WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 46: 046

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Flash!

The bright haze faded.

I slowly looked around.

A vast plain stretched out before me.

It was a grand, treeless expanse reaching all the way to the horizon.

I muttered under my breath.

"It looks like the Mongolian Plains or something."

The scenery resembled the Mongolian steppes I had seen in an old TV documentary.

There was one difference, though.

Instead of peaceful nomads, Orc bastards roamed those plains.

I spoke to Hyeji.

"Hyeji. You know this Floor 18's clear condition, right?"

"Yes. Isn't it the March Floor? I heard it's really tough."

The March Floor.

That was what people called Floor 18.

As the name suggested, it was a map that required an intense march.

You had to start at the entrance and keep moving for a ridiculous 680 kilometers.

It was a Floor that forced you to travel an absurd distance!

Six hundred and eighty kilometers.

It didn't sound that real just as a number...

But it was an absolutely insane distance.

In Korea, it was about the distance from Busan to Sinuiju near the Chinese border.

Floor 18, the March Floor, required you to walk nearly the entire length of the Korean Peninsula.

That was why most Hunters hated Floor 18.

[Ah, fuck, Floor 18 is seriously a fucking hell floor;]

[I walked like a dog for two weeks. This sucks.]

[Is this Tower the military? Even the military wouldn't make people march this much. How can 680 km make sense...?]

[It says 680 km, but you have to detour for food and water. You also have to go way around whenever you spot a medium-sized Orc Village, so the actual distance is much longer, fuck.]

[You have to find and raid small Orc Villages to get food. Raiding an Orc Village just to get that disgusting jerky and cheese makes me question my life choices...]

[The map is way too big, seriously. There are shitty terrain sections everywhere too, so it's annoying.]

[Why do we have to swim across rivers;]

Because they had to travel that impossibly long distance entirely on foot, many Hunters disliked Floor 18.

Still, quite a few Hunters liked it too.

[I like Floor 18 though lol. You only fight briefly when you need food, then just keep walking.]

[Why do people hate that savory, stinky Orc jerky and cheese? People who don't understand fine cuisine, tsk tsk.]

[You can spot Orc Villages from far away and avoid them, so it's easy mode. Safety is best.]

[It's nice walking through wide-open places for so long. Makes me remember hiking across the country before the Tower, haha.]

Combat was infrequent, and dangerous areas like Orc Villages were easy to avoid.

That was why Floor 18 had its fans.

Of course, that was only true for ordinary people.

An Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter like me was different from those pedestrian commoners!

Glance.

I turned to look at the fairy.

"Iing Iing. I'm counting on you."

"Iing Iing!"

Iing Iing thumped her chest as if telling me to leave everything to her.

That's right.

We had the fairy's telekinetic shuttle service.

We could fly through the sky and travel quickly!

"Since Iing Iing can carry us at around 140 kilometers per hour..."

"If we head straight for the Escape Portal, we can clear it in five hours."

While everyone else had to walk themselves to death for seventeen days, we could clear the distance in a few hours.

That was the importance of having a flying mount.

There was a reason flying mounts were essential in RPGs.

Of course, I had no intention of just flying through Floor 18 and clearing it as quickly as possible.

"Today, I'll make up for yesterday's humiliation by stripping every last bit of loot clean!"

"That obsession with loot..."

"Why? Making lots of money is good. Wouldn't you feel good too if you collected lots of loot and made lots of money, Hyeji?"

"I don't get paid."

"Oh, that's too bad. How pitiful."

"..."

Sadly, Hyeji still worked without pay, so she didn't seem interested in loot.

Well, don't worry.

Once we passed Floor 20, I planned to give her a reasonable share of the profits.

Until then, she could suffer unpaid.

"Then let's go!"

"Iing Iing!"

Whoosh.

We rose into the sky.

Floor 18 had become a flying Floor rather than a March Floor.

* * *

We headed north on Iing Iing's telekinesis.

The trip was cozy and comfortable.

All I had to do was stand there blankly and let telekinesis carry me.

As expected, the fairy's self-driving shuttle was reliable.

After traveling for a while, Hyeji looked down at the ground and spoke.

"There's an Orc Village over there, Jiho. We'll deal with it, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay. Iing Iing, let's descend."

"Iing."

We lowered our altitude and approached the Orc Village.

It was a small to medium-sized village with several dozen Orcs.

I was about to casually pull out a Fireball...

Then I changed my mind.

'I'd decided to practice anti-personnel magic on this Floor. Let's try something new.'

I had tested several new spells yesterday.

Their firepower and power were satisfying...

But they were too powerful.

They did more than protect me in everyday life.

They could devastate the surrounding area too.

That made them unsuitable for self-defense in the real world.

So I had designed a few anti-personnel spells.

Since I planned to test them on Floor 18 today, I raised my staff.

"I'll test Shock Bullet first."

The first spell was Shock Bullet.

Unlike Air Bullet or Wind Cutter, which compressed air to the extreme to pierce or cut targets, this spell compressed and expanded the air itself to destroy and disable an enemy's senses.

I raised my staff.

'I'll endlessly layer circles to compress it to the limit, then release them all at once at the end.'

I arranged Blue Motes according to the formation I had pictured in my head.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Multiple spheres of air formed above my staff.

I aimed my staff and fired.

"Let's see how strong it is."

Screech!

A barrage of Shock Bullets flew through the air with sharp whistling sounds.

Then the Orc Village began to be devastated.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Intense explosions of compressed air erupted among the Orcs.

It looked fairly useful.

"Kwaaaah!"

"Ugh! Ugh!"

"Uooooooh!"

Whenever a powerful shockwave struck, the Orcs' eyeballs and eardrums burst, their organs were shaken, and the bones in their limbs cracked apart.

It took only a few seconds to disable dozens of Orcs.

Surprisingly, not a single Orc died.

Blood poured from every opening in their bodies, and they crawled along the ground with broken limbs, groaning in pain.

Yet their vital organs, such as their hearts and brains, remained protected, saving them from instant death.

It was exactly what I had intended.

'This is a suppression spell. The goal is to disable them, not kill them.'

Shock Bullet was a spell designed to destroy an enemy's senses.

It blinded their eyes, deafened their ears, and threw off their balance.

It was meant to subdue them without killing them.

Of course, it was stronger than I had expected.

Their organs were damaged, and every bone in their bodies had shattered...

Still, it needed to be at least this strong to work even a little against High Floor Hunters, right?

I clicked my tongue.

"Still, the efficiency is pretty bad. It's weaker than Fireball when it comes to killing power, but it uses as much mana as three Fireballs..."

"They say saving someone is harder than killing them."

"That's true."

Maybe because it focused on subduing rather than killing...

It was less efficient than Fireball.

Well. It wasn't a spell I would use often anyway.

The efficiency issue would be solved quickly once my mana pool grew larger.

Anyway, my test subjects were all ruined.

So I unleashed Storm.

A storm of thunder and lightning tore through the air.

Kwarrrrrooom!

"Uooooooh!"

"Keeeek!"

"...!"

The Orcs lying helplessly on the ground were instantly roasted to death.

I had mass-produced Garroshes again today.

Electric-roasted chicken would be good for dinner.

Though I hadn't seen those trucks selling it much lately.

"Let's gather the loot, then head to another Orc Village. I want to keep testing the other spells."

"I feel sorry for the Orcs who have to be your magic test subjects. Isn't that strange...?"

"You're too soft-hearted, Hyeji. Don't pity monsters. Let's kill Orcs! Orcs are humanity's enemies!"

We continued raiding Orc Villages and tested new spells one by one.

"Hyeji. Call me a Lurker."

"A Lurker? What's that?"

"I keep telling you to play the national game. Why can't we communicate at all? It's your homework. Go home today, install Battle.net, and play a few ladder matches."

"..."

The first was Lurker Magic.

It was an improved version of Earth Manipulation Magic, a spell that made rocky spikes burst from the ground and impale enemies.

Crunch!

The spikes pierced the Orcs from below and tore them in half.

Its killing power was excellent, but the visuals were awful.

It also could only be used within the range of my spiritual senses, so its range was short.

Five points.

"The spell I'll use now is Nerve Paralysis Magic. It sends a powerful electric current through the target, stiffening their muscles and disabling them."

"Uh... doesn't that just mean electrocuting them?"

"Exactly."

Nerve Paralysis Magic.

It sent a large current through the enemy's body and completely paralyzed them.

Crackle!

"Kwooooh! Uoooooh!"

"Hmm... do regular Orcs and Orc Warriors have different tolerances for electricity? Having to adjust the current for every opponent is annoying."

Controlling the current was difficult.

If I increased it even a little, they would turn golden brown and become Garroshes right away...

I also had to adjust the current for each opponent, which gave me too much to think about.

It used little mana and was highly efficient, but accidentally roasting the target was a major drawback.

Six points.

"Hyeji, could you call me Colonel Kilgore? I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"

"...? Isn't it not morning right now? More importantly, what does napalm smell like?"

"You don't know that famous line? It's from a classic war movie."

"I don't watch war movies, so I don't know. Anyway, it means you're going to burn them, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

Flame Thrower Magic.

It sprayed high-temperature flames that roasted enemies golden brown.

Fwoooosh!

"Uoooooh! Uoooooh! Uooooooooh!"

"Hmm... even if they're Orcs, burning them alive feels a little wrong."

"Eugh... Jiho, you're a demon."

"Iing Iing...!"

It literally burned the Orcs alive.

The mana consumption was low, and the firepower was decent.

Still, I couldn't stop thinking that simply throwing Fireballs would be better.

No matter how much they were enemies, killing them so painfully made me hesitate.

Unless I was in a close-range situation, I probably wouldn't use it much.

Four points.

That was how I tested various spells while wiping out Orc Villages one after another.

The spells I used came in many forms.

I subdued enemies with compressed-air bombs, paralyzed them with electric currents, impaled them with rocky spikes bursting from the ground, and burned them completely with fire...

Every spell had some flaw.

Some consumed too much mana, some were limited by their operating conditions, and some were difficult to control.

I kept finding all kinds of weaknesses.

I smacked my lips.

'I thought I'd quickly make something useful because it's anti-personnel magic, but every single one has some kind of flaw.'

Creating high-powered area-of-effect magic was easy.

Honestly, if I poured in a huge amount of mana and cast it across a wide area, that was area-of-effect magic.

But completing magic with appropriate power, that was easy to control and good for general use, was difficult.

Balancing cost-effectiveness and performance wasn't easy.

If it was efficient, its usage conditions were restricted. If I made it broadly useful, its mana efficiency was terrible.

Making something really was hard...

Then I prepared my final spell.

"Hyeji. Could you call me a Railgun? Or you can call me a Level 5 Esper."

"What is it this time...? Stop it already. Why do your names keep changing?"

Hyeji grumbled, but I ignored her.

Come on, my concept could change in countless ways. Why did she always complain?

If she kept doing that... I'd turn back into a combat helicopter.

Anyway, the spell I was testing this time was a kind of Railgun.

'It devours a lot of mana, and I have to find a projectile separately, so it's a pretty troublesome spell.'

The Railgun's structure was simple.

You placed a metal projectile between two rails.

Then you sent electricity through the rail, projectile, and opposite rail in that order. That completed the circuit and formed a powerful magnetic field.

When current flowed through the bullet in the magnetic field, it generated Lorentz force, which acted perpendicular to the rails and fired the projectile at an incredibly high speed.

...At least, that was what Wiki said.

'In simple terms, you put metal between rails, run a huge current through it, and boom, it fires.'

Just looking at the structure, even a dumb high school graduate like me could understand how it worked.

Still, I had to prepare a projectile separately, and the mana consumption was high.

It didn't seem like it would be practical in real combat...

Anyway.

"Hyeji. Give me one of the Orc axeheads we collected."

"Why?"

"I'm going to use it as a bullet."

"...?"

Hyeji looked confused, but handed me an Orc axehead.

I planned to use it as a Railgun projectile.

It was metal, so it should work somehow, right?

First, I created two imaginary rails...

'If I send a huge current through one rail, pass it through the projectile, and collect it through the opposite rail...'

The metal bullet would fire.

I poured out a massive current as if tensing my whole body in an instant.

At the same time.

Boom!

The Orc axehead shot away in the blink of an eye.

It was louder than I expected.

The recoil was terrifying too.

"Whoa, that scared me!"

"Eek!"

"Iing Iing!"

Hyeji and Iing Iing were startled by the explosion.

Honestly, I was more surprised.

My wrist was throbbing.

If the wrist of this Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter was throbbing...

Just how powerful was that recoil?

But something even more shocking happened.

Thoom!

"Wow."

The propulsion far exceeded its creator's expectations.

The three-kilogram Orc axehead blasted out with a boom, scattering a transparent heat haze as it tore through the air.

It instantly punched through an Orc Village far in the distance, kept flying, and buried itself in a distant hill.

Rumble...

The Orc axehead projectile was lodged in the hill.

The impact was so tremendous that a cloud of dust burst into the air.

I muttered quietly.

"Wow... I think the range was in kilometers."

"What was that just now, Jiho?!"

"It's Railgun Magic. This is really something. It feels like a high-powered, high-firepower, long-range sniping spell."

It felt like a super-powered piercing attack.

A spell that seemed capable of punching through anything in one shot.

I had to prepare a projectile separately, and it consumed as much mana as ten Fireballs...

But its power and accuracy were truly terrifying.

At this level, I could probably snipe targets from several kilometers away.

I had fired a three-kilogram Orc axehead projectile this time.

But if I used a smaller projectile and put in an appropriate amount of mana...

Wouldn't it be perfectly usable for anti-personnel combat too?

'This looks worth researching.'

I felt like I understood why countries around the world were developing railguns as weapons.

Overwhelming range, along with incredible power.

The projectile flew in a straight line like a laser, piercing through everything in its path...

It was amazing.

I see. I understood now.

Just as sufficiently advanced science was indistinguishable from magic, sufficiently skilled magic could imitate even the latest modern weaponry!

Even the United States hadn't commercialized railguns yet...

But I had completed one!

Heh heh. Are you watching, Elon Mengsk?

I've surpassed not only Tesla's self-driving technology, but even the technological power of defense companies around the world.

My business empire was expanding every day.

I felt like one of Korea's conglomerates, rapidly branching into every industry.

Anyway.

I had tested every spell I prepared at least once...

"From now on, I'll just use Fireballs to quickly kill the Orcs."

"...You aren't planning to head straight for the Escape Portal, are you? It'll take a long time if you kill every Orc along the way."

"How can I ignore all those Orcs lying around? They're all money, money! We have to pick every last one clean!"

"Sigh... okay."

After that, I slaughtered Orcs normally.

We rode the fairy taxi north and blasted every Orc Village we saw with Fireballs.

Thanks to the fairy's overwhelming mobility, we could kill many Orcs in a short amount of time.

After spending around ten hours like that, we finally killed all the Orcs and cleared Floor 18.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 18)]

[You have completed Tower Floor 18.]

[You have defeated 913 Orcs (10).]

[You have defeated 97 Orc Warriors (100).]

[You have defeated 18 Orc Shamans (300).]

[Points are being calculated.]

[Tower Floor 19 has been unlocked.]

[Returning.]

I got to use several new spells.

I earned plenty of Points and loot too.

It was a satisfying conquest in every way.

Footnotes:

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