WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Became the Gate Summoner Hunters Obsess Over ◈
Chapter 30: A Long Day Ends. Summer Arrives.
──────
Perhaps because the two team leaders had pressed them so hard?
The Management Bureau's ride-home service was remarkably quick and comfortable.
Even though they made the thirty-minute drive in under eight minutes in a furious rush.
Kang Yul had felt perfectly comfortable without so much as a jolt throughout the ride.
'Cars are science, too. When I get my license, I should buy one like this.'
Anyway, feeling the greatness of science, he arrived at his tiny studio apartment.
Finally alone, Kang Yul could summon his Gate without worrying about anyone watching.
He stepped inside to see the friend who had been eagerly waiting for him.
Then.
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you!
: It feels joy that you have returned safely!
About two steps from the entrance, the Worm welcomed Kang Yul as eagerly as always.
"Worm! I'm back!"
Kang Yul happily greeted the Worm as well.
At that moment, he felt deep relief.
To be honest, he had been a little worried that the gigantic Air Worm he had seen in the Gate might remain that way here, too.
He was truly glad it was still the small, cute, precious little wriggly Worm he always knew.
Of course, that thought immediately vanished because of what the Worm did next.
Chomp!
"Ouch! ...Worm?"
Feeling a sting near his ankle, Kang Yul looked down to find that the Worm, somehow having approached without his noticing, was biting his ankle.
Then, as if declaring, "I'm really angry!" it began wriggling and launching an assault of inner thoughts...
Wriggle...! Wriggle, wriggle...!!!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels joy that you have returned safely, but it is also a little angry!
: It does not want you to go through dangerous things!
: It thinks you should live in a safer environment!
...Kang Yul could not bring himself to retort with, "Who do you think you are?"
Or, "This is just what Hunters do!"
Or, "I'm an adult! I can take care of myself!"
How should he explain this?
'If I did, I feel like I'd really become an unfilial son...'
He had felt it before, but somehow, the Worm, whom he was supposed to look after, felt more like a guardian taking care of him.
It was like having a mother he needed to support.
That was why he could not be harsh with the Worm. In the end, there was only one answer he could give.
"I'm sorry, Worm. But things like this will happen often if I live as a Hunter. So I can't say it won't happen again, but I'll try my best to be careful and not get hurt."
Wriggle...!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It senses sincerity in your apology.
: Its feelings have eased a little at the sight of you.
: It feels a deep fondness for you.
"Thank you for understanding, Worm."
That was how Kang Yul restored his relationship with the Worm through a heartfelt apology.
Kang Yul earned the Worm's forgiveness for its lingering dissatisfaction by feeding it five sacks of nutrient-rich soil, worth five million won.
Well... only for a little while.
"Worm, do you remember the promise we made last time, about living together?"
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you!
"I'm sorry. I don't think I can keep that promise..."
Wriggle...???
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you???
"...I'm really sorry. That's just how it turned out."
Wriggle...!!!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels deeply hurt...!!!
#####
The greater the expectations, the greater the betrayal... (excerpt omitted).
Having been hurt four times as much in total, the Worm made its disappointment abundantly clear to Kang Yul.
But no parent(?) could beat their child(?).
When Kang Yul dropped to his knees and apologized, saying he would find another way somehow and asking it to wait just a little longer, the Worm reluctantly nodded and accepted.
'I should visit Chaeryeong's place soon.'
He needed to deliver coal anyway, and he also had to show her the newly mined iron ore. He could casually ask while showing it to her.
In any case, having decided on that, Kang Yul looked up at the ceiling and thought as he watched tree roots sticking slightly through the hole.
'I should feed it blood soon...'
The problem was how to bring down the roots, which were about as high up as the tenth floor of an apartment building.
It was too high for a ladder, so he had not said anything to the Management Bureau. But now that he saw it like this, he regretted not borrowing something.
As he wondered what to do.
Wriggle...?
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It wants to eat delicious dirt...?
The Worm, which had been watching Kang Yul beside him, tilted itself as though asking whether he wanted to eat the roots in the ceiling.
Finding it adorable, Kang Yul placed it on his palm and stroked its head with a finger.
"No, I want to grow it rather than eat it. I heard that if I feed it blood and wake it, it'll follow me."
Wriggle...?
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you...?
The Worm tilted itself the other way, as though it did not understand.
Its expression seemed to ask why anyone would grow something they could eat.
Kang Yul wondered how he should persuade it, but...
'...Hmm. I have no idea how to explain it.'
Before long, he gave up on persuading it.
The Worm divided the world into only two things: dirt, and things that should not be eaten.
For it, the concept of growing something was far too unfamiliar.
Rather than tediously explaining it in lofty terms, Kang Yul decided to tell it about the benefits.
"If you eat it now, you'll be full for only a little while, but if we grow it, you can keep eating delicious things. That's why I want to grow it."
If they grew the tree, the Worm could keep eating delicious dirt.
To do that, it needed to develop the habit of eating a little at a time instead of all at once.
After Kang Yul explained it to the Worm in roughly those terms, a moment later.
Wriggle...!?!?!?
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you...!?!?!?
The Worm raised its body upright with a twitch-! and froze in place, as though it had received an incredible revelation.
Then it began looking at Kang Yul as if he were a genius born once every few centuries.
"I'm not that amazing..."
For a moment, Kang Yul felt like the protagonist of an otherworld story saying, "Ah, this is called animal husbandry."
But he felt that if he took pleasure in something like that, he would be a terrible person, so he quickly changed the subject.
Unexpectedly.
"Ahem. Anyway, I need to bring those roots down. I was wondering if there might be a good way to do that."
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you-!
"You'll bring them down for me?"
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you-!
He received a completely unexpected answer from the Worm.
Then, as if telling Kang Yul to trust it, the Worm gave a single wriggle-! before climbing down from his palm.
It glared at Kang Yul as though telling him to step back because it was dangerous.
As Kang Yul, puzzled, backed away and put some distance between them, the Worm opened its tiny mouth wide toward the ceiling.
And at that moment.
■■-!
For a moment, a muted sound, as if something were being chewed, reached his ears.
Then the mass of dirt that had formed the ceiling vanished.
Slide... Thud-!
A beat later, lifeless white roots fell into the hollow, sending dust billowing everywhere.
Breathing in the sweet dirt dust that entered his nose and mouth, Kang Yul tried to understand what had happened.
In the end, though, he could only repeat two facts to himself.
First.
Crunch, crunch...!
Immediately after that entire process.
The Worm, chewing something as though it were delicious, was absolutely not a being he should ever make angry.
And second...
'...The bones in the ceiling are still perfectly intact.'
The bones of something that supported the hollow, which even the Worm could not eat.
It seemed they were something Kang Yul would never be able to mine, no matter how hard he worked his whole life.
#####
After reminding himself that there was always a sky beyond the sky, and that a world beyond worlds filled with such monsters was terrifying, Kang Yul resolved to be content with the life of an honest ordinary citizen.
Then he approached the roots that had fallen to the floor when the ceiling vanished and poured the blood from the blood pack over them, as he had originally intended.
Seep...!
The roots absorbed every last drop of blood, like a sponge soaking up water.
Kang Yul waited in front of them for a long time, expecting some kind of change.
But to give the conclusion first.
......
There was no response at all.
It was just a withered tree.
"Haah, figures."
Kang Yul sighed as he recalled the Friendly Merchant's note, which had said he would need a not insignificant, sufficient amount.
Only the part that had absorbed the blood seemed a little more lively, as though even this much was not enough.
Apparently, waking this tree would require a truly enormous amount of blood.
Which meant...
'Where am I supposed to get that much blood...?'
As Kang Yul wondered where he could possibly find so much blood, debating whether he would need to rely on public authority again or receive blood as payment through a deal with the Friendly Merchant, the Worm spoke to him.
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It thinks you should rest now!
"Rest...?"
But he still had so much to do, such as figuring out how to get blood, whether there was something that could replace blood, and when would be a good time to visit Chaeryeong's place.
Wouldn't it be fine to rest after all that?
As he looked at the Worm with that thought, it sternly wriggled-! and pressed him.
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It thinks you look too tired!
"Come on, it's fine. Missing one night's sleep is no big dea..."
Sway...
"...It is, huh?"
Kang Yul staggered as a heavy wave of fatigue suddenly washed over him.
Thinking about it, it was only natural.
He had entered and exited a Gate where he could have died at any moment.
During that process, he had been exposed to several supernatural phenomena and had even been bewitched.
Then he had encountered a fragment of the Worm's power, realized what an immense being it was, and fallen into a state of extreme tension.
Right after safely leaving the Gate, he had pushed his body to his limits by having blood drawn.
"...I did overdo it a little."
There was a slight problem with simply dismissing all that as having overdone it a little.
Still, overcome by the fatigue that had arrived late and the Worm's firm attitude, Kang Yul decided to rest for the day.
"See you tomorrow, Worm."
Wriggle-!
﹝Special Characteristics﹞
: It feels a deep fondness for you!
After saying goodbye to the Worm, Kang Yul returned to his tiny studio room, showered away the exhaustion of the long day, and lay down on his cheap bed.
All he had to do now was fall deeply asleep and end the day.
But.
'...Should I browse the gallery before bed?'
Humans were most active right before falling asleep.
No matter how tired he was, he could not resist browsing the boards. As usual, he enjoyed looking through the gallery.
His eyelids gradually closed from accumulated fatigue, and he had almost fallen asleep without realizing it, but...
"...Huh?"
The moment he saw the final post on the gallery.
Kang Yul's sleep fled completely from how shocked he was.
After all.
───
[Title: I turned into blood because summer's here.]
[Anon]
(Photo of a swimming pool turned red)
(Photo of Hunter Management Bureau employees isolating the pool)
(Photo of the pool having turned blue again)
You fucking supernatural phenomenon.
Why did you turn into blood just because summer's here?
What are you, some kind of bread cat?
It's not like you got depressed and turned into bread.
What an absurd bastard.
───
[Comments]
[Ah, lol. Is that time coming soon?]
ㄴ[So it is. That time is coming soon.]
ㄴ[Come to think of it, it's about to be the hottest part of the year, so it should be soon.]
ㄴ[Since the cicadas are chirping, it'll be soon, yeah.]
ㄴ[(Hunterbro, I'm a newbie, so explain it, emote)]
ㄴ[(Listen up, rookie, this is... emote)]
ㄴ[Midsummer Pool <link>]
ㄴ[There's a supernatural phenomenon that appears in pools every summer.]
ㄴ[For details, check the archive link.]
ㄴ[(Hunterbro, upvote, emote)]
The scorching summer season when cicadas cried.
There were also several supernatural phenomena that arrived with that season.
Among them was [Midsummer Pool], a supernatural phenomenon that turned pool water into blood.
If this worked out...
"...Couldn't I get blood for free?"
Buying blood with money without a special reason was a crime.
But taking blood that had no owner was not.
Footnotes:
The “depressed and turned into bread” line parodies a Korean online meme phrase, “I’m depressed, so I bought bread,” by changing “bought” to “became.”
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