WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor & TLC: ZEROSUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 1: Manual (1)
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1.
“Please don’t panic. Breathe out slowly.”
The silver-haired woman wore a warm smile as she rattled off something an emergency room doctor might say.
“I know you must not understand the situation yet. Yes, I understand.”
The young man could not answer. He merely parted his lips. After staring at the woman for a moment, he slowly turned his head and looked around.
This was not his comfortably messy studio apartment, cluttered just enough to feel lived in. It was a stark white room without a single piece of furniture.
The room was so barren it resembled a psychiatric ward from a movie.
It genuinely gave him chills.
After moving his lips a few times, the young man looked back at her.
Shimmering silver hair and red eyes. Her unrealistic appearance actually reassured him somewhat.
“Um... Is this YouTube?”
He asked cautiously.
“I don’t remember subscribing to a channel like this... I never applied for an event either... Um, are you sure you haven’t mistaken me for someone else...?”
“Ahem, this is not YouTube. It is not a hidden-camera prank, nor is it a recording.”
Her gentle tone paused. The warm smile meant to reassure him changed slightly.
Pity and guilt.
Only the curve of her lips had shifted, yet those two emotions came straight at him.
“If I had to put it plainly, you could call it a kidnapping.”
“W-Wait. Just wait a second.”
The young man had barely managed to breathe while listening. He forced out a voice.
“Um, wait, hold on. I think I just heard something strange... Kidnapping?”
“Transmigrator! You don’t need to rush your words. It’s all right to calm down first and speak at your leisure.”
The emotion in her smile changed. With genuine concern showing even in her eyes, the woman took both of his hands.
“No... No, no, that’s not what I mean.”
His head spun, and his heart pounded.
“Uh...?”
The hands she held.
They were not his hands. He knew it the moment he saw them. His skin had never been so pale. He let out a scream.
“W-What, what, what is this?!”
He roughly shook off the woman’s hands and touched his face. It was not only his skin. The structure of his face was different too. This was not his body. Certainty rushed over him, making his shoulders tremble.
“Transmigrator! Please calm down.”
“T-Trans... Transmigrator? You called me a Transmigrator? What the hell is that? And what happened to my body?”
“Please calm down! I’ll explain everything step by step!”
The woman took his hands again and whispered.
“Seronis. Do you know it?”
Of course he did. But he had no idea why that name had come up here.
“Transmigrator... Ah, my apologies.”
The woman quickly corrected her habitual form of address and smiled.
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok. Your Seronis username is UrMumSpammer, correct?”
“...”
“It is truly, truly an honor to meet you!”
It was a username difficult to keep a straight face over in real life, but he could not even feel embarrassed now.
Seronis. It was the game Lee Su-hyeok had played the longest and most deeply in his life.
Transmigrator.
How much time passed?
Thump, thump, thump... His racing heart gradually settled. The warmth from the woman’s softly clasped hands seemed to soothe it.
“Transmigrator...?”
Having finally calmed down, Lee Su-hyeok opened his mouth, seized by an impossible thought.
“Did I enter Seronis?”
“It is a little different, but similar!”
The woman brought her palms together with a clap! and beamed. Lee Su-hyeok opened his eyes, but he could not bring himself to smile.
“Am I here because of the Hall of Fame?”
“Yes, that is correct!”
Seronis.
The name of a fucking dogshit game with such brutal difficulty that dying once meant starting all over again.
He had gone out of his way to find a game that never even advertised itself. While anyone else would have long since called it a hopeless piece of shit and deleted it, he had obsessively dug into that goddamn game for years.
He had created and killed countless characters while licking every last bit of content clean.
Even after barely defeating the supposed final boss, he had not seen an ending. Instead, GAME OVER appeared, he was sent back to the title screen, and the character he had painstakingly raised was deleted.
Still, there was no way a game could have no ending. Thinking that there had to be an ending once he met certain conditions, he started again.
Even a trashy shit game had a strange addictive pull. Once you got a taste, you kept shoveling down more shit.
Then a hidden boss was discovered.
The hidden boss named the God of Chaos could only be encountered along a route unlocked by meeting special conditions, and its specs far surpassed the final boss’s.
If that had been all, he would have worked hard, kept trying until he killed it once, and been done. Fortunately, the hidden boss differed from the other bosses in one important way.
The only player-versus-player competitive feature in this damned game.
<Hall of Fame>
When the Hall, which recorded clear times from fastest to slowest, was opened for the first time, Lee Su-hyeok gained a goal.
He wanted to carve his game ID at the very top of that Hall.
「 Hall of Fame
1st Place: UrMumSpammer 」
It was too embarrassing an ID to tell anyone about, but if only because of all the time he had poured into this rotten game, he had wanted to put it in first place no matter what.
He could not brag about it anywhere, but out of nothing but affection and respect for the shitty game he had spent years digging into, he had thrown his time and effort into the garbage.
And today, he had finally reached first place in the Hall of Fame.
“Did everyone who was ranked first before me end up like this too?”
“Yes, that is correct!”
At her continued agreement, Lee Su-hyeok closed his eyes again. After barely swallowing the curse that had almost come out, he let out a long sigh.
It was not a game anyone could call excellent or convenient, even as empty praise, so it did not have many players. But it was not entirely devoid of them. A search through overseas sites could turn up quite a few addicts with a taste for particularly strong shit.
Even so, the top Hall rankings rarely changed. No matter how hard he looked, he could not find even a single clear confirmation, much less a guide, from anyone who had reached first place.
With neither confirmation nor movement in the rankings, many players argued that the game company had tampered with the top records.
Instead of improving the miserable game or adding new competitive content, they had inserted dummy records at the top to make players shadowbox.
Lee Su-hyeok had found the theory convincing, but it had only fueled his ambition. What if he surpassed a top dummy record never meant to be beaten? What if he proudly etched the name UrMumSpammer into first place in the Hall?
If he achieved that, he felt he could finally attain enlightenment and move on from Seronis, this garbage game.
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok, are you all right? You don’t look well... If you haven’t calmed down yet, please rest a little longer before...”
“Send me back.”
He could not listen to the end. Lee Su-hyeok squeezed out the words in a trembling voice.
“If you brought me here, then you should be able to send me back too...”
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok, I am sorry. That is impossible.”
The woman shook her head with a face full of sincere regret and apology.
“My introduction is late, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Lorelia, a priestess who serves the Goddess of Order.”
“The Goddess of Order...?”
“Yes! The role of the Goddess of Order’s priests and priestesses, including myself, is to guide Transmigrators who have suddenly entered this world and give them basic education!”
“Then... Did the Goddess of Order bring me to this world?”
“No!”
Lorelia denied it immediately.
“It was the God of Chaos who kidnapped Mr. Lee Su-hyeok and others into this world. Even the game you played was a trap made by the God of Chaos.”
The moment he heard the name God of Chaos, Lee Su-hyeok shot to his feet. That had been the hidden boss’s name.
Lorelia continued speaking to Lee Su-hyeok, who stood there unable to say anything.
The game Seronis was a trap made by the God of Chaos.
The God of Chaos had created a crude imitation of this world as a game and released it into Lee Su-hyeok’s world.
“That arrogant god, who knows nothing of death, took an interest in those who defeated him, even if only in the game he had created. At the same time, he kidnaps false Godslayers into this world and watches them live painful lives.”
“...”
“True to his name, that god loves chaos. He is a cruel being who drinks the blood and tears of victims lured into this world by his malicious toy. That is why the God of Chaos is also called the Evil God!”
Lorelia clasped both hands as she looked up at Lee Su-hyeok, who was still standing.
“Our Goddess of Order stands at the God of Chaos’s opposite. Wanting to care for innocent victims, the Goddess sent those of us who serve her here.”
“Then... What happens to me now? Is there no way for me to return to my original world?”
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok. The world is terribly chaotic right now.”
Lorelia’s tone changed.
“The owners of the Divine Thrones seek their own gain as they devour one another’s seats, while justice and order are not respected. But if the God of Chaos, the Evil God, is defeated, the world will improve.”
Her crimson eyes shone with a jewel-like light as they looked directly at Lee Su-hyeok.
“Once that happens, the Goddess of Order will recover her strength and may be able to return Transmigrators to where they came from.”
“So you want me to... kill that god?”
“Yes! And if Mr. Lee Su-hyeok kills the Evil God, the Goddess of Order will grant one wish without fail!”
“How does that make any sense? Seronis is a game. I was good at that game, and I killed the God of Chaos in it! How am I supposed to kill a god in reality?”
“UrMumSpammer Lee Su-hyeok can do it!”
The hands she had clasped in prayer spread apart. Flash! A thin booklet fell into Lorelia’s hands.
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok! Although this is my first time being assigned to guide a Transmigrator, I, Lorelia, have studied the manual over and over! I may lack experience, but I absolutely do not lack motivation! There are many senior priests and priestesses more capable than I am, but none of them know Mr. Lee Su-hyeok as well as I do!”
Lorelia held up the book for him to see and beamed. A beautiful woman who looked as though she belonged on a screen was smiling at him with overflowing goodwill, but Lee Su-hyeok did not feel even the slightest flutter in his heart. If anything, he felt wary and suspicious as he glared at Lorelia.
“You know me well? Does that manual of yours have something written about me?”
“The Goddess of Order and her clergy interfered with the game, the God of Chaos’s trap, to observe the players.”
“You could observe us, but you couldn’t warn us?”
“Sadly, that was the case...”
Her smile vanished as quickly as turning over a hand. Lorelia drooped her eyebrows, the corners of her mouth, and her shoulders all at once, then let out a long sigh.
“As I said before, the Goddess of Order’s power is terribly weak in the present world. It is impossible to stop a transmigration that has already been determined or return Transmigrators to their original worlds.”
Lorelia set down the booklet she had been holding, clenched both fists, and raised them before Lee Su-hyeok.
“However! For the happiness and safety of all Transmigrators, the Goddess barely managed to interfere with the game and observe the players. To welcome in advance the souls of players whose very souls would be drawn into the Evil God’s wicked trap, so they would not meet meaningless deaths! To bestow warm mercy! Our Goddess of Order has made so many sacrifices...”
“Ah, right...”
Was she trying to take credit for it? The thought crossed his mind, but he could not bring himself to snap at her. Lee Su-hyeok, who had remained on his feet until then, lost strength in his legs and dropped into the chair.
“Fuck...”
Lorelia watched Lee Su-hyeok quietly as he muttered the curse under his breath. Then she smiled softly and took his hand.
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok, I know what kind of player UrMumSpammer was.”
“...”
“You insisted on a different build from other players. You did not become discouraged by failure, and you tried new approaches again and again! What impressed me most was how thoroughly you deliberately refrained from updating your Hall records!”
Lee Su-hyeok gave a hollow laugh and shook his head. Lorelia gently stroked the hand she held and whispered.
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok’s character, UrMumSpammer, could have entered the top ranks of the Hall long ago. But every time you were about to clear it, you repeatedly made your character commit suicide, deliberately refusing to update your Hall records!”
It was not for any grand reason. Lee Su-hyeok had aimed for first place.
If the opportunity was not there, he saw no need to clear it. Rather than slowly climbing through mediocre ranks, he had wanted to appear like a comet and carve his name into first place.
Simply reaching first place would not do. The gap from second place had to be overwhelming.
Anon: Took #1 worldwide in this fucking garbage-shit game. How’d I do?
He had sworn he would make a post like that someday, repeating retries several times every day.
“Ah, truly...! Mr. Lee Su-hyeok! How long I waited for you! When would you come? Surely this time you would come? You had already surpassed the first-place record, so why did you keep killing yourself?”
Lorelia’s voice overflowed with heated passion. She tightly gripped both of Lee Su-hyeok’s hands, her eyes sparkling.
“And finally today! Mr. Lee Su-hyeok’s UrMumSpammer achieved first place with an overwhelming record! First place! Congratulations!”
“Thanks to that, I got transmigrated even though I never wanted to. Is that really something to congratulate me for...?”
He barely managed to answer, but his hands were trembling. Lorelia flinched at the shaking and let go.
“Ah... I am sorry! Certainly! This would not be something worth celebrating for Mr. Lee Su-hyeok...”
That priestess seemed extraordinarily oblivious.
“Still, even at the risk of being rude, there is something I desperately wish to tell Mr. Lee Su-hyeok. I! I believe it is Mr. Lee Su-hyeok, and not the other Transmigrators, who can defeat the wicked Evil God!”
It was passionate encouragement, but Lee Su-hyeok could not understand why she expected so much from him.
“No... I was good at a game where you just click away at a keyboard and mouse. What the hell does that let me do...?”
“Mr. Lee Su-hyeok can do it!”
Lorelia held up the booklet she had set beside her.
“First, I will read you your profile so that you can adapt to our world.”
The booklet opened.
“Your name is Lee Su-hyeok. You are twenty-seven years old, and your nickname is UrMumSpammer. You have no parents or family? That is truly fortunate!”
“What...?”
“The body Mr. Lee Su-hyeok has transmigrated into is named Yuri. He is twenty years old and has no parents or family either! You are very fortunate!”
“What the fuck?”
Lee Su-hyeok could not hold back and cursed. His username was UrMumSpammer, but that did not mean he was immune to mother insults in real life. Lorelia, who had been smiling brightly, widened her eyes at the sudden profanity.
“Was there some error in my word choice? I am sorry. If you point out my mistake, I will correct it immediately.”
“No, you say it is fortunate that someone is an orphan? And you say I am lucky because the body I transmigrated into has no parents or family?”
“Ah! I apologize. My wording lacked consideration and explanation.”
Lorelia put down the booklet, rose quickly to her feet, and bowed deeply to Lee Su-hyeok.
“I called it fortunate because Transmigrators with parents and family have a higher chance of becoming homesick and committing suicide. Likewise, Transmigrators who lived abundant and happy lives also have a high chance of suicide.”
“...”
“I said you were lucky because it is not easy to maintain a good relationship when the transmigrated body has parents or family. It is not common, but there are cases where Transmigrators are discovered and murdered.”
Suicide and murder! Lee Su-hyeok’s eyes trembled.
“However, I felt Mr. Lee Su-hyeok would be at relatively less risk of such things, so I unknowingly made a rude remark. Please forgive me...”
His legs gave out, and he dropped into the chair.
It was not incomprehensible. This was transmigration. From the family’s or acquaintances’ perspective, a complete stranger had suddenly put on the shell of someone they knew.
“Then... What happened to the soul of this body’s original owner?”
“You need not worry about that. Twenty-year-old Yuri has just died.”
“What?”
He was dead?
Before Lee Su-hyeok, whose mouth hung open, Lorelia turned a page in the book.
“The official cause of death is... shock from a puncture wound to the abdomen and excessive blood loss. Ah, you need not worry about that. The wound will heal as soon as the soul enters the body.”
“No, he died? Is all transmigration like this?”
“No! In most cases, Transmigrators enter living bodies. But while uncommon, there are cases of entering bodies that have just died. Mr. Lee Su-hyeok is fortunate!”
“Why do you keep saying I am fortunate?”
“When someone transmigrates into a living body, the original soul is destroyed. Some Transmigrators become consumed by guilt over that, turn into wrecks, or commit suicide.”
After hearing that, he understood a little why she called him fortunate. Being suddenly thrown into a game world was already miserable and painful enough. If someone who had been living a normal life died because of him, he did not think it would be easy to endure.
“May I continue explaining Yuri? This is extremely important, and the manual emphasizes that it must be thoroughly learned. Memories will likely be linked once transmigration occurs, but preparation is important! If you do not learn the body’s circumstances and relationships in advance, you could become entangled in many problems.”
“Give me that.”
He forced his emotions under control and pointed at Lorelia’s book.
“I’ll just read it myself. It’s faster for me to read and memorize it than listen.”
“Hmm... But... This is the role of us clergy...”
“It’s fine.”
When he pressed her again, Lorelia reluctantly handed over the book.
First, he took several deep breaths to gather his thoughts.
This was not a dream. It was reality.
Because he had played a hopeless shit game so seriously.
Not only had he played it seriously, he had become good at it.
For that pathetic reason alone, he had entered the game.
“At least I didn’t wake up in another body without knowing anything...”
He muttered, wanting to think positively somehow.
“That was the leading cause of death among the first generation of Transmigrators! They could not adapt to the world because they did not know who they were!”
Lorelia, who had looked sulky over having her role taken away, brightened as though she never had and cried out.
“That is why the Goddess of Order observed the game and made us clergy guides for Transmigrators!”
“Ah, right...”
For the moment, he ignored Lorelia as she made a fuss in a high voice.
He opened the booklet.
‘His name is Yuri... He has no surname, no family, and he is twenty.’
He did not know who Yuri’s parents were, nor whether they were alive or dead.
Yuri had been abandoned on the street as an infant. Fortunately, he had not died on the roadside and was taken in by the Oldor Orphanage.
Lee Su-hyeok read through the brief account of Yuri’s life at the orphanage. To be honest, Yuri had not been a particularly kind or good orphan. He often fought the other children and caused all sorts of trouble outside the orphanage as well.
After turning seventeen, Yuri left the orphanage, but he did not lead an honest life. Perhaps Yuri had a knack for his work. He made a habit of pickpocketing, then joined a small gang and began properly growing into a piece of trash.
Still, he did not seem to be a complete bastard. Every month, he faithfully sent part of the money he earned through dirty work to the Oldor Orphanage as a donation.
‘His personality... He has quite an ego for someone in his position. He holds grudges, has a persecution complex, and some anger issues too.’
Their circumstances were similar enough that it was not difficult to sympathize. Yuri had those traits because he lacked what others simply had. Lee Su-hyeok nodded and turned the page.
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