WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 59: 059

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The haze of light faded.

I slowly looked around.

A city reduced to ruins. Collapsed buildings. Cracked roads...

It was a desolate medieval city.

The environment was similar to Floor 21, the floor before this one.

The difference was...

"That must be the factory."

A huge building stood right in front of us.

It was especially massive compared to the other buildings.

A factory.

And from inside it...

-Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...!

Heavy footsteps rang out.

Fantasy versions of armored war machines, their entire bodies made of rock.

Golems began charging toward me.

-Kroooooar!

-Kraaaaaah!

They rushed in with mechanical roars.

The ground shook beneath their pounding footsteps, and thick clouds of dust rose to obscure my vision.

Two hundred pairs of red eyes flickered through the dust.

Watching them...

'They do look kind of cool.'

It felt like I was looking at a mechanized robot army.

Of course, the things in front of me weren't sci-fi robots made of steel and machinery.

They were fantasy Golems made of rock and mana.

Still.

"All right, Iing Iing! Up! Let's go above the factory."

-Iing Iing!

Fwoosh.

We rose into the sky with Iing Iing's telekinetic flight.

-Kroooooar!

The Golems, like dogs that had lost the chickens they were chasing, thrashed about wildly.

Tsk tsk. This was why ground walkers were so pathetic.

They crawled around on the ground like savages, so once someone flew into the sky, they couldn't do anything.

Ground forces were naturally food for air forces.

That was also why Marines charged backward whenever they saw the Air Force.

Now that we'd gone up into the sky, it was time to wipe them out.

"Hyeji. I'll show you a neat magic trick."

"You're going to say, 'The factory disappearing trick,' aren't you?"

"Gasp! How did you know?!"

Hyeji had somehow learned my sense of humor.

Was that the power of a top Korea University elite?

To think she'd even predicted the behavioral patterns of this intelligent wizard...!

Hyeji continued.

"But are you really going to use that Super-Fireball thing? It'll destroy a lot of the loot."

As she said, my Super-Fireball had one fatal flaw.

A large portion of the loot would be destroyed.

Its firepower was so overwhelming that it tore apart not only the enemies, but also the items I could collect as loot, flinging them far away.

Still, I had my own idea.

"They're huge, sturdy Golems. And the Magic Stones they drop are embedded deep in their chests. Even if I use Super-Fireball, won't the Magic Stones be fine?"

"What if all the loot gets ruined?"

"Then that'd be unfortunate."

The old me would never have used Super-Fireball.

I was quite greedy for money.

I couldn't take the risk of damaging my loot.

But the current me was different!

This body was an Extreme Lunatic Hell Capitalist!

Tomorrow, I was scheduled to receive a 200 billion won donation from Choi Yejin.

Thanks to that, I felt like I could generously overlook a little loss.

Of course, if there really was a loss, I'd seal Super-Fireball away again afterward.

Anyway.

-Fwoosh.

I raised a Fireball.

Then I began ultra-compressing it.

-Fwoosh. Fwoosh! Fwoooosh! Fwoooooosh!...

Countless Fireballs overlapped, darkening to black.

Before long, a black-burning sphere the size of a human head rested above my staff.

-Rumble...!

Super-Fireball was complete.

All I had to do was throw it at the factory.

The entire massive building would disappear.

I gauged the amount of Blue Motes in my heart.

"Even after making a Super-Fireball, more than half my mana reserve is left."

Well, I was already on Floor 22.

My mana reserve had grown considerably by now.

At the moment, my mana reserve held enough mana for 700 Fireballs.

Since entering the twenties, its growth rate had increased.

Every floor I climbed gave me enough mana for another 100 Fireballs.

That meant even after using a Super-Fireball made of 300 Fireballs, I still had more than half my mana left!

'I could fire off two Super-Fireballs.'

If a war with China really broke out, I should join the fight too.

One shot at China's Northern Fleet in the Yellow Sea.

One shot at China's Northern Theater Command in Manchuria.

Wouldn't the war end right away if I fired those off?

No.

Would China pull out nuclear weapons if I did that?

Those bastards had actual nuclear weapons.

I wasn't sure.

"I don't know what weapons will be used to fight World War III, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

"What are you suddenly talking about?"

"Something the person who was smartest after me said."

"?"

The human who was smartest after this Extreme Lunatic Hell Intelligent Wizard.

In other words, it was an Einstein quote.

Among ordinary people, he had been the smartest human.

Leaving the confused Hyeji behind...

-Fwoooosh!

I sent Super-Fireball flying.

The black Fireball moved slowly through the air.

The moment it struck the factory roof.

-Flash.

A blinding burst of light erupted.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaang!

A massive explosion followed.

A thunderous roar shook heaven and earth.

A majestic pillar of flame shot upward.

A gigantic ball of fire swallowed the factory, and a huge mushroom cloud rose high into the sky.

The shockwave spread far and wide.

Fragments of the shattered factory were swept up by the blast and scattered into the distance.

The sight of the sky and earth turning red as though the world were ending.

It was a sight I had grown used to.

-Kwakakakakaang!

The aftershock came rushing in.

"Ugh...!"

-Iing Iing!

Hyeji and Iing Iing staggered in the blast.

Tsk tsk. I clicked my tongue as I watched them.

To me, it felt like nothing more than a cool breeze.

Yet they were flailing around, unable to keep themselves upright.

How weak!

-Rumble...

Once the aftershock passed and the dust settled, I shouted loudly.

"Ta-da! The factory disappearing trick! Everyone, clap! Clap clap clap clap clap!"

-Iing Iing Iing Iing Iing!

"So you really did make that stupid joke."

Iing Iing clapped for me.

Na Hyeji clicked her tongue.

Honestly, Hyeji needed to respond more enthusiastically to her employer's humor.

Look at adorable little Iing Iing.

She was so good at socializing.

Meanwhile, Hyeji just complained all the time...!

Anyway.

I turned my gaze toward where the factory had stood.

"The factory was here. Now it's gone."

The enormous factory that had stood there moments ago was gone.

The huge building had been completely smashed apart, reduced to a pile of rubble!

Super-Fireball really was powerful.

Now that I'd erased a factory with it...

"All right, let's start collecting the loot."

"Okay. Let's go, Iing Iing."

-Iing Iing!

Hyeji and Iing Iing began collecting the loot.

I remained above the ruined factory site and waited for them to finish.

Just as I'd said, the raid had ended in three minutes.

Now we only needed to collect the loot, then take the Escape Portal outside the city to clear the floor.

While I waited for them to finish...

"Jiho?"

Hyeji approached me.

Why had she come over in the middle of gathering loot?

Don't tell me?

"Is the loot damage too severe? Ah, did I use Super-Fireball for nothing?"

"No. Just as you guessed, the Golems' Magic Stones were fine. It wasn't difficult to collect the loot."

"Whew, thank goodness. Then what's wrong?"

"I found something strange among the building debris."

"...Something strange?"

Fwoosh.

Iing Iing brought over an object with telekinesis.

Na Hyeji continued.

"It's some kind of large metal box. It was completely unharmed, without even a scratch, despite that huge explosion. Could it be an artifact?"

"Oh!"

What she brought over was a large metal box.

It was roughly the size of my upper body.

Its smooth, gleaming gray surface was covered in something resembling blue circuits, and a fist-sized hole was bored into the top.

What was this?

It had survived that explosion intact.

And I could clearly sense Blue Motes from inside it.

"Oh... I'm sure of it. It's an artifact. Since it came from the twenties, it's likely a Grade 3 artifact... It should be worth at least a billion won, right?"

"Please carry this, Jiho. It's too big to fit in the Spatial Bag."

"I will."

I accepted the box-shaped artifact of unknown purpose.

It weighed around 300 kilograms.

Considering its size, it was incredibly light, so it probably had empty space inside.

Looking at the unknown artifact made me feel good.

Extra income!

"How lucky."

Since entering the Golem Floors, I had been slightly dissatisfied because my total earnings had decreased a little.

Thanks to the artifact I'd found by chance, this floor's income looked promising.

I didn't know what kind of artifact it was...

Still, I could sell it, right?

"All right, let's return."

The raid of Floor 22 was complete.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 22)]

[You have completed Tower Floor 22.]

[You have defeated 197 Rock Golems (300).]

[Points are being calculated.]

[Tower Floor 23 has been unlocked.]

[Returning.]

I killed plenty of Golems and got plenty of Magic Stones.

I found an artifact, gaining extra income too.

It had been a quick and easy raid.

* * *

Right after returning to reality, I opened my status window.

[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 23)]

[59,100 Points]

A huge number appeared.

I clenched my fist.

"Fifty-nine thousand Points! To save roughly sixty thousand people in just a few minutes! I'm truly incredible...!"

"Wow... These are the Points you earned in the Middle Floors. It's still amazing every time I see it."

"It's me."

I had earned 45,000 Points on the previous floor.

This floor, I had earned 59,100 Points.

I'd gained an additional 14,000 Points!

It was an income level worthy of a Highest Floors Hunter.

And unlike the Hard-rank ordinary people who fought until they bled themselves dry...

I had earned this much with a single click of magic.

Overwhelming efficiency for the time spent!

Such a fast, comfortable raid.

I should use Super-Fireball often from now on.

"The Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter needs Points. Hunters like me don't have time to climb... I want fast Points from instant magic."

"Jiho, what meme is that now?"

"The Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter does it for free."

"???"

After spouting some nonsense I'd picked up somewhere, I looked toward the living room.

In one corner were three ramen boxes filled with Magic Stones.

And beside them sat an iron box.

The artifact I'd just obtained.

"I have no idea what this is..."

I shrugged.

If it had been a weapon, I could've understood its use intuitively.

But it was an iron box about a hundred million light-years removed from being a weapon.

I had no idea what it was.

I'd figure it out later.

-Click!

I couldn't resist Hunter Gallery right after climbing.

I quickly took a picture and wrote a post.

[Post Title: Newbie went to Floor 22 today...]

[Author: Blue Dot]

(A picture of three ramen boxes and one iron box in the living room)

Newbie Hunter... went to Floor 22 today.

Just like I'd heard, there was a factory.

Then Golems came pouring out of the factory and started coming toward me...

It was so scary, you know? T_T

So I just destroyed the whole factory...

But maybe the factory was built really cheaply.

It collapsed way too easily...

The Orc fortress was like that too, and so was this factory in the twenties.

Why are all the Tower buildings built so poorly?

I wish they'd stop skimming money off the rebar. Tsk tsk tsk tsk.

I should make sure the house I move into has its rebar checked properly.

Anyway, today's earnings!

197 Magic Stones!

59,100 Points!

A total of... 1.182 billion won!

And an artifact of unknown purpose that I picked up by chance!

Hehe. My earnings definitely increased a lot from yesterday.

It's a little unfortunate that Magic Stones are cheap, but the rate I'm earning has clearly become steeper than when I first entered the Middle Floors.

Ah, but I found an artifact on Floor 22.

What is that thing?

I know it's an artifact, but I have no idea what kind of artifact it is.

It's a box made of metal, with blue circuit-like things on the surface and a hole in the top.

And strangely, I can't see inside the hole.

Can someone tell me what artifact this is?

Anyway, today's raid was satisfying too.

Good. I'll grow quickly at this rate, get lots of Magic Stones, reach Floor 42, and bring back a Magic Stone Reactor too.

I'll take care of the Republic of Korea's electricity bills, so wait just a little longer!

└This guy really loves demolition. Didn't he post some bullshit before about demolishing the fortress on the Orc fortress floor?

└Listening to him, you'd think he was One Punch Man or something. Why does he always say he destroyed every building in one hit?

└But what's that iron box? It looks kind of interesting. It looks both fantasy-like and sci-fi.

└└For real, those blue circuit-looking things on the surface are cool. It looks like an item from a game.

└└Blue Dot: So what is that thing?

└└You made the picture with AI, so you'd know, Blue Dot...

└└Blue Dot: It's not AI though.

└└Bullshit. Every Hunter Gallery user knows all your pictures are fake.

└└Blue Dot: This is so unfair, come on.

└That looks like a Magic Stone Reactor. A small one. It has a power generation capacity of 1 GW.

└└A Magic Stone Reactor?

└└Yeah, search it on Goggle. It's definitely a Magic Stone Reactor. It looks exactly the same.

└└Blue Dot: ??? This is a Magic Stone Reactor?

└└This bastard said yesterday he'd go to Floor 42 and bring back a reactor. Was that setup for today's post?

└└Blue Dot: What? I heard Magic Stone Reactors come from Floor 42. Why did one come out on Floor 22?

└└Because it's fake, idiot.

└└Blue Dot: No, it's seriously real;;

...

After reading the comments, I muttered.

"This is a Magic Stone Reactor?"

An artifact for Magic Stone power generation.

A Magic Stone Reactor.

After searching, it really did look exactly the same.

An iron box large enough to cover my upper body.

Blue circuits engraved across the surface, and a small hole in the top.

I'd picked up a Magic Stone Reactor on Floor 22.

But why did it come from Floor 22?

I'd definitely heard it was an item that only came out from Floor 42.

...Could it be that nobody knew this?

Could a Magic Stone Reactor have been secretly hidden in the factory I destroyed?

Like some kind of hidden piece.

Anyway.

One thing was certain.

"This body will take responsibility for the Republic of Korea's energy security!"

Footnotes:

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