WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈
Chapter 322: Just for You, ■■ ■■■ (1)
──────
1.
[Returning 24 hours into the past.]
Tick.
Somewhere, a second hand seemed to move, or so I thought.
"......."
“So, Mister, where shall we head this time? We have quite a few paths to choose from. We could directly invade the headquarters of the Mad Demon Cult or take a brief respite by returning to the city!”
I looked around.
Slowly.
Savoring this world as if tasting it.
-Terror be gone, death stay away.
There was one existence that needed no savoring.
With an unimpressed expression, the Guardian Spirit recited the world’s most nonsensical mantra, clearly annoyed and bored.
Our eyes met.
-.......
As soon as our gazes crossed, the Guardian Spirit closed his mouth. Instead, one eyebrow rose slightly.
-Indeed.
The Guardian Spirit smirked. What was once annoyance had turned into acceptance, and boredom into understanding. Watching me like one would look at a hopeless case, he shrugged.
-Welcome back.
‘Yes.’
No more words were exchanged between us. Neither from me nor the Guardian Spirit.
Even if I had peered into ■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■'s trauma and regressed a day, I was still under the influence of [The Universe's Wild Expanse]. The Constellation was still exerting its power over me.
Words that could hinder ■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ would automatically be filtered out and just like before, memories would be erased and distorted.
‘It’s best to minimize speech.’
And thoughts, if possible.
Without harboring any hostility towards ■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■, I simply continued to observe my surroundings.
The Constellation was all smiles.
“If we head to the city, hmm, that’s right! Mister, you have vanquished numerous demonic heads so far. The citizens tormented by the heretical demon cults would surely welcome you warmly, wouldn’t they?”
Beyond the Constellation’s shoulder.
“They might be weak and cowardly, but they will not forget your grace, Mister!”
Tick.
A wall clock was ticking away.
"......."
Only then did the true essence of this world reveal itself to me.
This place had no dense forests.
No Twelve Great Evils.
No Blood Demon, God Demon, White Demon, or Mad Demon ruling the shadows and lights of the world, and nor did they have heretical followers. No grand sanctuaries harboring vast secrets, no cities, villages or streets. Not even a small clothing store existed in this place.
Tick.
Only a wall clock remained.
“Oh. While you are considering which choice to make, Mister, an elderly person approaches from the stronghold of the White Demon Cult that you destroyed not long ago. They seem to recognize you. No, it looks as though they came specifically in pursuit of you!”
In a squalid little room.
A space of barely four pyeong, roughly thirteen square meters.
Wooden floor tiles were filled with dust in every crevice. It was shabby. The floor seemed coated not with bleach but with dust, shining palely. There was a window, but nothing outside. Only eternal incandescence illuminated the room.
The faint light scattered dust particles.
Too small and too faint to stand in for flower petals, the dust fell upon the bookshelves that occupied most of the little room and disappeared.
A wall clock, wooden floors, a window, bookshelves, and dust.
"......."
That was the 60th stage.
The entirety of this world.
“The elder says, [Oh, are you the King of Death? I am not anyone suspicious. I am only an ordinary hunter who was captured by the White Demon Cult and forced to labor until now.]”
Lastly, the Constellation had no face.
That did not mean they had no head.
Simply put, the place where the face should have been looked like distorted blackness, as if a child had mischievously smeared black crayon.
■.
Or ▨.
It was either a window without anything outside or bars trapping the outside.
“[There are many others in the same situation as me, King of Death. I am truly ashamed to ask this, but if you can spare the time, might you visit our labor settlement? We would like to thank you... and invite you to be our guest, if only once.]”
Tick.
Of the Constellation's face, covered in black smears, only the mouth remained.
The small lips moved busily, sometimes smiling and sometimes pressing tightly shut as they diligently imitated the elder's manner of speech.
“[Please come visit us!]”
Even without eyes or a nose.
They seemed happy.
The Constellation appeared content.
“Now, the speech ends. The elder studies your expression. It seems they have not told you their entire situation. Mister! What will you do now...?”
Whoosh!
As the Constellation began to raise their voice, a burst of light spread next to the chair I was seated on. Emerging from the light was a hunter, whose identity was unknown.
The hunter looked around in slight confusion.
“Huh? Where is this......"
"......."
The Constellation frowned.
It was like a child being interrupted while building a sandcastle in a playground.
“Alright, congratulations. You've cleared the 60th floor.”
“…What?”
“What do you mean 'what'? It means there's nothing left for you to do here."
The Constellation waved dismissively.
“Just get lost.”
[■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
Once again, the hunter was enveloped in light.
Without a chance to respond, the hunter was whisked away by the light.
“Really. It’s so annoying when people interrupt the flow like this.”
The Constellation sighed.
“Ah, Mister, don’t worry. You’ll forget everything that just happened! Hehe. Anything that interferes with our story gets automatically deleted!”
"......."
Is that so?
‘That was… someone who cleared the 59th floor and came up here.’
I realized what had happened.
After the Magic Tower had collapsed at our hands, the number of challengers aiming for higher floors significantly increased.
Some of them should have reached the 60th floor by now, and the others are still on their way.
The hunter who briefly appeared in [this world] a moment ago was one such case.
‘And ■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ is forcibly passing them through. As soon as the hunters reach, the stage is declared cleared, and they are sent away.’
That hunter's memories must have been altered.
They probably believe they had a plausible adventure on the 60th floor, received a plausible quest, and successfully completed it.
‘Even the Guardian Spirit had incorrect memories about the 60th floor.’
Let alone what the other hunters would think.
It’s certain.
This little room had now become a stellar domain reserved solely for the two of us.
“Well! Shall we change things up for a fresh start?”
The Constellation said brightly.
“As the silence stretched on without a response, an anxious air enveloped the elder's face. Nevertheless, being a hunter who had stayed on the 60th floor for quite some time, it seems the leisure to manage their expression had long vanished. The elder..."
Stroke.
"......."
The Constellation paused.
It was only after the Constellation halted that I realized I had extended my hand to stroke the Constellation's head.
“It works.”
I murmured.
“Even if you’ve lost your appearance, you can still be touched.”
"......."
“That’s a relief.”
The Constellation’s lips parted slightly.
“……Huh? Eh? ……Uhm?”
It stammered like a broken music box.
The Constellation seemed utterly baffled by the current situation, tilting its head left and right in confusion.
"Huh......?"
[■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
A buzzing noise crackled in my head.
I knew then, that it was the tower signaling the manifestation of the Constellation's power. For a constellation that had lost its name, coordinates, and was beyond identification, the tower attempted to make its presence known through the buzzing noise.
Had it been before the regression, I too would have forgotten the recent memory.
However, now, for some reason, I hadn’t lost anything.
I vividly remembered spending half a lifetime as Raviel and another half as master, speaking with the Guardian Spirit in the white space, and even the nameless hunter who had appeared only to be expelled without a moment's hesitation. I remembered it all.
“Huh? What?”
The Constellation was flustered.
“Why? ……How? This shouldn’t be happening, um. Um!”
[■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
It was futile.
“Huh?”
[■■■■ ■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
It was meaningless too.
"......."
[■ ■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■ ■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■■■■■ ■■■ ■■■■■.]
No matter how often the Constellation exercised its power or asked the skill to make me forget, my gaze remained fixed on the Constellation's face. Unchanged, the face smeared over as both ■ and ▨ was reflected in my eyes.
"......."
The shabby five-pyeong room remained a five-pyeong world, and the wall clock remained a wall clock. [The Universe's Wild Expanse] neither erased nor interfered with my memories.
My hand, resting on the Constellation's head, where the face had vanished, did not retreat.
“Why, why……."
“Because I feel no hostility towards you right now.”
I said.
“There’s no chance I’ll harm you. I have no intention of ruining you or disrupting your enjoyment. I’m harmless."
"......."
“You must have used [The Universe's Wild Expanse] to beg. To exclude any being or event that interferes with our play. Thanks to that, even the slightest voice or thought that obstructs our time together could be eliminated.”
Stroke.
My hand brushed over the head that had lost its face.
The boundary where something had been stripped away and vanished... where only its traces remained.
Everyone has their own creases, but even the creases seemed invisible on the Constellation.
I hoped that at the very least, my touch could prove that something had been there.
“But your wish doesn’t reach me. Or rather, it does reach me, which makes it even more impossible to damage my memory. Maintaining my memory is deemed [for your sake] by the skill.”
"What......."
“I want you to be happy.”
"......."
The Constellation froze.
“Have I become your hope?”
I continued.
“For thousands of years, has no one ever satisfied you? Throughout your life, you abandoned your original name and even your face, yet, was there never a voice that truly reached you? Is that how you lived?”
“I didn’t come here to be a meaning to you. Yes. I can’t lie. I’ve forgotten most of what you said to me. To me, you are still nameless, and you will continue to be nothing more than noise that I can’t even locate.”
But.
“If you wish to make me your meaning today.”
If that’s the case.
“I will dedicate today to you.”
"......."
“You’re not perfect.”
[The skill is activating.]
“You must have known you’d be betrayed the moment you gave trust to the first contractor. You surely had flaws too.”
[You have been designated as a target of The Universe's Wild Expanse.]
“So you are somewhat rash.”
[The skill is activating.]
“Perhaps you regret things soon after starting them, get disheartened, but still can’t give up your own pleasure and keep challenging humans.”
Tick.
A small crack appeared in the black smudge on the Constellation’s face.
A fissure formed.
“Perhaps your eyes are slightly sharp?”
[The King of Death is exerting his skill.]
Exactly as I had imagined, the sharp shape of their eyes and the tips of their eyebrows showed through the widening fissure.
[The Universe’s Wild Expanse] made my imagination come true exactly as envisioned.
"........"
“Your hair is probably green.”
Tick.
I stroked their eyebrow.
“Because you seem to harbor a lot of jealousy."
"......."
Tick.
The black smudge cracked a bit more.
Beneath the broken shell was the luster of emerald.
“……It’s pointless.”
Tick.
“I’ve already lost everything. Name and face both. No matter how much you, the King of Death, search, how can you find what’s not there?”
“Then I’ll imagine until we find it.”
Tick.
“I’ll give you silver hair. I’ll imagine black hair. Look in the mirror at the form I’ve imagined for you, and confirm it, then tell me. [Yes]. Or, [No].”
"......."
“Not just the hair, but the eyes, ears, nose, everything.”
[The skill is activating.]
“I will call forth countless colors and countless forms, one by one, and sculpt them. Someday, we will find what was once you. Your name too. If I pronounce every syllable, ga, na, da, ra, surely the sound that was once your name will ring out.”
lors and shapes, piece by piece, until someday, your appearance gets restored. Your name, too. A, B, C, D, every letter spoken will surely echo with the sound that was your name.”
[The skill is activating.]
“Let’s find it.”
Tick.
“I’ll find it for you.”
Another layer of black husk crumbled.
Eyes.
The Constellation's eyes were grey.
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
