WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 830: Episode 42: Destination (6)
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My nickname became "End" after that day. It made sense, since a countdown started appearing above my head the next day.
[Remaining Time: 28 days, 3 hours]
No matter how I looked at it, it meant one thing.
In 28 days and 3 hours, this Final Area of the Fear Realm would be destroyed.
"Hey, I heard that bastard brought an end to the Fear Realm?"
And I happened to be the lunatic who had pressed the destruction button.
"Is it true he unlocked an End-grade Fear?"
"Wow, you really do live long enough to see everything. He read that entire paper?"
But this was unfair to me too. How was I supposed to know? I just liked reading.
I had only read it because I was Kim Dokja.
"So that paper can't be used anymore?"
"What reward did he get? He must have received one for interpreting it."
A reward. Of course I got one.
[You have acquired Fable Fragment, Murim Dumplings Recipe.]
Honestly, I wondered if this was really the reward for interpreting an End-grade fable.
Then again, it might have been a valuable Fable Fragment. As far as I knew, that recipe had already been lost.
I should give it to Junghyeok when I saw him later.
"Mr. Kim End."
I turned, wondering what bastard had come to pick a fight this time, and found Anna Croft standing before me with two cups of coffee. It was a refreshing sight.
"Yes, Ms. Kim Anna."
"You look idle."
Anna, who was now openly picking fights with me, handed me a coffee.
The coffee I drank in the Fear Realm was far more bitter than any coffee I knew.
Naturally.
It was Fear Coffee. Black liquid with the bizarre effect of temporarily raising one's resistance to Fear.
"Yes, I'm so idle my head feels like it'll burst. Is the work manageable?"
Three days had already passed since we entered the Fear Realm. During those three days, Anna, who had joined the First Battalion, had already been sent into five Time Strata.
"Yes. It was better than I expected."
She had not yet been sent into a Time Stratum alone because she was still new, but Anna Croft's recent accomplishments had become the talk of the desolate Final Area.
In particular, her [future vision] had worked perfectly in several Time Strata, and the Prophet's reputation was soaring among the Transcendents again.
"You seem happy. It's like you got a job at the company you always wanted to join."
"You're mistaken."
Anna Croft hurriedly stiffened her expression before adding,
"By the way, Inho Cheon. You still haven't been assigned to a single mission."
"That's because I'm so outstanding."
I had unlocked an End-grade Fear before I was even sent into a Time Stratum, so naturally the Transcendents would not welcome me. It would be a disaster if they sent me somewhere and I unlocked another End-grade Fear by mistake.
So the reason I was stuck in the cafeteria was essentially disciplinary action. The fate of a new employee who caused trouble as soon as they joined the company.
Let me say it again, this was unfair to me too.
Who would want to do that?
Besides, the company I wanted to join was Kim Dokja Company, not the Transcendence Alliance.
"Our captain asks about you often."
The First Battalion captain... Kyrios Lordgrime?
"So did you tell him I was the worst villain you knew?"
I had said it as a joke, but Anna's reply was unexpectedly serious.
"I told him you are someone who keeps destroying the common sense of the future I was certain of."
For a moment, I did not know what to say, so I only fiddled with my coffee cup. It seemed Anna Croft was genuinely concerned about me.
"So get yourself together. You don't intend to let the End Region be destroyed like this, do you?"
I nodded.
"I don't intend to. The problem is that I don't have enough clues about what I need to do to stop the end."
Ever since joining the Transcendence Alliance, I had lost contact with First Kim Dokja. I could not even call him to ask questions.
Still, it was not as though I had no clues at all.
「On that day, the boundary of sleep shall open, and the Great King of Fear shall descend.」
If my guess was right, the Great King of Fear mentioned in the Prophecy of the End referred to Second Kim Dokja.
How did I know?
「In the Snowfield of incomprehensible dreams, the Great King of Fear shall wear a smile that is neither light nor darkness.」
"A smile that is neither light nor darkness."
It was clearly an expression referring to Second Kim Dokja's modifier, Watcher of Light and Darkness.
My questions began there.
Why did Second Kim Dokja appear in the prophecy as the Great King of Fear? And why did the prophecy describe his arrival as the Prophecy of the End?
Everything was full of questions.
Would the world turn upside down just because Second Kim Dokja appeared?
"Isn't it strange?"
I asked absently.
"What is strange?"
"If the prophecy is certain, this Final Area will be destroyed in exactly 28 days."
"Probably."
"That is the strange part."
"What is?"
"The countdown to the end has begun. Look at those people."
I looked where Anna pointed. Transcendents with cheerful faces stood in line, piling dumplings onto their plates. It was quite a sight. The rulers of a world, beings even Constellations could not carelessly provoke, standing in line to receive dumplings.
Cheok Junkyung was even shouting in a hearty voice, "Owner! One dumpling here is smaller than the others!"
"They must like the dumplings."
"Inho Cheon. Do those people look like people facing the end?"
"They are Transcendents."
"Even so, it is an End-grade Fear. I asked the captain, and he said that no End-grade Fear that has appeared so far has ever been properly resolved."
None had ever been resolved?
"He said the only thing one could do with an End-grade Fear was accept it. That is why it is called the End, a Fear no one can escape."
If Kyrios himself, the one who had grown so huge, said that, it was probably true.
"Then why are they all so cheerful?"
At my question, the clever Ms. Anna looked at me as though I were pathetic.
"I think that is something you should find out."
"Why? Help me out."
"It is something even my [future vision] cannot see. However..."
Fortunately, it seemed our Kim Anna had noticed something.
Watching steam rise from the dining area, Anna slowly opened her mouth.
"When I look at them, I get the feeling that they have already experienced destruction once."
Listening to Anna, I blankly watched the Transcendents' backs.
Among them were Cheok Junkyung, Goryeo's Top Swordsman, who was even more boisterous than I remembered, and Kyrios, who had grown far larger than I remembered.
I also saw Cheongheo, the God of Despair and Commander-in-Chief, watching them from afar, along with the deputy commanders of the Zero Battalion and First Battalion at his side.
I watched them for a moment before speaking.
"That is good advice."
"Yes?"
People who had already experienced destruction.
I smiled like Kim Dokja at Anna Croft, whose eyes had widened.
"I think I found a lead."
* * *
Deep on the first floor of the industrial complex where the Transcendence Alliance resided was the Room of Time Strata.
It was the very room Cheok Junkyung had first brought me to.
The deputy commander of the Zero Battalion, who happened to be guarding the room, greeted me.
"Newcomer. You are here again."
"Yes."
"There are no Resolution Tasks available for you today either."
"That's fine. I only came to look around."
The Transcendence Alliance had Resolution Tasks every week.
For example, they looked like this.
「Defeat Catastrophe-grade Fear, "One Who Walks Backward," which appeared in [2-16th round] (incomplete).」
「Defeat Disaster-grade Fear, "One Who Eats Dragons," which appeared in [22-14th round] (currently in progress).」
「Defeat Natural Disaster-grade Fear, "Founder of the Absolute Throne," which appeared in [124-24th round] (currently on hold).」
According to the Transcendents, these tasks were a kind of earthquake that occurred in Time Strata.
Outer Gods, otherworldly deities, or Fears wandered the Star Stream in search of somewhere to hide, then became parasites in a Time Stratum. From there, problems spread across the whole stratum.
The Transcendents of the Transcendence Alliance took responsibility for managing the Time Strata by removing such anomalies.
Kuuoooooh!
On the screen, Cheok Junkyung cut off the head of One Who Eats Dragons. It was the bold swordsmanship one would expect from Goryeo's Top Swordsman.
―That bastard drank a great deal of dragon blood. Everyone, bring out the alcohol. Today, we will make dragon liquor!
Since I belonged to the Third Battalion, I should have been participating in that hunt. But after the End-grade Fear incident, I had been restricted from entering Time Strata. Thanks to that, all I could do was watch other strata from here.
Well, it could not be helped. I could not force my way into a stratum when the Transcendents said no.
So what had I been doing for the past few days?
"Are you here to watch footage again?"
"Yes."
"Watching that will not make you stronger."
"I'm just interested."
The Room of Time Strata did not only show Time Strata that were currently underway.
It also allowed us to view incidents from Time Strata that had already been resolved.
For example, the one I selected was this.
「Defeat Natural Disaster-grade Fear, "Descending Darkness," which appeared in [42-16th round] (complete).」
Descending Darkness. It was the name of an Outer God I did not know. However, I knew very well who had defeated it.
White-and-blue swordsmanship unfolded brilliantly across the screen. As expected, it was chillingly impressive no matter how many times I watched it.
"Huh? Newcomer! You're watching our captain's footage?"
I turned at the noisy voice and saw familiar faces.
The deputy commander of the First Battalion and the Commander-in-Chief, Cheongheo, God of Despair.
"Yes. It happened to be on the viewing list."
The deputy commander of the First Battalion brightened and asked,
"Our captain is incredibly strong, right?"
"He is incredibly strong."
"The captain still talks about you a lot. Just how did you charm our captain?"
I looked up at the boy chattering at me. He looked like a boy, but the deputy commander of the First Battalion had clearly lived for a very long time as well.
The boy's name was Ryunard.
He was called the Naked Saint because he always fought naked.
"Do not make the newcomer uncomfortable, Ryunard."
The one who intervened was the deputy commander of the Zero Battalion, who had been guarding the room all along.
Ryunard frowned and muttered,
"Uncle Carlton is only strict with me."
"That is not true. According to Article 1, Clause 8 of the Transcendence Alliance Residence Code..."
The one reciting regulations without pause was Carlton Xavier.
He was called Silver Restraints because of the distinctive shining silver aura that emanated from his entire body whenever he fought.
"You are watching a fine fable."
The old man spoke to me in place of the two chatting quietly.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Transcendence Alliance.
Cheongheo, God of Despair.
He was known as the strongest person in the Transcendence Alliance. At first, I did not understand why, but I was beginning to feel it now. Simply standing beside him made my stomach churn.
This old man was certainly strong. Perhaps strong enough to contend with Mythical Constellations.
"Kyrios is an excellent captain. You will surely have much to learn by studying his footage."
"To be honest, it feels unfamiliar. The Captain Kyrios I knew was not that large."
"Ah, there is a story behind that."
"What kind of story?"
At my question, Cheongheo stared directly at me, as though my thoughts were written in my eyes.
"I could tell you, but did you truly come here because you were curious about that?"
He really was no ordinary old man.
I gave a bitter smile and shook my head.
"No. There is something I would like to ask you, Commander-in-Chief."
"I thought so."
Cheongheo fell silent for a moment. I stayed quiet as well, following his gaze. We looked up at the Time Strata stacked beyond sight.
"Are the worlds within those strata other worldlines?"
"They may have been once, but they are not now. They are literally strata now. Cross-sections of events that have already passed."
As though he knew what worried me, Cheongheo added,
"That means changing something in there will not alter actual history. Though there are occasionally special strata."
"Like a novel that has already ended."
"Something like that."
What had Second Kim Dokja wanted to find in these countless completed worlds?
Perhaps he had not wanted to find anything. Perhaps he simply could not accept that this world had ended.
Maybe that was why he clung to events that had already ended and kept causing earthquakes.
"I know of a novel that has already ended too."
With that thought, I slowly opened my mouth.
"That novel begins when an enormous tower appears in the sky. People climb the tower to survive. All while unaware that they are being reassigned as products."
The surroundings grew quiet the moment I began telling the story.
I continued in a soft voice.
"The protagonist of that novel is a man who has been stabbing for a very long time. He stabbed more than anyone else in the world, until he became stabbing itself."
Did silence have colors?
The moment I said "stabbing," I felt the silence of the three people change to the same color.
Once that color had spread enough, Ryunard asked,
"Newcomer, you know who we are, right?"
I nodded.
As he said, I already knew who Ryunard was.
The same was true of Carlton standing there, and Cheongheo, who was looking at me now.
Even so, perhaps I had avoided acknowledging them from the beginning because I was afraid of something.
But now, I had to accept it.
"You are..."
They were characters from The World After the Fall, written by Fortuitous Encounter-hyung and me.
"People from a world that had already been destroyed."
They were the companions of Teacher Jaehwan, whom I had met before coming to the Fear Realm.
Footnotes:
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