WeTried Translations

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: BlueMangoAde

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 862: F-Rank Hunter Jeon Myeong-hoon (1)

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The intermediate zone connecting the Audience Chamber, where the Three Great Jade Thrones exist, and Mount Sumeru.

Recently, countless dimensional vines have intertwined there, forming a maze.

It is a labyrinth created to prevent beings from other worlds from crossing the Audience Chamber and invading Mount Sumeru through the breach recently opened in the Gestation World.

One place within that Dimensional Maze.

Inside a palace along a secret passage that only Upper Immortal-class beings of Mount Sumeru could reach.

"So, what do you want me to do?"

Jeon Myeong-hoon responds to the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord's summons with a question.

Ji Hwa, the Sword Spear Heavenly Lord, speaks on behalf of the being behind the screen from the seat of honor before it.

"The Crystal King is currently exploring the Fan Realm with his true body. In the Crystal King's stead, I'm guiding destinies, including the plan to lead the Neo-Enders. So I want you to handle some of the work the Crystal King had been doing to block the breaches in the Gestation World."

"Hmph. Why should I do that? Honestly, this is the shit Seo Eun-hyun left behind. Who told him to toss away the Absolutes, create this disaster, and open a breach?"

"You insolent bastard!!!"

"What are you talking about!? I'm Seo Eun-hyun's superior!"

"Seo Eun-hyun quit that job and joined our kindergarten ages ago! What superior are you talking about!?"

After bickering with Sword Spear for some time, Jeon Myeong-hoon is eventually beaten up by Ji Hwa.

"Fuck... Was that gorilla bitch who wore a tinfoil circlet always this strong?"

"Do you think trash like you, who have even lost your Absolute, can so much as touch my toes? Heaven granted me talent and fate, and I became an Immortal Lord through my own strength. If your predecessor, the Golden Divine, hadn't been so good at causing trouble and running away, I would have caught and killed that bastard myself."

"Fight me again without invoking the power of the Star Origin Essence and Seo Eun-hyun's power!!!"

Jeon Myeong-hoon is beaten up by Ji Hwa again.

"Fuck..."

Tap, tap.

After teaching Jeon Myeong-hoon a lesson, Ji Hwa dusts off her hands and continues.

"I'm not asking you to do anything difficult. I called you because I thought you'd like it."

"What is it?"

"Go to a dimension in the Outer World and bring back that world's causality. Since this breach was opened by a Gate God of the Outer World, we can counteract it with the causality of another Outer World and close it. Well, it is the authority of an Outer God at least at the Supreme Deity level, so closing it completely is impossible. Still, we should be able to seal it well enough that random scum can't enter at will."

Jeon Myeong-hoon stares at Ji Hwa in disbelief.

"You're telling me to earn foreign currency!? No! I won't do it!"

"You don't have anything to do these days, so you've just been loafing around. The Crystal King was originally doing this alongside weaving Mount Sumeru's destiny. It won't be difficult for someone like you. In fact, it suits you, so you'll probably find it fun."

"You really don't understand! Don't infringe on my right to loaf around just because I have nothing to do! Seo Eun-hyun! Seo Eun-hyun!"

While arguing with Ji Hwa, he finally runs toward the screen, calling for the being behind it as he pulls it aside.

Ji Hwa is startled and tries to stop him, but though she can overpower Jeon Myeong-hoon in a fight, she cannot match his instantaneous speed.

Rumble!

Jeon Myeong-hoon pulls back the screen amid lightning and is about to shout.

Then he sees the being behind it.

His eyes burst apart, and he screams.

: : Aaaaargh! : :

Jeon Myeong-hoon is thrown back, screaming from the shock of his very being cracking apart.

Ji Hwa hurriedly covers the screen again and snaps at him.

"I told you the Crystal King was exploring the Fan Realm with his true body! That behind the screen is a crystal mirror made from a part of the Crystal King's body. It reflects the projection of the true body while it is exerting power at full force. Do you think you, who have fallen to the level of an ordinary Immortal Lord, can withstand the Crystal King's true body!?"

Jeon Myeong-hoon expels the Crystal King's influence from his body.

Pop, crack.

Crystal shards are pushed out from his face by the power of lightning, regenerating it.

: : Damn... Without the Absolutes, shouldn't that bastard only be at the level of an ordinary Supreme Deity? : :

"From the moment the Crystal King ascended to Supreme Deity, the Crystal King already matched the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord at the height of power. After becoming the Crystal King, the Absolutes were abandoned, but the Crystal King became even stronger than at the time of ascension. The Crystal King is still growing even now, and is currently stronger than the Vast Cold Heavenly Lord at the height of power. The records left behind by the previous Radiance Eight Immortals say that ordinary Immortal Lords who looked directly upon Vast Cold's power had the same reaction as you. What do you think would happen when facing someone even stronger?"

"Tch... I didn't know it was this bad."

After looking directly upon Seo Eun-hyun's power, Jeon Myeong-hoon seems to have changed his mind about something.

"So, you want me to do the foreign-currency job that bastard was doing?"

He is annoyed by Ji Hwa's attitude of assigning him Seo Eun-hyun's work.

But once he sees Seo Eun-hyun's power, he seems to see it differently. Someone is entrusting him with work Seo Eun-hyun had done.

"Yes. You may have weakened, but you once invoked a fragment of Absoluteness. This is work that cannot be entrusted to anyone below someone like you, a former Heavenly Venerable-level being."

"Ahem. Yes, yes."

Ji Hwa's words seem to put Jeon Myeong-hoon in a better mood.

"What exactly am I doing, and what do I have to do in which dimension to collect this causality?"

"It's simple. I looked into it, and there is something like a merchant guild created by wanderers roaming the Outer Worlds. I sold you to them for ten thousand years."

"...?"

Jeon Myeong-hoon cannot follow her words for a moment and stares blankly.

Then someone strikes the back of his head with a powerful blow, knocking him unconscious.

"You fucking..."

As Jeon Myeong-hoon loses consciousness, Ji Hwa offers him some comfort.

"Don't worry. You're only being rented out for around ten thousand years. You'll be able to return after that. I've also prepared a special reward for you, so go enjoy yourself."

Jeon Myeong-hoon soon loses consciousness, and Ji Hwa looks toward the being who struck him.

"Thank you for cooperating, Golden Divine."

"Striking people in the back of the head is my specialty. It wasn't difficult. Now give me what you promised."

"You have so many enemies that it was difficult to weave a safe fate for you. In truth, even this cannot be guaranteed completely safe, because your enemies' rage runs too deep."

Hummm...

Ji Hwa takes a small star from her robes and sends it toward the Golden Divine.

The Golden Divine accepts the fate that will let him rest away from his enemies for a while, smiling bitterly.

"You want me to join the fate of the new Enders."

"It is a fate woven by the Crystal King, so even your enemies won't be able to interfere carelessly."

"How strange. I killed most of the Enders of my generation by striking them in the back of the head. Yet this time, it's a fate where I serve the Enders... Good. It will be a time of atonement, and a chance to spend some quiet time with Zhengli and Golden Shaking Bird."

Bang!

The Golden Divine blocks the flying sword Ji Hwa suddenly fires while he is speaking.

"Hehe... You still have a long way to go before you can strike me in the back of the head."

"Hmph. We cooperated this time, but I still bear no goodwill toward you. I haven't forgotten how you invaded the Radiance Hall in those days, summoned the Ten Kings of the Underworld and Swallowing Heaven Supreme Deity in the middle of the Radiance Hall, then thoroughly looted the storage scrolls and secret storehouses of the Radiance Eight Immortals. You emptied my storehouse too, didn't you? And butchered all the True Immortals and Entering Nirvana stage disciples who served me..."

"You're no longer one of the Radiance Eight Immortals. Why dig up such old history?"

Creak...

Ji Hwa is about to rage at the Golden Divine, but forcibly restrains her anger.

"...The age has changed now, so you should kill that troublemaking nature of yours. Back then, fate itself flowed for your sake because you were an Ender. But you're no longer an Ender protected by Heaven, nor are you the world's protagonist."

"...I'll keep it in mind."

"Get lost."

The Golden Divine looks at the fate Ji Hwa has given him.

Enders... No, they are called Neo-Enders now, aren't they?

It is a fate to serve beneath someone called Makli Hyun-ah, from the first generation of Neo-Enders, while concealing his identity.

After watching Makli Hyun-ah, who has grown through numerous adventures to the quasi Star Shattering stage and earned Ban Ta's favor, the Golden Divine lets out a hollow laugh.

"By the way, I was too busy running from place to place to pay attention to the Sun and Moon Heavenly Domain. Why is Ban Ta still a Sacred Master...? Is it because I stole and hid away the Middle Realm's core in the Lightning Sacred Sea...? No, that was too long ago. Surely it isn't the same person, but merely someone who inherited the name."

Crackle!

Having finished speaking, the Golden Divine transforms into a streak of golden lightning and disappears before Ji Hwa's eyes.

Ji Hwa secretly looks at Makli Hyun-ah, who has reached the quasi Star Shattering stage after much time has passed.

She sees a future in which the Golden Divine joins Makli Hyun-ah's side with his identity concealed, together with Golden Shaking Bird and Zhengli.

The Golden Divine's arrival will likely become a disaster for Makli Hyun-ah.

'That piece of filth is, by nature, a shit-stirrer a hundred million times more horrifying than any mudfish that causes trouble. The great disaster that bastard brings could... instill vigilance in Makli Hyun-ah and the others, who became complacent after receiving a recent fortunate encounter, reaching the quasi Star Shattering stage and now looking toward the Star Shattering stage. If they don't want to explode to death while ascending to the Star Shattering stage, they need to temper their minds first through the great disaster that piece of filth will bring.'

With that, she turns her gaze toward the being before her.

She picks up the unconscious Jeon Myeong-hoon and leaves the Dimensional Maze.

"I'm sorry to make you work, but grief over the lover from your mortal days still remains in your heart. You must meet that person again and heal. I'll prepare the price of that miracle as payment for this labor. Have a good trip. The Crystal King said it would be a world you'd enjoy, so enjoy yourself to your heart's content."

* * *

"Ugh... Fuck."

Jeon Myeong-hoon wakes up and shakes his head.

"That tinfoil gorilla bitch... Where did she send me...?"

He is in an ordinary room.

Looking out the window, he sees an ordinary modern society.

"...Huh. Korea?"

He rubs his eyes.

Outside the ordinary one-room studio is an Earth familiar to Jeon Myeong-hoon.

Jeon Myeong-hoon rubs his eyes and checks his power.

'My strength... Damn it. There's practically none. I'm at the level of an ordinary human. Did they seal my soul in a human body? And... my true body is sealed somewhere. If I ignite my soul and strengthen my connection to my true body, I think I could return to it and raise hell, but...'

Jeon Myeong-hoon clicks his tongue and shakes his head.

Sword Spear looks like a madwoman who wears tinfoil on her head, but she had lived through countless ages. Through endless thought and contemplation, she had become a Heavenly Lord, and after coming to understand the heart through Seo Eun-hyun, she had become someone who escaped fate.

It might look as though she had mindlessly kidnapped him and sold him to the Outer World, but she must have had her own consideration and reason.

Jeon Myeong-hoon agrees that they need to collect the Outer World's causality and seal the breach anyway. He is willing to cooperate, though not by being sold like this, so he is not terribly dissatisfied.

"So what am I supposed to do here?"

Just as Jeon Myeong-hoon mutters this,

[Great One!]

"...?"

He turns at someone's voice.

Then he flinches.

"The Homunculus in the Flask... No, a vassal of Seo Eun-hyun inside a plastic bottle."

Jeon Myeong-hoon looks at Seo Eun-hyun's charcoal-shaped vassal, which usually goes "croak."

"What are you?"

[Great One! Former Heavenly King! It is an immense honor to serve Your Highness, the former Heavenly King.]

Jeon Myeong-hoon picks up the plastic bottle sitting on the kitchen counter and asks the lump of charcoal floating in the liquid.

"All right. Are you this world's informant? What kind of world is this, and what do I have to do here to earn foreign currency? Who bought me?"

[Great One. This world is fundamentally similar to Your Highness's homeland. However, fragments of mixed dimensions also flow into it, opening Gates everywhere... Monsters emerge from them, and humans awaken and fight against them to survive.]

"Mm...!"

Jeon Myeong-hoon trembles at the familiar setting.

[Furthermore, the world's Transcendents and wandering divinities who drifted in from the Outer Worlds pity those humans, supporting them with the authority called a status window. Groups called demons, angels, or fairies act as intermediaries between them and humanity.

Your Highness was sold... Ahem. Those who borrow Your Highness's power are that organization of fairies.]

"Mm... I know I was sold, so don't try to spare my feelings. Why did those fairy or demon bastards buy me for ten thousand years?"

[That is...]

"Don't drag it out. I understand, but I'm still annoyed, so it's frustrating."

[Yes, Your Highness... Outer World divinities and this world's Transcendents are collectively called Constellations. The fairies give humans the fate of trials, offering them as entertainment for the Constellations... And to provide amusement for the greatest divinities among the Constellations, beings approaching the level of Governing Immortals of Mount Sumeru, people like Your Highness...]

"So you're saying I was sold as content for powerful Constellations?"

[In short, that is correct.]

Jeon Myeong-hoon understands the situation.

Of course, he understands Sword Spear's words. He also knows that although Sword Spear looks like a lunatic, she is thoughtful in her own way.

But...

He is still somewhat annoyed.

'When I return, I should feed Sword Spear the Lightning-Tip Spear. Since she sold me off, she'll probably take one hit without complaint. And I'll deliver fiery punishment to the damned bastard who dared strike me in the back of the head...!'

He is more annoyed with the one who dared strike the back of his head than with Sword Spear.

Having reached Treading Heaven Beyond the Path through cultivation, Jeon Myeong-hoon had felt the emotions of the one who hit him. Sword Spear had outwardly seemed to be forcibly kidnapping him, but inwardly, he had felt her selling him off for Mount Sumeru's greater cause, affection for Seo Eun-hyun, and some consideration for Jeon Myeong-hoon.

The bastard who struck him in the back of the head, however, had clearly carried the stench of a heart essence belonging to irredeemable trash. That bastard had even felt a trace of pleasure while hitting the back of Jeon Myeong-hoon's head.

'I don't know who it is, but when I return, I'll fry that bastard with lightning until it's well done. Piece of trash...!'

Grinding his teeth, Jeon Myeong-hoon asks the lump of charcoal.

"So. What do I need to do in this world?"

[You may do whatever you wish. Every one of Your Highness's actions in this world will become causality that will mend the breach in Mount Sumeru. You may act freely.]

"I'm asking which freely chosen action would help the most."

[What would help the most... is likely accumulating this world's power and raising Your Highness's status of existence within this world. That would create the strongest causality.]

"Good."

Freed from his annoyance toward Sword Spear and the trash who struck his head, he bares his teeth in a grin.

"Now I understand why Sword Spear said I'd like this... I love it!"

Honestly, he is annoyed, but after hearing the explanation, it sounds quite fun.

"Hahaha, did Sword Spear prepare this body?"

[I was told that this body was made by the fairies of this world and Sword Spear, the Heavenly Venerable, who matched it to the status of Your Highness's soul.]

"Hahaha, then if it was matched to the status of my soul, I must surely be an Awakened One with transcendent talent!"

[Yes. However, all of Your Highness's Immortal status has been sealed, so it was matched to the status of your soul from your purely human days...]

"Enough, enough. How do I awaken?"

[By killing monsters that crossed over from Gates...]

Before the words can even finish,

Woooooo!

A powerful alarm rings out around him.

[Warning, warning. A Gate is beginning to open. Citizens nearby, please evacuate to a shelter immediately. We repeat, a Gate is beginning to open. Citizens nearby...]

Riiip!

Outside the one-room studio, space splits open.

A huge one-eyed giant appears and roars.

"Hup!"

Before Jeon Myeong-hoon can assess the situation,

The one-eyed giant roars and begins smashing everything around it. Jeon Myeong-hoon frowns as the giant's fist tears away the wall of his one-room studio.

"...Hey, Charcoal. Tell me about my identity."

The charcoal lump in the plastic bottle tells Jeon Myeong-hoon about his identity and financial situation in this world.

"So I'm a civil-service exam candidate in this world, with no family, no money, and now even my one-room studio has been completely wrecked... I don't even have insurance?"

[Yes, Your Highness.]

"Then that bastard is a real son of a bitch."

Crunch!

Jeon Myeong-hoon tears a pipe of suitable length from the wreckage.

The muscles of this world's Jeon Myeong-hoon, which had not been trained at all, scream from that single act. Ignoring them, he grips the long pipe like a spear shaft and bares his teeth at the one-eyed giant that notices him.

Click.

In an instant, Jeon Myeong-hoon reaches Spear and Body Unity.

He rushes toward the one-eyed giant.

* * *

Shin Ah-young, an A-Rank Hunter from the Hunter Management Bureau, frowns as she rushes toward the location where the Gate had opened.

'Wonmi-dong in Wonmi District has weak mana reactions, so Gates rarely appear there. A Gate opened there? Damn it... Constellation bastards. Is this already the sixth Gate Wave?'

A Gate Wave.

It refers to a period when Gates across the human world open far more frequently and simultaneously for the Constellations' amusement, pouring out monsters.

Ordinary people, or low-ranked Hunters, believe that Constellations lend their power to humans for humanity's sake.

But high-ranked Hunters know.

Constellations do not pity humans in the slightest.

Rather, they enjoy watching the joys and sorrows of human lives.

Government agencies are even discussing the possibility that Constellations cause the Gates.

And Shin Ah-young is among those convinced that Constellations are the true source of Gates.

Even though she herself had risen to A-Rank with a Constellation's support after awakening.

'In any case. I won't let there be more people like me. I can't let someone accidentally kill a monster, become an Awakened One, sign a fraudulent contract in the name of support from the Constellations, and be cursed like I was...!'

Tap!

After running for one minute, Shin Ah-young reaches Wonmi-dong just one minute and thirty seconds after the Gate opened. She takes out her primary weapon, a demon spear, from her inventory.

'That, that is...!'

A juvenile Cyclops. A C-Minus-Rank monster.

It is not a monster that should appear in a neighborhood with so little mana.

Of course... Perhaps because it had been summoned to a place with little mana, its actual combat ability would not even reach C-Minus-Rank. It is probably around D to D+.

But even that has an extremely low chance of appearing in this neighborhood. To civilians, even an F-Rank monster is as dangerous as a wild dog, while an E-Rank one is at the level of a boar or bear.

'Why is a monster like that in this area... What is going on? Could it really be...'

Biting her lip, she uses a skill from a distance.

Sizzle!

Her weakening skill further weakens the juvenile Cyclops.

But it will probably still be D-Minus-Rank.

Civilians could get hurt.

Her steps hasten.

'Are those Constellation bastards starting their "amusement" again?'

The Constellations' amusement.

They bestow countless trials and destinies, then watch heroes and villains emerge from within them.

During the period of amusement, a quest window has been added to status windows. Vicious Constellations hand out countless quests, throwing society into chaos.

'Is that terrible time coming again!?'

Shin Ah-young grits her teeth and rushes toward the weakened juvenile Cyclops.

Drawn by her mana wave, the juvenile Cyclops turns its gaze toward her.

That is when it happens.

Slice!

Something flashes.

The Cyclops's head is cut off in a single stroke.

The Cyclops dies instantly.

'I weakened it and drew its attention, but someone killed a D-Minus-Rank Cyclops in one blow? At least a D-Rank Hunter...'

But when she sees who it is, her eyes widen.

A man dressed like a civil-service exam candidate is shaking blood from his body with a long pipe in hand.

"Ah, my muscles tore. I've really become washed up. Damn it..."

"...!"

He had swung a blunt pipe and cut off the Cyclops's head.

The problem is that she cannot sense any mana from him.

"A, a civilian!? A civilian killed a Cyclops?"

She had drawn its attention and weakened it, but it was still D-Minus-Rank.

It is beyond the level of an ordinary bear.

At Shin Ah-young's appearance, Jeon Myeong-hoon waves to her.

"Hello, um, you seem to be an Awakened One? A status window or something just appeared before me. What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Ah... Yes. First, you need to go to the Hunter Management Bureau and register as an Awakened One, in other words, a Hunter. Also, if you don't mind... may I use my skill to examine your potential?"

"Ah, yes! Hahaha... I was wondering if something was wrong. My status window has a potential grade, but it seems strange..."

She nods at his response.

He had killed a Cyclops in one blow while still a civilian.

'He's probably a "protagonist."'

When the Constellations' amusement began, Waves occurred, monsters flooded out, and society became hell.

Heroes and villains emerged within that society.

Among them were especially outstanding individuals, beings chosen by the Constellations.

Such people were called "protagonists."

'Protagonists usually have at least S-Rank potential from the moment they first awaken.'

Potential does not mean they could only grow that far.

It means that with even a little effort, they can easily grow to at least that level.

Therefore, the potential displayed in the status window is that Awakened One's minimum growth level.

'Ordinary Awakened Ones accidentally kill a goblin, kobold, or slime in a Gate, and even their highest potential is C-Rank. The average is E-Plus-Rank to D-Minus-Rank... He must be confused because he saw S-Rank potential.'

Protagonists usually never imagine that they themselves are protagonists.

Hummm...

Shin Ah-young swallows and uses her Appraisal Skill on the man before her.

'For social stability, the Hunter Management Bureau must secure the protagonist in front of me. If he has at least S-Rank potential, then surely even during this season of amusement...'

Ding!

[Name: Jeon Myeong-hoon]

[Growth Potential: F]

[Note: A hopeless dullard! Unless you cry out to the heavens, you are a pauper destined to live like roadside trash. You need society's help and warm concern. Your chances of reaching even F-Rank Hunter are exceedingly slim.]

[Unique Skill: Crying Out to Heaven LV.1 (Cries out to the heavens. Gains sympathy from those nearby. There is a certain chance of receiving comfort and alms from those nearby. There is also a certain chance of gaining the derivative skill, 'Begging.')]

[Trait: Mana-Insensitive Body (Extremely insensitive to mana. It is difficult to sense mana and difficult to wield it.)]

"...Huh."

Jeon Myeong-hoon looks at Shin Ah-young's dumbfounded expression and speaks.

"There is an error after all, right? Haha, there's no way that's my potential. I heard growth potential appears according to the status of one's soul. Since I have Mythic-Rank potential and am too transcendent, the status window must have displayed it wrong. Hahaha..."

Looking at Jeon Myeong-hoon's confident face, Shin Ah-young moves her lips, unable to decide what to tell him.

'Status windows don't malfunction, though...'

Footnotes:

"The Homunculus in the Flask" references Fullmetal Alchemist.

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