WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 124: 124
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-Kwaaaaaaaaaaah...!
Brilliant light erupted.
My vision was bleached white as a blue torrent poured toward the Highest Floors of the Black Mage Tower.
The air burned, space twisted, and everything in its path was obliterated.
-Kwakwakwakwakwaaaaa...!
A massive collision.
The blue pillar of light bore down on the dark curtain. Black sparks flew in every direction. At the boundary between light and darkness, space itself tore, warped, and screamed.
-Kudududuk. Kuguk. Kugugugugu...!
The barrier was being crushed.
Thin blue cracks appeared one after another, while the black curtain caved inward.
The barrier that had casually bounced away my Railgun just moments ago.
Now...
-Crack.
It was cracking.
From within the black barrier, the Sect Leader cried out in shock.
“What... are you...?! Even for the power of the Seventh Tier, this is... impossible...!”
“It’s me.”
“What the hell are you?!”
I ignored the nonsense the Sect Leader was spouting and kept forcing mana into the spell.
As I usually did, I did not bother with efficiency.
Because right now, I was practically using an infinite mana cheat!
“Show me the mana!!!”
I’ve got infinite minerals!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaah...!
The pillar of light grew stronger, and the Sect Leader’s barrier began to shake violently.
Crack. Crackle. Crunch. Drip...
Shedding black fragments, the dark curtain began to buckle backward. Just as it was about to collapse, the Sect Leader muttered,
“For a hundred years, I pursued the realm of Transcendence... And now, after finally setting foot within it, to end so futilely...!”
“I don’t get why you spent a hundred years obsessing over Transcendence. You dumb Sans.”
“...You have no right to say that! Someone with such power must have sacrificed so much for it!”
“? Have I ever sacrificed anything?”
I’d been able to see mana from the start, and I’d only been a Hunter for about a month and a half.
Ah, I had sacrificed something!
“I’d forgotten for a while... but I lost my masters and sect members! Sob! Masters in heaven! Senior Uncles! Watch over me! I, Baek Jiho, a rising talent of the Goblin Sect, will surely restore our sect to its former glory!!!”
Thanks to the devotion and sacrifice of my masters and seniors, I’d made it this far!
Ah.
Seniors in heaven.
Can you see me?
I, Baek Jiho, have finally surpassed the Absolute Peak of the High Floors and stand before the Transformation Realm of the Highest Floors.
The position of the true Greatest Under Heaven is within reach.
But I, Baek Jiho, won’t stop here.
I will surely reach the Mystical Realm!
No, someday, I’ll even reach the Life and Death Realm...
And make you proud, seniors!
Watch over me, seniors!
I raised my head and looked to the sky.
It felt as though I could see the kind faces of my masters and Senior Uncles beyond the clouds. Just as I was overcome with emotion...
“A Goblin as a master? What the hell are you talki-”
“You politically incorrect bastard, Sans! How dare you insult my masters?! Die!”
“What?!”
At this touching moment, when a disciple was moved by the ocean-deep grace of his masters, how dare he ruin it?
Unforgivable!
-Kwaaaaaaaaaaah...!
I raised the output of my magic artillery even further.
Kwakwakwakwa!
Crack! Crackle! Crunch...!
The Sect Leader’s barrier was smashed to pieces in an instant.
Black fragments scattered in every direction. Space rippled, bright light flared, and even the air burned.
-Shatter!
At last, the barrier was completely destroyed.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaah...!
The Sect Leader was swallowed by the blue pillar of light and vanished.
“How futile...”
Their dying voice faintly reached me before fading away.
I stopped firing the magic artillery.
-Passssss...
The radiance of the settling pillar of light faded. The bright glow and immense energy heating the surroundings disappeared, leaving only silence.
I muttered quietly.
“Ant down.”
“J-Jiho?! Did you beat the Sect Leader?!”
“I won.”
The Sect Leader was nothing special after all!
Once magic artillery hit them, they couldn’t do anything!
Magic artillery, and they’re finished!
Still, I felt completely refreshed.
“Kh...! Maybe it’s because that was magic artillery powered by ten thousand Fireballs, but all my stress is gone! Yeah. This is firepower! Magic really is all about firepower, I tell you!!!”
“Jiho, but...”
“?”
“Look over there.”
As I grinned happily, Hyeji pointed somewhere.
She was pointing directly behind where the Sect Leader had been standing, beyond the Tower, where a dense mountain range had originally stood.
“I think you blew up a mountain.”
“Um.”
The center of the mountain range had been blown open.
A huge gap had been punched through the middle of a range that must have risen high enough to block the sky, revealing the sky on the other side.
I nodded.
“So magic artillery with the power of ten thousand Fireballs can erase even a mountain? When I quit being a Hunter, I should get a job at a construction company... I could lend a hand with tunnel construction back home, where there are so many granite areas that are hard to dig through!”
“Jiho, but...”
“What now?”
“I think there’s something strange with your body right now.”
“?”
At Hyeji’s words, I looked down at myself.
And I saw it.
-Wooooooooooong!!!
My body was shining brilliantly!
Blue light surged violently from my entire body, scattering bright radiance in every direction.
The reason was obvious.
‘Has my mana become oversaturated?’
I glanced around the Black Mage Tower.
Then I saw it.
-Kururururururu...
A massive blue vortex.
An enormous amount of mana was still flowing in, pouring into my heart.
The spell the Sect Leader had activated.
The formation for the Continental Mana Siphoning Grand Art was still active, relentlessly forcing mana into my body!
Mana that even my heart and blood vessels couldn’t contain was spilling out of me.
Even after firing magic artillery powered by ten thousand Fireballs, my mana pool had instantly filled back up and overflowed.
An overwhelming sense of omnipotence rose from the depths of my soul.
It felt like I could do anything if I wanted to. The enormous amount of mana in my heart boiled, endless confidence filled my chest, and I felt better than ever.
“It feels like I’ve become a god.”
Holding such an immense amount of mana in my heart gave me a rush I’d never experienced before.
But I knew.
This sense of omnipotence I felt right now was only temporary.
The moment this torrent of mana stopped, I would return to my previous state.
That made me greedy.
‘It feels like a waste to give up this much mana... If I use it, couldn’t I raise my realm or whatever too? If I reverse what the Sect Leader did, I think I could strengthen my soul.’
The desire to raise my realm, expand my mana pool, and hold even more mana.
The desire to elevate my soul and become a nobler, greater being.
It suddenly reared its head.
It wasn’t impossible, either.
My magical intuition was absolute. If I modified the Lichification spell the Sect Leader had cast like this and that, then poured in the enormous amount of mana I held now...
I had a feeling it would be entirely possible.
I could keep feeling this overwhelming omnipotence and incredible rush forever!!!
Should I?
Should I do it?
Should I get even stronger here?
Just as that greed slowly crawled up my back and filled my head...
-Iing...
Iing Iing wore a dejected expression.
I glanced at her. Iing Iing was always energetic and lively, yet now she looked downcast and sorrowful.
What was she looking at that made her so sad?
I turned to look at what Iing Iing was watching.
Then I saw it.
Black, rotting mud.
Purple, polluted air. Withered trees. Valleys filled with filthy water.
Was that what a fairy was like?
Iing Iing seemed deeply saddened by the ruined environment.
I felt bad for her.
Children should always be bright and lively!
How could she look so sad?
I couldn’t just stand by.
“Iing Iing. Does it hurt you to see the environment ruined?”
-Iing...
“Don’t worry too much, Iing Iing. Who am I? The Extreme Lunatic Hell Eco-Friendly Hunter! Even an environment this completely screwed up, I can restore it. Let’s make our continent green again!”
-Iing...?
To be honest, I still had a little regret about not getting stronger...
Ah, forget it.
It’s not like I’m the Sect Leader.
I could get stronger later.
Iing Iing looked at me with strange anticipation in her eyes, and I prepared my magic.
-Goooooooo...
I gathered the mana that had piled up in my heart until it overflowed, then poured it into my staff.
Wooooooooooong!!!
The staff glowed white-hot. Brilliant mana scattered everywhere.
I had to purify the environment.
The method was simple.
‘I’ll just reverse it.’
The Sect Leader’s magic formation was drawing mana on a continental scale.
All I had to do was reverse it.
The only problem was...
‘The damn scale is continental.’
The flow of mana was far too massive for me to control.
But right now, I was a Show Me the Mana wizard using an infinite mana cheat!
As long as I held nearly infinite mana, there was nothing I couldn’t do!
“It’s time for the Reverse Earth-Milking Mana Siphoning Grand Art!”
Crash!
I drove my staff roughly into the ground and activated the spell.
-Kurururururururu...
I used every bit of my spiritual sense to control the flow of mana.
The torrents rushing toward me.
I redirected them, guiding them back into the ley lines where they belonged.
You could call it a mana U-turn.
-Kugugugugugu...!
The continent shook.
Thousands of streams of mana that had been converging on me all reversed direction at once. The torrent of mana that had been rushing toward the Black Mage Tower turned around and began flowing back.
Kugugugugugu...
The trembling earth. The fading radiance of mana. The fading sensation of my soul rising.
The massive amount of mana in my heart vanished without a trace, and amid the scattering flow of ‘Blue Motes,’ I reached out regretfully.
‘Bye-bye, my pretty mana...’
Was this how I’d felt when I found a fifty-thousand-won bill as a child and turned it in at a police station?
As I sent away the immense power I’d only just gained, I felt strangely reluctant and empty.
What a fucking waste!!!
My mana!!!
Still, I barely managed to swallow my regret.
-Iing!
Grin!
Because Iing Iing smiled brightly.
The moment I saw that sparkling smile, all the regret and greed in my heart vanished in an instant.
Yeah, Iing Iing.
As long as you’re happy, that’s enough.
Children should smile. Of course!
-Kugugugugugu...
The returned mana spread through the ley lines.
At first, there was no visible change.
The earth was still black and muddy, the air was still strangely purple, and the vegetation remained pitifully withered.
But.
Slowly, yet clearly.
The environment began to change.
First was the air.
-Passssss...
Wind blew through the area, and the toxic purple air gradually thinned out.
The air, once a strange and ominous color, regained its original clear transparency.
Then came the land.
-Passssss...
The pollution staining the earth black began to fade little by little.
The soil regained its vitality. Its sticky black texture quickly disappeared, and it soon turned into healthy brown earth.
Then sprouts began to rise one by one.
The soil had regained its life.
That was how the purification continued.
The air was cleansed of its toxicity, and the earth regained its vitality. Clear water began flowing through the rivers and valleys that had been filled with filth, while fresh shoots appeared among the trees that had withered and died.
I had returned the continent’s exploited mana to where it belonged.
And so, the view beyond the Tower was now of a vast land that was somewhat barren, but steadily regaining its life.
I muttered quietly.
“See? Easy... The completion of a world where no one gets hurt...”
“Jiho, what meme is that now?”
“There’s this famous try-hard edgy character.”
“?”
Hyeji looked confused.
I glanced at Iing Iing.
-Iing!!! Iing!!!
Hop! Hop!
Was she so happy because the continent was alive again?
Iing Iing bounced up and down with a bright expression, showing her joy with her whole body.
Feeling proud, I brushed beneath my nose.
It was a little sad to lose all that mana...
But if I could see Iing Iing smile, then so what?
Even mana on a continental scale couldn’t compare to Iing Iing’s smile.
As I looked around...
-Flash!
A bright light suddenly shone down from somewhere.
What, did someone turn on a light?
“J-Jiho! Above you!”
-Iing!
Hyeji and Iing Iing both pointed above my head in alarm.
I raised my head and looked up.
There it was.
-Sparkle sparkle.
Halo.
The golden angelic ring had appeared above my head, scattering its familiar bright, holy radiance everywhere.
But something was strange.
-Sparkle sparkle sparkle...!
“...?”
-Sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkle sparkle!!!
“What?”
The Halo began growing larger!
And it wasn’t growing by a little.
It had first appeared as a small ring over my head, then grew several times larger and rose into the sky.
Now, it was rapidly expanding to dozens, then hundreds of meters in radius!
Even then, the Halo didn’t stop expanding.
-Fwoooooosh!
The golden ring grew without end.
Before long, it covered the entire Black Mage Tower, then expanded toward the far end of the sky and beyond the horizon.
Fwaaaash!
Brilliant golden radiance filled the sky.
A single enormous golden ring floated high above the continent that had once been dead.
“...”
Why was it so huge?
As I stared at the Halo in confusion...
-Dududududu...
I saw a cloud of dust rising in the distant south.
I took a closer look.
It was an army.
But the person at the very front of the army was completely unexpected.
‘Isn’t that the Empress? Did she lead an army all the way to the Black Mage Tower to catch the Sect Leader? She’s pretty decisive for an empress.’
It seemed that while we had been flying here, they had also been marching north to subdue the Sect Leader.
Of course, I had already dealt with the Sect Leader they needed to catch.
This Raccoon Man had taken care of the Sect Leader who wrecked the environment, so they could relax!
As I watched the approaching army...
“...”
“...”
“...”
They came to a complete stop.
They must have noticed the Halo floating high in the sky and halted their advance.
Then.
-Thud. Thud. Thud.
One by one, they threw down their weapons and prostrated themselves on the ground.
They began bowing toward me.
Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of people, were deeply bowing in my direction!
It seemed my Extreme Lunatic Hell Halo had naturally captivated them.
Their manners were quite good.
Anyway.
“Well then... Hyeji? We’ve caught the Sect Leader and ‘saved’ the continent. Now it’s time to carry out the most important thing we have to do.”
“...What? What did you say? There’s still something else we need to do?”
“Of course. But why are you so out of it, Hyeji? It’s just a Halo. Why are you standing there with your mouth open... You’re going to drool.”
“Jiho, that Halo is stretching beyond the sky, of course I-”
“Enough! I told you, it’s nothing more than a Cosmetic Effect! Don’t pay so much attention to it.”
“No, but-!”
Hyeji was making a huge fuss over the gigantic Halo.
I clicked my tongue.
We had important work ahead, yet she was this distracted...
Hyeji let out a deep sigh and asked,
“Haa... So what is this ‘important thing’? Is there really something more important than catching the Sect Leader and purifying a continent?”
“Yes.”
“...What could it possibly be?”
What else?
Obviously...
“It’s time to collect Extreme Lunatic Hell loot!”
Loot collection!
Why did we come to the Tower?
To make money, wasn’t it?
Hyeji had completely forgotten her duty as an effortless loot-grabber.
How pathetic!
Anyway, that was how we quickly cleaned out every bit of loot in the Black Mage Tower, then took the Escape Portal.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 40)]
[You have completed Tower Floor 40.]
[You have defeated 15,473 Ghouls (100).]
[You have defeated 83 War Black Mages (5,000).]
[You have defeated 3 High Black Mages (30,000).]
[You have defeated 1 Black Mage Sect Leader (100,000).]
[Points are being calculated.]
[Tower Floor 41 has been unlocked.]
[Tower Floor 40 has been liberated.]
[Returning.]
Footnotes:
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