WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Black Badger ◈
Chapter 27: Stage 10 (1)
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First, we cleared away the corpse.
We could not leave it to rot in the underground parking lot. Besides, miscellaneous work like this was usually left to the rookie.
But my peers refused my offer to help. Their point was that they could not make someone work when they did not know how badly that person was hurt.
At times like this, I could clearly feel that I was holding everyone back.
Tom and Hessi carried the dead pig creature outside. While I was forced to sit in a chair with a torn side in the lobby, Lee Ho, Kal, and Angela wiped up the blood that had dripped from the corpse.
The two unnamed female seniors seemed to be standing guard in front of the supply depot.
Only Yoon and Tvein were not working. The two members of Black Badger’s first cohort stood looking down at me in my chair.
More precisely, Yoon scanned my condition while Tvein came over to watch.
“A sword?”
The blond man crossed his arms and stared blankly at me and my senior partner.
“A swooord? What century do you think this is, making someone use a sword?”
“You have some internal injuries, but you’re recovering.”
Yoon ignored Tvein and gave his diagnosis.
He slipped the oval device into his combat suit pocket, then straightened up.
“When we get back to the Core, we’ll make an appointment with Samuel. Your arm, your recovery condition. You need to get a proper diagnosis.”
“Yes.”
“We’ll take our time considering what kind of sword would suit you best.”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Are you serious?”
Tvein sounded utterly incredulous and deeply dissatisfied.
At last, Yoon turned and met Tvein’s eyes. As always, his dry eyes revealed nothing of what he was thinking.
Tvein stared into those parched eyes and grumbled.
“A sword, in this day and age. Are you trying to look cool and get yourself killed?”
“If you can use it properly, it’s a good weapon for us. Just look at that pig.”
“Using a sword as a secondary weapon and using it as your main weapon are not the same thing.”
A cold breeze from outside brushed past my back. Hessi and Tom, who had taken the corpse outside, were coming back in. The seniors who had cleaned up the blood also came up to the lobby via the parking-ramp stairs.
It was already almost midnight.
The creature blood dried onto my body felt unpleasant. At least I had roughly wiped the blood from my face.
I rubbed at the blood stuck around my neck with my sleeve.
Tvein continued picking at me.
“And they say this bastard can’t even do his job as a Badger properly. Why give him a close-range weapon?”
“If using a sword bothers you that much, why don’t you give every sword user equal shit? I haven’t seen you bitching at Jonathan Kudo over his weapon.”
“That Japanese sword?”
At Yoon’s remark, Tvein curled up one corner of his mouth and let out a mocking snort.
“You think that stubborn bastard would listen to anyone?”
Who was Jonathan Kudo?
When I looked at Yoon in confusion, my senior partner explained in an indifferent voice.
“The one beside Sordi in the auditorium.”
Ah! That tall person.
“You don’t need to remember the name. You and that bastard won’t have any reason to talk.”
His personality must be awful.
That was the first thought that came to mind after hearing Yoon’s explanation. I would have to work hard to avoid him. There were already enough unpleasant people around me with Yoon, Ricardo, and Tvein.
Tvein turned to look down at me.
“Why did you practice with a sword?”
The sudden question left me speechless.
The people who had finished their work gradually gathered around us, standing beside the two war heroes. More ears were listening now, but I had nothing to say. Until a few days ago, I had not even known that I could use a sword.
What should I say to cover this up?
When I stayed silent, thinking, Tvein frowned.
“Don’t tell me you’re one of those pathetic types who started using a sword after seeing that Ye-hyeon video.”
“What video of Ye-hyeon?”
Had the Commander-in-Chief once filmed a public service advertisement swinging a sword?
I asked lightly. But the reaction I got was not light at all.
“Huh?”
Everyone except Yoon looked baffled. Tvein in particular raised his brows as though he had heard nonsense.
His face said, Why are you so frustratingly unable to understand?
“How can you not know? That video people go on about, saying it was the birth of a hero in troubled times or whatever.”
“...Uh, what?”
“You don’t know the video of him killing a Level 10 creature?”
There was a hint of irritation in the man’s voice.
“The video from the First Creature War?”
Ah.
Understanding flashed through my mind. I had an idea which video he meant. I remembered the comments I had read while sitting against the beanbag. Ye-hyeon had become Commander-in-Chief after killing a Level 10 creature, and there was video evidence, so there was no need to doubt it.
He must have used a sword back then.
Relieved that I had caught the thread of the conversation, I answered.
“I know what video you mean. But I haven’t seen it.”
Clear shock appeared on everyone’s faces.
I had definitely answered wrong. Everyone around me had widened their eyes. Even Tvein’s eyes turned round. It felt strange to see the man, who had constantly looked irritated or unpleasant, plainly surprised.
Only Yoon, who knew my circumstances, remained composed.
Silence settled over the lobby, steeped in the quiet of night.
Hessi was the first to ask.
“You haven’t seen it?”
I had not.
Trying to hide my discomfort, I nodded. Tom blinked and muttered too.
“It’s an incredibly famous video.”
“Sorry. I’m pretty out of touch with what goes on in the world. I lived in seclusion for a long time.”
“You lived in seclusion? You don’t look like you did. Did you play games really seriously or something?”
“Hey, you have to go watch it! You know how to use a sword, but you’ve never seen that video?”
“Did you get out of prison or something?”
Tom’s puzzled voice and Hessi’s excited one were covered by Tvein’s mocking drawl.
I turned away from my peers and looked at Tvein again. The senior who had hated me just for being Yoon’s mentee and had thrown the three rookies into the underground parking lot together.
For some reason, that senior was looking down at me with a satisfied smile.
Why was he suddenly looking at me as if he was proud of something?
“You’re a rare decent rookie.”
“...Me?”
“Get on the train.”
Yoon spoke in a flat voice.
He stared at the ceiling as if all of this had become tiresome.
“If you have something to say, say it privately later. Aren’t you going home?”
Everyone complied with Yoon’s words.
We quickly left the Library of Beginnings. After telling the two Badgers who had silently stood guard that they had worked hard, we headed to the train in a group.
The train was barely outlined beneath the streetlamps at the station.
Everyone slipped inside.
Perhaps they were tired, because they disappeared into their separate compartments in an instant. After silently bumping fists with my peers, I went straight to the bathroom in my train compartment.
I turned on the water and washed away the dried blood on my body.
While I had been cleaning myself for a while, I heard the train engine warming up.
Still, the day had passed safely enough.
There was too much information to take in, and too much to hide, so life was exhausting. But it was not completely miserable. My gratitude toward the people who had accepted me had not faded either.
I felt the rattling train start toward Center Core. A faint vibration passed through the soles of my feet.
I threw off my combat suit and sat down on the bed.
I needed to become stronger so my peers would not have to worry over me for no reason, like they had today.
I resolved to recover the feeling of holding a sword. I took in the sight of my blood-soaked combat suit and boots, and the lightless world outside the Core.
Urging myself onward, I fell asleep and slept without dreams.
When I woke much later, the train had stopped. Badgers in casual clothes came out into the train corridor.
We had returned to Center Core.
* * *
They said we got days off after going outside the Core.
We got days off too. Two days, the day we returned and the following day. The day we returned passed without me doing anything.
As soon as I reached the dormitory, I went back to sleep. Around lunchtime, I woke and ate tacos with Tom and Hessi, who had also woken after sleeping like mad. In the afternoon, I played the game Hessi had lent me, then had pho with my peers that evening. Then I went to sleep.
By the second day, I felt more like myself.
In the morning, I woke feeling much more refreshed and stepped out of my room.
“Hilde!”
It was Ami.
I was drinking water from the vending machine when I ran into my round-eyed senior in the third-floor hallway.
She got straight off the elevator and hurried toward me.
“Hi!”
“Hello, Ami. Good morning.”
“Yeah! Good morning! Did everything go well outside yesterday?”
Ami, my light and salt, stopped in front of me and asked. I nodded eagerly, happy to see her.
Ami smiled, her eyes curving into crescents.
“That’s a relief. How are you feeling? Kal told me you got hurt, so I came because I was worried.”
“Ah. Thank you. But I’m completely fine. I slept all day yesterday, and I think I’m all better now.”
“That’s good. My brother said it didn’t seem serious, so he just sent you back to the dormitory. Still, just in case, let’s go see Samuel later.”
I obediently nodded.
But Ami stretched out her neck and looked me over once. Only after confirming that I really did look well did she meet my eyes again.
She looked straight into my eyes and smiled gently.
“How was it, going outside?”
“I realized I have a long way to go. From now on, I’m going to practice hard without slacking off.”
“Come on, they said you did well. I heard everything. Kal and Angela said this batch of rookies was pretty good. The youngest of my older brothers said you seemed promising too, Hilde.”
“The youngest of your older brothers?”
Who was the youngest of her older brothers? Choi Yoon?
Ami let out an ah and nodded.
“Yeah. Yoon.”
“Huh? You have more brothers? I thought you two were the only siblings.”
“Oh, I have two more brothers. But Yoon is my only biological brother. We were adopted together.”
My open mouth would not close.
Ami waved her hands, hurriedly reassuring me.
“You didn’t say anything wrong, so don’t worry about it! I’ll explain it properly another time.”
“Ah, okay. Thank you.”
“I heard something else from my brother too.”
Ami smoothly brought the conversation back to its original subject.
She saw my confused expression and smiled wider.
“You use a sword. That’s cool.”
“Ah!”
That video!
My voice rose without me meaning it to.
Ami’s eyes grew round at my reaction. Unlike Yoon, she was always so expressive.
I reflexively smiled and looked down at Ami.
“Sorry. I remembered something I had forgotten.... I was going to look up that video today.”
“A video? What video?”
“The video of Ye-hyeon killing a Level 10 creature.”
Understanding appeared in her round black eyes.
She looked down, then quickly took her phone from her cardigan pocket.
“You still haven’t seen it.”
“No. I didn’t know it was such a famous video.... I said I hadn’t seen it without thinking much about it, but everyone else found it strange.”
“I’ll show you.”
She tapped the screen with her fingers.
Then she quickly turned the phone around and held it out to me.
“This is it.”
Ruins.
A gray city. Ash-colored devastation entirely different from the scenery surrounding the Library of Beginnings. A brutally collapsed city spread across the screen.
Then the screen soon showed two figures standing unfallen amid the ruins. They looked small, apparently filmed from far away. But the focus was steady, and they were captured precisely in the center of the frame.
Two people.
No.
One person and one creature.
Ye-hyeon, and a creature that looked exactly like a human.
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