WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 104: 104
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-Boooom!
A thunderous blast rang out.
Blood mist and chunks of flesh sprayed in every direction.
"...?!"
"What?"
At first, they couldn't react.
It had happened far too suddenly. No one could have imagined such a sight, so for a moment, they couldn't comprehend what was happening before their eyes.
Still, they were battle mages who had survived countless battlefields.
"W-What was that?! What was that spell just now?!"
"More than ten died at once? Without even getting out a scream?"
"He cast such a powerful spell without an incantation? That's impossible..."
"Shut up, you idiots! Get your defensive magic up first!"
Their panic lasted only a moment.
They quickly began responding.
-Hummm. Hummm. Hummm...!
One by one, the Black Mages activated defensive magic and assumed defensive stances.
But what good would that do?
Those flimsy barriers were weaker than paper before my Railgun!
"Put the target in the center... switch."
Click.
Electric light crackled around the Railgun.
-Boooom!
The projectile fired.
A blue trail tore through the air, followed by a deafening whine.
-Booom!
More than a dozen Black Mages were pierced in a line and blown apart once again.
Blood burst forth. Flesh and brains scattered everywhere.
I muttered quietly.
"These guys are pretty eco-friendly."
They had all bunched together so lots of them could die in one shot, all to preserve the mana efficiency of yours truly, the Extreme Lunatic Hell environmental activist!
As someone eco-friendly enough to regularly use ramen boxes, I found them downright admirable.
Right.
You had to conserve to live well.
Even if I currently had enough mana for 3,300 Fireballs, I still had to save mana if I wanted to eat well and live well!
So bunch together and die, so I could kill you while using as little mana as possible!
Yet, perhaps not knowing my heartfelt wish...
"I-If we stay together, we'll die like dogs!"
"Scatter! Scatter! Spread out as much as possible so that bastard's spell can't hit us all at once!"
"Disperse!"
Scamper!
The War Black Mages hurriedly ran off and scattered.
They were old men, but they were surprisingly quick. In that brief moment, they flooded between the academy buildings.
I felt a surge of anger.
They had been gathered together, so I was happy I could kill them efficiently.
But they dared to scatter and run away right in front of me?!
"You ignorant fools! Don't you know that if you band together, you live, and if you scatter, you die?! Why are you scattering?!"
"Jiho, no matter how I look at it, they're clearly running away. Your strength is just too overwhelming to begin with."
"A wound on a swordsman's back is a disgrace! The laws of the martial world have fallen to the ground! How can warriors run away with the enemy right before them?! You vile and contemptible Blood Cultists! O heavens! Primordial Heavenly Venerable!"
"Are you doing the martial arts roleplay again?"
The rage rising within me!
I had to let this rage out!
I tried to prepare Mana Cannon, «Final Spark», the magic I had recently acquired, but then stopped.
I'd remembered that this place was an academy.
'Hmm. I'll seal away the ultra-high-firepower magic for now. I can't let my loot get destroyed.'
This was the Academy Floor, surely filled with loot!
I should avoid destroying things wherever possible.
There might be money, potions, and alchemy materials inside those buildings. I couldn't casually use wide-area attacks.
And who knew? A hidden piece tucked away somewhere could be destroyed by my terrifying firepower.
So I had no choice but to seal away Super Fireball and Mana Cannon, «Final Spark».
Bye-bye, my beautiful wide-area attacks.
In the end, the answer was pursuit and extermination.
And pursuit and extermination were the domain of attack helicopters!
"Iing Iing! Longbow Apache mode!"
-Iing Iing!
Whoosh.
Summoned Iing Iing flew over and plopped down on top of my head.
I quietly recited.
"Ahh. It's been two days. This warm yet light feeling. It's time to return as the Extreme Lunatic Hell Longbow Apache...!"
"You're getting sentimental over only two days?"
"Hyeji, watch yourself."
"...?"
"No, seriously, Hyeji, you need to enjoy some culture. How can you not know the Dooly comic? Don't get so caught up in real life. Spend some time on the internet too."
"..."
After taking a jab at Hyeji, who knew nothing about memes, I flew into the air.
But hadn't Hyeji used Hunter Gallery before?
Someone who used Hunter Gallery should know the Dooly comic...
Could she know and only be pretending not to?
Nah, no way.
That couldn't be it.
If she really knew but was acting like she didn't...
That would be a little scary.
Anyway.
-Whoosh!
Using Iing Iing's telekinetic flight, I rose high into the sky.
Then I saw them.
The bastards desperately running through the academy buildings.
Floating in midair, I activated magic.
'Railgun, multiple casting.'
The Railgun I was about to cast wasn't an ordinary Railgun.
It was a multi-cast Railgun.
In other words, I planned to cast numerous Railguns at once!
-Crack! Crack!
-Crackle!
-Cracklecraaaackle!
I steadily prepared multiple Railguns.
One virtual rail formed in the air, then two, five, ten, twenty, more than forty, until there were a full eighty.
I muttered.
"Railgun. When I first learned it, it was a pretty difficult spell to handle... Now, even casting dozens at once is as easy as using a basic attack."
When I'd first learned Railgun, I'd struggled for over ten seconds just to fire one shot.
Now, I could create virtual rails as naturally as breathing. With only a little effort, I could load dozens of Railguns at once like this.
Then again, I had first learned Railgun on Floor 18.
Now that I had reached Floor 38, I could handle dozens of Railguns simultaneously if I felt like it.
It was all thanks to Magic 2.0.
After handling complex three-dimensional mana arrays, flat arrays felt laughably easy!
Anyway.
The Railguns were ready.
I quietly recited.
"It's... high noon..."
A High Noon from the sky was irresistible.
I fired all the Railguns I had prepared.
-Boomboomboomboomboomboomboom!
The blasts were so thunderous they felt like they would rupture my eardrums.
Eighty Railguns shot toward eighty separate targets!
And every Railgun I fired struck its enemy without fail.
The ones hiding in alleyways beside shabby buildings.
The ones with no pride at all, who had crawled into trash cans.
The ones who had broken into houses.
Even the ones desperately pressing themselves flat against the ground.
All of them.
They were pierced at once.
-Thud!
-Crunch!
-Splat!
-Thump!
-Bang!...
Eighty blue trails fired from high in the sky stretched in every direction and penetrated everything.
The Black Mages died in droves.
The ones hiding in trash cans were pierced along with the trash cans.
The ones hiding behind walls were pierced through the walls.
The ones hiding in houses were pierced along with the houses.
The ones lying on the ground were pierced through their bodies, then flung away with piles of shattered earth.
I had sniped eighty War Black Mages at once!
I muttered.
"My sensing range is measured in kilometers now. At this point, it's basically a complete map hack even without Iing Iing."
-Iing...
"Don't worry, Iing Iing. Just because I have detection abilities doesn't mean I'll neglect you. Besides, I still need your detection ability outside the Tower. Why are you worrying about something so pointless?"
-Iing...!
"Let's head back."
And so, after killing all the Black Mages, I returned to the academy's main gate.
It was my first time being the Extreme Lunatic Hell Longbow Apache in a while.
Waiting before me when I returned was...
"Prophet! As expected! I knew you would come! I did not doubt for even a moment that you would appear and save us!"
Raphael.
Except Raphael was accompanied by quite a lot of people.
"Is that the Prophet?!"
"Is that really the Prophet?"
"No matter how I look at him, he seems ordinary... No, he's far too skinny! He even looks weak. He doesn't seem that strong..."
"You fool. Did you feel nothing after watching him wipe out the War Black Mage seniors in an instant?"
"He is truly the messenger of Heaven who appeared to spread the gospel upon the earth, the Prophet! Do not doubt him!"
"So when will we get that divine power..."
Murmur, murmur.
Several hundred Black Mages stared at me.
Each held different emotions, doubt, fear, joy, concern, curiosity, terror, and faith.
Still, it was clear they had all heard something about me.
I scratched the back of my head.
'No. I haven't even used the Prophet hypnosis app yet. What the hell is going on?'
Why were people affected by the hypnosis app multiplying?
Anyway.
I needed to find out what had happened.
* * *
I dealt with the War Black Mage corpses.
That was to say, I burned them.
-Whoooosh!
I tossed the corpses scattered all over the place into a blazing pit.
Smoke billowed up while black mana rose high into the sky.
Black mana came out of a Black Mage's body when they were burned.
Would ordinary mana come out if I burned a white mage?
That was something I'd just learned.
As I entertained that pointless thought...
"I should have thanked you sooner. Thank you for saving us, Prophet."
Bow.
Raphael approached and spoke respectfully.
In other words, he suddenly gave me a deep ninety-degree bow.
I was suddenly reminded of the president and Han Seonga.
It seemed the deep bow was a universal human custom, regardless of era, religion, or world, Tower or reality.
Looking at the balding crown of the old man bowing before me, I asked.
"So what exactly is going on? And who are the ordinary Black Mages behind you? Explain it to me."
"That is..."
Because an unusual occurrence had changed the Tower's history, all the raid information from Hunter Gallery had become useless.
When I asked for new information, Raphael began explaining quietly.
"Our Black Mage Tower has split in two."
"Black Mage Tower?"
"The mage tower of the Black Mages. Worthless human mages like us often build towers pointlessly tall. Mages believe that the taller a tower is, the closer it is to the sky and truth. Though to a true being of the 'sky' like you, Prophet, it must seem utterly ridiculous... Is that not so, Prophet?!"
"Yeah, that's true. You have to build a tower high? Tsk, tsk. Looking down on ordinary people from a tall building is something only yours truly, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Holy Divine Prophet, should be doing. A mage tower? How presumptuous of ordinary mages."
"Jiho, don't you like high places too? Weren't you saying you'd buy a skyscraper and put your chairman's office on the top floor? Do all mages like high places?"
Ignoring Hyeji, who suddenly interrupted, I asked again.
"So why did the mage tower split?"
"Because there are people who encountered you, Prophet, and realized the truth... the Apostles."
"Apostles?"
"We call the ten Black Mages who reformed after meeting you the Apostles. The group of Black Mages enlightened and repentant through the Apostles' devotion is our Apostle Society. For reference, I humbly hold the position of chief Apostle. After all, I was the first to meet you, Prophet, and have my eyes opened. Hahaha."
"Apostles. What a lame name. It sounds like they'll come to smash Unit-01."
"?"
The pattern's blue. I can't forgive Apostles.
That was how I spoke with Raphael.
To summarize the information I learned, it went something like this.
1. I used the Prophet hypnosis app while roleplaying as the Prophet on Floors 35 and 36.
2. Ten Black Mages, including Raphael, came to believe that I was the real Prophet.
3. They believed with absolute certainty that I was the real Prophet, became religious fanatics, and zealously preached about me among the Black Mages.
4. Then those complete idiots, the other Black Mages, fell for the preaching and came to believe that a real Prophet existed!
5. A private organization, or religious group, called the Apostle Society formed, and civil war even broke out among the Black Mages.
6. As a result, the original rebel faction centered around the War Black Mages and the Apostle Society centered around lower-ranking Black Mages were now repeatedly clashing in civil war.
"Of course, we were once members of the same mage tower, so we don't immediately fight whenever we meet. Usually, the side with inferior strength retreats. Proper battles are fairly rare. But... today, our forces were evenly matched, so we were just about to fight."
"And then a ninja suddenly appeared and massacred everyone. Right?"
"That is correct. But what is a ninja? Is it another title of yours, Prophet?"
"I'm the Copy Ninja. I like Chidori."
"?"
Anyway, the situation was clear.
Without even realizing it, I had become the leader of a cult!
I jumped to my feet.
"So I've become the Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Holy Divine Prophet cult leader...!"
A cult leader...
Honestly, I was dumbfounded.
But part of me found it fun.
I was a cult leader, after all.
In modern King Korea, weren't cult leaders the third most powerful people after politicians and chaebol?
No.
Maybe cult leaders held even more power than politicians and chaebol.
Politicians and chaebol could only control people through money and power.
Cult leaders ruled through religion, meaning the human mind and heart itself, and toyed with people as they pleased.
They kept dozens of beautiful female believers as concubines.
They lived happy, happy harem lives of wine and women. That was what cult leaders did!
Even though I was a wholesome Confucian boy...
A harem was every man's dream!
If it was yours truly, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Patriotic Admiral Yi Heaven Holy Divine Prophet Cult Leader Hunter...
Couldn't I enjoy a harem life just fine?
"Bring wine and beautiful women before yours truly, the representative of God, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven Holy Divine Prophet Cult Leader, at once!!!"
A cult leader meant a harem!
I proudly rose and looked upon my followers.
What I saw was...
"He looks about the age of my great-granddaughter. Yet he's at the Seventh Tier?"
"Don't you dare call him that. He is the Prophet. The Prophet. He may look young, but he must have lived far longer than any of us."
"Even if he were not the Prophet, reaching the Seventh Tier is... literally the realm of myth, so..."
"Goodness. How many years must he have lived? Even I, after living eighty years, am only at the Third Tier."
"..."
There were only decrepit Black Mages, their backs bent and faces wrinkled, looking at me with awe and curiosity.
There weren't any.
Not a single pretty woman.
Not even a young woman.
Not even just a woman.
There was no beautiful, attractive woman who could join my harem anywhere in sight!
All I could see were old men, bent at the waist, their faces covered in wrinkles.
"Grr...!"
I clenched my teeth.
"O heavens! Why have you given me the duties of Prophet and cult leader, but not bestowed beautiful female believers upon me?!"
I shouted that toward the sky, but received no answer.
Because I was the god.
If I used divine power, that made me a god.
Anyway.
I had suddenly become the religious center and spiritual idol of the Black Mages.
Several hundred Black Mages followed me.
Some of them seemed to sincerely believe in me, while others didn't truly believe, but had tagged along with their friends like nominal followers.
Even so, there were hundreds of them.
And they were people who had learned magic, more or less.
If I used them well, they could probably help me climb the Tower.
Ordering them to bring me loot like I had on Floor 36 didn't appeal to me, since I already had Iing Iing and Hyeji.
As I rested my chin on my hand and considered it, I suddenly remembered something.
'Wait. Their mage tower split in half and they're fighting. If I help these guys win the mage tower civil war... wouldn't that make the mage tower mine in the end?'
Footnotes:
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