WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 147
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“Is this that idle game thing?”
Why the hell had it turned into a city?
The last time I saw it, it had been no different from Futaba Park, crawling with Chimpis.
Anyway, I took a closer look at the city.
It was hard to find any trace of how it used to look.
Lots of proper houses had been built, crude roads had been laid out, and even the people walking through the streets looked healthier.
Most of all, the population itself had exploded.
As I remembered it, there had only been a few thousand people in this fortress.
Now, the number of people I could vaguely sense was close to ten thousand.
The Chimpis had multiplied while I was gone!
And then.
“They’re farming over there.”
A vast wheat field stretched outside the fortress.
Farmers swung sickles through the wheat, sweat pouring down their faces. In other fields, people pulled plows or harvested fully grown crops.
They were farming land that had been dead!
I nodded proudly.
“Hmm! The Four Pests Campaign and Great Leap Forward were worth it! The agricultural revolution succeeded, and now they can farm this land!”
“Why do you like Mao Zedong so much?”
“He’s cool. His kill count was huge. He’s a great man I admire.”
“...”
Anyway.
Once I restored the land, people had started farming it.
It seemed their food situation had improved greatly because of that.
The people looked at ease, and even the children running through the streets had plump cheeks.
I even saw a little kid running along while chewing on a piece of bread.
They were eating normal food without poison.
It seemed they had recovered their health.
Good for them.
“Brats need tasty, nutritious food!”
Not poisonous Wyvern meat!
As I leisurely looked over the city from the sky, a voice suddenly reached my ears.
“Grandpa, do angels really exist?”
“Of course they do. Look at that wall. The Angel built it for us personally. Wall-Baek Jiho... It still feels like a dream.”
“An angel... I can’t really believe it. It sounds like a lie that someone made such a huge wall in an instant...”
“My child, you hadn’t arrived here yet, so you didn’t see it. But we saw it. A true miracle... Proof that heaven had not abandoned us...!”
An old man and a child were talking in front of the wall I had built.
I suddenly got curious.
‘What? Are they talking about me?’
It seemed they had not noticed us floating in the sky yet.
Without knowing someone was eavesdropping from above, they continued talking in hushed voices.
I had to listen to this, right?
I pricked up my ears.
“That day, the city gates fell, and the monsters poured in. Even the knights could not stop them. Everyone thought it was over.”
“...Then what happened?”
“Then the Angel appeared. A bright flash burst from the staff in their hand... and every one of those monsters disappeared.”
“All of them?”
“Yes. The monsters covering the ground and the monsters flying in the sky. Every time the Angel reached out a hand, they fell in droves.”
The old man spread both arms wide as he passionately told the story.
The child before him listened with their mouth hanging open.
“But that was not the end. When the Angel planted their staff in the ground, the dead soil came back to life.”
“Then... are we farming now because of the Angel too?”
“That is right. And that is not all. With one gesture, they raised that huge wall and wiped out the monsters outside as well. If not for them, we would still be eating poisonous meat... or we would have died long ago.”
“They’re amazing... I want to see the Angel at least once too.”
The old man spoke as if he were passing down a legend from a myth.
But everything he said was true.
What the hell.
This old man was only speaking facts.
I nodded proudly.
These commoners knew gratitude.
That was right. I restored their land, built them a wall, and completely kimchi’d all the monsters.
I saved them.
Of course they should be grateful!
Then the old man raised a finger and pointed somewhere.
“My child. That is a statue modeled after the Angel.”
“A statue?”
I followed the old man’s finger with my eyes.
And then I saw it.
“...Oh.”
A huge stone statue stood before the wall.
The sculptor did not seem particularly skilled, judging by its rough, clumsy carving.
But.
Anyone could see it was me.
My tall nose, sharp and serious eyes, tightly pressed lips that represented my firm will, and a noble, holy atmosphere...
And most importantly.
Even the Angel’s halo above my head!
They had made a statue of this very handsome face of mine!
I nodded, immensely pleased.
“These commoners are so worthy of love and affection! They even made a statue of me! What admirable Chimpis!!!”
“You’re saying that’s you? Don’t spew such fucking bullshit! It’s ridiculously flattering! How does that look like you at all?!”
“It’s me.”
Choi Yejin looked back and forth between me and the statue with an incredulous expression.
This person was slandering me again.
Then Iing Iing let out a loud cry.
-Iing Iing Iing!!!
“Iing Iing. What do you mean the statue cannot even compare to the tip of Jiho’s true beauty...?”
“Exactly! Iing Iing knows what she’s talking about! A statue at that level cannot capture my face!”
“Jiho, please stop being so full of yourself. You’re just an average-looking guy.”
I could not hear Hyeji’s pathetic interruption.
A handsome mug that put Cha Eunwoo to shame stood right there before the wall!
Of course, it could not capture even half of my astounding beauty.
Still, they had made an effort.
I would forgive their lack of skill in consideration of their sincerity.
As I happily admired the statue...
“...Wait. Up in the sky. Could it be?”
“Is that the Angel?”
“The Angel! It is the Angel! The Angel has returned!”
“Waaaaah!”
It seemed the people on the ground had spotted me.
One by one, they began shouting as they looked up at us.
Those who knew me looked overwhelmed with joy, while those seeing me for the first time watched with great interest.
The old man and child who had just been talking were the same.
“Grandpa! That person is...!”
“Yes! It is the Angel! They’ve returned!”
Hehe.
What an enthusiastic welcome.
I signaled Iing Iing and slowly descended.
Step.
I planted my feet on the ground and spoke in a low voice.
“Do not be afraid.”
Extreme Lunatic Hell Angel Baek Jiho.
Has descended upon this place!
* * *
Our group headed for the city hall in the center of the city.
Calling it city hall was generous. It was a small, crude building.
While the other buildings were all one story, or flimsy two-story structures at best, this was the only one with three stories.
Anyway, when we went there, I met a familiar person.
“Angel! You have truly come!”
“It’s me.”
Scurry.
A middle-aged knight came rushing out as if he had dashed outside barefoot.
What was his name again... Val... something?
Anyway, the knight ran frantically out of city hall, dropped to his knees before me, and bowed his head.
“It has been half a year, Angel! I waited in hope that I might see you again, but I never thought we truly would meet again!”
“It has been a while, knight commoner. But half a year?”
It seemed that around half a year had passed on Floor 45 since Floor 44.
It felt like I had met him yesterday.
But half a year had passed for them.
No wonder the city had changed this much.
The knight continued.
“That is right, Angel! It was a time that felt short and long all at once. During that time, we have made great progress thanks to the grace you bestowed upon us.”
“There were certainly many more people. Are they commoners from elsewhere?”
“Yes! Since the Angel wiped out the monsters in this region, it became possible to travel through the surrounding area. When word spread that people could even farm here, survivors from all over came flooding in.”
It seemed that my complete kimchi-ing of the monsters around here had also helped gather refugees.
With no monsters, people could travel safely.
And they could farm once they arrived here.
There was also a tall, sturdy wall.
There was no reason to struggle somewhere else.
“Thanks to that, the population has grown several times over. Those who farmed expanded the fields, carpenters and stonemasons began building houses, and soldiers protect the wall... Everyone is doing what they can.”
“Oh.”
“Only half a year ago, all we could do was survive one day at a time. Now, we can work for tomorrow. It is all thanks to you, Angel. Thank you... Thank you so much.”
The knight bowed deeply again.
I felt proud.
All I had done was kill the attacking monsters, purify the land so they could farm, build one modest fifty-meter-tall wall around them, and completely kimchi every monster in the area.
And they were this grateful over something so minor!
It was only a small favor.
But they had survived because of it.
It had been worth spending the Mana!
I gestured for the knight to rise, then slowly looked around the city.
People bustled about everywhere.
I could see them carrying goods and repairing houses, and the streets were full of life.
It had truly become something like a medieval fantasy city.
It felt like I was looking at a smaller version of the King Korea I had saved.
It made me feel good.
As I gazed quietly at the city for a moment, though, a thought suddenly came to me.
‘Hmm. But I can see some shortcomings.’
The fantasy medieval city excitement gradually faded, and things that bothered me finally entered my sight.
I first looked down at the road beneath my feet.
“Knight commoner. How did you build this road?”
“Ah, the road?”
From afar, I had thought it was a decently paved stone road.
Now that I looked closely, it was just flat stones loosely fitted together on top of the dirt.
It was narrow, and the ground was uneven.
Pedestrians avoided the stones sticking out of the ground, while passing carriages bounced up and down with rattle, creak sounds.
That would hurt your ass a lot.
Even so, Valdemar spoke with a proud expression.
“It is quite an impressive road, is it not? As the population grew, we were able to build a proper road like this! Haha. It is all thanks to you, Angel. Thanks to you, dust no longer rises from the dirt road...”
“Gah!!!”
“?!”
This was not a road!
A road had to be paved smoothly with asphalt or concrete to be called a road!
Like the uncivilized medieval fantasy human he was, his standards for roads were clearly far too low.
I looked around at other things.
“Valdemar commoner. It seems there are far too few wells.”
There were wells scattered throughout the city inside the fortress.
But perhaps there were not enough of them, because I could always see dozens of people crowded around each one.
They held wooden buckets and ladles as they endlessly waited their turn.
They had to stand in line that long just to draw water?
As a Korean who believed in getting things done quickly, this was an unbearably painful bottleneck.
Valdemar spoke as if ashamed.
“...Perhaps there are few underground water veins in this region. Even if we dig dozens of wells, only one or two of them produce water.”
“So you are short on water?”
“That is right. As the population has grown, we need more water, but... digging wells alone cannot meet the demand.”
“Gah!!!”
“...”
The city was facing a water shortage.
And the quality of water from its few wells did not look very good either.
The water they had just drawn from one was practically muddy.
Drinking that would definitely give me the runs, leaving me going splat-splat-splat for a while.
I should never drink it.
I turned my gaze toward the outskirts of the city.
“And Valdemar. There are quite a few buildings in the city center, but the outskirts are still full of tents.”
“...Haha. We would like to provide everyone with a proper house, but refugees have arrived in such large numbers recently. We cannot provide satisfactory housing for everyone.”
“Gah!!!”
“...”
Housing was lacking too.
There were some buildings and roads in the center. It was uncivilized, but it at least looked a little like civilization.
But the outskirts were still packed with flimsy shacks made of canvas and planks.
I muttered quietly.
“This place has a lot of problems.”
“...I am ashamed, Angel.”
The city had many problems.
Roads. Drinking water.
And buildings.
At first glance, it looked like a decent medieval fantasy city.
But upon closer inspection, it was full of holes.
It was frustrating.
“My city... Extreme Lunatic Hell City is such a defect-riddled mess! This cannot be allowed!”
“Why the fuck is this your city?”
“I saved it, so it is my city, right?”
Since I had saved them, I wanted them to live comfortably.
I had saved their lives, but their quality of life was still not very good.
It could not be helped.
I had no choice but to step in again...!
I turned to Hyeji.
“Hyeji, did you know? I used to like city management games. You know, games like SimCity or Cities: Skylines. Games where you build and run cities.”
“Aren’t those straight-to-the-nursing-home games?”
“Do not call them nursing home games! Call them games that let you play creatively!”
City management simulation games.
They were very fun games.
There were so many things you could do.
For example, you could raise taxes to the maximum and reduce the budget to zero, so citizens got sick and died while you made loads of money.
Or you could build lots of power plants, landfills, and industrial districts to make citizens suffer from toxic gas.
Or you could cut off roads and tangle up public transport routes, so citizens could not get to work and suffered on the roads forever.
Ah, it was also fun to deliberately build the city on low ground, collect sewage water, and submerge the entire city in shit water.
I used to feel thrilled watching the citizens’ happiness ratings plummet.
I’ve gone on for too long.
The conclusion was simple.
I had always liked building cities!
And now, I was the mayor of Extreme Lunatic Hell City!
A real city had fallen into my hands.
It needed to develop...
Right?
I readjusted my grip on my staff.
“It is time for the Extreme Lunatic Hell Saemaeul Movement...!”
Footnotes:
Chimpi and Futaba Park reference a Korean internet meme about grotesque creatures and their fictional habitat. “Completely kimchi’d” preserves a playful Korean online expression meaning utterly wiped out. The Saemaeul Movement was a South Korean rural modernization campaign.
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