WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 122: Episode 24 — Something that Can be Changed (2)
[The little planet's little constellation has spotted you.]
The first to notice us running was the constellation of this planet.
[The little planet's little constellation looks at you with pitiful eyes.]
[The little planet's little constellation hopes for your sympathy toward its planet.]
[The little planet's little constellation gazes at you and clings to hope.]
[The little planet's little constellation has gifted you 10 coins.]
I gazed up at the empty sky in silence, then bounced the message back.
[You have returned the 10 coins you received.]
[The little planet's little constellation is flustered.]
It seems to have misunderstood. It must think I refused because ten coins are pocket change, but that’s not it. In the faintest whisper, I mouthed my words toward the sky.
“If you really care about your planet, don’t do something like that.”
[The little planet's little constellation blushes.]
“Unless you want your world to be sold for change and become gossip.”
[The little planet's little constellation falls into grievous silence.]
“And I’m not clean enough to accept your money, either.”
My choice wasn’t driven by lofty justice. If I antagonised the little people, I’d lose the achievement I need for the ending.
That alone was why I sheathed the Blade of Faith for now.
[The <Star Stream> has detected an irregularity in your behaviour.]
[Warning. Be careful not to antagonise a fellow Catastrophe.]
[Repeated hostile acts will result in severe penalties.]
KWAANG—
A thick dust cloud billowed up, and the Japanese men, blindsided, shouted in the haze. The red-head lost his grip on the Incarnation and hit the ground.
“Waaah! What was that?!”
“Who did that?!”
I snatched the airborne little man and set him down a safe distance away. Through the dust the Japanese were firing skills in random directions.
[The little planet's little constellation’s little heart pounds.]
I hesitated. Killing them myself would bring a new scenario, but the penalty could wreck my plans.
“Ahjussi, let me handle it this time.”
Yuseong stepped forward, drawing the dagger Sangah had given her.
“I can take on both of them.”
“Keep it short. You saw the penalty alert, so finish fast.”
“Leave it to me.”
If she could really handle them, our odds here would skyrocket.
There was much to do in Peace Land, the most urgent being to hunt the ‘serpent’ Persephone spoke of. Fewer penalties meant we could hunt sooner.
“Who are you, punk?!”
Yuseong sprinted toward the voices in the dust. At the same time I threw on the Cloak of the Recluse. It was useless against high-grade detection, but those two likely had none.
“Ugh!”
The red-head staggered under a dagger from his blind side. Seeing a child step from the haze, the Japanese froze.
“What, just a kid? Never seen her before…”
While the bald one scanned the area he muttered, “A Korean?”
Lacking the [Interpretation] skill, Yuseong didn’t answer, and their faces hardened.
“So the extra Korean slots were real.”
“Kid, move aside. No need to fight us. No fight! Okay?”
“We only have to kill those bugs, not you.”
Their clumsy English declared peace, but Yuseong only shook her head. When her dagger aimed at them, both men flinched. Advancing, she made the bald man frown.
“Troublesome, especially in a bounty scenario…”
“My patron says to take out the brat anyway. We’re two. Worth a try, right?”
“Korea’s only on their first wave. Remember who went in with ours.”
I knew Japan’s first entrants too: Izumi Hiroki, the Hundred Demon King, and his people. Even these men hesitated.
Meanwhile the little people watching us rippled with uneasy wonder.
“Ahh… what is happening…?”
A small Catastrophe was fighting a bigger one, no wonder they were stunned.
[The little Planet’s constellation is moved by Incarnation Shin Yuseong.]
[The little Planet’s constellation has gifted the incarnation Shin Yuseong 10 coins.]
[Incarnation Shin Yuseong has gained the possibility of a new scenario.]
[A few constellations evaluate incarnation Shin Yuseong favourably.]
[A few constellations start cheering for incarnation Shin Yuseong.]
With reactions like that, things weren’t bad. But a story-loving dokkaebi would never let it rest.
[Dear Japanese incarnations, are you sure that the odds are against you?]
Damn dokkaebi. Realising something, the red-head muttered,
“Ah, that’s right…”
“They struck first. Looks like they don’t know about penalties.”
“First-wave kids, Korean or Japanese, sure are dumb.”
Decision made, their killing intent locked on Yuseong.
“Brat, we won’t go easy just because you’re a kid.”
Even without the words, she sensed their murderous aura. They circled front and back, shadows springing into motion.
Shrrrip!
With maxed Agility, Yuseong dodged the axe and flame by a hair. I opened Character Profile to check their stats.
[The exclusive skill Character Profile has been activated!]
[Switching to summary view.]
+
<Character Summary>
Name: Maruyama Kenichi
Patron constellation: Two-Tailed Fox
Exclusive attribute: Attention Seeker (Rare)
……
<Character Summary>
Name: Amano Goro
Patron constellation: 1,800-Year-Old Turtle
Exclusive attribute: Mighty Baldy (Rare)
……
+
Their stats were decent but not enough to overwhelm Yuseong. Only their patrons bothered me.
Constellations born of yokai wouldn’t be so cocky if Izumi’s patron were still intact.
“You can’t dodge forever, kid!”
Their assault sharpened, feints hidden in every blow. They sure were veterans of the sixth scenario.
The axe tracked her back, there was no room to dodge. At that instant her silver dagger flew, sank into the distant ground, and her body snapped toward it as if blinking.
“What the—blink? Magic?”
It wasn’t magic. A thread-thin line tied the dagger’s hilt.
“…Spider silk?”
In her hand rested a white spider with black stripes—a Mat Spider, a tier-9 beast she had tamed.
Shshuk!
Her form blurred after the dagger, masking her low Agility. The men cursed, vision spinning.
“Damn it, where is she?!”
High-speed movement with Arachne’s Web. It was Yu Sangah’s technique.
Scratches grew on their bodies as daggers cut through the grass.
“Don’t panic! I’ll handle it!”
The red-head gathered flames and torched the plains. Mat Spider silk couldn’t survive the heat.
When the web melted, Yuseong was exposed and they pounced.
Slash.
Her collar split. A thin red line appeared on her arm. I gripped my sword-hilt. I still had no proper stigma for her, even as her patron.
The axe and flame hunted side by side.
“Dieee!”
Axe and fist crossed—but Yuseong smiled instead of dodging.
Something huge and shadowy slammed over both men. Their screams followed.
“Kuaaagh! What is this?!”
[The character Shin Yuseong has activated the skill Advanced Interspecies Communication Lv.3.]
From the charred shrubs dozens of blue silhouettes rose—Steel Wolves, rulers of the forest zone. The men’s faces drained.
[A few constellations marvel at incarnation Shin Yuseong’s composure!]
I, too, was impressed. The flashy dagger work was merely stage-craft for this moment.
“Good grief, she’s a Tamer?!”
AWOOO!
Dozens of Steel Wolves leapt together—worthy of the future Beast Lord.
The panic-stricken men swung weapons, but the wolves clamped onto their limbs.
“You damn mutts!”
Even weakened tier-7 beasts were too many for men whose mana was gone. Yuseong flashed a grin my way, but she didn’t know why I’d told her not to stall.
[<Star Stream> has detected irregular behaviour from incarnation Shin Yuseong.]
[Intentional hostility toward another Catastrophe has been detected.]
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong has received the first scenario penalty.]
The penalty had begun.
“Huh…?”
Feeling her mana drop, Yuseong groaned. Wolves slipped from her control.
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong’s body mass has decreased.]
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong’s overall stats have decreased.]
The Japanese shouted, “Yes! I knew this would happen!”
So it had come to this. Cloaked, I touched her shoulder. At this point—
“Ahjussi, I want to finish this alone.”
Whatever drove the child, it was her fight.
“Call me if you need me.”
“Don’t worry.”
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong has received the second scenario penalty.]
Her body kept shrinking, the price for abandoning her Catastrophe’s authority. She slipped behind the men like a hunting beast.
“Gwah!”
The dagger flashed, the red-head’s carotid sprayed blood.
“Guh… you’ll… regret…”
Blood splattered as his face fell.
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong has slain the Catastrophe that has yet to be Named.]
[Main contributor: Shin Yuseong]
She wiped blood from her cheek and moved for the next target. The bald man crawled back, two Steel Wolves gnawing his limbs.
“Aaaaagh!”
Then came the real blow.
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong has been completely stripped of Catastrophe rights.]
[The dokkaebi of <Star Stream> has deemed Shin Yuseong’s actions as a hostile action against the scenario.]
[The incarnation Shin Yuseong has received the third scenario penalty.]
[Miniaturisation has begun.]
Anyone who gave up predator status became like their prey. Crack-crack-crack, her body shrank at frightening speed.
“Ah…?”
The dagger slipped from her shrinking hand.
Waist-high, knee-high, shin-high—then she vanished among the ashes. The wolves trotted off.
little Yuseong crawled from the brush, limping toward the man.
“Yuseong, that’s enough.”
Panting, she looked back at me, eyes red with poison and sorrow, her first real fight against people.
“He’s already dead.”
The bald man’s throat was torn. I wrapped a torn cloth round her palm-sized body. She clenched and unclenched her fists, gauging herself.
“How many people like that are left?”
“Quite a lot.”
“You knew everything, didn’t you?”
I nodded and moved to the last Japanese, unconscious and frothing. He looked barely twenty.
“Will you kill him too?”
“No. He’s useful.”
Michio Shoji—the only one who had tried to protect the little people—was vital to the plan.
[Be careful not to antagonize fellow Catastrophes.]
[A Catastrophe that opposes another loses all Catastrophe rights.]
A dokkaebi still hovered above, laughing itself sick.
Fine. Let’s see how long you keep laughing.
[The <Star Stream> judges your Catastrophe activity as insufficient.]
[If you don’t kill a dominant species in Peace Land within one hour, you will be stripped of the Catastrophe status.]
I looked down at the unconscious man and slowly removed my cloak.
One hour left.
Within that hour, I must hunt the King of Catastrophes.
Footnotes:
[1]
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