“你还有一次机会，金道子。”
"….And when will that be?"
“什么时候呢?”
Kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeoks began looking at me with eyes reserved for when looking at a dumb fool, before one of them spoke up. "Follow us. We're going back to your lodging."
在其中一个人开口说话之前，库马·于正赫(komaYuJung-Hyeoks)开始用保留着的眼睛看着我。“跟我们来。我们回你的住处去。”
I felt hopelessly lost by the prospect of returning to that circular room again, but as I was now, I didn't have much of a choice.
一想到又要回到那个圆形的房间，我就感到无可救药地迷失了方向，但就像我现在这样，我别无选择。
I could sense the multiple presences of 'Outer Gods' looking at this way from all corners of the corridor. Thankfully, I was a guest of the 'Secretive Plotter'.
从走廊的每个角落，我都能感觉到“外界诸神”的多重存在。谢天谢地，我是“秘密策划者”的客人。
It was all too clear to see what would happen if I try to escape and become an 'uninvited guest' in the process.
如果我试图逃跑，在这个过程中成为一个“不请自来的客人”，会发生什么，这一切都太清楚了。
Go-ooooh…..
Go-ooooh...
….Yup, not making a rash decision would be for the best, after all.
...是的，毕竟不做草率的决定是最好的。
Also, it wasn't as if I walked away with nothing from the current situation, anyway.
而且，不管怎样，我并不是从当前的情况中一无所有地离开。
['The 4th Wall' is faintly vibrating.]
“第四堵墙”在微弱地震动
⸢(There are quite a few faces I haven't seen in awhile. Looks like a group of Shantaks.)⸥
(有好几张脸我很久没见过了，看起来像一群Shantaks人。)
I was startled by the sudden voice coming from my inside. It was coming through the [The 4th Wall]'s messaging system.
我被突然从内心传来的声音吓了一跳。它是通过[第四道墙]的信息系统传来的。
Judging from the way it spoke…
从它说话的方式来判断..。
'….The Devourer of Dreams?'
“......梦想的吞噬者?”
⸢(It is indeed I.)⸥
(的确是我。)
Now that I thought about it, I had an 'Outer God' residing inside me, didn't I? I completely forgot about it somehow. I began thinking that maybe I could ask for his help in my current predicament.
现在我想起来了，我体内有一个‘外神’，不是吗？不知怎么的，我完全忘记了。我开始想，也许我可以在我目前的困境中寻求他的帮助。
⸢(Looks like they are being friendly towards you.)⸥
(看起来他们对你很友好。)
'Being friendly? You mean, that?!'
“友好?你是说那个?!”
I stared at the 'Outer Gods' raising their tentacles up threateningly in my direction. The moment our gazes met, the end of one of the tentacles suddenly bloomed open to resemble a horrifying-looking flower.
我凝视着“外界诸神”向我的方向伸出他们威胁性的触须。我们目光相遇的那一刻，其中一个触角的末端突然开放，看起来像一朵恐怖的花。
⸢(They are curious about you. Now that is a rather uncommon event among Outer Gods.)⸥
(他们对你很好奇。这在外界诸神中是相当不寻常的事情。)
I looked at that 'flower' bud swaying this way and that as if to win me over and shook my head in helplessness.
我看着那‘花’的蓓蕾这样摇曳着，那样好像要把我争取过来，无奈地摇摇头。
'….It'll be hard to become friends with those guys.'
“......很难和那些家伙成为朋友。”
⸢(Hard? Why?)⸥
(难?为什么?)
'You must know why by now after reading this and that in the Library.'
“你在图书馆里看了这个那个之后，现在一定知道为什么了。”
I walked past the Outer Gods emitting gloomy, foreboding aura and began recalling the final episode of the 'Ways of Survival'.
我走过外界诸神散发着阴郁、不祥的光环，开始回忆起《生存之道》的最后一集。
⸢(The final battle of the <Star Stream> is related to those 'Outer Gods'.)⸥
(星流的最后一战与那些“外界诸神”有关。)
In the original story, Yu Jung-Hyeok lost everything still remaining with him by that point. Every single Incarnation that helped him up until then all died in that war. Died, because of those monsters of Chaos that brought the destruction of the world.
在原来的故事里，郁重赫失去了一切仍然留在他的那一点。在那之前帮助他的每一个化身都在那场战争中死去了。死了，因为那些带来世界毁灭的混乱怪物。
But then, the 'Devourer of Dreams' said something rather unexpected to me. ⸢(Do you know why Outer Gods have become the Calamities?)⸥
但是后来，“梦想的吞噬者”说了一些出乎我意料的话。(你知道为什么外界的神变成了灾难吗?)
'That is….'
那是.....
I seriously pondered it for a moment, only to fall into this strange, inexplicable chain of thoughts.
我认真地思考了一会儿，却陷入了这种奇怪的、无法解释的思想链中。
Indeed, it sure was a strange thing; even a novel as brimming-full of detailed explanations as the 'Ways of Survival' failed to mention the origins of the Outer Gods.
事实上，这确实是一件奇怪的事情，即使是像《生存之道》这样充满详细解释的小说也没有提到外界诸神的起源。
It was at that moment a certain theory popped up in my head.
就在那一刻，我突然想到了一个理论。
The true identity of the 'Secretive Plotter' and the origins of the 'Outer Gods'. Could there be some kind of a connection between the two?
“秘密策划者”的真实身份与“外界诸神”的起源。这两者之间会不会有某种联系？
Before I could throw out a question regarding that theory, someone engaged me for a chat first.
我还没来得及提出一个关于这个理论的问题，就有人请我先聊了一会儿。
"I heard that you like reading novels."
“我听说你喜欢看小说。”
It was the kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok number [999].
它是库马余正行数字[999]。
I nodded my head. "Sure, I do. What about it?"
我点了点头。“当然，我知道。怎么了?”
"If you want, I can tell you a short story."
“如果你愿意，我可以给你讲个小故事。”
"A story?"
“一个故事?”
It was then the kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeoks number [666], [777], and [888] all looked at [999] with baffled expressions. It seemed that this wasn't a part of the plan.
当时的库马余正赫(音译)号码[666]、[777]和[888]都带着困惑的表情看着[999]。这似乎不是计划的一部分。
Not even waiting for my reply, the kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeok number [999] began telling his story. "There was a wolf that continued to fight a lonely battle for a very long time. He had a goal he was chasing after, and there was a question he wanted to ask. For the answer to that question, he continued to fight."
没有等我的回答，京科马于正赫数字[999]开始讲述他的故事。“有一只狼孤独地战斗了很长一段时间。他有一个目标，他正在追求，有一个问题，他想问。为了找到这个问题的答案，他继续战斗。”
"Is it an allegory?"
“这是寓言吗?”
"The wolf kept fighting. Hundreds of years, thousands, and maybe even for tens of thousands of years."
狼继续战斗。几百年，几千年，甚至几万年
I wanted to say that a wolf couldn't possibly live for that long, but regardless, the story continued on.
我想说的是，一只狼不可能活那么久，但是不管怎样，故事还在继续。
"The wolf eventually reached the end of the battle and became the 'wolf king'. And he managed to find the answer in his own way. He had to pay the price of losing his entire pack in the process, but in the end, he came to accept that answer. Because, it was the best possible answer that the world could provide him with. Now with that answer, the king began roaming the world."
“狼最终战斗结束，成为了‘狼王’。他设法用自己的方式找到了答案。在这个过程中，他不得不为失去整个狼群付出代价，但最终，他接受了这个答案。因为，这是世界能给他的最好的答案。有了这个答案，国王开始漫游世界。”
This was a rather vaguely abstract story, yet….
这是一个相当模糊的抽象故事，然而.....。
"But then, one day, the king learned that there was yet another 'pack' existing somewhere."
“但是后来，有一天，国王得知还有另一个‘族群’存在于某个地方。”
….Even then, this story sounded undoubtedly familiar, too.
...即使在那时，这个故事听起来也无疑是熟悉的。
"In that pack, he found the exact same wolf as himself. That wolf possessed the exact same goal as him, and was surviving for the same purpose as him, as well."
“在那个狼群里，他发现了和他一模一样的狼。那只狼和他有着同样的目标，也是为了同样的目标而生存。”
I listened to the tale as if I had been entranced by it.
我听着这个故事，好像被它迷住了似的。
"But then, something was different. The 'wolf' of this pack hadn't lost anything."
“但后来，情况有所不同。这个狼群的‘狼’并没有失去任何东西。”
Right now, this guy was telling me the story that the 'Secretive Plotter' didn't want to tell me earlier.
此时此刻，这个家伙正在告诉我一个“秘密策划者”不想早点告诉我的故事。
"Finding his prey, protecting his pack, the distant goals he longed for - this wolf was achieving all those with the minimal amount of pain. Without losing anything in the process. The king watched this spectacle, and suddenly thought to himself."
“寻找他的猎物，保护他的族群，他渴望的遥远目标——这只狼以最小的痛苦实现了所有这些目标。在这个过程中不会失去任何东西。国王看了这一幕，突然想到了自己。”
Slowly, so very slowly, a chill crept down on my back.
慢慢地，慢慢地，一股寒意从我的背上爬了下来。
"If this story is brought to its conclusion as it was, then what was the purpose of the life I've lived so far?"
“如果这个故事就这样结束了，那么我迄今为止的生活目的又是什么呢?”
Yu Jung-Hyeok was now asking straight at me.
于重赫现在直直地问我。
"Kim Dok-Ja. Have you ever thought about a life like that before?"
“金道子，你以前有没有想过这样的生活?”
<Episode 79. The Secretive Plotter (3)> Fin.
第七十九集秘密策划者财团。
TL: Since the TL note section isn't working, I'll revert to leaving the notes here. The 'Conclusion/結' is the last letter of the 'kishotenketsu/gi-seung-jeon-gyeol' that I mentioned in the chapter 409.
Tl:因为TLnote部分不工作，所以我将回到把笔记留在这里。“结论/something”是我在第409章中提到的“kishotenketsu/gi-seung-jeon-gyeol”的最后一个字母。
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Chapter 419 - The Secretive Plotter (4)
