WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 10: Why Does This Feel Familiar?
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Rimon sank into thought.
He had lived a long life and seen all kinds of people.
Many of them had claimed they could see something special.
Of course, most were simply madmen or con artists.
But on rare occasions, they had been telling the truth.
Some could communicate with spirits.
Some could see the souls of the dead.
Others could see through curses.
To verify it, Rimon asked Yoo Na-gyeong a few questions.
“Na-gyeong, do you have any enemies?”
“Hmm, probably not? With a grudge totem like you around, Team Leader, who would bother hating a hanger-on like me?”
“Then do you have siblings you would split a huge inheritance with?”
“I’m an orphan.”
“Or did you swindle money out of a black mage or shaman?”
“...”
“Team Leader, are you sick?”
Yoo Na-gyeong gave Rimon a suspicious look.
At first, she had answered lightly, half-joking. But his questions became increasingly serious.
Hmm. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything curse-related, at least.
Her answers had become a little pricklier than usual, but she did not seem to have anything weighing on her.
Rimon stroked his chin for a moment, then made an odd expression.
Thinking about Yoo Na-gyeong had reminded him of something.
“...Na-gyeong, you’re a player, right?”
“What, did you think I was an ordinary person?”
“Players usually make contracts with constellations to receive skills.”
“Are there players who don’t?”
Yoo Na-gyeong looked at him as if he had said something absurd.
Rimon asked her.
“What constellation did you make a contract with?”
“Don’t tell me you still don’t know?!”
“Quit whining and answer me.”
“Tch. Is that really what you say when you ask a teammate you’ve worked with for years about their constellation for the first time?”
Yoo Na-gyeong grumbled at Rimon’s cold response.
It would have been different with a complete stranger.
But among coworkers and acquaintances, knowing the other person’s constellation was practically basic courtesy.
Still, that depended on the person.
Knowing that Rimon normally had no interest in such things, Yoo Na-gyeong honestly revealed her constellation.
“The constellation I contracted with is the Serpent That Joins the Ends.”
“...Hmm, is that so?”
“It mainly grants the Spatial Movement skill, so it’s a popular constellation among players.”
Rimon nodded.
Naturally, it was not because he was touched by her helpful explanation.
Her words had given him an idea.
Could that snake bastard be the constellation Na-gyeong contracted with? Did I gain the ability to see players’ constellations?
That would explain why Seo Yong-chan had looked as if he had a bull’s head.
Considering he controlled the Brass Bull, Seo Yong-chan had likely contracted with a constellation related to bulls as well.
If that was true, it was an extraordinary development.
It was unheard of to see through someone’s constellation without using an identification-type skill.
It’s a fucking useless ability, though.
Still, Rimon was unimpressed.
In an age when most players were eager to boast about their constellations, all it took was searching their name online to find out whom they had contracted with.
So Rimon did not care much that he could now see constellations.
The problem was Yoo Na-gyeong’s current appearance.
...I have a bad feeling about this.
Rimon narrowed his eyes.
From the snake’s fangs buried in Yoo Na-gyeong’s neck, to the body coiled around her neck and torso, all the way to the tail piercing her chest.
No matter how he looked at it, it looked more like a venomous snake than a constellation offering protection.
Its gleaming eyes, as if stalking prey, especially made Rimon frown.
They were currently discussing whether to go after the Liberation Brigade.
Having such an unpleasant feeling was not a good sign.
“Hmm.”
Arms folded, Rimon tapped his forearm with a finger as he thought for a long while.
Then he spoke quietly.
“Na-gyeong.”
“Yes, Team Leader?”
“Do you really want to catch the Liberation Brigade?”
“That’s why I came.”
“Even if you might die trying to catch them?”
At Rimon’s serious question, Yoo Na-gyeong answered casually, as if he were stating the obvious.
“That happens all the time, doesn’t it? We risk our lives doing PAB work, after all.”
She was not wrong.
The PAB mainly regulated high-level players.
Among them were vicious criminals who would consider someone like Seo Yong-chan a mere rookie, and agents dying in the line of duty after encountering such people was common in the PAB.
“Besides, there’s no way I’ll die over something like this.”
“...What is that baseless confidence?”
“It has a basis.”
“What basis?”
“You, Team Leader.”
“What?”
Perhaps because the answer came so unexpectedly, Rimon merely blinked.
Yoo Na-gyeong smiled brightly and answered with energy.
“Liberation Brigade or whatever, as long as I stick right by your side, who would dare kill me?”
Rimon fell silent at her confident reply.
Then he placed a hand over his forehead.
His shoulders shook before he burst out laughing.
“Pfft. Pffft, hahahahahahaha!”
“Team Leader? Why are you laughing?”
“No, no. They say there’s always something to learn from a fool. I was thinking that you say something nice once in a while, too.”
“What kind of random insult is that?!”
Yoo Na-gyeong puffed up after suddenly being called a fool.
Ignoring her, Rimon looked refreshed.
Right. Since when did I care about something like a constellation?
The strange sight had caught him off guard for a moment, but thinking about it, there was no reason to worry.
The constellation’s gaze was suspicious?
Yoo Na-gyeong might be in danger?
Who gives a damn?
Everyone died eventually.
If that day came today, he would protect her.
If there was a disaster he could not stop, he would cut down the disaster. If a constellation got in his way, he would cut down the constellation.
It did not matter if that was unreasonable.
The times may have changed, but he was Rimon Aspelder.
He was a Sword Master who had wagered his life on the edge of a blade and carved out his own fate with a sword.
“Hey, let’s go.”
“Huh? Where?”
Rimon grinned at Yoo Na-gyeong’s confused expression.
Having decided to dismiss such ominous feelings, there was only one place for him to go.
“To catch those sons of bitches.”
* * *
“This is it?”
“Yup.”
It took exactly three minutes.
That was how long it took from Rimon deciding to leave to arriving at the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters.
Considering most of that time had been spent finding his coat beneath a pile of laundry and putting it on, it was terrifyingly fast.
Yoo Na-gyeong was capable of it.
Few players could travel such a long distance in an instant while bringing someone else with them.
Standing before the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters, which they had reached in one leap, Rimon stroked his chin.
“A criminal organization using a place like this as its hideout... Are these bastards actually insane?”
“They’re psychos already, aren’t they? Besides, people say the darkest place is right under the lamp.”
“This isn’t under the lamp. It’s inside a tiger’s jaws.”
Rimon clicked his tongue.
A secluded forest, an abandoned factory, an uninhabited island.
As though mocking Rimon for expecting somewhere remote, the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters stood in the middle of the city.
And not just any central location.
The National Police Agency stood right in front of it, the Player Association was nearby, and a military base lay farther behind it. It was a perfect vantage point.
They had even put up a Haecheong Industries Co., Ltd. sign and disguised it as a respectable company.
Had he not known beforehand, he never would have realized this was the headquarters of psychos like the Liberation Brigade.
“How did you even find out about this place?”
“Heh. Information naturally gathers around a charming woman.”
“Please. Know your place.”
“I’m a peerless, delicate beauty.”
Rimon stared at Yoo Na-gyeong as if asking whether she felt no shame saying such nonsense.
But she did not so much as twitch an eyebrow.
She simply smiled shamelessly and asked him.
“What will you do? Charging in head-on again?”
“Well...”
Rimon hesitated at Yoo Na-gyeong’s question.
He stared at Haecheong Industries’ entrance for a moment before speaking again.
“We’ll pick them off one at a time.”
“...Pick off what?”
“We’ll sneak in and quietly take them down one by one.”
“You knew how to use methods other than charging in head-on, Team Leader?!”
“What do you think I am?”
“A brainless idiot whose three main strategies are rushing straight in, charging in like a dog, and storming in like a lunatic...!”
Thwack!
“Eek!”
After delivering divine punishment to his subordinate, who did not fear her superior, Rimon clicked his tongue.
“Try thinking for once. If we charge in through the front, do you think they’ll sit still? They’ll run for their lives.”
“Your usual belief is that you should cut them down before they can run away...”
“Want another hit?”
“No. I’m saying you’re very smart, Team Leader.”
Rimon snorted at Yoo Na-gyeong’s quick excuse as she clutched her forehead.
In truth, she was right.
Usually, Rimon believed in charging in through the front, smashing everything apart, then chasing down and beating up anyone who ran.
Yet he had chosen the troublesome approach of picking them off one by one this time, partly because of a feeling.
Something about charging in head-on bothers me.
There was no particular basis for it.
Before they had left, Yoo Na-gyeong had appeared wrapped in a snake, but now she simply looked normal again.
Still, the mere unease was enough reason to choose infiltration.
Rimon preferred charging in head-on only because it spared him the troublesome waste of time.
It was not because he could not infiltrate.
That was especially true with Yoo Na-gyeong beside him.
“Who...?! Gack!”
“Why is a PAB agent here...? Urgh?!”
“I-Intruders...! Guh!”
Thud! Smack! Crunch!
Once the infiltration began, Rimon and Yoo Na-gyeong swept through the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters like a tidal wave.
It was not particularly difficult.
Yoo Na-gyeong used Spatial Movement to subdue the guard room first, then they worked their way down from above, knocking out everyone whose presence they detected.
There were, of course, some high-level players who attempted something resembling resistance.
But it was pointless.
Whether they were acceleration users as swift as lightning.
Telekinetic users who raised barriers.
Stealth users who concealed themselves.
One tap with the flat of Rimon’s sword was enough to send any of them tumbling down with stars dancing before their eyes.
Thanks to that, they subdued the place at such tremendous speed that it was barely any slower than charging in head-on.
“It may be obvious to say this now, but whenever I watch you, Team Leader, I think there’s nothing more absurd than saying players are superhuman.”
Yoo Na-gyeong clicked her tongue.
He was not even killing players who had surpassed human limits. He subdued them with a single blow.
To her, the fallen Liberation Brigade criminals looked less like criminals and more like frail elderly residents of a nursing home.
This is strange.
Rimon ignored her comment.
It was not because it was not worth answering.
It was because of the strange feeling he experienced while moving through the Liberation Brigade’s headquarters.
Why does this feel so familiar?
At first, he thought it was only his imagination.
With so many buildings constructed similarly these days, he thought he was simply feeling a sense of familiarity with the interior layout.
But the farther they went, the more places stirred that feeling.
Tap tap!
“Team Leader? Why did you hit this one twice?”
“This bastard has a regeneration-type skill. If I hit them only once, they’ll get up soon.”
“Ah, so you knew this criminal?”
“No. It’s my first time seeing them.”
“...How did you know they were a regeneration user when you’ve never seen them before?”
“It just seemed like it.”
“...”
Yoo Na-gyeong stared at Rimon as though he were insane. Then she nodded in understanding.
“Ah, right. You’ve always been a mad dog.”
Rimon flexed his fingers for a moment.
He decided to be generous.
Even he thought it sounded fairly insane.
Still, he did not think he was wrong.
Whenever they encountered Liberation Brigade members, he naturally knew what their ability was even before they activated their skills.
It was as if he had come here before and swept through the Liberation Brigade once already.
Is this also an effect of being able to see constellations?
He could not see the Liberation Brigade’s constellations in particular, as he had with Seo Yong-chan and Yoo Na-gyeong.
He simply knew.
Considering he had never experienced this before, it would not have been strange if it were some instinct he had gained after acquiring the ability to see constellations.
No, this isn’t mere instinct.
But Rimon rejected that assumption himself.
If it were merely intuition, the sensation of striking those bastards would not have remained in his hand twice over.
And Rimon was a Sword Master.
He might mistake the number of suns in the sky, but he was not someone who could mistake the feel of a sword he had gripped and swung.
Yet why did he retain the sensation of striking people he had only knocked down once, twice over?
After pondering that as they cleared the building for a long time, they finally dealt with everyone on the upper floors and reached roughly the middle of the building.
Then Rimon suddenly realized.
Right.
Before him stood a particularly large and sturdy metal door, one better suited to some bunker than an office building.
It was clearly a door he had never seen before.
And yet, as he looked at that familiar door, Rimon became certain of the reason for this strange sense of familiarity.
I’ve been here before.
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