WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 150
──────
The next morning.
While I ate rice soaked in my sister's homemade soybean paste soup as usual, I checked the morning news.
[Extreme Lunatic Hell Group completes corporate registration application... Headquarters to be located in Yongsan.]
[Large-scale U.S. troop movements detected. Official dismisses them as “part of routine training.”]
[Yu Seunghee confirmed to attend London international conference... To join U.S. delegation.]
[Japanese Hunter repatriation procedures completed. “Transfer of all personnel confirmed.”]
[Consumer and investment sentiment both improve. Expectations rise for domestic economic recovery.]
[Blue Dot becomes a ‘Floor 46 Hunter’... Republic of Korea's standing rises on the international stage.]
After skimming the articles, I nodded in satisfaction.
“Thanks to me, King Korea is peaceful again today!”
Thanks to my blood, sweat, devotion, effort, sacrifice, service, patience, passion, and patriotism.
King Korea's standing was rising again today.
There was not even the slightest trace of an impending apocalypse anymore!
I was simply... proud!
As I looked through the articles with a pleased expression, one article suddenly caught my eye.
[Yu Seunghee confirmed to attend London international conference... To join U.S. delegation.]
I muttered quietly as I read it.
“Hmm. The news ordinary Park Mincheol mentioned has been reported.”
Yu Seunghee attending London, as Park Mincheol had mentioned a few days ago.
With five days left until the London Conference, it seemed to have made the news.
I checked the comments beneath the article.
└That aid-and-run traitor is going to London? He's got some nerve.
└That bastard is the highest-climbing Hunter among Korean-descended Hunters? What a disgrace.
└└Not Korean-descended, traitor-descended.
└└└If he likes America so much, why doesn't he just live as an American? Why keep adding Korean this and Korean that?? I hate how they only look for Korea when they need something.
└Oh, for fuck's sake... A traitor is Korea's number one!!! What an international embarrassment. The whole world will mock us. They'll call us a shithole worse than a developing country... Because of that fucking ○○○ bastard, seriously... what a disgrace...
└I wish divine punishment would strike that bastard.
...
As expected, the comments were full of anger and irritation.
It could not be helped.
He was a Hunter hated by the entire country for taking support and then running off. There was no way the response would be positive.
Then one comment caught my eye.
└Is Blue Dot going to London too? I hope so. I want him to beat up that disgusting traitor.
└└For real, please teach him a lesson. Please, please...
└└Patriotic hero Blue Dot, please teach traitor Yu Seunghee a lesson!
└└Everyone, is Blue Dot some thug who beats people up?? He is the Republic of Korea's number one Hunter. We should not expect that from him, if only for the sake of his dignity.
└└Grandpa, go on Hunter Gallery and search for posts by Blue Dot. He isn't someone with dignity.
└└Dignity, shouted out Mao Zedong on a nationwide broadcast, gave a total-war speech, and recited the Communist Manifesto.
└└The Communist Manifesto?? Is he... a commie?
└└Grandpa...
...
After reading the comments, I snickered.
“Everyone oddly seems to want me and Yu Seunghee to fight.”
Why would they expect something like that?
It wasn't like I was some fighting cock or a Hunter with an aggressive, combative personality.
I was extremely gentle and peaceful by nature.
I scrolled down a little.
└└Guys, why do you think Blue Dot will teach Yu Seunghee a lesson?
└└He's Shining Blue Dot, the guy who killed every Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and foreign Hunter he saw.
└└Ah, haha. If he became American, he counts as a foreign Hunter, right? Haha.
└└The moment he changed nationalities, he got added to Blue Dot's hunting list.
“...”
Well, I had fought quite a lot.
But it was unfair.
I had only taken down unreasonable bastards who tried to harm me!
Anyway.
“Come to think of it, I heard this guy uses social media too.”
Since he had made the news, Koreans were probably flooding his account and harassing him.
Suddenly, I wanted to take a look.
So I searched for his name.
[Yoo Seung-hee]
[341,000 followers]
I found his social media account right away.
For someone from Hard-rank, he had a six-digit follower count.
I read his previous posts.
[Koreans are apparently calling me a traitor, but honestly, if they had the skill, they all would've come to America. Aren't they just mad because they couldn't? LOL]
[Stop sending me DMs telling me to worry about Korea. I'm American.]
[The support I got in Korea? Was that even support? When I came to America, they gave me several times what Korea ever did.]
[You should come to America too. God protects America. God Bless America!]
[Korea? Those poor beggars struggling because they have no Points? Lol.]
[Isn't it a country that will disappear soon because of its birth rate anyway?]
His profile photo showed him wearing sunglasses, wrapped in the Stars and Stripes, with an American supercar behind him.
I muttered quietly.
“What an obnoxious bastard...!”
Yu Seunghee.
I knew of him.
He was famous for constantly spouting outrageous nonsense.
But seeing it firsthand was something else.
He was completely drunk on America, excessively praising it.
And he dared insult our proud King Korea...!
“How dare you! You are a citizen of a country with barely 250 years of history and no foundations, yet you insult King Korea! We are a nation with 70,000 years of history and overflowing historical foundations! How dare a black-haired Yankee like you do this!!!”
“Jiho. What do you mean, 70,000 years? Isn't our country's history around 5,000 years?”
“Noona, did you know? If you trace back Korean history, it begins with Hwanguk in 67,079 BC. We Koreans are a great people with 70,000 years of history! Boo hoo! If not for those Dinosaur Five Traitors, we could've won the Hwan-Fin War...!”
“What meme is that now...? Be quiet and eat. Your soybean paste soup is getting cold.”
As I vented my anger at my phone, my sister frowned and scolded me.
She had been so busy that she could barely eat breakfast properly for a while.
Recently, though, she had relaxed a little.
It was thanks to me telling her not to worry, since I would go to London and mingle with diplomats and world leaders.
As her younger brother, I felt proud.
Anyway, I made my decision.
“I should open the second Bonk Bonk Clinic in London.”
If I saw him, I would give the top of his head a light touch with my staff.
Even Reimu had been so satisfied, very satisfied, completely satisfied with my scalp massage skills that they had come back for another visit.
Since this guy was American too, he would surely be satisfied...
After that, I waited for my party members.
“Enter the Tower.”
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 46)]
[Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 46)]
[Choi Yejin (Republic of Korea: Floor 46)]
[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]
“Floor 46.”
[Entering Tower Floor 46.]
Flash!
The Floor 46 raid began.
* * *
Flash!
The bright light faded.
I slowly looked around.
All I could see was a yellow canyon.
The ground was covered in dry, crumbling soil.
Only shriveled, dead trees stood scattered across the land.
I muttered quietly.
“It is incredibly desolate.”
“I know. The higher the Floors get, the more ruined they seem. The temperature is getting noticeably hotter too...”
“It is fucking hot. Hey, Baek Jiho. That coat has temperature and humidity control, right? Give it to me.”
“No.”
“You cheap bastard. Fuck.”
The land was desolate, and the temperature was high.
The party members frowned at the unexpected heat.
Were these people idiots?
Instead of wearing clothes with weird options like Defense or Magic Resistance, they should wear coats with temperature and humidity control like this.
Why wear leather armor and stuff like that?
The essence of clothing was temperature regulation, after all. Tsk, tsk...
Anyway.
“Should we start by scouting? Iing Iing, first...”
Just as I was about to begin the raid.
“Iing!!!”
Iing Iing flew up with a Pop! and pointed somewhere.
What was it? Had she found something?
I looked deeper into the canyon, where Iing Iing pointed.
Then I saw it.
“Huh? That is...”
“Wagons?”
They were wagons.
A procession made up of dozens of wagons, no less.
Rattle, creak, rattle.
The wagons came deeper into the canyon, making rattling and creaking noises.
Dozens of wagons were lined up in a long row, and a crowd of people followed around them.
Knights on horseback, soldiers holding spears.
People wearing old robes and people carrying bows.
There had to be several hundred people at a glance.
I muttered quietly.
“We are seeing people as soon as we start this Floor.”
“...Again? There hasn't been a Floor without people in the Tower lately.”
“Fuck. It isn't even surprising anymore.”
From Floors 41 through 45.
Meeting locals inside the Tower had become almost routine.
Anyone who says there are no people in the Tower, come out here.
There are people in the Tower!!!
Anyway.
“Let's go over. I'm curious what those guys are doing.”
We approached the procession.
“Stop!”
Clack, clack.
As we approached, the soldiers at the front of the procession raised their spears and swords in unison.
The way all those blades came up at once showed they were well-trained.
They were spirited fellows.
I spoke quietly.
“Do not be afraid.”
“...Who are you?! State your identity!”
“I am Extreme Lunatic Hell Heaven An...”
“Enough! Lower your weapons!”
Just as I was about to reveal my identity, a knight walked forward from the rear of the procession, grabbed a soldier's spear, and lowered it.
He rebuked the soldiers.
“Lower your weapons! They are people, not monsters!”
“But Captain. People this healthy in the middle of such a wasteland... Isn't that suspicious?”
“Have we ever saved people based on their condition? There may still be an intact village nearby. We should rescue them too. Who knows when monsters may invade this area?”
As the knight and soldiers spoke, I tilted my head.
Rescue?
Who was rescuing whom?
Then the knight approached and spoke to me.
“If we startled you, I apologize. We are a rescue party. We travel the wasteland, find survivors, and escort them to the city. You can relax now. You are safe.”
“A rescue party.”
I turned my gaze toward the procession.
Now that I looked more closely, something was strange.
Aside from the knights and soldiers, the wagons were filled with skinny, starving people.
They were probably the people this rescue party had saved.
I asked curiously.
“A city? Is there a city in this wasteland?”
“Huh. You don't know? Well, if you were deep in the wasteland, perhaps you wouldn't.”
The knight spoke with a proud expression.
“Ark City, also known as humanity's last city. It is the only place in this damned wasteland where people can live like people. A very large city, with a population of one hundred thousand.”
“One hundred thousand? Only that many? Ah... It is just like a fucking primitive world inside the Tower. Calling a place with only one hundred thousand people a city... I live in Seoul, King Korea's city of nine million people.”
“You have lost your mind. It seems wandering the wasteland for so long has damaged you mentally. How pitiful...”
“Captain. His way of speaking is irritating, and he does not seem mentally sound. Can't we just leave him behind?”
“Now, now! He is a pitiful person. Our mission is to save as many people as possible. We cannot leave him behind.”
The knight looked at me with pity, while the soldier glared at me in annoyance.
Still, it was a strange place name.
Ark City?
Humanity's last city?
It sounded like the kind of city name that often appeared in some nerdy mobile game.
Some fucking nerd must have named it.
The knight spoke quietly.
“It was three years ago. An Angel descended from the sky.”
The knight's eyes grew distant.
It seemed he was remembering the past.
“The Angel drove all the monsters from the city's territory and restored the ruined land. Then the Angel built high, massive walls to protect us.”
“...”
“Do you think that was all? In a single night, the Angel granted us thousands of houses, built roads, and even diverted water from a river far away. It may be hard to believe, but it is all true.”
“...”
“It is the only city in this era with civilization worthy of the name. So come with us without worry. The Angel protects us.”
Um.
Was he talking about my Extreme Lunatic Hell City?
I asked the knight.
“Ordinary knight. Are there perhaps statues near that city's walls? Statues of an incredibly handsome, cool, handsome, beautiful, noble-looking man.”
“Oh! You know the Angel's statues? That is right. Statues of the Angel stand before each of the four main gates in the city walls. The people of the city pray before them every morning.”
“Oh, there are already four of them?”
“But have we met somewhere before? No, I would remember seeing such a handsome young man. Your face seems strangely familiar...”
That was it.
It was my city.
This rescue party had come from my Extreme Lunatic Hell City!
But apparently three years had passed.
Last time, roughly six months had passed, but this time, it seemed about three years had gone by.
That was why Extreme Lunatic Hell Village had become Extreme Lunatic Hell City after six months.
And now, after three years...
It had become Extreme Lunatic Hell Big City!
‘Wait. He said the population was one hundred thousand, right?’
The last time I saw it, there had been no more than around ten thousand people.
The population had increased tenfold in only three years?
It had become a city with the enormous population of one hundred thousand?
It was simply... amazing!
“Ohhh...! A population of one hundred thousand!!! Is this not a complete metropolis?! A population of one hundred thousand in the world inside the Tower, what a truly great and magnificent city!!!”
“You said only one hundred thousand was...”
“That was when it was someone else's city.”
“?”
A population of one hundred thousand in someone else's city was a primitive country village.
A population of one hundred thousand in my city was naturally a magnificent metropolis.
But something suddenly made me curious.
“If three years have passed, who rules the city now? Is Valdemar still ruling it?”
“You know Deputy Mayor Valdemar von Rosenberg... You must have been to our city before. Yes. Deputy Mayor Valdemar is governing the city.”
“Deputy mayor? Then who is the mayor?”
“The mayor's seat has been left empty.”
The knight said that, then continued with a solemn expression.
“The owner of that position can only be the Angel. They say the deputy mayor still personally cleans the mayor's office every day, preparing for the day the Angel returns.”
“...!”
Wow.
Three years had passed, and they had left my position open.
He even cleaned it every day?
I nodded with a satisfied expression.
“Valdemar, you little... You understand this great one's magnificence! To leave the mayor's seat open for me!”
Of course people should know how to repay kindness!
What an admirable fellow!
When I met him later, I should promote him or something.
Ah, above deputy mayor was only mayor.
That was a problem.
Hyeji grumbled from beside me.
“Jiho. Are you making that mayor joke again?”
“I really am the mayor.”
“Sure, sure.”
“No, I really am. This is so unfair.”
I really was a mayor!!!
So from now on, they should call me Mr. Mayor and grant me the authority to skim taxes and budgets into my back pocket, and the authority to replace sidewalk paving stones!
Anyway!
“So where did you bring those people from? They all look terribly exhausted. I see a lot of people who are skin and bones.”
“From all over the wasteland. Many have not heard that the city was built and still wander the ruins. Our job is to rescue them and bring them to the city. It is very rewarding work.”
The knight spoke with a pleased expression, as though he took pride in his work.
But a shadow soon fell over his face.
“But the problem is... the wasteland is far too vast. Monsters are everywhere too. Far more people starve to death or become monster food before we can find them. This time, we went to the village beyond that canyon... but we were too late.”
“...”
“If we had arrived only a little sooner, they could have lived... It is truly regrettable.”
Hmm.
That was a little regrettable.
In a world I had gone to the trouble of saving, I did not like people starving to death or becoming monster food again.
And then.
I thought.
What did more people mean?
It meant the city's population would increase.
What did an increase in the city's population mean?
An increase in labor!
And what did an increase in labor mean?
My city, Extreme Lunatic Hell City, would develop even further!
In other words.
Rescuing Chimpis was the mayor's job!
Valdemar had waited for three years, even scrubbing the mayor's office with toothpaste.
This great one should do at least one mayor-like task, right?
“Hyeji. Yejin. Go with those locals and clear out the monsters nearby.”
“What about you, Jiho?”
“I am going to pick up some Chimpis.”
“...Pick them up?”
Hyeji looked at me in confusion.
I turned toward the knight and spoke.
“Ordinary knight. Your heart, wishing to save these pitiful Chimpis, is admirable. This great one shall lend a hand, so consider it an honor for your family.”
At my words, the knight answered with an exasperated expression.
“Huh. I cannot get used to that way of speaking at all. Anyway... You want to help us? Your mind may not be sound, but your heart is warm. But we will accept only the thought. The wasteland is endlessly vast, so walking on two feet will not be enough. And your mind is not sound either...”
“? Who said I would walk?”
Why walk when it was such a hassle?
It wasn't like I was a pedestrian.
I gave my order quietly.
“Iing Iing. Let us go find the pitiful Chimpis. Takeoff!”
“Iing!”
Pop!
Iing Iing's Psychokinetic Flight activated.
My body began rising high into the sky.
My field of vision rapidly widened.
Then the people on the ground began to stir.
“A-a person is flying in the sky?!”
“That is impossible...!”
“A person flying in the sky, and that face. Could it be... could it be the statue's...?!”
The people on the wagons sprang to their feet.
The soldiers dropped their spears and swords with a Clatter.
The knight stared up at me with his mouth hanging open.
And I.
Raised my staff high and shouted.
“It is time for the Extreme Lunatic Hell Rescue Helicopter!!!”
“Iing!!!”
Iing Iing raised her little arm high and copied me.
Cute!
And right then.
Flash!
The space above my head brightened.
It was a little early today.
I looked up at the top of my head.
And there, naturally, was...
Flash, flash, flash, flash, flash!
The proof of an Angel, Halo!
A Halo much larger than yesterday's appeared above me, scattering radiant golden light.
It looked to have a radius of about two meters.
Since it had grown larger, the light was brighter too, which I liked.
Anyway, after looking at the Halo, I nodded in satisfaction.
“A golden rotor appeared at just the right time!”
That was right.
If it was an Extreme Lunatic Hell Rescue Helicopter, it should at least have a golden rotor!
Of course!
Footnotes:
Jiho's claims about a 70,000-year Korean history, Hwanguk, the Dinosaur Five Traitors, and the Hwan-Fin War parody fringe ultranationalist conspiracy memes.
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