WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 113: Alcohol Is the Problem
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An enormous haul of rewards.
That just showed how big an event this school trip had been.
Lying sprawled across the bed, I counted through the stacked notifications one by one.
Ding-!
[Main Quest]
-Title: Disaster from the Deep Sea
-Details: Infiltrate the Cult branch hidden in the deep sea.
[You wiped out the branch through your remarkable efforts!]
-Rewards have been issued. Please check your status window.
The main quest.
I’d cleared a big one.
‘If you asked me to do it twice, I couldn’t.’
It had gone smoothly thanks to all the groundwork I’d laid, but in the original work, this event had caused casualties in the tens of thousands.
And I’d stopped that disaster with zero civilian casualties. With only six people.
Perhaps the status window had highly valued that, because it showered me with rewards.
It felt like it had thrown in a few more than what had been announced beforehand.
With a satisfied smile, I claimed all the rewards at once.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the Linked Quest ‘What Lies Buried Beneath.’]
[You have obtained 10,000 Merit Points.]
[Additional points will be awarded as a special reward.]
[You have obtained 15,000 Merit Points.]
[Remaining Merit Points: 26,083]
‘Now that’s nice.’
My point wallet had gotten absurdly fat with a single click.
Combined with my existing points, it had passed 26,000.
That was more than the total number of points I’d invested in the [Saint] System so far.
Of course, considering I’d saved an entire city in this incident, even that might have seemed like a small amount...
‘The Saint System only awards points for direct acts of salvation.’
The system assigned no value to lives saved on a broad scale.
In other words, even if I prevented an incident, it wouldn’t calculate points for everyone who would have died in it.
Merit Points only accumulated when I helped people already in danger. Those who had not yet been endangered didn’t qualify.
By that same logic, I shouldn’t have been able to earn any points from this incident.
‘This incident only involved broad salvation. There was no immediate salvation involved.’
I’d saved tens of thousands of people, yet received nothing for it.
Had it taken that into account?
The status window had apparently included it as a quest reward.
Thanking it for its flexible judgment, I operated the Saint System.
[Basic Stats]
Stamina: D-
Strength: E+
Agility: B-
Mana Sensitivity: E+
[Remaining Merit Points: 26,083]
My hand moved without hesitation.
I’d decided where to invest the points long ago.
Ding-!
[Merit Points will be used.]
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Mana Sensitivity’ will increase by +1.
-The rank of the basic stat ‘Agility’ will increase by +1.
[20,300 Merit Points have been consumed.]
[Remaining Merit Points: 5,783p]
Whoooosh-!
A bluish gust swirled around my fingertips.
A sense of fulfillment washed over me, as if something had been poured into me. Then the texture of the world itself felt different.
[Basic Stats]
Stamina: D-
Strength: E+
Agility: B
Mana Sensitivity: A-
The letters updated in an instant.
Mana Sensitivity in particular had jumped a full ten ranks.
It was now two ranks above Agility, which had been my highest stat just moments ago.
‘Perfect.’
Anyone else who saw this might lose their mind.
What was a guy who wasn’t even a mage going to do by pouring so many points into Mana Sensitivity?
‘They don’t know what they’re talking about.’
I was certain.
Of all my basic stats, the one I needed most was mana.
More specifically, I needed mana with a purity of at least B+ rank.
‘And I succeeded.’
This would let me make up for one of my weaknesses.
Dealing with calamities would be much easier from now on.
I felt noticeably more at ease.
After smiling for a moment, I flipped the screen and moved on to the next reward.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the Linked Quest ‘For All Alices.’]
[The item ‘Broken Crown’ has been partially repaired.]
[The rank of the item ‘Broken Crown’ has increased.]
“What?”
A black crown appeared before me.
Originally, it had been so shattered and damaged that it was barely recognizable as a crown at all.
Dark shadows crawled over it, and the gaps among its shattered fragments filled in as though being restored.
Ding-!
[Broken Crown]
-Category: Accessory
-Rank: A
-Status: Destroyed
-Description: A crown worn by the ruler of nightmares, the ‘Black Queen.’ It has currently been destroyed, leaving behind only her remnants. It can be worn for up to 15 minutes a day. While worn, you can use the skill ‘Nightmare Transformation.’
It had increased.
The maximum wearing time had gone from five minutes a day to fifteen, three times as long.
‘Even the rank displayed in the information window went up by one.’
A full-fledged A-rank item.
My eyes widened at the unexpected gain.
Besides, the Broken Crown was a card I relied on in almost every situation.
‘And its performance was buffed threefold...’
These rewards were especially generous.
They really made the quest feel worth completing.
Humming to myself, I continued going through my rewards.
Ding-!
[You have cleared the Sub Quest ‘Catch Me If You Can!’]
[You have obtained the consumable item ‘Mid-Range Teleportation Inscription (B+).’]
Ding-!
[You have cleared the Hidden Quest ‘One Who Rules Evil.’]
[You have obtained the item ‘Plague Tablet.’]
Two items landed in my hands.
One resembled a ritual dagger, while the other looked like a black-painted nameplate.
Ding-!
[Mid-Range Teleportation Inscription]
-Category: Ritual-Magic Hybrid Armament
-Rank: B+
-Status: Pristine
-Description: A dagger once used in ritual magic. If you leave a blade mark on an inanimate object within 3 km, you can teleport to that location whenever you wish. The effect will not be canceled unless the blade mark is damaged, and it can be used three times.
This one looked useful in many ways as well.
A dagger that let me teleport whenever I wanted, as long as I met the conditions.
For something obtained from a simple quest, it seemed like a reward with plenty of uses.
“Ahem.”
Most of the reward gacha seemed to have been a success.
There was just one problem: the last item.
Ding-!
[Plague Tablet]
-Category: ???
-Rank: ???
-Status: ???
-Description: ???
Plague Tablet.
A strange pattern was carved into the pitch-black nameplate.
Every piece of information except its name was displayed as question marks, not even a detailed description.
The name Plague Tablet was the only clue that let me guess it was connected to the White Knight.
“Hmm...”
It was a nameplate of uncertain identity.
I’d actually encountered this item a few times in the original work as well.
It had a low chance of dropping when players summoned the White Knight through a bug.
‘The problem is, nothing about it was revealed in the original work either.’
Its use, meaning, rank, not a single thing had been properly explained.
Countless users had tried interacting with the nameplate, but apparently not one of them had succeeded.
‘...I’ll keep it for now.’
After examining the tablet for a moment, I quietly slipped it inside my robe.
Since it had been given as a reward, I didn’t think it would be a meaningless item.
I’d need to study what it was for.
“Phew...”
The Plague Tablet wrapped up the rewards.
The moment the blue screen vanished, my eyelids drooped shut.
‘I’m dying.’
The fatigue that had built up slowly pressed down on my consciousness.
I didn’t resist the drowsiness closing in.
I only shifted on the bed and pulled the blanket over myself.
‘It was a hard day. Fuck.’
A lament slipped out on its own.
I sank into a deepening dream.
‘Still, those rewards were sweet...’
Only a faint smile remained on my lips.
* * *
All school-trip activities were suspended.
Regardless of the outcome, traces of the Cult had been found in the deep sea near the destination.
The faculty apparently decided not to make a big deal of it, gathering the professors and staff in charge to search the surrounding area.
‘It should be safe now. Even if they search, they won’t find anything...’
I smacked my lips in disappointment.
While the professors ran around in a frenzy, the students were confined to the accommodations under the pretense of rest.
The activities that were supposed to take place had been canceled, replaced with killing time in our ridiculously luxurious lodgings.
‘Of course.’
That wasn’t bad either.
It was pretty fun to sit around chatting with the others somewhere other than the academy.
It was peaceful if you wanted to call it peaceful, boring if you wanted to call it boring. Still, perhaps that was what a vacation was supposed to be.
‘It’s nice.’
I lounged around and rested with the Princess and Lua.
As we killed time, the others started coming to my room.
-Sir Viktor! We came to have a chat!
-I was bored staying alone in my room.
-I brought the other members of our group too!
-V-Viktor...
-Umm, Lady Kihano asked me to come along...
-I wasn’t forced to come! I said I wanted to come too...
-Why did you drag me along?
-I get that we’re here to shoot the breeze, but why are we in this bastard’s room...
-Sigh... Fine. Just go in. Fuck, otherwise they’ll make a fuss again.
My room naturally became the gathering place.
We had a pretty good time.
We played board games powered by magic, had tea, and chatted about all sorts of things.
Caitlin had seemed a little standoffish at first, but once she got swept into the flow, she blended in well enough.
-Hey! You cheated just now! That hand makes no sense!
-Oh dear... Do you have any proof? In games like this, all that matters is not getting caught.
-So you’ve finally realized it. I am the only one Viktor treats sincerely.
-Wow! Did Daddy win?
-Ahahaha!
Laughter had filled the room.
Yes. It definitely had...
‘How did it come to this?’
I muttered blankly.
My gaze swept over the mess that was now my room.
The first thing I noticed was a glass bottle lying on the floor.
‘Alcohol.’
It must have been strong, because the sharp smell of alcohol hit me.
Not a single drop remained inside.
Then there were the culprits who had helped empty it.
I was trapped by the three of them, all pleasantly drunk.
“Didn’t I tell you Viktor was mineee...?!”
“N-No, no... I want Viktor too... hic... Monopolizing him is bad...”
“You shithead... little prick... you’re always makin’ only me work like a dog, asshole... Why’re you doin’ this to me? You like me?”
They were all completely wasted.
Trapped by them, I was caught in a three-way hug.
As hands kneaded my cheeks, I could only turn over a pointless question.
‘Where did it all go wrong?’
Yeah.
Fuck if I knew.
Footnotes:
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