WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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Chapter 151: urban legend (2)
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The Mountain Lord and Eight-Foot Sister.
Both were more than capable of doing the work of a hundred people.
Eight-Foot Sister went without saying, and a tiger had several times the strength of an adult man.
The Mountain Lord was a Mountain Lord among Mountain Lords, one who could chew up that tiger with ease.
The Mountain Lord was a yokai to begin with, so there was no need to compare his strength to anyone else's.
"You're carrying things well even while disguised?"
"Taking human form doesn't make my strength disappear."
The two of them moved cargo faster than a forklift using mechanical power.
"G-Good grief, what is that...?"
Team Leader Shin stopped driving the forklift and stared blankly at us.
"So we could use familiars."
"No one else had any?"
"Employee Han does have a familiar, but no one could handle familiars this far outside the norm."
"Fair enough."
Familiars capable of moving hundreds of kilograms through brute strength alone could not be common.
Even in the Black Lotus Society, which commanded dinosaurs, perhaps only a Greater Dragon could manage it.
Someone like Bang Seoryeong could manage one.
Ah, I wanted to see Holy Tyranno again. It had been a while.
"It looks like the urban legend never considered people using familiars either... Still, we aren't breaking any rules, so it can't object, right?"
The supervisor's shadow blankly watched the Mountain Lord and Eight-Foot Sister move cargo, but did not stop them.
An urban legend was an anomaly that followed the rules of its story.
It maintained its power by upholding that story.
It would not force new rules onto us.
Well, if it really tried to force the issue...
Then I'd overturn the whole thing.
Anyway, we finished much faster than the people using forklifts.
The other shadows moved quickly, likely because they had been through this several times. The problem was Team Leader Shin.
"Why won't this thing move?"
"This setup is vicious. Anyone doing it for the first time would be fumbling around forever."
"...! Y-You've already finished?"
"Yep. Want some help?"
"I-Is that allowed?"
"It's not like there's a rule saying we can't help after finishing our own work."
Since I had finished early, I had them help Team Leader Shin.
Maybe I could try something myself while I was at it.
"Oh, it works."
When I lifted a pallet with spiritual power, the entire pallet of cargo rose into the air.
Could other sorcerers do this too?
"G-Good grief... Hundreds of kilograms with spiritual power alone? How vast would your spiritual power have to be...?"
Ah, no. They couldn't.
My spiritual power was abnormally high. An ordinary sorcerer probably could not even lift it.
In the end, without a forklift, only outliers like Pastor Park or me could manage it.
Either way, we cleared the cargo-moving task without trouble.
"Looks like we're done, right? Could you ask Assistant Manager Gong in sign language?"
"Ah, yes!"
Team Leader Shin hurried over to ask Assistant Manager Gong.
Just as they began signing to them.
"W-Wait?!"
Assistant Manager Gong's shadow suddenly began speaking.
"I-I'm free! I'm free!"
"Ah! Ahhh! I finally came back! I'm back!!"
It was not just Assistant Manager Gong.
The other two people who had been consumed by shadow also returned to human form.
"Hey, the supervisor's safety helmet changed."
I noticed that the supervisor's helmet, yellow until just now, had somehow turned white.
A white safety helmet.
In other words, it was time to clock out.
They were letting us leave immediately after we finished work. Was this actually a decent workplace?
"Assistant Manager Gong! What about Employee Han?!"
At Team Leader Shin's question, Assistant Manager Gong hesitated before speaking.
"Assistant Manager Gong is... in the same state as I was, consumed by the urban legend."
"What about the civilians?"
"Besides those two, there are two more. The other three were... dismissed."
"Please explain."
Assistant Manager Gong, who had entered the urban legend before us, calmly explained what they knew.
Those who failed to clock out from this urban legend were gradually consumed by it.
It seemed those who attempted to leave without permission or had poor work efficiency were consumed faster.
That was probably why Assistant Manager Gong and the other two had been consumed by shadow to different degrees.
And the moment someone was completely consumed by shadow, without a gap left.
They were "dismissed" by the supervisor.
In other words, they died.
"So there are still four more people alive?"
"Y-Yes."
"Hmm..."
Should we wait until tomorrow?
No, there was no guarantee they would be safe until then.
The sooner we rescued people consumed by the urban legend, the better.
"Supervisor, I have a question."
【......】
The supervisor turned their head as if aware of my question.
"Can we apply for special overtime?"
In a normal workplace, it would be voluntary overtime.
Though since it was already dawn, this was night work anyway.
The supervisor nodded.
Then they turned their gaze toward the others too.
As if asking whether they would work overtime as well.
"G-Go back...! I want to clock out! Clock out!"
"Me too! I want to clock out!"
A natural reaction.
I wouldn't mind much if Assistant Manager Gong and Team Leader Shin clocked out too.
But Assistant Manager Gong made an unexpected choice.
"I-I'll stay..."
"No, Assistant Manager Gong, you leave. I'll stay."
"What? If Team Leader Shin is staying, how could I...?"
"Escort the civilians outside with Assistant Manager O. I have to bring Employee Han out too."
They probably didn't mean that literally.
As I understood it, civilians who learned of the hidden side of the world had their memories erased.
They used hypnotic suggestion or something to make them forget the hidden side of the world.
Assistant Manager Gong left with the civilians.
"Team Leader Shin, you can leave too."
"How could I? Everything that happens here is my responsibility. I have to stay with you."
The Association employees all seemed to do their best in their own positions.
I was glad they were good people.
The supervisor had put on a yellow safety helmet again.
With everyone who clocked out gone, a new shift had begun.
"Supervisor, we're short on people."
The supervisor summoned shadows from somewhere again.
There were supposed to be two civilians and one Association employee, so the numbers matched exactly.
"Can you find them through sign language?"
"Yes. The one on the right is Employee Han."
Good. Then the new shift began.
This time, we were assigned to an area with a long conveyor belt.
The three shadows from earlier immediately went to their places. They seemed to have experience with the work.
Since we did not, we read the rules posted in the work area.
[Belt Workers: Required Reading]
1. Before beginning work, always confirm whether the conveyor belt is operating.
2. Cargo must be sorted into three categories: living, dead, and nonliving.
3. Living cargo must be placed in the living cargo bin.
4. Dead cargo must be placed in the disposal bin.
5. Failure to sort cargo will accumulate warnings. Three or more accumulated warnings result in dismissal.
6. Cargo must not be opened.
7. Under no circumstances may cargo fall to the ground.
There was no need to check the first rule.
The shadows had first checked whether the conveyor belt was operating.
After the belt moved briefly and stopped, Employee Han gave an OK sign with their fingers.
"Sort things into living, dead, and nonliving..."
"Have you ever done a Gopang warehouse gig?"
"Pardon? No."
"You see it pretty often when you work at a logistics warehouse. Sorting things like kimchi, glass, and electronics."
I picked up the barcode scanner prepared at our station.
It had three buttons, so this was probably how we sorted things.
"Y-You've done Gopang warehouse work too?"
"I tried it in college to buy a graphics card, but this is my first time sorting. Usually, women did this kind of work."
I just moved cargo. Thanks to that, I worked for a month during vacation and wrecked myself.
Graphics cards were too expensive...
"Ah! The belt is moving!"
Soon, the conveyor belt began operating.
Cargo began appearing one by one in the space, which looked like an airport baggage carousel.
"How do we tell the living things from the dead ones?"
"Those people seem to know."
The shadows went to the front and lightly poked the cargo coming up.
Then the cargo boxes shook.
The shadows quickly classified them as living, scanned them with something like a barcode scanner, and placed them in the nearby living cargo bin.
The shadows moved busily, trying to sort the cargo.
I could understand telling the living from the dead like that, but how were we supposed to tell dead things from nonliving ones?
"Team Leader Shin, do you know how to distinguish nonliving things from dead ones?"
"Hmm... Ah! By weight!"
Team Leader Shin rushed over and grabbed a piece of cargo.
There was no movement inside, but after judging its weight, they carried it to the disposal bin for dead creatures.
"Even dead, a living thing should be fairly heavy!"
The moment they put it in the disposal bin, Beeep! The supervisor pointed at Team Leader Shin.
"W-What?!"
"There is no guarantee a living thing will always weigh more than a nonliving thing."
"T-Then how do we do it?!"
At that moment, Employee Han's shadow approached and pointed to one corner of a cargo box.
There was an invoice for the cargo there.
"This was it!"
Team Leader Shin began sorting the cargo again as if they understood.
I checked the invoices while sorting too, and I thought I understood the rules.
Nonliving cargo had a manufacturing date listed.
Biological cargo had the "biological" category circled.
That made it much easier to distinguish them.
To tell the living from the dead, we could shake them like the other shadows and check for a reaction inside...
Beeep!
Another shadow failed to sort something.
It seemed they had placed a living creature in the disposal bin for dead cargo.
"W-Why did they fail? They must have checked by shaking it."
"...Not every living thing will react in an obvious way."
So that was another blind spot.
This was designed to make us make "mistakes" more often than expected.
Sorting itself would be possible if we took our time. The problem was that once cargo arrived on the conveyor belt, that was it.
The rules said cargo could never fall to the ground, so if we could not sort it before it reached the end of the belt, it would fall.
This was less a matter of finishing the work than a race to see who got dismissed first.
What a vicious setup.
"My lord! I have a fine plan!"
"Oh! My Zhang Liang! My Zhuge Liang! Have you a good idea?"
Kohaku spoke confidently.
"My lord has magic that commands beasts, does he not? Use that magic on cargo marked as biological. If it doesn't react, then it is alive!"
"Oh, that's a good idea."
"Ahem! This Kohaku is my lord's right hand!"
Kohaku puffed out her chest proudly.
But there was a blind spot in that method.
"Little fox, what if the cargo is seafood rather than a beast or bird?"
"Huh?"
"My lord's magic is limited to the souls of beasts and birds. If you put seafood that doesn't react to the magic in the living cargo bin, warnings will accumulate."
"U-Ugh! Th-then what do we do?"
Kohaku's method had a flaw, but it was still a good idea.
"Thanks, Kohaku. You helped me find a good solution. We only need to distinguish biological cargo from nonliving cargo."
"Huh? But then you won't be able to distinguish the living from the dead..."
"It's fine. I have a good method."
I went to the cargo area and found a box with the biological category circled.
Then, at that cargo box...
Stab!
I drove the Gutenberg holy sword into it.
"My lord?!"
"Hoho..."
Something wriggled. But surely it must be dead now.
I put the box into the disposal bin.
"Everyone! Commence the holy slaughter!!"
Kill everything alive.
Footnotes:
Gopang is a parody of Coupang, a major Korean e-commerce and logistics company.
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