WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Escaping the Tower at Hell Difficulty ◈

Chapter 77: Episode 77

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I stopped by the workshop for the first time in a while.

The distinctive smell of a new building mingled with steel and leather.

It was a unique scent, and I liked it.

"Whew."

Crack.

Since I was back after so long, I should loosen up a little.

They say a craftsman gets rusty after putting down their tools for even a day...

I'd taken more than a week off.

Orca followed Yuki inside, eagerly looking around as though everything fascinated her.

I wasn't too worried about confidential information getting out. Compared to what the Elves or Dwarves used, the tools I worked with were probably a little inferior anyway.

Especially since I was trying to grant a trait to a skill this time.

I'd feel safer if she watched.

"Please bring up the list of backlogged orders."

"Here you go!"

While I warmed up by finishing the commissioned items, Yuki fired all sorts of questions at Orca.

It wasn't so much genuine curiosity as an interrogation to determine whether Orca posed a threat to me.

"If you're a Druid, there must be a lot of things you can't use. I ordered clothes made from natural materials for now. They'll be a little expensive since they're made the old-fashioned way."

"Mm, you don't need to worry that much..."

Clang, clang!

I adjusted a piece of armor with Alchemy while listening in.

"I'm basically on vacation, so you don't need to worry too much about it."

"Ah, is that okay?"

"Of course. The head Druid priest of the Elf Race probably lives a less eco-friendly life than I do."

That made sense.

Orca got all her food, clothing, and shelter directly from nature.

"Even Druids usually take a year or two off now and then. Living in nature isn't easy... Getting everything you need directly from nature is the privilege of the truly strong."

"Then can you wear whatever clothes you want?"

"As long as it isn't metal armor, it doesn't matter."

"Does wearing metal armor weaken a Druid's power?"

"No, it's just a precept... If you break it, people will nag you and shame you later."

They were much more relaxed than I'd expected.

It gave me the same strange feeling I'd had when I became a Death Priest.

In a way, it was only natural.

Most Druids were probably exceptional Elves with the aptitude to become Hunters...

It wouldn't be easy to force anything on people that powerful.

It was probably better to push things through social consensus.

Still, she was already a debtor and a traitor to her race. Couldn't she just wear it?

She couldn't possibly get any more embarrassed than she already was.

Curious, I asked her directly.

"Why did that precept exist in the first place?"

"It started with mines. Mining technology was a mess in the old days, so they polluted the environment terribly to obtain and refine iron. Metal armor consumed a huge amount of iron... It was a precept created to protest that environmental destruction."

"Oh... So there was a proper reason behind it."

"Though it lost much of its meaning after we were taught the Dwarves' technology."

Had they received it from the Dwarves, or stolen it?

I decided not to press the issue.

"The Dwarves' mining technology must be much better?"

"They live beneath mountains, or dig holes right into them. Naturally, they developed methods that damaged mountains less."

"Ah."

The Elves refused to admit their own technology had been lacking to the very end.

Apparently, they still had Elven pride.

"The origins of the precept may be blurred now... but isn't that how tradition usually works?"

"That's true."

"By the way, you're quite skilled as a craftsman. Isn't that your main profession?"

"Our benefactor receives crafting commissions from all over the world."

Yuki proudly spoke up beside me.

I examined the finished product.

Thankfully, I hadn't completely lost my touch.

"Mm, it's good."

"How are you feeling?"

"Great. I think I can start soon."

"What are you planning to do with the Reaper's soul?"

Orca joined the conversation as naturally as breathing.

She really was a gambling addict.

"I'll decide after seeing what Attribute it has."

"I see."

The most likely result was a Destruction Attribute or Endurance Attribute.

It had used five Basic Skills in total, including its companions' skills...

The one it used most often was Shockwave.

That was probably the Reaper's own skill.

Among my skills, Eye of Disassembly or Smoke Screen seemed suited to a Destruction Attribute.

Since I'd already shifted my tactics toward targeting weak points, Eye of Disassembly would be best.

"If it isn't what I expect, I'll just Enchant some equipment with it."

"I see. But there isn't an altar here."

"What do you mean there isn't?"

I took her to the K-Altar in the next room.

She already knew I was a Death Priest, so there was no need to hide it.

There must have been plenty of Hunters around when I killed the Reaper on the eleventh floor.

As expected, she didn't look surprised at all when she saw my dagger.

"It's been a while since I've seen a Death Priest’s Dagger."

"Then... here I go."

Clang!

When I shattered the Reaper's Soul Crystal, the thing trapped inside burst out.

"Kgh... I've disappointed my kin...!"

Still going on about its kin.

The Appraisal result was a Destruction Attribute.

Without hesitation, I Enchanted Eye of Disassembly.

Whoosh!

I deliberately tore its soul to pieces.

The trait's effect might be a little weaker, but I couldn't stand having someone like this chattering inside me like Kaellis.

The power of the shattered soul flowed into me.

Sss...

"It's done."

Eye of Disassembly gained an Enchantment that strengthened the effects of weak point attacks.

It seemed like a skill version of Shatter Enchantment.

The soul had seemed fairly high-grade, so its performance should be decent too.

"Even for a Death Priest... you're skilled at handling souls. Are you really a Hunter who only just cleared the eleventh floor?"

Orca murmured in admiration.

"By the way, what about the other souls? Reapers travel in groups of five. Did you lose all the others?"

"No. I freed all the others."

"What? Why?"

"They didn't seem to have done anything particularly bad, and they asked to be freed."

"... I see. Maybe that was better for a Death Priest."

The souls had already vanished, but the power dwelling within them hadn't gone to waste.

It entered me.

I wasn't sure exactly how to use it, though.

"But why do Reapers travel in groups of five? Did they fail to brainwash the souls?"

A Hunter using five Basic Skills.

That was certainly powerful...

But using five separate bodies would have been much stronger.

Other than the leader, the rest were in such poor condition that they couldn't use their skills often.

"Ah, it's more that Reapers are very particular about the quality of their bodies."

"Really?"

"Creating a body compatible with a powerful Hunter's soul seems like a lot of work."

Now that I thought about it, that made sense.

If I suddenly reincarnated as a Reaper and was given a Dwarf's body, I probably wouldn't be able to use it properly.

So they gave a proper body only to the soul with the greatest loyalty...

And made do with skeletons for the rest.

Since all they did was massacre Hunters on lower floors, that was probably enough.

"Why don't they use corpses like Undead?"

"Because they're incompatible. Turning a Hunter into an Undead comes with severe restrictions. They can barely use the skills they had in life."

"Ah."

The way she answered immediately proved that a veteran was still a veteran.

I couldn't ask Bellion about everything... This was convenient.

We appraised the equipment the Reaper had dropped.

The performance was excellent, but the item levels were far too high.

Orca shook her head.

"This is useless. All Reaper equipment is like this."

"In what way?"

"Good equipment for clearing the Tower isn't simply powerful equipment. It's equipment that gets the best performance within its point limit... In other words, well-optimized equipment is good equipment."

But these guys monopolized the item level of five people, so they simply raised their item levels without restraint.

Apparently, equipment like that wasn't even particularly difficult to make.

'Now that I think about it, that's true...'

If we could simply bring the strongest weapons available, we'd have brought heavy machine guns.

In that sense, I really liked the Hand Cannon.

It was an extremely well-optimized piece of work within its item level.

"The materials are still excellent, so I'll dismantle it and use them. It's so large that it should yield plenty of materials too."

After finishing the Appraisal, I headed to the training room to properly loosen up.

It was the perfect chance to test my new skill too.

"Welcome, Mr. Kang Hyun. What would you like for today's training?"

"Please focus on close combat. I need to learn more knife fighting."

I was lightly sparring with the instructor when Go Jiho, who had been watching from behind, asked worriedly.

"Kang Hyun... When did you pick up such a bad habit?"

"Me?"

"Look. You keep flinching every time an attack comes at you."

I only realized it after watching the video.

This was because of the Pain Seal.

The pain caused by incoming attacks was so extreme that I kept overreacting to every attack.

"Ah, what should I do... Should I deliberately take some hits instead?"

"That directly goes against the principles of martial arts... If you keep doing that, you'll really reach a point of no return."

The instructor had a point.

As I seriously considered it, Kaellis grew frustrated while watching.

[Why are you worrying over something like that? Go into a private training room for a moment. I'll show you.]

'Oh, can you do that?'

[I've gathered a lot of strength so far, so I can manage for a little while.]

'... Fine, give it a try.'

I briefly lent him my body as he wanted.

Kaellis took control, then lightly moved my arms and legs.

"Your arms are a little short... but it'll be fine."

'Oh, are my arms short?'

"Don't worry about it. My idea of an ideal swordsman's build has arms as long as a gibbon's."

'Is that so...'

If all you did was fight with a sword, longer arms would be better.

He immediately picked up two practice swords and demonstrated.

Swish, swoosh!

Attack and defense unfolded in an instant.

It was nowhere near easy enough to imitate, but I clearly felt something.

'Hm...'

"How is it? Do you understand a little?"

Should I call it stability?

It felt like he never lost his balance in any stance.

Was it because he had used dual swords in life?

When I told him exactly what I felt, he looked a little surprised.

"You understood it at once. You don't lack talent for swordsmanship after all. Did you absorb my talent?"

Kaellis trained me to keep my legs ready to move and be prepared to transition into the next movement.

As he continued demonstrating, unfamiliar with my body, he stubbed his toe and rolled across the floor.

"Aaargh! That hurts! It hurts like hell."

Even a Hero Hunter screamed, so it seemed it wasn't my fault after all.

The Pain Seal's effect had to be that strong.

Still, experiencing the movements of a top-class Hunter definitely helped.

After leaving the training room, I met up with Yuki again.

"Team Leader, what should we do about the joint training schedule?"

"The team members should have rested enough, so let's head down to Hwaseong tomorrow."

Orca, who had been listening in, spoke up.

She was fiddling with the smartphone she'd been temporarily issued.

Though it was called a smartphone, it only had basic calling and messaging functions.

"Where is Hwaseong?"

"Are you curious? It's... below Seoul."

"Hm? Are you going abroad to train? Impressive. But you should be more careful."

"... Abroad?"

Something felt off in our conversation.

She seemed to feel the same and spoke hesitantly.

"This is Seoul, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"So Hwaseong is outside Seoul. That means it's a foreign country."

Ah.

She was the type who claimed anywhere outside Seoul wasn't part of South Korea.

People from other regions would be furious if they heard that.

It seemed Elves suffered from severe capital-region centralization too.

Yuki spoke up beside her.

"Seoul isn't the name of a country."

"What...? Seoul wasn't another name for Korea? Ah, do you count the tributary states separately?"

Orca's eyes went wide.

She seemed to have excellent information-gathering skills as a veteran Hunter.

But she was still an Elf from another world who couldn't even properly use the internet.

An ordinary modern person here would be better at gathering information.

"But you said Seoul had over nine million people... Isn't Seoul the strongest empire in this dimension?"

"No... It's not an empire. South Korea has a population of fifty million."

"Fifty million? Don't lie to me! You're making fun of me!"

Orca nearly became genuinely angry.

Was our dimension's population much larger than other dimensions?

It did seem likely.

After all, it didn't make much sense for Hunters from every dimension to share a single integrated floor in the Tower.

If other dimensions had populations in the hundreds of millions too, things would have fallen apart long ago.

We put aside all our plans and decided to take her sightseeing first.

Footnotes:

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