WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 26: Itaewon Club

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I got turned away at the entrance.

Why?

"No, why?"

"We're done letting people in for tonight."

Done letting people in?

Then why were other people getting in just fine?

"What about them?"

"They have reservations."

All those people had reservations? Liar.

What was different about me compared to them?

The bouncer gave me a quick look from head to toe, then waved his hand like he wanted me gone already.

He let out a deep sigh and looked me over again.

Like he was judging me.

His stare was so blatant it made my skin crawl.

In the end, I had no choice but to leave the line like I'd been kicked out.

What the hell was the problem?

I stood in front of the club and thought it over.

Even if I tried again, I had a high chance of getting turned away.

Would another club be any different?

There was probably something wrong with me.

"Don't tell me he realized I'm an exorcist!"

Was that bouncer some evil demon's lackey?

But he hadn't smelled strange or anything.

"What do you think the problem was? Gari, Eight-Foot Sister, do either of you have a clue?"

Clack, clack?

【Po~?】

Neither of them seemed to have any idea.

What was I supposed to do?

I could smell the stench from inside the club, so there was definitely a dream demon in there.

But getting turned away at a club entrance?

Should I climb into Gari's mouth and sneak in through the rooftop?

No, putting aside whether I could even get in through the roof, bringing Gari along would draw way too much attention.

I needed another way.

What was there?

No, I didn't think I'd come up with a clear answer just by thinking on my own.

I should ask someone else for advice.

My friends?

I had friends my age, but those guys had never been to a club either.

They were so wholesome that none of them even drank or smoked, so there was no way they'd ever gone clubbing.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Huh?"

It was Wolryeong Bodhisattva.

* * *

[I see. I think I can help. I'll be there shortly.]

It had started as ordinary small talk, but somehow the conversation turned to clubs.

Wolryeong Bodhisattva's response was completely unexpected.

"Huh? You're coming here?"

[Yes, I'll need to prepare a few things, but I'll arrive within an hour.]

Wolryeong Bodhisattva was coming herself.

I hadn't expected her to be this proactive, but she really was a kind person.

She had introduced me to the Association's request, and she had helped me make a familiar contract with Eight-Foot Sister.

She'd taught me all kinds of necessary knowledge, and now she was even coming in person to help with something like this.

Later, I should make her some herbal medicine as a gift.

"She said she's coming, but it'll take some time. Should we rest for a bit?"

I went into a nearby café.

Even though dinner time had passed, the place was packed.

Was that because this was Itaewon? There must have been a lot of customers who came out at night.

I ordered a coffee and several slices of cake, then shared them with Gari, Eight-Foot Sister, and Jjaekjjaeki.

I slipped them food whenever no one was looking, and all three ate with obvious satisfaction.

"Where does everything you eat even go?"

They were spiritual bodies, so it wasn't like they had stomachs. Seeing them eat so well made me wonder where it all went.

While I waited, a motorcycle pulled up near the café.

"Wow."

Its owner wore a riding suit that showed off a long, sleek figure.

Was this what a hot Itaewon club was like? People like that came here too?

She was an incredible beauty even after taking off her helmet.

Then my phone rang.

"Yes, Bodhisattva. How far have you gotten?"

[I've arrived where you said you were. Where are you?]

"I'm at the café across the street. It's called XX Café, and..."

At that moment, the beautiful woman in the riding suit approached the café with a phone in hand. When she saw me, she gave me a small bow.

Huh? Why was she greeting me?

It had to be my imagination.

She was greeting someone else in the café... no, she was coming straight toward me?

Ding!

The café door opened, and the woman in the riding suit strode toward me.

She stopped right in front of me, then...

"Bodhisattva, there you are."

"???"

When I tilted my head, the beautiful woman in the riding suit gave me a bright smile.

"It's me, Wolryeong Bodhisattva."

"..."

Excuse me?

* * *

"Appearance-Shifting Art?"

The beautiful woman's true identity was Wolryeong Bodhisattva.

This unbelievable transformation was apparently a technique called Appearance-Shifting Art.

"Yes, it's a technique often used for disguises. It consumes a great deal of spiritual power, so it's only used for things like infiltration."

"Seriously..."

Was this really that old shaman woman?

She hadn't brought her granddaughter and told her to pretend to be her, had she?

"But... why did you come looking like this?"

Why had she come all this way to help me, even using Appearance-Shifting Art?

When I asked, Wolryeong Bodhisattva answered with a cheerful smile.

"Hehe. You said you were infiltrating a club, so I came to help you in every way I can."

"Uh... how?"

"First, change into these."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva handed me a shopping bag she had brought.

"These... whoa, they're all luxury brands?"

Even I recognized the famous logos stamped on the shopping bags.

There were clothes inside, along with a watch.

"You said you couldn't even get into the club, right? Your appearance is the problem. No matter how I look at you, you don't seem like someone who came here to have fun at a club."

"Uh... what's wrong with how I look?"

I was wearing the holy armor coat I had bought at the Ghost Market, with my usual casual clothes underneath.

The holy armor coat wasn't all that different from ordinary clothes, and the casual outfit underneath was what I always wore.

I had hidden the rowan rosary in my pocket because it stood out too much... it wasn't that bad an outfit, was it?

"First, change everything."

"Everything?"

"Judging by the line outside, that club only accepts wealthy people or attractive women. Their standards are quite high."

I'd never been to a club before, so all I could do was listen to Wolryeong Bodhisattva.

"Still, your outfit is far from wealthy-looking. At an ordinary club, it might not matter, but at a place like that, you look like someone who won't spend any money, so they turned you away before you could get inside."

"Ah..."

"So first, you need to look like you have money."

I changed into the clothes Wolryeong Bodhisattva had given me.

They were slightly too big, but they didn't look that unnatural.

"But why do you have things like this?"

"I bought them as a birthday gift for my grandson, but I brought them instead."

"..."

What I was wearing right now looked like it cost several thousand dollars.

This was supposed to be a birthday present for her grandson?

Ah, right. Wolryeong Bodhisattva was the famous shaman in our neighborhood.

So if you were the neighborhood's top shaman instructor, you could give luxury clothes and watches as gifts.

"But..."

I got back in line for the club. Wolryeong Bodhisattva, using Appearance-Shifting Art, stood beside me.

"Why are you coming with me?"

"I'm here to help."

"..."

"Don't worry. I've been to Gukbin-gwan with Kim Du-han too, you know."

"Kim Du-han..."

Bodhisattva, exactly how old are you?

Anyway, we got back in line.

This was a tense moment.

I had been thrown out without any hesitation on my first try. What would happen this time?

"Welcome~"

Listen to that accent in the bouncer's voice.

I got in so easily it couldn't even compare to my first attempt.

"See? At places like this, customers who look rich are the best."

I was learning about clubs from an old lady who had gone to Gukbin-gwan with Kim Du-han.

Still, once we got inside, music greeted me.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The bass pounded against my ribs.

As we went down the hallway, it grew louder and louder.

Black walls.

A subtle fragrance, colorful lights pouring down from the ceiling.

The enormous space was overflowing with people.

People swayed to the music, and laughter rose as glasses clinked.

The music was loud enough to drown out even that.

This wouldn't be easy.

Just looking at the place was draining my energy.

Then an employee who looked like a waiter approached us at the entrance and asked with a smile.

"Do you have a reservation?"

"No."

The employee checked a tablet for a moment.

Most of the tables were occupied.

Still, the employee kept glancing between Wolryeong Bodhisattva and me.

At this point, the scanning was obvious.

A wealthy young man dressed head to toe in luxury brands, wearing an expensive watch, with an incredible beauty by his side.

"There is one table left, but..."

The employee naturally trailed off.

This was when you shut them up with money, right?

"Bring us champagne right away. Enough to fill the table."

The employee immediately bowed.

"Welcome, sir. I'll show you to your table at once."

"Use this to pay."

I took out a card from my wallet and handed it over.

It was a Black Knot-exclusive card issued by the Mystic Association.

With no spending limit.

The place we were shown to was a room table on the second floor with a clear view of the dance floor below.

It felt like I was sitting in an opera box.

"Hoo~ This is nice. If we're here, we should be able to do whatever we need without worrying about being caught."

"You look... really used to this."

"To go to clubs influenced by Yankee culture right after Liberation, you had to be ahead of your time."

Bodhisattva, if I may ask, what year were you born?

It was too difficult a question to ask out loud.

"More importantly, you said a dream demon has infiltrated this place."

"Yeah. I'm sure it's here, so I'm going to look for it."

"You did well to have the Great One and the Eight-Foot-Tall Ghost wait outside. If you'd brought them with you, they would have stood out too much."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva looked at Jjaekjjaeki, who I had brought instead.

"Try using this sparrow spirit for the search."

"I brought Jjaekjjaeki because it's small, but how should I use it?"

Since I had raised Jjaekjjaeki with Decarabia's necromancy, I hadn't found any particular use for it.

I'd only thought I had gotten a cute pet, but Wolryeong Bodhisattva seemed to see it differently.

"Familiar, 'familiar,' shikigami... they're commonly used techniques, but their usefulness varies greatly according to the sorcerer's ability."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva said that to handle a familiar well, I needed to know how to communicate with it and command it properly.

Most familiars were less intelligent than humans, so giving them precise instructions required a connection that was almost like a direct link.

"First, learn how to give your familiar commands. Not with your voice, but with your will."

"My will?"

"You're connected through a contract, so it won't be difficult. Of course, since it's your first time, it won't be easy, but..."

Jjaekjjaeki, come here.

Chirp?

Jjaekjjaeki immediately ran over to me with tiny steps.

"Uh... did you give it an instruction?"

"Yeah, in my head."

"You have a talent for it. Then try a more complicated command. A sparrow's intelligence has limits when it comes to following complex instructions, but flying at least..."

Jjaekjjaeki. Jump straight up where you are and do a backflip.

Chirp!

"...That worked?"

"Huh? Wasn't it supposed to?"

"...How would a sparrow even know what a backflip is? This is practically the sorcerer directly manifesting their mental image."

The sparrow did a backflip and landed.

That was exactly what I had imagined.

"With synchronization this high... if you raised a skeleton, it could probably have a brawl with Mike Tyson."

"Raising a person is a little..."

Wouldn't that be disrespecting the dead?

No matter how bad someone had been, using necromancy to raise someone who used to be human made me uncomfortable.

"If your synchronization is this high, you may even be able to share its vision. Would you like to try? Think of synchronizing your vision with the sparrow's..."

"Oh! My vision changed."

"...That worked right away?"

Wolryeong Bodhisattva had every reason to be shocked.

Right now, I was sharing one side of Jjaekjjaeki's vision.

It was like I could see Jjaekjjaeki's view through my left eye.

Maybe Decarabia's necromancy was a different kind of magic entirely from human familiar techniques.

"Hoo... You always surprise me, Bodhisattva."

"What should I do next?"

"Have the sparrow fly around and search throughout the club. It should be able to find suspicious beings without being noticed."

Following Wolryeong Bodhisattva's advice, I had Jjaekjjaeki move around the club.

It would stand out if it flew around openly, so I told it to stick to the ventilation ducts.

"Then what do we do now?"

"We have to search with our own bodies too. Let's start with the dance floor."

Wolryeong Bodhisattva opened the complimentary champagne, drank deeply, and headed for the dance floor.

We needed to find someone who stood out, but everyone was dressed so extravagantly that it was hard to tell anyone apart.

Then I ran into someone I never expected to see.

"Gari Bodhisattva?"

"Gagaram?"

I had run into Gagaram on the dance floor.

He did look like someone who would come to a place like this... huh? Gagaram wasn't looking at me. His gaze was aimed somewhere else.

"Is that beautiful lady your girlfriend?"

"No."

I answered right away because I was so flustered.

Relief and anticipation appeared on Gagaram's face.

"You're an incredible beauty. Hello, I'm Gagaram."

Gagaram twisted the corners of his mouth into a fresh smile.

Hey.

No.

She's not who you think she is.

I'm telling you, she's someone who went to Gukbin-gwan with Kim Du-han.

Footnotes:

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