WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 61: Wrist-Cutting Syndrome

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The wound happened to be on my neck, but it wasn't deep.

No major blood vessel like the carotid artery had been cut, so even if I left it untreated, it wouldn't cause excessive blood loss.

Besides, I had [Combat Healing]. A wound like this would heal quickly if I just left it alone.

"Quit making a fuss. I'm not dying."

I knocked aside Rizmel's hand as she held out a potion, looking anxious. I had plenty of potions myself, and I didn't even need one.

Rizmel probably knew, at least somewhat, that she was overreacting.

There was no way she didn't know this injury wasn't fatal. I'd even shown her my self-healing ability during the Crystal Spider fight.

"I-I wasn't that worried."

Rizmel turned away again, putting on that painfully obvious act. I showed her that the wound had healed and told her we should continue.

The test in the darkness resumed after just five minutes.

Even with my vision restricted, I moved diligently and faced the Shadow Doll using my hearing and sense of touch.

Still, after exchanging a couple of blows, I would always swing at empty air once. Even with the support of my Intuition skill, this was the best I could do.

The real problem was Rizmel's constant meddling. Whenever I seemed to take a solid hit, she would immediately run over to check on me.

"You got seriously hurt this time. Take a break."

"Seriously hurt, my ass. I'm fine, so let me keep going."

"How are you fine when you're bleeding that much?"

I had no talent for anything physical. Unless I threw myself into it and got beaten up firsthand, I couldn't properly learn a damn thing.

Yet whenever it looked like I was getting knocked around or hurt, Rizmel would rush over, stop the test, and check on me.

At this rate, there'd be no end to it. I couldn't even imagine when I'd finally improve.

That didn't mean I could give up.

Honestly, I never thought limited vision alone would give me this much trouble. It was a weakness I'd never even considered.

Starting with the Lizardman shamans on Floor 3, enemies who used magic had gradually begun to appear.

And as far as I knew, black magic and curse-type spells had plenty of ways to interfere with an opponent's vision.

Just look at the Dark Elves here, who wielded Shadow Magic.

Even if my Unarmed Combat and other weapon skills had been sealed, I'd still let a single Shadow Doll land a hit on me.

Now that I knew about this weakness, I had no other choice. I had to master the expansion of the senses Rizmel kept talking about.

"Mm, you're doing incredibly well for your first time."

Maybe the impatience I felt showed on my face, because Rizmel suddenly said that.

"This isn't something you can master in a day or two. Even humans, who learn quickly, aren't any different."

"If it can't be done in a day or two, how long does it normally take?"

"Assuming you train every day, getting past the first stage takes anywhere from six months to ten years. It took me six months."

That was a familiar amount of time. I'd wasted about half a year on Floor 1, and I'd spent about that long in secluded training on Floor 3.

It wasn't an unreasonable amount of time to invest. Still, even the shortest estimate, six months, was a different story.

The initial storage period for remains at a memorial hall was usually fifteen years, with extensions available afterward.

But I'd heard unclaimed remains only got ten years. There were temporary storage periods of two years at a time, but that still only made twelve years in the end.

Of course, if I passed along a message through the guilds that kept in contact with the outside through Graduates, they could probably extend it somehow.

So it wasn't like I had to get out within a few years.

If anything, I thought it would be fine as long as I got out eventually, even if it took years. My goal didn't have a time limit.

But I didn't trust myself.

I trusted the effort and strength I'd built up, but I'd never trust my own willpower or diligence.

At my core, I was still a worthless unemployed loser who'd bled Mom dry. I might've somehow started moving forward, but once I lost momentum, that was it.

If I spent a long time surrounded by Dark Elves who thought humans were nothing but adorable, I'd definitely stop again.

"Six months?"

"If you're fast."

After saying that, Rizmel seemed to read something in my expression and hurriedly added more.

She said I had a fair bit of talent, that humans learned quickly by nature, and that I'd surely master it within a year at most.

Yeah, I thought something similar. If I kept doing it this way, I'd probably master it in about a year.

I just had no intention of doing that.

If the relaxed method took a year, wouldn't the extreme method take a month?

* * *

After finishing my training with Rizmel and returning to my lodgings, Eleanor was waiting for me again.

"You returned a little early today. Did practice finish sooner than usual?"

I vaguely answered Eleanor's question by saying I had somewhere to be, then immediately gathered my equipment and prepared to leave.

"How cold. You won't even give me a proper answer."

Eleanor sounded disappointed by my cold attitude, but she didn't ask where I was going or try to stop me.

Not that I planned to give her a proper answer if she asked. She definitely would've tried to stop me.

I opened the Open Community, brought up a map of all of Floor 7, and headed for a place I'd marked beforehand.

My destination was a field boss spawn area that I'd barely touched while doing faction quests.

[Cursed Altar]

This was where people who chose the Kingdom Army faction had to come, just as those in the Dark Elf faction had to subjugate Twilight Spiders.

The monsters that appeared here were humans who had lost their sanity under the curse overflowing through the area.

Bandits, Kingdom Army soldiers, and knights who passed nearby and fell victim to the curse appeared as enemies.

-Enemy, enemy. Kill the enemy.

-Fight. Defend our kingdom.

-Wipe them all out, everyone.

Facing the cursed humans approaching with unfocused eyes and drawn weapons, I pulled out a dagger.

The reason I'd managed to master so many different weapon skills in such a short time on Floor 3 was because I'd thrown myself into danger.

I'd driven poisoned arrows into my own body and recklessly charged at powerful Lizardmen I didn't think I could beat.

That was how I'd stimulated my survival instinct and achieved explosive growth.

This time, what I had to do wasn't any different.

-Slash!

I ran the dagger across my eyes.

I didn't need some grand Shadow Magic spell to restrict my vision.

"Kh, ugh, fuck."

It hurt far more than I'd imagined. I couldn't tell whether the liquid running down my cheeks was blood or tears.

On top of that, the sound of footsteps approaching from every direction made my heart pound.

I'd really cut my eyes, so they wouldn't heal immediately even if I drank a potion. There was no turning back now.

It had been a while since I'd felt such overwhelming danger. My fingertips trembled with a strange excitement.

"Huff, huu."

These weren't Shadow Dolls that only used blunt weapons. Rizmel wasn't here to stop things because I was hurt.

I drew my sword and charged toward the sound of the enemy's footsteps.

* * *

To lower my stats and make my sense of touch as sharp as possible, I had also removed all my armor this time.

I hadn't come out wearing only underwear like in some game, but in terms of defense, there wasn't much difference.

The weapons of these insane humans had been further strengthened by the curse, so I absolutely couldn't afford to take a hit.

-Whoosh!

Relying on the faint sound of wind, I avoided the incoming attack. My body already bore four or five cuts, some deep and some shallow.

None of them were fatal, though. Avoiding every attack was impossible, but I could somehow avoid the fatal ones.

I dodged an axe swing from a smelly bastard I guessed was a bandit, lunged forward, and swung my sword.

I aimed for the neck. I estimated the height of the swinging weapon, calculated the position of the shoulder, and cut slightly above it.

-Slash!

I clearly felt the blade tear through flesh and hit bone. I'd aimed properly for the neck.

I kicked away the beheaded bandit, dodged the spear of someone rushing me from another direction, and counterattacked.

-Slice!

I couldn't be sure because I still couldn't see, but I thought that attack had been a critical hit.

That was what it felt like. The sensation of landing a fatal blow.

The ways Rizmel had taught me to use my five senses came back to me one after another. I smiled at the feel of dust brushing against my cheek.

I definitely heard the sound of a heavy hammer dragging across the ground.

The dust that had just flown at me came from that hammer striking the ground as it swung. Then there was that distinctive, heavy rush of air, and the breathing that came with the swing.

At exactly the right moment, I raised my sword and cut the wrist of the bandit who must have been swinging the hammer.

I felt like an idiot for estimating the situation based only on the sound of swinging weapons and footsteps.

So many senses were reading the situation around me, yet I'd only relied on those few.

-Slash!

After cutting down what I assumed was the last enemy, I slowly opened my eyes and felt that my vision had grown much brighter.

It seemed [Combat Healing] and my item effects had healed my eyes.

Then I saw several blue interface messages floating before my recovered eyes.

[You have acquired the passive skill: Sensory Enhancement Lv. 1.]

I'd acquired a new skill without realizing it, and my Intuition skill had also gone up a little. I'd done it.

"Heh."

A grin naturally escaped my lips. Then another message appeared.

[Great King of this land, why do you leave the altar of the evil Mage untouched?]

[Why do you no longer send soldiers or knights, ordering only that the surrounding area be sealed off?]

[Are you so afraid of the undead guarding that place? The corpse of a warrior, decayed and rotten long ago!]

Along with the system messages appeared a sword-wielding corpse that reminded me of the Zombies on Floor 6.

[BOSS - The Rotten Warrior of Old]

Its stance and bearing were far from ordinary, but I smiled again and slashed my eyes.

A year with the relaxed method, a month with the extreme method.

And with my method, half a day.

Yeah, this was what suited me.

Footnotes:

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