urgently shouted at the traffic light.
“From now on, you can perceive ‘time’!”
If the green light would not turn on because of the concept of time, I thought this [Incitement] would surely work. However, the traffic light did not change.
Fine, then how about this?
“You are a ‘traffic light with a green light on’!”
I thought this was a much more certain method. One second, two seconds, three seconds. This time, too, the traffic light did not change.
Damn it, was it not working?
Did [Incitement] lack Plausibility?
Was it because it was an inanimate object without an ego?
Or did the beings inside this Fear Realm have some kind of immunity to my [Incitement]?
I was curious, but I had no time to dwell on it.
If the first method did not work, it was time to use the second.
「A traffic light whose signal does not change.」
If that traffic light was a “special traffic light,” there had to be some kind of rule. And I thought I knew what that rule was.
I slowly closed my eyes and breathed heavily.
A few seconds passed like that.
Though my eyes were closed, my vision suddenly seemed to grow clear. Then, as if by magic, another traffic light appeared beside me.
It was paired with the traffic light across from me.
I slowly approached it and examined the pole. There was the button I had expected.
「Audio Signal Device for the Visually Impaired」
It was there! Just as I thought!
Without hesitation, I pressed the button. A strange sound began to come from the traffic light.
【Those with impaired vi sion, rai se your ri ght hand and cro ss.】
The mechanical voice was rather unsettling, but I still felt the thrill of having guessed correctly.
Just as I raised my right hand and was about to take my first step.
[Exclusive Attribute Record Mender is warning you.]
My instincts, honed through years of writing, warned me. If I took that first step, I would be torn apart miserably like those Incarnations earlier.
「This is not the correct interpretation of this “Fear.”」
For some reason, I had a strong feeling that was true.
Then what had I missed?
It did not take long to think of it.
[Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv. 10 has activated!]
The traffic light had said, “Those with impaired vision, raise your right hand and cross.”
I could not use [Incitement] to instill the concept of time in the traffic light.
But what if the target was “me?”
「I cannot see.」
At the same time as [Incitement], darkness swallowed my vision. In total darkness, where no light could seep through, I raised my right hand and began taking trembling steps.
Step, step, step.
My footsteps sounded louder than usual. Was this right? If I kept walking like this, could I cross the entire crosswalk? Would a car rush at me from somewhere and hit me?
The fear that I might be wrong. That inorganic helplessness left me breathless.
After taking a few more steps, my hearing gradually replaced the sight I had lost. Another world made of sound existed there.
The sounds that had been tangled together began separating one by one in the sharp darkness.
The sound of me breathing. The sound of my footsteps. The dry rustle of my clothes. The sound of the shark-head clacking its teeth.
And... and the sound of someone walking alongside me.
【You’re doing well.】
Goosebumps rose across my body.
Who was that? Who was speaking?
Terrified, I crossed the crosswalk in an instant. When I had completed every step I had set in my mind and opened my eyes, I was already far beyond the crosswalk.
[Exclusive Skill Incitement Lv. 10 has deactivated.]
The one who had spoken to me was nowhere to be seen.
What had that been?
Had it been an auditory hallucination?
[Catastrophe-grade Fear Alien Traffic Light has been unlocked.]
[You have perfectly interpreted a Catastrophe-grade Fear.]
[Interpretation successful!]
[Interpretation Proposal: Sometimes, merely closing your eyes allows you a glimpse of another world.]
[The Fear Realm is satisfied with your interpretation.]
+
[A special interpretation reward has been granted.]
I received an interpretation reward again.
However, unlike before, this time it was a “special interpretation reward.”
The Fable Fragment I had received after clearing the first gate was “Fictionalization.” Honestly, even its name was so abstract that I had no idea where to use that Fable Fragment.
The reward I received this time was different.
[You have acquired the Fable Fragment Remote Signal Controller.]
When I summoned the fable, a small remote control immediately appeared before me.
I gripped the remote. Somehow, I felt as though I knew how to use it.
The shark-head, which had been charging toward me while spewing black smoke, was shaking its head from side to side and looking around. It seemed to have lost track of my position.
“Over here, you bastard!”
The thing heard my voice and began charging toward me again.
Straight toward the traffic light I had crossed.
I slowly backed away, checking the distance between us.
Come a little closer. Just a little closer.
The moment it finally reached the crosswalk, the thing that had been charging like a mad bull suddenly stopped.
Both its eyes were fixed directly on the traffic light.
For a moment, I was dumbfounded.
Damn it, even that shark-head obeyed traffic signals?
Fine, then.
「This is a fable that can freely control the “traffic lights” of the Fear Realm.」
When I pressed the button on the remote, the traffic light changed to “green.”
As if it had been waiting, the thing began crossing the crosswalk. Once it was halfway across, I pressed the button again without hesitation.
Then, the next moment.
Crack.
What I had expected happened right before my eyes. Something flew in with a deafening roar and struck the thing.
Crunch. Thud. Craaack.
Horrific rupturing sounds burst from its entire body.
【Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah】
I covered my ears but did not look away from the scene of catastrophe. Its true body was being torn to shreds in real time. Holes opened across the giant shark’s body, and spikes burst out. Broken fangs and molars flew through the air.
However.
【Ooooooooooh】
It did not die.
Instead, it took one step at a time toward me.
Tenacious and terrifying vitality.
It seemed this level of “Fear” was not enough to kill it.
【I’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteethI’llpulloutyourteeth】
Then again, even “Fear” was not omnipotent. No matter how terrifying a fear was, it could only manifest through its own Plausibility.
If terrifying beings such as Mythical-grade Constellations revealed their Status, the laws beneath their grade would not be able to fully exert their original power.
And that Outer God looked stronger than even a Fabled-grade Constellation.
【Myteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurtmyteethhurt】
No, if your teeth hurt, then stop chasing me.
I started running with all my strength. While it was caught by the traffic light, I had to get as far away as possible.
As I ran, I tried to think of a way to kill that Outer God, but no plausible method came to mind. For now, the best option was to use the fears hidden within the Fear Realm to shake it off.
「There are three fears I can use in the “Entry Area” of the Fear Realm.」
I counted the number of forks in the road I had passed.
「After passing the seven forks in the Entry Area, “that place” appears.」
As I expected, the traffic light’s “intersection” had been the seventh.
Sure enough, after I passed the final fork, the side path gradually seemed to widen.
After running a few hundred more meters.
[The Nameless Fear is looking at you.]
There was a tunnel lit by ominous lights.
Catastrophe-grade Fear, 「Festival Tunnel」.
It looked like a place I truly did not want to enter. Even so, I had to go in there.
Because the “Fear” I was looking for was inside that tunnel.
「A total of seven “Fears” are hidden inside the “Festival Tunnel.”」
This tunnel was a “Fear that hides fears.”
It was a Fear that served only to hide other fears.
I immediately activated [Way of the Wind] and ran toward the tunnel. The moment I entered it, the first Fear greeted me.
[The Nameless Fear is chasing you!]
A small crack began spreading across the floor.
Catastrophe-grade Fear, 「Racing Crack」.
This crack appeared the moment someone entered the tunnel. If someone ran slower than the spreading crack, the tunnel floor would immediately cave in and swallow them.
Of course, the crack could not be faster than me after I activated [Way of the Wind].
After running around a hundred steps, several of the light bulbs embedded in the tunnel ceiling began flickering.
[The Nameless Fear is watching you!]
Disaster-grade Fear, 「Lightbulb That Turns Off the World」.
I calmly adjusted my direction as I ran and avoided the light bulbs.
I absolutely could not approach a flickering bulb.
What would happen if I did?
I'd disappear.
What happened after I disappeared was not written in TWSA, either.
After that, I saw a few more fears.
A woman in white mourning clothes pacing along the edge of the tunnel.
A motorcycle rushing in from the direction opposite to where I was running after a delay.
I ignored them and continued running.
【Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth! Tooth!】
Before I knew it, the shark-head had chased me to the tunnel entrance.
Torn to shreds by the traffic light, it let out a monstrous scream as it charged forward, gnawing through and half-destroying the entire tunnel.
Craaash!
The sound of the shark-head’s teeth tearing apart and swallowing something rang out one after another. But I had no time to turn around and see what it was.
It should be around here. It had to be here. Why could I not see it?
Disaster-grade Fear, 「War Air-Raid Shelter」.
That was the name of the Fear I was looking for.
This Fear was the only “safe Fear” discovered by the Fear Realm expedition party in the Entry Area. As long as one stayed inside the shelter, they received absolute protection from outside enemies.
However, the shelter could only be used for three hours.
After three hours, its user would be forcibly expelled.
I planned to get inside somehow, buy time, and devise my next strategy.
However, I could not see the shelter.
It was strange. TWSA had clearly said it was around here.
Then a piece of information flashed through my mind.
「The expedition parties from the three most recent Fear Realm Expeditions did not return.」
What if something unusual had happened to the Fear Realm Expedition in this worldline?
What if many of the fears in the Fear Realm’s Entry Area had been replaced with ones I did not know?
And therefore.
「What if the “War Air-Raid Shelter” no longer existed?」
The sound of teeth clacking came from directly behind me. The shark-head’s hot breath tickled the back of my head.
A speed I could not escape even with [Way of the Wind].
Cold sweat ran down my back.
I could not die here.
I ran and ran. My breath grew ragged, and my Mana was dropping. Perhaps because I was running so desperately, my heart began to ache sharply.
Wait. My heart?
Bzzzz.
Since when had the smartphone in my coat pocket been vibrating? It was a call.
Goosebumps rose over me again.
Since entering this world through Possession, not once had anyone called me.
What kind of “Nameless Fear” was this now?
However, the moment I checked the caller’s name on the screen, I thought it would be fine even if this was a Fear.
「Second Kim Dokja」
I answered the call.
Footnotes:
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