WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 200: The Mirror Reflected in a Mirror (2)
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2.
I wandered around the pioneer village, entering the residents’ dreams.
And in their dreams, I beat up every Dream Demon that appeared.
[You have purchased ‘Appearance in Dreams’.]
[100 race points are consumed!]
[Your current race points are 6012.]
As expected, by the time I reached the tenth person, my reputation had spread among the Dream Demons.
In the tenth dream, an Incubus with the face of the Director screamed as soon as he saw me.
-Heek! A crazy thug!?
“Finally, my reputation is getting around.”
I smiled contentedly. It was satisfying. After using the [Appearance in Dreams] item a whopping 10 times, it was natural to see some effect.
This definitely wasn’t just me taking out the stress I got from Uburka on them.
-Why, why would you interfere with our prey?
“Because you happened to catch my eye. Consider it bad luck. But why are you taking on our Director’s face?”
-If I have this person’s face, I get beaten less....
“Clever bastards.”
I gave the Dream Demon a suitable beating.
-Argh! You’re hitting me anyway!
“I said I’d hit you less, not that I wouldn’t hit you at all. Child from across the sea. If you don’t want to be hit more, spread my message to your tribe. Tonight, a hobgoblin will be sleeping in this village square. Make sure to bring as many of your kind as possible into the dream.”
-Why....
“I am the guardian of the Earth Spirit Tribe. The Earth Spirit Tribe has the Mountain Calamity and Fairy Tribes under its command. That makes me practically the guardian god of three tribes. How could I stand by while you try to plunge our children into eternal sleep?”
-A god…?
The Incubus glanced me up and down. Skepticism filled his eyes. As I smiled widely and showed my fist, the Dream Demon quickly averted his gaze.
-Ah, alright. I’ll pass on your message to my tribe.
That night.
We executed our plan as intended.
Uburka fell asleep, and Black Dragon Master and I entered his dream. We intended to persuade the Dream Demons who also entered the dream. Essentially, Uburka’s mental world would transform into a conference room.
“It’s been a while since I slept after becoming a Constellation.”
Uburka said that, but he fell asleep surprisingly quickly.
The quiet village.
This sea village, built by those who crossed the vast ocean dreaming of a new world, was truly silenced, captured by dreams. The waves lapped at the shore, and the village’s cicadas cried in rhythm with the undulating waves.
“Shall we enter as well, senior?”
“King of Death.”
Black Dragon Master called my name.
Her voice was soaked in the black echo of the waves and the white cry of the cicadas.
“Yes?”
“If you’re trying to set me up with your child, give up.”
I was a bit taken aback.
“Oh. You... noticed?”
“How many proposals do you think I’ve received in my life? When it comes to romance, there are few people as expert as I am. I never expected the day would come when a Constellation or a goblin took an interest in me, though.”
“Uh. Sorry. I thought it wasn’t polite to keep it a secret, but talking about it seemed awkward…”
“I have no intention of dating anyone.”
Black Dragon Master stroked her hair.
The summer night sea sent a breeze drifting past.
“Love is willingly allowing someone to be your weakness. I don’t want to be weak.”
“Doesn’t loving each other make you stronger?”
“Yes, it might. But are you confident you can live a life without Duke Ivansia?”
"......."
“You are healthy. Even so, there is something precarious about you. If Duke Ivansia dies, you will crumble. If the Paladin dies, or if I die, the structure that is you will wear away. The same would happen even if the Viper or the Heretic Inquisitor died.”
Black Dragon Master drew in the air with her finger.
Maybe she bought an item from the civilization store.
“I cannot bring myself to stake my life on a tightrope act.”
Black Dragon Master looked at me.
“I want to be able to handle my life alone. I want to carry only the things I can discard when necessary... It’s embarrassing to share such thoughts with others.”
“No, senior. Thank you for sharing.”
“Alright. Tell your child to endure the ordeal of first love.”
My poor son.
Rejected even before confessing.
I looked down at Uburka, asleep in the square, with a pitying gaze.
“That’s enough serious talk. Shall we go save the children?”
“Yes.”
[You have purchased ‘Appearance in Dreams’.]
[100 race points are consumed!]
[Your current race points are 5912.]
Both of us dived into Uburka’s dream.
3.
When I opened my eyes, a dense jungle unfolded before me.
Hmm.
The smell of damp soil filled the air. The scent that occasionally wafts up on a rainy night. There were no asphalt roads or dazzling signs, but trees as tall as buildings surrounded us on all sides.
“Welcome, daddy. And daddy's close friend.”
Uburka was sitting on a large rock.
“Where is this?”
“This is where I trained about two hundred years ago. Many powerful demon beasts live here, and they proved very useful to my training. It is known as such a dangerous place that one must not even approach it, but the harsher the training, the sweeter the results.”
Uburka boasted about himself.
He didn’t forget to subtly highlight his chest muscles.
Well, his muscles were broad enough to slap the Pacific Ocean across the face...
“King of Death’s son truly has a noble mindset.”
Black Dragon Master just gave a kind motherly smile.
“He feels like a younger brother to me.”
“Ugor. A younger brother…?”
Uburka tilted his head and glanced at me.
‘Daddy. Feeling like family means this surely has a good meaning, right? It's overflowing with possibilities.’
No.
You've just been rejected as clearly as possible....
Please, pay attention to the fact that she specifically called you a [younger brother].
Black Dragon Master keeps praising me in front of you as a gesture for you to give up. Kid, how are you going to survive in this harsh world of romance with such a lack of perception?
-Grrr...
A beast's howl echoed from the forest.
The three of us immediately stopped chatting and turned our heads.
-.......
-...Grr....
It wasn’t just one or two beasts.
In the shadowy, dark jungle.
Hundreds of pairs of eyes glittered blue under the trees like wildflowers. Some beasts had antlers larger than their bodies, resembling stags, while others hissed with the mouths of snakes.
“So many demon beasts...”
“Probably all the ones I defeated in the past.”
The beasts surrounded us.
For a moment, they prowled around threateningly. Rough breathing. Savage footsteps. As hundreds of beasts exhaled simultaneously, the jungle air heated up.
“You’re Dream Demons, right?”
But Uburka and Black Dragon Master had long lost their fear. Black Dragon Master faced the demon beasts as if looking at neighborhood dogs.
“We are the guardians of the tribes from across the sea. We've come to protest your unilateral invasion. Honestly, are you in your right mind?”
-.......
“Because of you, many children have become dehydrated and malnourished. Lives are at stake. Many have already died, and more will follow. Call your leader. We need to know why you've done this.”
The beasts looked at each other, realizing that their numbers wouldn't intimidate us.
-We heard you were guardian gods... I see. Since you can maintain your sense of self even in our world, you are no ordinary beings.
A stag stepped forward from among the beasts.
As the stag moved, the shadow of the jungle leaves on its luminescent back cascaded like fish scales.
I opened my mouth.
“Are you the king of the Dream Demons?”
-A foolish question. We have no king.
The stag’s eyes examined my face.
“If there’s no king, then why do you step forward?”
-Don’t judge us by your standards. You might think you're conversing with me, but it's not true. We simply possess your dreams and speak according to your memories.
Black Dragon Master frowned.
“What do you mean?”
-We have no form, no appearance. Inevitably, we lack individuality. We can't use words you don’t know, nor can we mimic people you’re unfamiliar with.
I recalled the ten Dream Demons I had beaten up.
“Despite that, their reactions were quite vivid. Their manner of speaking was frivolous too.”
-Those you met reflected your mind. If their speech was frivolous, it's because your speech is frivolous. If they dislike being beaten, it’s because you dislike being beaten. Foreigner. We are merely mirrors.
“……All that was just mimicking me?”
-Exactly.
I was shocked.
“That’s impossible! I’m not that frivolous! I’m known for my serious charm as a hunter!”
"......."
"......."
“What’s with you two? Why are you both staring at me like that?”
“It’s nothing, King of Death.”
“I didn’t raise any objections, daddy.”
“See! Even my colleague and child agree with me!”
The stag opened its mouth as if amused.
-We have no interest in your reputation, foreigner. Our interest lies solely in the nearly infinite dreams of your races.
“Interested in dreams?”
-Your dreams are exceptionally delicious.
Crunch.
The stag crushed a jungle centipede under its hoof.
-Until we met you, we had only fed on animal dreams. It was like eating bland porridge. Compared to that, how varied are the dreams of your kind!
The stag flicked its long tongue.
-We were quite primitive before meeting you. Insignificant intelligence, negligible memory… We didn’t even know there was another reality beyond our own, nor did we fully understand we were a species that lived by parasitizing dreams. Thanks to eating your dreams, we have developed rapidly.
I understood the Dream Demon's words.
“So, you should be grateful to our children, right? Even unintentionally, you became smarter because of them.”
-We have already repaid enough. Haven’t we given you the happiest dreams possible?
“But what’s the use of happy dreams if they’re going to die like this?”
-Happy dreams or miserable reality. You prefer the latter, it seems.
The stag sneered.
Its laughter, produced by a beast's vocal cords and tongue, was bizarre.
-But the people of your kind we have met so far think differently. Why not wish for their happiness, foreigner?
“Sounds plausible, but it really just seems like you want to gorge on delicious food.”
-You maintain sanity in our world, but you are still an outsider. It's impossible for you to significantly harm us, let alone stop us.
The stag, true to its nature, had a stiff neck.
-Don’t worry. We have no intention of exterminating your races. After crossing the sea, we will restrain our dream-eating to ensure your kind can continue to reproduce. But your dreams are so attractive that we might overindulge.
Alright.
I got the gist.
“So, you’re saying you can do whatever you want because you can’t lose.”
-That's one interpretation.
People only show humility to those who can hit them back.
The same seems true for Dream Demons living in dreams.
“Good that you’re easy to understand.”
-You speak as if you can attack us.
“Exactly.”
I opened the civilization store.
“I don’t know how grand your dream world is, but…”
I purchased an item.
[You have purchased ‘Character Possession’.]
[2000 race points are consumed!]
[Your current race points are 4012.]
“I’ve experienced all sorts of worlds, kids."
I'm genuinely curious about what it feels like to become a Dream Demon.
Smiling, I chanted toward the stag.
“Activate item. Character Possession.”
That instant.
The infinite world of dreams unfolded before my eyes.
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