“Will, what were those YuBots?” Grisia demanded. “You said they were essential for ‘the story’ to continue, even if they would have killed us!”
Will responded, “The YuBots cannot kill the players or summons and in fact, keep them alive. Without the YuBots to replace the ‘translators’, the story would be unable to continue and the world would end.”
Elaro spoke up, “If the YuBots keep us alive, why were they swarming and attacking us?”
Dark Sun stepped forward, taking off his visor as he did so. Revealing an apologetic expression, he said, “I made a miscalculation. Because the first YuBot to appear was from Charles’s mirror and Jiang Ziya said that Charles and I were from the same world, I assumed it was an enemy modified human. They may have designated us as hostile targets after I struck preemptively.”
Seemingly paying more attention to Dark Sun’s face than his words, Charles exclaimed, “So it was as I thought! While the young master said he stopped aging at around age eighteen, you still look younger than that. In that case, we have yet to meet. My name is Charles, full name Charles Endelis. I look forward to working with you both now and in the future.” He smiled warmly.
In contrast to Charles’s smile and excitement, a melancholy expression appeared on Dark Sun’s face instead. Dark Sun said, “I don’t think I can be your young master, Charles.” He turned to address Elaro, “You called me ‘little Ah Ye’?”
With a bit of embarrassment, Elaro admitted, “Perhaps you don’t remember, but we met you once when you were much smaller. It was probably nothing more than a dream-like memory to you.” It was only just yesterday for us!
Taking that as a confirmation, Dark Sun turned back to Charles, who was uncharacteristically stunned from Dark Sun’s flat refusal to be his young master. “Charles. What’s the name of your young master?”
Though baffled by the odd question, Charles responded instantly, “You are Young Master Ri Xiang Ye.”
Dark Sun shook his head. “I’m Daren Solaris.”
Jiang Ziya, until this moment, had been anxiously checking that Yu Shu wasn’t about to walk in to find that several of her characters had become “real.” This “author’s room” looked just like her apartment, after all! But when he heard Dark Sun’s name, he frowned and responded, “There isn’t a character named ‘Daren Solaris’ in any of the series I read.”
“I’m not from any of those series. At least, not anymore. Where I came from before being summoned… Everything was dark. Nothing I could do would make any difference. It was like time had stopped.”
Will suddenly spoke: “Stories cannot continue without a translator, such as the YuBots. Stories preemptively cut off before their natural ending will enter a stasis mode as described by ‘Daren Solaris’.”
A knock suddenly sounded. The knock wasn’t strong or forceful. Rather, it was an oddly polite knock.
Grisia glanced at all the others. While they were safe from the YuBots in the author’s room for now, they couldn’t stay here forever. Besides, what had happened to Daren Solaris could happen to any of them too, leaving their stories incomplete. There had to be a solution to all of this, which could be on the other side of that door.
He made the call and said, “Come in.”
A woman entered through the door, face hidden by a veil of the same material as the water mirror—the fourth wall.
“Who are you?” Jiang Ziya asked with a frown, his hand reaching up to cover one eye. Even doing that didn’t reveal the woman’s true identity or shed any light as to who she was, which didn’t make any sense. Jiang Ziya was a superb student and had read all of Yu Shu’s works!
The woman’s voice seemed to echo in their heads as she spoke. “I am Translator. We have crossed paths before, have we not? So you must know I am the real thing, not a bot. I represent all of the translators here at PR!”
Translator!
It was that same person who had messed with their lives back in 2019! Jiang Shuyu had been thrown into multiple different worlds, and Jiang Ziya had gotten the weirdest friend request ever, which was quite something, as he received weird friend requests all the time.
“Well? Why are you here?” Grisia asked.
Translator waved her hand and banished the YuBots outside the door. “Once upon a time, we were just readers ourselves. We too wish to see the end of your stories. We know these stories have touched the hearts of many readers throughout the years. Seeing readers continue to leave comments, some even returning years later, keeps us going.”
She turned away from them and continued speaking. Who was she addressing? Was she addressing the readers?
“This is not the end. This is just a save point. We won’t give in to the darkness, but the number of people around helping combat the dark—the translators, proofreaders, CE editors, PDF makers, and all of the dedicated members who make this all possible, dwindle with the ravages of time. It has been more than a decade, after all. People come and go, but in the end, we’re still here, as long as you’re here, until the end of these stories.”
Translator smiled. “Soon, there will be a new chapter to your story, Jiang Ziya, with many more to come. As for you, Charles Endelis, your story has come to an end. The final chapter will be upon us in mere minutes, so there is no need to fear that your young master’s story will be cut short like Daren Solaris’s story. There will even be two more extras but not this month.”
“My thanks,” Charles said, dearly hoping for a happy ending, while Jiang Ziya could not wait to find out what was going on with the Sun Emperor, Ah Ye, and Charles.
“What about my story?” Jiang Shuyu asked. He had been interrupted in the middle of a siege. Whether he could successfully protect his home was still up in the air. The author better make sure his side wins!
“That is also being worked on,” Translator answered. “Come back later this month.”
“And ours?” Grisia demanded.
Translator could only shake her head. “I am afraid that is out of our hands. We too are waiting for the author to continue Elaro’s story. In the meantime, please enjoy your vacation here in Big and Little Sun.”
“This is not a vacation!” Grisia retorted.
“I’ll bug Yu Shu when I go back for her to write more,” Jiang Ziya said. After all, he already owed her so many favors. What’s one more annoyance?
“Fine, fine, party’s over!” Grisia grumbled.
And with that, they all returned to their own stories.
Thank you, dear readers, for joining us on this adventure! Please look forward to the chapters this month! And visit Eclipse Hunter for a new PDF of Volume 3 thanks to ListeningDaisy! The new poll is thanks to anon!
May Chapters
- Illusions, Lies, Truth V5C3: Inheritance, Part 2—Si Ming
- No Hero V9C10: Eternal
- Dominion's End V6C7: This Time, Seize Control! Part Two
- Eclipse Hunter V4Prologue: Prologue