Operation story: WR-8

Operation

Story

Because the original Chinese texts of Who is Real use Classical/Literary Chinese with wordplays that are impossible to be translated into English, some of the following texts may not be necessarily true to the context.

Previous WR-6	Next WR-10
Characters
Dusk Kroos Lava Mr. Nothing Nian Saga Dawn Storyteller Ink Spirit
Backgrounds
1 2 3 4

Before operation

“

Day after day guarding the village gradually wears on Lava, Mr. Nothing, and Kroos. But Dawn reveals some useful information: the Ink Spirits also fear firecrackers.

”

<Background 1>
Ink Spirit	Guh...
Dawn	Ink Spirits. Ink... Spirit. What a beautiful name. Saga is such an bright girl. Again and again, she protects the things she knows can't be damaged. I wonder if that means they will grow sick of this pointless exercise and give up on that righteousness one of these days? I suppose she will. After all, if you can restore broken porcelain, then it's not going to be much of a heartbreak at all to see it shatter into pieces. You might even come to enjoy the feeling of breaking it.
Ink Spirit	...Gaa?
Dawn	But do we have to go that far...? Human nature is no match for these trials and tribulations.
Ink Spirit	...Goh...
Dawn	Are you watching, Dusk? You are such a meanie... I only hope don't mind what I have planned.
<Background 2>
[Lava and her gang have fended off the Ink Spirits at the gates of P'o-shan.]
Lava	–Hff!
Mr. Nothing	My benefactors, we've done it at last! Forgive me for throwing cold water, but with no end in sight to our daily scuffles with the monsters, surely you agree with me our search for the way out is making hardly any progress?
Lava	Saga said she'd come up with something.
Mr. Nothing	And so we will take on the Ink Spirits here day after day? This hardly feels like the best use of our time...
Lava	It's no big deal to me. Just think of it as a way to hone our techniques.
Kroos	–Lava, mate.
Lava	Hmm? What's up?
Kroos	......
Lava	Go on?
Kroos	The Arts you used back there looked just a little bit dangerous.
Lava	I... Uh...?
Kroos	See? You burned down quite a few stores. And you, Nothing, mate. You pretended you didn't see that small Ink Spirit rush toward town, did you?
Mr. Nothing	I thought you would have no trouble taking care of it.
Kroos	No, you thought, "If something goes wrong, everything will just go back to the way it was tomorrow."
Mr. Nothing	...... I... I can't deny I did... I know what you mean, but...
Kroos	Today's the seventh day. I'm not trying to give you a hard time. When you pointlessly protect the same objectives day after day, you're bound to feel that way sooner or later. Remember Rim Billiton, though... Don't ever forget what that bloody month taught us. War can wear you down mentally, so we need to be alert.
Lava	Kroos...
Kroos	Sorry... Mate, you know that I've always...
Lava	It's okay. I understand. We'll be fine. We'll get out of here and make it back to Rhodes Island in one piece.
Kroos	...... Alright~ Be sure to treat me to some Columbian coffee once we're back.
Lava	Yeah.
[Kroos and Lava do a high-five.]
Lava	Is Saga still in the room?
Mr. Nothing	I stole a glance before leaving this morning. It has been seven days since she started meditating... My benefactor, if we die of starvation or thirst in this painting, do you suppose that... we might truly die?
Lava	No idea. All Saga said before she shut herself in was something like, "Leave it to me..." She's the one who understands most what's going on in the painting. We don't have any other choice, or are you volunteering to take a stroll inside the other scrolls, just like what she's doing?
Mr. Nothing	No, no, no. I'm hardly as determined as the master. I'm afraid I would find myself distracted and never able to return.
Lava	There just isn't much we can do for her until something happens on her end.
[Dawn appears.]
Dawn	So this is where you've been.
Lava	Dawn? What's the matter?
Dawn	I wanted to remind you to never stray from your true conscience. I once told Saga, "When deceit is taken for truth, the truth is yet unreal. When naught is taken for aught, there is yet but nil." Right, where is she?
Lava	She's been meditating in the room for days.
Dawn	I see. She wants to wake up. There have been very few people who managed to wake up from the scroll on their own volition. Actually, I should say there has never been anyone who has managed to do it. But... maybe. Ms. Lava, have you heard of "firecrackers?" It's a time-honored tradition in Yen. As you can imagine, it was at first–
Lava	–For warding off ancient monsters?
Dawn	Oh... I thought you were born outside of Yen? You know your Yen traditions well.
Lava	Well, let's just say I've got a friend...
Kroos	Right, now I remember...
Lava	Please don't remember.
Kroos	This is straight out of "Ancient Forge," isn't it? I remember something about Nian being scared of firecrackers. The Dark Devastator in the end used cannons as well–
Lava	–Aahhhh, I can't hear you! Dawn! What do firecrackers have to do with this situation?!
Dawn	Hm? Oh... I was going to say the Ink Spirits are actually scared of firecrackers. If we hang some firecrackers up at the village's entrance, they will naturally stay away.
Lava	Really?!
Mr. Nothing	Wow, what a lifesaver! My back has been hurting me the past day and a half! At last, I can take the day off from looking for monsters! Now, without further ado, let us take to the market–
Dawn	You won't find them in the market.
Mr. Nothing	–Quite right. How do we procure some, then?
Dawn	Well, there is a way... Do you know why firecrackers are called as such?
Mr. Nothing	Because the earliest Yen people thought to commemorate their fallen liege's exploits by setting bamboo on fire, and memorialize the great war with its crackling sounds.
Kroos	You know your stuff.
Mr. Nothing	Haha, I'm merely well-read on the subject.
Dawn	There you have it. Let's give them a surprise unlike any other.
<Background 3>
Dawn	This one will do?
Mr. Nothing	What a fine bamboo tree. Would be a waste to cut it down!
Dawn	It will grow anew tomorrow.
Mr. Nothing	Showing no mercy to the flora, are we...?
[Lava returns while carrying a pile of bamboo trunks.]
Lava	I'm back! Is this enough?
Dawn	The more the better.
Kroos	The Umbrella-Boiler is such a nice guy. He gave us all this bamboo for nothing.
Dawn	If you're worried about taking the bamboo, I'll pay the storyteller a visit and give him our thanks. No one ever comes back to my pawn shop for their items. I could just give him everything as a sign of our gratitude.
Lava	Are you sure about that?
Dawn	It will all be mine again tomorrow.
<Background 2>
Kroos	Hm, I've seen firewood burn and crackle up pretty good, but does bamboo do that too?
Dawn	Supposedly, wet bamboo after the rain gives the most thunderous pops. The only problem is it never rains here. Right, just like this... Make a kind of stove with the mud... Now, as for the fire–
Lava	–Let me try.
Dawn	Be careful with the heat. It's a bit more finicky than it seems.
Lava	I-I'll try my best...
[Just as Lava prepares the firecrackers, the Ink Spirits show up.]
Mr. Nothing	My benefactor! They are here!
Dawn	Now!
Lava	Mph–
[Lava detonates the firecrackers, which true to what Dawn suggests, disorients the Ink Spirits and forces them to flee.]
Ink Spirit	Gkh... gkhaa–?!
Mr. Nothing	We did it! They're dazed!
Ink Spirit	Gkhaa–!!
Mr. Nothing	They ran? Are they truly afraid of it?
Kroos	Did it really work...? Why is that...?
Lava	We'll have to ask Nian–
[The storyteller overhears Lava uttering...]
Storyteller	...Nian?
[And then...]

After operation

“

As if waking from a dream, Saga finally looks upon the true face of "Dusk" at the end of her decade of travel through the scroll.

”

<Background black>
[Saga is meditating.]
Saga	...... ............ ................
A mind as still as water. 'Tis a rare trait for someone of thy age. Thou hast extinguished all light and purged all emotions from thy mind, and thus are all creations of nature leaving thy body. At long last, the still waters in thy mind give rise to new emotions– –Dost thou feel sorrow?
<Background 4>
[Upon leaving her trance, Saga meets the storyteller.]
Saga	Master storyteller! Pray forgive my interruption!
Storyteller	Awake from your dream at long last... How long has it been?
Saga	I have seen the plums blossom and wither ten times.
Storyteller	As long as my ink brush remain untouched, the scenery in the painting would never change.
Saga	To tell the truth, I had been counting ever since the moment I entered the painting scroll of Mount Sky. 'Twas indeed that long.
Storyteller	...Ten years? You stayed in the painting for ten years?
Saga	More or less.
Storyteller	You, a mere wandering monk, fiddled away ten full years here. What drove you to partake in such meaningless tribulations?
Saga	Well, I could enjoy a good sleep, partake in all manner of indulgences, and I need not be disturbed by the world, to say nothing of the Catastrophes and infections. I thought it a rather pleasant experience.
Storyteller	Be that as it may, you dreamt... for ten full years. Few are capable of remembering who they truly are after such a long time. Some would forget who they once were and choose to forever remain inside the painting.
Saga	My, how frightening.
Storyteller	Yet you are not afraid at all.
Saga	You are a kind man. I verily believe you would wake them before they cross that point of no return.
Storyteller	Oh? What makes you say that?
Saga	The old fisher at the summit of Mount Sky, the weaver by the banks of the Pu-kuei River, the halberd wielder of the Wu-chieh Plains, the lady innkeeper of the Lungmen Inn... and now the storyteller of the P'o-shan Village... Thou hast reminded me countless of times. Yet I chose to deceive myself and continued to indulge in my pleasures, never to wake from my dream. I suppose I must apologize. It must have been tedious to keep me alive in the painting.
Storyteller	Pray be at ease. You came to the mountain when the autumn winds were yet blowing. 'Tis merely the beginning of winter now. It was but a brief dream.
Saga	Hoh! I was worried I would be reprimanded for my sluggish behavior. Little did I know it was but a brief period of time. That certainly puts me at ease.
Storyteller	You already knew of your predicament when you reached Mount Sky, that it was merely a painting. Why waste your time?
Saga	For I saw the truth of Dusk Beauty Flying to the Moon, and I could not well cease thinking about it... A madwoman took matters into her hands and sought to reclaim her true love from the heavens. 'Tis an act of pure lunacy, yet it overwhelms me with a sense of regret...
Storyteller	Hmm... What if I tell you Dusk Beauty's willpower was an addition I made to the painting– that it is of my own making?
Saga	All the nations of this world possess a great many legends, classics, literature, and myths, many of which can be called fabricated. The common folk are not likely to ever experience the machinations written therein. Should we disregard their lessons because they are mere fiction? I think 'tis absurd to do so.
Storyteller	You are a strange one.
Saga	There is but a fine line between great and strange. I appreciate your compliment.
Storyteller	...Hah. You are just like your master. He's old, yet he has the heart of a child, a clear mind. You've helped me pass the time... Out of respect for your master, very well, I shall grant you an audience with me.
Saga	Um, an audience?
Storyteller	Haha, you cannot possibly believe you've awakened by waltzing in here?
Saga	*gasp*...! Am I yet within the painting?
Storyteller	No need to feel ashamed. This is merely how it's meant to be. If I let you break out merely because you wished so, it would blemish my image. Well, now. Wake up–
<Background black>
Starshrouded snow. Hidden moon.
Dusk	Finally awake?
Saga	Ah...
Dusk	Get up now. It's terrible manners to sleep on the ground.
Saga	Oh...! You are right...
<Background 4>
Saga	......
Dusk	What's wrong?
Saga	Well... 'Tis merely that I never imagined you... to look like this.
Dusk	Heh. Well, ask away.
Saga	I... I... I thought that by surveying the sceneries of these hundred-and-some scrolls, I, too, could walk the journey that thou once walked. Yet... 'Twas but an insignificant fraction of the landscapes thou hast sketched...
Dusk	Know that there are those who never accept their mistakes and find themselves content with dying here.
Saga	That I can understand...
Dusk	That's not what you wanted to ask.
Saga	Oh, right, I was startled into forgetfulness. My apologies. Master, I have once laid my eyes upon the "Scene of Crude Mounts Utmost Risen" at my head priest's garret. Though at the time I thought there was meaning hidden therein, I could not quite put my finger on it. I asked the head priest, and he had me leave the monastery to seek out the answer. I have since traveled all over the lands, and though I have since found parts of the answer myself, the ways of the world has me yet confused. Since I am blessed with the fortune to meet thee in thy flesh, I thought I would–
Dusk	If you've had your ideas, why ask me?
Saga	I wish merely to learn from thy explanation for my own betterment and to fill in the blanks... To tell the truth, the painting's true meaning eludes me still. Pray tell, wherefore was the end of the waterfall just one swift stroke, leaving naught but a swath of emptiness?
Dusk	What do you think?
Saga	–Crude mounts utmost risen. The scenery within the scroll extends endlessly. The waterfall soars into the skies, leaving naught but white. 'Tis a way to depict the great mountains and rivers undepictable within the scroll...
Dusk	......
Saga	Hrm... This is merely conjecture. I am hoping you could do away with the secrecy and reveal the truth. 'Tis making me blush.
Dusk	Beauty, especially that of an art piece, is in the eye of the beholder. It falls on you to find your own interpretation. Nonetheless... You racked your brains so for only that?
Saga	Much of what we do in life is seeking answers. If not for this matter gnawing at my mind, I would not have had the fortune to feast my eyes upon thy landscapes within the scrolls.
Dusk	I suppose so. Alas, the stroke you are asking was one that I began at whim and also one that I ended at whim. That's all.
Saga	Huh?
Dusk	By the time I got to the waterfall, I no longer wanted to continue, and so I stopped there. I took a look afterwards and thought it was rather picturesque, so I gave it a name and sent it your master's way.
Saga	I– –I could never have imagined!
Dusk	Disappointed? Having spent such a long time in the painting, and you ended up with quite possibly the most boring answer–
Saga	Not at all. Leaving aside all that I have learned inside the scroll, thy answer is most interesting! Drawn on a whim, and stopped on a whim... I once thought that there is meaning to all things upon this world. As time passed, I became far too entrenched in my search, unable to pluck myself out. Right, right. We need not be so focused on the meaning behind everything... If there is but one answer, to repeatedly scrutinize would merely be a futile exercise. I had heard from my master an aphorism: "Where there was naught at first, from whence could dust have emerged." Mayhaps it means the same thing?
Dusk	...Hah. Everyone has their own interpretations. As long as you understand that, it's not necessarily a bad thing to be cocky.
Saga	Oh, I shall keep that in mind. Many thanks.
Dusk	When I gave your master this piece, I told him merely three words, "Crude Mounts Utmost." The "Risen" in its name... is his interpretation.
Saga	"Risen?"
Dusk	Do you know what your master saw in it?
Saga	He gazed not upon its landscapes with thee?
Dusk	He didn't.
Saga	Hoh?! A-Am I returning to the painting...? Oh, this must be what the head priest saw– –
Saga	Is that... my head priest?
Dusk	That's right. He had scraped the soles of his feet, he was starving, and he walked three full days and nights of hunger. He prayed many times, as many as two thousand and a score, and yet he never thought a thing about his life and death. He merely felt sadness and lamented his inability to understand.
Saga	Did you save... my head priest?
Dusk	I had already saved him once at the K'u-t'an River. I didn't help him this time. Think about it. At his young age, he had already been through such hardships. Think about how he went from that to the warm, caring head priest that you know. And how he added the word "risen" to the painting's title.
Saga	Head Priest...
The lands he walked were filled with starvation. All that he could see, hear, and tell were nothing but tragedy. With each step, the young Higashi monk paused to recite the sutras. Time passes like a flowing river, and this moment is everlasting.
Saga	On the day I left the monastery, my head priest bestowed upon me my name, Saga.
Dusk	That's right.
<Background 4>
Dusk	He had seen the coldness of mankind, yet he was never disheartened. Even the collapse of Mount Sky did not sway him. After the young wandering monk made his way back to Higashi, he decided to take in a group of children with nowhere to turn to. He built a monastery in the mountains, and that's how he became the head priest you often speak of. It's not that uncommon of a story.
Saga	The crude mounts had not fallen... That was the meaning the head priest sought to give the painting. Very well! Then, in his stead, I shall see all the sights there are to see in this vast world!
Dusk	Well, as you please. Now that you got that weight off your shoulders, it's time for you to leave.
Saga	W-Wait, master! This is merely the original source of my perplexity. Having traveled the scrolls some ten years, I am afraid there are certain things I must ascertain for my worries to dissipate.
Dusk	Ask away. But know that this is the last chance I'm giving you. I'm not fond of blabbering people.
Saga	The inhabitants of the paintings. Are they real or not?
Dusk	That's an interesting question. You know they are from the painting. Why ask if they are real or not?
Saga	Oft did I nod off when we studied our scriptures, yet in my languidness I was able to constant seek out truth... For ten years have I walked the landscapes in thy painting, though I yet remain befuddled. Pray tell, what is real?
Dusk	...Real. When we look at those who are unreal in the painting, as those who are real, we are able to laugh off all the fake lives and deaths depicted therein. But if we are yet inhabitants of a painting, and we will one day vanish into the thin air, would you still be able to remain so calm?
Saga	All men will one day cease to be. There is little reason to be tormented by that which is inevitable. By approaching all things from the heart and living my life naturally and freely, there is naught to fear.
Dusk	Man is not necessarily free. Everything that I've drawn, be it real or otherwise, is merely my way of interrogating myself.
Saga	Man is naturally free.
Dusk	Wrong. Both you and I are habitants of a painting.
Saga	......
Dusk	You seek to solve this problem by yourself, yet you know not a thing about yourself. How do you mean to seek truth? In the end, what is real, and what is false? Are you sure you can truly tell them apart? And why take it so seriously?
Saga	So thou meanst... I am yet within the painting right this moment?
Dusk	...You've truly left my scrolls, that I can assure you. I'm only asking, how do you prove that these landscapes before your eyes are not yet another boring painting scroll?
Saga	......
Dusk	The roads you've trodden, the people you've met, their births and deaths, and their setbacks in life. All of these things might merely be events drawn at the whim of an artist without any particular meaning assigned. The so-called reality that you people spend an entire lifetime looking for is yet another fantasy. We are merely characters in a scroll. The viewers see the events that transpire in the painting and either applaud or criticize its contents. Our lives are but a fantasy, like a dewdrop or lightning, leaving not a trace in the end.
Saga	......
Dusk	Let's stop here. You're wasting both your time and mine, and it's getting on my nerves. I will find a chance to pluck the other ones out. You should get going.
Saga	Lava came a long way solely for the chance to meet thee... yet thou wouldst not grant her an audience?
Dusk	That's none of your business. You don't know why they came, so stay out of it.
Saga	But–
Dusk	–Don't push your luck, Saga. One more word, and I'll have you truly regret it.
Saga	But I promised Lava to present this to thee, at the very least.
Dusk	You– This...?!
[Out of nowhere, Nian appears.]
Nian	Found you...!