WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: WeTried

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◈ I Made a Tier List the Transcendents Are Obsessed With ◈

Chapter 24: My Friend

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Oz had not shown his face in the Gallery for half a year.

That was undeniably true, but it was not as though Oz had spoken to no one during that time.

[ If reaching the pinnacle of the sword means forgetting all its essence... ] - Oz

[ If that is what you call the sword's essence, why did you take up the sword in the first place? ] - Oz

"...Phew."

Fifteen days of meditation.

To someone who had already lived for hundreds of millions of years, it was no more than an instant. Yet the shock brought by those brief moments was immense.

"I have nothing to say."

A hollow laugh escaped Ok Chaegyeong, the Supreme Sword Empress. The strongest emotion on her face was fear.

After exploring every path of the sword, she had believed she had clearly reached its very end.

That was why she had first felt dumbfounded when told that she did not stand at the peak of the Great Heavenly World.

It had bruised her pride simply to be compared with others, and the claim that she could not even be certain of sharing that honor was impossible to accept.

More than anything, she deeply distrusted that arrogant bastard called Oz.

What could someone who would not even clearly reveal their identity possibly know?

At that point, Ok Chaegyeong had lost all interest.

She did not particularly care about all the slander floating around the Gallery either.

No matter what anyone said, her talent and accomplishments would remain unchanged...

But it did not take long for her to realize that was arrogance.

Oz did not conceal their identity because their true self was somehow insignificant.

"...How ridiculous I must have looked."

The more she thought about it, the more ashamed she became.

When she first realized that truth, she screamed and sent several frenzied slashes flying into the sky.

She kicked everything in front of her again and again.

Otherwise, she could not have endured it quietly.

She was certain that moment was the most embarrassing black mark of her entire life.

A-[Supreme Sword Empress] Ok Chaegyeong

Her talent for the sword is unmatched.

No one has ever reached this realm in only a few hundred million years, and it is unlikely anyone ever will.

However, consumed by her own enlightenment and neglecting the ways of others, she remains far from truly attaining the pinnacle of the sword.

Separately, among beings of the same level, her mastery of Form is supreme. She can easily suppress beings beneath her even without using her innate deity.

People often say not to be swayed by the authority of the speaker.

But how could the words of a mere insignificant creature be equated with those of beings who had transcended even the limits of existence?

Ok Chaegyeong went over that explanation of herself several times.

...And after all those countless deliberations.

Me>[ After much thought, I have decided to contact you. Might you be able to answer a few questions? ]

She sent Oz a message.

Her pure curiosity outweighed that brief shame.

'...I can go further?'

What was the true pinnacle of the sword that Oz spoke of?

Ok Chaegyeong had believed she had already seen the end of the sword she had longed for.

She believed she had reached an ending beyond which she could not advance, cut off the path back that she had walked thus far, and arrived at a wholly firm realm.

Because she stood alone at a summit higher than anyone else's.

She had begun to turn her attention to achievements beyond the sword.

That resulted in the formation of the Sword Saint Society and peace in Salmurim.

She had thought that was enough.

But at the suggestion that a realm beyond this existed, her heart began to race once more.

If it truly existed, then the childish games she had been playing these past few years would hold no meaning at all.

She could once again experience an endless succession of moments spent honing herself.

The problem was that she did not know whether Oz would accept her message.

More precisely, she had expected Oz would not...

[ What's your question? ] - Oz

Oz had replied.

The moment she saw it, Ok Chaegyeong screamed like a girl her apparent age and hurriedly typed out her question.

Me>[ I would like to know what you meant by the true pinnacle of the sword that you mentioned in your recent post. And why I have not reached it. ]

[ What is the true pinnacle of the sword, and why have I not reached it? I think you should first consider whether those are the right questions. ] - Oz

[ Let me ask you instead. Why did you try to make Salmurim into a world with rules? ] - Oz

...That question left Ok Chaegyeong speechless for a moment.

If anyone else had asked it, she would surely have grown angry and told them not to answer a question with another question.

But now, she only thought about it seriously. Then she answered honestly.

Me>[ Because I believed that was the right path. I lost many things in the world I came from... ]

Ok Chaegyeong remembered all those who had fallen before her.

A world of preying and being preyed upon, where every outcome was decided by slight differences in talent and strength.

The sword was what she had barely managed to hold onto in that world.

[ Right. If someone else gave that answer, would it hold the same meaning you intended? ] - Oz

[ Enlightenment is something you seize for yourself. It is not food tossed to insignificant creatures. ] - Oz

Every word pierced her heart.

This person was a wise predecessor who had attained enlightenment on their own.

[ But I can clear the way for you. ] - Oz

[ You must have believed that Complete Forgetting proved the end of the sword. ] - Oz

"Gasp."

At that moment, Ok Chaegyeong could only draw in a sharp breath.

...She truly knew everything.

[ If reaching the pinnacle of the sword means forgetting all its essence... ] - Oz

[ If that is what you call the sword's essence, why did you take up the sword in the first place? ] - Oz

[ If the sword can only exist when all else is forgotten, how is that any different from the old principle that all rivers return to one source? ] - Oz

[ Is what you hold in your hand now truly "nothing at all"? ] - Oz

"Hard. So hard..."

She could not fully understand all the words Oz had left behind.

No matter how often she meditated, all she could see before her was a bottomless cliff.

Yet even as she felt fear and helplessness in every moment.

She met the gaze of that being watching her from afar and found the next step forward.

If she succeeded in taking that step, perhaps she would finally be able to face Oz at the same height.

Ok Chaegyeong waited only for that moment...

That was when she was continuing her training.

-Oh shit, Oz posted

-Oz is here??????

-What's with that title holy shit lololololol

"Hm?"

But she could not ignore the notification that came one day.

Oz, who had said they would not return for about a year, had come back sooner than expected.

With a faint sense of anticipation, Ok Chaegyeong checked the post.

A being who had displayed such profound insight might contain some enlightenment even in words that had seemed casually spoken until now.

[ Going to get a tattoo today... ] - Oz

I'm going to get a tattoo today...

I didn't want one, but I got forced into it ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

They say tattoos become addictive once you get one. That won't happen to me, right? ㅠㅠ

Upvotes 1253 Downvotes 14

"...???"

Ok Chaegyeong stared blankly at the post for a long time.

There was, of course, no enlightenment to be found.

* * *

"What, you got called in too? Your next turn isn't for a while yet."

The person who suddenly spoke to me was an Inner Tower regular Mage named Toby.

Their attainment was 3-Star. They were thirty-six, older than me, but they had been the one to ask that we become friends.

Of course, I could clearly sense the underlying intention: Remember me even after you grow stronger.

Still, there was no ill intent, so we maintained a superficial friendship.

"No, I'm going to apply for that."

"That? Ah, you're going to the underground levels? But to go there, you need to..."

"I reached 4-Star."

"...What?"

At my words, Toby's relaxed expression vanished.

Their stiffened face was full of disbelief.

"Normally, once you reach 4-Star, you go see the original first. The one in the center of the Inner Tower is much less effective than the original."

"You reached 4-Star? In half a year?"

"I got a little lucky."

Everything I said before that had been a lie, but those last words were sincere.

All my accomplishments had truly come from luck. There was nothing to boast about.

"...Lucky?"

It seemed even that humility was not easy for them to take pleasantly.

Their smiling face began to twist horribly. It was a deep sense of defeat.

"Lucky. Haha. You really are lucky."

After barely forcing down those surging emotions, Toby nodded as though nothing was wrong.

There was no more conversation between us after that.

They arrived before me, entered and left the office first.

My turn came next, so we only passed each other in that brief moment.

...It was a little tiring.

'I understand, though.'

It was not as though I could not understand how they felt.

Even I thought my accomplishments were practically cheating.

I could not blame them for feeling deprived.

For this reason alone, it is difficult for the poor and wealthy to maintain a pure friendship.

Even more so when the wealthy person is merely newly rich.

For that relationship to last, the poor person must make constant efforts.

For example, the kind of effort I put into my behavior in the Gallery.

[ Going to get a tattoo today... ] - Oz

Transcendents or whatever, every last one of these bastards is my friend.

I have to sincerely believe that and blend in with them for the relationship to last.

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