WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS x FLAME COMICS
Translator: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint ◈
Chapter 22: Episode 5 - Warden of the Dark (3)
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“Hyung! That......”
Just before Lee Gilyeong could speak after spotting the treasure chest, I covered his small mouth.
“Shh, wait.”
The world of TWSA was merciless. The constellations enjoyed people’s adversity, and the obstacles in the Scenarios were all perfect for screwing humans over. Things that practically said, “Please catch me and eat me,” were usually traps, and you couldn’t even trust system messages.
“Just because it’s a treasure vault doesn’t mean it only has treasure in it.”
[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon is disappointed.]
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon...... that bastard had seemed to be hoping I’d die for a while now.
Anyway, I waited. Before long, shadows started appearing one by one around the treasure vault.
Grrr...... Squeak!
They were Ground Rats. Carrying loads of something through the tunnel, they exchanged information while letting out strange cries.
Fwoosh.
As a certain number of Ground Rats gathered, the number of lights illuminating the area increased as well. Flames burning through black ether, Darkfire. If there was enough black ether here for Darkfire to burn, that meant this place was the central core of the Dark Root. Then I heard someone speaking.
“This is all because of Yu Sangah-ssi!”
It was a voice I could recognize instantly without being told who it was. I tightly gripped Gilyeong’s shoulder when he flinched in surprise. It still wasn’t time yet.
“What do you mean, because of me?”
Through the faint light, I saw two people subdued by the Ground Rats. Their entire bodies were tightly bound by stems stretching up from the floor.
“I-if Yu Sangah-ssi hadn’t gotten on the subway, things wouldn’t have turned out like this!”
“What does me getting on the subway have to do with this situation?”
She was seriously answering that nonsense point by point. Maybe Yu Sangah was Buddha. Or maybe her Patron was.
“Th-that’s...... I mean, Yu Sangah-ssi, you always just ride your bicycle, so......”
Han Myeongoh’s rambling voice trailed on incoherently. Yu Sangah’s tone turned cold.
“Wait a second. Was it you who stole my bicycle, Manager?”
“Wh-when someone offers you a ride! I clearly said I’d give you a ride! If someone offers kindness, you should know enough to accept it!”
“Answer me. Were you the one who stole my bicycle, Manager?”
Suddenly, I understood everything. So that was it. That was why Han Myeongoh, who drove around in a Benz S-Class, had been on Seoul Subway Line 3.
Then again, it wasn’t strange. Not just at the company, but even at Geumho Station, there had been quite a few men eyeing Yu Sangah.
[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire dislikes the incarnation Han Myeongoh.]
Even under the Darkfire, Han Myeongoh’s face was red enough to see clearly. This was starting to look dangerous.
“Yeah! I did it! So what!”
“Why are you the one shouting? Touching someone else’s property is theft.”
“Theft? You should’ve just obediently gotten in the car from the start!”
[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband dislikes this Petty quarrel.]
This hadn’t been my original plan, but now there was no other choice. Quietly, I drew out the thorn.
“Hey, Yu Sangah-ssi. When did I ever pester you? It’s not like I asked you out. I just said I’d drive you home out of kindness, but you kept refusing, so I......”
I threw the thorn with all my strength. With a tearing whistle, it grazed Han Myeongoh’s mouth and buried itself deep in the darkness.
“Aaaagh! What was that?!”
[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband is pleased.]
[100 coins have been sponsored.]
“Dokja-ssi!”
Yu Sangah called out to me. But I wasn’t looking at them.
Whoooom......
Beyond the Ground Rats, the darkness was splitting open around where the thorn had struck. Just as I thought. There was no way that thing wouldn’t be here where there was a Dark Root.
[The Warden of the Dark has appeared!]
[The sub-scenario has been updated!]
[The sub-scenario Warden Extermination has begun!]
Like slaves bowing before their king, the Ground Rats dropped flat to the floor in terror. In the dim light, a pitch-black shape emerged. A monster that called the Grim Reaper to mind, with things like tentacles writhing across its back.
Lee Gilyeong’s complexion rapidly worsened.
“Ugh, hyung, I......”
“It’s okay. You can throw up.”
In the end, Gilyeong collapsed to the floor and started retching. It wasn’t strange. Even just watching it from this far away, I could feel an overwhelming pressure. In fact, the cockroaches crawling nearby had already rolled onto their backs and burst open. Gilyeong, who was connected to the insects, had probably taken considerable Mental damage as well.
“Gilyeong. About how many more times can you use [Inter-Species Communication]?”
“...I think I can still use it once or twice.”
“Got it. Then rest here for a bit.”
I propped Gilyeong up and walked toward Yu Sangah and Han Myeongoh. Han Myeongoh, deep in panic, was thrashing around.
“Ugh! What the hell is that......?!”
I took out my Swiss Army knife and cut through the stems binding the two of them. I had only moved the knife a few times, but the parts that touched the stems rapidly corroded, and soon even the blade itself had worn away. So this was the power of demonic species.
“Stay back.”
I said it while picking up the Ground Rat spear Han Myeongoh had dropped.
Tier-7 demonic species, Warden of the Dark.
Among the many monster species that had appeared after the destruction began, those demonic species were especially unique. In truth, the Ground Rats’ “treasure” was closer to a Sacrifice offered to the demonic species. Even at the same grade, demonic species were on a completely different level from other monster species.
[The Warden of the Dark receives the Demon King’s Blessing of the demon king it serves.]
“Kamun. Der. Itur.”
Demonic species had a language of their own, each worshipped a different demon king, and through the Dark Root they inherited part of that demon king’s authority.
[The Warden of the Dark spews Fear.]
[The Exclusive Skill The Fourth Wall neutralizes most of the Fear effect.]
That was why killing a single demonic species meant making an enemy of a demon king.
“Itur!”
I didn’t know what it was saying, but the situation had turned bad. If possible, I hadn’t wanted to fight it.
“......Mother?”
The one who said that was Yu Sangah. She still hadn’t left?
“I told you to stay back.”
“No, that’s not it. That monster just said ‘mother’......”
I paused for a moment, trying to understand what she meant. No, wait.
“Um, then...... Kard, emiren? Ah, is that not the pronunciation? Akedu?”
For a moment, I thought I had heard wrong. But I hadn’t.
“Kalidu!”
Incredibly, the Warden of the Dark was nodding at Yu Sangah’s words.
[The character Yu Sangah has activated the skill Interpretation Lv.3.]
...Good grief. So she wasn’t only good at Spanish.
“What is it saying?”
“It’s...... it’s been saying ‘Become a mother’ over and over......”
......Become a mother?
The Warden of the Dark pointed at Yu Sangah and shouted again.
“Kalidu!”
Yu Sangah looked like she was about to cry.
“A mother? I’m not even married yet!”
This time, the Warden of the Dark pointed at Han Myeongoh.
“Kalidu!”
Han Myeongoh, who had been wiping at his split lip, turned pale.
“Wh-why am I the mother?! I’d be the father!”
A tentacle shot out from the Warden of the Dark’s back.
Shhk!
“Uuuph!”
The tentacle plunged into Han Myeongoh’s mouth, and his complexion began turning black. With a wet, churning sound, something slid down through his Adam’s apple.
I see. So that was what it meant by mother.
Only then did I remember that demonic species conceived their young inside the bodies of other species.
“Yu Sangah-ssi, you’re not planning for children yet, are you?”
“Of course not!”
Yu Sangah understood at once and quickly retreated backward. I swung the Ground Rat spear and tore through the tentacle connected to Han Myeongoh. The thing roared in fury.
“Kaliduuu!”
Shhk! Bang!
The Ground Rat spear was gradually losing its shape from the demonic species’ tentacles. Even the Stone Hog’s thorn that had wounded the Sea Dragon’s stomach had started rotting away from the instant it lodged in a demonic species’ body, so in a way this was only natural.
By then, Yu Sangah, who had dragged Han Myeongoh far away, turned back to look at me.
「There’s a chance to win, right?」
That was probably what her eyes were asking.
But to tell the truth, there was no chance of winning at all.
Shhk! Shhk! Bang!
After only a few rapid exchanges, the Ground Rat spear was almost ruined beyond use. My hand gripping the spear started to ache. Just like the Sea Dragon at Dongho Bridge, the thing guarding this treasure chest wasn’t a monster placed here to be hunted.
That was why my original plan hadn’t been to fight it, but to open the treasure chest after it disappeared.
But as always, plans existed for when things went wrong.
“Dokkaebi. You’re watching, right?”
[U-uh, u-uh. You knew?]
A dokkaebi emerged from the darkness in a bright crackle of current. I didn’t know his name, but he looked like one of Bihyeong’s cousins.
“There should be some mail for me by now. I’d appreciate it if you handed it over quickly.”
[Hihit. Th-that’s n-not under my authority. Th-that’s B-Bihyeong’s job.]
“You’re handling Bihyeong’s work in his place right now. Can’t you see the constellations are getting impatient?”
[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband browbeats the dokkaebi Biryu!]
[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire threatens the dokkaebi Biryu.]
The dokkaebi Biryu sucked in a sharp breath.
[......F-fine. But only th-this once. I-I’m only doing it because it looks fun!]
The dokkaebi muttered something into empty air, and the summoning started immediately.
[An item has arrived from the auction house.]
[Item Broken Faith has been acquired.]
[The brokerage fee has been waived due to the contract effect.]
Broken Faith. The barter item for the Sea Dragon’s Nucleus that I had registered with the auction house through the Dokkaebi Compendium had finally arrived.
The Warden of the Dark sneered at the item that descended from the air. It had reason to. What I had received was only a D-grade item. A sword snapped cleanly in half.
[This item is too old to use. Its durability is too low to bring out its proper performance.]
Even the dokkaebi who gave it to me was snickering in the air.
[B-but can you really fight with something that worn out? And that thing, unless you have a really unique skill, you c-can’t even use it......]
I knew that much too. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have bought it.
“Huuuu......”
I drew in a deep breath and focused my mind.
Whiiing.
The hilt trembled sharply. Biryu cried out in surprise.
[U-uh? How?!]
You couldn’t be this shocked over something like that. After all, this was a skill I had paid your friend a full 10,000 coins for.
A blue-white ether slowly began gathering over the surface of the broken blade.
[White Pure Star Energy]
After the Sea Dragon hunt ended, I bought this skill from Bihyeong right away. Compared to other top-grade martial arts, it came with a slight penalty, but among the qi arts I could obtain for the time being, there was nothing better than this.
[Broken Faith reacts to your Mana!]
[Blade of Faith has activated!]
Then the hilt began shining, and from the end of the broken blade, a pure white phantom blade started rising.
Broken Faith. The true power of this sword revealed itself when it was infused with the Mana of a qi art.
Shhk! Shhk!
Dozens of tentacles multiplied and covered my field of vision. Attacks that even my current Constitution level couldn’t survive. I was afraid. But now I had a chance of winning. Because when it came to demonic species, the Blade of Faith was a weapon with the best possible compatibility.
Crackle!
Every tentacle that touched the blade oxidized away and was severed. The Warden of the Dark let out a horrific scream and withdrew its tentacles. I could feel my Mana draining rapidly, but I didn’t grow impatient.
Slash!
I moved the blade calmly. Without [combat sense], I missed several of the blindly lashing tentacles, and without [swordsmanship], the blade I swung was clumsy. That was only natural. I wasn’t a swordsman. I was a reader.
And a reader fought in a reader’s way.
[Due to your attribute effect, your memory of pages you have already read has improved.]
The pages of TWSA turned in my head. Calmly, I recalled the scenes I had read, the scenes I had simulated hundreds and thousands of times in my mind.
「......The Warden of the Dark’s attack pattern can be led. If you attack its left ankle, the upper-right tentacle will always react first......」
「......After two consecutive attacks, there will always be a fixed gap......」
「......Its tentacles regenerate, but regeneration takes several minutes, so......」
Reading hard, and honestly making use of what I had read.
“Kraaaaaah!”
The severed tentacles flew up, and the Warden of the Dark screamed.
Beyond my field of vision was Lee Gilyeong. He was looking at me with reverence in his eyes. Unfortunately, unlike what he wanted, I was neither a god nor a protagonist in this world. But there was at least one thing I was confident about.
“Kar. Mien. Dero.”
The Warden of the Dark, which had barely regained its bearings, let out a cry of shock. I hadn’t even asked, but Yu Sangah translated it from behind me in a trembling voice.
“How...... do you know all of my attacks......?”
So that was what it meant. I answered lightly, as if it were nothing.
“You just have to read a lot.”
I know this world better than anyone else.
Footnotes:
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