WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B.
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 67: 067
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The next morning.
After finishing my morning routine, I devoted myself to my usual hobby.
In other words, I logged onto Hunter Gallery.
Something was strange, though.
“What? Why is the internet so slow?”
It took far longer than usual to access the gallery.
Lag. Lag.
It took over ten seconds just to load the post list.
It was unbelievably frustrating.
For a Korean raised on hurry, hurry, it was pure agony.
I sat there, bouncing my leg impatiently, until the post list finally appeared.
[Did the server crash? The gallery is fucking slow]
[???: Bought a server though.]
[Why are so many stores closing lately?]
[I live in Potato Country, and the power was out all day yesterday]
[Fuck, I need to emigrate]
[The jewelry store in my neighborhood got robbed]
[Is 3,000 won per liter for gas for real? I'm scared to drive...]
[Why are Russia and China poking at us so much?]
[Isn't it about time to declare martial law? Public safety is getting worse]
[Captain Ignorant, buy a server already]
[Is the immigration requirement for Japan still Floor 11?]
...
Posts kept pouring in.
I read them one by one.
Each post opened slowly after a long loading screen.
[Post Title: Did the server crash? The gallery is fucking slow]
Why's it so fucking slow?
Does it really take ten seconds to open one post?
So fucking slow, you bastards
└Bought a server though
└The internet is just getting slower across the whole country
└These long loading times are so frustrating. Is Korea really an IT powerhouse?
└└IT powerhouse my ass. Japanese bastards bought up all our IT companies.
└It's because we're short on electricity, so they shut down some data centers. At least the gallery is still running... The game I play already shut down its servers.
└└The country's about to collapse and you want to play games?
└└Gotta do what I gotta do. The company I worked for went bankrupt, and I'm unemployed now anyway, so there's nothing else to do.
[Post Title: Why are so many stores closing lately?]
Every convenience store and restaurant is closing
Feels like almost half of them have shut down
A restaurant I went to often wasn't open today, so I was sad
Their food was good...
└The country is collapsing in two months. Would you want to work? lol
└They're closing up and spending their final days with their families. The owners still keeping their stores open are the impressive ones...
└Why are places that are open still doing business? I'd have closed long ago and relaxed if I were them.
└└Quite a few people are hoping America or Europe might still buy Points from us. But we've already sold everything worth selling, so...
└As a final measure, won't they send Kim Taeseok or Choi Yejin overseas? Kim Taeseok is stranded, so it'd be difficult, but if they send Choi Yejin, they could buy a few months of time.
└└They'd lowball the hell out of us since we're right before collapse, wouldn't they? It wouldn't be surprising if they gave us enough Points to last barely a month and called it even. Besides, no country is handing out Points to recruit Hunters these days...
└This is fucking bleak...
[Post Title: I live in Potato Country, and the power was out all day yesterday]
The power was out all day yesterday
I felt like a primitive human...
Couldn't even play games, so I read books all day
Got forcibly put through a dopamine detox
Thankfully, the lights are back on now
But I'm anxious because I don't know when it'll cut out again...
It won't go out again, right?
└Power outages are starting to happen intermittently in provincial areas. The government is somehow maintaining the supply in Seoul, but...
└Crazy Seoul Republic, fuck. Is Seoul the only part of Korea? Why are they letting the provinces lose power while pouring everything into Seoul? This pisses me off.
└This isn't about Seoul versus the provinces. They're just following emergency load-shedding procedures. The power plants near you are short on output, so they cut electricity to regular residential areas where the damage would be lower.
└Apparently, they're short on workers to operate the power plants, and coal and gas imports are falling short too, so there's a major electricity shortage.
└How are we supposed to live without electricity? Ah.
[Post Title: The jewelry store in my neighborhood got robbed]
I saw it happen right in front of me.
A black van pulled up, they ripped open the shutter, smashed the glass, and robbed it lol
But these idiots are stupid
The owner moved all the jewelry somewhere safe ages ago
Why are they robbing an empty place? lol
Even funnier, I reported it to the police, but they only showed up several hours later...
What the hell are the police doing?
A jewelry store getting robbed is a serious crime, so why did they respond so late?
Fucking useless cops, seriously
└Can't be helped. There's a huge police manpower shortage right now.
└There was a group brawl in my neighborhood, and only two cops came. They had to fire Tasers and warning shots and raise hell before things finally calmed down.
└Seoul and the capital region are okay, but public safety in the provinces is already completely fucked. There are groups of dozens robbing supermarkets and everything.
└Is this really the Republic of Korea? Give us our country's public safety back.
└This is seriously the beginning of an apocalypse, fuck.
[Post Title: Isn't it about time to declare martial law? Public safety is getting worse]
Isn't it about time to deploy the military to maintain public safety?
Crime is steadily rising, and stores, jewelry shops, and gas stations are getting robbed
At this rate, it feels like we're really going to end up in anarchy;
They need to do something fast, martial law or whatever. At this rate, the country is really going to collapse...;;;
└Country? Hasn't it already collapsed? Do you seriously not know?
└There are rumors that martial law will be declared soon...
└What happens if martial law gets declared?
└└Everyone who ran off saying the country was doomed gets forced back to work. Then the military handles public safety instead of the police, and reservists get called up in some areas.
└└Oh, sounds good. Do it now.
└└Don't declare martial law, fuck. The country's collapsing in two months anyway, so just let us rest at home.
...
Once again, King Korea was cheerfully collapsing.
It looked like multiple problems were erupting one after another.
Falling power generation, blackouts, gaps in public safety, skyrocketing crime, shattered prices, military provocations from other countries...
All kinds of problems were beginning to crash in like a tsunami.
I muttered quietly.
“I need to finish the Extreme Lunatic Hell Power Plant as soon as possible.”
Public safety, crime rates, prices, and military provocations from other countries had been problems before.
Now even the social infrastructure was reaching its limit.
Even the power grid, an essential resource for modern people, was starting to fail one piece at a time...
This was exactly why I'd decided to build a power plant.
I needed to finish the Extreme Lunatic Hell Power Plant as quickly as possible.
I had to protect my country's energy security.
I casually made a post on Hunter Gallery.
[Post Title: There's not enough electricity? Don't worry, everyone]
[Author: Blue Dot]
I'll solve the electricity problem soon.
My Extreme Lunatic Hell Power Plant is steadily being prepared.
For now, I plan to build a power plant as soon as I gather around 50 GW worth of Magic Stone Reactors.
That should put out the urgent fire, right?
Praise me, common rabble.
I'll let you run your air conditioners all you want.
Oh, and I might be fighting some Chinese Highest Floors Hunters soon.
Please cheer for me.
My spar with Choi Yejin ended in an even match.
But I don't know how I'll do against multiple opponents...
Seriously, why were those Chinese bastards so obsessed with me? Was this some angsty regret-and-obsession novel?
Did someone smear honey all over me or something?
They're really fucking annoying...
...
After writing the post, I snickered.
I felt proud of myself.
“Me, working to prevent the Republic of Korea's collapse. Pretty cool...!”
It didn't feel bad to feel like I was working to save countless citizens.
It gave me a strange rush.
A sort of self-intoxication.
Then comments immediately started flooding in.
└This bastard is posting another stupid shitpost today.
└As expected of the great Blue Dot for thinking about the country!!!
└This crazy bastard is messing with Choi Yejin again. Do you have ten lives or something?
└The country's collapsing, and he's still stubbornly maintaining his concept. Fucking insane... So this is how you become Hunter Gallery's beloved regular. I'm learning something here.
└└Don't learn that shit, asshole.
└What's with this whole Chinese Highest Floors Hunters thing now?
└└Blue Dot: Chinese Hunters who started on Hard are apparently targeting me... I think I'll be fighting a few Highest Floors Hunters soon.
└└lol Why would Chinese Committee Members target you? Those bastards are too busy enjoying every pleasure in mainland China.
└└Blue Dot: But it's real... I have an American friend named Reimu, and they gave me the information... They say Chinese Highest Floors Hunters are going to attack...
└└What kind of nonsense is that lol. But Reimu? Isn't that a Japanese name?
└└Blue Dot: Yeah. It is a somewhat unusual name for an American.
└└Who the fuck is Mikurei Reimu, the shrine maiden of Mikurei Shrine with the ability to fly through the sky, you otaku?
└└Typical otaku.
...
Countless comments poured in.
Not one of them believed me. They all mocked and ridiculed me...
Still, I wasn't angry.
It was impossible for common rabble to see through the truth of the world in the first place.
It was only natural that they were ignorant.
And for this body, the Extreme Lunatic Hell Wizard Hunter.
Saving the Republic of Korea was naturally something I had to do!
Looking at the comments, I muttered contentedly.
“Wait, common rabble. This body will save you soon!”
My hero Peter once said that great power came with great responsibility.
And since I had fucking great power, I intended to take on fucking great responsibility.
I was going to save King Korea.
To do that, I had to diligently climb the Tower again today.
So I waited for Hyeji and Iing Iing.
[Entering Tower Floor 25.]
The Floor 25 raid began.
* * *
Flash!
The bright light faded.
I slowly looked around.
What I saw was the familiar sight of ruins.
Beyond the destroyed buildings, a huge castle stood far away in my field of view.
Golems wandered all around the area as well.
I muttered quietly.
“Floor 25, the floor of Steel Golems... A search map today. That's a little annoying.”
Floor 25, the floor of Steel Golems.
The map's structure was simple.
If we found and destroyed the ten Steel Golems scattered throughout the ruins, the “castle gate” in the center of the city would open.
Then we could take the Escape Portal inside the castle to clear the floor.
I heard other Hunters needed several weeks to clear it.
There were hundreds of Golems roaming the ruins.
The map was too vast to search easily.
And the Steel Golems we had to defeat were exceptionally powerful.
Finding and destroying all ten took a considerable amount of time.
But that was only a story for common rabble.
“Iing Iing. Let's go up.”
-Iing Iing!
For someone equipped with a fairy drone like me.
A search map was nothing more than a map that took a little extra effort.
Bwoorong.
I rose into the air with Iing Iing's telekinetic flight.
My viewpoint rose in an instant, and the sprawling ruins spread out below me.
Na Hyeji asked me.
“Jiho, you're going to deal with the Steel Golems first, right?”
“Of course. Iing Iing, find the tin can Golems for me.”
-Iing Iing!
Bwoororong.
Relying on Iing Iing's telekinetic flight, we moved quickly.
Come to think of it, Iing Iing seemed to be gradually growing stronger too.
Before, she could only carry Na Hyeji and me at about the speed of a car.
Now she was much faster.
We were practically flying at the speed of a light aircraft.
Our mobility had improved.
Thanks to that, defeating the Steel Golems took no time at all.
-Kwang!
-Kwang!
-Kwang!
Blue Railgun trails plunged down from the sky.
Every time a deafening blast rang out, Steel Golems made of black metal had their heads pierced and toppled over.
-Kwoong. Thud. Kwoong...!
The Steel Golems collapsed helplessly.
I muttered quietly.
“That was easy. What's the difference between these guys and ordinary Golems? Is it just the material?”
“From what I know... They're much faster, stronger, and more agile than ordinary Golems. But I think your attacks are just too powerful, Jiho. They all died in one hit.”
My Railgun's firepower was simply too strong.
They were tin cans that burst apart and fell over just like ordinary Golems.
I defeated all ten Steel Golems in an instant.
After that came the loot collection.
“Iing Iing. Collect the loot.”
-Iing Iing!
Bwoorong.
Iing Iing skillfully pulled the Magic Stones from their chests with telekinesis.
For reference, Steel Golems had Medium Magic Stones embedded in them.
Their capacity was ten times greater than a Small Magic Stone.
One of these was equivalent to the yield from ten ordinary Golems.
‘That's efficient.’
One Railgun shot earned 3,000 Points, plus a Medium Magic Stone.
Creating Railgun had definitely been the right choice.
As expected of magic modeled after cutting-edge modern weaponry, their efficiency and destructive power were completely insane.
Even those durable chunks of metal got pierced through in one shot.
At this level, wouldn't they work against Highest Floors Hunters too?
Anyway, after defeating all ten Steel Golems.
-Clunk.
“Jiho! The castle gate opened.”
The gate of the huge castle in the city center opened.
The Escape Portal was inside, and entering it would clear this floor.
Of course, I had no plans to leave right away.
“Please wait a moment. Let's drop three Super-Fireballs before we go. There might be Magic Stone Reactors somewhere in those ruins.”
“...Jiho, have you ever played a game called The Legend of Zelda?”
“No. Why?”
“The green protagonist in that game is a crazy guy who goes into people's houses and breaks pots all the time. You remind me of him. Whenever you see a building, you try to destroy it...”
“That's me.”
If I saw a building, I had to destroy it.
I needed to quickly gather Magic Stone Reactors and protect my country's energy security.
Make Korea Great Again!!!
I suddenly wanted to find a red hat and wear it.
But I held back because I felt like I might get a hole in my ear if I did.
My Extreme Lunatic Hell ears were precious, after all.
-Kururururur...!
As I prepared a Super-Fireball while thinking such useless thoughts.
I checked the amount of Blue Motes in my heart.
I muttered quietly.
“My mana pool right now... Is it enough for around 1,000 Fireballs?”
It was amazing.
My mana pool increased by 100 with every floor I climbed, so my growth rate was truly steep.
At present, my Blue Motes had enough capacity for 1,000 Fireballs.
Enough to fire three Super-Fireballs.
At this level, I might really be able to fight a force on the scale of an army...?
Anyway.
“Hyeji. Want to see a fun magic trick?”
“I'm tired of that. Stop it.”
“A magic trick where the ruins in front of us disappear...!”
“Good grief.”
As always, I threw a dumb joke at Hyeji.
I was about to fire the Super-Fireball.
But then.
‘Huh? Come to think of it, wouldn't it be better to destroy the castle instead of the ruins?’
Glance.
I looked at the ruins in front of me.
Intact and destroyed buildings lay scattered everywhere.
Three Super-Fireballs could destroy hundreds of buildings.
After that, I could probably dig up a few Magic Stone Reactors from the rubble.
If I got lucky, I might even find a Medium Magic Stone Reactor.
But behind me stood a huge castle with an Escape Portal inside.
It was larger than any structure I'd seen in the Tower so far.
It was large and splendid enough to house the king of a fantasy kingdom.
Even after being abandoned for so long, it still retained its majestic appearance.
Instead of the ruins in front of me.
If I destroyed that castle.
Wouldn't something much better come out?
Even in gacha games, using one paid golden ticket got you SSRs more often than using a hundred free tickets.
Destroying one huge building might be better than destroying hundreds of small ones.
Good. Let's destroy that castle.
Swish.
I turned away from the city ruins and aimed at the castle.
Hyeji asked.
“Jiho, you're going to destroy the castle instead of the city?”
“Yes. It's such a large building. Something should come out if we destroy it.”
“That makes no sense. Wait, does it... You destroyed a huge fortress on the previous floor and got a Medium Magic Stone Reactor, right? A Medium one came out because you destroyed a large fortress. And this castle is much bigger than that fortress, so maybe...”
“Get behind me. Here we go.”
-Iing Iing!
Hyeji and Iing Iing hid behind my back.
I fired the Super-Fireball.
Whoooosh!
Perhaps because it was such a heavy projectile, the black Fireball traveled slowly.
It struck the lower section of the castle.
-Flash.
A bright flash burst out.
Then.
-Kwaaaaaaaang!
A massive explosion blew away the castle.
An enormous pillar of fire rose into the sky.
A mushroom cloud billowed up.
The massive explosion tore the entire castle to pieces.
The huge structure shattered, its fragments scattering brilliantly in every direction.
The world turned red.
Debris shot high into the sky before falling limply back down.
Maybe because I'd destroyed something so huge.
The impact felt better than usual.
-Kwakakakaka!
A rush of aftershocks came rolling toward us.
My vision was blocked.
I rubbed my hands together in anticipation.
‘This feels like pulling gacha.’
This wasn't one of the large or small buildings I'd destroyed so far.
It was a grand, enormous structure.
I'd destroyed the biggest building I'd ever broken...
Wouldn't something good come out?
I watched the front with expectant eyes.
-Passss...
At last, the dust settled.
I urged Iing Iing on.
“Iing Iing! Hyeji! Search for loot! Something good might have come out.”
-Iing Iing!
At my command, Iing Iing raised her fist as if to say, Leave it to me.
Bwoorong!
She swiftly flew off and began searching through the ruins where the castle had stood.
What a quick little thing.
She'd be loved in the military.
After sending Iing Iing and Hyeji off.
“Jiho! Jiho!”
Not long afterward.
They came back to me.
They were carrying something with telekinesis.
“We found a Magic Stone Reactor!”
As expected, it was a Magic Stone Reactor.
But its size was on a completely different level from the ones I'd seen before.
Unlike the previous Magic Stone Reactors, which hid my upper body when I held one with both hands.
This was a metal box far bigger than a refrigerator.
It was made of black steel rather than gray metal.
Intricate circuits of blue mana were engraved across its surface.
I immediately knew.
“A Large Magic Stone Reactor!”
It surpassed the Small Magic Stone Reactor, which had only 1 GW of generating capacity.
It even surpassed the reasonably useful Medium Magic Stone Reactor, which had 10 GW of generating capacity.
It had an incredible 100 GW of generating capacity.
I'd collected four Small Magic Stone Reactors and one Medium Magic Stone Reactor so far.
A total of 14 GW.
And now I had acquired a Magic Stone Reactor with 100 GW of generating capacity.
A total generating capacity of 114 GW.
Which meant.
“It's time for the Extreme Lunatic Hell Power Plant!”
The time to make the Republic of Korea great again was close at hand!
I hurriedly finished off the remaining Golems and took the Escape Portal.
[Baek Jiho (Republic of Korea: Floor 25)]
[You have completed Tower Floor 25.]
[You have defeated 308 Rock Golems (300).]
[You have defeated 10 Steel Golems (3,000).]
[Points are being calculated.]
[Tower Floor 26 has been unlocked.]
[Returning.]
Footnotes:
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