WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

Is It Bad That the Main Character’s a Roleplayer?

[Translator – Aren]

◈Chapter 296 Proof (1)

Sometimes, I had thoughts like this.

After giving directions to a tourist who asked for the way, what if I could simply trust that they had gotten there safely instead of thinking 10 minutes or an hour later, ‘Ah, I wonder if they found it all right? Should I have explained it in more detail?’

What if, when I saw an elderly person stamping their feet in distress, asking what online reservations even were and why there were no tickets left even for a train departing five hours later, I could just click my tongue and move on, thinking, ‘That’s unfortunate, but there’s nothing I can do’?

What if I were the kind of person who could turn away from a crying child, telling myself they had nothing to do with me and that getting involved would only cause trouble?

Would my life have been a little easier?

Could I have lived a better life than I did now?

Could I have been a little happier……?

『…They were the ones who posted malicious comments first, so why are they insulting you, Dad? If they didn’t want to get sued, they shouldn’t have posted them in the first place.』

『It’s because they’re all hurting inside. Don’t let it bother you too much.』

『But…it makes me angry. You didn’t even do anything wrong……』

『That’s true. Being famous isn’t a crime. But some malice arises without reason, and some is expressed without any particular trigger.』

『…That’s unfair.』

『That’s just how the world is.』

But whenever I had thoughts like those, the memory of this moment inevitably followed.

『Even so, don't suddenly become a cynic because you’re disappointed in humanity. Just as there is malice without reason in this world, there is also kindness without reason. You’re like that, and so is your mother.』

『…But there are far too few people like that.』

『Hmm, that’s true. But something doesn’t become meaningless just because there is little of it.』

『…I don’t know. If it really had meaning, shouldn’t more people be joining in, even if not everyone did?』

『Uh…Hm. That’s because people don’t have enough room in their lives……』

『Then do I help people because I have plenty of room in mine?』

『…Just because many people support something doesn’t always make it right, so perhaps you shouldn’t judge it by numbers?』

『Then what is majority rule for?』

『That is used to decide whether a proposal passes or fails. When deciding what is right or wrong, you shouldn’t look at the numbers. Think about it. Even if there were more criminals than noncriminals, that wouldn’t make the criminals right, would it?』

『There could never be more criminals than noncriminals.』

『Really? But doesn’t what you just said prove there are more good people than bad ones?』

『That…seems like a slightly different argument.』

『You never let anything slide, do you?』

Sunlight passing through the window and falling across the living room. White curtains swaying lightly in the breeze, slipping through the gap in the window. The L-shaped sofa where, if I lay facing Dad in the middle, my feet would stick out over the end……

『…Honestly, Dad doesn’t really understand either. What is so entertaining about posting malicious comments, or what meaning there is in tearing someone else down unilaterally? What benefit is there besides displaying your malice and ruining your own reputation? But…I think I can tell you how meaningful kindness without reason is. I just thought of it.』

His voice poured over me warmly, like the sunlight touching the tips of my feet, and gently, like the soft spring breeze.

『What is it?』

『Remember what we saw on TV recently? They found evidence of leg amputation surgery on a fifteen-thousand-year-old skeleton.』

『Ah, that. What about it?』

『At the time, you were amazed by the news and said, 'Wow, they performed surgery even back then?”...But one anthropologist expressed amazement at something else.』

『……?』

『Now, think about it. Even in this age, with all sorts of technology available, people with disabilities experience countless inconveniences. Then how difficult must life have been 15 thousand years ago, when none of those things existed? And what about the people who supported the person who had lost their leg? Back then, it probably wouldn’t have been enough for only their blood relatives to help. The entire tribe they belonged to would have needed to contribute.』

『…That’s true.』

『But you see, all of that hardship could have been avoided if they had simply abandoned the person who lost their leg. If they hadn’t supported that person, there would have been no need for them to burden themselves further. And yet they did not abandon them. Instead, they treated the injury and cared for them until the wound healed. What do you think that meant?』

『That…….』

『That was when the anthropologist Margaret Mead had this thought. People name Egypt, Mesopotamia, and places like those as the starting points of civilization, but perhaps its true beginning was the moment one human helped another. When so many animals obeyed the laws of nature and abandoned injured members of their own kind, perhaps humanity was able to create the world we have now because we chose to care for the injured, treat them, and survive together.』

The 30 minutes that had built the person I was.

『Like I said earlier, Dad doesn’t really understand why people these days dress up callousness and coldheartedness as rationality, then cast aside even basic manners. I don’t understand why they belittle helping others as something only idiots do or why they justify rudeness by calling it ‘refreshing.’ I’ve never once found any of that admirable. But at the very least, I know that those things are not what distinguish humans from animals. Of that, I am certain.』

『…….』

『So, son, ignore those who mistake selfishness for rationality. There’s no need to spare a glance for people who torment others for their own amusement or place themselves first without the slightest consideration for anyone else. They’re fools, inferior even to the humans who lived 15 thousand years ago. No matter how numerous they become, no matter how many people gradually begin agreeing with them, that will remain true forever.』

Sometimes, I had thoughts like this.

『Ah, of course, just because I said all that doesn’t mean I’m telling my son to sacrifice himself for everyone else, alright? You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. So if it becomes too much for you, look after yourself first. Helping others comes afterward.』

What if, after sending someone on their way after they asked me for directions, I became someone who no longer wondered whether they had arrived safely?

『But…If you have already taken care of yourself and still have something left to give. And if there is someone near you who needs help, but no one else is willing to step forward.』

What if I became someone incapable of feeling sympathy for a person unable to adapt to a changing society?

『Then reach out to them, just once. I’m not asking you to do anything grand. Even simply helping someone back to their feet after they fall is enough. Just show them that small act of kindness.』

What if I became someone who could stand by and watch a crying child simply because getting involved would be troublesome?

『Who knows? That one act might change their entire life.』

Could I be happy?

『…I’ll say it again, but this is only after you have taken care of yourself. Understood?』

…I now had an answer to that question.

『You resemble your mother far too much, so I worry about you at times like this. It’s one of the reasons I love you, but neither of you takes proper care of yourselves.』

『I think I take reasonably good care of myself……』

『That’s what you and your mother think… From where I’m standing, the line you’ll endure up to is terrifyingly deep. I’m truly relieved I at least earned plenty of money……』

What meaning was there in imagining such a thing when I was someone incapable of becoming that person?

* * *

The moment I opened my eyes, a filthy tusk filled my vision. My body bent awkwardly as though it were being crumpled.

Whoosh!

The fierce wind dragged along by the tusk whipped my hair wildly. I could feel the flies and moths buzzing around me, clinging all over my body and gnawing at whatever they could reach. It was a fairly dangerous attack to simply ignore.

No wonder blood had kept pouring into the mental world even though I’d been dodging so well.

I clicked my tongue as I landed atop the mud. Squelch. The heavy and moist ground sent me sliding backward, but I didn’t lose my balance.

I moved the Demonic Energy that had either recovered in the meantime or been released from whatever Mephistopheles had been hoarding.

Now that it no longer converted into Arcane Power, it was merely a little blacker and more viscous. The way I handled it was not particularly different.

The Demonic Energy swirled inside me and burned away the insects that had burrowed into my body. Rustle, rustle. I couldn’t burn the ones eating my hair, or rather, my wig.

“Damn it!”

I couldn’t let some stupid insects ruin the gift Ekuah had given me. Forget keeping up appearances. I immediately shoved the wig into my inventory.

Perhaps it had absorbed too much Demon blood, because even the brief touch against my fingers felt unpleasantly stiff. Considering how breathable the wig was, my actual hair was probably in pretty much the same condition.

Bang!

Even in the middle of all that, my body, having undergone emergency treatment, leaped once more to avoid the monster’s foreleg. I flew away from the wall.

Ruuuumble!

A single kick shook the earth and caved in part of the wall. It was the might of a monster whose sheer size was a weapon in itself.

‘To restore your body, concentrate Demonic Energy in the affected area.’

“Why don’t you stop talking as though those are my own thoughts? It’s rather unpleasant.”

[How hurtful.]

Advice was advice, and irritation was irritation.

Even as I remained preoccupied with evading, I rebuked her once. Something slowly rose at the edge of my vision. A translucent figure of the Demon, faint enough for the scenery behind her to show through, stood tall upon the ground.

“What’s with this?”

[What? This much is fine, isn’t it? It’s not as though seeing me drains your mental strength.]

“It raises my irritation level though?”

[Oh, endure that much, would you? I came out here to help you, after all.]

Help? That thing hovering smugly at the edge of my vision was supposed to be helpful?

“I prefer Faust to you.”

[How unfortunate. That child can’t come out right now. If you truly want to see him, try asking later. Though with his soul damaged and the contractual penalty placed on him, it would take an extraordinary effort for him to appear.]

I frowned and was about to say something, but the Demon spoke first.

[Focus on recovering for now. The larger the wound becomes, the more Demonic Energy it takes to repair, and right now you can’t afford to waste even a single bit of it.]

“…It isn’t working very well.”

[Because all you're doing is gathering it. Imagine using the Demonic Energy you gathered to fill the wound. Picture it replacing the missing bone and muscle, blood, and flesh.]

Frustratingly, the advice was genuinely useful. I obediently followed it and tried moving the Demonic Energy as instructed.

Crrrack. Unlike in the mental world, where wounds disappeared as though someone had cut that part out of a video, new flesh visibly grew and filled the injuries for a brief moment.

Apparently, the claim that I could survive even with my heart torn apart hadn’t been an exaggeration.

[Once you’ve recovered, take hold of Ratel. Or at least pick up the sword lying around on the ground. Attacking with Demonic Energy alone is inefficient.]

…Telling me to arm myself was undeniably exactly the right thing in this situation, so why did I hate hearing it so much?

The corner of my mouth twitched as I touched the white substance wrapped around my joints. Despite looking like bone, the flexible yet rigid material began gathering into my palm again.

“Does this thing have a length limit?”

[At its widest expansion, it covers roughly 330m² at a thickness of half a millimeter.]

Oh… I had no idea how large that actually was. I could roughly picture 3 m² by eye, but how much was 330 m²?

I blinked and tried calculating it before promptly giving it up. If it could expand across 330 m², then it was more than enough to accomplish what I wanted.

Whoosh!

The white substance shot out from my palm in a long line and snatched up the amber-colored sword lying face-down on the ground.

[You really are thorough about conserving it. But if you were going to do that, why not fight using only Ratel?]

“What are you talking about?”

[…I’m saying even the Demonic Energy required to pick that up with Ratel is a waste. Though I suppose it’s better than retrieving it using Demonic Energy alone.]

“Seriously, what are you talking about? I could’ve picked it up using only Demonic Energy?”

[What power did you think you had been using all this time to cut through and pierce your opponents’ bodies?]

At my question, the Demon narrowed her eyes as though looking at something pathetic. [Pushing isn't the only form of physical force. Pulling is a physical force too.] The fact that she still explained it to me was almost funny.

[Your control over Demonic Energy is fairly impressive, yet your imagination is remarkably shallow. Why not develop that particular ability, Gretchen?]

“I feel like my imagination would become much richer if you simply kept your mouth shut.”

[Really? Then I guess you’ll remain inflexible forever.]

Clang!

The sword now in my hand knocked aside the approaching tusk. It was the first time the blade, blazing after being filled with Demonic Energy, had been repelled without managing to cut its target.

Whom. My body flew backward along with the sword. A dull pressure crushed my organs as though everything inside me had been thoroughly shaken up. I could recover quickly enough, but it didn’t feel pleasant.

[Don't strike Erysi… Behemoth’s tusks or horns. You could cut them if you truly put your all into it, but the cost-effectiveness is terrible.]

“You’re only telling me that now?”

[I went out of my way to explain the strategy, and you’re blaming me? It seems you lack a conscience as well.]

Ptui. I spat out the clot of blood that had risen into my mouth, then steadied my stance. The insects crawling over my skin had constantly shoved their heads into openings like my nose and ears were fairly irritating, but I forced myself to ignore them.

[That bastard is extremely stupid, but its body is even more tenacious and durable. So don’t strike all over the place. Focus on one point. Better yet, target soft tissue such as its eyes or the insides of its ears.]

Standing behind me, the Demon softly recited how to hunt the beast.

[When attacking, use a thrust focused on a single point instead of Slash. Once you pierce the hide, injecting Demonic Energy inside and setting it ablaze would also be fairly effective. Its skin is so thick that the idiot can’t even vent the heat.]

She was incredibly irritating, but her advice helped. Thinking that this damn trash game, no, this damn trash reality, had finally received a balance patch, I put strength in my legs.

Boom!

The instant my body shot forward, the enormous beast slammed down its foreleg. The ground sank another level, and the wall suffered yet more damage.

“Ugh, the smell.”

But I alone managed to slip away without being injured. My legs kept racing beneath Behemoth’s belly. The shaking earth tried several times to throw me off balance, but my sharpened nerves prevented it.

Bzzzzzzzz!!

Whether they were fur or moss, tens of thousands of insects beat their wings among the strands hanging thickly from its belly. The noise tormenting my ears was worse than an airplane. Some even flew into my mouth and nose.

Ugh. Holding back a torrent of curses—opening my mouth to swear would probably only let more inside—I swung my sword. There were so many insects that dozens were sliced apart every stroke.

[…Burn them.]

But what good would throwing a sugar cube into the ocean do? No matter how many insects I cut down, they immediately filled the space again until the Demon finally suggested another option. I could see the contempt and irritation in her eyes directed at the nest of insects.

Her personality was filthier than an insect’s, so I’d thought she might find this place cozy. Apparently not. She was telling me to spend the Demonic Energy she had repeatedly warned me to conserve.

[Fill it with Wrath, and flames will arise naturally, so burn them. Burn that trash!]

No. The Demonic Energy would be wasted.

Driven solely by my determination to piss off the Demon, I held back the flames until the very end. Instead, I crossed beneath the entirety of that vast belly and reached Behemoth’s rear. I had arrived there after weaving past its pounding hindlegs and wildly twisting body.

[You insane Gretchen……!]

Swoosh.

I twisted my body while sliding across the mud. Its filthy rear filled most of my vision, while Behemoth’s tail whipped overhead, stirring up gust after gust.

“Hup.”

Even so, rather than yielding, I tightened my grip on my weapon. The amber sword belonged to someone else, so Ratel filled my palm instead.

-Swiiiiish. With Demonic Energy serving as its framework, Ratel changed shape. A spear. The white spear filled with Demonic Energy gleamed viciously like the fang of a beast.

[I did tell you to aim for soft tissue, but……]

The black-and-white spear flew through Behemoth’s anus.

[What an impressively disgusting choice.]

Grooooooaaaaar!!

Whichever Demon it came from, the sound of furious outrage was music to my ears.

“What? Fight it yourself if you don’t like it.”

[…I didn’t realize you were this childish.]

“Humans are all childish. It’s merely hidden by how often we’re forced to pretend to be mature.”

The instant the spear lodged in its anus, Behemoth began bucking like a wild horse, and I retreated to avoid it. The rampage knocked Ratel out after it had only barely pierced the tender flesh.

A black lump of something, whether flesh or something else, I couldn’t tell, clung to Ratel’s surface.

“Ugh.”

[Why that expression, Gretchen? You’re the one who used Ratel as a backscratcher for an asshole merely to spite me, right?]

Was this bastard actually angry?

The way she exploited a child was filthier than excrement, and she had laughed off nearly everything I said until now. I’d assumed she would dismiss an insult of this level just as easily.

I shook the grime from Ratel toward the Demon—unfortunately, it passed straight through her like a ghost—and then glanced at her concealed face. It was still difficult to tell whether she was genuinely furious or merely somewhat displeased.

[Why are you looking at me like that? Do you wish to insult me further? I have already suffered more than enough at your hands.]

“Bullshit. If you call that suffering, then what does that make the pain that child and I endured?”

Boom! I launched myself upward to avoid Behemoth’s charge as it turned around. Straight ahead. The approaching Behemoth and I closed the distance between us in an instant.

“I want you to receive the punishment you deserve.”

But rather than collide with Behemoth, I stepped onto its tusk and raced along it. Bzzzzzz. A weak burst of flame scattered the swarm of flies trying to obscure my vision. My view cleared, and I rapidly climbed the beast, whose height rivaled a building.

“I’m not even asking you to be punished for everything you’ve done. Just enough for that child to vent at least the smallest fraction of his resentment.”

Soon, its enormous eyes came into view.

“And shit, I hope you receive at least half the karmic payback for all the frustration you’ve forced me to choke down.”

Ratel flew once more.

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