WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 21: 021
──────
Morning.
I opened my eyes and shuffled into the living room.
"Sis. What's for breakfast today...?"
I was about to ask about the usual breakfast menu.
Then I had no choice but to stop dead in my tracks.
Someone I never expected to see was sitting at the table.
"Hyeji? Why are you at our house this early in the morning?"
It was none other than Na Hyeji, my SS-rank porter.
Looking utterly worn out, she shouted.
"Because someone didn't wake me up yesterday, I just kept sleeping!"
"Don't tell me you slept on the living room floor all night?"
"Yes. Isn't that really mean? You went straight into your room and slept by yourself. I ended up sleeping on the hard floor because of that. Now my arms and legs are all stiff, and my neck feels awful..."
"Oh-ho."
Hyeji had been sprawled out in the living room, sleeping like a log.
It looked like she had slept right through until dawn, when my sister found her.
I let her complaints go in one ear and out the other.
"Hyeji, you should be grateful to my sister."
"...Why?"
"Our living room floor is really clean. My sister always cleans thoroughly. At least you probably didn't eat dust while sleeping on the floor."
"..."
Ignoring Hyeji's dumbfounded stare, I sat at the table.
Today's breakfast was soybean paste stew.
Its rich, hot flavor was incredible.
Just then, my sister brought over some side dishes and spoke.
"You two are noisy first thing in the morning. Why are you fighting so much?"
"Jiye, your brother's weird."
"...I know that too. Anyway, Hyeji, you said you'd be here until dinner, right?"
"Yeah. Yesterday was so exhausting that it's hard to move, and my body feels heavy... I'll rest at your place for a while, go to the Tower, then head home."
"All right. Rest in my room."
"Thanks. That was a good meal. I'm going to sleep some more."
Creak.
Na Hyeji quickly finished eating, sprang to her feet, and went into my sister's room.
She was probably going to make up for the sleep she had missed.
I stayed at the table and continued my meal.
As I mixed rice into my soybean paste soup, my sister spoke quietly.
"You two seem to have gotten pretty close."
"...?"
What was that supposed to mean?
My sister continued.
"Hyeji gets really shy around people, so she doesn't usually raise her voice like that. She's only like that around people she's really close to."
I thought back to my first impression of Na Hyeji.
That was true.
At first, she had seemed timid, shy, and introverted.
She had even worn glasses she didn't need to hide her face because she was embarrassed.
But now, she whined, threw tantrums, and yelled at the slightest thing.
Na Hyeji was completely different from how she had been at first.
"Seeing how close you've become... I guess you've treated her well? I was worried your personalities might clash, but it's a relief that you've adjusted so well."
"Have I treated her well?"
I thought carefully about everything I had done for Hyeji.
"Here. Hurry up and collect the loot."
"The texture feels a little weird, doesn't it? You'll get used to it. Don't worry."
"Cheer up, cheer up! Hyeji, you can do it! Don't lose to mere loot!"
"Once a porter, always a porter! Bravo, porter! Lai lai cha cha cha! Hey, ppapari ppa!"
"Whether in hardship or joy, love your work as a porter!"
"Do you know those toys called liquid monsters? Slime, you know."
Hmm. I had treated her well.
Whenever she hesitated in front of a corpse, I had stood beside her and forcibly encouraged her.
Every day, I had generously shown her all kinds of spectacles with magic, Goblin talent shows.
I was even giving her an express ride all the way to Floor 20.
I had definitely treated her well enough.
'But honestly, I don't think we've gotten close. I think her personality just got worse.'
Hunters naturally had bad tempers.
Seeing blood every day made them more aggressive.
Hyeji was an SS-rank porter who dug through piles of Goblin blood and gore for loot.
No matter how introverted she was, her personality was bound to get rougher.
My sister didn't know that, so seeing Hyeji whine made her think we had become very close.
I shrugged and changed the subject.
"Well, we do rough work together. But did you already get rid of the loot that was in the living room? I don't see it."
"Yeah. I changed suppliers recently, and they're really good at their job. The moment I called, they came right over and took everything away. They don't even haggle over pointless things, and they pay the proper price right away..."
"You must be having a hard time managing all that, Sis."
That morning was a little noisier than usual.
* * *
[Transferring 1667 Points to the ‘Republic of Korea’.]
"Hunter Baek Jiho. We have confirmed 1,667 Points. We will deposit 16.67 million won into your designated account. The Republic of Korea will remember your dedication!"
"Yes. Thank you for your work."
After going to the Tower Climber Management Branch and checking in, I returned home and immediately opened Hunter Gallery.
└HunterNet: Please check your messages.
It was because of the comment from yesterday.
I muttered to myself.
"So HunterNet finally sent me an invitation."
HunterNet.
It was an exclusive community that only accepted active Hunters, and only real Hunters who had reached at least Floor 5.
By real Hunters, they meant people who genuinely wanted to climb the Tower, not lower-floor squatters cash-farming or inactive Hunters.
It had plenty of high-quality information.
You could trade, hold auctions, and recruit party members, making it useful in many ways.
HunterNet had sent me an invitation.
Of course I intended to join.
'I started posting on Hunter Gallery in the first place to get a HunterNet invitation.'
Anyone with Hunter connections could easily get an invitation code and join.
But I had no Hunter connections.
All I could do was post regularly on Hunter Gallery and reveal which floors I had cleared.
Somehow, that process had gotten me branded as a shameless troll playing a fake persona...
'It's unfair.'
I had only told the truth.
My power was so far beyond common sense that I had become a bullshit-spouting liar and toxic attention seeker.
Nobody believed in the power of the great Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter.
'Still, it was fun.'
Every time I made a brag post, people got so furious they practically collapsed. How was I supposed to resist that?
Anyway.
"They kept not sending an invitation, so I thought they were completely ignoring me. At least they sent one eventually. Let's see... the registration process is..."
HunterNet was an extremely closed-off community for Hunters, so its registration process was complicated.
Click!
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)]
[0 Points]
[Republic of Korea Hunter Registration Card]
[Baek Jiho] [Lower Floors (1-10)]
I had to enter the invitation code from the message and attach photos of both my status window and Hunter Registration Card to verify my membership.
Their determination to never accept ordinary people or cash-farming scum was painfully clear.
Then again, HunterNet had split off from Hunter Gallery after it became overcrowded with ordinary people and cash farmers.
They must have wanted to accept only Hunters who were truly Hunter-like as members.
'Come to think of it, Hyeji should be able to join too, since she's reached Floor 8.'
I had an invitation code now, so it would be good for Hyeji to join too.
"Hyeji!"
"What is it?"
Bang.
Hyeji opened my bedroom door and appeared.
She was wearing a simple T-shirt, apparently borrowed from my sister.
I told her the invitation code.
"I got a HunterNet invitation code. You should join too, Hyeji."
"Wow... They really sent an invitation after reading those crazy persona posts? HunterNet is doomed."
"Ahem. Don't insult HunterNet just because they finally saw the light. Anyway, join. It's good for getting high-quality information."
"Sure, why not."
Hyeji also verified her status window and Hunter ID, then joined HunterNet.
At last, I could access the community of established Hunters.
I began looking around HunterNet with interest.
[(Trade) Selling E-rank Doping Potions.]
[(Information) Loot price chart.]
[(General) Enough chitchat. Have you all eaten?^^]
[(Recruitment) Looking for party members to clear Floor 14.]
[(General) Is the cutoff for immigrating to Japan still Floor 11?]
[(Notice) This week's invitation codes.]
...
After casually browsing HunterNet's posts, my impression was simple.
'This site is boring as hell. It's full of serious people.'
It couldn't be helped.
HunterNet was a completely real-name-based site.
[Author: Kim Manho (9)]
[Author: Choi Yunmi (6)]
[Author: Park Yeongchan (8)]
[Author: Lee Jinsu (14)]
[Author: Kim Taeyun (11)]...
Everyone's real name was displayed, along with the floor they were currently climbing.
It wasn't nearly as freewheeling as Hunter Gallery.
Of course, that also meant I could get more reliable information...
'Honestly, Hunter Gallery has enough information about the Lower Floors. I don't think I need to be active here yet.'
I would probably use it more often once I reached the Middle Floors.
'And I can't even stir up trouble here. It's dangerous.'
HunterNet displayed real names and floor numbers.
If I acted up here and got on the bad side of a High Floor Hunter, my life could become truly miserable.
Honestly, with my current abilities, I could probably crush even Middle Floors Hunters easily...
But I had no idea whether my abilities would work against High Floor Hunters.
It seemed dangerous to cause trouble right away.
That was only true for now, of course.
'It'll be fun to draw aggro on HunterNet once I reach the High Floors.'
Once I got to around Floor 40, nobody would be able to say anything even if I openly stirred up trouble, right?
As I scrolled down while thinking about this and that, I happened to spot a familiar name.
I read the post.
[Post Title: My climb has stalled because I injured my hand...]
[Author: Kwak Hyeokjun (8)]
I injured my hand.
Because of the Hunter General Mobilization Order, I still have to pay Points.
So I am only going to the Lower Floors, killing one or two Goblins, and paying the minimum required Points.
The Hunter team I had been leading has practically disbanded.
It is an incredibly frustrating situation...
I am in a hurry to get to Japan...
Everyone, please take care of yourselves.
└Ma Jaewoo (9): Oh no. How did you get hurt?
└└Kwak Hyeokjun (8): There was a woman I liked, so I confessed to her like a man. Then her younger brother came out and attacked me... He cowardly caught me off guard, so I injured my hand.
└└Ma Jaewoo (9): ?
The name Kwak Hyeokjun.
A Floor 8 Hunter. He had led a Hunter team. His hand was injured.
I dug through memories from less than a week ago and finally remembered.
"This bastard... He's the piece of shit who hit on my sister?!"
I remembered.
On the day I had gone through the Tutorial, he had come all the way to our house, hit on my sister, then gotten beaten up by me and run away.
Thinking about it made anger surge through me.
I held it in and left a comment.
└└Baek Jiho (8): You bastard still haven't come to your senses even after I wrecked one of your hands. Confessed like a man? You said that shit to my sister? You're really hopeless. If I see you next time, you're dead.
Soon after I posted the comment...
[(This post has been deleted.)]
The post was deleted.
He must have seen my comment, panicked, deleted the post, and fled.
I clenched my fist.
"I should've beaten him up more thoroughly back then..."
"Why are you seething by yourself?"
"It's nothing. I just found an unpleasant guy on HunterNet."
Anyway, I had joined HunterNet.
But Hunter Gallery was still my home in my heart.
I closed HunterNet and logged into Hunter Gallery.
* * *
Floor 8.
The so-called hunting ground.
It was the floor we would clear today.
'It's a popular floor among Hunters for several reasons.'
As long as they didn't get greedy, it was relatively safe and allowed them to earn a steady amount of money.
It was where Hunters in the latter half of the Lower Floors, who had given up on challenging the Middle Floors, settled down.
That was why Floor 8 had another name, the second cash-farming floor.
Click.
I searched Hunter Gallery for posts about Floor 8.
[How long does it take you all to clear Floor 8?]
[You should safely poke around near the starting point.]
[Ah... I guess this is as far as I go. I can't even imagine clearing Floor 9, so I'll just make money on Floor 8.]
[When am I supposed to save 1000 Points, fuck.]
[Is it true that Hard-ranks clear Floor 8 in three days? Damn.]
Floor 8 was a floor where each person had to collect 1000 Points.
There was a Return Portal and a small stone tower at the starting point.
Once each person collected a thousand Points, the tower's door opened, revealing the Escape Portal inside and allowing them to clear the floor.
I read some of the posts that caught my eye.
[Post Title: How long does it take you all to clear Floor 8?]
You have to kill 1000 Goblins per person, right?
That's a fucking lot of Goblins.
How long does it take to clear?
└If you play it safe, about 20 days.
└└(Author) What the fuck, it takes 20 days?
└└Yeah. There aren't many Goblins around the starting area. You can only kill around 50 a day at most. Going north is way too dangerous, though.
└└(Author) Why is north dangerous?
└└There are lots of Goblin Archers and Warriors if you go north. There are only regular Goblins around the starting area, so it's easy, but it gets dangerous fast if you go in even a little deeper... Unless you're Normal-rank, just camp safely around the starting area.
...
The standard strategy for Floor 8 was to camp at the starting area.
The farther you got from the starting point, the more higher-tier monsters such as Goblin Archers and Warriors appeared.
Their numbers also increased exponentially.
Easy-rank Hunters had to hole up near the starting point, kill 50 Goblins a day, return to reality, and repeat that twenty times.
Like commuting to work.
On the first day, kill 50 Goblins, return to reality, and resupply.
On the second day, kill 50 Goblins, return to reality, and resupply.
On the third day, kill 50 Goblins, return to reality, and resupply...
They had to repeat that nonsense twenty whole times!
As a result, the average clear time for Easy-rank Hunters on Floor 8 was a whopping 20 days.
It was absurdly long.
"They spend 20 days on a single floor? Do they have that much time to waste? Mere mortals... Tsk, tsk."
The SS-rank porter beside me needled me, but I ignored her.
How dare a Hyeji support tool criticize this noble damage dealer?
I couldn't indulge her. She would get spoiled.
Anyway.
'The average clear time for Floor 8 was 20 days for Easy-rank, 10 days for Normal-rank, and 3 days for Hard-rank... right?'
Floor 8 was structured so that the more risk you took, the faster you could clear it.
Poking around only near the starting point took a full 20 days.
But hunting a little farther north took 10 days.
Going even deeper let you collect 1000 Points in only 3 days.
1000 Points.
It was an enormous amount for Easy-rank, Normal-rank, and Hard-rank Hunters.
But to an Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter like me, it was an utterly trivial amount.
Just yesterday, I had earned 1677 Points.
Earning 2000 Points in total, including Na Hyeji's share, would take no time at all.
I nodded and held out my hand.
"Let's go, Hyeji."
"Sigh... Today's going to be exhausting too."
My eyes gleamed at the thought of slaughtering Goblins.
Na Hyeji lamented the hard labor ahead.
We held hands.
"Entering the Tower."
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)]
[Na Hyeji (Republic of Korea: Floor 8)]
[Please select the floor you wish to enter.]
"Floor 8."
[Entering Tower Floor 8.]
Fwoosh!
The clear of Floor 8 had begun.
Footnotes:
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