WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 46: Doll Dungeon (4)

──────

[Unique Ability - Rewind Action 1 / 3]

Before I could even come to my senses, I accidentally used my ability.

I should have calmly analyzed the pattern, but seeing Cecilia die right in front of me had left my mind blank.

‘Fucking idiot.’

Hadn’t I held up just fine while watching people around me die until now?

What made Cecilia any different from them?

Was it because she was a heroine? Or had I become more invested in her than I realized?

Somewhere along the way, my feelings must have changed.

Whether that was growth or regression, I didn’t know.

I immediately checked on Cecilia beside me.

“Haah... haah...”

She was completely unharmed as she wiped away her sweat.

“What? Is there something on my face?”

Only after seeing the Forget-Me-Not Brooch still securely pinned in her hair was I finally able to relax.

Anyway, I’d learned something.

Watching someone I knew die beside me felt fucking awful.

Confirmed.

An elite monster I had defeated lay sprawled at my feet.

The point I had returned to was right after defeating it.

Just before I used the ability, I had caught a glimpse of my opponent: a knight clad in silver armor and wielding a massive hammer.

It was Alain, the Doll Dungeon’s mid-boss.

Alain had suddenly dropped down from above and crushed Cecilia in one blow.

Alain had even used an ultimate attack.

Like Shukar It’s Thunderbolt Mace and Varhatan’s Spinning Strike, Alain had an ultimate attack befitting a boss.

Titan Fall, an attack where Alain leapt straight at the opponent and brought the hammer down on them.

Unless you were loaded up with Yellow Shards, getting hit dealt damage close to an instant kill. Even if you dodged, the aftershock locked down your movements.

Because Alain stayed airborne for so long, it threw off the timing for counters and dodges. It was an extremely troublesome move to deal with.

And since it had come from outside my field of vision, there had been no way I could even think of dodging it.

‘But why did Alain leave the boss room?’

In the original game, Alain, like the other dolls, only began moving after the player entered the boss room on the second floor.

Alain wasn’t supposed to suddenly jump down to the first floor like something out of a horror movie.

Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time.

Shukarit in the Beast Dungeon had done the same thing.

Back then, a mid-boss who should have been holed up in the boss room somehow found exactly where I was and came rushing at me.

Renee hadn’t even been with me at the time, so if I hadn’t awakened Break, I would’ve died on the spot.

Had I pressed some kind of trigger button?

If there was one, I wished someone would tell me.

With Shukarit, I had slaughtered Kobolds, so at least I had some idea why. But this was my first time in the Doll Dungeon.

Still, it was fortunate that what I had to do hadn’t changed. I needed to defeat Alain before I could either move forward or turn back.

‘Phew.’

Let’s think positively.

I had to face Alain eventually.

Now that I knew Alain would launch a surprise attack, I could avoid being instantly killed as long as I stayed out of range.

Cecilia and I moved far away from the stairs and got ourselves ready.

“...What have you been thinking about this whole time?”

“About what we should do from here.”

Alain could be considered an upgraded version of Varhatan.

Instead of a mace, Alain used a hammer. Alain was a typical heavy-hitting monster that prioritized powerful blows.

The difference was that every one of Alain’s attacks caused an earthquake-like shockwave the moment it landed.

The player could dodge the shockwave as well, but failing to do so dealt considerable damage.

Once Alain entered phase two, the monster erupted in rage, and its attack speed and movement speed noticeably increased.

In other words, Alain’s Fluidity rose.

If the Clown’s Sword’s slow effect didn’t work, I also had to consider the possibility that our turns would get tangled around then.

After getting used to turn-based combat over several years, I had realized one thing. At least for me, heavy-hitting enemies were far more troublesome than speed types.

You could crush speed types by raising your Fluidity and taking the first turn, but that didn’t mean much against heavy hitters.

I had to take or block every attack, but I couldn’t just load myself up with Yellow Shards either.

Alain was as sturdy as he looked. If I lowered my damage for no reason, the fight would only drag on.

The longer it lasted, the lower my chances of winning would become.

‘Do I have no choice but to block every attack?’

In the end, it came down to Just Guard.

It was the only thing I could trust.

The problem was that I needed to explain it to Cecilia too.

If I could share Alain’s patterns with her, the battle would be much easier.

But how was I supposed to explain it?

Should I tell her, ‘This world is actually a game, and I came from outside, so I know all the patterns’?

Or would it be better to accept Cecilia’s penalty instead?

Then Cecilia spoke first.

“If there’s something you want to tell me to do, go ahead. Don’t feel pressured.”

“...Huh?”

“You saw something again this time, didn’t you?”

I doubted my ears.

‘Again? Saw something?’

Did Cecilia know something?

When I only blinked silently, Cecilia spoke calmly.

“Why are you so surprised? We’ve been traveling together for a month and cleared dungeons several times.”

“...”

“Did you think I wouldn’t notice that your gaze always goes above the enemy’s head during battle?”

She had hit the mark.

I had to check the gems above their heads to know the turn order, so my gaze naturally went there.

Had she noticed that?

“Every time, you gave me instructions. You did the same with that Evil God cultist we met in Nevil, and with the monster just now. We had both never seen those opponents before. Do you think that’s normal?”

Come to think of it, it really didn’t make sense.

I turned into that alley and threw a keyring, striking someone, and they just happened to be an Evil God cultist?

If there had been a passerby there, I would’ve ended up in prison.

There was no way a girl with Cecilia’s senses hadn’t noticed something like that.

‘Was she trying to be considerate in her own way?’

When I still kept my mouth shut, she added, “I’d known for a while. That you saw something and gave me instructions based on it. And that you had no intention of telling me about it.”

“...How?”

“...Because I kept watching you.”

Cecilia turned her gaze away as if making an excuse.

“E-everyone has secrets they want to hide. Me too, my older sister too... and probably you too. I only follow your instructions because I trust you.”

“...”

“So I’ll definitely follow your instructions. If there’s something you want me to do this time, tell me.”

As I watched the corners of her lips curl into a soft smile, I became certain.

She wouldn’t follow my instructions.

There was already precedent for it.

I had given her one instruction a long time ago: to prioritize herself in battle.

Before I used my ability, Alain’s hammer had fallen where I stood.

Cecilia had pushed me away, taken the hit in my place, and lost her life.

With senses far sharper than mine, she could have dodged if she wanted to.

Of course, I would’ve become a lump of meat instead.

Even so, she had chosen to die in my place.

Cecilia really was just like she had been in the original game. She had always been terrible at listening to other people.

Now that I had experienced what she was capable of doing, I never wanted to see that scene again.

‘Yeah. I should tell her.’

So I gave her instructions.

I didn’t tell her everything, of course, only that Alain would attack us and about his weapon and basic patterns.

Cecilia didn’t ask how I knew.

But judging by the way her gaze drifted toward Renee, she seemed to assume it was Renee’s ability, like Lumen’s effect.

Impressive. Half right, half wrong.

“Got it. The monster attacks with a hammer, and it causes earthquakes and shockwaves. That’s enough.”

After I gave Cecilia all the information, she suggested an idea.

“If it uses a hammer, its range should be wide. If we can block it with structures, I think it’ll be easier to deal with.”

She was right.

I could picture it too. Since it was a monster, its attacks were bound to be somewhat simple.

If we could reduce the damage or hinder its movements with structures here and there, it would definitely help.

But I wasn’t so sure.

There hadn’t been any structures around when I fought Alain in the original game.

‘Wait... In the original game, I fought Alain in the boss room.’

The battlefield where I would fight Alain now was the first floor, not the original game’s boss room.

And the area was filled with collapsed wax dolls. Lumen’s light particles were scattered between them.

In games, enemies often entered battle after setting up a field that favored them.

The kind of thing people called a field effect.

Maliaas’s Clown’s Domain was one example.

What if we could set one up ourselves?

This place, covered in Lumen’s particles, might already be a healing field.

The thought immediately led to action.

“Cecilia. Can you break down all the walls between the rooms so we can move around more easily?”

Cecilia nodded and used Arts on the walls of the three rooms to the right.

I used Ashen Light on the walls of the rooms to the left as well.

Boom!!

Boom!!

Boom!!

Gray and white flashes filled the first floor with thunderous blasts. The walls dividing the six rooms collapsed, linking them together like a single passageway.

Lumen’s particles that had not yet vanished glittered throughout the passage.

Cecilia and I met each other’s eyes from opposite ends.

Our gazes intertwined, and small smiles appeared on both our faces.

Preparations complete.

We left the rooms and stood before the stairs.

Drawing out every bit of strength in our bodies, we focused on the opponent who would soon appear.

- Uuuuuung.

“...Alain’s coming.”

As soon as Cecilia finished speaking, a silver afterimage dropped from the top of the stairs.

The Doll Dungeon’s mid-boss.

Alain had appeared for the second time.

Alain’s entire body was covered in silver wax armor. Once Alain saw that we were standing far away, Alain immediately leaped from the stairs.

The massive hammer, taller than either of us, spun three and a half times in the air before slamming into the ground.

Boooom!!

Alain’s ultimate attack, Titan Fall, exploded.

At that moment.

“Now!!”

“Yeah!”

Whoosh!

Cecilia and I kicked off the ground at the same time and leapt into the air.

Rumble!!

The ground shook violently beneath us.

Like Varhatan’s Spinning Strike, Titan Fall had its own distinctive rhythm.

Even if you dodged the first blow, getting caught in the tremor would make you lose your balance and fall.

Then you would be helpless against Alain’s next attack. That was the usual template.

But things changed if you predicted the tremor too.

Like now.

Countless rocks and fragments of wax dolls rose into the air with the quake.

Tap!

Using them as footholds, Cecilia charged straight at Alain.

- Uuuuuung.

Clang!!

The Shattering Sword struck Alain’s head, and a blue gem appeared above Cecilia’s head.

Soon, gems appeared above my head and Alain’s in turn.

The turn order was Cecilia, then me, then Alain.

Cecilia’s turn.

Since her White Fang Dance counted four attacks as one Art, the chance of applying a Defense reduction debuff was four times higher.

I had instructed Cecilia to use nothing but White Fang Dance until the Defense reduction kicked in, until she got that satisfying feel.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four rapid clanging sounds, like striking a tin can, rang out. A Defense reduction debuff icon appeared above Alain’s head.

Twenty-five percent four times made one hundred percent, right? Or maybe not.

“Halibal!”

Cecilia, who had successfully completed her task again, threw herself backward.

My turn.

I gathered strength in my calves and ran straight up the wall.

Before the aftershock could seep into my body, I had already reached beneath Alain’s chin.

Slash! Slash!

Two Carving Sword strikes followed in quick succession, leaving two clear X-shaped wounds on Alain’s body.

Alain’s turn.

Alain touched the wounded areas, then raised the hammer high into the air.

Alain could only say “Uuuung,” but somehow, I could clearly feel how pissed off Alain was.

I raised my sword and caught the descending hammer.

Rumble!!

[Just Guard!]

“Ghhh...!!”

Slow motion.

I had succeeded in blocking the attack with Just Guard.

At least I had avoided becoming a lump of meat.

But there was no way to block the tremor that followed.

My entire body vibrated. My joints snapped apart, and nausea rose as my organs churned.

This was Just Guard?

The monstrous power behind the hammer sent me flying into a wall.

Rocks and debris rained down over my head without mercy.

‘Fuck... that hurts like hell.’

In my narrowing vision, I saw glittering particles.

When I reached out, the particles seeped into my body and healed every wound.

Healing fields were fucking great.

When I emerged from the pile of rocks, Alain stared at me as if he couldn’t believe it.

Alain was probably wondering how I could move after taking that hit.

Alain’s gaze then fell on the Lumen particles wrapped around my body.

Alain was probably thinking something like this right about now.

‘What a fucking cheap way to fight.’

Yeah. Why don’t you set up a field too if you don’t like it?

‘I saw the fucking awful scene first.’

My gaze naturally turned to Cecilia’s brooch.

Alain’s gaze followed mine toward Cecilia.

Light had already begun gathering around her sword.

“Radiant Chain Fang.”

White fangs mercilessly tore into Alain’s body.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried