WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator/Editor: Ryuu
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
DAMNED 13TH REGRESSION
Chapter 10: 'X's Shadow
Babel the Final Dungeon had invaded and absorbed dimensions.
Dimensions absorbed by Babel were shattered and either increased the number of floors in Babel or became dungeons within Babel.
Pezalon was also the name of a dimension defeated by Babel 400 years ago.
‘How long have I been here?’
The boss of the Sewer Dungeon, Ratous King.
Its original form, ‘Sha=Monde’, who was bound to the Sewer Dungeon, thought for the first time in a long while.
One day, Babel, the Final Dungeon, descended upon the Pezalon Continent, spreading annihilation.
In response, all races of Pezalon resisted the end.
Humans, elves, dwarfs, orcs, trolls, all the strong ones climbed the Tower of Babel.
Within it was the King of the Great Sewers and the lord of all ratmen, ‘Sha=Monde.’
‘But we lost.’
With the 14th generation of Pezalon's heroes kneeling to the four Heavenly Kings on the 68th floor, it was the last.
All the heroes who climbed Babel met death.
The dimensions were torn apart and absorbed by Babel. The number of Babel's floors increased from 74 to 78, and the heroes and gods of Pezalon became bound to Babel's dungeons, turning into the basis or original forms of dungeon bosses.
THUMP
A heavy battle hammer struck the head of Ratous King.
The Ratous King, with its head caved in, stumbled a few times, dropped its weapon, and collapsed.
‘Is this the challengers' victory this time?’
Sha=Monde, in the mind of the dungeon and boss mobs, had seen the fight countless times. Whether the challenger won or the boss mob won, nothing changed for him.
Just that the restraint of Babel loosens briefly until Ratous King enters regeneration.
Sha=Monde saw the hunters who killed Ratous King. Just two of them, but their skills were astounding. A man hunter with a sharp demeanor and a black-haired woman hunter casting auxiliary magic.
‘You are quite skilled, but can you break Babel?’
Sha=Monde looked at them with a scornful eye. Then, the eerie red avatar behind the male hunter lit up with an odd glow, emitting a sinister mechanical sound.
[Master. Basic ability ‘Mind's Eye’ activated. Detecting A+ class Avatar ‘King of the Great Sewers, Sha=Monde’.]
Sha=Monde’s and the male hunter’s eyes met.
“What the hell are you doing in this stinking shithole?”
‘You, can you actually see me?’
Someone saw him and spoke to him.
It had been 443 years since Pezalon was destroyed and Sha=Monde settled here.
[You have defeated the Sewer Dungeon boss ‘Ratous King’ and the veteran warriors!]
[Raid Contribution 1st Place 93% Joo Gong-hyeok, 2nd Place 7% Ha Yeon-si.]
[Time Attack Bonus! 00:19:43. You have cleared the boss within 20 minutes!]
[You have been rewarded with 200 Violet coins and 1 Blue coin!]
-Miss, besides healing and nullifying debuffs, you used some invisible power. What was that?
“It's called ‘Telekinesis’. I picked up a skill coin on the way here.”
[The Sewer Dungeon was cleared in 33 hours.]
[Achievement ‘Clear Sewer Dungeon in 48 Hours’ has been achieved!]
[You have been rewarded with 300 Violet coins and 2 Blue coins for exceeding the achievement!]
-Avatar, huh? There was no such concept in Babel originally, but it seems we started to appear as avatars after absorbing a bit of your world.
[Please select your clear reward.]
[‘Ratous King’s Thorn Fragment’, ‘Pest’s Necklace’, ‘Essence of Poison’]
[You have selected ‘Ratous King’s Thorn Fragment’ as your reward!]
Gong-hyeok looked at the rewards with an indifferent eye, glancing over Sha=Monde.
-So, let me tell you! Actually, this Babel absorbs invaded dimensions to increase its floors and create dungeons inside! And heroes and gods like us become materials to create dungeon boss mobs.
“That's amazing! Lord Sha=Monde! I had no idea such a secret was hidden.”
Sha=Monde was excitedly chattering away, and Yeon-si listened with sparkling eyes. For Gong-hyeok, it was a boring fact he had known long ago.
He had a reason for pretending not to know and asking about the identity.
[A hidden achievement has been discovered.]
[You have come closer to the secret of Babel, the Final Dungeon.]
[You have achieved the all-race, all-floor integrated achievement, ‘The First to Uncover the Dungeon's Secret.’]
[Special reward ‘White Coin’ has been granted.]
A shining white coin appeared in front of Gong-hyeok.
“Oppa, what is this coin? It seems different from the coins we know.”
“That's right. We're done here.”
-Hahaha! Exactly. Let's wrap up the chit-chat.
Sha=Monde, adorned with various gold ornaments, proudly puffed up his chest.
-I am the King of the Great Sewers, Sha=Monde! The remnant of a world annihilated by Babel, a hero. If you wish to see the end of Babel, I will become your strength.
“Let's go, Yeon-si.”
“Uh, huh? He was saying something.”
- Now, call my name. Yeon-ja! I, Sha=Monde will be your…
“Nope. Not needed. Buzz off.”
As Gong-hyeok walked out of the boss room, an icy silence fell behind him.
-Wait. Where are you going? Even I, as a companion of ‘Massacrer Odear’, have climbed up to the 57th floor…. Warrior? Hey. Hey! Hey you! Stop there! Hey!
Sha=Monde's voice faded as they moved further from the boss room.
“Oppa, it’s polite to listen to someone till the end.”
“Rat bastards aren't people, Yeon-si.”
Ah, is that so? With a puzzled Yeon-si beside him, Gong-hyeok flicked the White Coin.
The GM’s red cloak opened, and the White Coin melted into an endless space.
[Avatar Space Expansion is in progress. Duration 3 days. Progress 0.01%]
“What will you do now? Continue hunting or go to another dungeon?”
“First, we go to the village.”
“Village? It seems scary.”
Yeon-si’s expression showed a strange anxiety.
Although dungeons were more dangerous, being with Gong-hyeok made it less real. Instead, the conflicts and chaos caused by humans and ranking battles felt more imminent to Ha Yeon-si.
“It's about time to start adjusting and laying the groundwork.”
“Groundwork?”
“Soon, people will die in droves. We need to prevent that.”
“Oppa saying that... feels unexpectedly new.”
‘Yep. It's not the foolery you're thinking of.’
What Yeon-si considered simple kindness was far from it.
For Gong-hyeok’s ‘goal’, too many people dying early wasn’t ideal.
There was something to ‘fish’ through Yeon-si as bait.
Soon, the closest return point from the boss room came into view.
A blue return portal opened in front of the village altar where Azazel sat.
The return points set on each floor of the dungeon opened portals to the village.
Although it cost ten Violet coins per person, it was worth it for ensuring safety and saving time.
As Gong-hyeok and Yeon-si entered the village through the portal, they saw people prostrating towards the altar, wailing.
“Angel, please! Please embrace us!”
“Do not leave us in trial…”
“You bitch! Take responsibility for me! You sent me to this damned place, so take responsibility!”
There were 7 or 8 people. They were the ones who had given up monster hunting.
Whether due to psychological or physical reasons, they were the first to crumble in Babel's survival struggle and clung to their only hope, the angel.
But Azazel just sat cross-legged, eyes closed, saying nothing.
They tried to approach Azazel, but were blocked by an unseen wall. After that, their daily routine became begging for mercy in front of him.
“Oppa, this is…”
“Don't mind it, go to Azazel.”
“Alone?”
“Yes. Ranking updates are only possible through Azazel. Don't record the name.”
Yeon-si hesitantly approached Azazel, avoiding the people.
“Excuse me, Angel. Can I record the ranking?”
Azazel half-opened one eye and waved a finger.
The rules and ranking chart floating above the village altar changed.
1st ‘Moore Jackson’ 1,830 points
2nd ‘???’ 1,770 points New Ranker!!!
3rd ‘Kim Sung-chul’ 1,610 points
4th ‘???’ 1,540 points
5th ‘Igor Bashmakov’ 1,390 points
As Yeon-si was surprised by her rank, starry light dust sprinkled on her.
Although unseen, GM inside Gong-hyeok displayed a message.
[‘Ranker's Blessing’ confirmed for Hunter Ha Yeon-si. Effects are presumed to be 5% increase in all stats, 10% decrease in recovery time, 10% increase in status resistance.]
The top 40 rankers from 1st to 40th received the ‘Ranker's Blessing’, and those from 51st to 90th received the ‘Chaser's Blessing’.
In the mission, the survival cut-off was up to the 50th rank. Since there are no blessings from 41st to 50th, they become weaker, and the lower-ranked hunters receiving the ‘Chaser's Blessing’ are encouraged with the thought of 'being able to catch up'.
Moreover, the top rankers would find it too tempting to reveal their rank at the last moment because of the enticing benefits of the ‘Ranker's Blessing’.
This mechanism forced the rankers to register their rank, making the ranking battles fiercer.
There are benefits to keeping ranks hidden, but it was time to cast a 'shadow' over all hunters present here.
"GM."
[Game Master initiated.]
"Connect to the 1st floor Babel system, update the ranking."
[Connection to Babel 1F bypass initiated, successful intrusion via route 548. Update authority obtained. Modification in progress.]
A rumbling sound came from the sky as dark clouds gathered.
Thunder, lightning, and alarms noisily rang out as blue letters were etched into the sky.
Attention!! Attention!!
FINAL WINNER UPDATE
All the hunters in the village and fields looked up at the sky.
"What's that?"
"Wait, did some numbers just pop up? Ranker?"
Ding, ding, ding, ding!
The numbers noisily climbed. 500 points, 1,000 points, 2,000 points, 4,000 points, 8,000 points...
'How high is it going?'
As everyone was in shock, the numbers finally stopped.
13,210 points ‘X’ - TOP Ranker!!!
Everyone was dumbstruck by the unbelievable score.
At this moment, the presence of the strongest hunter, 'X', was deeply etched in the minds of all hunters. From now on, hunters would have to consider the mysterious existence of 'X' when planning grand schemes or attempting to control the village.
Merely raising the rank, yet the shadow of 'X' loomed over all hunters' actions.
While everyone was still staring up at the sky, unable to come to their senses, only Azazel on the platform glared at Joo Gong-hyeok.
Gong-hyeok quietly mouthed the words.
‘I'll help you, Azazel.’
‘In this game, not just 50, but I'll save 100 and move to the next floor.'
A kind smile appeared on Gong-hyeok’s face for the first time since his regression.
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