WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 831: Episode 42: Destination (7)
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People from a ruined world.
At my words, Carlton let out a soft sigh and leaned against the wall, while Ryunard perched on a chair beneath the stone wall as if watching an entertaining sight.
They seemed to agree with my description, mourn it, and somehow find it amusing.
At the same time, they seemed to have transcended all those emotions.
Transcendents.
The Star Stream had granted them that title because they had overcome every limitation of mortals, including emotion.
However, in the worldview they had belonged to, 《Phantasmagoric Tree》, they were called something else.
Awakened.
Those who had shattered the limits of mortality and overcome the system. Those who lived only within the time they had chosen and understood the world through their own worldview.
A kind of god.
“It’s been a very long time since I met someone who remembers 《Phantasmagoric Tree》.”
Did even gods who had overcome emotion still retain nostalgia?
As Cheongheo spoke, I saw something like a faint fragment of emotion pass through his eyes.
“How do you know about that world?”
“It’s difficult to explain in detail. There are circumstances.”
“I see. If you know what we are, there is no need to explain ourselves.”
The three exchanged glances, their expressions more relaxed than they had been in a long time.
Ryunard shouted boldly.
“Ah, I’m in a good mood! Ask anything you want! I’ll answer it all!”
“What brought you here?”
“Hmm, I don’t know that either.”
“You said you would answer anything.”
“How am I supposed to answer something I don’t know?”
Cheongheo smiled and answered in place of Ryunard, who had stuck out his lips sulkily.
“When the three of us woke up, we were here. Just as you said, it was as if someone had called us here.”
Even now, Cheongheo’s voice sounded strangely unmoored, as though he still could not quite believe it.
“Did you create the Transcendence Alliance?”
“You could say that.”
“And did you mass-produce Transcendents as well?”
“Well, what else were we supposed to do, trapped in a place like this? We have special restrictions, so we cannot leave the End Region.”
“How long have you been here?”
The three said nothing.
It must have been that long.
“At first, it was incredibly boring. Mr. Carlton, Old Man Cheongheo, and I took turns keeping watch, and we fought those strange divinities, sometimes even became friends with them...”
“Then one day, people began to appear.”
“The first to come was Yoo Hoseong. Kyrios came next, and then Minyeong and Junkyung entered.”
They were probably the only ones who could refer to One-Punch Invincible, Paradoxical White Purity, Goryeo’s Top Swordsman, and the Sky-Splitting Sword Saint so casually.
Perhaps the captains shared a special bond. Cheongheo gave a hollow laugh.
“I never imagined I would be teaching stabbing here as well.”
As I listened, something connected in my head.
Come to think of it, Kyrios had started by teaching Kim Dokja stabbing, too.
“Things were less boring after that, right?”
“They were. There was satisfaction in watching the disciples grow.”
“Especially the captain-class members. They are truly extraordinary. Captain Kyrios has already become stronger than me. Recruit, you have no idea how amazing that is, but...”
As Ryunard chattered noisily, Cheongheo whispered in a quiet voice.
“Ryunard is excited for the first time in a while.”
“...”
“Please understand. He is like that because he is happy you came.”
“He is happy that I came?”
“You are extraordinary simply by existing. You reached the End Region by yourself, read every prophecy as soon as you arrived, and know about us. You are already a major event here.”
An event.
“Why? Do we seem too much like Constellations?”
“No.”
“We have no choice if we are to live in the present. We need events. Whether they occur in a Time Stratum or here. Otherwise, we cannot endure.”
“...”
“There are questions that rush in every time we fall silent. Perhaps my destruction has not truly ended yet. Why do I, why do we, exist here now?”
“...”
“Those simple, ancient questions drive us mad.”
I thought that perhaps it was only natural for them to become overseers of the Time Strata.
“Have you found the answer to those questions?”
“Perhaps. However, I am afraid to say that answer now.”
I felt as though I vaguely understood what answer Cheongheo had in mind.
Instead of guessing it, I said this.
“I have similar questions.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
I had been dragged here while writing, suddenly possessed the body of a villainous character, and survived all the way to this point.
When I thought about it, it was absurd. But what could I do? It had actually happened.
Even now, I sometimes asked myself. Why did it have to be me? Was it because I was one of Kim Dokja’s reincarnations?
Then why had I possessed Inho Cheon in particular...?
「I want this world’s end more than anyone, but perhaps I am afraid to learn this world’s secret.」
Perhaps Cheongheo and I were somewhat alike.
As if he vaguely understood that, Cheongheo said,
“You are the type who asks questions nonetheless. Aren’t you?”
“If I had to say, yes.”
“At this point, I cannot help thinking it was no coincidence that you read the End Prophecy to the end.”
“Ah, I am sorry about that.”
“No. There is no need to feel sorry toward us or the other Transcendents over that matter. If there is a beginning, there is also a final chapter. Every Transcendent here understands that well through the strata. If the End Region ends here, then this too is that kind of story. In fact, everyone finds it interesting.”
Listening to Cheongheo, I gradually understood why the Transcendents were so calm before the end.
They had probably experienced the destruction of great and small worlds several times through the Time Strata.
That was why they no longer wavered or grieved at the destruction before their eyes.
“Is there no way to avoid the end?”
“There is none. End-grade Fear is not something that can be avoided. For example, when End-grade Fear opened last time...”
“About half of the Transcendents were wiped out. The Alliance nearly collapsed once.”
Carlton, who had pulled a book from inside his clothes, picked up the explanation. After flipping through a few pages, he added briefly,
“The time before that, a third of all Time Strata went berserk.”
“Ah, I remember. The Commander-in-Chief stepped in personally to stop it.”
“Even then, it only ended that way because there was a deal...”
A deal?
Cheongheo gave a bitter smile when he saw my expression.
“There may be no way to avoid the end, but that does not mean there is no way to respond. There is a way to minimize the damage.”
“What is it?”
“You make a deal with the Recorders.”
“When you say Recorders...”
“Have you never heard of the Recorders of Fear?”
I stiffened.
Was that story finally coming up?
“In the space between the lines of this Time Stratum, there is a place where the Recorders live. However, not just anyone can meet them. Only those who possess a special interpretation of Fear or meet the qualifications can have a private meeting with them.”
“Do they have the power to stop the end?”
“They cannot stop the end completely either. However...”
Cheongheo looked extremely careful as he continued.
“They can rewrite this world.”
Goosebumps rose all over my body.
I hurriedly asked,
“Can I meet them too?”
“Unfortunately, that would be difficult for you. If you had entered only a few months earlier, things would have been different, but...”
“Old Man, it’s not as if there’s no way.”
Ryunard, who had been watching the conversation with a broad smile, spoke up.
“Recruit. If you are the first to resolve a Natural Disaster-grade or higher Fear that appears in a Time Stratum, you receive one chance to meet them.”
“Ryunard. A Natural Disaster-grade Fear is not something the current recruit can resolve.”
“I know. I am only telling him the truth.”
Natural Disaster-grade Fear.
That was the grade given to The One Who Devours Dreams, the Fear I had encountered when I entered this place.
“The current recruit will struggle. Unless he trains here for at least a hundred years.”
Carlton was right.
At present, no matter what I did, there was no way I could resolve a Natural Disaster-grade Fear alone.
Was there no helping it? I was considering whether I should use my trump card to draw out their help when...
“Commander-in-Chief! An anomaly has occurred in a Time Stratum!”
A Transcendent who had been examining the strata at the edge came running over in a panic.
“There is a problem in the stratum the Captain of the Third Battalion entered.”
A holographic screen appeared before me.
Looking closely, it was the very Time Stratum Cheok Junkyung and the Third Battalion had entered earlier.
They had gone in to hunt the Disaster-grade Fear, “Dragon Eater.”
However, as far as I knew, Cheok Junkyung had already killed that Outer God...
“Kraaaah!”
A bloody gale swept through the screen, and I saw the heads of two Third Battalion members fly off.
Treasured swords drifted through the air after easily slicing through the Transcendents’ necks.
They were swords I knew.
“Excalibur?”
Among them was King Arthur’s constellation artifact.
But the one holding that constellation artifact was not King Arthur.
“Don’t tell me...”
Wings spread through the sky.
A skeletal form, a body adorned with ornaments cast in the styles of many cultures.
The moment I saw that creature’s glowing white crown, I realized who it was.
“The Founder of the Absolute Throne.”
Perhaps it was already a famous Outer God here as well. The Transcendents who had gathered around the stratum urgently exchanged opinions.
“It is a Natural Disaster-grade Outer God. One of the strongest among them.”
“Damn it, that bastard had not appeared in a while, so I thought it was gone...”
On the screen, Cheok Junkyung swung his sword like a madman as he fought the Founder of the Absolute Throne.
“Kahahaha! This is fun! So fun!”
Its Status made my entire body tingle just from watching.
Goryeo’s Top Swordsman did not retreat even before an Outer God. He swung his sword fiercely as he rampaged.
It felt as though the clash of their terrifying Statuses was reaching all the way here.
“The Captain of the Third Battalion cannot deal with it alone.”
But an Outer God was still an Outer God.
Even Cheok Junkyung’s Incarnation body was steadily accumulating wounds.
At this rate, the outcome was as plain as day.
Cheongheo asked,
“Which captain-class members can deploy?”
“The Captain of the Zero Battalion has not yet emerged from a stratum. The First Battalion has only just been dispatched as well. There are no captain-class members available at the moment.”
The Transcendents’ faces darkened.
In the end, Carlton, deputy commander of the Zero Battalion, stepped forward.
“Ryunard and I will enter.”
“No. You must guard this place.”
“But if we leave him like that, the Captain of the Third Battalion...”
“You do not have suitable clothes for that worldview, do you?”
Suitable clothes.
Cheok Junkyung’s explanation suddenly came back to me.
A Time Stratum was like a kind of Possession, so except in special cases, one could not use one’s own Incarnation body inside a stratum.
“Even if you enter, you cannot stop that thing in your current state.”
After considering it, Cheongheo made a decision.
“We cannot lose the Captain of the Third Battalion here. This time, I will personally...”
“I will do it.”
In an instant, all eyes turned toward me.
“I have an Incarnation body suited to that Time Stratum.”
It was me.
[There is an Incarnation body within this Time Stratum suited to you.]
I did not know which round that Time Stratum was, but Inho Cheon appeared to still be alive in it.
Ryunard shook his head and tried to stop me.
“Recruit, we cannot send you no matter what. Even if you have a suitable Incarnation body, there is no way you can stop a Fear at that level...”
“I can stop it.”
Even now, if I closed my eyes, the scene rose vividly before me.
The events of that day, which I could never forget even in death.
Feeling the fables within me stir, I opened my mouth.
“I have killed that thing once.”
Footnotes:
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