WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Mordor

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Mistaken as the Dungeon Boss Monster ◈

Chapter 11: All of a Sudden?

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Strength. If there was a word several times more terrifying than that, it would be cruelty.

The strong were composed, but the cruel were merciless in every sense of the word.

Strength and cruelty. That combination was nothing less than a disaster that should never come together.

Anyone would think the best option when faced with a cruel powerhouse was to run.

But I didn't even have the chance.

[Lv. 93]

The Rank 5 Abyssal Palace, the Rotting Hollow.

It was where death fed on raw flesh.

Its boss, Kalandas Bon Elderich, stood before me.

If there were a god of death who granted life and death, would they look like this?

Every word and movement around us stopped with Kalandas's arrival.

An oppressive aura that made it hard to breathe weighed down the air.

Everyone present struggled to catch their breath, as though someone had wrapped a hand around their throats.

One person held the power of life and death over everyone here.

"Bow, all of you! The Lich King who commands bones, Kalandas Bon Elderich, the lord who commands ten thousand deaths and defies the natural order! The boss of the Rank 5 Abyssal Palace, Lord Kalandas Bon Elderich!"

Blue, spirit-fire-like lights swept across the room.

Those whose eyes met his flinched as if seized by a chill.

Could someone's knees really weaken and a cold shiver run down their spine from a single glance?

When I was an office worker, I thought the absolute beings in fantasy stories were nothing more than illusory figures meant to represent a flimsy ceiling.

Now that it had become reality in this life, I understood.

A real one, not an illusion, stood before my eyes.

"O Lord of the Five Fingers! Your lowly servants welcome the Lich King's arrival!"

The Demon Merchant bent over so deeply that his forehead nearly touched the ground.

Starting with the Demon Merchant, hundreds of kobolds and dwarves, a Vampire, Charlotte, Balm Monk, and everyone except me bowed.

Those who were already small looked even more pitifully tiny before Kalandas.

Saaaaa─

Corpse-cold air spread from Kalandas's mouth.

The breath of the dead strangling the living seemed to freeze even the air itself.

His standing as an undead was beyond comparison to mine. No, comparing us at all was impossible.

Kalandas leisurely turned his gaze without showing the slightest reaction.

Even after a minute passed, no one dared raise their head.

"Your bows are too shallow."

With his first words, Kalandas flicked a finger.

"Ghk!"

A death rattle immediately followed.

My vision jerked in an instant, and I saw a kobold collapse without warning.

There was no blood. No wound, either. Yet somehow, it was obvious that it had become a corpse.

The shadow beneath its body suddenly vanished.

As if that had been a sign, the kobold sprang to its feet.

Thud.

The Undead Kobold lowered its head as though collapsing into a bow.

A chilling laugh accompanied by cold air echoed through the area.

"How satisfying."

The moment he finished speaking, everyone threw themselves to the ground.

They lowered their chins, kept their closed eyes pointed down, and pressed their trembling foreheads to the ground.

As hundreds of people prostrated themselves, thick clouds of dust rose around them.

"...."

What stance was I supposed to take here?

Honestly, I wanted to bury my head in the ground too.

The only reason I remained standing after seeing that kobold die was because Kalandas's purpose for coming was obvious.

"Rise."

The wary crowd, gauging his reaction, began to rise one by one. Only after quite some time was everyone back on their feet.

Perhaps they couldn't bear to look at Kalandas. Countless gazes turned toward me instead.

It was only natural since he had business with me, but I was just as terrified as they were.

The moment my eyes accidentally met Kalandas's, something happened.

"Oh."

The number 93 suddenly turned pale green.

A sigh of relief escaped me on its own. It soon turned cold, proving that I was one of the dead.

"Just as I heard, you're a Death Knight. So, are you the new master of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss?"

Kalandas extended a pure white skeletal hand toward me.

There were probably two reasons he held goodwill toward me.

He knew I was a new Abyssal Palace boss, practically a fellow professional. And the sense of kinship he felt toward me as a fellow undead likely played a part as well.

'So don't panic.'

Looking at the situation alone, this was simply a meeting between two bosses of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.

If I acted submissive, it would only backfire. If this turned into him wondering, 'Is this coward really an Abyssal Palace boss?' then I was finished.

"That's right."

"Glad to meet you, my friend. Tell me your True Name."

"This body was born not long ago. I have no name."

I managed to dodge the question somehow.

Since I could predict his next response, my mind immediately started racing.

"You may choose one yourself. The masters of the other Abyssal Palaces did the same."

"...Vargoer."

The name that crossed my mind was my first character's nickname.

From that moment on, I was Vargoer, a Death Knight and the boss of the Rank 7 Abyssal Palace.

"Vargoer. My first friend among the dead. I regret arriving without notice, but I have two urgent matters to discuss with you."

"What are they?"

"Let's take a walk first."

Kalandas moved ahead. He was floating in the air, so he was practically gliding along.

As I followed, I considered every possible guess.

He said he had come for two reasons, but no matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn't figure out what they were.

'I thought he came just to see me because we're both undead.'

He wouldn't call something that obvious business.

Besides, since he was heading somewhere with no one around, he clearly had something private in mind.

"What's that human?"

"My adjutant."

The moment Kalandas pointed at Charlotte, I nearly had a heart attack.

Undead who were brought back against the natural order instinctively hated humans.

They hated all living beings in general, but Liches revived from humans hated humans several times more.

"...You allowed a human into an Abyssal Palace?"

"That's right."

The tension I felt while facing Kalandas was more intense than anything I had experienced in my life.

An undead boss had accepted a human as an adjutant.

Those blue lights seemed to see straight through my intentions.

It felt like the guts I didn't even have were shriveling up and falling out, while my thoughts went blank as I tried to come up with an excuse that would work.

"As expected. You truly are a master of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss. You're impossible to predict."

The color of his level hadn't changed, which meant he meant every word.

It lasted less than three seconds, but I felt like I'd lost ten years off my life.

Could he really have let it slide for no reason other than that I was unpredictable? At least, I didn't think so.

Just as he respected me as a fellow Abyssal Palace boss, it was only right that he respected my adjutant as well.

An adjutant was like the brain of a dungeon. When the boss was absent, the adjutant was effectively in charge.

Kalandas was a cruel boss, not one who acted recklessly without understanding the situation.

On the contrary, his method was to read the changing currents of the world and expand his power through careful planning.

Either way, he must have respected Charlotte because he wanted to respect my position.

I swallowed my relief and nodded as though nothing had happened.

"To me, she's not a human. She's a capable adjutant. She took overall command of the dungeon's construction and finished it well, as you can see."

"Hm. Her abilities do seem useful. She should be rewarded for her merits."

"You honor me."

Charlotte, who had been listening quietly, spoke.

I felt the urge to cover her mouth immediately.

Kalandas was the kind of undead who would brutally kill a human for speaking without permission.

I cautiously watched Kalandas's reaction.

Unaware of how I felt, Charlotte started talking again.

"I am a Witch before I am human. As I grew, I became a Necromancer out of reverence for Your Majesty, the Lich King."

"Hmm."

"All of this is for the sake of accomplishing a single task. This humble one wishes to slaughter every human in this world."

"Your resolve is acceptable."

Kalandas glanced at me before continuing.

"I cannot simply ignore a companion who shares my purpose. Should things go well between you and my friend, I will permit you to read a paragraph of the Necronomicon."

"It would be the greatest honor of my life."

"I like you. Let your adjutant accompany us as well."

"Very well."

You did fucking well, Charlotte.

It felt like my lifespan was rising and falling by the second, but it would be a relief if things ended well.

I just hoped we could establish a friendly relationship and that he would leave soon.

The three of us walked through an empty corridor.

Charlotte followed with the posture of a vassal beside her king, while I walked shoulder to shoulder with Kalandas despite how frightened I was.

"As I said, I came for two reasons. You may not know this, but factions have formed within the Seven Palaces of the Abyss, whether openly or not."

Even I, a veteran with 30,000 hours in the game, was hearing this for the first time.

There were factions among the bosses of the Seven Palaces of the Abyss.

'They must have their own circumstances.'

Thinking back on it, it would have been stranger if playing the game nonstop had let me know every detail.

Of course, there was more I didn't know than I did.

"The sixth-ranked boss will soon request an audience with you. Naturally, a faction has formed around that wench as well."

The sixth-ranked boss?

As a veteran, the name immediately came to mind. Really, as a man, I couldn't help but remember her.

Her dungeon was the Castle Full of Lust.

Its boss was Valentia Rose Sha.

She was a Succubus Queen who had been the benefactor of countless male gamers. I had benefited from her a few times myself.

Even through the screen, she could enthrall men and drain their vitality.

That alone showed how powerful she was.

"Don't trust that vile woman. If you fall for her honeyed words, you may come to a bad end. You're one of the dead, so you have little to worry about, but be careful just in case."

Judging by his words, her faction seemed to be at odds with the undead faction.

If I were a man with a dick, I might have fallen for her, but not in this body.

I nodded instead of answering.

"More than anything, I hope you'll join my faction."

"...."

I hadn't expected a recruitment offer out of nowhere.

Footnotes:

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