WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator: ZERO_SUGAR

Editor: smol_anon

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint ◈

Chapter 26: Episode 6 - Hour of Judgement (3)

The next morning, there were a few changes at Geumho Station.

First, Han Myeongoh had disappeared.

Han Myeongoh, who had already been hard to spot since the fight began, vanished somewhere after the battle ended. Whether he moved on to the next station or was still hiding somewhere in the station, even I couldn't tell.

“Looks like he doesn’t want to stay with us anymore. Honestly, I didn’t like him from the start. And he’s not the only one who disappeared, either.”

Huiwon was right. After last night’s battle, there were barely any people left at Geumho Station. It wasn’t because the number of survivors was small—in fact, more people survived than the original work.

But after the events of the previous night, most of the survivors left the station. They likely all had their reasons.

“Will the ones who stayed be alright?”

Sangah glanced at the remaining survivors. Besides me, Yu Sangah, Lee Hyeonseong, Lee Gilyeong, and Huiwon, there were only five others left in the station. Huiwon spoke first.

“Hey, you guys. Are you coming with us?”

At her indifferent question, the survivors hesitated. A young woman holding a child stepped forward as their representative.

“…We’ll go separately. We still have some coins left.”

I had to admit, I was impressed they managed to survive the bloodbath. With that kind of courage, they might just survive even without us.

Huiwon seemed to think the same, as she nodded.

“Alright. Good luck.”

As Huiwon turned away, relief spread across the survivors' faces. Their reaction wasn’t strange. After all, yesterday had been rather shocking.

I understood. One of us had refused to help them, and the other had brutally slaughtered people, even if there were reasons behind it. To them, Huiwon and I likely didn’t seem much different from the Cheoldu Gang.

I nudged the dazed Hyeonseong next to me.

“Hyeonseong-ssi?”

“Ah, yes!”

Startled, Lee Hyeonseong, who had been staring at Jeong Huiwon in a daze, snapped to attention. I had a good guess about what he had been thinking. He was probably still trying to reconcile whether the woman who mercilessly slaughtered the Cheoldu Gang last night was the same person standing in front of him now.

“Are you finished with the preparations?”

“Yes! It’s a bit lacking, but we’re mostly done. We’ve prepared PET bottles to use as water containers, proper cold-weather gear, and even an emergency kit….”

Having a soldier around was quite handy in these situations.

“…That’s about it. Is there anything else you need?”

I was about to say no when something crossed my mind.

“Ah, could you check if there are any portable chargers around?”

“A portable charger?”

He probably found it odd. After all, in a world where even phone signals were cut off, a smartphone seemed useless. I gave a vague explanation.

“There’s something I need it for.”

Hyeonseong said he’d look for one and began searching through the Cheoldu Gang’s leftover belongings. Gilyeong and Sangah joined in to help. Meanwhile, Jeong Huiwon turned to me.

“Are we leaving now?”

“We should.”

Of course, Huiwon didn’t ask if she could come with us. That’s just how she was, and I didn’t mind. The Judge of Evil was someone even Yu Joonghyuk would have his eye on.

“I have a lot to ask you.”

“Not now.”

“Geez, you’re like a stone wall.”

Huiwon punched me lightly on the arm.

[You have received 1,500 coins from the character Jeong Huiwon.]

“This is…?”

“I’m sharing. I felt bad keeping it all to myself. I gave some to the others too.”

It didn’t take me long to figure out what she meant. Last night, Huiwon killed most of the Cheoldu Gang, so these were the coins they had.

But… I felt a bit uncomfortable accepting them.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have shared.”

Huiwon had no idea that I had already collected even more coins than she had.

“I’m not you, Dokja-ssi.”

She gave me a few more playful punches before slinging her backpack over her shoulder and heading toward the tunnel.

“Finish up quickly. I’ll go ahead and scout the area.”

“Don’t go too far ahead. Some sections are still dangerous.”

Jeong Huiwon waved her hand as if telling me not to worry and disappeared into the distance.

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire likes your camaraderie.]

[The constellation Abyssal Black Flame Dragon laughs sinisterly.]

I stared blankly at the floating messages before I spoke.

‘You must have earned a lot of coins yesterday. Must feel nice.’

There was no response. I spoke again.

‘Don’t play dumb. I know you’re watching.’

—Ah, haha… You found out?

Bihyeong’s voice whispered in my ear.

‘How much did you make?’

—Well… hmm.

I glared at the air in silence.

—Sigh, geez. You really don’t let anything slide. Fine, here.

[The dokkaebi Bihyeong has given you 4,500 coins.]

Just as I thought. Damn dokkaebi.

—The constellations didn’t use the sponsorship system and sent it to me directly. I’m not sure why, but they asked me to give it to you later. Oh, and there are also these messages.

More messages exploded into view.

[The constellation Prisoner of the Golden Headband is satisfied with your scenario.]

[The constellation Demonic Judge of Fire reluctantly accepts your decision.]

[The constellation Secretive Plotter is pleased with your plan.]

So that’s why the sponsorship messages didn’t appear yesterday.

Considering the scale of what happened, I had found it strange that the number of coins I received was so small.

[Coin balance: 23,050C]

Even after investing a large portion of my earnings in my stats, I still had a significant amount left. It was about time to spend some coins again.

Let’s see what I could boost this time.

Since I didn’t have an attributes window, I had to remember the exact values of the stats I’d raised. First, I focused on my most important stat: constitution.

[You have invested 1,200 coins in Vitality.]

[Vitality Lv.12 → Vitality Lv.15]

[Your body's durability has increased.]

Since I didn’t have any offensive passive skills, I made sure to invest in strength.

[You have invested 1,600 coins in Strength.]

[Strength Lv.11 → Strength Lv.15]

[Powerful energy surges through your muscles.]

As for agility, I raised it just enough to dodge when necessary.

[You have invested 400 coins in Agility.]

[Agility Lv.10 → Agility Lv.11]

[You can move more swiftly.]

To maintain White Flash Qi, I needed my mana to surpass 10.

[You have invested 1,200 coins in Mana.]

[Mana Lv.6 → Mana Lv.10]

[Mystical energy has settled in your soul.]

I could have invested more, but I held back. There would be plenty of things to spend coins on once we reached Chungmuro. Plus, I’d already spent 4,400 coins. Earning them was hard, but spending them was easy. If my base stats had been higher, I wouldn’t have needed so many coins.

A starting constitution stat of 1… Even Lee Gilyeong, with his Master of Insects, probably had higher constitution than that.

—Oh, I almost forgot. You also received a scenario recommendation. You’re really amazing. At this rate, the channel will level up soon.

‘It has to.’

Unlike other incarnations, I didn’t have the support of a patron constellation. Therefore, I needed to gather even more coins. The reason I wasn’t getting the full benefit of my contract with Bihyeong was because his channel was still too small.

‘A handful’ of constellations weren’t enough. To collect serious amounts of coins, I needed at least a ‘considerable number’ of constellations to join. Once we reached Chungmuro, the conditions for that would fall into place.

“If everyone’s ready, let’s head out. We didn’t leave anything behind, right?”

The group, who had gathered while I was adjusting my stats, nodded. Judging from their tense faces, it seemed they had all gained a new understanding from the events of yesterday.

Finally, we began our journey towards Chungmuro.

The system message appeared when we had crossed about half of the tracks heading towards Yaksu Station.

[The second main scenario is now active.]

+

<Main Scenario #2 – Encounter>

Category: Main

Difficulty: E

Clear conditions: Travel through the tunnel and meet the survivors in the first shelter zone.

Time limit: None

Rewards: 500 coins

Penalty for failure: ???

+

Seeing the message, I realized things were starting to get serious. Unlike the first main scenario, the second main scenario introduced the concept of a ‘shelter zone.’ Huiwon asked,

“Shelter zone? What does that mean?”

I didn’t need to answer. The next message soon floated up in the air.

[The next shelter zone is Chungmuro.]

“Chungmuro? That’s close, only three more stations….”

A low rumbling sound echoed as mole crickets burrowed up from the ground. There were over 30 of them. Huiwon’s face hardened.

“…And we have to get through them for three stations.”

Hyeonseong stepped forward.

“I’ll take the front.”

Thanks to the support of his patron constellation, Hyeonseong’s combined stats in Strength, Agility, and Constitution now totaled 37. Even though he hadn’t earned as many coins as I had, he was catching up fast. I suppose having high base stats gave him a considerable advantage. If I’d known, I would’ve done more push-ups myself.

“I’ll cover the rear.”

Gilyeong’s overall stats were still relatively low, but through consistent training, he had become more skilled in using his ability, Inter-Species Communication.

“Let me help too.”

Sangah used her magic threads to limit the mole crickets’ movements. Though her attack power was lower, her overall abilities seemed to be on par with Huiwon’s.

“They’re more numerous than I expected, but they’re not that tough.”

There was no need to mention Huiwon. Though her overall stats were lower than Hyeonseong’s, her unique skill made her more than formidable.

Huiwon’s exclusive skill, Hour of Judgment, made her invincible against ‘evildoers’. As long as her enemies were deemed evil by the constellations, she could not be defeated.

The last mole cricket collapsed to the ground. Hyeonseong, who had been holding his shield, wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Phew… That wasn’t too bad.”

Truthfully, the difficulty was higher than it seemed. Even with their simple attack patterns, a group of 30 mole crickets was no joke. I wouldn’t have been able to handle them on my own without using Bookmark. The fact that our group managed it was a testament to how much they had all grown.

After some more walking, we finally reached the next station platform.

“It’s Yaksu Station! But… there’s no one here? No, wait….”

Yaksu Station was filled with corpses and dead mole crickets. Judging by the wounds, some had been killed by Yu Joonghyuk rather than the mole crickets.

“Let’s keep moving. We’ve only got two stations left.”

We pressed forward. The distance between Yaksu and Dongdaemun was less than 1km, so we decided to cover as much ground as we could. Just before reaching Dongdaemun Station, we encountered another group of mole crickets and dispatched them.

We hadn’t covered more than 2km in total, but the fights had taken a toll, and everyone’s stamina was running low.

“Let’s rest for a bit here.”

“We’re only one station away. Wouldn’t it be better to rest after we get there…?”

“No one knows if we’ll be able to rest once we arrive.”

My words silenced the group. I was right. In this world, monsters weren’t the only danger. I scanned our surroundings and spoke.

“Looks like the people from this station left in a hurry. There might still be some supplies.”

“Um… In that case…”

At the mention of supplies, Sangah raised her hand slightly. Her eyes met Huiwon’s. Without exchanging a word, they both nodded. I was still standing there awkwardly when Huiwon turned to me.

“What’s with the look? You want to come with us?”

“No, go ahead.”

It wasn’t hard to figure out what was going on. Even in this apocalyptic world, some human needs couldn’t be ignored.

At that moment, Hyeonseong also spoke up.

“If we’re taking a break, I’ll go to the restroom as well.”

His mention of the restroom took me by surprise. But it made sense—if there were functioning facilities, there was no reason not to use them. This was probably why people said subways were good shelters in emergencies.

“I’ll go too.”

Even Gilyeong chimed in. Watching the two of them head off together, they almost looked like an odd pair of brothers.

Sangah turned to me.

“Will you be alright by yourself, Dokja-ssi?”

“I’ll be stepping outside for a moment.”

“Outside? But the poison fog…”

“I’ll be quick. Don’t worry.”

Sangah’s concern was met with Huiwon narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

“…This seems fishy. Why do you need to go outside?”

“Just for a bit of praying.”

“Pra… ying?”

Huiwon stared at me for a moment, and I decided to give her a straight answer.

“I’m more devout than I look.”

A few moments later, I stood in front of Exit 6 of Dongdaemun Station.

Based on the information I’d read earlier, this was definitely the place.

[You have been exposed to a poisonous fog.]

As I expected, the reach of the Poison Rhino extended this far.

I hadn’t purchased Ellain Monkey’s Lungs this time, so I had to act quickly. Holding my breath, I rushed up the escalator towards Dongdaemun. It wasn’t long before I saw it—a statue, its surface shimmering in a pale, bluish-gray hue.

[A constellation wearing a tattered robe expresses anticipation at your actions.]

The statue was of a Buddhist monk from the Joseon era. Clad in a worn-out robe, he carried a large staff. Even though it was only a statue, I could sense a certain aura of dignity from it.

I confirmed the name engraved at the base of the statue.

Yujeong Samyeong Daesa[1].

Good, this was the right one. No one else had discovered it yet.

Standing in front of the statue, I clasped my hands together and offered a prayer.

[A constellation wearing a tattered robe is pleased with your actions.]

[You have received 100 coins.]

Without hesitation, I activated Blade of Faith using White Flash Qi.

[A constellation wearing a tattered robe is puzzled by your actions.]

And then, without a second thought, I sliced the statue of Samyeong Daesa in half.

[A constellation wearing a tattered robe is shocked by your actions!]

Footnotes:

[1] Samyeong Dang (1544–1610), also known by his dharma name Yujeong, was a Korean Buddhist monk during the Joseon era. He is sometimes identified by his art name, Song-un. He was born to a family of the Im clan in Miryang, Gyeongsang Province. After the deaths of his mother in 1558 and his father in 1559, he became a monk at Jikjisa on Hwangaksan in Gimcheon.

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