WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 145
──────
Right after returning to reality.
I immediately opened my status window.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 45)]
[5,428,000 Points]
What I saw was an enormous 5.42 million Points!
I shouted proudly.
“The day before yesterday, I saved Busan with 3.45 million. Yesterday, I saved Jeolla Province and Gwangju with 4.84 million... And today, I’ve saved all of Chungcheong Province!”
5.42 million was nearly equal to the combined population of the Chungcheong region, which was in the mid-five millions.
I was saving an entire province every day!
I straightened my shoulders proudly.
“Right now, I’m only saving populations on the scale of local regions... But if I keep growing like this, one day I might save Seoul, with 9.8 million people, and Gyeonggi Province, with 13.7 million, in a single day. I’m looking forward to that day!”
“Holy shit. Comparing it to regional populations makes it sound completely insane. You’re saving a province every day?”
“It’s me.”
My comparison to regional populations must have made it feel real for her.
Choi Yejin stared at me in disbelief from beside me.
Our party’s reaction manager was hard at work again today.
Anyway, I had earned lots of Points again today.
I had saved countless citizens of King Korea!
It was truly satisfying!
However.
Daesik, who had been quietly listening to me this whole time, seemed to have a slightly different thought.
-...This world is truly bizarre.
“?”
What was this guy suddenly talking about?
Daesik’s gloomy voice continued.
-You gain something called Points by killing monsters. If those Points are not offered to a nation, people die to make up the shortage.
“Right.”
-That is why it is strange. Why is one human life worth exactly one Point?
Well...
Maybe because it made calculations easier?
As though Daesik had noticed what I was thinking, Daesik continued.
-Indeed. It is convenient to calculate. That is why it is unreasonable. The value of every human is different. Just as the value of a wizard differs from livestock, Hunters and ordinary citizens cannot possibly hold the same value. Yet they are all generalized as the number “1” and vanish at random. It is an extremely simplified calculation made for efficiency.
“...”
-Monsters are different. Goblins are worth one amount, Ogres another. The stronger the monster, the more Points it yields. Monsters are assigned differing values based on their own rank, yet every human is worth the same one Point...
“...”
-I do not know whether this means all human lives are considered equal, or whether they are considered unworthy of even being individually distinguished. This is less a trial than...
“Less a trial than?”
Daesik paused for a moment.
Then Daesik spoke softly.
-A ledger.
“A ledger?”
-Yes. Someone dies, someone survives. Their numbers are converted into something called Points, flattening each individual’s value and calculating them efficiently.
“...”
It was a fresh perspective.
The idea that the Tower’s Point system was something like an accounting ledger.
Daesik was not finished yet.
-There is one more thing I cannot understand.
“What now?”
-You said Hunters like you are the ones who enter the Tower and undergo its tests. Yet when you fail, those who die are usually not the ones who entered the Tower, but citizens who did nothing.
“...I guess that’s true? Death is completely random, but Hunters only make up around one in a thousand people. If there aren’t enough Points, ordinary citizens do die much more often.”
-Then who exactly is this testing?
“...?”
-The climbers?
-The nation?
-Or humanity itself as a species?
“...”
-Bizarre. Truly bizarre. This world is a truly bizarre world... I am becoming interested.
It seemed Daesik was newly realizing just how strange the Tower was.
Though, when he put it that way, Daesik himself had come out of the Tower.
Anyway.
“Daesik, quit saying pointless things that hurt your head and watch TV. I’ll put on Netflicks. Today, I’ll show you Attack on Giant Humans.”
-Forget that. Put on something called the news. I want to learn and research this world more thoroughly.
“Sans, you bastard! How dare you look down on Attack on Giant Humans?! Do you want to have a bad time?!”
-Call me Daesik or Sans. Pick one.
I put the grumbling Daesik on the living room table and turned on Netflicks.
On a day like today, when I had created Wall-Baek Jiho, I absolutely had to watch Attack on Giant Humans!
Anyway.
Daesik’s cultural education was taken care of.
Now it was time to enjoy my own cultural life.
In other words...
“Jiho, you’re going on Hunter Gallery, right?”
“Of course.”
It was Hunter Gallery time!
Click!
I took out my smartphone and snapped a photo.
The subject was none other than Wyvern meat.
Hyeji, who was watching, immediately frowned.
“Jiho, why did you bring that poisonous meat home? You said you would rather starve than eat it...”
“I need at least one image to post on Hunter Gallery. I didn’t bring back any loot from this Floor, so I should at least photograph this and upload it. Then the Hunter Gallery guys will understand the locals’ sad food situation, right? Will this child ever know what it means to be full?”
“What are you bringing home because of Hunter Gallery...? It’ll just add more food waste. Jiye is going to have a hard time.”
“It’s me.”
Photos were essential for maintaining my Hunter Gallery activity record!!!
Anyway, I quickly wrote a post.
[Title: (Info) How to Clear Floor 44!]
[Author: Blue Dot]
(Photo of pitch-black Wyvern meat)
This no-longer-a-newbie Hunter... I went to Floor 44 today.
When I got there, a siege battle was happening out of nowhere.
In this shoddy fortress that looked like cardboard houses, human soldiers and monsters were fighting a bloody battle while the fall of Shiganshina District was underway...
The monsters were super scary, you know?
So I just killed them all ㅜㅜ
I wiped out the Ogres, Trolls, and Cyclopes with magic artillery, 「Final Spark」.
Then, for the Wyvern swarm in the sky, I followed our Zedong bro’s example and unleashed a Railgun Four Pests Campaign.
It was cleaned up in no time!
But these people had no food.
The land was dead, so they couldn’t farm and had been surviving by tearing apart monster meat.
They fed the children Wyvern thigh meat because it was supposedly the least poisonous part ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
It was so sad ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Will this child ever know what it means to be full?
So I revived the land with Extreme Lunatic Hell Reverse Earth Drilling Magic!
Now farming is totally possible!
I even carried out the Four Pests Campaign and wiped out all the sparrows, so their farming will definitely succeed!
Mao Zedong, you were right!
And the fortress walls looked kind of flimsy, so I remodeled those too.
A fifty-meter fortress wall grown straight from the earth.
Its name is Wall-Blue Dot!
Wall Maria, Wall Rose, Wall Sina, get out of the way!!!
Extreme Lunatic Hell Wall-Blue Dot is coming!
Anyway, I was killing sparrows in the Tower with the Four Pests Campaign, reviving the land for an agricultural revolution, rebuilding fortress walls, and carrying out the Great Leap Forward.
It kind of feels like I’m playing a civilization-building game, so it’s fun.
I’m looking forward to seeing how it will have changed next time I go into the Tower.
Anyway, today’s earnings!
I killed 716 Wyverns, 312 Trolls, 143 Ogres, and 29 Cyclopes...
For a total of 5,428,000 Points!
54.28 billion won...!!!
Heh heh. Today again, I saved people, saved land, saved fortress walls, and saved 5.42 million citizens of King Korea!
Praise me for working hard again today.
I should tear into some chicken for dinner and go to sleep.
I’m ordering delivery. Should I get boneless chicken or chicken with bones?
Recommend me a menu.
└You fucking bastard, you brought another disgusting picture today. What the hell is that black thing?
└For real, at first I thought it was rotten meat.
└There’s weird slime all over it, it’s bluish and burnt, and it looks fucking disgusting. What even is that? Is this what Blue Dot usually eats? Did he go insane because he eats shit like that?
└└Blue Dot: It’s Wyvern meat. People were surviving by eating stuff like that. Will this child ever know what it means to be full?
└└Will this crazy bastard ever know what normal means?
└└Holy shit, that’s Wyvern meat? So Taeseok hyung survived for two months eating garbage like that?
└└Ah... Taeseok hyung ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
└Dude, I can overlook the Marisa jokes, Railgun jokes, and attack helicopter jokes, but why do you keep going on about people being there? There aren’t people in the Tower. What do you mean locals?
└└Blue Dot: Do you think I go into the Tower because I want to? There are people inside it!!!
└└Unbelievable.
└Wait, why is no one talking about the 5.42 million Points? That’s another record ㄷㄷ
└└For real lol, the rest of the post was so insane it got buried, but this guy earned 5.42 million in a single day.
└└Ah... This is what they call a “threshold.” When it’s Big Dot, King Dot, or Shining Blue Dot earning millions of Points, it starts to feel “normal,” you know?
└└It really feels strange. A month ago we were trembling and wondering when our country would collapse... Now we don’t even react when he earns millions of Points. Why is that so ridiculous? lol
└└It is simply Big Dot’s grace.
└└Blue Dot: It’s me.
└└If he just wasn’t insane, he’d be perfect... That’s why he’s even more annoying... If he were heroic and dignified like Hunter Kim Taeseok, the whole country would worship him.
└Hello. This is FFF Daily. We would like to request an interview.
└└Wow, these guys’ persistence is seriously top-tier. They only keep publishing articles trashing Blue Dot, but they’re insanely persistent about requesting interviews too lol
└└I can’t even imagine how badly they want to take him down.
└└Blue Dot, with this much effort, just give them an interview. Reveal your face while you’re at it.
└└Blue Dot: If I reveal my face, girls all over the world won’t be able to sleep at night. To protect their sleep time, I’ll reveal it as late as possible...
└└What does he even look like for him to act like that?
└└I swear, if this bastard reveals his face and he’s ugly, I’m going to make fun of him so hard.
└Info) The Four Pests Campaign and Great Leap Forward carried out by Mao Zedong failed horribly and made tens of millions of Chinese people “good.”
└└Blue Dot: No, no. The results were only bad because lowly underlings failed to properly follow our Zedong bro’s great instructions... But I, Zedong bro’s official successor, am different. I can do it. If it’s me!
└└Why does this guy like Mao Zedong so much?
└└He says it’s because Mao holds the world record for massacres. Have a drink.
└└Zedong’s kill score is kind of incredible lol
└So what is Wall-Blue Dot?
└└Blue Dot: It’s the latest fortress wall I made. I built a wall around the place, about fifty meters high.
└└How did you make that?
└└Blue Dot: With Earth Manipulation Magic. You say, “Grow, walls, grow,” and the walls pop up and grow.
└└What the fuck are you talking about?
└└If “Grow, hair, grow” is possible, then “Grow, walls, grow” should totally be possible too ㅇㅇ;;
└└Honestly, making a fortress wall, which modern technology can do with enough time and skill, versus making hair, which modern technology has given up on, means making a fortress wall is way easier. Agreed?
└└No, this is bullshit.
└└So when are you selling hair-loss medicine, damn it?
└└Blue Dot: I recently bought an office building, so waiiiiiit.
└└Just hurry up and sell it. I’m getting dizzy here...
└└Blue Dot: Will this child ever know what it means to have thick hair?
└└Fuck.
...
As I replied to comments, I nodded in satisfaction.
“Hmm. The Hunter Gallery guys are praising me again today. The praise of ordinary people is always so sweet to hear!”
-...Crazy bastard.
“What was that? I thought I heard some nonsense from Sans, who wants to have a bad time.”
Eh, I must have heard wrong.
There was no way Daesik would look away while watching a masterpiece like Attack on Giant Humans, right?
Anyway, I had gotten enough Hunter Gallery content for the day.
And since it was late...
Should I wash up, eat, and go to sleep?
Just as I was about to wrap up my day...
Bzzzzzzzz!
My smartphone suddenly rang.
When I checked, it was Han Seonga.
Why was she calling this late?
I answered the phone first.
“Yes, Ms. Seonga.”
-Hunter Baek Jiho. I contacted you after confirming that you had returned. Do you have a moment to talk?
“Yes, I can talk. What is it?”
-I have something to discuss regarding your attendance at the London Convention regular meeting.
“The London Convention?”
I thought carefully after hearing Ms. Seonga’s words.
I had seen it on the news this morning.
They said the London Convention regular meeting would be held in a few days.
Ms. Seonga continued.
-The government would like Hunter Baek Jiho to attend this regular meeting. The President will also attend in person.
“You want me to go and attend the meeting? But what do people do at a meeting like that?”
-In truth, the practical meetings are handled by diplomats and heads of state from each country. The Hunters mainly socialize and interact with one another. So you do not have to think of it as something too difficult.
“So I’m basically going there to make friends? Hmm... But it sounds like a huge pain...”
London.
That was in England.
That awful country where the food tasted bad.
I would have to fly all the way there and socialize with people.
It was obviously going to be tiring and annoying.
To begin with, I was a shut-in.
The kind of person whose HP took damage over time the moment I stepped outside.
And someone like me had to go across the sea to England?
No!
I was absolutely not going!!!
“I’m not going.”
-Pardon?
“I’m busy. I have to decorate the office building, climb the Tower, play games, watch Shorts, and go on Hunter Gallery. I don’t have time to go to London.”
-...I believe you can omit the last three items from that schedule.
“I don’t care! It’s annoying. I’m not going, I’m not going. Go without me. Go, now!”
-...
I did not want to go all the way across the sea to Europe.
Honestly, the old me might have gone out of curiosity because I had dreams of traveling overseas.
But I had already experienced a dynamic trip to China.
My curiosity about foreign countries had greatly faded.
My warm and comfortable room was still the best.
Outside the blanket was dangerous.
However, Ms. Seonga did not stop trying to persuade me.
-...The government considers your attendance important. President Torumph of the United States will also attend in person.
“Oh. Torumph is coming too?”
-That is correct.
“Hmm...”
My beautiful soulmate was coming too.
That was somewhat nice to hear.
But it was still such a pain...
As I hesitated, Choi Yejin, who had been listening to the call beside me, spoke.
“Hey. Just go.”
“Why? It’s annoying.”
“When else are you going to see the Highest Floor Hunters of every country gathered in one place? Get information and build connections. They’re Tower alliance countries, at least, so there’s no harm in getting familiar with them. And you, you bastard. Stop sitting around in your dark little room all day watching weird videos. Isn’t that kind of lifestyle why you’re gradually going crazy?”
“Do not insult my collection videos!!!”
Why was she suddenly attacking me personally?
A person could like staying in their room and watching bikini Zero Two videos.
Do not slander someone’s lifestyle and preferences!
Then Hyeji, who had been watching, added her own words.
“Jiho, you made a company, right? Selling those products overseas and getting approval in each country will probably be a very difficult process. Wouldn’t it be easier to go to an international meeting like that and handle things all at once?”
“So you mean I should go there beforehand and talk to diplomats and heads of state from each country, so the medicines made by our Extreme Lunatic Hell Pharmaceuticals can be smoothly distributed worldwide?”
“That’s right. If you step forward, Jiye’s workload will decrease a lot too. She has seemed very worried about overseas sales permits lately. How about helping her out like a good little brother?”
“If it would lighten my sister’s workload... Hmm...”
As an Extreme Lunatic Hell little brother, I had a duty to help my sister.
The thought that I could ease my sister’s burden while she was so busy these days naturally made me hesitate.
Ah... I really did not want to go.
But it bothered me that my sister was having a hard time.
Did I have a choice?
“Phew... Fine. I’ll go.”
-That is a wise decision, Mr. Baek Jiho.
“Phew... Phew... Phewww... Phew... What a life... Phew...”
-...Hunter Baek Jiho? Why are you sighing so much...?
Why was I sighing?
Because just thinking about it made me feel so damn annoyed, tired, frustrated, irritated, and angry!
A shut-in like me had to travel overseas!
Heavens! Primordial Heavenly Venerable!
Is this truly the best choice?!!!
“Heavens!!!”
-Iing Iing!!!
“That bastard is throwing another fit. It’s just a few days in London, what’s the big deal?”
“Iing Iing! Don’t copy Jiho!”
When I cried out in the Platoon pose, Iing Iing copied me from beside me.
Thank you, Iing Iing.
You were the only one who understood how I felt...!
Without Iing Iing, I might have died from sadness.
Anyway, it seemed I had to go to London.
Maybe I should just empty my mind, go there, chat with Torumph, and promote Extreme Lunatic Hell Pharmaceuticals?
I had no particular desire to speak with ordinary Hunters.
Honestly, I was not at the level where I could casually speak to Hard-rank nobodies.
If they wanted to speak with me, they should at least reach Floor 51 first.
Anyway.
“Please coordinate the schedule with my sister.”
-Understood. I will inform Manager Baek Jiye. Have a pleasant evening, then.
“You too, Ms. Seonga.”
Click.
I ended the call.
“Haah...”
In the end, I had a troublesome schedule.
I had to leave my comfortable room and fly all the way to that horrible country!
I already felt tired.
Beside me, Choi Yejin seemed to have remembered something after hearing about London.
While fiddling with her smartphone, she muttered.
“Come to think of it, I’ll get to see a few of the old kids this time.”
The old kids?
Was she going to meet friends from her school days or something?
Then Hyeji asked.
“By old kids, do you mean the other Hard-rank Hunters?”
“Yeah. Kim Taeseok, and the kids who learned under the two of us, Mincheol and Seongmin. Has it been two years since I saw those guys? I should contact them.”
Choi Yejin tapped on her smartphone.
Riiing. Riiing.
She made a call somewhere.
-It has been a long time, Master!
An unfamiliar voice came through the phone.
Who was that?
She spoke into the phone.
“It has been a long time, Mincheol. I contacted you because I was wondering whether you were coming to the London Conference this time.”
-Ah, I’m going! Seongmin is coming too. Are you coming too, Master? Wow. The Kimchi Hunters can have a reunion for the first time in a while!
“Huh? Ms. Yejin, are you calling Hunter Park Mincheol right now?”
The person Choi Yejin had called was none other than Park Mincheol.
A Hard-rank Hunter who had been sold to the United States years ago when our country was short on Points!
I heard Park Mincheol was now climbing Floor 46.
It seemed they had still kept in touch.
A voice came through the phone.
-Ah. I heard the news about Kim Taeseok hyung. It’s unfortunate that he has to retire...
“Unfortunate, my ass. He worked hard all this time, so he needs to rest properly. Anyway, it’s good to hear you and Seongmin are coming. See you in a few days.”
-Then I will see you in London, Master!
From what I heard, Kim Taeseok and Choi Yejin, our country’s first-generation Hard-rank Hunters, had trained the other Hard-rank Hunters.
Maybe that was why Park Mincheol still faithfully called her Master.
Even after climbing to higher Floors, Park Mincheol still respected their master.
Park Mincheol was quite polite.
Well, I understood that feeling very well.
Even if disciples eventually surpassed their master, they were bound to continue respecting them.
Had I not continued to respect my Goblin Master and Senior Uncles even after surpassing them?
That was the heart of a martial artist...!
Then, Park Mincheol suddenly spoke through the phone.
-Ah, right. Master. Did you know?
“What?”
-Yu Seunghee is coming too.
“...That traitorous bastard is coming to London?!”
Choi Yejin’s face immediately twisted into a frown.
Footnotes:
The Four Pests Campaign and Great Leap Forward were Mao-era campaigns linked to catastrophic famine. The phrase “made tens of millions good” is a dark euphemism for killing them.
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