WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 32: Pelerian Thinking

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Cry, weak goblins.

Your terror has arrived.

It's the Heart-Eating Snake!

The goblin who shouted that dropped onto their butt with a thump.

It seemed being afraid of snakes was practically a passive for goblins.

Then again, a snake had suddenly popped out and eaten a companion's heart, so being terrified was only natural.

I was going to finish them off neatly if they just stayed still.

"You evil snake. Incarnation of a demon. Begone!"

The goblin spat as they pulled out their necklace.

"Hideous creature, begone!"

That stung a little.

The Heart-Eating Snake had no choice but to behave in a way worthy of the name.

Naturally, I had no reason to fear a necklace like that.

When I didn't back off, the goblin swung their rusty sword.

Whoa.

The blade struck the ground where I'd been just a moment ago.

But that was pathetic swordsmanship. Compared to the elves' fierce swordsmanship, it was unbearably slow.

Instead, I climbed up the goblin's rusty sword and onto their wrist.

You should've worn armor.

Crunch!

*「The proficiency of Tear Apart has increased.」

*「Tear Apart Lv. 9 has become Tear Apart Lv. 10.」

All right.

Tear Apart was Lv. 10 now.

The goblin raiders gave a decent amount of experience.

But not one of them had a Magic Stone.

"H-Heart-Eating... Snake......!"

You called?

That was the dying message of the goblin with a hole blown through their chest.

Pelerian Navigation watched me with a satisfied smile. Then Pelerian turned slightly and spoke.

-One more is coming.

It seemed even goblins who set ambushes had camaraderie.

To come running even after hearing that vicious scream.

A sword-wielding goblin burst through the brush.

The goblin looked back and forth between their comrade's corpse and me, then shouted.

"Snake...... Heart-Eating!"

Do these guys only know how to say that?

The goblin charged at me with their sword.

What followed was much the same as before.

"Urk, cough!"

The goblin with the hole in their chest spewed blood and collapsed.

-Two more are coming.

Handling two at once wouldn't be easy.

I prepared Earth Magic.

I'd knock one over and kill the other one first.

Soon, two goblins burst out at the same time.

But this time, they didn't immediately rush into a grapple.

"There really was a... Heart-Eating Snake."

"R-run awaaay!"

The moment they saw the corpses of their three comrades, they lost the will to fight.

The goblins immediately fled into the brush.

I was about to chase them, then stopped.

It wasn't because mercy had welled up inside me.

*「You have gained the Epithet, 'Heart-Eating Snake.'」

An Epithet?

Surely it didn't mean that ringing sound in your ears.

Did it mean a nickname like Gunter's 'Steel' or Pelerian's 'Heaven-Defier'?

-What are you doing? Chase them down and hold a bloody festival.

Pelerian sounded puzzled, so I told Pelerian what the voice had said.

-You got an Epithet?

Pelerian burst into laughter.

-In all my life, this is the first time I've seen a monster less than two months old gain an Epithet. And what an Epithet it is, Heart-Eating Snake!

What kind of Epithet was it? I was curious too.

When I focused, my status window rose before me.

──────────────

【White Double-Horn Python Lv. 3】

【Epithet】 Heart-Eating Snake

──────────────

Oh, the Epithet had appeared beneath my name.

I'd gained the terrifying nickname Heart-Eating Snake.

What was the principle behind suddenly getting an Epithet?

-An Epithet is another name besides one's true name. And a name is born because there are those who call you by it.

To put it simply, the goblins had called me the Heart-Eating Snake, so that Epithet had attached itself to me.

That naturally raised a question.

'Then if people call me Whitey or Snakey, do those become Epithets too?'

Whitey.

If I got an Epithet like that, my dignity would suffer serious damage. Just imagining it was horrifying.

Pelerian denied it.

-Being called that by only a few people will not create an Epithet. At the very least, hundreds must call you by that name.

'Then what happened just now?'

-Perhaps the concept of the Heart-Eating Snake is already widespread among those goblins. Something passed down by word of mouth, like an old tale.

Aha, so if this were a folktale, my Epithet would be something like the Tiger That Won't Eat You If You Give It a Rice Cake.

-I do not know what that is. In any case, you must also display deeds worthy of that Epithet.

Now that I thought about it, this wasn't the only time I'd eaten a heart.

Hadn't I also taken down enemies like the Horn Jaguar and the Chimera by eating their hearts?

Then what about Steel and Heaven-Defier?

-I was the Archmage who defied the laws of heaven.

'Ah, yes.'

-There is power within an Epithet. The stronger the Epithet, and the more people who call you by it, the stronger that power becomes.

That was probably what Pelerian had meant before, about there being power in names.

I took a closer look at my new name.

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【Heart-Eating Snake】

A terrifying snake passed down among the Krok Tribe of the Palamu Rainforest.

Its evil reputation has not yet spread far and wide.

Your teeth grow sharper.

If you consume a prey's heart, you can gain more Magical Essence.

──────────────

Pelerian had been telling the truth.

It even came with added effects.

It said my teeth would grow sharper, and that I could gain more experience.[1]

Both were effects I needed.

I was happy to have gained an unexpected benefit.

-One more is coming.

I prepared for battle again.

These guys were more persistent than I'd expected.

-No, wait. It isn't.

I could tell what wasn't right.

The one who burst through the brush was Nanaruk.

She looked back and forth between the fallen goblins and me, then cried out in surprise.

"Whitey!"

Whitey?

Was she calling this Heart-Eating Snake that?

"Did you take care of all of them?"

I nodded.

Nanaruk looked delighted and impressed.

"That's amazing. You cleaned up the warriors so neatly."

This much was easy.

The sword Nanaruk was holding as she said that was also thick with blood.

She didn't have a single wound.

It looked like she'd handled several on her own.

Ah, from what I'd seen in her status window, this Hobgoblin named Nanaruk was quite strong.

Of course, she wasn't on the level of the elves or Gunter, but she was far above what I'd imagined when I thought of goblins.

"An arrow got stuck in you. We need to treat that."

She spoke with concern as she looked at my wound.

At some point, the shaft had snapped off, and only the arrowhead remained lodged in me.

"Hold still."

It was fine. I could just drink the rest of my potion and it'd heal anyway.

But Nanaruk pulled out the arrowhead.

Blood spurted out.

She took a bamboo tube from her clothes and smeared thick green ointment from inside it all over the wound.

Strangely enough, the bleeding stopped.

"It's a temporary measure. I'll take you to the village and have you treated."

Mm, that didn't sound bad.

I could save a potion too.

-So you are infiltrating a goblin village. What an astonishing experience......

Looking at Pelerian, Pelerian seemed pleased as well.

Nanaruk suddenly picked me up.

Then she draped me over both shoulders like a scarf.

This position was pretty comfortable.

"Let's go."

There had been one poor goblin who died with an arrow in their head.

Aside from that, there were no casualties.

I arrived at the goblins' tribe with them.

* * *

The idea that goblins lived in caves or built crude huts like primitives was just prejudice.

Of course, there were probably goblin tribes that really did live that way, but not the Runga Tribe of the Palamu Rainforest.

It had already been over three hundred years since they'd migrated into this rainforest.

The village of the Runga Tribe had proper wooden buildings.

Because it rained so much, the houses all stood fifty centimeters above the ground.

Goblin children ran between the homes supported by wooden pillars.

And they watched the warriors return with curious eyes.

"It's a white snake."

"I think Nanaruk brought it back."

"It looks alive!"

"Wooow."

The children buzzed around in excitement.

They couldn't bring themselves to come too close. It seemed they were scared of snakes.

Among the returning goblins was a boy about their age.

"Letch, what's that snake?"

For some reason, the boy whose life had been saved by me looked smug.

"It might be Ululullulu."

"Ululullulu?"

"Yeah. It saved me. And it killed Krok's goblins too. By eating their hearts."

"Gasp. Their hearts......"

"They were calling it the Heart-Eating Snake."

"Waaah......"

That's right, little one.

Spread my fame even further.

By the way, what exactly was Ululullulu supposed to mean?

The name sounded a little too ridiculous.

I looked to see what Pelerian was doing, and Pelerian was busy floating around and observing the surroundings.

-Wow, this goblin tribe has developed enormously.

'It wasn't like this before?'

-When I saw them back then, they were a primitive tribe living in caves. I considered wiping them all out, but it was good that I left them alone.

Pelerian seemed deeply interested in the goblin village.

At times like this, there was something scholarly about Pelerian. The problem was that it leaned more toward mad scientist.

"I'll have you treated."

Nanaruk said that.

I wondered if they had something like a hospital, but that wasn't it.

The place she took me was where the shamans gathered.

There were shamans covered in tattoos and wearing elaborate ornaments.

They greeted us.

"Great Shaman."

I wondered who the Great Shaman was.

Then came a surprising revelation.

It was the grandmother who had told them to let me onto the boat.

Apparently, she was someone important.

The shamans placed a headdress on the elderly goblin and hung a bone necklace around her neck.

In an instant, she turned into a dangerous-looking old goblin.

"This snake......"

When the shamans asked about me, the grandmother replied,

"I believe I have encountered a spiritually gifted snake."

"A spiritually gifted snake......"

"Bring healing ointment and bandages. We must treat our guest."

The shamans' attitude changed at once.

They handled me with care, as though attending some noble superior.

Why was everyone suddenly acting like this?

The shamans disinfected my wound and wrapped it in bandages.

The shamans' shrine had mysterious murals painted on the walls.

And among them, one thing caught my eye.

It was a painting of a black winged snake.

Lightning was crashing down around the black snake, and beneath it lay a dead red snake.

What cool brothers.

Nanaruk whispered to me.

"That's Ululullulu."

Ah, so that's who that was.

Still, mistaking me for a black snake was a bit much. White and black were way too different.

Honestly, I admit black looks cool, but I prefer white.

Black snakes look too evil.

"By the way, what's this ring?"

Nanaruk asked, pointing at my ring.

I couldn't answer, so I just swished my tail a little.

"Honestly, not great. It looks tacky."

I thought so too.

Pelerian asked,

-What did she say? It sounded like she asked about my ring.

'She says it looks incredibly cool.'

-Huhu, even a goblin has aesthetic sense. It is a signet I designed myself.

Designing their own signet personally, this fairy really was overflowing with self-importance.

Maybe Nanaruk had nothing else to do, because she wouldn't leave my side.

Then something caught my eye.

A thought flashed through my mind, and when I told Pelerian, Pelerian liked it too.

I tapped the back of Nanaruk's hand with my tail.

Then I pointed at an object.

"Paint? You want me to bring that?"

This was nice. She understood right away.

The shrine had many tools used for shamanic rites.

Among them were crude forms of paint.

When I asked for something like ink, the shamans looked intrigued and brought over a wooden board and paint.

I dipped black paint onto my tail.

-Now then, it is a rock shaped like an elephant. Draw it like this.

The idea I'd come up with was simple.

I would draw the rock near my destination and ask for directions.

If I tried to find the Dungeon based only on Pelerian's words, I had no idea how long it would take.

But this attempt to ask for the way caused a bigger stir than I'd expected.

"Ohhh, it's drawing!"

"It truly is spiritually gifted, Great Shaman."

"Could it be...... Hah!"

All the shamans crowded around me.

My tail started trembling slightly from the pressure.

It was like they were all watching a prodigy solve a math problem.

I splendidly drew the elephant-shaped rock.

And thankfully, Nanaruk recognized it.

"This is Elephant Rock!"

Yes!

Apparently, the Dungeon was hidden directly below Elephant Rock.

Since it was where Pelerian had stored Magic Stones, Pelerian said it had been designed with extremely powerful security.

Naturally, it had also been built sturdy enough not to collapse even in an earthquake.

-Thankfully, it seems to be intact.

'Isn't it possible the fairies found it first and looted it?'

-That is impossible.

When I asked why Pelerian was so confident, they replied,

-If anyone tries to break in by force, I made it so the entire rock collapses.

'......'

-Kukuku, those arrogant intruders will be buried alive along with the Magic Stones.

Back then, I'd gone into that Dungeon without knowing any of this, all smiles and excitement.

That was chilling.

I tapped Elephant Rock.

"You want to go there?"

I nodded vigorously at Nanaruk's question.

But her expression wasn't bright.

"The Krok Tribe has occupied this place since a year ago."

What?

Wasn't that the tribe those goblins I'd killed belonged to?

"It used to be our tribe's land. But Chief Krok invaded and made it his base. It looks like they're digging beneath the rock...... but security is tight, so getting close won't be easy."

What a shock.

Had the goblins actually found the Dungeon?

It didn't seem like they'd gotten inside yet, but still.

Pelerian's fury, however, was tremendous.

-Those rat-like wretches!

The handspan-tall, big-headed old fairy flew into a rage.

-Go, snake! Hurry and eat every last one of their hearts!

Well, that was easy to say.

But I was just as angry.

'How dare they target my Magic Stones!'

-I will kill them all and stuff every last one of them!

Footnotes:

[1] The Korean narration says "experience" here, while the preceding system panel says "Magical Essence." This source discrepancy is preserved as written.

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