WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

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◈ Omniscient First-Person's Viewpoint

Chapter 323

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My Body Doesn't Take It Well

Large, long-lived creatures are bound to have energy.

And not just humans. Any beast that exists and changes the world gains energy. They even make instinctive use of the energy they build up by instinct.

Of course, humans are the only ones who use energy as a technique.

Humans use trees and rocks, iron, and even magical power as techniques. So it would not be surprising that they also use the energy inside their own bodies as a technique.

Still, when humans who live barely around sixty years use the complex art of energy techniques, they suffer chronic energy shortages. And when that happens, humans always look for something outside their bodies to fill the lack.

That something is the energy of other beasts. The essence of living beings now called an elixir. Humans hunted beasts, filled their stomachs, and replenished their lacking energy at the same time....

But do humans today know this? Beast energy and human energy are actually no different.

And back when humans were still beasts, the easiest beast to find was humans.

Class-1 Taboo, Gluttony. The taboo of humans devouring other humans to take their magical power and energy....

Everyone treats it as taboo, and even thinking about it is treated as a sin, but that taboo is still being carried out right now.

Inside my stomach.

Haa. So it still does not work. No matter what I do, there is no efficiency. The elixir is definitely in my stomach, but there is no sign of any interaction at all.

Honestly, I do not know why. Just because I am the King of Beasts does not mean I cannot change, but my body feels fixed... no, defined. At this rate, whether I eat a few elixirs or devour hundreds of people through Gluttony, it will not make much difference.

The energy I can gain from this precious elixir is a speck of dust. Even that feels like it will disappear someday. But if you want to make a mountain, you still have to gather even dust.

As I was scraping up even the tiniest bit of power, I heard a voice by my ear.

"...I heard elixirs are dangerous. Are there no side effects?"

"They almost never become dangerous~. Most people think elixirs are dangerous because of side effects, but side effects actually happen when the energy inside your body gets stimulated by outside energy and runs wild! Like an allergy!"

"That is exactly what makes it dangerous!"

"But our father-nim's energy is basically mouse-tail level! No matter how hard a mouse tail whips, it only tickles! So even if father-nim gets side effects, it would be no more than full-body itchiness! Do not worry! I already took that into account!"

Mouse tail? Even if it is true, that metaphor is too much.

Just wait. If I ever get stronger, the first thing I do is smack her on the head.

Even with Hilde's confident assurance, Tyr still looked worried.

"But Shei said she had to stay still to absorb the elixir. If not because of side effects, then why?"

"That is for what comes after. If you absorb energy and it does not settle properly in your body, that is an even bigger problem. Energy that is not fully digested and just floats around in your body is much more likely to cause side effects later!"

"Ah. Then saying not to touch the body and not to disturb concentration means...."

"It is said that if you move your body while taking in energy, Gam qi control gets difficult, and if your mind is disturbed, Ri qi control gets difficult! Well, I have never experienced it myself, so I cannot be certain. It is secondhand knowledge!"

So that was that. Since I could not digest it anyway, it was useless advice for me. If you have no energy, you also have no trouble handling energy.

"For reference, to avoid harming Geon qi control, you should minimize anything touching the body!"

"Anything touching the body...?"

Tyr, who had been absentmindedly observing me, suddenly asked,

"Wait! Is Hyu not wearing clothes? Cloth touching his whole body!"

...No, clothes are fine. I wear them every day anyway, and without them I would be exposed to wind and dust instead, which is worse.

Well, Hilde will correct her on her own.

'Hmm? Some people do strip depending on who it is, but clothes do not matter much~. Still, this looks fun, so should I egg her on?'

Do not egg her on.

"Oh my, what do we do! I forgot because he wears them every day! We need to strip him right away!"

Do not strip me.

"Wait! Hold on! How can you say you can strip an unrelated man's clothes...!"

"Huh? Is that the issue?"

"Of course it is! That is something only people who have promised to spend their whole lives together can do!"

"But he is my father-nim? I just want to serve him with utmost filial devotion. Is that still not allowed?"

"Ugh, that is.... No! You are not truly father and daughter! No, that makes it even less allowed!"

"Then what do we do? If this keeps going and the energy settles while the clothes are stuck to his body, he will become someone who can never take off his clothes for life!"

As if that would happen.

"H-how can something so horrible.... We are stuck either way. Then what should we do...?"

"We have no choice but to strip him!"

"But...."

"The answer is already decided, and all that is needed is resolve! Tyrkanzyaka. In a deadlock, resolve yourself! Resolve to overcome hardship and move forward!"

'R-resolve? Then that means.... spending life together....'

Tyr swallowed dryly and looked at me. I sat still with my eyes closed, and she carefully reached out her hand. Her pale hand moved toward my clothes.

But then she noticed something and said,

"...I do not see any seams on these clothes. Where are the buttons or ties?"

"Oops. That is a clothing packet, so you have to feed magical power into the biometric terminal."

"I cannot handle magical power!"

"Then you have to tear it. Want to tear it?"

"How can you say something so awful... no! If I tear it by force, does that not defeat the purpose? Pulling the clothes will move his body!"

"Ehehe. You are right!"

"This is bad...! What do we do now!"

'Oh dear. I was joking, but she took it more seriously than I thought~. What do I do? If I say it was a joke now, she might hate me?'

Just be hated a little. If you lied, have the courage to be hated for it.

Right then, the regressor pushed open the tent flap and came in looking quite refreshed. Maybe she was proud of the information she had gathered. No one asked, but she blurted out everything anyway.

"I got all the information. There is a large camp about a day from here. Our next target is there...."

"Mr. Shei! Perfect timing. Come here and take Hyu's clothes off!"

"Why?!"

At this point, not just elixir, anything I ate would upset my stomach. I stood with a frown.

"That is enough nonsense. Everyone stop."

"Hyu! You must not get up!"

The regressor, who had almost been made to strip an unrelated man out of nowhere, still did not understand what was going on.

"Huh? Why? Why can he not get up?"

"He swallowed an elixir! It is dangerous if he moves!"

"What? You already ate an elixir? Without saying anything... wait!"

The regressor opened her Seven-Colored Eyes and looked at me. The seventh color among them, the violet eye that sees power. She scanned my body with that purple eye, which vaguely senses total power, then looked puzzled.

"...Your energy did not increase at all. What is this? Did you pretend to eat it and hide it somewhere?"

"It was bad enough that my energy did not increase, now you are treating me like a thief too?"

"No, you said you ate an elixir! Then who stole your energy?"

"If you find them, please tell me. I will cut their hand off."

The regressor examined me one by one with her seven-colored eyes. She was mostly checking whether I had hidden the elixir, but after seeing me through every kind of vision, she realized I was telling the truth.

"Wait. This.... There is no other explanation."

Thinking of something, the regressor fell silent. Tyr was usually patient, but now she sounded urgent and pressed for an answer.

"What is it?"

"...It means he has no talent."

"Talent? Are you truly saying that...?"

'Aside from raw power and treasures, Hyu's talent does not seem worse than Mr. Shei's... does it?'

Thankfully, the regressor cleared up Tyr's doubt.

"Not talent for learning. Physical talent for making energy stick to the body. Like how the blind do not know color and the deaf cannot hear speech, he seems to have an innate defect in accumulating qi. It looks like he cannot draw out anything except the power he already had."

"I think so too. I may not have lived in wealth and glory, but I was never raised starving. Still, energy just never stuck to me."

Why taboo is taboo. Methods like Gluttony probably do not work on me. It keeps getting clearer.

"Ugh. What a shame.... He really looked like he had talent."

"You understand now, right? From now on, do not tie me to a sled and call it training. It is just wasting strength."

"Is that what matters right now? At this rate, you can never get stronger!"

"Then what, should I bawl my eyes out, mourning my unfortunate fate? Even if I do, what changes besides Mr. Shei patting my shoulder and comforting me? Nothing. It is pointless."

"Even if you cried, I would not pat your shoulder!"

'I thought the elixir would solve it. Tch, then he is dead weight, I cannot drag him around every time. Maybe this cycle is fine, but next cycle....'

Huh? That might not be bad. If the regressor saves only me in the next cycle and leaves me behind, I could try a different method each cycle.

Of course, that is completely useless to my current self, who is being dragged around as dead weight.

"So one elixir was basically thrown into the dirt. What a waste. Anyway, let us sleep. Starting tomorrow, it will be a march through hell."

"Wait. There is one thing I want to try."

'I should look at his fate with the Eye of Fate. It will cost lifespan, but whatever. It is not like I will live out my natural years anyway. Watching this guy's fate should be worth that much.'

Pretending to brush back her hair, the regressor opened all Seven-Colored Eyes between her fingers. The seven-colored pupils lit up one by one, drawing a small circle. Inside each pupil, another brightly shining pupil appeared.

'Wheel-Turning Heavenly Eye. Let me see this guy's fate.... Not sure this is right, but still.'

The Eye of Fate opened for the most pointless reason in the world.

My figure was reflected in the regressor's eyes. Through my past, present, and future, she looked at the level I would ultimately reach in the fate ahead.

They say eyes that see fate consume lifespan. The reason is simpler than people think. There is a limit to how much information a human can process in a lifetime, and if you slam absurdly massive information like one person's fate into the brain in a short time, your health naturally worsens. People call that lifespan being reduced.

I was not sure it was worth it, but the regressor still took that risk and observed my fate.

Maybe those eyes might know. With a slight flutter in my chest, I read the regressor's thoughts.

And the result of peeking into my fate was....

'...It does not change? Not even in the future? This is... the limit a human named Hughes can reach...?'

She made up her mind fast. Right? Yeah, figures. I am not even disappointed anymore.

Then the regressor walked over to me. Wearing the rare, compassionate expression she showed from time to time, she patted my shoulder.

"Oh dear, cheer up...."

You said you would not. You said you would not pat my shoulder!

This feels worse than I expected.

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