WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 38: Alice’s Nightmare (3)
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[Point Collection Status]
1st Place - 5839 points (Team Leader: Viktor)
2nd Place - 4394 points (Team Leader: Rin Glacia)
3rd Place - 2531 points (Team Leader: Ruska Venity)
.
.
.
[Total Teams: 51]
“Ahh.”
This was what life was all about.
I muttered as I checked the crystal ball.
Points I’d swept up by the armful, my name planted in first place once again.
I was a full 1,500 points ahead of the second-place team.
‘Sweet. So sweet.’
My score had nearly tripled.
It was all thanks to those Class C kids.
They had such generous hearts, freely sharing with a poor friend.
They’d even considered that their friend might be short on time and come all the way here themselves, offering a delivery service too.
‘They really are nice kids.’
It felt like I’d received a surprise gift.
To return their kindness, I did my very best.
Perhaps my sincerity got through, because they all screamed with delight.
A corner of my heart swelled with pride.
‘From today on, you’re all my best friends.’
From now on, any attacks on Class C would not be considered attacks on me.
We were not one and the same, and ours would be a relationship where we never had to think of each other.
I grinned at my newly acquired toy.
Next time we met, we’d have even more fun.
‘We can play Beyblade, play Sonic, play reverse sprinting...’
I should invite Shariel too.
It was a shame she couldn’t make it this time, but she’d definitely join us next time.
Maybe I should turn all of Class C into Errand Runners 2.
‘Can’t wait.’
I was in such a good mood that I started humming.
Still humming, I brushed the dust from my sleeves.
My teammates walked beside me, looking confused.
“Sir Viktor...?”
“You seem to be in a good mood!”
“Hehe, do I?”
Of course I was.
I was about to hit 6,000 points.
I fiddled with the crystal ball’s screen.
‘Rin Glacia.’
The current top student among the first-years.
Had she noticed the unexpected change in the rankings too?
The rate at which she was earning points had become terrifying.
Her score went up by a hundred points in the few moments it took us to exchange a few words.
Either way, I leisurely savored the 1,400-point gap between us.
‘At this rate, she’ll catch up.’
But that was fine.
The test would soon be halted anyway.
I touched my mask and looked overhead.
‘It should be about time.’
The sky.
Clear weather, and a romantic blue sky at that.
Yet at the center of that blue expanse was a single dot.
Or perhaps it was a shadow.
Faint, but unmistakably present.
It slowly writhed, darkening the sky around it.
‘Come on.’
The first destruction.
“Wait...?”
“Sir Viktor? There’s some kind of strange pattern in the sky...”
Beep! Beep!
Before my teammates could even finish voicing their confusion, each of their crystal balls began ringing at once.
The notification pierced our ears.
It was an ominous, unpleasant sound.
Bright red letters filled the screens.
“Uh...?”
Someone let out a dazed sound.
Student Hunting Ground, Area A.
The center of the forest.
Our current location.
“Wait, what’s going on...?”
Before anyone could grasp the situation, the notification vanished.
The crystal balls’ screens crackled as though the signal had been cut off.
Instead of the alarm, only static-filled stuttering came through.
Crackle, crackle.
“...”
No one dared speak.
Everyone had their eyes fixed on the sky.
A chilling silence settled over us.
‘The first Calamity, Lacquer Night.’
The sky had already turned pitch-black.
The shadow crept outward, soon becoming a hemispherical barrier.
The forest was concealed. The sunlight vanished, and night fell over the hunting ground.
Area A now looked as though it had been trapped inside a black barrier.
Ding!
[Main Quest]
-Title: Lacquer Night
-Details: Survive.
-Penalty upon Failure: Total Annihilation
-Reward: ???
[Time Limit: ???]
Just then, the status window brought up the quest.
I looked up at the ceiling, my gaze grave.
At the center of the pitch-black curtain was an eerie pattern.
An eye.
An eye opened amid the tentacles.
“What is this all of a sudden...?!”
“Uh, uhh...?”
My teammates were shaken.
They looked down at their feet.
Night had fallen, making it hard to see.
Whooshhh.
A faint mist lay across the ground.
The once-lush undergrowth had all withered, leaving behind an ugly sight.
The green foliage was gone, and only dark, corrupted earth remained.
The landscape had changed completely in only a few seconds.
“...”
The temperature was frigid.
The air was damp and sticky enough to raise goosebumps.
Ranne had already drawn her spear when she spoke.
“Sir Viktor. Miss Alice.”
Cold sweat beaded on her face.
Her eyes held a tension I rarely saw.
“Something... is all around us.”
Presences.
Presences that had not existed until moments ago could be felt everywhere.
‘Monsters.’
Monsters writhed in mangled heaps.
They raised their heads, but they didn’t look normal at all.
They were more grotesque than anything we had encountered so far, horrifically fused together.
-Grrrkhgk?
-Bleugh, glkglkglkglk?
-Krrkblarghskrk?
At the very least, the monsters in this hunting ground usually resembled animals.
Wolves, bears, monkeys, things like that...
But not these things.
It was as though the very boundary of what made life life, its most basic form, had completely collapsed.
Various monsters had melted down and fused together in lumpy masses, writhing against one another.
-Graaagh? Graaagh? Graaagh? Graaagh?
-Woofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoofwoof
-Hrrgh, hrrgh, hrrgh, hrrgh
Wolves, bears, monkeys...
All sorts of monsters had been jumbled together.
Sticky tentacles writhed at the seams.
Entrails trailed from their bodies, brains were shattered, and eyeballs dangled loosely.
There were at least dozens of them.
The sight made me dizzy.
The stench unique to demonic energy made my head spin.
“Ugh...”
“My God, such foul demonic energy...”
Alice’s face had gone pale.
Ranne’s eyes trembled.
Among my teammates, I was the only one who remained unmoved.
I stepped forward as if daring them to come closer.
“All right, everyone.”
The twisted creatures’ tentacles writhed.
I smiled at my teammates.
“The real game starts now.”
* * *
Outside the barrier.
Student Hunting Ground, Area B, the closest area to Area A.
Several faculty members bustled about, trying to grasp the situation.
“Move! Find out who’s trapped inside first!”
“Move the other cadets outside the hunting grounds!”
“Call the Disaster Magic Team immediately!”
Amid the commotion, Javert stood before the barrier.
A pitch-black curtain stretched before her.
She clenched her fist.
Holy power filled it, radiating brilliant light.
Then a sharp flash slammed into the barrier.
Booom!
The explosive sound nearly tore her ears apart.
Yet the barrier did not even crack.
Only Javert’s fist was crushed.
“Tch...”
Javert clicked her tongue.
She kindled divine power and healed her fist.
Several faculty members beside her were analyzing the barrier.
The Disaster Magic Team.
They handled magical incidents within the academy.
Javert, the Chief Investigator and their superior, asked them, “What is the barrier’s condition?”
“Chief Investigator, we’re working to dispel it. More accurately, we’re attempting to. Even after all our years in the field, we’ve never seen a barrier like this. That’s why we’re having difficulties with the dispelling process. It appears to be a structure combining ancient barrier magic, forbidden sorcery, black magic, and more...”
“How long will it take to dispel it?”
“At least an hour.”
“Damn it.”
She bit down on her lip.
An unusual anxiety showed in her eyes.
“Can’t we force our way through? If we borrow the other professors’ strength, it should be possible.”
“No. With a structure like this, we need to approach it as safely as possible. We don’t know what backlash it could cause if we force our way through. This curtain is woven entirely from negative energy. If we disrupt its balance, it will certainly react. We may be able to break the barrier by force, but the problem is...”
“The students inside...”
“Yes. There’s a high chance they’ll all be annihilated.”
The situation was bleak.
There was no way to know what was happening inside the barrier.
The moment the curtain spread, every signal connected through the crystal balls had been cut off.
“How many people are isolated inside?”
“Nine in total. Teams 17, 31, and 49. Team 31 was closest to the very center of Area A. One is a Class A student, while the other two are Class E cadets under your supervision.”
“Student Viktor and Alice...”
“The one fortunate thing is that they’re with Class A’s second-ranked student. Viktor also became a hot topic after overwhelmingly outperforming Class C’s top student in the Freshman Welcome Test. They’re capable students, so they should be able to hold out.”
“We don’t know what’s happening inside, so we can’t make careless judgments. The other teams may have been near the edge of Area A, but they’re still in danger.”
Javert furrowed her brow.
“Let’s hurry as much as possible. Every second may be critical inside.”
Footnotes:
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