WeTried Translations

Translator: Hydrogen B

Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 472: Then Why Don't You Flip This Rotten World Instead

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The regressor wore a puzzled expression at the unfamiliar phrase, catching up with humanity.

"Catch... up?"

"Yes. I know I'm the King of Humanity, but I don't have any of its power. I don't really know why, but humanity has no Beast King. It's as if humans broke free from being beasts and became something else."

When I called myself an ordinary human, it was neither exaggeration nor false modesty. I was an ordinary human now, with no power, knowledge, or will. At most, I could represent the people before me through mind-reading. That was all.

I truly didn't know why, but the King of Humanity had become separated from humanity.

"As you know, Beast Kings have something they need to do. Or perhaps I should call it their reason for existing?"

"What is it?"

"You know. Representing and acting on the collective will of their species. Wolves fight dogs. Elephants mourn the deaths of their kind and guard their graves. Beavers build dams, and horses run across the plains. Things like that."

It might seem like nothing much, but that was exactly why Beast Kings clung so fiercely to such things. A Beast King, possessing every common trait of a species, was a quintessential being.

I should have been the same...

"What does the King of Humanity have to do?"

"I don't know."

I didn't know.

Maybe there was no such thing. Humans did all sorts of things, after all. They guarded graves without being elephants and built dams without being beavers.

But if humans could do anything, shouldn't I have had that ability too? Yet I didn't. It was as if someone had taken it away.

"You're the King of Humanity, but you don't know your own duty?"

"That's why I'm trying to find out. I need to know before I can do anything. So I've been searching for the being that changed humanity. I don't know much, but if there was a catalyst that changed humans, that's the only possibility."

The regressor knew full well what I meant. Beings that even she, after repeating regression more than a dozen times, couldn't easily gauge. Wearing an unhappy expression, she spoke their name.

"Knowledge that seeped into the world, and the power that changed humanity. The Demon God."

"That's right. The power that irreversibly changed humanity. I don't want that power itself, but the background surrounding it. I need to know that to understand how humanity changed."

What an honest, straightforward explanation. Even a regressor as suspicious as her couldn't help accepting something so simple and clear. Truth and sincerity really did get through.

'...There are still questions. But there are no contradictions. The King of Sin I saw was a different kind of human from Hughes, but that one clearly wielded the Demon God's power too.'

The regressor, now more relaxed, asked me, "That's why you're pursuing the Demon God?"

"Yes."

"You're lying."

"I'm glad you understand... What?"

When I asked in surprise, the regressor folded her arms and answered with an expressionless face.

"It differs from the information I know. You're hiding the truth, aren't you? Stop trying to conceal it and spill it."

'Nothing specifically contradicts what I know, but he's the King of Humanity. There must be more he's hiding. I'm not sure, but I have a feeling there's definitely something. If I press him a little more, something will come out.'

She was bluffing? With no certainty at all? On such a vague hunch?

What was this? Her sheer brazenness left me dumbfounded.

"What's different?"

The regressor racked her brain for something to poke at, but everything I had said was true from the start. There couldn't be any inconsistencies or contradictions. Unable to find anything strange, she answered stubbornly.

"Anyway."

"Tch. You caught me. That's right. I don't care about the Demon God at all. My real goal is to travel the world and meet women from every country. Finding a mate is the instinct of every beast, isn't it? I was only being faithful to that instinct."

"I knew it!"

"That's a lie, you idiot! What do you mean, you knew it?!"

When I shouted at her, the regressor flinched.

"...It isn't?"

"Of course it isn't! If I wanted to go around meeting women, I would've become Tyr's favored consort and lived comfortably instead of running away. If you're going to bluff, do it properly. What were you going to do if you got dragged along by such an absurd lie?"

Didn't she know not to stake everything on something unless she was sure? If this had been a gambling table, she would've paid dearly for such a ridiculous failed bluff.

Perhaps aware of her own embarrassment, the regressor looked away with her arms still folded. Having found her weakness, I immediately pressed her.

"Anyway. You understand now, right? Then I need you to cooperate with me."

"Cooperate? How?"

"Skywarbler, the sword you have. That's a relic of the Demon God, right?"

"This?"

"Let me see it."

When I held out my hand toward the invisible sword, the regressor fidgeted with Skywarbler.

'It might be dangerous to casually hand a Demon God's relic to the King of Humanity... Ah, come on. What could happen?'

Her thoughts were simple, and her actions quick. The regressor sheathed Skywarbler and handed it to me. I carefully took Skywarbler in my hand, making sure not to cut myself.

I felt the power of space swirling within that small space. The compressed space held a wind that felt like a typhoon had been sealed inside. It felt as though the wind would burst free if even the smallest hole were made. I could wield it too, but it didn't seem easy to truly draw out its power.

This was certainly a Demon God. But I had no idea what kind of Demon God it was. There was no trace of will or obsession here.

Perhaps worried, the regressor stared at Skywarbler.

"Have you seen enough? Give it back. Skywarbler has tremendous power compressed inside it, so it's dangerous to leave it in a beginner's hands."

"You were certainly willing to entrust something that dangerous to me."

"You asked for it!"

'I thought he'd get thrown back the moment he touched it. But nothing happened? Then again, he lifted Jizan with ease, even though no one who wasn't chosen could lift it. Can the King of Humanity handle every tool as he pleases?'

Wait. What? The danger she was worried about was to me? She wasn't worried that I would use the Demon God's power to hurt her?

The regressor's mind was so fickle and sudden that I could never get a good read on it.

There was nothing more to gain. Having assessed it all, I gave it back to the regressor and asked, "This is a Demon God too, right?"

"So?"

"But Skywarbler doesn't have it. The Demon God's will that changed and twisted the world. I can't see the lingering remnants of that will, which should still remain because it was engraved upon the world even after its death. This isn't the Demon God I was looking for."

"So you weren't after the Demon God's power itself."

"Yes. The will and realization of the human who became a Demon God are far more important. My goal isn't to obtain power, but to catch up with humanity."

After reminding her of my goal once more, I asked the regressor, "Where is this Demon God?"

There had to be a source for this strange power of space and wind, this Demon God of the sky. And the regressor, who had gathered treasures and authorities through twelve regressions, was the quickest path to a Demon God.

...I had wanted to travel with her and secretly gather clues if possible, but she had caught on. It couldn't be helped. I questioned her directly.

"I don't know what kind of god the Celestial God is, but there must have been a human who first found it. That person became a Demon God and left Skywarbler behind. That's where you obtained Skywarbler, isn't it, Shei?"

"...And if it is?"

"Stop pretending you don't know and tell me. Where is it, and what Demon God is there? If you don't want to tell me, just say you don't want to."

She didn't have to answer. I could read her memories anyway.

Surprisingly, the regressor had never recalled how she obtained Skywarbler during this cycle. Maybe it had become such a routine over repeated regressions that she didn't think of it, or maybe she considered it entirely hers. There had certainly been a process to getting Skywarbler, but it had vanished from her awareness.

'Holy Mountain Yulim. The Sanctum's holy site, where the First Holy Maiden came into contact with the Celestial God.'

But if I pressed her like this, she had no choice but to recall it. I focused and read her thoughts, the information about the Demon God she had already found behind that veil.

'A little farther up... If you stand on the altar at a particular time, only someone who recognizes that being can see the space and grasp Skywarbler. I already know Skywarbler, so finding it was easy for me. It would be difficult for anyone else.'

Oh. The information was pouring out. The regressor might be unreliable, but the information she knew was real. Experience accumulated through repeated cycles was far too sweet to ignore.

Holy Mountain Yulim. And the sky altar. As I reflected on the information I had obtained and tried to understand the method,

Her thoughts stopped.

What was that? If she was going to think about it, she should think it through. Why stop at the most important part?! Don't stop thinking. Recall it all the way to the end!

While I fumed inwardly, the regressor gave an answer I had never expected.

"I'll tell you."

"What?"

It was so unexpected that I couldn't believe it even after reading her thoughts.

"Really? You're just going to tell me?"

"Why are you surprised? You're the one who asked."

"Look at how you've acted, Shei. You've done nothing but snap at me and never revealed what you're really thinking. So when you suddenly come to me and say you'll help me so willingly, suspicion comes before relief."

"Then forget it!"

"I'm just saying. Why are you sulking again? If you're really going to help, I'd welcome it."

It was baffling for someone who had pointed Skywarbler at me just moments ago to be so cooperative. To keep up with the regressor's rapidly shifting thoughts, I used mind-reading once more.

'The King of Sin will definitely appear. Even if Nevida's fake World Tree, the forbidden fruit that bears sin, is destroyed, it will still appear and sweep across the world. Like the other Beast Kings, there must be one King of Sin in each generation. I can't prevent the King of Sin from being born in the first place.'

What?

A fake World Tree? A forbidden fruit? It bore sin?

I was starting to get curious. What on earth had the regressor seen and heard in her previous cycles? Strange knowledge kept leading to more strange knowledge.

I knew thirteen regressions were no joke... But from everything she had shown so far, I had assumed she was just a greedy woman who got pushed around by the world and gathered a pile of treasures through regression. Yet even deep, dark knowledge that couldn't be gained simply by witnessing things was spilling out. What was regression, exactly? It was right before my eyes, so why couldn't I properly read her thoughts? From head to toe, she was suspicious as could be.

'Perhaps Hughes could become the King of Sin. I might be spoon-feeding a Demon God to the King of Sin...'

Same went for her. She might be the Sanctum's secret weapon, created to target the King of Humanity.

'But it's worth checking. Let's try it once.'

Still, her knowledge was worth verifying. Whatever. Having come this far, I had to raise even if I lost.

The bets were placed. All that remained was for us to show each other our hands. The regressor spoke first.

"On one condition."

"We were getting along so well, and now you're being difficult. Would it hurt you to just agree?"

"It would. This is something for my sake, but it's also for yours."

Dismissing my complaint, the regressor spoke with certainty.

"If you're truly the King of Humanity, keep the promise you made to the King of Dogs. Then I'll trust you and take you to the holy site. Without informing the Sanctum, of course."

"The promise I made to Azzy?"

I looked at Azzy. She had been tense, worried that the regressor and I might fight, but she relaxed as the conversation proceeded peacefully. When our eyes met, Azzy tilted her head.

A promise dogs and humans had made long ago. Neither Azzy nor I remembered that time, but the contract between our two species remained valid as Beast Kings. That was why Azzy and I had to keep our respective promises.

Azzy protected humans, and I protected Azzy. Just as dogs protected humans and humans cared for dogs.

...Having lost all my power and authority, I had also lost the force that bound me to that promise. Still, I had only put it off because I lacked the ability to fulfill it. I had never intended to break it.

Why?

Because it was a promise.

Promises existed to be kept. I was no con artist.

"I was planning to keep it. But how would that help?"

"It would help. The fight between dogs and wolves. Depending on its outcome..."

For a brief moment, the regressor's thoughts deepened.

Beastkin. A race within a race, mixed with beasts by Queen Agartha, separated from and discriminated against by humans ever since. They possessed senses and physical abilities beyond humans, yet were alienated because of their nature, innocent to the point of foolishness.

Separation and discrimination created difference. A thick dam, built from perception and custom, divided beastkin from humans. Relying on that single dam, humans enjoyed a quiet peace without knowing how things were changing on the other side of the wall.

But nothing in the world lasted forever. One day, ripples spread through the calm peace brought by that dam. A raging torrent of pent-up emotions began to spill over that high, thick wall. By the time they noticed, it was too late. The gap that had built up to its limit seemed ready to burst at the slightest touch.

And among those beastkin, dog beastkin were the most numerous and the friendliest toward humans. They had served as a buffer at the center of the conflict.

Thinking of what they would become in a future that had not yet arrived, the regressor murmured, "Because it will change the choice dog beastkin make."

Footnotes:

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