WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

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Chapter 3: 003

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-Hummmmmm!

The staff let out an intense resonant hum.

A brilliant light burst forth, illuminating the dark underground chamber in an instant.

I couldn't help but panic.

'W-What? What the hell is happening?!'

The old, unimpressive staff in my hand.

I'd only picked it up by chance.

So what was this sudden change? I had no idea what was going on.

Then, suddenly.

'Ah.'

I felt something strange.

'I'm connected to the staff.'

Yes. Connected.

That was the only way to describe it.

Something inside me, perhaps a piece of what could be called my soul, seeped into the staff.

It felt as though the staff and I had become one.

Then certainty rose within me.

'Blue Motes.'

Those special particles that nobody else could see, the ones only I could see.

Those beautiful clusters of light with their dreamlike presence.

Until now, all I could do was watch them.

'I can control them now.'

I could move the Blue Motes however I wanted.

As if possessed, I gripped the staff tightly.

-Hummmmmm!

Light burst out again.

The rough resonance shook the underground chamber.

Blue Motes gathered at the tip of the staff and condensed.

Then.

-Kieeeek!

A goblin's cry rang in my ears.

I turned toward the other side of the barrier.

-Keek! Kekh...!

-Kuruk... Kuruk...

The goblins that had mocked and ridiculed me so openly just moments ago.

Their attitudes had completely changed.

The Goblin Warrior slowly backed away, terror written all over its face.

The Goblin Shaman trembled as it held its staff, its face filled with shock.

They clearly feared me, like prey standing before a predator.

But something even stranger happened.

'Were they always this insignificant-looking?'

The Goblin Warrior.

The Goblin Shaman.

They suddenly felt like they were nothing.

It was strange.

Just moments ago, I had been so terrified that I couldn't even look at them properly.

Now they seemed as laughable as bugs crawling along the roadside.

A hollow laugh escaped me.

'Have I gone insane? Those monsters look laughable to me?'

Something abnormal had definitely changed.

The goblins and I had both felt it, which was probably why this situation had happened.

There was one problem, though.

'I don't know how to use this staff.'

The staff in my hand was clearly no ordinary item.

But I had no idea how to use it.

How the hell was I supposed to use this thing?

I glanced at the remaining time.

[Time remaining until the Safe Zone is lifted: 01:11]

Only one minute remained.

The Safe Zone would soon be lifted, and the real battle would begin.

I had to figure out how to use this staff before then...

'How the hell do I use it?'

The only thing I knew was that this staff let me move the Blue Motes as I pleased.

I had no idea how to use them to defeat those things.

I wasn't asking for a friendly tutorial on how to use it.

Still, it would be nice if there was at least something I could refer to...

'...Wait.'

I turned my gaze toward the goblins.

The Goblin Shaman was staring at me with a stiff expression.

-Whoosh!

A fireball still floated above its staff.

The spell it had prepared from the moment it first saw me was still active.

As I stared at that fireball, I saw it.

'The arrangement of Blue Motes the Goblin Shaman created.'

The fireball created by the Goblin Shaman.

I could clearly see the pattern of Blue Motes behind it.

I made a guess.

'If I copy that pattern, can I use a spell too? That fireball seems to be made of Blue Motes as well.'

I should try it first.

I quickly began copying the arrangement of Blue Motes beyond the fireball.

It wasn't particularly difficult.

'A circle, a diamond inside it, then another circle...'

It was a simple structure made of repeated straight lines and circles.

The Blue Motes gathered on my staff arranged themselves exactly where I intended.

It was easier and simpler than I expected.

It felt like placing pixels one at a time in a computer drawing program.

I copied the arrangement of Blue Motes I could see beyond the fireball.

-Whoosh!

A fireball appeared above my staff.

I had perfectly copied the Goblin Shaman's fireball spell.

Amazing.

Was this what spellcraft was?

I raised my head and looked at the Goblin Shaman again.

-...Keruk?! Keruk! Kerurururuk!!!

Had it realized that I'd copied its spell?

Its stiff expression had vanished, and it was shrieking something furiously.

But it still wasn't enough.

'It feels kind of crude.'

Copying the goblin's spell was certainly interesting and amazing.

At the same time, I wasn't satisfied.

It felt like I could do better. Why did I have to use it exactly as it was?

I began adjusting the completed pattern bit by bit.

'The gaps between the particles should be tighter and more precise. The overall size should be larger.'

As I adjusted the pattern, the fireball above my staff changed completely.

-Fwoooosh!

It grew larger, and the power contained within it became stronger.

The Goblin Shaman's fireball had been no bigger than a fist.

The one I created was now as large as a human head.

-Keruk...?!

The Goblin Shaman let out a cry that sounded almost like shock.

It was clearly surprised that I was using a stronger spell than its own.

Honestly, I hadn't expected this to work either.

I only tried because it felt like it might work, but it actually did.

Of course, I wasn't done yet.

'I think I can make several at once. Let's try it.'

I poured the Blue Motes gathered in my staff into several patterns at the same time.

That didn't take long either.

-Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...

Four more fireballs formed and began circling above my staff.

There were five fireballs in total.

-Keruk...

-...

The goblins' faces turned dark as they stared at the five fireballs.

They had gone beyond despair. They looked resigned.

I checked the remaining time.

[Time remaining until the Safe Zone is lifted: 00:10]

"Whew... I think I've figured out how to use this staff."

I let out a relieved sigh.

I'd been terrified because I didn't know how to use it.

Fortunately, copying the Goblin Shaman's spell had let me figure something out.

'Come to think of it, I survived because of that Goblin Shaman.'

I stared at the Goblin Shaman with a dazed expression.

When it first appeared, I thought I was definitely going to die here.

Instead, it had taught me how to use the staff and given me a chance to survive.

If this had been normal Hard difficulty without a shaman, I wouldn't have had even a sliver of hope.

Life really was impossible to predict.

Anyway, I was ready to fight now.

I raised the staff in my hand and aimed it at the goblins beyond the barrier.

-Keruk!

-Kerururu!

Were they intimidated by the five fireballs I'd created?

They turned around and started running away.

...Could Tutorial monsters even run away? I didn't think I'd ever heard of that.

[Time remaining until the Safe Zone is lifted: 00:03]

-Kerururuk! Keruk!

-Keeeeek!

The Goblin Warrior and Goblin Shaman fled into the darkness.

I could no longer see them.

Yet, for some reason, I knew exactly where they were beyond that darkness.

Was this a sixth sense?

It felt like I could grasp this entire space with my mind's eye, or perhaps with my soul, rather than through sight or hearing.

I could clearly see the goblins in the darkness.

[Time remaining until the Safe Zone is lifted: 00:00]

[The Safe Zone is being lifted.]

[Survive.]

The Safe Zone was lifted.

The translucent barrier slowly disappeared.

The pile of weapons at my feet vanished in an instant as well.

Then I extended my staff.

'If I alter part of the pattern like this, it feels like it should fire.'

Relying on nothing but a rough instinct, I tried to fire the spell I'd prepared.

Fortunately, my instinct was right.

-Fwoooosh!

The moment I altered part of the pattern, one fireball shot forward as if it had been waiting for it.

A red trail cut through the deep darkness.

The back of the Goblin Shaman's head came into view.

The fireball I launched slammed into the back of its head.

-Kaboom!

An explosion erupted.

It was several times more powerful than the grenades I'd thrown in the military.

A mist of blood scattered through the air.

Brain matter and chunks of flesh sprayed in every direction.

-Splat!

-Splurch!

-Pat pat.

A few goblin remains flew all the way to my feet and rolled across the ground.

The stench of blood hit my nose.

'...I think I'm going to throw up.'

It was a horrific sight.

Even if it was a monster, it had been caught in an explosion and torn into countless pieces of meat.

Still, I didn't pity it.

If I hadn't gotten this staff, I would have been the one to die like that.

I fought back the rising nausea and calmly searched for my next target.

-Kuruk! Kuruk...!

The Goblin Warrior, which had been fleeing, suddenly stopped.

Had it realized that running was pointless?

It caught its breath for a moment, drew its longsword, and charged at me.

It had chosen one final desperate struggle over running.

I aimed my staff.

'Fire.'

I launched the second fireball.

Fwoooosh!

A red trail pierced the air.

Perhaps it sensed death coming, because it twisted its face and clenched its teeth.

The fireball struck it in the chest.

-Kabooom!

The second explosion.

It wasn't that far away, so I could feel the scorching heat even from here.

Blood mist scattered again, and pieces of flesh sprayed through the air.

Splat. Splurch. Pat pat.

Blood and flesh splattered across my body.

It was disgusting.

-Ding!

Amid the blood dripping down around me, a clear notification sound rang in my ears.

[Congratulations.]

[You survived the trial and proved your qualifications.]

[You have been registered as an official Tower climber.]

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 1)]

[You have defeated Goblin Warrior (10).]

[You have defeated Goblin Shaman (100).]

[Points are being calculated.]

[Returning.]

Flash.

A brilliant glow enveloped me.

* * *

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a familiar place.

My room in a semi-basement rental.

A bed with creaking springs, musty bedding, an old computer and desk, a squeaky wardrobe.

My home, reeking of poverty.

"...Was it a dream?"

The sight was so familiar and comforting that I thought I'd dreamed it for a moment.

A dream where I'd been chosen as a climber, dragged into a Tutorial, encountered a Goblin Warrior and Goblin Shaman, and used something that might have been magic or spellcraft to kill them.

But it definitely wasn't a dream.

Because...

'The smell of blood.'

The staff in my right hand.

The blood covering my entire body.

They painfully told me that it had all been real.

Thud.

My legs gave out, and I collapsed where I stood.

"Fuck..."

It was a curse filled with all kinds of emotions.

Relief that I'd survived.

Mental shock.

Disgust at the blood and its stench.

The unreal feeling of having experienced a difficulty nobody else had.

Even questions about my own ability.

"...First, I need to wash up."

I wanted to collapse and sleep right away, but I didn't want to stain my bed with blood.

I staggered to my feet, went into the bathroom, and took a shower.

-Shhhhh.

As the blood washed off my body, I checked myself in the mirror for injuries.

Fortunately, I wasn't hurt anywhere.

Well, I'd fired fireballs from a distance the whole time. There was no reason I would be injured.

"Blegh! Ugh!"

I even grabbed the toilet and threw up while showering.

Seeing the blood run down the drain made me remember the goblin explosion show, and I couldn't hold back the nausea.

I felt like I was going to develop trauma.

After washing, vomiting, and making a complete mess, I finally lay down in bed.

"Ah, right. I should tell my older sister that I cleared the Tutorial."

I sent a quick text.

[This guy has returned. I survived Extreme Lunatic Hell difficulty. I'm too tired, so I'm going to sleep now.]

After leaving a message that I'd returned safely, I slowly closed my eyes.

I didn't even last ten seconds before I passed out.

It was the day I became a Hunter.

Footnotes:

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