WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 10: 010
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Early in the morning, on the way to the Climber Management Branch.
I grumbled from the passenger seat while my sister drove.
“Seriously, it’s such a pain having to go to the branch every day. Should I just go once every two days? Looks like they let you off for up to two days.”
“It’s a serious time, so be careful. Stopping by the branch once a day isn’t hard, so just go quietly. You could get locked up too if you mess around.”
“I know. I was just saying.”
Because of the Hunter General Mobilization Order, I was stuck going to the branch for an attendance check every day.
As I sat in the car absentmindedly...
“Hunters are people too! Stop trampling on their rights!”
“Government, stop imprisoning Hunters and forcing them into the Tower!”
“Waaaaah!”
Some commotion pierced through the window and hammered at my eardrums.
I glanced outside.
A small group of protesters stood there.
“Three thousand people died in a single day!”
“My daughter died in the Tower!”
“Hunters are our family and our children too! It’s wrong to force them into the Tower!”
“Withdraw the Hunter General Mobilization Order! Free the Hunters!”
They were protesters opposing the government’s Hunter General Mobilization Order.
Thousands had died after reserve Hunters were forcibly deployed yesterday, and a small number of citizens had risen up in protest.
The protesters came from all walks of life.
There were civic groups wearing human rights organization vests, people who had lost family members, and ordinary citizens who had been moved by them and joined the protest.
Dozens of people stood in front of the Climber Management Branch, protesting.
The passersby’s reactions were cold.
“What are they even saying? Do they think we’re living comfortably?”
“Someone has to make sacrifices.”
“When all fifty million citizens could die, who has time to worry about human rights?”
“They really have their heads in the clouds. Tsk, tsk...”
Ordinary citizens walked past, criticizing the protesters.
Only a little over three months remained before the Points ran out.
With the entire country potentially dying in a few months, they couldn’t sympathize with people crying out for human rights.
I watched the protesters and passersby in turn, then muttered.
“I can understand both sides.”
Reserve Hunters, imprisoned and forced to climb the Tower.
The general public, who wanted to extend their time-limited lives even if it meant ignoring the rights of a minority.
The rights of the minority, or the survival of the majority.
The country had chosen to give up the rights of the minority for the majority’s survival.
Of course, reality was that no one could guarantee that choice would truly save them.
“Here, we’re here. Hurry up, turn in your Points, and let’s go home.”
“Okay.”
We parked and entered the branch.
Then I placed my hand on the now-familiar crystal ball and exchanged my Points.
[Please specify the amount of Points to transfer to the ‘Republic of Korea’.]
“Everything.”
[Transferring 48 Points to the ‘Republic of Korea’.]
After I handed over the Points, a civil servant whose face had become familiar by now spoke.
“Hunter Baek Jiho. We have confirmed 48 Points. We will deposit 480,000 won into your designated account. The Republic of Korea will remember your dedication.”
“...That’s a line I haven’t heard before. What’s that about?”
“It is an expression of gratitude for Hunters. Please continue to do your best for the country.”
“Hmm...”
That attitude was far too businesslike for that.
‘Well. It’s obvious someone higher up told them to say it.’
They must have handed out a new response manual to encourage Hunters.
Then again, three thousand people had died in a single day.
They probably needed to soften the Hunters’ resistance somehow, even by revising a trivial farewell line.
Anyway.
Today’s attendance check was done.
* * *
After leaving the branch, I returned straight home.
Then I practiced magic.
‘Wind Cutter. Activate at the smallest scale.’
Slash!
When I used magic on a sheet of paper, it was sliced cleanly.
It was a spell I had been studying since yesterday.
Wind Cutter.
A spell that compressed air into the shape of a blade and fired it.
After many attempts, I had finally completed it.
‘The key was the shape and angle of the arrangement.’
The old compressed-air projectile spell had simply layered multiple circles together.
While experimenting, I had discovered that the shape of the fired air changed depending on the shape of the inner circles.
If I made the outer circle large and drew increasingly narrow ellipses closer to straight lines as I moved inward...
I could create a blade of compressed air that fired horizontally.
The result was...
Slash!
Slash!
I could literally fire wind like blades.
Looks like I wouldn’t need to carry scissors around anymore.
No, now that I could use Fireball, did I even need a lighter?
Of course, I could only use magic when I had my staff.
“Anyway... now that I’ve learned Wind Cutter, I’m ready for Floor 3.”
The reason I had wanted to acquire Wind Cutter.
Was because of Floor 3.
‘Floor 3 is a kind of breakthrough map where you sprint down a straight corridor.’
A long corridor stretching far ahead.
Numerous small holes lined both sides.
Goblins crawled out of those holes one after another.
The climber had to race toward the Escape Portal at the end of the corridor, dodging or knocking aside the Goblins that came out from both sides.
More than a hundred Goblins emerged from the holes, so it was impossible to kill them all.
But who was I?
‘A Wizard Hunter from Extreme Lunatic Hell difficulty.’
I wasn’t afraid even if dozens or hundreds of Goblins came at me.
And the Goblins would be packed into a long corridor.
With Wind Cutter in my hand?
‘Wow. This is insanely efficient.’
A horde of Goblins would rush through a straight corridor.
Then I could casually fire off Wind Cutters.
It was obvious I’d kill dozens of Goblins in one shot.
Heh. My mouth was already watering.
My fingers itched at the thought of testing my new spell.
The feeling of it would be incredible, right?
Then suddenly...
‘...Wait.’
Something felt off.
Me, right now.
Was I getting excited at the thought of slaughtering Goblins?
“I’m not the kind of person who enjoys killing...?”
I hadn’t been an aggressive person by nature.
In twenty-seven years of life, I had never even gotten into an ordinary fistfight.
I was cowardly, timid, and passive.
In simple terms, I was a loser.
Yet only a few days had passed since I became a Hunter.
Something about me had changed.
Killing dozens of Goblins didn’t bother me.
The spraying blood and guts were disgusting, but they didn’t feel particularly scary.
It was like swatting annoying flies or mosquitoes.
I genuinely felt nothing.
I had become numb to killing.
No matter how much combat experience I had gained as a Hunter, could I really have changed this much in only five days?
It felt like only yesterday that I had been terrified and crying during the Tutorial.
Now I was excited at the thought of slaughtering Goblins.
Something had changed inside me.
“...”
I sat there blankly, continuing my thoughts.
Soon, I voiced a conclusion.
“I... became a wizard.”
The decisive moment when I changed.
It had probably been the moment I became a wizard.
I looked toward the staff in my hand.
“The moment I held the staff and became a wizard, the Goblin Warrior and Goblin Shaman looked insignificant. No... to be exact, every living thing other than me started to seem lower.”
The moment I held the staff and began controlling Blue Motes.
Something inside me had changed.
Maybe something people called a soul.
Its rank had risen, and it had begun to see every living thing except me as one level beneath me.
As a result, my personality might have been gradually growing arrogant without me realizing it.
I let out a hollow laugh.
“In fantasy novels, wizards are always portrayed as rude and arrogant. I think I get why.”
When every living thing around you looked beneath you, there was no way you’d stay polite.
I didn’t know whether this change was good or bad.
Not avoiding combat was a positive thing for a Hunter.
But socially, it didn’t seem like a particularly good change.
No one wanted an arrogant, unpleasant bastard around them.
‘But come to think of it, my social circle was already so small that it probably doesn’t matter?’
Then there was no problem.
Problem solved.
That was enough self-reflection for now.
“Enter the Tower.”
It was time to climb for the day.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 3)]
[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]
“Floor 3.”
[Entering Tower Floor 3.]
Flash.
A bright aura enveloped me.
* * *
I opened my eyes and looked ahead.
A broad, long corridor filled my view.
Its total length was several hundred meters.
Countless small holes lined the left and right walls.
Goblins were crawling out of them in droves.
“Kerruk! Keruk!”
“Kerrr!”
The Goblins emerged from the holes one by one.
One, two, ten, twenty, a hundred...
And the whole time, I stood still.
The standard strategy for Floor 3 was to sprint at full speed the moment you started.
You ran before all the Goblins could crawl out of the holes, then took the Escape Portal at the end of the corridor.
That way, a Hunter from Hard-rank could escape without even a hair being touched by a Goblin.
A Hunter from Normal-rank could escape after shoving aside only one or two Goblins near the end.
A Hunter from Easy-rank could escape if they managed to shake off around ten Goblins in the latter half.
The difficulty changed depending on how fast you could run.
But I didn’t run.
Would a wizard lower himself to something as undignified as sprinting?
I stood proudly at the starting point and waited until every Goblin had crawled out.
“Kerruk! Keruk!”
“Keeeeek!”
“Kiik!”
Soon, more than a hundred Goblins filled the corridor.
It was a sight that would have made an ordinary Hunter give up and turn around to take the Return Portal.
But not me.
‘Around a hundred and fifty Goblins. How much would I make if I killed them all? One hundred and fifty Points, plus a hundred and fifty daggers. Even after taxes, that comes to 3.75 million won...!’
Because all I saw was money.
As I stood there quietly, the Goblins finally spotted me.
“Keruk? Keruk! Kerrrrrr!”
“Keeeek! Keeeek!”
“Kyaaaak!”
They turned toward me and began shrieking excitedly.
There were more than a hundred of them.
And only one of me.
They considered me easy prey and were delighted.
Then I prepared my magic.
‘First, ten Wind Cutters.’
Hummmmmm...!
My staff glowed as it scattered blue light.
Ten transparent blades of compressed air rose above it.
At a thought, they would fly forward and sweep through the Goblins in front of me in a straight line.
‘Just in case, five large Fireballs too.’
Fwoooosh!
Five blazing Fireballs appeared and began circling around my staff.
I planned to use Wind Cutter first.
But its killing power could be lower than I expected.
If that happened, I would fire off large Fireballs and wipe them all out with the blast pressure.
The deafening noise would hurt my ears a little, but I could put up with that much.
So, I prepared ten Wind Cutters and five large Fireballs.
Ten transparent blades rippled with chilling sharpness.
Five Fireballs the size of heads scattered blazing flames.
With this much firepower, I should be able to overwhelm those hundred and fifty Goblins.
Once I was fully prepared, I shouted confidently.
“Come on! Get over here! I’ll kill every last one of you!”
One hundred and fifty Goblins.
I would wipe every last one of them out!
But for some reason...
“Ke... keruk?”
“Keruk? Keruk?”
“Keek...?!”
The Goblin horde, which looked ready to charge at me at any moment, froze in place.
As if they were playing Red Light, Green Light.
‘What? Why aren’t they coming?’
I tilted my head in confusion.
Then...
“Kyaaaaaaak!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaa!!!”
“Kiiiiiiiiik!!!”
The Goblins all screamed and started running away.
That is, they crowded toward the small holes they had come out of and began scrambling back inside.
I could only stare in shock.
“No, my clean sweep!”
My day’s pay was getting away!
I never expected monsters to get scared and run away.
Come to think of it, the Goblin Warrior and Goblin Shaman I met in the Tutorial had run away too.
But I never thought even ordinary, low-intelligence Goblins would flee.
I could think about that later.
‘I need to kill as many as possible before they escape into the holes!’
In a rush, I unleashed every spell I had prepared.
Swoooooosh!
Slaaash!
Ten wind blades.
And five large Fireballs.
They sliced through the air at once and rushed toward the Goblin horde.
Footnotes:
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