WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 320

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What Doesn't Kill You

My anxiety that there might no longer be a place for me aside, the Cataphract, stripped of its side panels and roof, was extremely fast. Add the driving skills of a speed-starved golem, and it tore down the road at a pace most beasts could never hope to match.

I thought it would be a smooth, comfortable trip, aside from the fierce wind, but then...

"Yeonggwe. Keep your balance back there."

"You're working people for free! Just this once, okay? Next time ask more politely!"

Clang, clang. The steady sound of metal being hammered rang out. The regressor was using Jizan as a hammer to build something.

A wide footboard. And a T-shaped handle tightly bound with tough rope. At a glance, it looked like a stand-up sled.

The only question was why we needed it. The Cataphract we were riding was already plenty fast.

'I can't just sit around while we travel. I should use this time well too! I'll train Hughes!'

...I knew because I read her mind. The moment I did, I cursed mind reading for showing me that forbidden truth, but whether I knew or not, this was going to hit me anyway. The only difference was whether I'd suffer knowingly or blindly.

I asked carefully.

"Mr. Shei."

"Hm?"

"What exactly is that?"

The regressor lightly lifted the sled and answered.

"Good question. This is a tool to help your training!"

"My training?"

"Yeah! I said I'd help train you, remember?"

No, my point was, how was a sled a training tool? I desperately tried to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"So I just hold it and lift it? It looks a little heavy, but maybe manageable as exercise."

"Idiot. If it were for something that simple, I wouldn't have made it into a sled."

"You just called it a sled yourself! That's exactly why it's weird! How is a sled supposed to be a training tool?"

"Simple. Before we train, I need to check your energy."

She set the sled down in front of me and said,

"You know Geon-Gon-Kan-Ri, the basics of energy, right? You even strutted around giving lectures in Tantalus."

"Of course I know."

Energy was the art of using energy to strengthen the body.

Geon infused energy into all things. Gon extended energy beneath your feet and made you one with the earth. Kan strengthened the body itself, and Ri twisted principle.

I knew all of it. I could even use everything except Ri. The problem was that my body couldn't keep up.

"Usually, if you can do Geon and Gon, you're considered decent. If you can do Kan too, you're treated as an outstanding energy practitioner. Mastering Kan energy was even a basic requirement to become a military-state general. If you can reach that level, the rest is mostly a matter of scale. Ri varies too much from person to person, so it's outside comparison."

"Why is Ri outside comparison? Is it because you couldn't learn it, Mr. Shei?"

"I could too! It's just that everyone reaches a different realm with it, so you can't compare!"

'I couldn't learn it either... tch. Even after all that training and broadening my horizons, I still have no idea what Ri is!'

Well, asking someone who could reverse time to envision one ultimate ideal was kind of absurd. Couldn't she just do it next cycle? If you could overcome death itself, who even needed principle?

"Anyway. From what I saw, you definitely reached Kan before, right? Sure, depending on talent or training policy, some people reach Kan first, but the military-state curriculum goes Geon-Gon-Kan-Ri in order. For a while, that's why I thought you were general-tier."

"Hahaha. I'm flattered."

"Not joking. Even now, I think you can absolutely become general-tier depending on how you train. That's why I need an accurate read on your current condition first."

Shaking her head hard, the regressor shoved the handle at me.

"Grip the handle with Geon energy, and stick your feet to the board with Gon energy. Get on the sled and keep your balance. Endure as long as you can. Treat it as training."

Ah, so that's what this was.

She was going to tie this sled behind the rattling Cataphract, put me on it, and drag me along? Wow. What a prank Azzy would love. Hahaha.

...Like hell!

The Cataphract was moving at high speed. To avoid falling, I'd have to keep pulling that rope with my own grip strength. Hands, arms, waist, legs, if strength failed in even one part, I'd instantly lose balance and faceplant into the ground.

No one would even be able to pinpoint where I died. My body would be shredded across the ground and scattered for hundreds of meters!

"What kind of training is that?! That's punishment, no, execution!"

"If it isn't hard and painful, it isn't training."

"I'm not doing it! What era do you think this is? Who builds strength with a barbaric method like that?"

'What's the big deal? I got dragged around wearing only straw sandals once, you know? If I didn't protect them with energy, the soles of my feet got skinned raw. This is better than that, isn't it?'

That's exactly what a bad old custom is! You went through it, so now you want to pass it down? People like you are why society never gets better!

"I thought you were going to give me an elixir or a treasure. Why would I suffer on purpose? Put Azzy on the sled!"

"Woof?"

"Yeah, Azzy. Perfect timing. This is way more fun than hanging your head out and staring blankly!"

I shook the handle, and Azzy, who had been leaning out and yawning in boredom, took interest and came over.

Fine, this thing could at least be Azzy's toy. I let her bite the handle, then grabbed the rope and played tug with her. I called it tug, but really I was just struggling not to lose the rope every time she twisted her head.

"Wow, you're strong."

"Woof woof! Harder!"

"Easy, easy. You're several times stronger than me. Even if I pull harder, what difference would that make?"

The regressor clicked her tongue as she watched me ignore training and play with Azzy.

'...He's the most training-averse person I've met in all my regressions. Isn't wanting to get stronger instinctive? I offer to personally coach him and he still digs in and refuses?'

Because I refused so stubbornly, the regressor shifted her approach a little.

"From what I can see, you have plenty of potential."

"The military-state instructors told me that too. Said this bastard clearly has talent but doesn't put in the effort. I used to resent that, but now I'm grateful they believed I had potential."

"I'm not being sarcastic! Looking at how skilled you are overall with energy, mana, and alchemy, you aren't lacking talent. It's just... how do I put this? Everything feels blocked somehow."

You really did know me well. This was my limit, right here. And someone who knew that still wanted to force me with brute methods?

"Sorry, but I'm too old to sketch out brand-new possibilities for the future. Sadly, this is my limit."

"No, it's different. Thinking about it, I think your physical balance is broken."

"Balance?"

"Yeah. I went through it once too, but when you train different techniques together, like magic and energy... um, how do I explain this. Your body starts leaning to one side. The balance collapses. Fixing that balance is important..."

Ridiculous. I'd never had the kind of problem she was describing.

I was the Human King. Any knowledge or technique granted to humanity was something I could handle as if it were my own.

The only issue was that I lacked the absolute amount of mana and energy needed to reproduce them.

So it sounded like all I had to do was increase mana and energy... but no matter what I did, power wouldn't gather past a certain point.

I didn't know why. It was probably related to that incident that made the Human King lose his power.

What incident was that?

I didn't know. Seriously.

If anything, I was the one who wanted to know.

That wasn't a lie. Azzy inherited a promise made long ago, but if I asked what it was, she'd just tilt her head and go, "Woof?"

No matter how brilliant a detective was, they couldn't reconstruct the whole situation from a contract alone. Same logic here. A promise could be passed down, but memory wouldn't pass with it. If I had to guess, it was probably a curse, a seal, or something close to one. Maybe tied to the First Saintess...

Anyway, this wasn't 100% a balance issue, so I answered with obvious disinterest.

"Will that really make me stronger? How about giving me an elixir or a treasure instead? I'd make good use of it."

"You won't use power gained without effort well! I told you, I went through something similar too! If this goes well, you can break that wall!"

'The way you handle energy and the way you handle mana are completely different. Energy is power that moves from inside my body to change the outside world, and mana is power that reproduces outside changes inside my body. Inside to outside, outside to inside. They oppose each other, so when you try to use both at once, they keep slipping... hmm. How do I explain this.'

Hmph. Nothing to lose, right? The moment I put in effort, I've already lost. Just watch.

'Ah, screw it. I'll make him do it first.'

The regressor gave me a shove. It happened at the exact same instant as her thought, so I couldn't react in time and could only mutter stupidly,

"Huh?"

Because she pushed with energy behind it, my body slid back helplessly. I staggered backward, stepped onto the sled, and slipped down the rear slope of the Cataphract. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already scraping the ground.

W-wait. You just shoved me into this?

"There."

The regressor yanked the handle out of Azzy's mouth and threw it at me. A drowning man grabs even at straw. I snatched the handle as it came right in front of my face.

"Hold tight if you don't want to fall."

The rope went taut in front of me. Reflexively, I clenched the handle with all my strength. Right after, I felt my grip, arms, legs, and waist get violently yanked.

When I came to my senses, I was riding the sled exactly as the regressor had planned. Fighting to steady my shaking body, I shouted in panic.

"Aaaaaah! W-what are you doing?!"

Insane! She really shoved me straight into it? Without a second thought?

I'd seen countless people in my life, but I'd never met anyone as impulsive as this regressor! She moved at the exact moment she thought it, so I couldn't even respond!

While I screamed, she silently kept pulling the rope and answered,

"Hm. You're doing well. Endure as long as you can. Falling will hurt, so try not to fall."

"How is that even something to saaaay?! Of course it'll hurt!"

'Well, if it looks like you'll fall, I'll catch you. But if I tell you that, you'll lose tension, so for now hang on like your life depends on it.'

I can read all your thoughts, you know!

Still, I couldn't let go. Even if someone boldly promised they'd catch me, even if they meant it, it was hard to trust that and fall backward on purpose.

No matter how sincere she was, what if this unreliable regressor failed to catch me? I'd die!

Tch, no choice! It's embarrassing, but still!

"Tyr! Please pull me up!"

I shouted desperately, but Tyr didn't seem particularly concerned. If anything, she looked a little pleased.

"It is good to see your diligence."

"This looks good to you? I'm in danger of dying every second!"

"What does not kill you will make you stronger. If you become stronger, would you not break through greater threats?"

"If I die now, it's over anyway?!"

What was I, gambling money? Take bigger risks, win a bigger pot? And if it failed and everything blew up, then what?

"It is fine. I will keep watch so it does not become dangerous. And..."

'Even if he falls here, he likely will not die. If he is hurt badly enough to need my power, I will share my blood freely. Perhaps... the Human King could become the king of vampires.'

Watch me not fall. I'll endure through spite and stubbornness if I have to.

Honestly, the regressor wasn't completely wrong. I was a mind reader. My style wasn't to strengthen my own hand, but to read my opponent's hand and play around it.

If I couldn't win, I avoided a direct clash or brought them over to my side. If they forced a scheme, I turned it against them. No overwhelming victories, my way of winning was tightrope walking on a knife's edge. So until now, I had grown stronger by increasing the number of cards I could play.

But in the face of overwhelming power, variety in cards meant nothing. They said paper beats rock, but you can't wrap an entire collapsing mountainside with a sheet the size of your palm.

Training wouldn't make me stronger, but if I could get even one slightly better card in my hand, I'd accept it!

"Do whatever you want! I'll watch closely how much stronger this pathetic little training makes me!"

"You're the one training, so why are you the one grinding your teeth...?"

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