WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈
Chapter 111: Welcome To (3)
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Language.
The alpha and omega of civilization.
If human standards were applied directly to animals, one could say animals had no language.
But what if communication itself counted as language?
Could it really be said that they had none?
They simply lacked a language system as complex and structured as humanity's.
Still, the greatest difference between humans and animals was intelligence, and that gap showed clearly in language.
That difference created many things.
Even when humans encountered another language, they could understand it to some extent if they made the effort to learn. Animals could not.
Language was not something you could simply memorize. Its value was maximized only when you understood it completely, so perhaps animals had never reached that ultimate level.
And all that common sense came crashing down through the Chief Gorilla's mouth.
“...”
Was this what it felt like to have the universe unfold inside your head?
Human words had come from the Chief Gorilla's mouth. Language far removed from an animal's cries.
Could whoever taught the Chief Gorilla martial arts have taught the Chief Gorilla language too?
Still, the important point was that the Chief Gorilla had learned human ways of communication in the first place.
The banana offered as an apology. The polite bow.
The Chief Gorilla definitely possessed intelligence comparable to a human's.
‘Looking closer, it has a lot of wrinkles too.’
There were far more wrinkles on the Chief Gorilla's face than on the other gorillas'. They gave the Chief Gorilla an air of experience.
Then who the hell was the person who had taught the Chief Gorilla language?
After thinking it over, I decided to pick up the banana first.
Judging by the polite tone and attitude, it was clearly an apology.
Even if the Chief Gorilla tried to ambush me, I had Fast Sloth. There was nothing to worry about.
“Ni cong nali lai?”
“...What did that mean?”
The Chief Gorilla spoke human words again as I picked up the banana.
But I didn't know a single word of this world's languages, so I couldn't understand it.
‘The accent sounds kind of like Chinese...’
This world had a place called the Central Plains, a country similar to the settings of martial arts novels.
If it was like the martial arts stories I knew, it wouldn't be strange for them to speak something similar to Chinese.
That didn't change the fact that I had no idea what it meant. This was when I needed the Gallery.
I connected to the Gallery and began recording a video. I was planning to upload it.
“Um... could you say that again?”
I asked for a repeat while circling my hand in the air.
I'd unconsciously slipped into polite speech, but I didn't think much of it.
Fortunately, the Chief Gorilla seemed to understand the gesture.
The Chief Gorilla stared at me, then repeated what had been said earlier.
“Ni cong nali lai?”
“Just a moment.”
I uploaded the recorded video to the Gallery as is.
I prayed that it was the Central Plains language. If it was, Heavenly Demon could translate it right away.
[Post title] EMERGENCY!!! A GORILLA IS TALKING!!!
[Author] Wild Grylls
[Post] (Video of the Chief Gorilla speaking human language)
[Post] This is getting really scary. Does anyone know what it's saying?
[Post] There are gorillas that speak human language in the Forest of Four Seasons. Can anyone translate it?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: ??? Why is a gorilla speaking the Central Plains language? Is this real?
└ [Wild Grylls]: I honestly want to livestream it too, but that isn't possible. This is really happening.
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Hmm... I do not know where that gorilla learned it, but it is using the Central Plains language. And an old form of it, at that.
└ [Wild Grylls]: An old form?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: It means it is the sort of language elders use.
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Aren't you a fossil yourself?
└ [Heavenly Demon]: Did I not say that I have only recently come into my prime?
└ [SwordTasteMaster]: Says the person who talks like that;;
└ [Allfather]: Oh. Good heavens. By Aragon, what am I looking at?
└ [Wild Grylls]: A video of a gorilla speaking human language.
└ [Allfather]: Oh, fuck. This is a sign the world is ending.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Are you okay?;;
└ [Allfather]: I will be back after relieving an urge.
└ [Wild Grylls]: Sir...;;
└ Wait, a gorilla seriously speaks human language?
└ There are monsters that speak human language sometimes. Orc shamans and goblin shamans, for example.
└ Sure, but have you ever seen a gorilla speak?
└ Never lol What the hell is that? lol
└ It even seems to have learned the Central Plains language lol
└ Who the hell taught it?
└ Going by what it says, it sounds like a language from a really long time ago. The way it talks feels like something people would use during the War of Righteousness and Evil.
└ When was the War of Righteousness and Evil?
└ Around sixty years ago, probably?
└ Why is it wearing clothes too? lol
└ Looks like it is wearing a dead person's clothes?
└ Gorilla fashion lol
In less than a minute, the post had gathered countless comments.
Most either couldn't believe it or claimed I'd used ventriloquism.
They threw out all kinds of speculation, but this was reality for me.
‘What did it ask me again? Where I came from?’
It was time to answer. If I kept the Chief Gorilla waiting, I might ruin our first impression of each other.
The problem was, I didn't know a word it understood.
[You]: Heavenly Demon. Heavenly Demon.
[You]: Can you help me?
[Heavenly Demon]: Are you asking me to teach you the language?
[You]: Oh. How did you know?
[Heavenly Demon]: Considering the situation, it was not difficult to figure out.
[Heavenly Demon]: Still, the Gallery can convey writing but not speech.
[Heavenly Demon]: Unless this lady knows your native language, it will likely be difficult.
[You]: Then could you show me how to write the words Republic of Korea?
[Heavenly Demon]: That is easy.
[Heavenly Demon]: Wait a moment.
While Heavenly Demon wrote out the words, I tried talking to the Chief Gorilla.
Of course, the Chief Gorilla only reacted as if asking what I was saying. I got nothing out of it.
I only needed to stall for time, so I waited patiently.
[Heavenly Demon]: (Image of “Republic of Korea” written in the Central Plains language on paper)
[Heavenly Demon]: Will this do?
[You]: Thank you!
[Heavenly Demon]: Ask whenever you need something.
[Heavenly Demon]: It seems this lady will be needed often.
I copied the characters from the image Heavenly Demon had sent onto the ground.
I wanted to write them in the notebook inside my cave, but I didn't know what might happen while I went to retrieve it.
When I began writing on the ground, the Chief Gorilla shifted its gaze toward it.
The Chief Gorilla tilted its head, then looked back up at me.
“Bu zhidao.”
I recorded that and sent it to Heavenly Demon.
She told me it meant, “I don't know.”
Well, of course the Chief Gorilla wouldn't know. The Republic of Korea was a country from another world.
“Yao. Shabi?”
“Bu.”
“Kai. Jama. Jubeo?”
“Jwinja tungpeo.”
The Chief Gorilla then spoke with the spear-bearing gorilla beside it.
The spear-bearing gorilla appeared to be one of the personal guards.
Unlike the Chief Gorilla, who spoke fluently, the personal guard's speech was choppy and broken.
I recorded their conversation and sent it to Heavenly Demon.
[Heavenly Demon]: That monkey is asking whether they can kill you.
[Heavenly Demon]: They say you are the enemy of their kin.
[You]: What?
[Heavenly Demon]: The leader monkey says there is no need.
[Heavenly Demon]: They say finding the bodies of their kin comes first.
The bodies of their kin. The Chief Gorilla must have meant the ones I killed yesterday.
Even after learning language, apes were still apes. Despite my standing right in front of them, they openly talked about killing me.
Or maybe they'd said it that way on purpose so I would hear.
I waited for their reaction.
“Shi chi dorenma?”
Heavenly Demon translated it as, “Where are our dead kin?”
That bastard had stolen my food. I didn't want to tell them so easily.
Besides, they might look down on me if I did. I had to be careful.
Scritch, scritch.
I wrote more characters in the dirt.
They roughly meant, “What if I don't want to tell you?”
The Chief Gorilla carefully examined what I had written before speaking to me.
“Hui you liu xue de.”
According to Heavenly Demon, it meant, “There will be blood.”
Its tone carried a half-veiled threat, so I'd already gotten the idea.
‘It even uses figurative expressions?’
More surprising than that was the fact that it had conveyed its tone through language.
Just how intelligent was this guy?
I faced the Chief Gorilla as it narrowed its eyes and glared at me, then glanced to the side.
‘Assuming the Chief Gorilla is as strong as Fast Sloth...’
There were around five other gorillas, including the personal guards. I was outnumbered.
If we fought, I would definitely lose. It was best to avoid a battle with such low odds whenever possible.
Especially considering that the Chief Gorilla had thrown me a banana, it seemed willing to resolve this peacefully.
‘Let's avoid a fight.’
I set a condition. I would let them recover their kin, but they had to leave immediately afterward.
When I wrote that on the ground, the leader gorilla nodded.
I didn't know whether it would keep its promise, but this was still better than nothing.
“They're here.”
When I showed them where the gorillas had been buried, the Chief Gorilla nodded.
A gorilla I assumed was an ordinary soldier rather than one of the personal guards stepped forward and began digging.
With its bare hands. Given a gorilla's stats, it dug as fast as an excavator.
Before long, it pulled out the buried gorilla corpses one by one.
Since I'd buried them only yesterday, they were completely intact, without a trace of decay.
‘Is that enough?’
I watched the gorillas carry away the bodies, then glanced at the Chief Gorilla.
The Chief Gorilla stood in place and watched without moving until the other gorillas disappeared into the forest.
Once every one of the other gorillas was gone, the Chief Gorilla spoke to me.
“Xianzai.”
“Huh?”
“Shi si ren de hua.”
I still had no idea what it was saying. But the Gallery was always there.
I sent the recording to Heavenly Demon.
[Heavenly Demon]: It is time to speak of private matters, apparently.
[You]: Private matters?
[Heavenly Demon]: That is not a good sign.
[Heavenly Demon]: In the Martial World, fights usually break out when someone separates public business from personal business.
Was I really going to have to fight this guy? I slowly stepped back.
Seeing my reaction, the Chief Gorilla spoke impassively.
“Qin fan lingyu shi women de guo.”
“...”
“Sunzi shi li le. Ni shi zhengdang de.”
“The invasion of your territory was our fault.
“My grandson behaved rudely. You were right.”
“Keshi benzuo shi qun de shouling. Hai you sunzi de zu fu.”
“But I am the Exalted One, the leader of the troop.
“And the grandfather of that grandson.”
The moment I heard Heavenly Demon's translation of “the Exalted One,” I couldn't help but be stunned.
Heavenly Demon seemed to feel the same, immediately showing her reaction after translating it.
[Heavenly Demon]: How arrogant.
[Heavenly Demon]: A mere monkey calls itself the Exalted One.
[Heavenly Demon]: Who the hell taught it that?
[You]: Wasn't it something the person who taught it said?
[Heavenly Demon]: Whoever it was, they taught it wrong.
[Heavenly Demon]: No one has the right to use that title unless they are the strongest under heaven.
More importantly, the Chief Gorilla's presence was becoming increasingly alarming.
Even the personal guards were gradually stepping back. It looked like a fight could break out at any moment.
I slowly circulated mana through my body and poured aura into Heavenly Demon’s Sword.
It didn't seem like I could defeat the Chief Gorilla unless I caught it by surprise.
“Suai.”
So.
“Na zoi yikebo.”
“I will take one of your arms.”
The instant Heavenly Demon finished translating, I charged.
Aura rose from Heavenly Demon’s Sword like a heat haze.
No. It far surpassed an ordinary heat haze.
Flames. The sword's aura rolled like raging flames.
If I slashed the Chief Gorilla with this, its body would be cut in two.
Don't call it cowardly. This was the best I could do.
What couldn't I do to survive? This was a world where those who survived were the strong.
‘Good. I got it!’
The Chief Gorilla didn't react at all, even when my sword came within striking distance.
Maybe it hadn't been able to react in time. This was my chance.
If I cut through the Chief Gorilla's torso like this...
Grab.
That didn't happen.
Instead, an unbelievable sight unfolded before my eyes.
The aura blazing like flames. Heavenly Demon’s Sword, filled with that aura.
A strike that could effortlessly cut through an animal's flesh and bones with a touch.
“...”
But the Chief Gorilla casually caught that strike.
Not with one hand, but with only three fingers: its thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
As I froze at the impossible sight, the Chief Gorilla spoke calmly.
“Hao qi le.”
I didn't know what it meant.
Still, one thing was certain.
The Chief Gorilla was far stronger than I had imagined.
Footnotes:
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