WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 836: Episode 43: Transcendence Alliance (5)
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I was looking into those innocent eyes when I let out a sound without realizing it.
“Ah.”
But as though he didn’t recognize me, he pressed close to Asmodeus with a frightened expression.
Asmodeus smiled.
【It’s all right. Look. Isn’t he someone you know well?】
The book the child had been reading fell from his hands.
Thud.
I stared blankly at its title.
『The World After the Fall』.
My head spun. In that instant, memories of the time we spent together flashed through my mind.
I felt as though everything might finally make sense.
Why I had met Teacher Jaehwan recently, and why Teacher Jaehwan’s companions happened to be in this Fear Realm.
It was as if all those events had been bound together by a single inevitability.
“Hyung.”
The person who had always stressed fortuitous encounters to me. The person who said that, no matter what happened, a protagonist had to be showered with fortuitous encounters.
The person who had declared he would write without using fortuitous encounters this time.
He looked up at me as though he had finally found a true fortuitous encounter.
“Fortuitous Encounter-hyung. It’s you, isn’t it?”
He had become a Little Kim Dokja, but I could still recognize him. Just as I had recognized Gu Seona and Kim Gyeongsik, I could recognize him too.
It was undoubtedly Fortuitous Encounter-hyung. The person who had written 『The World After the Fall』 with me.
When I took a step closer, Fortuitous Encounter-hyung took a step back.
Asmodeus rose from his seat and spoke as if to restrain me.
【That’s far enough. Don’t frighten the children.】
“What the hell did you do? Why is Fortuitous Encounter-hyung here?”
【Hm? His name isn’t ‘Fortuitous Encounter.’】
“Just answer the question.”
【I merely brought in a fragment that died an unlucky death. Interestingly, that fragment happened to retain memories of you.】
Bzzzt.
An image appeared on the screen.
It was a very old memory.
「“Hakhyeon, can I really keep writing like this?”」
「“Don’t worry.”」
Voices from hazy memories.
「“No, Hakhyeon. Look. The views have dropped.”」
「“Hyung, I told you not to get carried away by every rise and fall.”」
「“Will it really be okay without a fortuitous encounter? Should I just close my eyes and give him one fortuitous encounter?”」
Everything felt like a lie.
The memories that had been fading from my mind burst into bloom all at once, like flowers greeting the season.
「“Hyung! See? I told you! I said it would work!”」
A story from before the Scenarios began, before 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』 even existed.
「“At least I’ll be able to put food on the table now. It’s all thanks to you, Hakhyeon.”」
The days when both Fortuitous Encounter-hyung and I were poor.
The days when we simply loved writing, and so went around calling ourselves writers.
I stood motionless in the center of the cinema, watching the story of those days.
And I thought.
Just where did this universe begin and end?
What else would I have to sacrifice to bring this long story to an end?
“What do you want, Asmodeus?”
I slowly turned my head. Asmodeus was there, grinning smugly.
【It seems we’re finally getting somewhere.】
Asmodeus flopped back into a cinema seat and took another long drink of Zero Cola.
【But I don’t particularly want anything from you. Even if I were to make a deal with you, you would only slip away through some cunning method again.】
“That depends on you.”
【Do you think this is the first or second time I have suffered at Dokja’s hands?】
Even in the main story, Asmodeus had been stabbed in the back by Dokja several times. His end had not been particularly good, either. For someone who had called himself one of the Seekers of the End and devised such an ominous plan, he had met a hollow end.
As I thought that far, I paused.
Come to think of it.
「What exactly had Asmodeus’s ■■ been?」
Every being in the Star Stream had their own ■■.
The same must have been true for Asmodeus. What was the end he had dreamed of?
I didn’t know, but one thing was certain. He had not yet reached the ■■ he dreamed of.
“Do you want the interpretation of the Natural Disaster-grade Fear that I acquired too?”
【Of course, that is a very interesting interpretation. Especially the fables that were laid down beforehand to make that interpretation possible.】
The fable he mentioned with a chuckle was "Heir to an Eternal Name."
Asmodeus knew how that fable had been made, and who had been sacrificed to bring it into being.
“You’d better choose your words carefully. Unless you want your cinema wrecked again.”
【If you do something so rude, the Little Kim Dokja beside me will not remain safe either.】
“You’re going to threaten me with Fortuitous Encounter-hyung?”
【What can’t a child kidnapper do?】
I stared at him silently before speaking.
“I don’t know. I don’t think you can do that.”
【Why do you think so?】
“You don’t seem like that kind of villain.”
I slowly looked over the Little Kim Dokjas’ faces. They must have been trapped in this cinema for quite a long time already, yet their expressions did not look particularly dark.
It did not seem to be simply because of the snack display in one corner or the sleeping bags lined up along one side.
I couldn’t quite understand it, but somehow.
「These Little Kim Dokjas seemed to be following Asmodeus.」
Some of them were even standing beside Asmodeus, glaring at me as if to reprimand me.
I gave them a small wave, then asked Asmodeus, “What exactly is your goal?”
I felt it was time to have a proper conversation with him.
No matter what had happened or how tangled things had become, both he and I had already come this far. There was no denying it.
“If you’re a Recorder of Fear, you must also have an ultimate One Sentence you want to write. What have you been planning all this for?”
【Oh? It seems you’ve heard some interesting information somewhere.】
Watching him smirk, I recalled the moment I had first met him.
The day I had first been summoned to his cinema, he had been surprised to see me.
In other words, he had not known who I was back then.
「“This is... Could it be? You are...”」
After learning who I was, he began to devise some sinister scheme, making me the protagonist of this worldline.
「“It is time for you to write a new 『Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint』 with your own hands.”」
His plan had been to use me to alter the story of the 41st round as he pleased and destroy Kim Dokja Company.
“For someone like you to become a Recorder of Fear, the Star Stream really is generous.”
【...】
“You know, right? Every one of your plans was a complete mess. They weren’t even consistent, and none of them ever truly succeeded.”
【Say what you like. My goal has already been achieved to some degree. Those I hate have suffered hellish pain.】
“Making Kim Dokja Company despair can’t be your only goal.”
The day I first met him in the cinema, my readers and I had received a Sub Scenario from Asmodeus.
When I opened the old log page, the Scenario we had received then appeared once more.
+
<Sub Scenario (???) - Qualification of Records>
Category: Sub (Individual)
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: You are currently in a state of Possession in the relevant worldline through the Otherworld Covenant. Cooperate with the other possessors to prevent the scheduled destruction and pioneer a new fable.
Time Limit: -
Reward: Return to your original worldline and additional rewards.
Failure: Death
+
Perhaps I should have realized that he was a Recorder of Fear when I first received this Scenario.
“You have something you want at the end of this worldline. That’s why you gave this Scenario to my readers and me.”
【...】
“Was this Scenario something you agreed upon with the other Recorders?”
The corner of Asmodeus’s lips trembled slightly at my question.
I continued.
“How many Recorders of Fear have posed as Kim Dokja representatives? How many Kim Dokja Fragments have you kidnapped this way?”
【It is almost remarkable that I can still be surprised by you. How did you figure that out too?】
“It would be stranger if I still didn’t know.”
A particularly large number of strange things had happened in this 41st-round worldline. And those strange events had begun with the incident where a massive number of readers entered through Possession.
The Recorders of Fear must have been behind that incident.
If it had not been these people, who could freely cross worldlines and interfere in stories, such a large-scale miraculous feat could not have been carried out.
“Let the Little Kim Dokjas go. You’ve done enough pointless things. It’s about time we sent the readers back where they belong.”
【No.】
“Fine. Let’s make a deal, Asmodeus.”
【I said no.】
“You haven’t even heard my terms yet.”
【No, I will not make deals with Dokja...】
“I’ll help you write the One Sentence you desire.”
A brief silence passed.
Was it just my imagination? Asmodeus’s atmosphere had become a little sharper.
The cinema fell silent.
Asmodeus asked, 【How could someone like you possibly know what One Sentence I want to write?】
“I know.”
I quietly looked into Asmodeus’s eyes.
Things I could not see at all when I first met him were visible to me now.
[Fable Heir to an Eternal Name smiles triumphantly.]
Perhaps it was because my Status had risen that much.
[Exclusive Attribute Record Mender has activated!]
Or perhaps it was because my understanding of the Recorders of Fear had improved.
[Recorder of Fear Demon King of the Cinema expresses displeasure toward you.]
Of course, he was still stronger than I was. Naturally. He was a Demon King, and a Recorder of Fear with the power of an Outer God.
Even so.
“You don’t look like a Fear to me anymore.”
I was no longer afraid of him.
[Exclusive Skill Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint has activated!]
[Your understanding of the target is extremely high!]
「“...Ah, call me that again.”」
「“Don’t be so wary. There are no other Constellations here.”」
「“Demon King of Salvation... You seem to be mistaken about something, but I could devour you right now...”」
「“Good. Fine, I’ll let you off this much today.」
His records began to drift before my eyes in real time. From the moment Dokja and Asmodeus first met, to the point when he wandered through the Dark Dimension and met his death.
【Wait.】
Within that distant history, I understood Asmodeus.
His eyes trembled as he looked at me. Having become a Recorder of Fear, he knew.
That I was reading him now.
【Stop.】
That every part of his history was being read by me.
【I said stop, Kim Dokja!】
Asmodeus grabbed Fortuitous Encounter-hyung by the collar and growled at me.
I deactivated [Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint] and asked, “Do you feel a little more like making a deal now?”
【Damn it. Do you know? You are the being most suited to being a Demon King.】
“Of course. I actually am a Demon King.”
The lights were bright in the screening room.
Our shadows stretched long, falling across the white screen.
For a while, we watched each other’s shadows. Two beings with different desires and different ways of living.
【Fine. Let us make a deal.】
Yet both shadows looked like Demon Kings.
* * *
A little later, we concluded a contract through an Existence Oath.
【What you want is the Kim Dokja Fragments I possess, correct?】
“That’s right.”
【Then let us begin lightly with the first deal.】
He said he could not give me every Kim Dokja Fragment he had brought with him.
But.
【This is the one I can give you now. Take him.】
A Little Kim Dokja floated up and sat astride my shoulders. At first, the child kept shifting as if uncomfortable, but he soon settled into place and set the book he had been reading squarely on top of my head.
“Fortuitous Encounter-hyung.”
Even when I spoke to him, he did not particularly respond.
Perhaps he was already reading a certain passage. Sometimes he shuddered, and sometimes he quietly stifled laughter as though he enjoyed it.
If possible, I wanted to place him inside the Fourth Wall for protection, but for some reason, he refused. Perhaps there was a sight he wanted to remain beside me to see.
【My condition for the deal is simple.】
“Tell me.”
Honestly, I was tense because I thought he might propose some absurd condition, but Asmodeus’s condition was unexpectedly reasonable.
【When the Great King of Fear appears before you, you must call for me.】
“Fine. If that’s all.”
According to the interpretation of the prophecy, the Great King of Fear he meant was Second Kim Dokja. They were certain to appear and do something strange, but if that was all, it was not a bad condition.
Perhaps he had read my thoughts, because Asmodeus curled his lips.
【Though I do not know whether you will survive until then.】
“Don’t you know that when someone says something like that, I always survive?”
【Well, this time, even for you, it will not be easy. To meet the Great King of Fear, there is someone you must overcome first.】
“Who?”
【Who else?】
Since when had it begun? The scenery of the cinema was gradually becoming blurry.
In that instant, I realized something.
Ah. I see.
[Recorder of Fear Demon King of the Cinema’s turn will end shortly.]
I heard Asmodeus’s mocking laughter.
【Keep your wits about you, Kim Dokja. If you do not want him to take every bit of history you have built.】
At last, it was time to meet 40th-round Inho Cheon.
[You have entered the room of Recorder of Fear Devilish Sophist.]
Footnotes:
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