WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 829: Episode 42: Destination (5)
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The doors of the Time Strata covered the entire space, densely filling even the heights above.
I approached the nearest one.
"Hey, Disciple. Don't go in. There's a prior guest in there."
I looked at the door marked [2-1].
The first number, 2, probably referred to the round of Yu Junghyeok's world.
And the 1 after it...
[The current Scenario, Proof of Value, is in progress.]
Was that the Scenario number?
A monitor hanging beside the door showed a subway car.
It was a sight I knew well.
―Kuaaaargh!
―Save me! Save me!
A woman with cold eyes sat amid the endlessly repeating scene of the first Scenario.
No one had to tell me. She was that world's prior guest.
"That friend says this place suits her best."
"..."
"The stratum itself isn't difficult, but that makes it all the more exhausting. She's got an unusual temperament."
According to Cheok Junkyung, every Transcendent entered the stratum they had chosen, spent time there, repeatedly trained, and attained enlightenment.
Some gained enlightenment by repeating the same actions or Scenarios. Others raised their realm by experiencing overwhelming stretches of time.
"In my opinion, she's half-crazy. She's probably even forgotten that she needs to come back out by now."
In fact, several figures looked as though they had forgotten that they were repeating Scenarios within a Time Stratum.
For instance, the Transcendent inside [6-21] looked to be in a serious state at a glance. Lifeless pupils. Drool running from the corner of their mouth.
They looked insane no matter how I saw them.
"That's what happens if you don't keep your head straight. In the end, those Time Strata are fables too."
"If I don't live a fable, the fable will live me."
Cheok Junkyung's eyes widened at my answer.
"Hoho, Disciple. You know some convincing lines too. That's something that slippery old One-Punch Invincible always said."
"Shouldn't we save those people?"
"They won't want saving."
"Why not?"
"Even in that state, they may be gaining enlightenment in their own way."
Enlightenment? Like that? They looked completely insane.
"Who knows what's happening in their heads?"
That was true. Perhaps they were drooling on the outside while, within, they leapt toward a lofty realm of enlightenment.
If I tried to save them for no reason, I might only get cursed out later.
"And in many cases, you can't enter at all because the limit is one person. Like that stratum just now."
Looking more closely, [6-21] had an entry limit of one.
In other words, no one could save that person even if they went mad in there.
"Entering a Time Stratum is everyone's own choice. You don't need to look at them one by one and pity them. That would be an insult to them instead."
I looked at the Transcendent drooling in the darkness and felt a little lonely.
People who had thrown away their entire lives solely to become stronger.
What complicated my feelings further was that the place where they had thrown away their lives was those Time Strata.
Perhaps every Transcendent was, in the end, a kind of Junghyeok.
Or someone who wanted to become Junghyeok.
"Can I enter too?"
"Looks like you're finally interested."
Cheok Junkyung chuckled as though he had expected that.
"But not yet. You haven't taken the Fear Compatibility Test."
"Fear Compatibility?"
"As you can see, most people who enter a Time Stratum can't maintain their Incarnation body. There are exceptions, of course. For example, if the same Incarnation body exists within that stratum. Like that old man over there."
Cheok Junkyung pointed to [16-59].
A boy sat cross-legged in hellfire on the screen from that round, devoted to his training.
I immediately recognized him.
One-Punch Invincible Yoo Hoseong.
He was the very man known as the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint's master.
In the main story, he had been on the Island of Reincarnators. Had he chosen to live in the Fear Realm in this round?
Cheok Junkyung continued.
"Anyway, the kinds of Time Strata you can enter depend on how high your Fear Compatibility is. Here, that is talent. No matter how powerful a Transcendent may be, they can't enter if their Fear Compatibility doesn't match."
"I see."
"The compatibility test is tomorrow. I'll tell you what you need to do then, so go in and get some proper rest today."
I nodded, but even after Cheok Junkyung left, I didn't leave immediately.
I quietly looked up at the vast Time Strata.
I didn't know why the Time Strata existed.
Still, there was one thing I could guess.
"Just how much did that bastard Dokja read?"
This world was ultimately sustained through Dokja's act of reading.
That meant all these Time Strata could also be the results of what Kim Dokja had read.
Perhaps those abnormally fragmented memories were the result of Dokja rereading this world from time to time.
Like opening a page in a book whenever the impulse struck, perhaps Dokja had read this world, read it, and read it again.
I counted the endless doors and thought.
Second Kim Dokja.
What are you looking for in this distant past of Junghyeok's?
* * *
The next day, I took the Fear Compatibility Test.
I didn't know why so many commander-level figures had gathered for a mere new recruit's aptitude test, but my masters were among them.
"We shall see whether you are worthy of the White Purity Sect."
"What's the point of checking that crap? Disciple! Ignore this pretty-boy bastard!"
Kyrios and Cheok Junkyung were still squabbling.
And then...
"You're here, Inho Cheon."
Anna Croft, who had been waiting at the test site, greeted me brightly.
"Are you here for that strange test too?"
"Yes. More or less."
"What exactly are they testing?"
"..."
"If the results mean being expelled from the Fear Realm..."
Anna Croft had betrayed her nebula and fled all the way here. If she were expelled from the Transcendence Alliance now, she would have nowhere left to go.
I looked at Anna for a moment before speaking.
"Don't worry."
"How can you say that in a situation like this..."
"You told me yourself. [Future vision] isn't all you're capable of."
Anna Croft was certainly an Incarnation specialized in information warfare compared to other notable Incarnations.
However, that didn't mean she lacked talent in every other area.
Anna looked at me silently, widened her eyes slightly, then turned away.
"I didn't expect to hear something like that from you..."
I grinned.
Well, sometimes encouragement from a villain like me could help.
Seen this way, Anna Croft had a somewhat cute side too.
A short while later, the Commander-in-Chief approached us.
"I am the God of Despair."
The Commander-in-Chief of the Transcendence Alliance was that same old man. The one who had welcomed me to the Transcendence Alliance.
The God of Despair...
I had heard that alias somewhere before.
"The test itself is simple. You only need to read the sentence written on the blank sheet I give you."
Anna Croft received the paper first.
Apparently, a sentence appeared on the blank sheet once the test began.
Cheok Junkyung, watching me from afar, waved and shouted.
"Disciple, don't be too intimidated! Reading even one word is impressive!"
"He's a newcomer who finally made it here. He should at least read one line."
"If he is a disciple of the White Purity Sect, he should be able to read two lines."
"Shut up, pretty boy."
Amid the noisy commanders, Anna's test began first.
"Ah."
A sentence must have appeared on the blank sheet.
A slight crease formed between Anna's brows.
The God of Despair asked.
"Can you read it?"
Anna Croft nodded, and a faint murmur passed through the Transcendents.
Apparently, merely being able to read it was remarkable here.
Anna took a light breath and slowly opened her mouth.
"The first sentence inscribed in the universe."
Her pronunciation was halting, as though she were reading an unfamiliar foreign language.
Anna tilted her head a few times before slowly finishing.
"Was not the first sentence."
The paper trembled lightly. A dazzling ring of light flowed out and hovered above Anna's head.
A brief silence followed.
Burdened by the silence, Anna slowly lifted her head. The Commander-in-Chief, God of Despair, stepped closer and asked.
"Can you read what comes next as well?"
Anna Croft lowered her head again and stared intently at the blank sheet.
One minute passed. Then two.
At last, Anna shook her head with an uncertain expression.
"No. I don't know."
"I see. You pass."
A small wave of admiration rose among the Transcendents.
"That young friend is quite capable."
"It's been a while since someone read the entire first sentence. When was the last time?"
"Didn't Goryeo's Top Swordsman fail to read even one sentence?"
"I read one too, you bastards."
Apparently, reading a full sentence in the Fear Compatibility Test was an exceptionally rare feat.
"It isn't easy to read the entire first sentence... At that level, we could deploy her straight into a Natural Disaster-grade Fear."
"Cut it out. Are you trying to feed every newcomer into the grinder again?"
"You grow by throwing yourself into things."
"Hey, you! Volunteer for the First Battalion!"
Once again, it was the God of Despair who calmed the noisy Transcendents.
"Now, now. Quiet down. The test isn't over yet."
The God of Despair handed me a blank sheet next.
Honestly, instead of feeling nervous, I felt strangely excited.
What was written here?
An item that had never appeared properly in the main story, not even in TWSA.
Perhaps this blank sheet contained a hint about Second Kim Dokja.
Soon, a sentence appeared on the paper.
I studied it closely, then carefully read the first sentence.
It was the same sentence Anna Croft had read.
"The first sentence inscribed in the universe was not the first sentence."
The moment I read the first sentence, a ring of light flowed from the paper and hovered above my head.
Once again, exclamations rose around me.
"What? He read it too?"
"Just as expected of my disciple!"
I stared blankly at the paper.
Anna Croft hadn't been able to see the next sentence.
Why? I could see it so clearly.
"Every sentence is but a dream of a fleeting moment, and the order of dreams is decided only by the one who dreams them."
With every sentence I read, more rings of light began to hover above my head.
"Some dreams are short, some long, some deep, some shallow. Some are pitiful, some great, and some shall be noble."
Before I knew it, silence had fallen over the area.
As though ringing through that silence, I continued to read.
"Since all those dreams cannot become a single Oldest Dream, there shall ultimately be a place where discarded dreams gather."
As I read, I gradually understood.
I see. This was...
"Beyond time and space, there shall exist an enormous house unbound by the laws of the dokkaebis. There, all dreams are free as Fears. In the Snowfield of incomprehensible dreams, the Great King of Fear shall wear a smile that is neither light nor darkness."
It was a story about the Fear Realm.
And...
"But all stories have endings, so one day, those who seek to record the end of Fear shall arrive."
It was the story of those who sought to record that Fear.
"Fear that begins to be recorded shall return to being a fable. It shall become a decided story. It shall once again be written into history."
The moment I read that far, someone muttered.
"Wait. Is it really okay for him to keep reading that?"
"Disciple! Stop! If you read even the final sentence..."
But it was already too late.
I couldn't take my eyes off the paper, and my mouth functioned only to read the sentences written upon it.
"On that day, the boundary of sleep shall open, and the Great King of Fear shall descend. And only the one who defeats the Great King of Fear shall..."
At last, I spoke the final sentence.
"At the boundary of dreams and reality, they shall become the final Streamer who denies all records."
When I slowly raised my head, I saw thirteen brightly glowing rings hovering above me.
The army of Transcendents, their faces pale, spoke toward me.
"My god. Someone can read all of that?"
"Just what is that bastard's Fear Compatibility..."
"Damn it, old man Cheongheo! Is that really okay? If things go wrong..."
Then, as though it had been waiting for this, a message rang through my mind.
[You have unlocked a previously unknown Fear.]
This paper itself seemed to be a kind of Fear.
The problem was the message that followed.
[You have interpreted End-grade Fear, Prophecy of the End.]
What grade?
[Interpretation Proposal: Fear Realm, go to hell. Second Kim Dokja, open the door.]
[The End Region's countdown begins now.]
Footnotes:
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