WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 820: Episode 41: Sophistry (4)
──────
Anna Croft’s eyes widened when she spotted me sitting in a seat.
“You.”
Her blond hair swayed lightly, and her eyes trembled with agitation. I gave her a small wave and grinned.
“It’s been a while.”
I never expected to meet her in a place like this. Her expression stiffened at my greeting, and after hesitating for a moment, she strode over.
“Inho Cheon.”
Someone who called me Inho Cheon.
“Why are you here?”
The Prophet Anna Croft.
She was in the same Fear Realm as me.
* * *
I never thought the day would come when I rode the subway with Anna Croft.
I recalled our last encounter. The last time I saw her had been at the Washington Dome.
Back then, I fell into Ginnungagap, a trap laid by Asgard, and borrowed the Demon King of Salvation’s power to slay Historical-grade Constellations.
Come to think of it, I owed Anna Croft from then. If she had not used her Attribute to process the low-grade Dragon Heart, the Demon King of Salvation and I would not have been able to summon Cheok Junkyung’s power through [Bookmark].
Now that I thought about it, Cheok Junkyung was here too. I did not know whether it was a coincidence, but things were unfolding rather strangely.
I pointed at the seat next to me.
“Have a seat.”
Anna Croft hovered there for a moment, clearly uncomfortable about sitting beside me. Then, wearing an expression that said she had no choice, she dropped into the seat.
“What are you plotting here this time?”
“I’m not plotting anything in particular.”
“What scheme are you up to this time...”
The moment our conversation reached that point, I felt the “gaze” I had experienced before.
「On the sub way」
Damn, again.
「spea king loud ly is」
My stomach churned, and a faint dizziness washed over me.
[Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall is currently active.]
Fortunately, I had experienced this once already, and [The Fourth Wall] was active, so I could endure it.
Anna Croft, however, apparently could not.
“Wh-what is this...?”
Anna Croft’s face had gone pale, and cold sweat was already pouring down her face. Even someone with a high-level Mental Barrier had been reduced to that state.
“Lower your voice.”
When I whispered to her, the surrounding gazes vanished as if they had never been there.
Anna Croft wiped away her sweat, breathing heavily.
“What was that just now?”
“Probably a Fear effect.”
A High-Crime Area had not yet formed in our car.
Considering that something similar had happened when I made a phone call and when I spoke with Anna Croft, this place seemed to be governed by the basic etiquette of public transportation.
For example:
Do not speak loudly on the phone or chatter.
Do not eat food.
Do not cause a disturbance.
Give up your seat for pregnant women, the elderly, and the infirm.
Anna Croft seemed to have caught on to the rules as well.
“Unusual rules govern this place.”
“They’re ordinary rules. Before the Scenarios arrived, this was normal.”
We sat side by side and watched a slice of daily life that we had forgotten.
The quiet sound of people breathing. Everyone staring down at screens no bigger than their hands.
It struck me anew. This was the ordinary world we knew. Back then, people had been trapped in their own worlds, and perhaps the Scenarios had dragged them out.
The “Scenario” Dokja had read.
When I glanced beside me, Anna Croft was also lost in a brief reverie. Perhaps sensing my gaze, she snapped back to herself and spoke coldly.
“I knew you were alive, but you seem far more intact than I expected.”
It seemed Anna Croft had already heard news about me.
“Isn’t it good that I’m intact?”
“No one could go through something like that and remain intact.”
“Did you hear some kind of rumor?”
“I heard giant nebulae chased you down and tore you to shreds.”
Torn to shreds.
It was not exactly wrong.
I had been the one who was already torn apart from the beginning.
“Well, I nearly was.”
“You have a remarkably persistent life force, surviving after that.”
“Coming back from death is one of my specialties. But why are you here?”
“Are you really asking because you don’t know?”
Something came back to me.
The last time I met Anna Croft, she had helped me even while defying her nebula, Asgard.
It was obvious what would happen to an Incarnation who defied their nebula.
“So you’re being pursued too.”
“Thanks to someone. I was planning to confront you at the Recycling Center, but...”
“Hmm, I didn’t see you there.”
“I didn’t think you would be insane enough to clear that place all the way through.”
“Did you come all the way to the Fear Realm chasing me?”
“Do I look like I have that much free time?”
“Then why did you enter the Fear Realm?”
“I’m no longer an Incarnation of Asgard. What options does an abandoned Incarnation have?”
“I see. You intend to become a Transcendent.”
It was the only path left for her after being abandoned by Asgard.
Anna Croft had come all this way to climb the ladder of advancement that mortals abandoned by the stars could attempt.
“Though seeing you here makes me think that has failed too.”
“Come on, let’s forget the past and get along. Then we can get out of here. You can become a Transcendent and get revenge on the stars. Let’s be friendly.”
Anna Croft muttered as though she could not believe me.
“Friendly? Do you think such a thing is possible between you and me?”
“I became companions with Yu Junghyeok. I can take someone like you in with my broad generosity.”
“Who do you think you are to...”
Anna Croft hurriedly stopped herself before she could raise her voice. The passengers were looking our way.
She sighed as if she were about to collapse, then asked again.
“Inho Cheon. Do you know anything about this Fear?”
I nodded and briefly told her what I knew.
Anna Croft nodded after hearing me.
“I expected it from the moment I saw the subway setting. Then we need to trigger a High-Crime Area to get out.”
“The opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“We need to find a way out without triggering a High-Crime Area.”
“Didn’t you say that method was unknown? With your ability, you should be able to become the final survivor even if you use a High-Crime Area.”
“Because you came along.”
Anna Croft looked startled for a moment.
“Because of me?”
“Inho Cheon of this worldline is rather kind.”
“You always talked like that before going after my back.”
“Cheok Junkyung is in the next car.”
“Cheok... Junkyung?”
“Does Goryeo’s Top Swordsman ring a bell?”
“Ah, surely not...”
Only then did Anna Croft seem to grasp the situation. Her face went pale.
“We’re dead.”
“That’s why I need your ability right now.”
Meeting Anna Croft now was a stroke of luck for me too. She was an Incarnation with an ability specialized for this Fear Realm.
“Can you see anything with [future vision]?”
Anna Croft could read the future through [future vision]. In other words, if we used her ability well, we could overcome whatever threatening Fear lay ahead.
However, Anna Croft’s expression was strange.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Since entering this place, my [future vision] has lost its power.”
Anna Croft glared at me briefly, as if she did not want to admit it, then added,
“It’s as if the entire future is shrouded in fog.”
That was unexpected.
She could not see the future. Why?
Thinking back, there had been several times in the main story when Anna Croft’s prophetic ability was blocked.
Why had that happened then?
Ah... Wait.
A hypothesis suddenly came to me.
To verify it, I checked Han Suyeong’s guide once again. Then, for some reason:
[Some spoilers in this document have been lifted.]
Parts of the text that had been marked as spoilers until moments ago were revealed.
+
A shared experience has been observed among all passengers who survived without using a High-Crime Area on this subway.
All passengers who successfully escaped stated that “the subway lights blinked three times.”
+
The subway lights blinked three times.
It was an incredibly crucial hint.
That meant we just had to make the subway lights blink three times somehow.
Should I cause a blackout?
“Inho Cheon.”
“What?”
“What are you looking at so intently?”
Anna Croft tilted her head slightly toward me. I hurriedly hid my phone.
“I was just reading a web novel.”
“A novel? You’re reading a novel in a situation like this? Are you insane?”
Anna Croft glared at me as if I were an insect, then soon looked resigned.
“I used to read a lot of novels too.”
At that moment, my vision went dark for an instant before returning. My mind felt numb.
What was that? What had just happened?
Anna Croft looked surprised too. She quickly looked around and murmured quietly.
“Was that a blackout?”
The word blackout made my thoughts brighten instead.
“Anna Croft. Please continue what you were saying.”
“What do you mean? About the blackout?”
“No, about novels.”
“What does that have to do with anything right now...?”
“Listen to me.”
My serious tone made Anna Croft hesitate, but she forced herself to nod.
“But I’m not sure what else I should say...”
“Hmm.”
It occurred to me anew that this person was quite poor at conversation.
Then again, she was a Prophet.
A being who could read the past and future. In one sense, a character as omniscient as Dokja.
Would a prophet, who learned someone’s shame and secrets before even becoming close to them, ever need to make an effort to form deep relationships?
Every human probably looked like a character with the plot of their past and future laid out before her.
Thinking that way, I could understand Anna Croft’s attitude toward her companions as well.
Fortunately, I was a person with more social skills than Dokja or Anna Croft.
“Do you have a favorite author?”
“Ah.”
Anna Croft nodded belatedly.
“I do.”
“Who?”
“Ted Chiang, Charles Yu, Liu Cixin. And...”
I smiled as though I had expected that.
Of course. Anna would not read web novels.
Perhaps she mistook the meaning of my smile, because Anna Croft spoke indignantly.
“Are you laughing at my reading tastes?”
“No, I just smiled because they suit you.”
“Who do you like?”
“My favorite author is...”
I looked at the glowing words on my smartphone screen and murmured,
“Someone named Han Suyeong.”
Anna Croft softly repeated, “Han Suyeong,” then tilted her head.
“I’ve never heard of that author. Is this author famous in Korea?”
“In some worldlines.”
Anna Croft tilted her head for a moment, as if imagining a worldline where Han Suyeong was famous.
Meanwhile, I stared at the overhead lights.
The lights trembled as they shone uncertainly, seeming as though they might dim but never quite doing so.
They nearly blinked. What a shame.
Was that still not enough?
Then I had no choice but to use my trump card.
“Anna Croft. I’m giving you a role from now on.”
“Excuse me?”
“You are Korean from now on, and your name is Kim Anna.”
“What?”
“Ms. Kim Anna, do you speak Spanish?”
Kim Anna gave me her usual incredulous look, then answered as though she had no choice but to play along.
“A little.”
“¿Puede prestarme dinero?”
Kim Anna asked with a dumbfounded expression.
“Why are you suddenly asking me to lend you money?”
“Can you recommend an app for me?”
“An app?”
“Something for studying Spanish.”
“Inho Cheon. What kind of nonsense are you talking about right now?”
“Inho has a life as Inho.”
“What?”
“And Anna has a life as Anna.”
At that moment, the lights flickered again.
A thrill rose inside me.
As expected, I was right.
Anna Croft asked in a bewildered voice,
“What did you just do?”
“Be quiet.”
Now I was sure.
I looked around at the passengers and muttered. I did not know whether that person was among them or outside this space.
“We’re being watched by an audience.”
Someone was watching us here.
“What does that...?”
“You remember what the first Scenario was, right?”
The first Scenario was to kill one living creature.
That Scenario was called Proof of Value.
Proof of Value.
Every Incarnation had to prove their “value” to “someone” through the first Scenario.
Anna looked around uneasily, her expression stiffening.
“Could it be? Are Constellations watching us?”
“Not Constellations.”
“Then who?”
“I don’t know. But one thing is clear. It seems we need to entertain that person to get out.”
The subway lights had flickered twice so far. Both times, they had flickered when I parodied developments from the main story.
However, there was nothing else from the main story left to parody. I had even used my trump card, “A Reader Has a Reader’s Life.”
According to the main story’s progression, the next thing was the Scenario beginning.
That meant a High-Crime Area had to open.
“Then the High-Crime Area...”
“Was probably the easiest way to entertain someone.”
In truth, I had a vague idea of who that “someone” might be.
「At least this Fear is connected to Kim Dokja.」
After all, the only person who would enjoy a parody of the main story would be Kim Dokja or a Kim Dokja Fragment.
If so, the way to make the subway lights blink was simple.
I just needed to start a story that would make even that Kim Dokja curious.
“Anna Croft.”
Fortunately, I was with someone who knew one such story.
“I want to know exactly what happened in the 40th round.”
This was something I had been curious about too.
Anna Croft puffed out one cheek, then released it.
“Inho Cheon. What are you plotting? If you mean the previous round, I should be the one asking you.”
“I lost my memories of that round, so I don’t know. What happened. What I did. Why you and Yu Junghyeok hate me so much.”
It was a story I should have learned long ago but had kept putting off.
“I know nothing. That’s why I want to know.”
As I steadied my breathing, an old memory suddenly came to mind.
A red coat. A Demon King’s wings.
The being the stars called the Devilish Sophist.
Two blades that crossed to kill each other.
Perhaps it was a question I should have asked much sooner. To meet the Second Kim Dokja, to become proper companions with Yu Junghyeok, to resolve this Fear, I had to...
“Who in the world was Inho Cheon of the 40th round?”
First, I had to know exactly who I was.
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
