WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 251: Reversal (3)
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Viper slowly opened his eyes.
The blackness drained from his eyes, and the seething heat left his face. I could tell that his reason was slowly returning as he emerged from qi deviation.
"To tell me to go into seclusion..."
"More precisely, it's not about closing yourself off in seclusion but being confined to this stage, this world. So it should be called 'Closed Realm Training.' To take an entire world as your training ground, there's no more luxurious or lavish training than that."
I smiled.
"Jealous of me, you say? Ah, I must've grown too much without realizing it. Me. How the people by my side feel, I should have paid more attention to that... How lacking I am as a person. Such a bad person... Did you expect me to look at the Celestial Martial Clan Master with a pitiful expression in this manner?"
"......."
"I am feeling absolutely fantastic right now!"
I threw back my head and laughed. I laughed so hard that one of Silvia's petals stuck to my lips and Ester's rainwater ran into my mouth. I paid it no mind and laughed until my face split.
"Being the object of jealousy, Celestial Martial Clan Master, really makes me feel so good. Ah, ah, I must've been born into this world to experience this. To think that my purpose in life is just to make everyone jealous of me, it feels just... ecstatic."
"You..."
"I mean it."
At that moment, a spear flew from the pile of corpses opposite us.
With a flick of my hand, I disrupted the trajectory of the spear, sending it off course. Thud! Simultaneously, Viper's possessed body charged at me, springing from the pile of corpses.
"Hraaaaaah!!"
Though small in stature, he wielded a great sword. Was this Viper's hidden trump card? Buried in that pile of corpses, waiting for a moment of vulnerability to strike, even if just once.
"Celestial Martial Clan Master. Or should I say, Mr. Viper."
I stamped my foot.
The ground in this vicinity turned into sand, making a rustling sound under Kim Yul's control.
"Why are you so persistent?"
I slashed the ground with my sword.
Whooooosh-
Simultaneously, right where Viper's possessed body was charging, sand holes started to appear. He tried to backpedal in surprise, but it was too late. More sand holes appeared there. Before he could escape, the sand holes swallowed his toes, calves, thighs, torso, and finally, his head.
"Do you see?"
Resting my hand on Kim Yul's shoulder, I looked at Viper's possessed body.
"Whether you use the Ghost Tribe's Twelve Wing Generals or its Thirty-Six Heavens, no, even if you turn the entire Ghost Tribe into your doubles and fight, you cannot beat me now."
"......"
"Shall we fight this way? Huh? Cast aside honor and everything else, and drive the Ghost Tribe to extinction? We fought and lost. We did our best, but it was not enough. Therefore, we did not lose our pride, so it is all right... Celestial Martial Clan Master, Mr. Viper, is a funeral where everyone tells you it is all right really the scene you want?"
I grabbed Viper by the collar.
"It's not, is it?"
"......."
"You don't desire such a glorious defeat, do you?"
Silence followed.
Then, Viper's lips parted.
"I..."
"Yes."
"Just once, even if only once..."
"Yes."
"To get ahead of you."
"Yes."
"I want to be the protagonist!"
Right.
That was the real bottom line.
If we were to articulate this wish, it would be a pitifully mundane sentence.
[I, too] [like you] [want to become]
What a raw desire.
"Ahaha."
Yet, this mass of desire appeared beautiful in my eyes.
Because Viper is a man of action.
He's different from someone who merely envies and types away on a keyboard. Different from someone who waits for an uncertain fortune, wasting away their days.
Viper is different from me.
He thought, strived, and acted to catch up to me while envying me. He is a strong person who turns his jealousy into personal growth.
How could I not laugh?
"Celestial Martial Clan."
Looking at Viper, I said.
"As you said, Namgung Woon, the Head of the Martial Alliance, serves as the Celestial Martial Clan's Grand Patriarch."
A question arose in Viper's eyes.
I continued without regard.
"I hear he passes the time by training the Celestial Martial Clan's members. But even if they belong to one of the Tower's most prominent sects, could they satisfy a Grand Patriarch once revered as one of the foremost prodigies in an entire world? That must be why this pains you too."
Viper's face contorted in pain, silently acknowledging the truth of my words.
I spoke slowly.
"But think back to the last Great Orthodox-Demonic War."
"......."
"On either side of the vast snowy field, a thousand troops of the Demonic Cult were arrayed. Their lives as shadows, they were draped in black robes from head to toe. A grand total of a thousand. As the world was being engulfed in snow, leading to its downfall, they gathered from all over to escort the Heavenly Demon, truly the epitome of the Demonic Cult's might."
As I continued.
The warriors of our family, who had been quietly arrayed until then, began to move.
They formed ranks across the broad sandy plain without so much as an inch out of place.
Even the moonlight seemed to fade as it neared their battalion. From a distance, they appeared as one gigantic mass, like a black dragon.
"......."
Viper swallowed dryly.
Though the thousand elite Demonic Cult troops spread across the sandy plain had not yet received bodies, they were a sight worth seeing. Viper was not someone who would fail to recognize their strength merely because they existed as spirits.
"But, Mr. Viper. They are not the only ones here."
I activated my skill.
"Ghoul Reincarnation."
Then.
On the plains right opposite where the followers were arrayed, new moon shadows began to cast.
It was murky. Various shadows peeked out from the dark bushes. At first, it seemed like a weasel peeking through the bushes, then it looked like a deer running through the reed forest.
The hides draped over their bodies were pale, and their fur was pure white. Their mere presence seemed to brighten the world. When the summoning ended and they shimmered together as one mass, they stood firm like a great white tiger.
“They are…”
Viper recognized them.
I nodded.
“Yes."
The ghouls I had never summoned before.
Though I had the ability to summon them, I didn't feel worthy to call upon them, so I had left them in their final rest.
“The Martial Alliance’s 1,000 orthodox elites.”
"......."
“You are a disciple of Namgung Woon, the Alliance Leader. Therefore, just as I, as a disciple of the master, became the Vice-lord of the Demonic Cult, you too have the right to lead them.”
Viper gazed blankly at the 1,000 orthodox troops etched across the plains.
“But now, they will not swear loyalty to you.”
“That’s right. …You were the one who prepared for the Great Orthodox-Demonic War there.”
“It won’t be easy to win their loyalty, one by one.”
“Are you saying I should try…”
“No.”
I looked at Viper and said.
“You can do it.”
Viper plucked the spear stuck in his chest with a crackle.
He stood upright, his face twisted in pain and humiliation.
“Those orthodox warriors will vanish along with you when you leave the stage."
“Yes. They exist as part of my skill.”
“Then, winning their acknowledgment will have to wait until after the closure of the world.”
“It seems so.”
Viper spat out blood-stained saliva, glaring at me.
“Wait for me, King of Death.”
The eye of the Ghost Tribe warrior he possessed, the one eye of Viper within him, focused on me like the tip of a spear.
“I lost this stage! Yes, our Ghost Tribe children have lost! But next time will be different… Next time! Just you wait quietly there!”
“No.”
And again, I negated his words.
“How is the loser supposed to remain behind for closed-realm training?”
Viper seemed momentarily unable to understand.
However, my retainers understood. Especially Ester, the advisor of the King of Death family, who had bought Divine Descent for a steep price of 10,000 race points for just 5 minutes in the real world, surely understood my thoughts better than anyone else.
“Princess! I forfeit this stage!”
Even when I shouted so, my retainers remained unshaken.
Only Viper was disturbed.
“What!? Wait, forfeiture, why…”
I raised my hand to stop Viper.
"Look behind me, Celestial Martial Clan Master.”
The heat cleared from Viper's eyes once more. With the haze gone from his vision, he must finally have begun to see what lay beyond my shoulder.
The Earth Spirit Tribe was there.
-.......
-.......
Thousands of Earth Spirit warriors. They all had their arms crossed.
The weapons they once held and aimed at enemies were now placed at their feet.
Their angry gazes were directed at our family's retainers and at Uburka, the great white giant.
-.......
-.......
The Earth Spirit Tribe remained silent. Yet, it was clear what they meant, despite their silence. [They could not accept such a victory].
“Ah, ah. No matter how absurd things get, it seems I've crossed a line.”
I laughed bitterly, spreading my arms.
“Taking care of children is truly a difficult task. What you think is best for them can sometimes be an intrusion and disregard for them.”
Viper's eyes, now free of fever, would have seen more.
That included the Ghost Tribe survivors who had escaped the burning estate alive and were staring in bewilderment at Viper, who had risen by borrowing the bodies of the dead.
“But there's a significant difference. Do you know what it is, Celestial Martial Clan Master?”
Between the Earth Spirit Tribe protesting me and the Ghost Tribe fearing Viper, I said to Viper.
“The winner has the right to refuse a victory they don't cherish.”
Viper's eyes widened.
“You…!”
I nodded and said.
“On the other hand, the loser has no right to refuse such a refused victory.”
“Stop joking around!”
Viper roared in protest.
“I can’t accept such a victory, this kind of victory…”
Viper’s words faded, not because he understood the phrase 'the loser has no right to refuse a refused victory' intellectually.
If the King of Death's family hadn't intervened and he had possessed the corpses of the Ghost Tribe to annihilate the Earth Spirit Tribe, the surviving Ghost Tribe would not have wanted such a victory either.
Recognition dawned in Viper's one eye. Even amidst the scorn of the Earth Spirit Tribe, I couldn't help but find it gratifying.
Viper will become stronger.
He would grow stronger, and stronger, and stronger, and stronger.
“Celestial Martial Clan Master.”
Therefore, I had no complaints or fears about stepping down here.
The Earth Spirit Tribe will do well.
The Black Dragon Master, the Paladin, the Sword Saint, and of course, the Celestial Martial Clan Master, will splendidly complete the climb up to the '40th floor,' or in effect, up to the '50th floor.'
“Work hard. See you next time.”
As I was about to turn away.
“Liǎofàn!”
Viper called out.
“Yes?”
“My name is Liǎofàn!”
Viper glared at me.
“It’s not an alias or a nickname, my name is Liǎofàn! Got it!”
"......."
“Liǎofàn! Next time, I'll call you by your name, and you'll call me by mine! Don’t forget!”
In that moment.
Whooooosh-
A white light began to envelop us.
[Stage forfeited.]
[You have forfeited clearing the 36th floor.]
Enveloped in white light, nothing else was visible.
Everyone except Uburka was engulfed by the white light and slowly faded away: me, Silvia Evanair, Kim Yul, Ester, the Four Demon Lords, the cultists, and all the members of my family.
“You crazy bastard!”
Then, below, a Ghost Tribe member, his horns broken and his body battered, but his eyes unwaveringly focused on me, was giving me the finger.
So, I also calmly raised my middle finger in response.
“A lunatic only sees lunatics-.”
“What? You damn bastard, just you wait! When I see you next time, I'll..."
As Viper grimaced.
[You will be transferred to a temporary space!]
The transfer finally took place.
And our consciousness faded.
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