WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Episode 21: Group Leader (4)
──────
Squeeze!
Mo Ha-rang of the Flower Hat House’s eyes trembled.
The faint chains wrapped around her body looked like an illusion, but when she tried to move, they tightened, binding her even more firmly.
As she tried to draw on her internal energy, Mok GyeongUn approached her.
“The price of seeing what you wanted to see will be quite high. Is that alright?”
He was smiling.
Yet that smile was filled with malice.
How could someone smile like that without even giving off killing intent?
At that moment, she recalled something she had once heard.
[About one person in every several thousand, or even tens of thousands, is born with a killing nature.]
[What is that?]
[A disposition that finds joy, pleasure, and a reason to exist in death and destruction.]
[...Isn’t that dangerous?]
[It is. But if you can tame one properly, they make the finest material for an assassin.]
[The finest?]
[Yes. Those with a killing nature do not waver when killing someone. That is why they are not swayed by emotion.]
[So that can be a talent.]
That had been when the Flower Hat House was still known as one of the Four Great Assassins.
Mo Ha-rang wondered if Mok GyeongUn might be the sort of person her father had spoken of back then.
If so, she might have touched something dangerous.
But that did not matter.
Mo Ha-rang met Mok GyeongUn’s eyes directly.
“I’ll pay any price.”
“Any price?”
“If I uncovered a secret, I’m prepared for the consequences.”
“Prepared... But you only have one life. Can that truly be any price?”
Mok GyeongUn still wore a smile.
But his words were chilling.
-Master. Give me this human body.
Green Spirit Gyu Soha spoke with greedy eyes.
As though she could hear the voice, Mo Ha-rang flinched and looked at Gyu Soha.
Gyu Soha tilted their head and muttered.
-Human, can you hear my voice too?
-Oh.
Blue Spirit also showed interest.
Although a form had deliberately been revealed, its voice had not been made audible.
Yet if Mo Ha-rang could hear it...
-Perhaps her Spirit Eyes have opened.
“Spirit Eyes?”
-Yes. They are not Ghost Eyes like yours, which see the underlying essence beyond the surface, but it seems she gained eyes capable of seeing souls while at the brink of life and death.
Blue Spirit called them Spirit Eyes.
As Mo Ha-rang apparently could not hear Blue Spirit’s voice, she could not take her eyes off Gyu Soha.
Mo Ha-rang cautiously spoke.
“You... are you really a ghost?”
-Why? Do I look like a mere human to you?
Gyu Soha’s lips curled.
The fear of living humans was nourishment to a vengeful spirit.
Yet Mo Ha-rang showed an emotion different from fear.
“Ah...”
She seemed excited.
It was close to the feeling of finally seeing something she had long sought.
Mok GyeongUn spoke to her.
“That is an interesting reaction. Was seeing the dead your wish?”
“No. No, that’s not it.”
Mo Ha-rang’s voice trembled.
She turned to Mok GyeongUn, stiffened her neck, and spoke as if she had reached a decision.
“I’ll pay whatever price you want, even if it is my life.”
“...”
Interest faded from Mok GyeongUn’s eyes.
Having seen countless deaths, he had learned to distinguish, to some degree, between those truly prepared to die and those who were not.
Mo Ha-rang belonged closer to the former.
She was prepared to risk her life whenever necessary.
Then she continued.
“But help me.”
“...Hmm. Help you?”
Mok GyeongUn muttered as if it were troublesome.
Then he brought a finger to her throat.
“Why should I? It only sounds bothersome.”
Press!
His finger pressed into her throat.
Mo Ha-rang’s gaze did not waver.
“Your ghost... said it wanted a body. If you grant my request, you can have this body whenever you want.”
“I hate to spoil it for you, but I can take your body whenever I want, even without that.”
Mok GyeongUn’s words sharpened Mo Ha-rang’s gaze.
At that moment, sharp energy spread from her body.
Clang! Clang!
The chains formed from Gyu Soha’s spirit power were severed.
Sharp Short Swords were now in both of Mo Ha-rang’s hands.
Wavering ki weapons flowed from them, honed far more sharply than Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley’s.
-Back away.
Blue Spirit warned him.
Mok GyeongUn stepped back half a pace and slightly tilted his head.
At that instant, several trajectories drew lines before his eyes and narrowly swept past him.
Had he been even a little slower, parts of his body, including his jaw, would have been cut off.
No, he had been cut slightly.
Trickle...
A drop of blood ran down where the trajectories had passed.
‘Thread?’
It was much finer than thread, yet elastic.
This thread-like material, tied behind the hilts of the Short Swords embedded in the floor, had surrounded the area, preventing him from moving.
Mo Ha-rang spoke in a cold voice.
“Don’t underestimate me.”
Killing intent poured from her voice.
Mok GyeongUn’s lips twitched.
“So you had a hidden move.”
Then Blue Spirit’s voice sounded.
-I thought I had seen that Short Sword art before. She inherited the Assassin King’s lineage.
“The Assassin King’s lineage?”
Before Mok GyeongUn could finish asking, a strange light appeared in Mo Ha-rang’s eyes.
She spoke in disbelief.
“What are you?”
Mo Ha-rang was genuinely astonished.
Blue Spirit spoke again.
-After seeing Linked Assassination and Shadow-Flashing Flying Dagger Art, it would be stranger not to think of the Assassin King.
Mok GyeongUn repeated those words.
“After seeing Linked Assassination and Shadow-Flashing Flying Dagger Art, it would be stranger not to think of the Assassin King.”
‘!?’
Mo Ha-rang’s eyes widened.
Few people were unfamiliar with Linked Assassination.
But Shadow-Flashing Flying Dagger Art was different.
It was a secret art that only the Sect Leader of the Flower Hat House could learn.
It was secret in the truest sense. It was only used against opponents who absolutely had to die or were too difficult to handle, so almost no one knew of it.
And...
‘The Assassin King was the predecessor of our house. Even within our house, it is only an oral tale known to the Sect Leader and their successors. How does he know?’
While she was confused, Mok GyeongUn forcefully stomped on the floor.
The wooden plank sank, making the section where the Short Swords had been embedded rise.
At the same time, the taut threads surrounding him slackened.
Whoosh!
In that instant, Mok GyeongUn launched himself at her and grabbed her by the throat.
Of course, Mo Ha-rang did not remain still.
The moment he rushed at her, she immediately came to her senses and thrust a Short Sword toward his heart, just as she had practiced thousands, tens of thousands of times.
No, only the tip of the Short Sword pierced him slightly.
‘Fast.’
Squeeze!
Had Mok GyeongUn not caught her wrist with his left hand, it would have gone deeper.
Her movements were so swift that they were difficult to respond to even after seeing them.
Mo Ha-rang was certainly much stronger than Yeom Ga of Scarlet Slaughter Valley.
Squeeze!
Twitch.
As Mok GyeongUn tightened his grip, pain surged through her wrist as though it would break, and her brow furrowed.
Even then, she did not let out a single groan.
Mok GyeongUn gave a faint smile.
“You are strong. When did you put this around my neck?”
Slide.
A silver thread had somehow been looped around Mok GyeongUn’s neck.
The Short Sword that had sprung from the floor was caught in the ceiling. If Mo Ha-rang merely pulled her hand, the thread would tighten around his neck.
“Why don’t you pull it?”
“You... aren’t tightening your grip... either.”
As she said, Mok GyeongUn held her throat in his right hand, but he was not applying force.
That was why she had not pulled the thread either.
Honestly, she had also held back because pulling it would sever Mok GyeongUn’s head.
Beyond this point, they would truly be trying to kill each other.
‘If I kill him, I’ll violate this gate’s restriction.’
And she still wanted something from Mok GyeongUn.
That was why she could not kill him...
Tap.
Then Mok GyeongUn released her throat and lightly touched her thread with a finger.
The taut thread immediately went limp.
‘!?’
Mo Ha-rang’s eyes widened.
She was clearly sending life energy through the thread, but it no longer obeyed her, as if the energy had dispersed.
‘What is this?’
She could not understand it.
Then Mok GyeongUn spoke.
“You seem quite useful.”
“What?”
“I was going to give your body to Soha, but it may not be bad to put you to use instead.”
“What are you talking about...”
“You said you would pay any price to get what you want.”
Mo Ha-rang hesitated for a moment.
She had certainly agreed to that, but Mok GyeongUn’s sudden change in attitude made her falter.
Then he abruptly grabbed her collar and pulled her close.
“Ah!”
Squeeze!
He forcibly twisted the wrist holding her Short Sword toward himself.
She wanted to draw upon her Force of ki and stop him, but the life energy she tried to send into her wrist kept dispersing. Her strength drained away, leaving her helpless.
Squeeze!
Before she knew it, the Short Sword in her hand was pointed at her own face.
Was he truly going to kill her?
Then something fell and wet her lips.
It was a drop of blood.
Drip. Drip.
Mok GyeongUn’s blood, gathered at the tip of the Short Sword, was about to fall into her mouth.
As she tried to close her lips, Mok GyeongUn spoke.
“Open them.”
‘!?’
What was he saying?
She could not understand why he was doing this.
But deciding that he was not trying to kill her, she opened her mouth without questioning him further.
The droplets of blood gathered at the tip of the Short Sword fell into her mouth.
“Swallow.”
She did as she was told.
The moment she swallowed the blood,
“Gasp!”
Her chest grew fiercely hot.
A burning pain engulfed her body. It was so agonizing that she forcibly shook off Mok GyeongUn’s grip and immediately tried to sit cross-legged.
‘Poison... It’s poison.’
Pain twisted through her Five Viscera and Six Bowels.
She was certain it was poison.
As a descendant of the Flower Hat House, one of the Four Great Assassins, she was knowledgeable about poison. To build resistance, she had even consumed certain deadly poisons.
Yet Mok GyeongUn’s blood could not be compared to them.
‘How can blood contain such poison...’
Its poisonous energy was so powerful, as though countless poisons had been condensed into it.
Even the term deadly poison was insufficient.
‘I must circulate my ki quickly...’
Thud!
As she tried to sit cross-legged, Mok GyeongUn kicked her in the stomach.
“Urk!”
The pain twisting through her organs had already been unbearable. After being kicked in the abdomen, rage surged through her, and she wanted to kill Mok GyeongUn.
“You!”
Thud!
Then Mok GyeongUn pressed his foot against her collarbone.
“You said you would pay any price. Then from this moment onward, I want you to become a loyal dog.”
“You... didn’t have to go this far...”
“Ah, no. I did. I never trust people.”
Mo Ha-rang’s eyes trembled.
She felt that she had made an enormous mistake.
This person was more twisted than she had imagined.
He could not be defined by something like a killing nature.
He was evil itself.
* * *
The boys had even given up ki circulation and rest to go from room to room, gathering group members.
They could not hide their surprise at the group walking down the corridor.
‘Huh?’
‘...Is this for real?’
‘What? That makes no sense.’
They doubted their own eyes.
A man and a woman followed Mok GyeongUn from either side.
They were the descendants of Scarlet Slaughter Valley and the Flower Hat House, considered the most promising participants in this Corpse-Blood Valley gate.
With the restriction on internal energy lifted, everyone had expected each of those two to naturally become group leaders and lead others.
But what was this?
Had those two, who were suited to be group leaders, really gone under that bastard?
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
