WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 116: Episode 23 — An Abandoned World (1)

Guided by the Judge of the Underworld, I made my way toward the exit of the underworld. Because I was wearing a special blindfold, I had no idea where I actually was. At times it felt as if we were climbing upward, at others as if we were descending. Only after we had walked for quite some time did the judge remove the blindfold.

[Follow this path.]

When I opened my eyes, I saw a narrow, dim alley. It must have been the outlet that let one escape the underworld without going through Charon the Ferryman.

[You’d better look for what lies ‘ahead.’]

“What do you mean by that?”

When I turned, the judge was already gone. With no other choice I followed the alley. Soon the last of the light faded and perfect darkness settled in. At first I kept my bearings by running my hand along the wall, but before long even the wall disappeared. Deprived of any support, I felt like a boat adrift on a boundless sea with no buoy.

All at once the myth of Orpheus flashed through my mind. What would happen if I looked back here? It was at that moment that faint letters of light floated up in the dark.

[You are afraid of what is behind you. That poor child was, too.]

It was a message from Persephone.

[But remember, to find the ‘front’ you must first know where the ‘back’ is, because ‘front’ exists only when there is a ‘back.’]

Come to think of it, the judge had said something similar. But hearing a plausible truth didn’t mean I could suddenly gain enlightenment and change.

[It seems you could use a little motivation…]

The strings of light hanging in the air stretched out, as though hesitating.

[Very well. She’s already standing at the threshold of the labyrinth that spans worldlines, so I can’t pull her here outright, but this much is possible.]

The instant I sensed what she meant, the strings vanished and a faint, firefly-like point of light appeared before me, a distant glimmer, fragile and gentle. No one told me, yet I knew what the light was.

—You are…

It was Shin Yuseong of the 41st round.

—Ah… ah…

Her voice alone told me.

How long she must have waited. If she was already on the verge of crossing the worldline, time must flow differently there. For me it hadn’t been long since I let her go, but several years might already have passed for Shin Yuseong.

The tiny light trembled time and again, then, after hesitating, spoke softly.

—Ahjussi.

She must have been influenced by the memories of her younger self.

—…M-May I call you that, too?

An address is a bond, a desire to be bound to something. Perhaps that single word, “Ahjussi,” was the last lingering attachment that Shin Yuseong of the 41st round possessed. I smiled faintly.

“You’re older than I am now, you know. Are you sure that’s okay?”

The gentle light quivered again. Like a prank it brushed my cheek and drew away. That tiny warmth, that small gesture…

My chest felt as though it would burst with pain.

She must have waited so very long. And even so, the child had to wait longer.

“I’m sorry, I can’t rescue you right this instant.”

The little light bobbed up and down, as if in understanding.

—Don’t push yourself. My story is already…

“It hasn’t ended.”

I cut her off before she could finish.

“You’ve been in pain for ages. It can’t end like this.”

—…

“I will never allow that to happen.”

The light looked at me, trembling in a way that sounded confused and pitiable.

—I came to know you through the memory of this world. But you… why are you so good to me? You hardly know me.

I did not answer. She had come to know me through the memories of her childhood, while I knew her through Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse. But I couldn’t explain that.

—It’s strange. I’m sure I don’t know you, yet when we’re like this it feels as though everything about me is understood, as though I’m standing before a god…

If I truly were a god, I’d be the most powerless god there is, one who knows everything yet can explain nothing.

Shin Yuseong’s light was fading fast. Even without seeing her face, I could guess the expression she wore.

—Please, save me. Please…

“I will.”

The wavering tail of light shrank, and I reached toward it. My chest constricted—Shin Yuseong’s despair, her long wait… An inexpressible sadness cut through my heart like a blade.

Little by little I understood Persephone’s words: only by having a ‘back’ can one face ‘front.’ This was my ‘back,’ and at the same time the ‘front’ toward which I had to move. Perhaps Junghyeok had felt the same—forever returning to the past, yet able to advance only by going back.

The moment I became certain of my direction, the darkness around me fractured. Strings of light flared in the gloom.

[I have kept her in place for a moment with my power, but if you wish to save her you have almost no time.]

I clung to the faint warmth remaining in my hand. Persephone spoke again.

[Remember, human beings are ‘stories.’ When you finally bring her back, no one can say how much of her story will still be left.]

With those words, I was sucked away.

Ahhhhh.

The wails of the spirits faded, and bodily sensations returned one by one. Sharp sunlight needled my eyelids. Feeling the dampness on my back, I sprang awake, and saw a familiar face.

“…Ahjussi?”

Young Shin Yuseong was looking at me. The clarity in the child’s eyes reassured me, and my racing heart gradually calmed.

I had returned.

Drawing in a slow breath, I felt the muscles throughout my body come back to life.

[The Hidden Scenario – Queen of the Underworld has ended.]

[You have received 15,000 coins as the reward.]

The reward for the updated scenario came through as well. It seemed the rookie dokkaebi had handled the paperwork properly.

[The constellation God of Wine and Ecstasy congratulates you on your safe return.]

The indirect message only stoked my belated anger.

If that bastard Dionysus hadn’t thrown me into Tartarus, I wouldn’t have gone through all this. I’d almost ended up trapped in Tartarus with Kim Namwoon, spending my life building model kits.

[The constellation God of Wine and Ecstasy seeks reconciliation.]

[You have received 7,942 coins* in sponsorship.]

*In Korean, 7,942 reads out like the word for ‘friends’.

…7942? Is that an old-school pager apology?

Still, coins are coins, I’d let him off this once.

[There is a new Hidden Scenario.]

I checked it immediately.

+

<Hidden Scenario – Serpent Hunt>

Category: Hidden

Difficulty: S-

Clear conditions: Hunt the target in the area of the sixth Main Scenario.

Time limit: Until the end of the Main Scenario.

Rewards: 80,000 coins, the favor of the Queen of the Darkest Spring .

Penalty for failure: Entry to the underworld forbidden.

+

As expected, Persephone’s commission had arrived in the form of a Hidden Scenario.

[When the target appears nearby, the scenario alarm will activate automatically.]

Serpent Hunt. The target wasn’t specified, but I could guess which ‘snake’ would show up in the next scenario.

When I slowly raised my upper body, Yuseong asked anxiously.

“Ahjussi, are you okay now?”

“Yeah. I’m all right.”

“Sangah unni told me to keep a close watch on you…”

Right, just before collapsing I’d asked Sangah to take care of things.

“Where’s Sangah-ssi?”

She wasn’t hard to find. Sangah was curled up asleep on the bare ground nearby. Looking at her sleeping face reminded me of Persephone wearing her form, and my cheeks grew hot for no reason.

“Unni was awake until a moment ago, but she fell asleep.”

“Ah.”

“She also said that if you didn’t wake up, I had to tell the others.”

Her successive explanations only deepened my guilt. Dark shadows lay beneath Yu Sangah’s eyes. She must have been suffering from a hangover herself.

Damn it, I’m trash.

“You’re up now?”

Jeong Hui-won and Lee Hyeon-seong were approaching from a little distance away. Judging by their sweat-drenched appearance, they must have been sparring at dawn. Jeong Hui-won spoke.

“Then we should get ready to head out.”

“Head out?”

“Everyone else already left.”

Come to think of it, the crowd that had been here yesterday was gone.

I asked,

“What happened overnight?”

“The notice for the sixth Main Scenario was posted.”

…Already? Even before I could say more, enormous strings of text floated into the sky.

[All survivors, please gather at Yongsan Station.]

We packed immediately and set off.

Since we were already in Yongsan-gu, getting to the station wasn’t difficult. I carried Sangah on my back. Huiwon and Hyeonseong took the rest of the baggage. Gilyeong and Yuseong followed us at a small distance from each other. Junghyeok’s party was nowhere in sight.

When we reached the station a little later, the area was already thronged with people. It was hard to believe so many were still alive in Seoul. Everyone was staring up at the giant screen hovering in mid-air.

“Ah…?”

“Is that the place?”

We looked up at the screen as well. It was the same footage I had seen in the underworld.

A jungle-covered forest, and monsters running through it. Up close they were terrifying, but in the wide shot they simply looked like part of a vast ecosystem.

There were incarnations, too. Some had already started hunting, grinning at the camera while holding severed monster heads. Those damn dokkaebis had edited the footage like a tourism promo.

Someone muttered,

“Huh? Isn’t that guy Japanese?”

If my memory was right, the sixth scenario was an event scenario held together with other domes.

The man onscreen was probably Izumi, the famous Japanese incarnation. Tokyo Dome ran ahead of us, so they must have been deployed earlier into the sixth scenario.

By any measure, Korea had drawn the short lot.

[A new Main Scenario has arrived.]

Footnotes:

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