WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 111: Episode 22 — Three Promises (3)

I could tell exactly how Olympus had answered just by looking at Sangah’s face. First she flushed red, then went deathly pale, and finally turned an awful shade of blue; only then did I realize I’d raised the subject far too quickly.

“Um… Dokja-ssi.”

Whatever she’d heard, Sangah stared at me for a long time before speaking, and for some reason I felt guilty about it.

“Could you tell me what your patron constellation said?”

Crackling sparks leapt from Sangah’s body. Ariadne was clearly raging inside her. I waited until things calmed down, I hadn’t expected the after-effects of our last Q&A to be this severe.

At last the sparks faded, and Sangah spoke with a sigh.

“She said the ‘Father of the Rich Night’ is not someone she can summon lightly…”

The Father of the Rich Night.

It was one of the titles of Hades, King of the Underworld, one of the three ruling gods of Olympus.

Although he ranked among Olympus’s high triad, Hades resided in the underworld and thus was not counted among the Twelve Major Gods of the constellation cluster.

Come to think of it, for a mere heroic constellation like Ariadne, someone of Hades’s stature might indeed be out of reach.

For the moment I simply offered my thanks.

“Thank you, Sangah-ssi.”

“But, Dokja-ssi… are you really—?”

Smart as she was, she had already connected the title to Hades. She could probably even guess why I wanted to meet him. After all, the story of Orpheus descending to the underworld to bring back his wife Eurydice is famous even in Korea.

“…Is that even possible?”

As a rule, raising the dead is impossible.

I only manage it because the effect of the King of No Killing skews plausibility in my favor. Most people get no such help. The same held true for Yuseong. If resurrection were easy, Junghyeok would never have needed to regress in the first place.

Still, if I could at least secure the soul somehow…

“I can’t explain the details right now. I’m sorry.”

With every constellation watching us, rattling off my plans for the future felt unwise, especially since today’s events had only made me more enemies among them.

I’d already cast the die, and sooner or later the other side would bite.

Which meant that patience was what mattered now.

“Why don’t we get ourselves sorted first?”

As though waiting for the cue, my companions drifted over one by one—Gilyeong throwing sidelong glances at Yuseong, Huiwon supporting Hyeongseong, and Jihye standing a little apart, face faintly sulky.

A low-grade dokkaebi’s voice echoed in the air.

[This is the dokkaebi Yeonggi, temporarily placed in charge of reward settlement.]

Sounding like a rookie, the dokkaebi continued in a rather stiff tone.

[We will now distribute the supplementary rewards for the fifth scenario.]

It looked as though all the upper-rank dokkaebis had vanished, leaving cleanup duty to the newbie.

[You have received Ellain Forest Essence.]

A tiny fruit dropped from mid-air, and each of us caught one.

[What you have just been given is the Star Stream’s most common healing tonic. Even if you are gravely injured, eating it and resting will let you recover quickly. Please consume it in a secure location.]

I’d never heard a dokkaebi this polite; it was almost unsettling. The creature glanced at me and a few others before continuing.

[Additional rewards for the principal contributors will be delivered this evening. Thank you for your efforts, and good luck in the next scenario.]

The voice vanished, and I looked over my friends clutching their fruit.

People I’d never even met had surely died, and someone was probably dying even now; but we had survived. My companions wore expressions that couldn’t decide whether to be grateful or mournful.

At times like this, someone has to take the lead.

I looked at each of them in turn and spoke slowly.

“Everyone, you did well.”

A moment in which nothing is decided remains forever a moment in which nothing was decided.

Sad things are sad, and happy things are happy.

But if you decide something—anything—that moment carries meaning.

“You truly worked hard.”

As though my empty words were some kind of reward, relief slowly spread across their faces, they had earned it. Finally Jihye’s lips twitched into a grin and she spoke first.

“Whatever, you were awesome back there, old man. I’ll admit it, you were even a teensy bit cooler than my master. Respect.”

Prompted by her, Hyeongseong and Huiwon chimed in.

“You were incredible this time.”

“I felt vindicated just watching you.”

…Had they really been holding back just to say that?

Watching the group break into noisy chatter, I couldn’t help a wry smile.

The greatest crisis of the early scenarios had passed, and Seoul was safe. For the next few scenarios at least, the city should remain out of danger.

“You worked hard too, Dokja-ssi.”

Sangah, who had been gazing at me, broke into a bright smile.

Perhaps this, too, was a reward granted to me.

With a soft thud, something bumped into me. Yuseong was leaning her forehead against my back. Gilyeong looked displeased but said nothing, and I quietly held the child’s small hand.

Evening fell, and the supplementary settlement for the major contributors began.

There were three people eligible for those rewards—

Jeong Huiwon, Yu Junghyeok, and me.

[An additional reward given to the major contributors of the fifth main scenario is a B-grade skill.]

After all we’d been through, some might call just one Grade B skill poor balance, but it was fair enough. A lower letter didn’t automatically mean a bad skill, and this time the reward came in the form of a ‘free choice.’

In other words, I could pick any B-grade skill I wanted. Some B-grade skills were notoriously hard to obtain, and this was my chance.

[Would you like to view the list of B-grade skills?]

Tens of thousands of skills scrolled past. I’d had my eye on one from the start, so I didn’t hesitate.

[Do you wish to claim the B-grade skill Lie Detection as your reward?]

I nodded. A faint light spread around me and another message appeared.

[The exclusive skill Lie Detection has been added to your skill list.]

Ha, I finally had it. Thinking about how hamstrung I’d been without [Lie Detection] until now… seriously.

When I looked back, Huiwon was poring over her own choices.

I turned to Jihye beside me and asked,

“Hey, any idea where Junghyeok went?”

“Oh, he left earlier with Seolhwa unni.”

…With Lee Seolhwa? Jihye snorted as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

“Hmm, I don’t think they’re the kind of couple you’re imagining, old man.”

“Why not?”

“How should I know?”

I tilted my head. Come to think of it, I remembered their second regression clearly, but couldn’t recall whether they’d become lovers in the third. Junghyeok had walked the eunuch route more often than you’d think.

Either way, where had that guy taken Seolhwa?

[The sixth scenario will begin in three days.]

The system message that followed gave me a clue as to what Junghyeok was up to.

In the sixth scenario we would finally meet incarnations from the other domes, and Junghyeok never rested. He’d probably gone to pick up a few hidden skills and items he’d missed last round.

There were still plenty of hidden scenarios left in the Seoul Dome.

It stung a little to let Junghyeok snag the loot, but better him than some random stranger. Besides, if we wanted the remaining scenarios to go smoothly, he needed to be even stronger.

“Oh, right, my master told me to give you a message, old man.”

“To me?”

Jihye nodded, took up her sword hilt, and intoned solemnly,

“Kim Dokja, the period of our oath is over.”

My heart seemed to plummet.

The Oath of Existence, I’d been so busy I’d forgotten all about it.

—Swear you won’t harm me until at least fifth scenario is over. If you can’t manage that, I really can’t help you.

—I swear.

Right, I really had made that oath.

So that bastard… had he really spared me all this time because of it?

And now that I thought about it, he’d said something odd back then.

—I won’t kill you. But…

—But?

—I’ll pay you back for hitting me.

I swallowed dryly.

Could his sudden disappearance have something to do with that?

Was he off learning some ridiculous one-shot skill to flatten me?

“…What exactly did you swear?”

“You don’t need to know.”

Fine, no point panicking yet. Besides, I had [Beast Lord's Sensitivity], Level 3, at that, borrowed from Shin Yuseong, plus [Way of the Wind] as a bookmark, and some very strong allies…

Jihye met my gaze and smirked.

“Just so you know, whatever my master does, I’m not helping you.”

“Wouldn’t expect you to.”

Instead I looked hopefully at the ever-reliable Hyeongseong.

I should say, it had really touched me when, faced with Yuseong’s question, he’d declared he was with my group, not Junghyeok’s. Hyeongseong gave me a troubled look and spoke.

“Uh… Dokja-ssi?”

“Yeah?”

“To be honest, Junghyeok-ssi scares me a little.”

“…Ah, it’s fine. I understand.”

Come to think of it, Hyeongseong was this strong only because Junghyeok had drilled him relentlessly. Damn it. Still, there was no reason to despair, I had Jeong Huiwon, too, a companion I’d personally raised who never got her due in the original story.

Huiwon scratched her cheek and said,

“I don’t know why, but my patron says I’m not to intervene if you two fight.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m not sure why, either…”

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire smiles with satisfaction.]

A chill ran down my spine. Satisfied? What on earth was that angel plotting?

[The constellation Scribe of Heaven watches Demonic Judge of Fire with stern eyes.]

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire flinches and changes her expression.]

“Dokja-ssi.”

Startled, I turned to see Sangah smiling at me calmly.

“Don’t worry. Junghyeok-ssi didn’t seem like such a bad person.”

“I really hope you’re right.”

“I’m sure the two of you can become good friends.”

Listening to naïve Sangah, I sighed inwardly. Times like this made me think of Han Suyeong, the only other person who really knew what kind of guy Junghyeok was.

Not that she would have protected me even if she were here…

The scenario was over, wonder what she was doing now.

We traded idle chatter while finishing the cleanup and gathering the scattered items. Before long night had settled deep, and Junghyeok still hadn’t returned. Instead, Huiwon came back from a perimeter check carrying a welcome prize that made me gasp.

“There was still some left?”

What she’d found were a six-pack of PET-bottle beer and some soju bottles. She laughed.

“Times like this call for a drink, to celebrate.”

We huddled around the campfire. As Jihye reached for the beer, I slapped the back of her hand.

“You’re underage.”

“The law’s gone, who cares about being underage?”

“Drink soda with the kids.”

While we bickered, the drinks made a quick circuit. Jeong Huiwon’s cheeks turned oddly red as she started rambling, and after two beers Hyeongseong was snoring like a bear. Apparently our group were lightweights.

“Feels gooood…”

Even Jihye, who must have sneaked a few drinks, collapsed backward with a flushed face. Surprisingly, Sangah, apparently a heavy drinker, was already on her fourth bottle of soju, sipping without the slightest hint of drunkenness.

“I can hold my liquor.”

Now that I thought about it, I’d never seen Sangah drunk at any office party.

“…It would be troublesome to let myself get drunk.”

The bitterness in her words stung. The office had been full of creeps who tried to drink her under the table for their own ends. This might have been the first time she’d been able to drink freely.

“But tonight should be fine, right?”

Maybe it was because her face looked paler than usual, I felt awkward and averted my eyes.

A solitary moon hung in the sky, and for once even the beasts kept quiet. Around us other groups were holding their own little drinking parties, voices loud in the night.

At first it seemed crazy that anyone could drink in a world like this, but maybe it was precisely because of the world that they had to. It had become a place you couldn’t endure sober.

That was when a tiny spark flickered over my glass. Sangah looked at me in surprise, and I nodded—it really was wise that I’d stayed sober.

The spilled liquor spread out, skittering across the ground as if playing a prank, tracing letters.

[The constellation God of Wine and Ecstasy wishes to speak with you.]

Olympus had taken the bait.

Footnotes:

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