WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 12: Holy Sword

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When I woke up that morning, I examined the Spirit Blades Wolryeong Bodhisattva had given me.

They were single-edged swords about sixty centimeters long. Five-colored knots hung from the handles, with silver bells attached at the ends.

The night before, Wolryeong Bodhisattva had explained their uses and effects in detail, but they were surprisingly simple.

[Wolryeong Bodhisattva]

They can materialize spirits and strike them physically.

[Me]

So a spirit could pass through someone's hand, but a Spirit Blade could cut it?

[Wolryeong Bodhisattva]

That is right. They also have the power to cut spiritual things, so they can sever spells, curses, and barriers.

Basically, they were demon-slaying swords.

Since they were ritual blades, they weren't sharpened, so I couldn't use them as ordinary weapons.

Not like I was going to slice people up with them anyway!

Getting my hands on an actual occult tool made me want to try all sorts of things.

Were there any evil spirits around that I could cut?

"Ugh, what the hell am I thinking?"

Safety first. Safety first.

Wanting to try out a new item the moment I got it was gamer brain...

Still, would I ever need to use these swords if I kept them around?

"......"

I stared blankly at the Spirit Blades.

"......"

Clack clack?

My gaze shifted toward the refrigerator.

Inside were sixteen 330ml bottles of label-free lime Zero Coke, twenty-two bottles of Gari-brand special holy water, and ten bottles of holy oil.

I had considered making more, but my fridge could not handle it.

I took out one bottle each of holy water and holy oil, then placed the Spirit Blades in the red plastic basin I had used to make the holy water.

"The Spirit Blades have the power to cut spiritual things, holy water has the power to drive out evil, and holy oil has the power to stop intrusions."

What if I soaked the Spirit Blades in this holy water and holy oil?

When you put things like chili powder, salt, and salted seafood into pickles and let them sit, the flavor seeped in, right?

Wouldn't a similar effect seep into the Spirit Blades?

In other words, enchanting them.

"Gari, aren't you curious too?"

Clack clack?

Hmm, that was a fucking stupid idea.

Let's do it right now!

"Good! I knew you'd think the same thing."

Clack?

I placed one Spirit Blade in each basin, then poured holy water into one and holy oil into the other.

I could mass-produce both with some salt and cinnamon sticks, so I didn't hold back.

"Hmm~"

A subtle fragrance spread through the room.

The scent of cinnamon seeped into the blades and filled the air.

It wasn't enough to cause another commotion with the neighbors yet.

"......"

After leaving only a few bottles, I had poured enough to fill the basins. Then I swished the silver blades around.

Wouldn't that make them soak faster?

Nothing happened.

"......Was that a failure?"

Was something missing?

Maybe it would be different if I actually used them, but I didn't want to bet my life on experimental equipment in a real fight...

Was there not some obvious, dramatic change?

Like a game enchantment.

"Put on the full armor of God, so that you may stand against the devil's schemes."

Gari's halo shone.

My faith and prayer were preparing a miracle in some form.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, authorities, the powers of this dark world, and evil spirits in the heavens."

What miracle did I desire?

What did I want from the holy oil and holy water, and what would I make them do?

First, I looked at the sword submerged in holy oil.

This was a sword of protection. It would prevent evil from invading, and wicked things would not harm me.

"Fasten the belt of truth, put on the breastplate of righteousness, take up the shield of faith, and extinguish the evil one's flaming arrows."

I looked at the sword submerged in holy water.

This was a sword meant for cutting. The holy water's power to drive out evil would dwell within it, allowing it to cut away wicked things.

"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Serve the Lord with fear and tremble. You will surely perish in His wrath."

And so, the two swords would strike down my enemies and protect me from the wicked schemes they unleashed.

"Amen."

At that moment...

Hummm.

The Spirit Blades gave off a low vibration.

The trembling traveled into my hands as I held the swords and prayed over them.

There was no doubt about it.

The holy water and holy oil that had seeped into the blades held the power of a miracle!

Then light appeared.

Fwaaaah~!

It wasn't only the light shining from Gari's halo.

Light had seeped into the Spirit Blades, glowing faintly through the water.

I immediately lifted the Spirit Blades and inspected their edges.

A soft aura ran along the blades, as if they had absorbed a radiant glow.

"T-This actually worked?"

It really looked like they had received a game enchantment.

Holding the softly glowing Spirit Blades, I barely held back the exclamation trying to burst out of me.

"Wow... Woooow..."

This really worked?

* * *

A new report came into the Mystic Association.

An evil spirit had been born at a general hospital, and it was believed to be the deliberate work of mages.

A mage's corpse had been discovered not long ago, along with traces of sinister sorcery.

Realizing these incidents were connected, the Mystic Association hurriedly dispatched its forces.

In the occult world, mages were the root of evil.

The spells they gained through contracts with demons were sinister sorcery, and the goals they sought to achieve through them were evil.

Anyone who made a pact with a demon for power was obviously not in their right mind.

Whatever they were plotting, it couldn't be anything normal.

"Oh, Team Leader Joo. You came?"

The Mystic Association's Abnormal Ability Response Special Task Division, Team Five.

They were said to be busy, but since this involved mages, they had been dispatched quickly.

Team Leader Joo Seoyul of Team Five, who had come as support, gave a small bow.

"Hello, Team Leader Kang Gihan."

"Right, Team Leader Joo Seoyul. I heard you stopped working on something to come here. What was it again?"

"The Eight-Foot Moe Ghost."

"......I've heard of the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost, but what's that thing in the middle?"

Team Leader Kang made a strange face, and Joo Seoyul explained calmly.

"It is a Mystery formed from an urban legend imported from Japan. It was originally a horror story, but a variant was born through moe-style erotic fan comics."

"Moe-style erotic fan comics... You mean that stuff people across the water watch?"

"You cannot say children watch it, since minors cannot buy it."

There was a faint irritation in Joo Seoyul's voice.

"Those fucking Jap bastards make all kinds of crazy shit."

"Hey now, let's not use racist words. We're public servants, after all."

"Then shall I call them horny monkey bastards?"

"That does not lower the intensity at all. Anyway, the world's going to hell."

It had long been known that urban legends deeply embedded in people's minds could take shape as Mysteries.

Sometimes, they would combine with and change from their original stories, becoming variants.

Especially across the sea, the birthplace of so many urban legends.

These days, their bizarre moe culture mixed into the process, producing all kinds of strange things.

"But why did a Japanese Mystery come to Korea?"

"According to the smuggler we arrested, it was commissioned by a rich client with that kind of taste. Apparently, they liked tall women."

"So what happened?"

"The smuggler scattered them all while running away, so we have to find them."

Joo Seoyul had been pulled away in the middle of that job.

Team Leader Kang quickly changed the subject.

"Anyway, this time it's demon worshippers. Mages. You know about them, right?"

"Yes. I heard a powerful exorcist intervened."

"Right. There must have been a battle, and it looks like the mages got completely crushed. Some kind of secret weapon from a church, maybe."

"Which church?"

"One in Gangnam."

At that, Team Leader Joo Seoyul grabbed her chin and fell into thought.

"If it was not the Catholic side but Gangnam Holy Temple Church... Did they have an exorcist of that level?"

"The church has been a bit weak since Pastor Kim died. But it's true. I saw it yesterday."

That made Team Leader Joo Seoyul look over with curiosity.

"There was someone with sight. They hunted down every one of my familiars, then sent them back alive. It was a warning."

"Could it be spiritual sight...?"

"Probably an innate ability from that line. I cannot be sure."

"Still, that is good news."

"They were a little too brutal for a clergyman, though."

A clergyman who melted people into gelatinous lumps.

That was the sort of thing fanatics usually did. What effect it would have was another matter.

"Back to work. We have found signs of Ill-Omened Site transformation throughout the Songpa District."

"What is their goal?"

"Isn't it obvious? They want to turn spirits into evil spirits and use them, or secure high-quality souls. Looking at the progress of the Ill-Omened Site transformation, at least a Grade 2 evil spirit should have been created by now..."

Yet there was not a single evil spirit in the neighborhood.

They continued scouting through familiars, but all they had learned was that there were an unusually large number of ghosts.

"Could that exorcist have driven them out?"

"Maybe. That exorcist turned a mage into mush too. Still, there's definitely a mage around here."

Finding and arresting that mage was the goal of this operation.

The mage might have fled after the Association realized they were there and deployed so many people.

"Then let's get to work."

────────!!

At that moment, every sorcerer in the Mystic Association felt it.

A tremor like an earthquake.

Yet they realized it wasn't a physical phenomenon, but a spiritual one.

The air had changed.

A clear pressure weighed down those who had awakened supernatural abilities, draining their strength.

"Th-This..."

"Something is affecting the entire area!"

Then the sky changed.

In the bright blue daytime sky, a blood-red world unfolded.

The chilling, sinister energy unique to ghosts had become visible.

Caw! Caw!

"Damn..."

"Team Leader Kang! What is it?!"

"The ghosts in the area... My familiars say they are being drawn somewhere. Some of my familiars were pulled in too!"

"Could it be...?"

"The Ghost Vein in the Ill-Omened Site has gone out of control! I cannot believe it has progressed this far already!"

Land transformed into a Ghost Residence contained a spiritual point that drew in ghosts.

If that point was artificially driven out of control, the already concentrated ghostly energy would condense into one spot. No one knew what the result would be.

Especially if it was the work of mages infamous for their sinister sorcery...

"The birth of an evil spirit. And it will not be an ordinary one!"

The rampaging Ghost Vein continued to draw in the entire area.

The ghosts that had already been abnormally numerous were gathering together.

A ritual to gather ghostly energy and ghosts, then offer them to a demon as tribute, had begun.

It was the beginning of a terrible spiritual disaster.

Elsewhere.

A resident in a villa neighborhood near the Ghost Vein...

"What is this shit stench? Does this place really have bad energy?"

They were suffering from an overwhelming odor attack.

Footnotes:

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