WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Black Badger ◈
Chapter 1: Black Badger (1)
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There were unfamiliar voices.
When I opened my eyes, I saw the blurred outlines of people moving busily. I blinked blankly. Shadows fell over my head. Urgent voices called out. People seemed to be running somewhere in a hurry.
My senses had not fully returned, and I was dazed. When I closed and opened my heavy eyelids, the smell of dirt and gunpowder tickled my nose.
Then I saw a gun barrel thrust at me.
What?
The moment I thought that, a sharp voice snapped me awake.
“Who are you!”
That was what I wanted to ask.
“Where the hell did you come from!”
I pushed myself upright.
My view widened considerably. I saw several gun barrels aimed at me. Blinding white light settled over the lingering afterimages.
What is going on?
I blankly took in the five people holding guns, the expansive high-ceilinged room, and the man standing before me.
The man pointing a gun between my eyes was the source of the voice.
He had curly hair and clear hazelnut-colored eyes.
“Where did you come in from?”
“Where is this?”
I muttered as I looked into his clear eyes. My head was not working properly.
Had I fallen asleep while drinking?
“What was I doing?”
“Hey, quit talking nonsense!”
The curly-haired man frowned.
“When did you come in, and from where?”
He seemed to have a temper. But I truly had no idea what situation I was in. I looked at the man leaning toward me.
He wore the same clothes as everyone else. A pitch-black tactical suit that seemed to absorb light. Black gloves, and a huge, solid-looking gun in his hands.
He pressed the black muzzle against my neck. I could feel its cold touch.
Isn’t this a seriously dangerous situation?
“Are you going to keep saying stupid things? Are you messing with me?”
“Ro.”
Someone behind him spoke up.
“There must have been a problem with the portal. Lower your gun.”
A girl with round eyes stepped in. Her black hair was tied back, and she held a gun as large as her torso. As the only Asian girl there, she immediately caught my attention.
Why was someone who looked like a high school student, or at most a first-year college student, carrying a gun like that?
The curly-haired man called Ro sharply turned his head.
“Hey, do you know what kind of person this is? And you’re telling me to lower my gun?”
“I’m saying there must have been a problem with the portal.”
The girl strode toward me.
“Maybe it connected to another portal for a moment.”
“Lower your gun, Ro,” she said calmly, as though scolding him.
With my hands on the floor, I watched the girl approaching me and the people behind her.
Their black clothing was striking. They did not seem like ordinary civilians. The gazes fixed on me were sharp enough to cut.
She had told him to lower his gun, but they still looked ready to shoot me the instant I did anything suspicious. The smell of gunpowder and dirt hung in the air.
Where was this? What had I been doing before I got here?
The pale, high-ceilinged space was unfamiliar. Judging by their reactions and my own feelings, it was not a place I had visited before. I had no idea why I had woken up here.
And what kind of person was I?
The moment I panicked at my missing past, the girl stopped in front of me.
She looked down at me with her round eyes.
“Hello!”
She greeted me brightly and held out her right hand.
“I’m Choi Ami! Please call me Ami.”
“...Hildebert Taleb.”
I reflexively took Ami’s hand.
“Please call me Hilde.”
But I could not remember when I had started being called Hilde, or by whom. My memories had been wiped clean.
Since when had I been like this?
Staring ahead blankly, I panicked at the empty space where my memories should have been. My stomach dropped, and I began to panic in silence.
At the same time, handcuffs were fastened around my wrists.
* * *
Still cuffed, I was taken somewhere.
They did not drag me roughly. I was too out of it to resist and simply did as I was told. Shocked by my vanished memories, I stupidly followed Ami.
The people from the room stayed at both my sides and behind me. Ro stood on my left, while a tall man with gently elongated eyes stood on my right. Behind me followed a small girl with two-toned hair and a man wearing a mask up to his nose.
It looked as though they were escorting a VIP.
In truth, it was surveillance, not an escort.
We walked down a wide corridor and arrived at a room.
It had several white desks and chairs. It looked like a room that might be used for meetings, or never used at all.
Ami pulled out a chair at the desk in the middle of the room.
With handcuffs on both wrists, I quietly sat down.
“Hilde?”
“Yes?”
“I’m going to make a call.”
I blinked, startled by Ami’s sudden words.
I stared stupidly at her, then answered awkwardly.
“Ah, yes. Of course. Please don’t mind me. Take your time.”
The Asian girl grinned, her eyes crinkling.
She opened the door at the front and went out into the corridor.
At once, silence fell over the neat room. Everyone took their place and stayed quiet. They seemed to be waiting for something, but it did not look like the situation would change anytime soon.
This was a good chance to think.
I made full use of the silence and tried to remember who I was.
This is driving me insane. Why can’t I remember anything except my name?
There were countless things I could not remember. No, I could not remember most things. It felt as though someone had washed my memories away with water. Since being cuffed, I had tried to remember where I came from and what kind of person I was, but I had failed.
Only fragmented, useless memories surfaced. Looking outside from the passenger seat of a car, or playing a game on a handheld console a little bigger than my palm.
Frowning, I straightened my posture.
“Need to use the bathroom~?”
The man sitting beside Ro broke the silence with a smile.
“Go ahead if you need to~….”
I blinked.
“No. I’m fine.”
I forced my back straight and looked at him.
“Thank you for your concern.”
“If you need to go, just tell us anytime~.”
The man’s eyes curved into crescents. His vivid green eyes narrowed.
Ah. He has a bad personality.
I decided that I should avoid getting on that man’s bad side if possible.
He might always wear a smile, but he was probably extremely sensitive and sharp underneath.
The green-eyed man lounged in a chair in front of the whiteboard. He leaned lazily against the backrest, crossed his legs, and kept both hands in his pockets. Yet I could not find a single opening in his posture.
He seemed like the kind of person who would be dangerous to cross.
Looking at his long eyes, black hair, and neat features, I added politely,
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome...”
“Hey.”
Ro, who had been tapping on his phone beside the green-eyed man, suddenly raised his head.
“Yes?”
“Where are you from?”
Ro leaned back in his chair and wiggled one foot.
“You said you don’t remember?”
“Yes. I’m sorry. I’m trying to remember, but only useless memories keep coming back.”
“What memories?”
“...Things like playing games on a handheld console.”
I frowned and tried to recall something more useful.
But once again, I failed spectacularly. All that crossed my mind were useless scenes: a clean room with two apples, coffee milk with a straw in it, and a half-eaten scone.
I let out a small sigh.
“...I’m sorry. I can’t think of anything worth telling you. Strangely, I remember only my name. I do not remember any other personal information at all.”
“Did the portal wipe your memories while you were crossing...?”
The green-eyed man muttered as if speaking to himself.
“I heard similar things happened sometimes before, but I don’t know if that information is reliable...”
“Damn it. What the hell is this? We came back through a portal, and suddenly someone we’ve never seen before appears. I may be stupid, but even I know that if five people go in, five people should come out. But six people came out. Does that make any sense?”
“It doesn’t make sense, which is why we’re sitting here like this~. I was planning to go home, shower, and have a cigarette as soon as we got back...”
The green-eyed man spoke slowly and tilted his head to one side.
“I want to go home...”
“I’m sorry.”
The smile disappeared from his face, and I answered reflexively.
“You can smoke in here. I don’t mind.”
Ro and the green-eyed man, who had been lazily staring into space, both turned to look at me. I could feel the gazes of those standing behind me as well.
I feel like an animal in a cage.
With a bitter smile, I endured their stares.
Before I could say anything else, the door opened.
“They don’t exist!”
Ami ran in with wide eyes.
“There’s nobody who looks like Hilde, and nobody named Hildebert Taleb, anywhere in the Center Core or any other Core.”
“What are you, really?”
Ro glared at me, his thick brows arched.
“Where the hell did you come from?”
“...I’m sorry. But I’m really confused too...”
“For now, Ska will contact us.”
“Until then, let’s just wait quietly,” Ami said, waving her hands as if trying to calm both Ro and me.
I watched Ami closely as she shut the door and walked toward me. The gun she had held earlier was nowhere in sight.
As she approached, I tried to store information away in my head. With all my memories gone, I felt like a newborn learning everything from the beginning. Who was Ska? And what were the Center Core and the Cores?
Where had I come from in the first place? I tried to remember my country of origin. I had not forgotten country names. America, Britain, Australia. I remembered all of them, but not the one thing that mattered: which country I came from.
As Ami set a paper bag on the desk, I asked,
“Where is this?”
Ami, Ro, and the green-eyed man looked at me.
“Um, I mean, the country. What country am I in right now? America?”
Their expressions changed.
Silence fell. A strange mood filled the bare room.
I blinked, confused by the shift in atmosphere. Why? I sat there alone in the silence, bewildered.
Why are they reacting like this...?
Ro was the one who broke the silence, speaking with irritation.
“What nonsense are you saying now?”
“America no longer exists~.”
The green-eyed man cut off Ro’s irritated, suspicious words.
His sharp green eyes stared into mine as if piercing through them.
“It’s been a long time since I heard that proper noun...”
I blinked at words I could not easily understand.
“Pardon?”
“I mean borders no longer exist~. I hear students these days do not really understand the concept of a country.... Do you remember how old you are?”
“Pardon? No.... I’m sorry, but I don’t remember that either.... Pardon? Um?”
For a while, I could only repeat, “Pardon?” I did not understand what the green-eyed man was saying.
He repeated himself. Borders no longer existed, and everyone now lived in Cores. I tried to combine my fragmented memories with the new information. But it was pointless.
Several countries had clearly existed in my memories.
I distinctly remembered some of them. America, Britain, China, India.
I must have floundered in confusion for quite some time.
Eventually, I regained my senses. To escape the chaos and confusion, I deliberately focused on my five senses. The room was quiet and still. White incandescent light, and the pleasant scent of a wooden desk. The people in front of me stared at me, waiting for me to speak.
Feeling the cold air, I finally forced the words out.
“Then where are the three of you from? Which country did you come from? Are you not from any country? What exactly does it mean that borders are gone?”
“Ah.”
The green-eyed man, who had sat without moving with his legs crossed, gave a faint smile.
“That’s a difficult question~. The three of us are rather old, you see. I was originally from Italy~. Now I’m a Center Core resident, but...”
“Sicily.”
Ro cut in bluntly.
“The two youngsters behind you are from the Center Core. This little one is from China.”
“I told you I’m from Korea!”
Ami, who had been watching me with wide eyes, jumped up in outrage. Startled by her sudden anger, I flinched.
As I stared at Ami with wide eyes, the green-eyed man chuckled at me. Whether she noticed their reaction or not, Ami looked down at Ro and slammed the desk.
Bang! Bang!
“I’ve told you dozens of times that Yoon and I are Korean! The Chinese one is the Head of Personnel! Joo!”
“Oh, was that so? What difference does it make?”
“It makes a difference! We’ve been comrades for forty years. How do you still mix up my original nationality?”
“Speaking of which, where is the Head of Personnel? A mysterious person sprouted out of nowhere. Shouldn’t he come take a look?”
“Joo says he isn’t coming.”
I saw Ro and the green-eyed man blink.
Ami, her round eyes wide, added casually.
“He said it does not look like something that needs urgent action, and there does not seem to be anything particular to do right away.”
“Crazy. If a person appearing out of thin air isn’t urgent, what is?”
“You tell me.”
“You reported this to the Commander-in-Chief, right~?”
The green-eyed man asked slowly.
“What did they say...?”
“They said they’ll come as soon as possible. For now, Aide Ska will handle it. John and Yoon are checking the portal’s condition right now. Samuel says he’ll have everything ready for Hilde’s physical examination. Personnel Department should be ready for a polygraph test.”
“Excuse me...”
I carefully joined the conversation. Once again, I felt everyone’s attention focus on me. It was not a welcome reaction, but I could not keep down the question lingering in my mouth.
I was putting together the pieces of a puzzle from the fragmented information they had given me and their conversation. For example, I seemed to have suddenly come out of a portal. Borders no longer existed, and America and China no longer existed either. People lived in a place called the Center Core.
And the silent man and woman standing behind me seemed to be the lowest in rank....
I asked about the one thing I could not understand at all.
“How old are the three of you?”
Smiles appeared on the green-eyed man’s and Ami’s faces. A mischievous grin appeared on Ro’s face as well.
I stared blankly at their bright smiles.
They kept grinning at me, and I waited for one of them to say something.
Ami was the one who answered. She smiled brightly at me.
Then she said cheerfully,
“Seventy years old!”
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