WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 197: Erosion (2)
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A rectangular card shone in my left hand.
A familiar skill card.
However, the color of the card was unfamiliar.
‘Purple? Violet?’
The color of the card indicates the skill's rank.
Cards from F through C rank are bronze-colored, often mocked as 'poop-colored.' Most hunters possess skills in these ranks, and plenty of hunters shed tears because they do not even have one.
B- and A-rank cards are silver-colored. Skills in these ranks are commonly called jackpots.
At S rank and above, cards are golden. My companions are unusually accomplished, but ordinarily it is difficult even to speak with a hunter who possesses a golden skill. There are no [purple] cards anywhere.
‘Could it be a glitch…?’
I scanned the letters etched on the front of the card.
+
[Demonic Heavenly Formation]
Rank: Undetermined
Effect: Based on Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, this formation materializes shared mental images of the casters. The more casters join the formation, the more skilled they are in Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, and the clearer the shared mental image, the more powerful the formation becomes.
This formation’s effectiveness has not been proven yet!
You are the first to conceive this skill. From now on, you must demonstrate the potential of the Demonic Heavenly Formation. Once sufficient data has accumulated, the rank and description of this skill will be revised.
*The current skill rank is not yet determined.
+
‘Ah.’
Now I understood why the card was purple.
A kind of prototype. It seems untested skills are imbued with a purple color.
‘Such cases exist too…'
-That’s awesome!
I was startled. Guardian Spirit suddenly leaned close to my ear and shouted.
‘What the heck?’
-It’s my first time seeing a purple card too!
Guardian Spirit's eyes sparkled.
-Wow, I’m so glad I didn’t just die quietly and that I became a ghost instead!
‘It’s just a uniquely colored card, why the fuss…?’
-Listen, Zombie. You’re usually sharp, so what’s this? Doesn’t it strike you as odd? Would you use purple as the default color for a test version? Typically, it would be white.
Hmm.
That was a valid point.
‘Right? I wouldn’t set purple as the basic color. Usually.’
-My point exactly.
‘Hmm.’
Could the Tower's master favor purple?
As I pondered about the enigmatic Tower Master whose face remained shrouded in darkness, Uburka spoke.
“Daddy.”
“Ah, sorry. I got lost in thought for a moment.”
“It’s alright.”
Uburka shook his head. He was still holding my right hand.
“More importantly, I need to explain the present age to you. There must be a reason you happened to descend at this particular time. Something momentous is happening on the continent.”
“Something big?”
“Yes. Perhaps it’s not just a continental issue, but a global one.”
Uburka spoke cryptically, his smile mysterious.
“A new continent has been discovered.”
At that moment, the quest updated.
[The quest for the 35th floor has been given.]
The name of the quest in the window read:
[The Age of Exploration].
2.
A new continent.
It was discovered twenty-four years ago.
“I spent over three hundred and fifty years in the snowy mountains, but occasionally I visited the city to eavesdrop on the world. A Gill Fish captain reportedly sighted land that was not shown on any map.”
Gill Fishes take the form of merfolk. They typically prefer to live in rivers, but there are always exceptions.
One of them was curious about what lay at the end of the sea. Luckily, they had the capability to realize their curiosity and the courage to stake their life on it.
「Please support me.」
The Gill Fishes captain spoke before the admirals.
「The Earth Spirit Tribe has the right to dominate the land, as even their tribal name starts with Earth. Fairies, being cunning, should control the gold. But the water is exclusively our realm, the Gill Fishes, and there should be no waters or routes unknown to us!」
The speech did not contain a shred of logic, but the admirals splashed the water in approval.
「I shall provide you with one ship, one Vampire, and forty sailors.」
Thus, a legendary voyage began.
Maybe living and swimming in water makes their thinking freer too. They invented the process of producing salt by boiling brine, and it feels as though the Gill Fishes are responsible for every unusual development in this world.
“What happened to that captain?”
“They achieved their dream. Sixteen months into the voyage, they discovered the new continent.”
Uburka spoke calmly.
“And on their triumphant return, they was eaten by a killer whale.”
That's tragically unfortunate.
“Being eaten by a killer whale is quite common. Ugor. The leading cause of death among Gill Fishes is crocodiles, followed by killer whales, and third, drowning.”
“Drowning? They’re merfolk.”
“I don’t know the details.”
The mystery deepened.
As father and son pondered side by side, a sigh came from nearby.
“You two... Teleport.”
It was the Black Dragon Master. She turned her head back and stared up at us.
“Can you not just comfortably chat among yourselves while using someone as a driver? Teleport. It's irritating to just listen quietly from the side. Teleport.”
Black Dragon Master repeated 'teleport' in her speech because we were currently using her teleportation bus.
I was nestled in Uburka's enormous arms, and the Black Dragon Master was held in mine. Thanks to that arrangement, we could repeat the instantaneous teleportation safely.
From a distance, might we look like a matryoshka doll or a kangaroo?
“Hey, I’m offering a comfortable ride in exchange.”
“You might be comfortable, but it’s troublesome for me. Teleport. Do you know how burdensome it is to continuously cast a skill? Teleport.”
“We’re practically family, aren't we? Since entering the Tower, I haven’t had anyone I could call an older sister. Now that we’re close, may I call you that? I’d like us to treat each other like siblings.”
“You're the type who gets obnoxiously clingy once you get close, huh… Teleport.”
The sea stretched beneath the feet of the three of us.
Yes, the sea.
No land or even a rock reef in sight, just endless blue stretching to the horizon. We were slicing through the ocean, heading straight for the new continent.
“‘Sister’ is not acceptable. I don’t like it.”
“How about ‘Your Majesty, the Black Dragon Queen’?”
“Our King of Death is quite amusing.”
Black Dragon Master smiled slightly.
I experienced a brief moment of getting smacked.
“I won’t tease you anymore…”
“Good thinking. Teleport. If you really want to change how you address me, call me ‘senior.’ Teleport. I’ll allow that much.”
“Oh, that’s great, senior. You can also call me ‘Gong-Ja’ if you like.”
"......."
Black Dragon Master didn’t respond to my words. She just turned her head forward, her expression emotionless, and continued muttering ‘teleport.’ Silence naturally ensued.
Listening to the sound of the waves crashing below, I checked the quest window once more.
+
[The Age of Exploration]
Difficulty: A-
Mission Objective: Exploration! Adventure! A new continent has emerged for the seven tribes. The route opened by the Gill Fishes has now drawn other tribes as well.
‘I want to live somewhere else, not here.’
In every era, there are those who dream of other worlds. Desires never fulfilled, miracles never encountered, excitement never felt. People board ships, pinning everything they haven't achieved in this life to a land beyond the sea.
However, the new continent is a fresh world only for the seven tribes.
Others have already established their homes and live on this land. At present, there is imminent discord between adventurers and natives! A one-sided massacre might even occur.
Is it invasion, coexistence, or expulsion?
The seven tribes are at risk of annihilation. Lead them!
*However, failure in leadership may result in the extinction of one or more tribes.
+
Massacre. Annihilation.
Those ominous words were seared into my eyes.
This was the reason we were hastily heading to the new continent.
“Are our children massacring the natives?”
“I don’t know. Teleport.”
Black Dragon Master responded.
“But it’s possible. Similar things often happened during new route explorations in the outside world… Teleport. I hope the people of this world don’t do such things, but teleport. We can’t always expect our children to grow up as we wish.”
“I want to prevent any massacres, for whatever reason.”
“I support you.”
“Ugor.”
Uburka suddenly spoke up.
“There’s something over there.”
He pointed towards the horizon. I couldn't see anything. But upon hearing his words, I instantly enhanced my vision with aura.
Something was floating in the vast ocean.
“A ship?"
It was a massive vessel.
I frowned.
“Black Dragon Master. I mean, senior. There’s a ship over there. Let's stop by.”
“Why?"
“There are no sailors on the ship.”
“Teleport.”
Black Dragon Master also seemed to have noticed the ship. We instantly moved to the deck.
As soon as we set foot on the wooden planks, we already felt something was off.
"There are people here, but......."
Black Dragon Master looked around.
“…are they all asleep?”
The sailors were sprawled out on the deck.
They belonged to various tribes, mostly Ghost Tribe and Gill Fishes, with a few Pure Human Race mixed in. Regardless of tribe, every sailor looked terribly emaciated.
I approached the helmsman, who had collapsed by the ship's wheel, and gently took their wrist.
“They’re malnourished.”
I circulated aura through the sailor's body, thoroughly checking their condition.
“They’re showing severe symptoms of dehydration. It looks like they haven’t eaten in three or four days. Hmm. There are no injuries, and nothing is wrong with their head, but...”
Having mastered Sword of Parched Death in Divine Art of the Demonic Heaven, I was quite knowledgeable about dehydration. I examined other sailors, but the symptoms were all the same. Severe malnutrition and dehydration.
And.
“No matter how I look at it, they are simply asleep.”
Sae-aek, sae-aek. The sailors breathed softly and comfortably in their sleep.
Not unconscious or passed out, merely in a state of sleep.
“Did you try waking them with aura?”
“Yes, I deliberately stimulated them, but they won’t wake up. This is really strange.”
“Wait a moment.”
Black Dragon Master approached and touched one of the sailors. Her fingertips flickered with black aura.
Soon, she narrowed her eyes.
“…they're not cursed.”
“Could it be drugs? Are they drugged?”
“It’s possible, but given the symptoms, it seems too mild to be drug effects. I can't feel any traces. There might be drugs unique to this world that I’m unaware of, but….”
Black Dragon Master pondered.
Meanwhile, Uburka had been dragging sailors from various parts of the ship.
Interestingly, the captain was a member of the Mountain Snail Tribe. It’s quite bold for a Mountain Snail Tribe member, who deteriorates or even melts upon contact with salt, to venture into the sea.
“This is certainly peculiar.”
As he set down the Mountain Snail Tribe captain, Uburka wrinkled his nose.
“It seems these people fell asleep suddenly while working. It's as if they were all abruptly overcome with drowsiness in the midst of their tasks.”
“All at once?”
“Ugor.”
In total, 32 sailors lay asleep on the deck, seemingly having forgotten the living world.
Indeed, the mystery only deepened.
“…shall we briefly enter and exit their dreams?”
After pondering, Black Dragon Master suggested.
“Dreams?”
“Yes. Using [Character Possession] would be more certain, but it consumes 1000 points. We can’t waste points here, so let’s use [Appearance in Dreams].”
That’s a hint of her character. She must be the type to meticulously distribute the guild's budget, penny-pinching every cent. Debating between a dessert cafe and convenience store desserts, she would eventually choose the latter for better value.
‘Meanwhile, Raviel would probably rent out an entire dessert cafe just to eat.’
She must even have a reserved seat there.
Impressive.
I instinctively thought of our Duchess and then nodded.
“That sounds like the quickest solution.”
“Okay, then I’ll go first..."
“You’ve already been through so much, scaling mountains and crossing seas. You’ve covered land, sea, and air. Let me handle this one.”
“…sometimes you act so admirably, it’s hard to scold you.”
“Senior, I’m here to take care of you.”
I opened the Civilization Store.
[You have purchased ‘Appearance in Dreams’.]
[100 race points are consumed!]
[Your current race points are 7012.]
I then used the item on the Mountain Snail Tribe captain in front of me.
Whooosh!
My vision swirled.
It was like a whirlpool in a bathtub, swirling before my eyes. After a breath, two breaths… as my breath quickened, my sense of time became numb. At some point, I had closed my eyes.
A while later.
-Gong-Ja.
Someone whispered in my ear.
-Open your eyes, Gong-Ja.
I opened my eyes wide.
Right in front of me, an unidentified woman who looked exactly like Raviel had thrust her face close to mine.
"......."
Hmm.
I quickly scanned Raviel’s white neck and long fingers. No necklace, no wedding ring.
I had nowhere else to spend the money anyway. Before climbing to the 30th floor, I had poured half my entire fortune into buying that wedding ring, and it was nowhere to be seen.
-Chuckle.
Just in case, I looked around a bit more.
A bedroom in the Ivansia Duke's residence.
I was lying on a soft bed. The woman with Raviel's face hovered above me. I noticed a plant stand and a chair, but there was no golden skill card anywhere.
‘Okay.’
Situation assessed.
-What are you so diligently looking at?
The woman in front of me stroked my cheek.
Her eyes, identical to Raviel’s, shone deeply.
For a moment, I wondered whether this was a fucking sweet situation or a shitty one. Thankfully, it took only 0.1 seconds to decide.
-Tomorrow is a holiday. My love. Let's enjoy a pleasant time...
“You bastard, using Raviel’s face to lie? Wanna die?”
The woman’s touch stopped abruptly.
“I’ll give you ten seconds. Get off my body and kneel. If you don’t, whether you’re a god from another world, an apostle, or some goddamn nobody, I’ll beat you so hard I erase you from existence. Get lost while I’m asking nicely. I’m not going to count for you. Make sure you’re kneeling within ten seconds.”
-........
The woman's face stiffened.
-How…?
She looked bewildered.
-You’re still not fully asleep? No, that can’t be. I’ve perfectly entered the dream world. How did you...
“Ten seconds are up.”
-What?
I smiled brightly.
“Let's start with a beating.”
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