WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 127: Episode 24 — Something that Can be Changed (6)

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

I blinked in surprise at the torrential gunfire.

Not [Armed Zone] anymore but an [Armed Fortress].

In that brief span Gong Pildu’s stigma had soared past level 10 and evolved to the next tier.

[You have trespassed on private property!]

Well, who knew that warning would ever sound so sweet?

“Arrrgh! It hurts! What is this?!”

As roughly a hundred turrets fired in unison, the inhuman monsters screamed in agony.

A single round wasn’t fatal, but when hundreds of barrels spewed thousands of bullets even a Catastrophe couldn’t shrug it off.

Worse, they were still bound in place, multiplying the damage.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

Blood was spurting from the Catastrophes’ bodies wherever the rounds struck.

“My eyes! My eyes!”

“What the—what is this?!”

Shells rained from every angle, weaving a net of fire; those hit in the vitals collapsed with shrieks.

“All troops, advance!”

A host of little people, apparently lying in ambush at the forest edge, joined the fray.

Normally they wouldn’t have added much, but now that the monsters were riddled with bullet wounds the equation changed.

Tiny blades slipped into the bullet gouges and the Catastrophes howled one after another.

Then a deep-voiced middle-aged man barked out,

“Clear out and quit trespassing. This is my land.”

Trust a Warlord Landowner, cross dimensions and he’s still laying down private property. the Ten Evils sure earned their title.

One flustered monster propped up a comrade and yelled,

“F-fall back! Retreat for now!”

Incredible, judging by the turret size Gong Pildu had been miniaturized too, yet he’d grown strong enough to make three Catastrophes retreat.

A squat mobile fortress had risen straight from the ground.

It was rough around the edges, but close enough that “Armed Fortress Lord” finally fit him.

“Waaahhhh!”

“We did it! We beat the Catastrophes!”

Elated little people swarmed around the citadel, roaring their triumph.

Two figures stood atop the keep: one was Gong Pildu, and the other was…

“How is this your land? This world doesn’t even recognize private ownership.”

“Brat, watch your tongue…”

“Hmph, you’d better show this goddess a bit more respect.”

…That voice? The little people cheered again.

“Long live the Goddess! Hurrah!”

Goddess?

A woman who’d spotted me atop the citadel leapt down. Her short dress fluttered and she landed with barely a tap.

The same proud eyes, the same regal face, she hadn’t changed at all. Like Moses parting the sea, the little people parted before her every step. I chuckled and spoke.

“Look at you, moving up in the world?”

Han Suyeong stopped a breath away, tilted my chin with a finger, and said,

“Long time no see, Kim Dokja. Still ugly as ever.”

The Han Suyeong I’d reunited with had become Peace Land’s goddess.

All the way to the royal castle I listened to what had happened to her.

“I was walking on the road when a survivors’ bus swerved out and hit me.”

“And?”

“I woke up and found myself here.”

“That’s absurd. Then what about Gong Pildu?”

“He fell into the Han River and came to in this place.”

“…What kind of fantasy novel is that?”

“Have you forgotten where we are right now?”

The conversation went more or less like that. Ridiculous as it sounded, such things were par for the course in TWSA. Plenty of returnees here had jumped off the Han River or been hit by buses and wound up in another world.

But for it to happen in the middle of a scenario…

Just what are those damned dokkaebis doing with their job?

“And what’s with ‘goddess’? Did you order them to call you that?”

Suyeong brushed her skirt, grumbling.

“Tch, lot of complaints for someone I just saved.”

“Out with it.”

“Did you forget who I am already?”

“Huh?”

“Did shrinking your head also shrink your brain capacity?”

I had to admit, it was a stupid question.

Han Suyeong was the only Prophet left in Seoul Dome, and one Earth day equaled three in Peace Land. We’d only been apart about a week, meaning she’d already spent three weeks here.

She’d become “King of Prophets” among humans in a single week. Give her three weeks in Peace Land and “goddess” wasn’t that shocking—still, it felt excessive.

“…You two sure do get on famously.”

I glanced over at the voice. Gong Pildu wore a sour scowl.

I hesitated, then spoke.

I’d meant to avoid it, but this had to be said.

“Gong Pildu.”

“What.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t look out for you.”

“What crap is that? Someone might think I begged you for help.”

“I mean it. I’m sorry. And… thank you for saving me.”

Because I truly was sorry, I used formal speech.

I’d been so busy during the fifth scenario that I’d barely spared him a thought, and now he’d saved my life. Boasting I’d patronize the Defense Master felt downright embarrassing.

[The constellation Defense Master snorts at your apology.]

“…Hmph.”

Not sure who’s better in sync here.

[You have gifted Defense Master 5,000 coins.]

[The constellation Defense Master grudgingly nods.]

Gong Pildu glared at me, then snapped his head away and muttered like chewing nails,

“Then do better next time.”

A middle-aged man with a belly as big as his pride saying that was quite a sight. Anyway, they were alive even if shrunk, that was what mattered.

Wait a sec. Even if they were little people…?

I stared blankly at the two.

Come to think of it, why had these two abandoned being Catastrophes and chosen to become little people?

Neither of them seems the type.

“Kim Dogeza-san! You’re alive after all!”

I turned and found the party I thought had fled to Veronica. Michio Shouji and the others had been riding insects toward the royal capital when they ran into Pildu’s group. Hyeonseong stepped forward and bowed first.

“Thank you for saving us. Without Pildu-ssi and Suyeong-ssi we’d have been dead.”

“No biggie. Just did what had to be done.”

Watching Suyeong lightly pat Hyeonseong’s shoulder with a smile showed me how a devil looks when it dons a mask.

Jihye, eyeing her closely, spoke up.

“Um, strong unni.”

“Yes?”

“Which group are you with? Your combat power is practically king-tier, but we’ve never met…”

Right, this was the first time the party saw Suyeong’s real body rather than her avatar. They had no idea she was the First Apostle. She glanced at me, so I spoke up for her.

“Ah, about her…”

If Jihye found out she was the First Apostle, she’d never let it slide. She’d taken the worst wound in that Apostle War at Chungmuro.

Revealing the truth would upend the party, maybe even spark a bloodbath right here.

In the end I clenched my eyes shut and betrayed my conscience.

“She’s a friend of mine. Bit of a loner, likes doing her own thing.”

“Your friend?”

“Yeah. I knew her before the scenarios began.”

Not sure I’m allowed to use the word “friend” like this, but whatever. It’s not like I have any others.

Suyeong kept her head lowered, her face hidden.

“Um, sorry to interrupt… may I ask something?”

The one who broke the awkward silence was Asuka Ren, the Japanese woman I’d freed from the cage.

Jihye whispered,

“Is that pretty unni your friend too, old man? She seems powerful.”

“She’s not a friend, she’s a Japanese incarnation who’d been captured, so I let her out.”

“Why bother? She’s the enemy.”

“This fight isn’t Japan versus Korea, it’s little people versus Catastrophes.”

Jihye pouted but seemed to accept it.

Suyeong whispered,

“Who is she? Was she even in TWSA?”

“You don’t know her?”

“I’m too contrary to finish a boring novel.”

Fine, but she’d at least read to chapter 100 so she should know the early rounds… Maybe Asuka Ren hadn’t appeared by then. Shifting her anxious gaze between us, Asuka Ren tried again.

“Um, my question is…”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“How did you already seize the whole northern half of Peace Land?”

Figures. Knowing Asuka Ren, that was exactly what she’d ask.

“What’s she saying?”

“She wants to know how you became a goddess.”

“Ah, that?”

The others realized the question and looked curiously at Suyeong as well.

I was just as curious to hear what had happened.

Even rapid growth in three weeks was one thing, becoming the goddess of an entire kingdom was something else entirely.

“Like I said, we first landed in the north. That uncle and I fell smack in the center of Veronica Castle while it was under attack.”

“The castle was being attacked?”

“Yeah. A few of the first Japanese entrants were raiding Veronica.”

“So?”

“So what? I planned to scavenge the loot from the dead and slip away, but those guys mouthed off at us. So…”

“You killed them?”

Suyeong whistled innocently.

Now I understood how things had unfolded.

The Kingdom of Veronica was being destroyed by Catastrophes.

In the middle of that, two strangers fell into the palace and slaughtered the monsters. To the little people, Han Suyeong and Gong Pildu must have looked divine.

“Well… if I’d known we’d shrink later I might’ve spared them.”

“Didn’t you read the scenario at all?”

“I told you, we were yanked through a dimensional gate while walking. How was I supposed to know this was the sixth scenario zone?”

So that’s why the half-yokai charged us on sight.

“Hey, do you know how much trouble we…”

“We’re here. Look.”

Beyond the plains the forsaken world’s castle came into view.

A shattered palace, ruined walls scarred by Catastrophes. From the trampled capital the people cheered toward us.

“Goddess!”

“The Goddess has returned…!”

Gaunt crowds ravaged by disaster came hobbling forth, grubby faces lifted in welcome. You could feel the weight of despair these tiny folk carried, stripped of their homes by Catastrophes, reduced to mere scenario props.

Suyeong gave a bitter smile and spoke.

“…We’re already back. Damn Peace Land.”

I watched the little people approach. The folk of this world resembled old-world humans—no Sword Masters, no Ninth-Circle Archmages, not even free use of the System.

No matter how they struggled, these fragile, “classic fantasy” commoners were doomed to be plundered by outsiders.

I knew whose “work” this world was.

“Asuka Ren.”

The red-haired beauty flinched and looked at me.

She was the key to this scenario. In matters of Peace Land, Asuka Ren knew the world even better than I did from TWSA.

“Join the Korean group. We need your help.”

Footnotes:

[1]

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