WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 53: 053
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Right after returning to reality, I opened my status window.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 21)]
[36,660 Points]
I was impressed.
“36,660 Points...! As expected, Mao Zedong-style climbing is incredible! To earn this many Points!”
“Jiho, I think you're seriously insane. Please go see a psychiatrist or something. Please.”
“As expected, I'm amazing!”
“Goddammit.”
Hyeji muttered something beside me, but I ignored her and examined my status window.
My Point income had increased by over seven thousand at once!
Of course, the increase was probably larger because it was a boss floor.
Still, I felt great.
I had saved 36,660 citizens of the Republic of Korea...!
I had earned plenty of Points.
My magical abilities had improved.
I could even fire Railgun repeatedly now.
It had been a Floor 20 raid with gains in every possible way.
Anyway, today's climb was over safely.
It was time for my routine afterward.
-Click!
I took a picture and quickly made a post.
[Post Title: Newbie Hunter's Floor 20 Review]
[Author: Blue Dot]
(A picture of loot filling the living room)
Newbie... went to Floor 20 today.
There were Orcs everywhere.
There were so many, it was disgusting.
So I killed them all...
I killed 1,516 Orcs total.
Seems like a lot lol.
But while I was diligently killing Orcs...
I suddenly realized how amazing Mao Zedong was.
I could only manage to kill fifteen hundred Orcs like this, but how did Brother Zedong, the GOAT of massacres throughout history, grind up eighty million people?
Truly an amazing man.
I'm pretty good at massacring too, but I could never catch up to Brother Zedong.
As a fellow massacre enthusiast, I'll have to work harder to catch up to him!
Anyway, today's earnings!
1,351 Orc axeheads!
128 Orc Warrior armor sets!
31 Orc Shaman rings!
One set of Orc Warlord full plate armor!
And 36,660 Points on top of that...!
Total earnings of 1.0029 billion won!!!
My daily income has finally surpassed one billion won!!!
Hehe. The money for a luxurious home in Hannam-dong is steadily piling up.
I'm in a great mood.
I'll make some simple egg fried rice today.
└What the hell is Mao Zedong now... I can't keep up with this guy's mental world.
└Egg fried rice tastes bad. Why would you eat that crap?
└└What? You're trashing egg fried rice? Are you Chinese?
└└What does egg fried rice have to do with China?
└Isn't Floor 20 where the Orc Warlord appears? I heard Orc Warlords are insanely strong.
└└Blue Dot: The Orc Warlord was a total pushover though? One-shot. I went bang and shot it once, and it died with a huge hole in its stomach.
└└Ah, I just saw the username. It's this bastard...
└With that much loot, it must weigh over five tons. How are you storing it?
└└Blue Dot: I just took the picture quickly and put it all in my Spatial Bag... I was scared the floor would get even more damaged. I'll hand it over when the loot buyer comes tomorrow.
└└Spatial Bag my ass.
└└How would a fake-posting bastard have an artifact worth at least ten billion won lol
└If you sold one Spatial Bag, you could buy a mansion in Hannam-dong. Why are you whining about money?
└└Blue Dot: Someone else gave me the Spatial Bag... I just want to buy the house with money I earned myself. It'd feel more rewarding that way.
└└What reward? Everyone buys houses with loans. Nobody buys a house with their own money.
└└Blue Dot: Still, wouldn't it feel nice to buy a house entirely with your own money?
└└That is true.
...
As I read the comments, I muttered quietly.
“I've earned just under 4.5 billion won... If I make another ten billion or so, I could really move into a mansion in Hannam-dong.”
It probably wouldn't take that long.
My daily income had already passed one billion won.
At the very least, I'd be able to get a house before reaching the High Floors.
“Hehe. I can't wait to move to Hannam-dong and show it off on Hunter Gallery.”
I was looking forward to it.
I would escape the yellow linoleum floor of my semi-basement, show off a gleaming mansion in Hannam-dong, and watch the Hunter Gallery users fall over in shock!
As I looked through the comments, one caught my eye.
└HunterNet: Congratulations on clearing Floor 20. You're joining the Raid Team, right?
I snickered.
“This HunterNet bastard has been waiting desperately for this body's entry into the Raid Team, hasn't he?”
This HunterNet administrator really knew how to recognize talent.
He had been continuing his obsessive stalker routine.
I casually left a reply.
└└Blue Dot: Should I join... or not... I'm thinking about it...
└└HunterNet: I strongly recommend that you join. Most Hunters in the latter half of the Middle Floors are active in the Raid Team. You'll gain plenty of high-level information and can work with dependable party members. Doesn't that sound good?
└└Blue Dot: I don't need party members though?
└└HunterNet: There is plenty of valuable information as well. There are High Floor raid guides that aren't public on HunterNet, along with sensitive news from overseas. You certainly won't lose anything by joining.
└└Blue Dot: Hmm. I suppose I have no choice. If you desire this body so desperately, I shall join. Consider it an honor.
└└HunterNet: ...
“Kekeke.”
I giggled at HunterNet's reaction.
Honestly, I'd planned to join from the beginning.
It didn't seem very likely that they would discover my identity.
No.
An Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter climbing one floor a day was simply too far beyond common sense.
They could only think some High Floor Hunter was pretending to be in the Middle Floors while roleplaying as a talent-bragging idiot.
Anyway, since that was settled...
‘Should I join right away?’
Joining the Raid Team was easy.
First, I opened HunterNet.
-Click!
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 21)]
[Republic of Korea Hunter Registration Card]
[Baek Jiho][Middle Floors (11-30)]
All I had to do was take pictures of my status window and Hunter Registration Card, then submit an application with the invitation code.
Ah, I deliberately made sure the Points section wasn't visible.
Someone might become suspicious if they saw how many Points I had.
Anyway... right after I submitted my application.
Ding.
[Your Raid Team membership has been approved.]
The notification came almost immediately.
They worked fast.
As expected of Koreans. Always hurry, hurry.
As I clicked on the Raid Team board, I thought:
‘Let's see. What are the top Hunters of this country doing?’
Elite veteran Hunters, hundreds of them, all at least Floor 21 or above!
Patriots who had rejected the money and fame offered by foreign countries and remained in this nation!
It was time to see what they were really like!
So I clicked on the Raid Team board.
[Waaah... Hunter bro wants a girlfriend...]
[These American bastards keep bothering me. It's so fucking annoying, I'm not emigrating.]
[Is this dinner menu decent?]
[Guys, I just took a shit, and it was fucking huge.]
[They said a newbie is coming today? When are they getting here???]
For a moment, I had no choice but to doubt my eyes.
‘...Wasn't this HunterNet?’
The HunterNet I remembered had been a site with complete real-name registration.
I remembered it being filled with only stiff, overly proper posts.
But this place had an atmosphere similar to Hunter Gallery.
I glanced over.
Then I checked the authors.
[Author: Lim Doyoon (32)]
[Author: Choi Yejin (41)]
[Author: Lee Hyunsu (28)]
[Author: Park Gyu (38)]
[Author: Jeong Gitae (33)]...
“This is insane.”
Amazingly, every author was a top Hunter!
They were Hunters from the latter half of the Middle Floors, the High Floors, and even the highest floors!
By the way, wasn't Choi Yejin the second Hard-rank Hunter in Korea?
There were plenty of other people whose names I had heard on the news too...
[Guys, I just took a shit, and it was fucking huge.]
[Park Gyu (38)]
And they were making garbage posts like this?
With their real names attached?
A Hunter in the upper thirties, occasionally mentioned in the news?
I let out a hollow laugh.
“This country is really doomed.”
These idiots... were Korea's top Hunters?
Pathetic fools!
Top Hunters should have dignity befitting their status!
How could they be making such pointless posts?
I wrote my first post on the Raid Team board.
[Post Title: New recruit reporting in. Big bro is here.]
[Author: Baek Jiho (21)]
What's with the atmosphere here?
It feels like I'm looking at Hunter Gallery.
You people are supposed to be this country's top Hunters.
You should be serious and dignified.
You can't go around making shitposts like this!
How devastated would the citizens of our country be if they saw this?
Get yourselves together, you ordinary fools.
...
I wrote a simple first post.
Comments immediately began pouring in.
└Jeong Gitae (33): Oh, hi newbie! Wow, it's been almost weeks since a newbie joined? Nice! To! Meet! You!
└Park Gyu (38): lol Most of the Raid Team members came over from Hunter Gallery, so the atmosphere just got transplanted here.
└Lim Doyoon (32): Are you Blue Dot from Hunter Gallery? The mod said they were bringing you in.
└Lee Hyunsu (28): Wow, Blue Dot, Hunter Gallery's idol. What an honored guest in a shabby place like this... Welcome.
└Han Giyun (27): Nice to meet you ^^
The Raid Team Hunters left Hunter Gallery-style comments despite this being a site with real-name registration.
I nodded.
‘Hmm. Looks like it'll be easy to adapt.’
Unlike the usual atmosphere on HunterNet, this place was much more casual.
It didn't seem like it would be difficult to fit in.
There was one difference, though...
‘It kind of smells like a cliquey community.’
Was that how communities with strong social circles felt?
Well, it was only natural.
These people had been active here for years.
They probably met up and climbed together often too.
There was no way they wouldn't have formed friendships.
Tsk tsk. Cliques were the fastest way to ruin an online community...
Anyway, I had joined the HunterNet Raid Team board.
I decided to read the rest tomorrow...
Just as I was about to turn off my phone, another comment appeared.
└Choi Yejin (41): Newbie, are you any good? Please just reach Floor 41. We need people to save Mr. Kim Taeseok.
Choi Yejin.
Korea's second Hard-rank Hunter had left a comment.
Replies soon began to pile up.
└└Park Gyu (38): Choi Yejin is going on about Floor 41 again... How is someone who didn't start on Hard supposed to reach Floor 41? Nobody can get past Floor 40.
└└Choi Yejin (41): The newbie might have started on Hard.
└└Park Gyu (38): Yeah right.
└└Jeong Gitae (33): This person whines about getting to Floor 41 every time they see a newbie. Newbie, just ignore that.
└└Oh Sanghyeon (35): Before Mr. Kim Taeseok got stranded, Choi Yejin kept insisting that we gather people and clear Floor 41. After he got stranded, it became all about saving him...
It seemed Choi Yejin wanted to save Hunter Kim Taeseok, who was stranded on Floor 41.
I casually left a comment.
└└Baek Jiho (21): Just wait around twenty days for now. It might take a little longer.
└└Park Gyu (38): ?
└└Choi Yejin (41): ?
After leaving that comment, I turned off HunterNet.
“Should I sleep soon?”
After showering and changing clothes, I went to bed.
I had cleared Floor 20 without trouble today.
Tomorrow was Floor 21.
It was the beginning of the latter half of the Middle Floors, the first floor where Golems appeared.
I closed my eyes.
* * *
Late at night, near dawn, my eyes snapped open.
I had sensed a strange presence.
‘I'm pretty sure something like this happened yesterday too.’
The place where I sensed the presence was...
Right outside the front door of our house.
-Click.
The lock opened, and I sensed someone entering the living room.
It was a familiar presence.
After all, I had sensed it last night too.
I gripped my staff and walked into the living room.
Then I saw a familiar face.
“Hello, Mr. Baek Jiho.”
“Why are you here again? That name was... Reimu, right?”
“...It's Rachel. Please remember my name properly.”
“I'm not good at remembering foreign names.”
The Yankee who had broken into my house last night had come again tonight!
I frowned and said,
“Anyway. Why are you here again? I already told you I'm not going to America. This is invasion of privacy, breaking and entering, and whatever other crimes there are. Honestly, it's pretty unpleasant.”
“The situation has changed, Mr. Baek Jiho.”
“What situation? Anyway, hurry up and leave. I'm going back to sleep...”
Flutter.
Rachel handed me several sheets of paper.
What was this? More of those American immigration documents?
It wasn't.
“Mr. Baek Jiho, you need to come to the United States with me immediately. Unless you want to be taken by China.”
“...?”
I accepted the documents Rachel held out and looked through them.
They were printouts of several photographs.
They seemed to have been taken from very far away and zoomed in heavily...
The pictures showed many people armed with guns and swords, gathered together inside a building.
Who were these idiots?
Why were they sitting around in some room holding guns and swords?
“They're the Chinese Ministry of State Security Hunter special operations unit. They have finished regrouping, and they'll be coming here soon.”
“...”
That was right.
The Chinese Hunter special operations unit had finally entered Seoul to target this body's Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter!
“There are three special operations teams, thirty-six High Floor Hunters. Most of them are armed with special anti-Hunter ammunition and Grade 2 or higher artifacts.”
“...”
“For reference, the National Intelligence Service can't protect you. Their Hunter special operations unit consists of only ten Middle Floors Hunters and a few dozen Low Floor Hunters at most. They will all die the moment the Chinese force storms in. Mr. Baek Jiho, you will be kidnapped immediately. So...”
Rachel pulled a green stone from inside her clothes.
What was that?
“This is a one-use spatial transfer artifact with its destination set to Washington. Take it and use it. Once you arrive in Washington, begin the immigration process immediately.”
“You're still trying to recruit me in a situation like this?”
“Because this is the perfect opportunity. Now, Mr. Baek Jiho? Take this and let's go to America. If you remain here, China will take you.”
Rachel smiled calmly.
She looked certain that I would accept her offer.
Well.
It was a situation where she could only think that way.
China's Hunter special operations unit.
A powerful force made up of thirty-six High Floor Hunters.
Meanwhile, the National Intelligence Service's Hunter special operations unit only had Middle Floors Hunters at best...
Even if the National Intelligence Service mobilized all of its strength, it was obvious they could not stop them.
“Don't worry about your sister. We'll safely bring her to the United States later too.”
“...”
“Come on, take it, Mr. Baek Jiho. You will become a citizen of the United States of America!”
If I had been an ordinary fool, I would have had no choice but to accept this offer.
Rather than be dragged to China, lose my human rights, and be kidnapped, imprisoned, and forcibly drained of Points...
I would have had no choice but to flee to America.
Then I could have enjoyed immense money, fame, and privileges while living the sobbing Yankee Hunter life.
But...
Who was I?
I was the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter.
The heir to the Goblin Sect.
Longbow Apache, protector of PC.
A genius of slaughter succeeding Mao Zedong!
And the one who would someday save this country!
Cowardly flight was not in my dictionary!
“Rachel. When are these bastards moving?”
“They will depart within thirty minutes. They're probably coordinating their schedule with the submarine now.”
“What do you mean, submarine?”
“They plan to kidnap you and escape by submarine. It is currently approaching the waters off Incheon.”
“A submarine... I'll have to destroy that too. Ah. Is the place where these bastards are right now the address written under this picture? It's in Jungnang-gu too... It's right in the next neighborhood?”
“...?”
Perhaps she sensed that the flow of our conversation had become strange.
Rachel looked confused.
I raised my staff and said quietly,
“Rachel. This might hurt a little. Endure it.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yah.”
I swung my staff and struck Rachel on the top of the head.
-Crash!
Something broke with a sharp sound.
The gem at the end of her necklace shattered and fell away.
It was the artifact called a Grade 2 Guardian Stone or something.
“Huh? You brought this again? Artifacts aren't cheap, so this feels like such a waste.”
“What?! Mr. Baek Jiho! What are you doing?! Why are you attacking-!”
“Be quiet!”
-Thwack!
I struck her head with my staff again.
“Ghk...!”
Thud.
Rachel, struck on the crown of the head, collapsed and passed out.
The bump from when I hit her yesterday had not gone down yet, so there were two huge lumps on her blonde head.
Two lumps, you know?
I felt a little sorry.
‘If she keeps getting bonked on the head, she'll get dumber...’
But it couldn't be helped.
I couldn't let another person, especially an agent from another country, discover that I used magic.
I had no choice but to bonk her on the head and put her to sleep.
Ah, right.
“Did you say this pocket watch was an invisibility artifact? If I have this, I can use my strength outside without being noticed. I'll borrow it for a bit, Rachel.”
She had brought a useful artifact, so I casually took it.
I had heard it was a Grade 1 artifact...
It had to be worth at least a trillion won, so I couldn't just swallow it for myself.
I'd just borrow it for this time.
Anyway.
China had finally come looking for this body.
And I had no intention of sitting around and waiting for them to arrive.
I called Han Seonga.
“Han Seonga, are you busy?”
-I'll come right away, Mr. Baek Jiho.
“No, keep listening. There's no time. Um... I found out where the Chinese bastards are? I'll deal with them. Please send National Intelligence Service agents to protect my sister and the American agent passed out here.”
-What? What do you mean by that...
“Please. It's really urgent.”
Click.
I ended the call and put on my coat.
‘It's hunting time.’
I was a Hunter.
In other words, a hunter.
Could this body, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter, be treated as prey?
The ones being hunted would not be me.
It would be them.
Footnotes:
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