WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 26: 026
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It was sad.
“Senior Uncle! Why are you backing away?”
My senior was turning their back on a junior so eager to learn.
My shy sensibilities had been wounded.
Instead of finding their distant junior adorable, they were clearly uncomfortable and trying to leave...!
There was no helping it.
“Please forgive this junior’s disrespect, Senior Uncle!”
I wanted to receive instruction in magic as peacefully as possible.
But if they wouldn’t willingly teach me, I had no choice but to use slightly more forceful methods.
‘Earth Manipulation.’
Crunch!
Dirt and stone surged up from the ground, binding the feet of the retreating Goblin Shaman.
“Kerruk?!”
The Goblin Shaman froze in surprise when its feet were bound.
Thud.
It was so flustered that it even dropped its staff, the lifeline of a wizard.
“Ha ha. Senior Uncle, you need to keep better hold of your staff. Here, your staff. Don’t drop it again.”
I picked up the staff from the ground and placed it back in the Goblin Shaman’s hand.
A look of utter bewilderment passed through its eyes.
I repeated my request.
“Come on, Senior Uncle! Show me some new magic!”
“...Kerrrrrrrruk!”
Had its pride been wounded somehow?
The Goblin Shaman suddenly twisted its face and began preparing magic.
It was Fireball’s arrangement again.
“No! Please show me something else, Senior Uncle!”
I dismantled it without even needing to look.
Fsssss...
The arrangement of Blue Motes scattered weakly.
“Kieeeek!”
The enraged Goblin Shaman prepared magic once more.
Fireball again.
I dispelled it.
Fsssss...
The magical arrangement vanished.
The process repeated several more times.
Hyeji, who had been watching, spoke with a dumbfounded expression.
“...What exactly are you doing?”
“I’m receiving instruction from Senior Uncle. Maybe it’s a secret technique, but they aren’t teaching me easily.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know this isn’t normal.”
Well, that was fair.
Hyeji couldn’t see Blue Motes, so the scene probably looked strange from Hyeji’s perspective.
A Goblin Shaman and a great Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard were standing face-to-face, taking turns waving their staffs through the air.
But I was serious.
‘If things go well, I might gain new magic. I need to check thoroughly.’
I alone could use Fireball, Air Bullet, Wind Cutter, Earth Manipulation, and several other spells.
So this Goblin Shaman in front of me might know magic besides Fireball too.
It was worth checking.
Hummmmm...!
Fsssss...
Hummmmm...!
Fsssss...
How many times had Fireball’s arrangement appeared and vanished?
Little by little, disappointment crept in.
‘Ah... I guess I can’t learn any new magic after all?’
I thought I might be able to learn something besides Fireball, but it kept making nothing but Fireballs.
It couldn’t be helped.
‘It’s about time to send Senior Uncle to Goblin Heaven.’
Just as I was about to prepare magic.
“Kieeeek!”
Maybe it was angry that its spells kept failing.
The Goblin Shaman raised its staff and began drawing a new arrangement!
‘Finally!’
At last!
Hummmmm...!
A new arrangement of Blue Motes appeared in the air.
I carefully observed the arrangement the Goblin Shaman was creating.
‘Inside overlapping circles, three triangles and one inverted triangle join together... to form one large triangle?’
Unlike the circles, diamonds, and squares I had seen before, this arrangement was centered around triangles.
The moment I saw it, I instinctively understood what kind of magic it was.
‘This feels like an arrangement that controls water.’
As if to prove my intuition right.
Splash!
A large mass of water appeared in midair and rippled.
Water Release on this scale where there was no water?
“Kieeeek!”
Having finally completed its magic, the Goblin Shaman cried out triumphantly.
It looked very pleased.
Its spell had kept failing, and now that it had finally succeeded, it seemed filled with accomplishment.
My senior was happy, so I was happy too.
“Thank you, Senior Uncle.”
I casually fired an Air Bullet.
Thwack!
A hole opened in the Goblin Shaman’s forehead, and it toppled over.
Senior Uncle had passed away.
I lightly lowered my head in a moment of silence.
“Thank you, Senior Uncle. No, Master. Senior Uncle, who taught me new magic, is my second master.”
“Jiho. You really seem like a crazy person.”
Hyeji snarked from beside me, but I ignored her.
How could an ordinary person who didn’t belong to the martial world understand loyalty and chivalry?
Anyway.
I had learned new magic!
This time, it was water magic.
* * *
The magic I had newly acquired.
Simply put, it fired high-pressure water.
Think of a Water Jet cutter.
It was magic that sprayed high-pressure water and sliced through enemies.
Shhhhhh!
The water floating in the air compressed and shot forward in a long stream.
“Kieeeek!”
“Kyaaaak!”
Slice. Slice.
The two Goblin Warriors that became test subjects for my magic were cleanly cut apart.
At first glance, it felt similar to Wind Cutter.
But there was one crucial difference.
‘Wind Cutter feels like a single shot, while Water Jet feels like a sustained beam.’
It consumed more Blue Motes than Wind Cutter.
Still, because it was sustained rather than a single shot, it seemed far more versatile.
If I adjusted the arrangement to change the water stream’s trajectory, I could even make wide-ranging attacks, like swinging around a laser made of water.
‘It seems useful in a large-scale melee.’
For example, if enemies surrounded me from all sides.
If I sprayed Water Jet and spun around once, every enemy around me would be chopped in half.
I imagined it for a moment.
A horde of Goblins rushing in from every direction.
I fired Water Jet and spun around once, enemies collapsing in heaps after being cut in half.
I stood proudly in the middle of the bisected corpses.
Heh. That would look pretty cool.
‘Its cutting power seems stronger than Wind Cutter too.’
Shhhk. Slice.
I fired Water Jet at the wall.
The hard stone bricks were cleanly sliced along the stream of water.
Wind Cutter had struggled to cut bricks.
But Water Jet cut through them so easily, in thick chunks, like tofu.
If I got trapped somewhere later, I could cut through the wall and escape.
As I practiced magic while thinking about such things.
“Jiho. I’ve collected all the loot.”
Hyeji, who had been loading loot into the cart, told me so.
I nodded.
“Then shall we head back? I think we’ve killed all ten Goblin Shamans.”
“...We finished off all ten Shamans ages ago. You insisted on continuing because you wanted to practice magic.”
“Oh, did we?”
After learning water magic, I had kept following the path, practicing magic as I defeated various enemies.
Somewhere along the way, it seemed we had completed the goal of killing ten Goblin Shamans.
For the record, I hadn’t learned any magic besides water magic.
I tried hard to squeeze new magic out of the other Senior Uncles I caught...
But all they knew was Fireball and Water Jet.
I couldn’t gain any more magic.
‘Were Fireball and Water Jet the only unique martial arts of our sect? What a shame.’
Such was the sorrow of a weak sect.
Other people probably learned divine arts and peerless techniques, throwing out awesome spells like Meteor and Earthquake.
But our sect was some tiny backwater sect. All it could do was throw fireballs or spray streams of water...
Unlike the corrupt old powerhouses, like the Nine Great Sects and Five Great Families, our foundation was far too weak.
But that was okay.
Wasn’t it a classic for a genius protagonist from a weak sect to revive it?
I clenched my fist and made a vow.
‘Masters in heaven, please watch over me. I’ll definitely revive our sect!’
It felt like my two masters in heaven were smiling gently.
Anyway.
That brought the number of elements I could wield to four.
Water Jet. Water.
Fireball. Fire.
Air Bullet, Wind Cutter. Wind.
Earth Manipulation. Earth.
It was a strangely familiar combination.
‘This is the complete set of the four major fantasy magic elements.’
Elemental magic, I supposed.
Water, fire, wind, and earth.
The basic spells that always appeared in fantasy magic.
I had somehow learned all of them.
Was that why?
‘Right now, I feel like I might be able to apply or modify magic somehow...’
Modifying magic.
I had actually tried it several times before.
But I failed every time.
Whenever I completely changed the composition of an existing arrangement and drew a new one, the Blue Motes scattered apart.
Then my soul stung.
It was probably backlash from a failed spell.
But perhaps because I had all the basic elements now?
I had a feeling that I could apply those arrangements to create new magic, or even modify them.
I should try it once I got home.
Anyway.
“All right, Hyeji. Let’s go home and eat. How does beef sound today? My treat.”
“Meat...? Urgh...”
“Hyeji, you still have such a weak stomach. How disgusting could a few bisected corpses be?”
“That’s because you’re the weird one, Jiho...”
The conquest of Floor 10 was over.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 10)]
[You have completed Tower Floor 10.]
[You have defeated 211 Goblin Warriors (10).]
[You have defeated 23 Goblin Shamans (100).]
[Points are being calculated.]
[Tower Floor 11 has been unlocked.]
[Returning.]
I learned new magic.
I also met plenty of fellow sect members.
It had been a truly fruitful conquest.
* * *
Right after returning, I opened my status window.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 11)]
[4,410 Points]
“4,410 Points... I didn’t kill that many Goblins, but I made quite a bit, didn’t I?”
It was thanks to killing over twenty Goblin Shamans.
Each one gave 100 Points.
Every one of my Senior Uncles had given me the equivalent of 100 Goblins’ worth of Points!
Suddenly, my chest tightened with emotion.
‘New magic and plenty of Points... as expected, my seniors’ kindness is as vast as the sea.’
I wanted to preserve this overwhelming feeling in writing.
I logged onto Hunter Gallery and quickly wrote a post.
[Post Title: Newbie Met a Master on Floor 10...]
Newbie cleared Floor 10 today.
I happened to meet a master who gave me instruction, and my martial arts advanced another step.
On top of that, they gave me a generous gift...
A master’s kindness is as vast as the sea, so I don’t know how to contain myself...
I’m so touched.
└?
└Am I the only one who doesn’t understand this post? What master? What martial arts?
└He kept posting this concept stuff, and now he’s finally lost his mind?
A flood of bait-filled comments appeared.
But I didn’t care.
This was only to record the emotions I felt.
I hadn’t written it expecting other people to understand in the first place.
‘I should buy a carnation for Teacher’s Day.’
Teacher’s Day had already passed this year.
But next year, I would definitely buy a carnation, decorate a corner of my room with it, and honor my masters’ kindness.
“Anyway... does this make me a Middle Floors Hunter now?”
I turned my gaze to the status window.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 11)]
The words “Floor 11” were clearly displayed in the status window.
At last, I had become a Middle Floors Hunter.
I was now one of the elite personnel in Korea, with only around two thousand people at that level.
My treatment would improve from now on.
“I should go to the branch office tomorrow and apply for promotion.”
But before that, I had something to do.
Glance.
I looked at my sister, who had already opened my door and entered.
“Jiho! Did your Tower run go well?”
“Yeah. Looks like you’re already done getting ready, sis.”
“Let’s go buy a car! Hurry!”
While I had been on Floor 10, my sister had apparently been brimming with anticipation about buying a car.
She had already dressed up and finished getting ready to go out.
I smiled and stood up.
“Sure. Let’s go. I just need to change clothes.”
* * *
“Hunter Baek Jiho has cleared Floor 10!”
Inside the Vice Minister’s office at the Climber Management Department, Manager Lee continued in an enthusiastic voice.
“He cleared Floor 10 after only ten days of climbing! He raised his floor by one every day! Not once did he get stuck!”
“...”
“It’s the shortest record in history! Considering the limit of entering the Tower once per day, it’s also a record that can never be broken!”
The Climber Management Department had been watching Baek Jiho.
Baek Jiho, the sixth Tower climber in South Korea to come from Hard-rank.
He was climbing the Tower faster than any climber in history.
He had finally reached Floor 11.
It was an achievement completed in only ten days.
“We have to recruit him immediately, Vice Minister! At this rate, he could immigrate!”
Manager Lee urged recruitment once again.
But Vice Minister Kim Hyeongtae shook his head.
“Haven’t I already told you that immediate recruitment would be difficult?”
South Korea was on the verge of destruction.
They didn’t have the means to protect a Hard-rank Hunter who had just reached the Middle Floors.
“The United States and Europe can offer far more than we can, and who knows what crazy things China and Russia might do. Hiding Baek Jiho’s information is the top priority for now.”
“What if he suddenly immigrates to another country?”
“He must know how extraordinary he is. Even if he plans to immigrate, he’ll probably raise his floor as much as possible before the destruction first. It’s unlikely that he’ll leave immediately.”
“But...”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean we’ll sit around and do nothing.”
Rustle.
Vice Minister Kim Hyeongtae picked up a document from his desk.
It bore the symbol of the National Intelligence Service.
“Discussions with First Deputy Director Han of the National Intelligence Service have been completed. They intend to assign one of their agents exclusively to Baek Jiho.”
“Exclusively?”
“Once someone becomes a Middle Floors Hunter, they receive an assigned civil servant, don’t they? We’ll assign an agent from the National Intelligence Service instead.”
“Why the National Intelligence Service...?”
“Because their budget isn’t publicly visible.”
The Vice Minister smiled faintly.
The face of the National Intelligence Service’s First Deputy Director, who had grimaced over having part of their budget siphoned away, came to mind.
“It means we can provide support on the level of formal recruitment without a visible budget. We’ll be able to help Baek Jiho grow without other countries noticing.”
“What if he takes the support and runs off to another country? If he isn’t formally recruited, there won’t be much binding him.”
“Well. Looking at these posts, he doesn’t seem like someone so faithless.”
Glance.
Vice Minister Kim shifted his gaze to the documents on his desk.
They were posts Baek Jiho had written online so far.
[I finally understand what it means for the lives of the people to rest in my hands...]
[From now on, I shouldn’t just chase money. I need to earn lots of Points and save lots of my fellow citizens.]
[Hoo... Today, I saved 9,318 citizens of the Republic of Korea.]
[I feel proud. It feels good.]
Had something changed in his state of mind lately?
Posts saying he felt proud to save people had started appearing throughout his writing.
To others, they might have looked like nothing but the boastful lies of a liar...
But to the Vice Minister, who knew Baek Jiho’s extraordinary nature, they felt somewhat sincere.
“At the very least, don’t you think he’s not the kind of man who would take our support and flee to another country?”
“You’re making this decision because of posts he wrote online? Couldn’t it just be a passing emotion?”
“It could be. But... for some reason, I feel that this man won’t abandon his homeland unless it truly comes down to the final moment.”
The Vice Minister intended to work with the National Intelligence Service to support him discreetly.
It would not be formal recruitment, but they would provide massive support on the level of formal recruitment and help him reach the Upper Floors as quickly as possible.
Of course, since it was not official recruitment by the government, there would be almost no legal power binding him...
‘We can only leave that to his conscience.’
This was the only way to support a Hard-rank Hunter without drawing the attention of other countries.
Vice Minister Kim Hyeongtae prayed that he would not turn his back on his homeland and leave.
It was the day Baek Jiho became a Middle Floors Hunter.
Footnotes:
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