WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 89:

Whooooosh!

Feeling the refreshing breeze wrap around my entire body, I recollected the lines from TWSA that mentioned this skill. While summoning her avatar nearby, Han Suyeong noticed what skill I was about to use.

“What the hell? You said you couldn’t learn that!”

“Stay back.”

[Way of the Wind]

「The left hand holds the gale, the right hand the storm. At the point where the straight line and curve collide, the way of the wind shall be revealed.」

Those cryptic words, which had once made no sense to me, became reality the moment I felt the wind brushing against my feet.

Ilsang’s fist suddenly flew toward me, narrowly grazing my nose. An attack that should have connected dissipated into nothingness. This was the power of a skill capable of bridging the gap between overwhelming stat differences. This was Imyuntar's ultimate technique.

Ilsang’s eyes glinted strangely.

“…Hmm? You’ve gotten faster.”

Ignoring his remark, I concentrated solely on my realization. From this moment, it was a race against time.

The remaining time on my bookmark was 30 minutes.

“Ah, I see. That’s a skill from those wolf bastards, isn’t it?”

A sneer played across Ilsang’s face as he looked at me.

“Pretending like you’ve gained some grand enlightenment while using such a petty skill?”

“…”

“Wanna know something fun? I killed their king with these very hands.”

Of course, he did.

I recalled the lives lost on that alien planet, the living beings of Chronos who had perished. Prince Lycaon of the Imyuntar. Queen Antinus of the Parasites.

Even with their homeland annihilated, they stubbornly survived, only to be used as material for scenarios unfolding on another planet. If Earth met the same fate, its people would share their destiny.

Ilsang’s right hand fired a Small Red Flame Cannon.

「When one wind meets another, they form a taiji. When another wind collides with one more, they create yin and yang.」

I conjured every ounce of imagination I had to form a concrete image of that phrase. Before my eyes, cold and hot energies began swirling together, twisting the wind's direction.

Snap! Crackle! Pop!

The slightly deflected ether of the flame cannon clashed with itself, scattering energy in all directions. All ether-based attacks travel through a medium. If that medium is disrupted, the attack cannot function.

Ilsang looked surprised.

“…Not bad. So, you can manage this much, huh?”

Biting his lip, Ilsang started to run again.

[The character Myeong Ilsang has activated the skill Blink Lv.4!]

Another blink. But chasing him was no longer difficult. Just by closing my eyes and focusing on the wind, I could sense every presence nearby.

With speed rivaling Yu Junghyeok’s [Phoenix Walk], I dashed after Ilsang and caught up. Without a word, I launched a kick square into his back.

Thud!

Ilsang’s body smashed through a building’s steel beams before flying further. Even though the blow could have shattered his bones, he stood up as if unscathed.

[The twenty-fourth seal of the returnee Myeong Ilsang has been lifted.]

Just by a hair, his next seal had already been broken.

“…That tickles.”

His playful attitude suggested he still believed he would win. With each seal lifted, his wounds healed, while my mana consumption steadily increased.

“Hahaha! Try stopping this again!”

Simply using [Way of the Wind] as a buff wasn’t enough to kill him. If it had been sufficient to defeat the Catastrophe of Questions, Chronos wouldn’t have fallen.

I had to use that.

The problem was… I needed someone to buy me time.

…Huh?

Something appeared, descending diagonally from the opposite sky. A black figure, like a hawk diving down, pierced through the atmosphere and slammed directly into Myeong Ilsang.

Boom!

With a deafening explosion, a small crater formed. Standing atop the crushed Ilsang was a familiar figure. Stunned, I stared at the man and mumbled.

“…Yu Junghyeok?”

Didn’t this bastard say it would take two days to recover?

As Junghyeok approached with long strides, I instinctively took a couple of steps back. Surely, he wasn’t here to hit me again, right? But Junghyeok stopped just short of me, then turned his back to face Ilsang.

“Get started.”

It was as if he knew exactly what I was planning.

“I’ll handle him.”

Suyeong, who had been sprawled on the ground nearby, muttered on my behalf.

“Ha, shit. As expected of the protagonist…”

Despite his bold tone, Junghyeok’s condition looked precarious.

His body wasn’t fully healed. Blackened veins bulged across his skin.

From the crater, Ilsang emerged, laughing and spitting blood.

“Ah, this is getting annoying… Now I really look like a bad guy.”

Even after taking that hit, he showed no real damage. It was hard to believe he was considered among the weaker returnees who would appear in the future.

Ilsang charged forward, and Junghyeok met him head-on.

Meanwhile, I activated [Way of the Wind].

「When four winds meet, they form the cardinal directions. Add four more winds, and they create the mysteries of the trigram. Thus, the wind exists everywhere and nowhere.」

It was my turn to use the phrase Lycaon had once understood.

The mystical barrier formed by the trigram’s winds spiraled around, creating a dome-like enclosure that surrounded me, Junghyeok, and Ilsang. The oppressive sensation of airtight confinement was suffocating.

The battle was now a race against time. Junghyeok was flung backward by a strike, while Ilsang’s expression stiffened. He had finally realized this wasn’t a game.

“What are you scheming…!”

At that moment, I released all the air inside the dome.

In an instant, a deafening silence swallowed the space. Although the wind roared furiously, the dome’s interior was as calm as the eye of a storm. Ilsang opened his mouth.

“…”

“…”

No matter how many times he tried, no sound came out.

In a medium-less space, sound does not travel. Ilsang found himself in a complete vacuum.

Pssssh!

Due to the pressure difference, the air in Ilsang's lungs was forcefully expelled. I quickly reclaimed the escaping air to keep him alive for a bit longer.

Outside the dome, Suyeong was yelling something, but her words were muted.

[The exclusive skill Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint Level 2 has been activated!]

「What the hell is this?」

Ilsang’s thoughts started to echo in my mind.

「Why can’t I speak? Is this some kind of magic?」

His panic was palpable. It was only natural. All returnees had penalties. Those who could rapidly regain their original powers often carried even harsher conditions.

[The penalty of Catastrophe of Questions has been activated.]

[The returnee Myeong Ilsang’s power has been weakened.]

[The twenty-fourth seal of the returnee Myeong Ilsang has been reinstated.]

「No, no! This can’t happen!」

Their strength was a double-edged sword. Just as easily as they could become powerful, they could also lose that power under the right conditions.

[The twenty-third seal of the returnee Myeong Ilsang has been reinstated.]

Why did the Catastrophe of Questions constantly ask questions?

The answer was simple: if too much time passed without asking someone a question, his stats would weaken significantly.

「Shit! Let me out of here! Get me out now!」

Ilsang’s fists pounded against the barrier repeatedly, but it refused to break. In a medium-less environment, even the flames of his red flame cannon could not ignite.

[The twenty-second seal of the returnee Myeong Ilsang has been reinstated.]

The [Way of the Wind] skill allowed me to create what I now called a [Vacuum Prison]. This was the optimal strategy for dealing with the Catastrophe of Questions.

「Aaaaargh!」

In desperation, Ilsang lunged at me, believing that killing me would shatter the prison. But it wouldn’t work like that. This space was something I had created, bound by my will. Dodging his attacks with [Way of the Wind], I continued to constrict the space, shrinking the barrier around him.

Rumble!

As the walls began to close in, I created a small passageway to pull Junghyeok and myself out of the dome. Now, only Ilsang remained trapped inside.

「…You bastards!」

But a returnee was still a returnee. The force of his attacks began to crack the dome. Raising my hand, I manipulated the winds to reinforce the weakening sections. The walls contracted further, tightening like a noose.

Blood dripped from my nose as I pushed my concentration to its limits. My ultimate goal was to shrink the [Vacuum Prison] until it enveloped only Ilsang’s body. But the level of control required was immense. Damn it, Junghyeok made this look easy. Why was it so hard for me?

“Don’t try to force control. Guide the wind instead.”

Junghyeok’s voice rang out, and an epiphany struck me. Perhaps creating a wall wasn’t necessary. What mattered was eliminating the medium near his body.

「Ahhh… I can’t breathe!」

Ilsang clawed desperately at his throat, his nails tearing into his own skin. Blood mixed with tears as his struggles grew more frantic.

“...Not bad. You’re not entirely talentless.”

Junghyeok’s voice came again, but there was no time to savor his rare praise. Myeong Ilsang unleashed his final act of defiance.

[The character Myeong Ilsang has activated the skill Large Red Flame Cannon Lv.3.]

His right arm erupted into dark flames, burning his own body as fuel.

Boom!

The enormous blast tore through the dome, flames erupting outward. I yanked Junghyeok down, flattening us against the ground as the attack scraped over us. Even after expending so much mana, the flames continued, as if he were squeezing out every last drop of power.

But the wind was wind for a reason.

As soon as the flames burst forth, the winds of the dome closed the gap, extinguishing them almost instantly. No matter how hard Ilsang fought, nothing changed. The only problem was the stray sparks of the flame. They were killing people nearby.

Junghyeok noticed my expression and growled.

“Kim Dokja, don’t waste your thoughts on them. They’re people who are meant to die.”

“Some might be, sure.”

But not all of them.

I pushed myself to my feet, forcing the wind to intercept the remaining embers.

The flames dispersed, swirling within the dome and losing their strength. However, the residual heat seared into my flesh. Pain erupted as the fire scorched my skin, slowly eating away at the sensation in my bones.

I can do this.

This bastard wasn’t as strong as I thought.

At that moment, I felt myself breaking past a barrier. My body seemed to merge with the wind itself.

[A constellation who loves effort takes delight in your pain.]

[A latent talent within your soul has blossomed.]

With my left hand, I maintained control over the [Vacuum Prison], while my right hand manipulated the winds to scatter Myeong Ilsang’s flames. In that state of pure focus, I reached a new understanding of [Way of the Wind]. The winds under my command sketched scenes I had never imagined before.

[The exclusive skill Fourth Wall has been partially thinned out.]

So this was what it felt like. This was the world as characters saw it.

No matter how much I had read or analyzed before, I could never have understood this. It was as if I had entered a realm beyond mere reading.

Reading and understanding are not the same.

Perhaps I hadn’t even grasped one percent of this world’s truth.

Gradually, I sensed the energy of Ilsang’s flames waning.

「You bastards! Die! Just die already!」

His desperate roar echoed in his thoughts as his power faltered. My mana reserves, surprisingly, were still full. Something felt strange. How could I have so much energy left, even in this state of exhaustion?

Behind me, Junghyeok spoke in a biting tone.

“…I’ll be the one to kill you.”

The warmth against my back, was it Junghyeok’s mana?

Moments later, Ilsang’s attack ceased entirely.

[All the seals of the returnee Myeong Ilsang have been reinstated.]

[The exclusive skill Way of the Wind Lv.8 has been deactivated.]

Ilsang, clutching his throat, turned toward me with terror in his eyes.

“Ku… kuh… kuhuk…”

Gasping for air, he tried to run. I hurled [Unbreakable Faith] at him.

Thud!

The blade lodged into his back, pinning him to the ground. There would be no more blinking away. Approaching him, I grabbed the nape of his neck and pulled him upright.

“…You’ve asked enough questions. Satisfied now?”

“Kuh… kuh…”

“From now on, if you ask another question, you’ll die.”

Returnees were the most arrogant and brutal beings in the world of TWSA.

Among them, Ilsang was one of the most vile.

“Urrghhhh!”

His bloodshot eyes glared at me, a mix of anger and fear distorting his face. His mouth trembled as if he wanted to curse me, but no sound came out. It was suffocating just to watch him flounder.

“This… this can’t be happening…”

The faint murmurs from his lips tugged at something in my memory, his past.

「“Me? A hero? I’ve been chosen as the hero? Really?”」

Seventeen-year-old Myeong Ilsang.

An ordinary high school student who had been chosen to save the world and thrown into Chronos as a hero. Back then, he had been nothing but a naive and innocent boy. Perhaps he never wanted to become this, a genocidal murderer, annihilating the lives of an entire continent’s inhabitants.

But he had.

“You’re the one who chose to become a catastrophe.”

And now, nothing could change that.

[Your understanding of the character Myeong Ilsang has increased.]

Ilsang’s face twisted in pain.

“I… I’m the… protagonist…”

His pitiful claim trailed off as the true protagonist approached.

Without hesitation, Junghyeok drove his blade straight through Ilsang’s heart. The light in his eyes dimmed, and he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.

I stared at the now-dead returnee. For someone who had brought ruin to an entire world, his end felt oddly hollow.

[You have become the first to defeat a Returnee in a scenario!]

[Major contributors: Kim Dokja, Yu Junghyeok.]

[You have received 40,000 coins as an achievement reward.]

[A new fable has been created.]

[The fable One Who Opposes the Extraordinary has been born.]

[You have gained the potential for a new stigma.]

Footnotes:

[1]

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