WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 38: 038
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Right after returning to reality.
As usual, I opened my status window.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 16)]
[24,470 Points]
The number 24,470 appeared.
I had originally had 13,880 Points, so...
‘That means I earned 10,590 Points.’
I had earned over 10,000 Points in one go.
It felt new.
‘Isn't this the first time I've earned over 10,000 Points on a single floor?’
My previous record for Point income had been 9,000.
On Floor 9, where an insane number of monsters had poured out, I killed 4,388 Goblins and earned 9,318 Points. That had been my highest record.
At last, I had broken it.
I had only killed 562 Orcs, yet I earned a whopping 10,590 Points...
Regular Goblins were worth 1 Point, while Orcs started at 10 Points each.
The Middle Floors were definitely more efficient.
I spoke quietly.
“Orc Sect Leader... thank you. You gifted me a new martial art and this many Points as well. I hold your goodwill in high regard, so whenever I see an Orc from now on, I'll make sure it dies as spectacularly as possible.”
It had given me lightning magic and a massive amount of Points.
Orcs. My first impression of them hadn't been good, but...
They gave lots of Points and taught me new magic.
Maybe they were good friends once you got to know them?
To repay the Orcs, I should kill every one I met as spectacularly as possible.
I had learned lightning magic too.
They would love it if I made them crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, right?
Come to think of it, wasn't the world's most famous Orc character basically an electric-roasted chicken?
I would grant them the same death as Lord Garrosh Heavensmile.
There could be no more glorious death.
As I was lost in these random thoughts...
“Uuugh...”
A groaning sound came from somewhere.
Glancing over, I turned toward one side of the living room.
“Uuuugh...”
“Hyeji. You worked hard.”
“I'm dying...”
Na Hyeji was sprawled out in one corner of the living room, exhausted.
Well, it made sense.
Today, she had collected a massive amount of loot weighing 1.9 tons.
Even with a Spatial Bag, it must have been an extremely hard day for an ordinary Easy-rank person like her.
“Water... Please get me some water...”
“Here.”
“Thank you.”
“You should consider it an honor. This is water personally fetched by me, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter. Treat it as holy water.”
“...”
So, for once, I even showed her the grace of personally getting her water.
Na Hyeji should feel honored.
Not just anyone got to drink water I had fetched!
Anyway.
We had safely cleared Floor 15, and the loot had been sorted.
It was time to follow my usual post-climb routine.
-Click!
I took a picture.
Then I quickly wrote a post.
[Post Title: Newbie cleared Floor 15 today...]
[Author: Blue Dot]
(A photo of ramen boxes filled with loot nearly covering one side of the living room)
This newbie Hunter... went to Floor 15 today.
Just like I heard, an Orc Shaman appeared.
It was definitely much stronger than any enemy I'd faced so far.
We had an incredibly fierce battle...
I blocked the Orc Shaman's martial arts, broke through them, and barely killed it after stopping its final desperate charge.
It was such a tense battle that cold sweat ran down my back.
Now I understand why everyone fears Orc Shamans.
But who am I?
A state power-level Hunter who will save the Republic of Korea in the future, and a martial artist at the peak realm!
After a desperate battle, I finally killed the bastard.
It was only an Orc...
But it was an enemy worthy of respect.
Phew... Life-and-death duels are tough.
Still, I gained a lot, so it was a valuable experience.
Anyway, today's earnings!
454 Orc axes, 57 sets of Orc Warrior armor, and one set of the Orc Shaman's copper rings.
The loot alone sold for 197.7 million won!
10,590 Points!
A total of 303.6 million won!!!!!!!!!
My daily earnings have finally passed 300 million won!
My balance has passed 1.1 billion won too!
Power Palace, just wait for me!
A few more runs and moving in is totally possible!
└You're full of bullshit again today. It's almost impressive now... How can you keep posting this kind of concept post every single day? You're insane, but fucking diligent;
└Stop making AI pictures.
└Martial arts, life-and-death duels, peak martial artist... Why are you doing this murim concept lately? Didn't you post some weird crap about masters and martial arts last time too?
└└Guess you've been enjoying murim novels lately.
└Hey, your concept fell apart. You normally say you killed hundreds of Orcs like it's nothing, but now you're struggling against one Orc Shaman?
└└Blue Dot: Orc Shamans are peak martial artists with powerful martial arts... They aren't opponents to take lightly. I was able to win the life-and-death duel because it was me. Ordinary people like you would get one-shot.
└└Bullshit.
└I've been lurking on HunterNet, and Orc Shamans really are infamous for being awful lol. Apparently every time you get hit by lightning, you either faint or get stunned, then spend like thirty minutes barely able to move. Guess it hurt when you got hit? lol
└└Blue Dot: I've never been hit.
└└? You said you had a hard time against an Orc Shaman. But you didn't get hit even once?
└└Blue Dot: A life-and-death duel between masters is decided in a single exchange, so the moment we moved, the result was already determined. We only exchanged blows once, but beneath that was an extremely meticulous battle of wits.
└└What the hell are you talking about, you lunatic? Stop reading murim novels.
...
“Hunter Gallery is full of people with their eyes closed again today. Tsk tsk... What a shame.”
Hunter Gallery was once again filled with blind people who refused to face the truth.
In that respect, the HunterNet administrator was impressive.
In a world full of blind people, they had at least opened their eyes halfway and seen through my potential.
They must have had that level of insight to run a community like HunterNet.
As I continued communicating with ordinary people, I suddenly felt something was off.
“By the way, where did Hyeji go now?”
Until I opened Hunter Gallery, Hyeji had quietly been drinking the water I fetched for her.
My EX-rank porter had disappeared.
Did she go home?
No. I hadn't heard the front door close.
Still, it was obvious where she was.
“Is she looking at that damn crystal ball again...?”
Clicking my tongue, I stood up.
Women, honestly.
They just couldn't resist pretty, sparkling things.
I trudged over and opened my bedroom door.
Just as expected.
“Hyeji. Do you like the crystal ball that much?”
“...”
“This is a serious case.”
Hyeji was staring intently at the crystal ball.
How focused had she been?
Drool was running from her open mouth and dirtying my desk.
“Damn, that's gross.”
Frowning, I picked up the crystal ball.
“Ah!”
Hyeji suddenly came to her senses and let out a startled cry.
I had to ask.
“Hyeji. You don't actually have a mental problem, right?”
“N-no...!”
“Why are you so obsessed with the crystal ball? What's so special about it?”
I couldn't understand.
This crystal ball was just a pretty orb.
Why did she stare at it so endlessly every time...?
Hyeji continued hesitantly.
“I told you last time. It feels like my mind is expanding, like I'm connecting to some amazing being.”
“A psychiatrist-”
“No! I'm serious?! That crystal ball is calling me! Please believe me!”
“Hm.”
Furrowing my brow, I examined the crystal ball.
No matter how I looked at it.
It was just a crystal ball with beautiful rainbow-colored scattered light.
Yet Hyeji looked at it every day as if she had been enchanted.
Was there some kind of hypnosis app installed in it?
“Um... Jiho?”
“Yes.”
“Could you give me that crystal ball? I'll pay you if you want. Maybe 100 million won? No, I could pay around 300 million...”
“...”
Hyeji's obsession seemed more serious than I thought.
She wanted the crystal ball badly enough to offer hundreds of millions of won.
At this point, I had no choice but to realize it.
‘There really might be something to this crystal ball. Hyeji is this obsessed with it.’
For one thing, she was obsessing over it this much.
For another, it had ended up inside my Spatial Bag even though I hadn't personally packed it.
It definitely seemed to be no ordinary item.
I rested my chin on my hand and thought for a moment.
Then I said to her,
“Sorry, but I don't think I can give this to you.”
“Why? Is it because that's not enough money? Then 500 million-”
“No. It's because anyone can see that something is wrong with you right now.”
“...”
“You lose your mind staring at the crystal ball every day. You're even offering hundreds of millions because you want it so badly. You know this isn't normal too, right?”
“I guess so...”
“We don't know what this item is, and something strange could happen if I carelessly hand it over to you. So I'll keep it for now.”
“Okay...”
Fortunately, Hyeji seemed to understand.
Well.
Anyone could see this was abnormal.
It came from inside the Tower, so there was no telling what kind of effect it had.
It was best to be as careful as possible.
“Phew. Okay. Then I'll get going.”
“Aren't you going to eat first?”
“I'm too tired and sleepy. I just want to go home and sleep.”
Hyeji headed home with tired steps.
After seeing her to the front door, I looked at the crystal ball in my hand and shouted,
“What are you? Reveal your identity!”
Of course, the crystal ball gave no answer.
Still, there was definitely something strange about it.
Leaving it out on my desk seemed a little dangerous.
So I brought over a ramen box.
“I hereby sentence you to confinement in a ramen box.”
I put the crystal ball inside the ramen box.
Then I wrapped it tightly with tape and sealed it.
Until I found out what it was, I planned to keep it isolated like this.
A ramen box, the substance that could do anything, would surely isolate the crystal ball perfectly.
After casually placing the box containing the crystal ball on my bedroom floor, I went to bed.
Tomorrow was Floor 16.
* * *
[Your rank is too high.]
[Cannot be used.]
[You cannot form a contract.]
* * *
Morning.
I opened my eyes wide.
“Mm. I feel that familiar sensation again today.”
I stretched out a hand and felt my cheek.
Sure enough.
A hard object touched my fingers.
“Crystal ball. Why are you next to my cheek again...?”
Glancing over, I looked at the floor of my room.
The ramen box containing the crystal ball, which I had left there before bed.
It was miserably destroyed.
One side of the ramen box had been punched right through.
“What the hell? Seriously, what is this?”
The crystal ball had escaped by breaking through the ramen box while I slept!
Then it had somehow crawled all the way onto my bed!
There was no other way to see it.
“It doesn't even have legs. What the hell is this crystal ball?”
Even using my wizard intelligence, I couldn't understand this situation at all.
What was the crystal ball?
And why did it stick to my cheek every night?
I stared at it.
Then, at that very moment...
-Hummmmmm...!
The crystal ball suddenly began to change.
The rainbow-colored scattered light inside it started moving.
‘...A girl?’
It began taking the shape of a rainbow-colored girl, about the size of a finger!
I watched the change with a dumbfounded expression.
Then...
-Crack! Crack!
The crystal ball started shattering into pieces.
Crumble...
The remnants of the crystal ball fell like sand, slipping between my fingers.
A moment later, with a “poporong” sound, a translucent rainbow-colored girl jumped out of the crystal ball.
She raised a fist triumphantly toward the sky.
-Iing Iing!
“What is this?!”
I was startled!
A translucent rainbow-colored girl had jumped out of the crystal ball and shouted, “Iing Iing!”
It was surprising and strange!
The rainbow-colored girl floated in the air, and our eyes met.
Then...
-Iing...! Iiiing Iing!!!
“Huh?”
Flutter flutter flutter!
The rainbow-colored girl hurried away from me with a terrified expression.
She was a finger-sized, translucent rainbow-colored girl.
She looked mystical and dreamlike, like a fairy from a fantasy story.
I was secretly fascinated and excited, but the moment she saw me, she acted as though she had encountered a monster and fled in terror...
It hurt a little.
-Iing Iing Iing! Iing Iing Iing! Iing!
“What the hell is going on?”
Whirl whirl whirl.
The rainbow-colored girl began flying rapidly around my room in confusion.
She was incredibly nimble and fast, like some damn fly buzzing around.
Then she made a determined expression.
-Crash!
She smashed through my semi-basement window and flew outside.
“...”
I stared blankly at the scene before me.
The remains of the crystal ball, crumbled like sand across my bed.
The shattered window.
Even the shards of glass scattered everywhere.
“...”
I had no idea what this situation was.
No.
What was that rainbow-colored girl that came out of the crystal ball?
Why did she get scared and run away the moment she saw me?
I didn't know anything.
I pinched my cheek for a moment.
‘Mm. That hurts. So it wasn't a dream.’
The stinging pain told me this wasn't a dream.
That fairy or whatever it was had already gone outside, so I could think about it later.
For now...
“...Let's clean up this wreck of a room first.”
The window was broken.
My bed was covered in sandy crystal ball remnants.
Letting out a deep sigh, I started cleaning.
I repaired the broken window with a ramen box and tape.
Then I used a dustpan, broom, and vacuum cleaner to clean up the glass shards and crystal ball remnants.
What the hell was going on?
Maybe I really shouldn't bring home things with unknown origins.
As I was cleaning my room...
-Ring. Ring.
My phone rang.
When I took it out and checked, the caller was saved as “EX-rank porter.”
It was Na Hyeji.
I answered.
“Yes, Hyeji. I was actually about to call you, so this is good. You know that crystal ball you wanted? Something just happened to it-”
-Jiho! Jiho!
-Iing Iing!
Hyeji's panicked voice came through the phone.
And I heard the familiar sound from earlier too.
That Iing Iing sound.
Wasn't that what the translucent rainbow-colored girl who jumped from the crystal ball had been making?
Hyeji continued.
-Jiho! I think I've really gone crazy!
“What do you mean?”
-I think I'm hallucinating. My window suddenly broke, and now I can see this tiny girl who came over and keeps flying around me. What is going on-
-Iing Iing Iing Iing!
-I think I'm going to see a psychiatrist today. I really think I've gone crazy. So I don't think I can go to the Tower today. I'm sorry.
“...”
Ah.
The rainbow girl who broke my window and flew away earlier.
Had she gone to Hyeji's house?
“Hyeji. You don't need to see a psychiatrist.”
-Huh? But I'm really seeing things.
-Iing Iing!
“That's not a hallucination. It's the thing that came out after the crystal ball broke. I was wondering where it went, but I guess it went to your house.”
-What?
-Iing Iing!
“I think it would be better to meet and talk. I'll come to your house. Tell me your address.”
Footnotes:
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