WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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Chapter 141: Zone 10 Boss (3)

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The scenery around me turned black.

I entered the Mindscape.

As soon as I did, I stopped time outside.

After confirming that my severed left arm had returned to normal, I raised my head.

The Demon King stood right beside me.

"Your life really is hard to snuff out. You keep finding a way to survive somehow."

The Demon King spoke with his hands clasped behind his back, sounding exasperated and incredulous.

I turned the surroundings into a brightly lit white space.

"Not yet. I have to find a way now."

I'd only barely managed to drag the boss into the Mindscape.

Outside, reality was still the same. I was still on the verge of death.

If I couldn't find a solution here, it was over. This was my last chance.

But...

'Where is it?'

The boss was nowhere to be seen.

I'd definitely made contact and brought it in. Don't tell me it failed...

"...!"

There.

Someone was walking toward me, holding a sword loosely in one hand.

It was the Zone 10 boss.

The sword I'd stolen with Subspace earlier was still there because this wasn't the real world.

The Demon King chuckled and cracked his knuckles.

"Good. I'll make that bastard understand the difference between us here."

It seemed he'd been irritated that he hadn't been able to finish the fight due to the lack of time.

I kept my eyes on the boss.

But... would killing the boss here even accomplish anything?

This was the Mindscape.

It made no sense for someone to die in reality just because they died in a dream.

As I considered that, the Demon King and the boss began their second round.

BOOM!

Blue and white energy tangled together and collided.

"Argh...!"

I was standing nearby when the explosion caught me, blowing my body apart.

Soon, my shattered body returned to normal.

See?

Even if I died, I was completely fine.

I stepped in to help the Demon King.

I already knew that being in the Mindscape didn't mean I could do anything I wanted.

Naturally, the boss didn't die when I told it to die, and my combat abilities didn't become vastly stronger than they were in reality just because I wanted them to...

Was it because I lacked imagination?

Or was it really the difference in our standing that the Demon King had mentioned before?

Even in the Mindscape, I had no opening to join the fight between those two monsters.

Caught in the middle of their massive clash of power, my body fluttered around like a kite in a typhoon, getting torn apart and returning to normal over and over.

What the hell was I doing?

So partway through, I gave up trying to join in and just watched.

The Demon King clearly had the upper hand.

It felt like he'd already killed the boss more than four or five times...

Of course, the boss kept reviving like I did and continued fighting.

The concept of death didn't exist here.

Fuck, then what was I supposed to do?

No matter how many times we killed the boss here, nothing changed in reality.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Ice spears pierced the boss's entire body, killing it for what was probably the tenth time.

I shouted at the Demon King.

"I don't think killing it will help because this isn't reality! Let's find another way!"

The Demon King said, "There's no need. Do you think I can't kill it just because it has no flesh?"

"What? It keeps coming back to life."

"Then I'll keep killing it until its soul breaks."

At first, I wondered what he meant, but I could roughly understand his words.

The Demon King could even torture people by freezing their souls.

In other words, he could directly strike at someone's soul.

Since this was the Mindscape, the boss in front of us was probably a soul, a mental body, or something similar.

So he intended to keep attacking until the boss's mind broke.

That was when it happened.

The boss, which had revived after shattering the ice spears, opened its mouth.

"My soul will never break, servant of evil."

I flinched at the sound of that voice.

...What? It could talk?

The boss raised its sword again and glared at the Demon King.

For some reason, it looked a little more alive than before, when it had seemed like a ghost.

"I don't know what evil trick you used, but I will gladly play along. If this is a world without flesh, then we need only fight forever."

"Oh? You've finally started talking."

The Demon King moved to attack again.

"Wait!"

I hurriedly stepped in front of him.

The Demon King frowned.

"What is it?"

"Let me talk to it first..."

If I could communicate with the boss, that changed things.

There was no guarantee that the Demon King's method would even work.

Rather than keep fighting, shouldn't I at least try talking first?

As I stopped the Demon King, the boss spoke to me instead.

"Why does someone like you associate with such a being?"

"...Me?"

I pointed at myself.

The boss's blue eyes glowed faintly as they turned toward me.

"You are a person with a noble soul. You must have saved many people and benefited the world to possess such a radiant soul."

"Ah, yes... thank you?"

The boss looked at the Demon King again.

"But that being is like the incarnation of evil. How many lives has it taken with those hands to accumulate such sins? It must have killed at least hundreds of millions."

I looked back at the Demon King.

...Was that true?

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

Well, he was the Demon King. It wasn't exactly surprising.

Anyway, that wasn't important right now.

"What is your name?"

"...Kim Seo-hyeon."

"Kim Seo-hyeon, I don't know what circumstances brought you here, but please do not yield to evil."

The boss spoke to me with unwavering eyes.

"I am the Hero Veldihard. I swear on my life and honor that I will help you with anything within my power."

I was just confused. What was this supposed to be?

Help me? You were trying to kill me just a moment ago...

Still, the Zone 10 boss, or rather, the Hero, could communicate normally now, and she wasn't particularly hostile toward me.

'...Let's think.'

This Zone 10 boss, no, this Hero.

She somehow felt similar to the Demon King and the Sage.

The fact that I could have a normal conversation with a Zone boss was strange in itself.

The Zone 10 field was strange too. So were the Fallen wandering around as monsters...

Either way, the fact that she was inside the Tower meant she came from a world destroyed by the Tower.

"Um, Veldihard?"

"Speak."

"Do you know what the Tower is?"

The Hero tilted her head.

"What do you mean? If you are referring to a style of building, then of course I know."

"No, not that. The Tower people climb, divided into Easy, Normal, Hard, and Nightmare difficulty. Climbers. Ninety-nine percent of humanity going extinct."

She showed no sign of understanding.

Was she not outside the Tower's influence like the Demon King or the Sage?

"I don't understand what you are trying to say."

After thinking for a moment, I spoke again.

"Would you listen to my story?"

If she wasn't aware of the Tower, talking to her would get us nowhere.

I told her in case it might bring her memories back.

What the Tower was, who I was, and what kind of situation this was.

I told her that her world had probably been destroyed and swallowed by the Tower, and that she had become a boss monster inside it.

After I explained everything, the Hero only looked at me with bewildered eyes.

She might have thought I was crazy.

"What are you talking about? I was on my way to defeat the Demon King when I encountered you."

The Demon King?

I instinctively looked back at him.

"It is a different world from mine," the Demon King said casually.

I asked the Hero again.

"...You said you were on your way to defeat the Demon King. Then what were those horned humanoid monsters? They were Fallen."

"Horned humanoid monsters? I have never seen such monsters."

"Think carefully. Doesn't anything feel strange? When we fought earlier, you didn't seem to be in your right mind, unlike now."

"My mind is perfectly sound."

We weren't getting anywhere.

I crossed my arms and thought for a while before speaking.

"Then how about slowly going through your memories from the beginning? I'd like you to tell me about your life so far."

"Kim Seo-hyeon, I told you, my mind is..."

I looked at the Hero seriously.

"Hero, do I look like a crazy person to you?"

"To be honest, you do."

"Fine. That can't be helped. But do I look like I'm lying to deceive you? You said I had a radiant soul."

The Hero shook her head.

"No, you do not."

"Then could you please go along with me just a little? I'm doing this because I want to help you too, really."

The Hero looked at me, then reluctantly nodded.

"Very well. But no matter how many times you ask, my mind is unquestionably sound."

The reason I wanted to hear about the Hero's life was simple.

I still couldn't think of a way out of this situation, but I thought learning more about her might give me some kind of clue.

And as she slowly went over her memories herself, she might notice something strange.

The Demon King clicked his tongue.

"What kind of pointless crap is this?"

"Just watch for now."

At that moment, the space around us changed.

A scene resembling a medieval village appeared. Huh?

"I grew up in an orphanage from a very young age."

The Hero stood beside me and began her story.

Among the children laughing and running around in the orphanage yard, I saw a girl with the same hair and eye color as the Hero.

Was she showing it to us like this?

Even though the Hero had entered the Mindscape for the first time, she was naturally manipulating the scenery. Her creation looked every bit as real as the Demon King's.

"I was told that my parents died during the war in the south of the Empire, but I was too young to remember either of their faces. The director cared for orphans with nowhere to go, like me, as if we were their own children, and willingly became a parent to us."

"They sound like a good person."

"They were. If the priests had not come one day, I would have grown up normally, helped the director with their work, and cared for the children at the orphanage."

Time passed in an instant, and the Hero, who had been a young girl, grew older.

Priests in pure white robes came to the orphanage.

As the priests examined the children one by one, an immense force suddenly rippled out from the Hero when it was her turn.

The stunned priests fell to their knees before her, weeping.

The Hero, looking as though she didn't want to leave, said goodbye to the orphanage and followed them.

The scenery changed.

It was a place with a sacred atmosphere, like a cathedral.

Before countless onlookers, the Hero knelt on one knee atop a platform, as if receiving a baptism.

"You who have been chosen by God, do you swear to punish evil, uphold justice, and benefit the world?"

"I swear."

"We bless the birth of a Hero and grant you a new name. Veldihard, from this moment onward, fulfill your duties and responsibilities as a Hero."

Amid cheers, the Hero drew her sword and raised it high.

The scenery changed once more.

Training, meeting her companions, fierce battles against demons...

It seemed to be showing the flow of the Hero's memories exactly as she remembered them.

The scenes changed rapidly before stopping at one moment.

The Hero and her companions sat around a campfire, chatting quietly.

"The final battle is tomorrow."

At the Hero's words, a large bearded man with the appearance of a barbarian spoke.

"Aye! We'll take that Demon King's head and return in glory. Everyone will praise us as heroes."

"I'm surprised, Kalto. I didn't know you cared about honor."

"Of course I do. Once I become the hero who killed the Demon King, won't every beautiful woman on the continent come rushing to ask me to marry her?"

The companions snickered and laughed.

A man in priestly robes clasped his hands together and prayed.

"Oh God, please forgive Kalto in your mercy. Though his motives are impure, he has fought the demons more bravely than anyone."

"Hey, prayer boy. What are you going to do after we kill the Demon King?" a masked man with several daggers strapped to his waist asked.

"I suppose I'll return to my former post and serve God."

"Ugh, boring. What about you, Mage?"

A woman in a red robe answered.

"I'll use all the money we earn to research new magic. I just hope His Majesty the Emperor gives us the gold he promised without trying to cheat us out of it."

The masked man nodded and explained what he would do as well.

"Both of you are boring. I'm going to build a huge mansion on the most expensive land in the capital. Let's see, I should have around a hundred servants."

"A thief sure has big dreams."

Everyone's gaze turned toward the Hero.

"Seri, what are you going to do after we defeat the Demon King?"

Seri seemed to be the Hero's original name.

The Hero looked at the blazing campfire and answered.

"I'm going back to my hometown."

The female mage asked playfully, "Do you have a lover waiting for you back home? You sent letters so often."

"Mm... I do."

"What? Really?!"

Her companions looked startled.

"Who is it? What lucky man has earned the affection of our great Hero?"

"Don't clam up again. Tell us, Seri! If the Demon King kills us all tomorrow, we won't get to hear it!"

"Hey, watch what you say."

The Hero smiled.

"That's why we have to make sure we succeed. For everyone's dreams."

Then the scenery changed again.

A city with a massive castle in view.

The Hero and her companions marched through a triumphal arch as people cheered around them.

"Hero! The great Hero who defeated the Demon King!"

It looked like they had succeeded in defeating the Demon King.

The Hero beside me spoke.

"We finally defeated the Demon King, and the world regained peace. That is the story of my life until now."

It was a happy ending.

...But had it really ended with a happy ending like this?

"Hero."

I watched the Hero and her companions receive the people's cheers as I spoke.

"Didn't you clearly say earlier that you were on your way to defeat the Demon King?"

"I did."

"Then what is this memory? The Demon King has already been defeated. Which one is real?"

Perhaps she had finally noticed the blatant contradiction.

The Hero's gaze wavered.

She stared blankly at the scene for a moment before suddenly clutching her head and staggering.

"Ugh..."

RUMBLE-

The ground began to shake.

The people who had been cheering screamed.

I flinched and turned around.

Far in the distance...

A massive Black Tower was rising.

Footnotes:

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