WeTried Translations
Translator: Joy
Editor & TLC: ZEROSUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Damned Transmigration ◈
Chapter 4: Yuri (2)
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Yuri lay face down on the floor, squinting as he assessed the situation.
“Fuck, I’m exhausted. Seriously...”
“Quit whining, little brother.”
Just as he had heard from outside, there were two voices. Two pairs of feet. One of them was dragging a leg, apparently injured.
That was good news. When Yuri had been dying from a stab wound, that bastard had been perfectly fine.
“So what, we’re checking? How are we doing this?”
“Stab every corpse once more. If nobody screams, they’re dead. Is that so hard?”
“Fuck, seriously... I’m telling you, they’re all dead. Why do we need to check again?”
The one dragging his foot was the younger brother. Grumbling, he did as he was told.
Thunk!
A knife plunged into the corpse lying nearest the door.
‘Fuck. I’m screwed.’
Why couldn’t they just leave? Why did they have to make sure? Yuri lay flat against the floor, cold sweat pouring down him.
“Brother, should we stab our guys too?”
“Of course we should. Little brother, we weren’t exactly good big brothers, were we? If you don’t want to taste the blade of revenge later, make damn sure.”
“That’s true.”
Thunk. Thunk.
As the corpses by the entrance received their equal share of knife wounds, Yuri had a brief moment to think.
If he stayed still, he would get stabbed and die. If this body died, would he return to his original world?
No.
He already knew the answer. Dying in this body would not send him back to his original world.
‘If you die, you just die!’
That damn Lorelia had said it with a bright smile.
Naturally, Yuri did not want to die.
Thunk!
The knife, working its way in from the entrance, stabbed a nearby corpse. Yuri glanced over. It was Jang-sam.
“Damn it, why is this bastard so tough?”
The younger brother, dragging his injured leg, was right beside him. Yuri could not hesitate any longer. The knife was currently lodged in Jang-sam’s back, but the next stab might land in Yuri’s.
If luck was with him, perhaps he would be the one after next.
But if he kept lying there, he would get stabbed, scream, then get stabbed several more times before dying.
All he needed now was resolve.
Slash!
He grabbed the approaching foot and slashed hard at the back of the man’s ankle.
“Gah?!”
The man did not possess enough imagination to expect a blood-covered corpse to suddenly slash his ankle.
“AAAAAGH! Fuck! What was that?!”
One of his legs had already been injured in the earlier fight. Then, out of nowhere, a blade had cut into his uninjured ankle. It was a bad spot, and it was deep. Unable to keep his balance, the man collapsed onto the floor.
Yuri sprang to his feet, held his dagger out before him, and staggered backward.
Only then did he get a look at the brothers who had entered the office.
The Oh brothers.
Outsiders from the East who had arrived in the back alleys some time ago. They had gathered a few lowlife punks and were gradually building a gang. Recently, they had begun encroaching on the Black Snake Gang’s territory, causing several disputes.
They were cruel and dangerous men. Yuri had occasionally seen the Oh brothers on the street, but he had never properly met their eyes.
“AAAAH! My foot!”
The younger brother, Oh Bong-seok, clutched his bleeding ankle and screamed. His elder brother, Oh Bong-chun, merely stood there and glared at Yuri.
Oh Bong-chun did not rush at him despite his brother’s injury. That was partly because he was cautious by nature, but also because the brothers were not especially close.
“Kid, what are you?”
Oh Bong-chun was also covered in blood, but he did not appear seriously injured. He drew the hand axe at his waist and grinned, showing yellow teeth.
“That’s strange... Everyone here should either be dead or, if they got lucky, in no condition to be standing around like you.”
“Brother, you fucking bastard! My, my ankle!”
Oh Bong-seok screamed, but Oh Bong-chun did not spare him a glance. He narrowed his already slit-like eyes and examined Yuri.
“What are you? You aren’t one of the men I brought, so you must be Black Snake Gang. Then why aren’t you hurt? Hm? Where were you hiding?”
What should he say? No, did he have to answer at all?
Yuri simply kept his mouth shut.
Oh Bong-seok could not stand up right now. The only person Yuri had to deal with was Oh Bong-chun.
“Kid, are you scared?”
Oh Bong-chun grinned at the silent Yuri. It was an obvious provocation, but Yuri did not rise to it. The situation itself was too tense for him to care about that kind of taunt. He could die less than ten minutes after transmigrating.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded as if it would burst. He could not stop noticing the dagger in his right hand.
Lee Su-hyeok had never held a knife like this and swung it at another person.
But Yuri was different. This bastard had threatened people with knives plenty of times, and he had stabbed people too. Yet those memories were not much help in getting through this situation.
“Phew...”
First, the dagger in his hand felt too unnatural.
Yuri let out a short breath and dropped it onto the floor.
“What?”
Oh Bong-chun’s eyes widened.
“Don’t tell me you’re throwing away your knife to surrender? Kid, I may be that idiot’s older brother, but do you think I’ll spare the man who made my little brother limp for the rest of his life?”
Yuri still did not answer.
Instead, he raised both hands, fists clenched.
“Is this bastard crazy?”
Oh Bong-chun burst out laughing. Throwing away a perfectly good dagger was already beyond understanding, but Yuri was not even begging for his life.
“What are you going to do with those hands? Are you some kind of fist art master? Going to smash this axe with your fists?”
Yuri ignored the mockery.
Honestly, he wanted to use the dagger. Facing an axe barehanded did not seem possible.
But he had no choice.
The old Yuri might have known how to use a blade a little.
But the current Yuri was far more familiar with his bare hands than with a weapon.
He had learned how to use his fists by getting beaten.
“You fucking bastard, you think I’m a joke?!”
With an enraged shout, Oh Bong-chun charged.
Naturally, Oh Bong-chun’s movements could not compare to Lorelia’s.
Yuri saw the axe coming.
Only seconds ago, he had thought that fighting an axe barehanded did not seem possible. But when he saw it flying at him, a different thought came to mind.
And then he understood.
He understood why Lorelia had emphasized that he needed to throw a punch at a living person without hesitation or fear, with the killing intent to absolutely kill them, with all his strength and accuracy.
That was exactly what he needed right now.
The blood-smeared axe narrowly passed by him. Yuri slipped in through the tiny gap and swung his fist.
The moment he threw it, he knew. If he threw this punch, Oh Bong-chun might die.
But if he did not throw it, Yuri would die.
So he threw it.
There was no reason not to.
Crunch.
He felt his fist break Oh Bong-chun’s jaw.
“B... Brother?”
Oh Bong-seok, still clutching his ankle that would not stop bleeding, muttered with an unbelieving expression.
Thud.
Oh Bong-chun’s body fell backward, his eyes completely unfocused.
‘Is he dead?’
Yuri did not know. He had struck with all his strength, but it was not easy to kill a person, especially a hulking man like that, in a single blow.
“...”
An indescribable feeling washed over him. He had never thought he would ever hit someone with the intent to kill...
“Brother? Brother!”
There was no time to get sentimental. Yuri swallowed hard and lowered his fist. If he had not killed him, Yuri would have died.
That was a fine rationalization, and it calmed him.
At the same time, Yuri understood his situation. Transmigrator or not, this was a world where you died if you got unlucky.
“Hey.”
His fist hurt.
Yuri glanced at it. The skin on his left fist, the one that had struck Oh Bong-chun’s jaw, was scraped raw and bleeding.
‘Even after throwing my fists around so many times in the waiting room, they never bled...’
The mental world and reality really were different. Should he train his fists too? Yuri thought that as he turned to Oh Bong-seok.
“Hey.”
His wrist throbbed too. Had he sprained it when he hit him?
“Why did you attack this place?”
He could roughly guess the reason, but he wanted to hear it directly.
Oh Bong-seok had been staring blankly at his fallen brother. At Yuri’s question, he flinched and looked up.
The Oh brothers had not learned any impressive martial arts. They would be considered third-rate at best, but with this level of skill and reckless nerve, they were more than enough for a rural back alley like this, one without a proper Black Path sect.
In fact, just today, the Oh brothers had easily wiped out the Black Snake Gang, which had controlled this neighborhood.
They had sent their subordinates in first to make a mess before joining in, but it was true that the Oh brothers were far stronger than the local punks. And like most brothers, the elder Oh brother had been stronger than the younger.
‘A... a master.’
Oh Bong-seok’s dull mind came to a conclusion. His elder brother, stronger than himself, had gone down in a single blow without even being able to scream. This unknown man had not even used a weapon. He had shattered his brother’s jaw with his bare hand.
‘That bastard Dekan... Was he not just playing at being Black Path? Did he really have backing from the Black Path?’
Then was this unknown man a master from the Black Path? Despite the vast difference in skill, he had not come out directly. He had carefully launched a surprise attack instead. Considering how he had played dead from the start and waited for an opportunity, he might even be an assassin.
If that was true, it was even worse. Assassins were people you should never get involved with, even within the Black Path.
“Are you not answering?”
Yuri’s voice grew harsh. Only then did Oh Bong-seok startle and flatten himself against the floor.
“Y-Yes? I’m sorry, please say it one more time...”
“I asked why you attacked this place.”
“Th-That, it was not my idea. My brother, the one you defeated, Master, h-he was the one who wanted to do it.”
“Who asked you that? I asked why you attacked.”
It did not seem like he would talk otherwise. Yuri picked up the axe Oh Bong-chun had dropped.
“I-If we got rid of the Black Snake Gang, we could take over this neighborhood... Th-That’s why we did it! That’s all! If we had known a master like you was behind the Black Snake Gang, we never would have come here...”
Just as Yuri had expected. In the memories that came to him, the Oh brothers had been eyeing the Black Snake Gang’s territory for a long time. It would not have been strange for a fight to break out at any moment. The Oh brothers had simply attacked first.
“Who ordered you to do it?”
He asked because he was worried there might be someone behind the Oh brothers. If they had attacked this place at someone’s instigation, Yuri’s position as the sole survivor could become troublesome.
“Or-Ordered us?”
Oh Bong-seok blinked in confusion. Yuri waved the axe and glared at him.
“Tell me the truth, and I’ll let you live. But whoever ordered you will die by my hand. What will it be?”
Oh Bong-seok had been calling Yuri “Master,” perhaps because Yuri had shattered his brother’s jaw. He did not seem inclined to fight, and he appeared concerned only with saving his own life. This threat might make him talk.
If the Oh brothers really did have someone formidable behind them, Yuri would have to run first and worry about Lorelia’s gift later.
“I-I do not understand what you mean. Who would order us to do something like this?”
“I said I’d let you live if you told the truth.”
“Oh, Master...! I’m not lying. I, Oh Bong-seok, swear upon the heavens, the spirits of heaven and earth, and my parents in heaven that what I’m saying is true.”
“Are you an orphan?”
“Yes, I’m an orphan...!”
“Me too.”
It was not a lie. Lee Su-hyeok was an orphan, and Yuri was an orphan too.
Perhaps having the same circumstances could create some sense of kinship and make him talk? Yuri had said it with that thought in mind, but Oh Bong-seok only blinked, unable to respond.
“Ah... Oh, Master, that is truly unfortunate...”
Yuri had not revealed the truth to receive sympathy.
“Really nobody?”
“Master...! Please believe me. Think about it. The Black Snake Gang is not anything special. They play at being Black Path, yet they are riffraff who have not even received a Black Plaque! Why would we need backing to attack them?”
Black Plaque.
It was not an unfamiliar word. It had appeared both in Seronis, the game that had dragged Lee Su-hyeok into this world, and in Yuri’s memories.
The Black Dragon Society was a Black Path alliance commanding hundreds of organizations. Member groups paid tribute in exchange for the right to carry the Black Dragon Society’s name.
The Black Snake Gang did not belong to the Black Dragon Society. So even if they were suddenly attacked and destroyed, the Black Dragon Society had no reason to intervene.
‘In the game, the leader of the Black Dragon Society was an old man called the Monstrous Tyrant.’
Yuri’s memories were different. The current leader of the Black Dragon Society had killed the Monstrous Tyrant ten years ago and become the new master of the Black Dragon Society.
It had not been a clean death, either. The new leader did not grant the former leader even the courtesy due to a predecessor. They displayed the Monstrous Tyrant’s limbs and head at the east, west, south, and north gates of Amyang, the city ruled by the Black Dragon Society, as well as its central plaza.
Despite such shocking actions, the new leader’s identity was unknown to the world. Rumor said they might be a Transmigrator, but it was only an unverified rumor.
“I only followed because my dead brother told me to...! It’s true, please believe me!”
“Fine.”
Oh Bong-seok pleaded with Yuri, who was frowning as he thought. He was probably not lying. Yuri gave a small nod and continued.
“You told the truth, so I’ll spare you.”
“R-Really?”
“Yes. But crawl out the door.”
Oh Bong-seok hesitated as he watched Yuri’s expression, then glanced down at his legs. His right ankle had been cut deeply, and he could not feel his toes. His left leg was usable, but it would be difficult to support his weight.
‘Fuck...’
Without someone to support him, crawling was his only option. Oh Bong-seok eventually put his hands on the floor and began to crawl. His body drew a line across the floor soaked in blood, like a brush.
Watching him, Yuri steeled himself.
He had to do it.
With that resolve, Yuri strode toward Oh Bong-seok.
Oh Bong-seok’s crawling body twitched.
“You fucking bastard...”
Oh Bong-seok stopped crawling and spat out a curse.
“You son of a bitch... You think I don’t know what you’re thinking? You’ll spare me? You want me to crawl? You, fucking, bastard...”
Oh Bong-seok was not completely stupid. He knew Yuri had no reason at all to let him live. He also knew that in his current condition, he could never beat Yuri if he tried to fight.
This was a skilled man who had knocked his brother out with a single blow, yet had lain on the floor pretending to be dead. Saying he would spare Oh Bong-seok if he crawled away was surely just a trick to kill him easily.
“F-Fuck, fuck... H-Head. Hit me in the head. Huh? I did what you said, so please... Kill me in one blow...”
Yuri did not bother answering.
Crunch!
The elder brother’s axe struck the younger brother’s head. Oh Bong-seok convulsed with jerking spasms, then went limp after a moment.
“Phew...”
It felt different from throwing a punch. His head suddenly spun, and his stomach churned. Yuri covered his mouth and swallowed back his vomit.
‘What do I do now?’
The Black Snake Gang was dead, and the men who attacked them were dead too. The Oh brothers had no backing.
Yuri was alive. Should he just run away and become a dead man? Fortunately, Yuri’s relationships were sparse enough that running away would not cause any problems.
But he could not run yet. Now that he knew the Oh brothers had no backing, he had to wait for Lorelia’s gift, which was supposed to arrive within a month.
Yuri took the key marked “203” from his pants pocket.
“...”
He reached a conclusion.
For now, he would live as Yuri and assess the situation. Even in a world like this, having an identity that could be proven was too valuable to discard. He could obtain a new identity through a black-market broker, but that cost far too much money.
Fortunately, Yuri was an orphan with few relationships. That was something Lee Su-hyeok and Yuri had in common.
He turned and looked at Oh Bong-chun.
He was still alive.
The Black Snake Gang boss, Dekan, used a large war hammer. Yuri raised the war hammer over his head.
There would not be any serious investigation into back-alley thugs dying in a turf war. They had probably bribed someone before launching the attack in the first place. In this world, the deaths of people with nothing were not considered important.
Crunch!
He brought the hammer down on Oh Bong-chun’s head. Once did not seem enough, so he struck several more times.
Then came Oh Bong-seok.
Yuri picked up a large machete lying nearby and struck the ankle he had cut with the dagger several more times. Then he drove several daggers into Oh Bong-seok’s relatively unharmed back.
“Fuck... What am I doing right now?”
A hollow laugh slipped out as he did it. What was this feeling supposed to be called? Sickening and fucked up...
Yuri smiled faintly and sank down where he stood.
It was all to survive.
He had transmigrated into a fucked-up game and ended up living a fucked-up life, but Yuri did not want to die.
Maybe someday, living would become so hard that he would think death was better.
But that day was not today.
He would survive somehow.
If he killed the God of Chaos, Transmigrators could return to Earth. In truth, he did not particularly want to return to Earth, but looking at the corpses scattered around him, he felt a homesickness he had never possessed before.
And apparently, the Goddess of Order would grant one wish to the Transmigrator who personally killed the God of Chaos.
‘Lee Su-hyeok, UrMumSpammer, you can do it!’
What was so impressive about a guy who had simply played a game seriously?
Lorelia’s voice echoed in his ears. She had smiled brightly, clenched her fist, and shouted with nothing but baseless hope.
Yuri gave another hollow laugh and gripped the dagger.
Like he had seen in movies and dramas, he ripped a strip from his clothes and bit down on it. He did not know exactly what effect that had, but there had to be a reason people did it.
The Black Snake Gang and the Oh brothers’ gang had fought, and everyone died.
Yuri, the twenty-year-old youngest member, had luckily survived the chaos.
Surviving without a single wound was too convenient a story. Yuri clenched the cloth between his teeth and looked down at his body.
He thought cutting would be better than stabbing.
“Ghk...”
Unlike the violence disguised as training, this was self-harm. He was cutting his own body.
He immediately understood why people bit down on something during torture scenes in movies and dramas.
* * *
Gordon of the general store.
He was one of the few kind people in Yuri’s sparse life.
Even if the goods were unsold, old, and covered in dust, he regularly donated them to the Oldor Orphanage. Whenever business seemed to be going a little well, he also sent donations, no matter how small.
Yuri had met him several times while he was at the orphanage.
Even then, Gordon had frequently lectured Yuri, who had already been a troublemaker.
After Yuri left the orphanage and began doing bad things like pickpocketing in the back alleys, Gordon had lectured him again. He told Yuri that if he was going to live like that, he should just get a job at the general store instead.
When Yuri finally joined the Black Snake Gang and began gang life, Gordon could only sigh again and again.
Whenever Yuri, the youngest member, came to collect tribute, Gordon did not make things difficult by appealing to their old connection. Instead, he asked whether Yuri was eating properly and checked on him.
“Yuri...?”
Gordon had been sitting in the quiet, empty general store, yawning. When he saw Yuri stagger inside covered in blood, he shot to his feet.
“Yuri, Yuri?! You brat! What the hell happened?”
“Ah... Mister.”
Yuri called out to Gordon weakly. Gordon hurried over, supported him, and grimaced.
“That blood...! Hey, don’t talk. Stay still.”
Yuri’s shirt was soaked in blood from cuts all over his body. It was closer to a rag than clothing. Gordon removed the rag and examined Yuri’s body.
“You...”
Old scars and burn marks. And new wounds on top of them.
Gordon’s lips trembled as he failed to continue.
“If Elena... saw you like this... What would she think?”
Yuri’s cheek twitched at the name.
Elena.
His childhood friend of the same age, from the Oldor Orphanage.
But not every orphan was the same. Yuri had not seen Elena even once in ten years.
“What happened? Where did you get these wounds?”
“The Black Snake Gang is finished.”
Yuri gave the answer he had prepared in advance.
“The Oh brothers. Those, those bastards. They brought a gang and attacked the office. And... and everyone died. The older guys, the Oh brothers, all of them.”
“Everyone? Everyone died? What do you mean?”
“I-I don’t know. I was hiding...”
He did not need to finish the sentence. He stopped midway and bit his lip.
Gordon stared blankly at Yuri before squeezing his eyes shut.
“That’s a relief.”
After a brief silence, Gordon let out a long sigh.
“It’s a relief those bastards are all dead... and it’s a relief you’re alive.”
Yuri could not help feeling conflicted by those words.
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